Spiritual Homilies 1 part 17/36

Having and expecting Him to come and dwell in us, let us obtain those things which He promised to give to those who love Him — things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, but which He will reveal to us, coming through His Spirit and making His abode with us, so that from Him we may henceforth learn, through the working of the Spirit, every virtue of gentleness, humility, faith, and love, and all righteousness, and that He may fulfill in us, through His own grace, the fulfillment of His commandments.

For He Himself said, 'Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.'

And thus, having been made blameless and spotless through His power, may we become worthy to attain the eternal kingdom in Christ Jesus, to whom be glory forever and ever.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, teaching His own disciples how to pray, when they had asked Him to teach them to pray, spoke to them thus:

Our Father, who art in heaven:

Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth:

Give us this day our daily bread:

And forgive us our debts.

Now this prayer He taught to be prayed by those who were still seeking forgiveness of their offenses.

For just as a servant of a kind master, having sinned greatly and fled, and after a long time having returned, sends ahead petitioners to his own master that the good master may be reconciled to him, and stands outside the door, not yet having been counted worthy to behold his face — and as long as the master is angry with him, all his household are his enemies, children, true friends, kinsfolk — yet even while standing outside the door, not yet having come into the presence of his own master, he is already in his master's thoughts; but when the master receives him into his presence, he is reconciled and is at peace with him, and thereafter all his kinsfolk, children, servants, and friends hold peace and love toward him —

in the same way also man, having sinned and transgressed the commandment of the heavenly and true Master, and having become a fugitive from His goodness, because he took upon himself in his own soul passions of dishonor, and spent his life in the wickedness and evil of the evil spirit—

then, turning back to his own Master and beseeching to receive forgiveness of sins and again to attain the peaceful kingdom of his Master, he remains outside at the door, desiring to be counted worthy to see the kind and peaceful face of the good Master; and as long as the heavenly King has not yet been reconciled to him and has not yet counted him worthy to come into His presence, behold, all the angels and saints and all the powers of the heavens are not at peace with him; yet even while remaining outside at the door in his seeking after the Lord, he is already in the mind of the good and kind heavenly Father and Master.

But when He is reconciled to him openly, and brings him within the door of his life, and counts him worthy to be seen by the soul in revelation and full assurance, and the soul itself is counted worthy, having seen the heavenly and masterly face of light, to worship and be at peace with Him, then joy and exultation take place in heaven before the holy angels:

for having made peace with her own Master, she is also at peace with all his household.

and wicked masters — there too, having squandered his substance with harlots and living wastefully and feeding swine...

And calling Himself the bread of life, He said that those who eat His flesh and drink His blood live forever, saying:

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.

He who eats this bread shall live forever; and:

He who eats me, he also shall live because of me. And He gives the Spirit of His own divinity as food and life to worthy souls.

For indeed those who in truth partake of the bread of the Eucharist are counted worthy to become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and thus holy souls are able to live forever.

And just as one who drinks wine has it mingled throughout all his members, and the wine is in him and he in the wine, so also is he who drinks the blood of Christ.

For the Spirit of divinity, being drunk, is mingled with the perfected soul, and the soul is in Him; and thus, having been sanctified, she becomes worthy of the Lord:

for, as he says, 'we were all made to drink of the same Spirit.'

That one, then, lived dissolutely, eating and drinking the passions of the spirits of wickedness, and living in them, and held fast by the fleshly pleasures of the passions of this present age.

For just as, through the working of the passions, the worldly spirit of the error of the darkness of sin works in the man who is filled with a carnal disposition — the spirit from which he eats and in which he lives — so also, by working and power, the Spirit of the light of divinity dwells in the man who has been counted worthy to be sanctified, the Spirit from which the soul eats and in which she lives, according to him who said:

'You seek proof of Christ speaking in me.' And again:

'I live, yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me.' And again:

'As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.' And:

'Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.' And the Lord:

'We will come (I and my Father) and make our abode with him.'

These things happen in power and full assurance to those who are counted worthy, and not obscurely or without effect.

For the law formerly turned men back by a word without substance, laying upon them a heavy yoke, and was unable to help them, because it did not give the power of the Spirit; but since the coming of the Lord, the door of grace has been opened to those who believe in truth.

For this word gives the power of God and the working of the Spirit, and through its power raises up the soul that is sick and lying prostrate in the passions, and restores it to health.

The famine, then, proved to be of profit to that one who fed swine and lived dissolutely, that he might remember and turn back to his own father; for indeed, if a famine had not occurred in the land of Canaan, the brothers would not have gone to Joseph, and the words of his dreams would not have been fulfilled — for these things too formed a certain mystery and image.

For just as the brothers of Joseph deprived their own brother of the inheritance of their father, and then afterward, when a famine occurred, coming to him and being seen before his face, they were ashamed — in the same way also the soul that now deprives the good Joseph, the heavenly King Christ, of His inheritance (which inheritance is the soul itself), and does not give herself to Him of her own free choice for spiritual service, so that He might dwell in her, inherit her, and reign in her — that soul, later, at the resurrection and the manifestation of His glorious coming, when the great famine of judgment comes upon her, shall be ashamed and put to shame before Him.

This is to be understood also of the Jews who crucified the Lord and who will later be ashamed at the coming of His glory; but it must also be understood in another way.

For the word applies to different persons.

Having turned and made supplication, when the Lord has appeared to her through His grace, she is ashamed at what a good she had formerly plotted against, and how disobedient she had been to the word of truth.

The father, then, receives the son with joy.

For, he says, 'This my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'

And he gives him the first robe, and the ring, and slaughtered the fatted calf for him.

And the heavenly Father receives with joy the soul that turns back and repents and comes to him in truth, and gives it the robe of the light of Christ and the ring of the seal of the heavenly and good Spirit.

For it was for her sake that the good fatted calf was slain—the Lord himself, suffering in the flesh.

For it is said: he was dead and came to life again, and was lost and was found.

He was dead and lost to his own father;

for there he was living dissolutely and feeding swine.

So too the soul, as long as it lives dissolutely, consorting with the spirits of wickedness, and through the working of the passions fornicating with them, and passing its time with sin, is dead and lost to the heavenly and good Father.

But when it remembers and turns back to him and repents, then there is joy in heaven before the angels of God, and it receives the robe of the glory of Christ's light, being sealed with the heavenly Spirit, and thus lives again a spiritual life toward the heavenly Father.

But just as there it was not the father's will that his son should perish, and yet when he wished to go away from him and said—

'Give me the portion of the property that falls to me,' he did not prevent him; so too God did not will Adam to perish, and when he wished to transgress the commandment and take his own portion (that is, his own mind and will), he did not prevent him, because he himself had his own will and his own authority and his own judgment;

for God made him from the beginning self-determining, to do all that he wishes.

Fear, then, and love and shame turned back the aforementioned servant to his master, and the son to his own father; and these three were between them.

So too, if the soul turns back through fear and love and shame to its good master and father, the Lord, he receives and welcomes it back, not reckoning the former evils of sin.

For the Lord's whole coming and his good advent came to pass for the sake of this soul, that he might impart the gift of the Holy Spirit to humanity, and root out the working of the passions of sin and the habit that had been formed through the long anticipation of evils—

like some tares or thorns or thistles from the earth, and bestow his own Spirit upon the soul, so that, living thus a life of the Spirit and having put on heavenly power, it might be able to do in truth the whole will of God.

For just as without the evil and wickedness of the passions the soul did not know how to do evil, so without the heavenly and good Spirit the soul does not know how to do the whole will of God, but is still outside God.

For the apostle also says:

No one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God; and he adds:

But we have the mind of Christ; and:

God has revealed it to us through his Spirit.

For the apostles saw many wonders and strange signs being performed by the Lord, and yet, because they had not yet received that heavenly power from on high in their own soul, they doubted, they were shaken, they were scandalized, and each fled in a different direction at the crucifixion of the Lord.

The Lord alone healed the soul by giving his Holy Spirit into it.

And no one who does not expect and receive that power from on high can be perfectly healed of the passions of dishonor;

for only in this way could the abolition of the passions come to pass.

For if you wish to understand precisely the nature of human weakness and its ready proneness to turn toward the worse, and how humanity could not be healed without the coming of the Lord, consider how many wonders and portents, acts of vengeance and occasions of fear, have come from God from the beginning because of the practice of wicked pursuits;

on the one hand, in the days of Noah, the flood; on the other, the confusion of tongues, the destruction of cities, the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah, terrors, great earthquakes at various times, likewise famines and plagues.

All these things came upon the race of men from God as vengeance for their evils, and they still come even now upon the rest, so that being afraid they might cease from their evils.

Then, next, the law, the prophets, priests, sacrifices, gifts, offerings, tithes, and countless other ordinances of the law; likewise God performed for Israel strange and great signs, granting them benefits through manifest visions.

While the Egyptians were being scourged with the ten plagues, they themselves lived in ease, and were illumined by a pillar of fire and overshadowed by a pillar of cloud, and they saw with their own eyes the sea split apart contrary to its own nature, and passed through the midst of it, and beheld their enemies drowned in it.

They were counted worthy to eat manna from heaven, they heard the voice of God and saw visions on Mount Sinai, and countless other such things, which it would be difficult to enumerate briefly.

And though God provided them with all these benefits, the soul was not healed from the disease of the incurable passions of sin, nor were they able to turn to the Lord with their whole heart, because they had the covering of darkness (that is, the passions of dishonor), until the Lord came—being God, and being everywhere, and remaining what he was, having borne a body, and having been born and having grown up, and having conducted himself in the world with every manner of holy conduct as an example to those who were to believe; then having been humbled and struck and dishonored and reviled, and finally having been crucified and put to death and having descended even to Hades, and having risen on the third day and having been taken up into the heavens through the glory of the Father, and having sat down at the right hand of the Majesty—and then he sent forth the power from on high into humanity, which kills and abolishes the incurable passions of the soul.

And first he sent forth the firstfruits of the Comforting Spirit to his own disciples, and through them that power overshadows all who believe in the Lord, and dwelling in their souls it heals them from the passions of sin and raises the soul up from the deadness of darkness.

Until then, the soul had been wounded and imprisoned, cast into darkness, bound with iron bars and bronze gates, and shut in by the sins of the passions, and God did not travel through the paths of its thoughts.

And even now, whatever soul the Lord has not yet come to, and the power of his Spirit has not taken up dwelling in it and has not loosed it from the bonds of sin and has not led it out of the prison of the darkness of wickedness and has not indwelt it effectively with all power and full assurance, that soul is still bound in darkness and held fast by the passions of darkness and worked upon by wicked thoughts.

For those whom the Lord, because of their sincere faith and love toward him, has clothed with the power of his own Spirit, and upon whom he has poured out the gift of heavenly grace, and in whose innermost depths of mind the grace of the Spirit has taken up dwelling—of these, the Lord becomes as it were the soul of those sanctified by the Spirit.

Such is the goodness of the ineffable good pleasure of Christ that has come upon humanity, humbled as it was by wickedness, as the apostle says:

He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him; and the Lord says:

That which is born of the Spirit is spirit; and again, elsewhere:

Father, just as I and you are one, so also may these be one in us.

For if the soul, while it was with the wickedness of the passions, was one with it—for although it had its own will, it could not do what it wished, as the apostle says, 'What I do not wish, this I do,' because it had been sold and was a slave and bore the heavy yoke of the passions of sin—if then that was so, how much more does the power of the Godhead, dwelling in the sanctified soul that has become worthy of the Lord, become united with it, the soul rendering its whole will with all joy and readiness to the power of the divine Spirit, and the soul becomes the Lord's, because it is willingly and readily ruled by the divine power of the Spirit and no longer walks by its own will.

For just as the sun and the wind are mingled with one another, so the worthy soul is blended with the Spirit of the Lord, becoming wholly and entirely in the Spirit, because the soul is in harmony with the grace of the Lord in all its virtues.

'For who,' he says, 'shall separate us from the love of Christ' (that is, the soul united with the Holy Spirit)?

Let us, then, also entreat the Lord to obtain this indescribable gift, and let us, in all full assurance of faith and hope, expect to receive within ourselves the power from on high that tears down all the strongholds of the wickedness of the passions within us, so that, while we are still in the flesh, being sanctified by the Spirit, cleansed from the passions of sin, and made spotless and blameless through his grace, we may be perfected and become worthy of the eternal inheritance in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory and the might, unto the ages of ages.

God, by his own wisdom, prepared supports (that is, foods) from the earth for this body, and he exercises all the providence of creation for the sake of this body, so that it might lack nothing.

But whenever it happens to be in poor condition or weakness, there is great grief for its relatives, because, not being nourished by the supports that God prepared for it, it is in danger of dying.

For indeed parents, when they beget children, are altogether eager that their offspring should enjoy the fruits of their household and of their labors.

But whenever it happens, through affliction or sluggishness or poor condition, that the child does not take nourishment, the parents undergo much grief; for this is their will, that their children should enjoy the fruits of their labors.

In the same way the Lord too, coming from heaven, for this reason took up the flesh of humanity, and his whole coming and his zeal were directed to this end: that he might provide the soul with heavenly supports and foods from his own Spirit—for all visible things are but a shadow of the invisible.

For just as the body is nourished bodily with food from the earth and lives, so also the worthy and faithful soul is nourished spiritually with heavenly foods from the divine Spirit and lives a spiritual life.

But if that soul is unable, because of its impulse toward the passions and its inclination toward the worse, or because of weakness of mind or some malice or unbelief, to receive that God-inspired and spiritual food, Christ undergoes much grief, having suffered many things for its sake, in order that he might provide it with the heavenly food of the Spirit.

For just as the body, not partaking of food from the earth, dies and perishes, so too the soul, eating the heavenly bread, dies and perishes apart from the divine life of the Spirit.

acting through the dispensation of visible creation:

For when bread was lacking in the desert, there being a great crowd, the Lord in his goodness multiplied it from five loaves, so that all were filled and much was left over; for he prepares food for the body and gives it rest, so that the soul may render worthy fruits to the Lord.

For just as, in the case of olive trees or the vine or the other fruit-bearing plants, before they bring forth their fruit for eating, the farmers labor over them with every care, cultivating them attentively, and yet for the time being, so to speak, they are fruitless trees, being newly planted—but when the farmers have been patient with them and exercised every care, in due season fruit for men to eat comes forth from within them—in the same way the Lord too exercises every care for the body and all providence through visible creation for its rest, so that the soul, which is hidden within and self-determining, may of its own free choice render worthy fruits of righteousness to God.

For true Christians have great confidence and glory before God—those who, by their own will, have truly pleased God, and through his grace have acquired the greatest confidence.

For just as earthly rulers, upon receiving the images of the king, hold under their authority all the inhabitants of the regions, and the whole populace, on account of the king's images, is in subjection to them, and when they go forth, there are men running before them and pushing everyone aside, so that they may pass through unhindered and unmolested with great rank and great honor—so also the souls that bear within themselves the glorious and heavenly and luminous image of the Lord put all the opposing spirits into subjection, subduing them beneath their feet, and possess great honor and confidence with those above.

For wherever the holy and sovereign Spirit of God works and dwells, all creation of necessity renders obedience, on account of the heavenly, sovereign, and royal image of the Spirit.

For indeed the sea of the darkness and bitterness of the wicked spirits of this air is parted before them, so that the soul travels unhindered into the heavens, and invisible iron walls and strongholds and bars are broken through and torn down by the power of the Spirit ('casting down,' as it says, 'reasonings, and every high thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God'), and the inner fire of the wickedness of the passions, being quenched, is shown to be inactive and powerless, and the fierce beasts of the spiritual lions of wickedness lie subdued beneath their feet.

For all creation, before Adam's transgression, was ruled by him.

But you too, beloved brethren, if you now remain steadfast in the word of truth and in poverty and lowliness of mind and in all the virtues of the commandments, knocking night and day at the spiritual door of the heavenly King and seeking from there all good things, you will lack nothing, but the Lord will grant you freely everything you seek.

through patience and endurance they are not deprived of what they desire—how much more shall we, standing at the door of the heavenly, compassionate, and true King, with all patience, in all endurance, with faith and hope and full assurance, seeking from him the heavenly gifts of the Spirit, receive our requests.

just as the Lord also commanded, saying:

Ask, and it shall be given you;

knock, and it shall be opened to you; and having gone on, he adds:

If then you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him? And again:

Whoever leaves father or mother or brothers or sisters for my sake shall receive a hundredfold in this age, and shall inherit eternal life.

The heavenly King, then, gives the inheritances (for he is true), only if one seeks him in love and endurance and truth.

For he himself exhorts each one, saying:

If anyone has no eyes, let him seek from me and receive blessed eyes that see my glory, which, having received sight, shall never again be darkened.

If anyone happens to be deaf in the inner man, let him ask, and his ears shall be opened, which, once opened, shall never again through the ages become deaf.

If anyone is lame, let him seek from me spiritual feet that walk into the land of the living.

If anyone does not have weapons, let him seek them from me, so that, having put them on, he may not be harmed by the enemies.

And whatever anyone seeks from me, I give.

For with me all things have been fulfilled, and with me nothing is lacking... Standing, then, always at the royal door and asking for spiritual gifts, you will lack none of the things you need, and all creation rejoices together with you, both heavenly and earthly things exult together with you, as you cling to the Master and Father and desire only to do his will.

Always, then, wage the contest against the spiritual forces of wickedness, striving against all the passions and turning away from all evil, and putting on the weapons that come from the Lord, that through them you may be able to win the victory over the adversaries.

For behold, just as among visible things the king honors his warriors and combatants, and gives them garments and arms them with weapons, and first brings them into training for war, that they may be instructed, so that in the time of war they may be shown approved—so also the Lord nourishes with heavenly bread those who stand and contend in the war against the spiritual forces of wickedness, and anoints them with the spiritual oil of gladness, and washes and cleanses them with pure spiritual waters, and washes away from them all the filth of the passions of sin, and gives them heavenly weapons of the Spirit and garments of divine light, so that entering into the spiritual war against wickedness they may be commended, and having won the victory, may be crowned.

To these he also gives heavenly inheritances.

Such people are clearly born of God, and another, heavenly city is given to them, and they are counted worthy to become brothers of Christ and heirs of the Father.

For just as the scorching heat of the sun, shining upon the sprouted seed, immediately withers what was sown on rocky ground, since it has no moisture nor depth of earth, but what is sown in good and deep earth is not harmed (for it is rooted deeply in it), so also those who are strongly founded on the rich earth—good will, right faith, and the grace of God—will suffer no harm from the scorching heat of temptations, but rather are strengthened all the more and yield greater fruit.

Such people are founded upon the unshakable rock, Christ himself.

For the Lord said to Peter:

the bars of Hades shall not prevail against it.

For the bars are for uprooting and overturning the foundation of the house; so also the evil one attempts to uproot faithful and well-founded souls from God, and wishes to turn them over to himself.

Likewise again the Lord compares the one who does his commandments to a wise man who builds his house upon the rock.

"The floods came," he says, "and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it did not fall;"

for it had been founded upon the rock.

Let us, then, also found the foundation of our heart and will upon the unshakable rock of Christ, so that, being strengthened and empowered by him, and being found firm and approved against the temptations that rise up against us, and being shown to be victors, we may become worthy to enjoy the heavenly goods together with Christ unto the boundless ages.

Concerning how one must understand all the Scriptures spiritually for the benefit of our soul, for whose sake all things were written, and think nothing carnal or Jewish.

All these things happened to them typologically, but were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

If, then, it was written for our sake, we ought to understand all things spiritually, and nothing in a Jewish or carnal manner.

The law is spiritual.