Matins: John 20:1-10Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going towards the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.
1 Corinthians 8:8-9:2Brethren, food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
Matthew 25:31-46The Lord said, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Last Sunday, the parable of the Prodigal Son assured us of our heavenly Father’s complete mercy towards all who repent and return to Him. But lest we should fall into negligence by remembering God’s mercy while forgetting our own need for repentance, the fearful parable of the Last Judgement today reminds us that our salvation is not an easy matter.
We can readily be tempted to avoid this uncomfortable issue with vague hopes that, if we have not actually murdered anyone or robbed a bank, we shall probably be alright and allowed to slip in with the sheep. But let us not forget that the root of all sin, the cause of all strife and trouble in the world, is selfishness; and which of us can say that we are never selfish? Moreover, the mere avoidance of sin is not the criterion applied by Christ in separating the sheep from the goats. He expects something much higher of us for salvation - the active presence of love and compassion towards others in need, whose hunger, thirst, illness, imprisonment or nakedness may be physical, emotional or spiritual. Indeed, even more than that is required. For those who inherit God’s kingdom, in asking with surprise when they had ever helped in this way, reveal that they did so with a love which springs from a pure and selfless heart, without seeking recognition from others, without desiring to feel good about themselves, without thinking of their own convenience, but helping simply because they could not do otherwise in the face of others’ need, so that they were unaware of having done any good at all. Those, on the other hand, who are condemned, are equally surprised, but because they were so wrapped up in themselves during life that they were blind to the needs of others and so remain unaware that they had done no good; they evidently expect to be saved because they are not conscious of having done any wrong.
God’s ultimate judgement of our life is a prospect which should instil a healthy fear in us all. God is indeed love, but His love is so dazzlingly pure and selfless that when, at the end of our time we all meet it face to face, it will either bathe us in bliss or scorch us like fire, in proportion to the quality of our own love for both God and our neighbour. The righteousness of God is nothing like human justice, and He knows perfectly what each of us is capable of, and what our circumstances are in this life. But let us not tempt God’s mercy, either with our laziness if we make little effort, or with our pride if we make a big effort. As St Isaac the Syrian reminds us: ‘when a sinner becomes aware of his failings and begins to repent, he is righteous; when a righteous man becomes aware of his righteousness and his conscience is persuaded of it, he is a
sinner’.
Our salvation depends entirely on the inscrutable judgement of God, who sees and knows everything. We are mere creatures, and cannot see God; but we can, with God’s help, achieve a human kind of perfection by forgetting ourselves and seeing and responding to the needs of the person in front of us instead of our own. That way, we shall learn humility and love, and so live in peace both in this life and in all eternity.
“You were commanded to keep the body as a servant, not to be unnaturally enslaved to its pleasures”
(St. Thalassios the Libyan)
“Sin is a blazing fire. The less fuel you give it, the faster it dies down; the more you feed it, the more it burns”
(St. Mark the Ascetic)
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