The Gospel teaches that Christians do not need to fear the death of the body, but the death of the soul should be very much feared. "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body," says Christ, "but rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." The soul dies when it is separated from God, when it breaks communion with Him, when it moves away from Him. Sins and passions separate us from God: pride, vanity, selfishness, self-conceit, envy, lust, greed, addiction to earthly things – all this separates us from God and kills the soul, making it a prey to hell. As long as the soul lives in the body, its death may not be externally noticeable, because the soul is invisible to physical sight, and therefore its life or death is also externally invisible. But the difference between a dead soul and a living soul becomes a terrible reality after its separation from the body. A living soul, according to the words of St. Macarius of Egypt, is then like a newborn infant, for whom parents rejoice and embrace him. A dead soul is like an infant born dead, who, because of his deadness, is unfit to live among people, and whom only needs to be carried out and buried.

Thus, if after the departure of the soul from the body it turns out that the Holy Spirit, the only source of its life, does not dwell in it, then such a soul is dead and incapable of the eternal life of the Kingdom of Christ, which is why it is destined for death and hell. If the Holy Spirit dwells in the soul, then it will be alive. Such a soul is joyfully accepted by the holy celestials and led into blessed eternity.

However, someone may say that if the death of the body for Christians is not death, but eternal life, then should we not try to bring it closer in order to quickly pass into this life? Of course not. After all, earthly life is a necessary part of the path predestined for us by God. Like the other parts, it is a great gift that we must use to fulfill the will of God, to serve God and people. Earthly life must be accepted with gratitude and go through it to the end. To arbitrarily renounce life, to neglect it, would mean, in the words of Elder Paisius of Athos, to throw this gift in the face of the giver, that is, God. It is for this reason that suicide is a grave sin. Suicides, as you know, are not even buried by the Church, and they leave our world without Christian guidance.

Earthly life is given to man so that, having lived it correctly, he may acquire true life for himself, acquire eternity through time. If the soul, while living in time, has acquired life for itself, then the death of the body is no longer terrible for man, for he has in himself the source of eternal life. It is in this sense that the Apostle Paul said that life for him is Christ, and therefore death for him is gain. The Apostle even wished to be separated from the body and die in order to be with Christ, for this is incomparably better than living on earth. However, knowing that his service to Christ in our world was not yet over, the Apostle joyfully and patiently walked the course of his earthly life to the end.

Such behavior of the Apostle Paul should be taken for Christians as an example of a correct attitude towards death: on the one hand, we see that the Apostle was not afraid of it, and when it came, he joyfully bowed his head under the sword of the Roman executioner. But, on the other hand, he also gladly accepted the gift of earthly life, using it to serve God and the Church and not daring to arbitrarily bring his transition to eternity closer. Consequently, the holy Apostle equally desired life, because he lived with Christ on earth, and death, because it allowed him to become even closer to Christ. This, brothers and sisters, is the right attitude towards death. This is how we should treat it. Amen.

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

Earthly life is given to us not so that we can live for our own pleasure and as we please, but in order to work, to please God and bring Him the fruits that He expects from us. This simple truth is contained in the Gospel parable of the barren fig tree.

A certain man had a vineyard in which a fig tree was also planted, figs in our language. The fig tree did not bear fruit for several years in a row. And so the owner said to the gardener: cut it down, why does it occupy the land in vain? But the gardener loved his trees and began to beg the owner: wait another year, I will fertilize it and dig it up, let's see, maybe then it will bear fruit? If not, then in a year you will cut it down.