But let's take the worst and most mysterious case. Imagine a blind and deaf-mute person who has lived on earth in this position all his life, from birth to death. Some of you will ask, "What gift did such a man receive from God? And how can he be saved?" He does not see people - but people see him. He does not give alms, but awakens mercy in other people. He cannot remind people of God with the help of words, but he himself is a living reminder for people. He does not preach in words, but serves as a proof of preaching about God. Truly, he can lead many to salvation, and through this to save himself. But know that the blind, deaf and dumb are usually not among those who have buried their talent. They do not hide from people, and this is enough. For whatever they can show, they show. Ourselves! And this is the silver which they put into circulation and return to the Lord with profit. They are God's servants, God's reminder, God's call. They fill the hearts of men with fear and mercy. They represent the terrible and clear preaching of God, manifested in the flesh. It is those who have eyes, ears, and tongue who most often bury their talent in the ground. They have been given much, and when much is asked of them, they will not be able to give anything.

Thus, inequality lies at the very foundation of the created world. But this inequality should cause joy, not rebellion. For it was established by love, not hatred, reason, and not madness. Human life is ugly not because of the presence of inequality in it, but because of the lack of love and spiritual intelligence in people. Bring in more divine love and spiritual understanding of life, and you will see that even twice as much inequality will not interfere with the blessedness of people in the least.

This parable of the talents brings light, reason, and understanding to our souls. But it both impels us to action and hastens us, so that we are not too late to accomplish the work for which we have been sent by the Lord to the marketplace of this world. Time passes faster than the fastest river. And soon time will come to an end. I repeat: soon the end of time will come. And no one can return from eternity to take the forgotten and do the undone. Therefore, let us hasten to use the gift of God given to us, the talent borrowed from the Lord of lords. To our Lord Jesus Christ in this Divine teaching, as in all things, is due honor and glory, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, to the Trinity, One-in-Essence and Indivisible, now and ever, at all times and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost. The Gospel of Perseverance in Faith and Prayer

Matt. 62 rec., 15:21-28.

It is impossible to feel the sweetness of good without constancy in goodness. For on the path to goodness there is first bitterness, and then sweetness.

All nature is full of lessons of permanence.

Whatever bad weather and humans do against plants and animals, they will again surprise people with their unshakable constancy in the fulfillment of the task given to them by God. As long as a cut or mowed blade of grass has enough strength to grow again, it will grow. And as long as a wounded and lonely animal has at least a little strength to live, it will live and do its duty.

All human daily life is full of lessons of constancy. Only with the help of constancy does the warrior achieve victory, the artisan - perfection in his craft, the merchant - riches, the priest - the correction of morals in his parish. Constancy perfects the man of prayer to the level of a saint; constancy reveals to the artist the inner beauty of the object; Constancy helps the scientist to discover rules and laws in the relations between objects. Even the most talented child will never learn to write if he does not constantly practice penmanship; And a person with the most beautiful voice will never become a good singer without exercises in singing. Look: we are accustomed to reminding others of constancy every day, and we are accustomed to being reminded by others of constancy in our ordinary household chores. Constancy is probably the only virtue of which no one doubts, and which every one advises to acquire. But all this constancy in deeds, which we hear about every day, is only our school for inner constancy in the spiritual realm. All the outward constancy in the polishing and cultivation of things, in the accumulation of riches, knowledge, and skills, is only an image of that gigantic constancy which we must have in the polishing and cultivation of our heart, in the nourishment and enrichment of our soul, our inner imperishable and immortal man. The Holy Scriptures, finally, with each of their pages, teach us constancy in the spiritual life; teaches us both in words and in the greatest examples of human constancy and impermanence. Two terrible examples of inconstancy in good are shown in Adam, the forefather of the human race, and in Judas, first an apostle and then a traitor. Both were placed by the mercy of God in the closest proximity to God: Adam was with God in paradise, Judas with Christ on earth. Both began with obedience to God and ended with treachery. Judas's fate is all the more terrible than Adam's, because he already had before him the example of Adam. Saul was also inconstant in the struggle, and therefore he was mad; Solomon was also unstable, and therefore his kingdom was divided. But what a wondrous and almost superhuman constancy Abraham displays in his faith in God! And Jacob in meekness! And Joseph in chastity! And David in repentance! And the righteous Job is patient! What a Divine example of constancy the Most Holy Virgin Mary in purity shows! And righteous Joseph in obedience to God! And the apostles in devotion to God and love of God! Truly, in the Holy Scriptures there are so many obvious and clear examples of how constancy in good deeds always triumphs and is crowned, that none of us who read it will be able to excuse ourselves, as if we did not know about it or were not taught about it. How could hundreds of thousands of saints, virgins and martyrs from the time of Christ to our days know about this, and we do not know? We know, but we do not have the determination to be permanent. And to know and not to have constancy in good means to incur increased condemnation upon oneself. Whoever does not know about the way of good, and therefore does not follow them, will be beaten little. But whoever knows this way and does not follow it will be beaten many.

The path to good goes uphill, and at first it is very difficult for one who is accustomed to walking on a plain or down a mountain. He who follows the path of good and returns will not be able to remain in the place from which he originally went up the mountain, but will fall much lower into darkness and the abyss. That is why the Lord says that no one is trustworthy for the Kingdom of God who puts his hand to the plough and looks back (Luke 9:62).

Today's Gospel reading tells of a beautiful example of constancy in faith and prayer, shown by an ordinary woman, and a pagan one at that. If only this example were to fall like a living fire on the conscience of all those who call themselves believers, but in faith and prayer are like a hard and cold stone!

And Jesus went out from thence, and withdrew to the countries of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, the Canaanite woman came out of those places, and cried out to Him, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is violently possessed. Where did Jesus come from? From Galilee, from the land of the people of Israel, descended from the blessed Shem. Where did He go? To the land where the Canaanites lived, the descendants of the accursed Ham. In this way, the Lord went out from the blessed and came to the damned. Why? For the blessed have forgotten God and become damned, and some of the damned have acknowledged God and obtained blessings. Having reproached the scribes and Pharisees for the formal observance of external rites and for the violation of God's commandments about mercy and reverence for parents, the Lord and His disciples withdrew into a pagan land.

Why does He come to the Gentiles, when He had previously commanded the disciples to go especially to the people of the house of Israel (Matthew 10:5-6)? First, as the all-wise Chrysostom says, no commandment given to His disciples binds Him. Secondly, He saw that the Jews rejected Him and foresaw that in the end they would reject Him completely. God is faithful to His promise: He promised through the prophets to send a Savior to the Jewish people. God has done this. But the Jewish people rejected the Saviour through their leaders. But since God is rich in the ways of realizing His economy, the work of salvation was not delayed by this rejection of Christ by the Jews, much less stopped. The Savior transgresses the boundaries of the Jewish people and goes to other nations. Consistent and faithful to His promise, the Lord sends His disciples first to the Jewish people; but after the crucifixion, the risen Christ sends them to all nations. And, finally, the third reason: the Lord wanted to once again shame the God-chosen and blessed people, showing them the faith of the pagans, in order to bring them to repentance and return them to God. The first time He did this was in Capernaum on the example of a Roman centurion, who, being a Roman, belonged to the tribe of Japheth, and who showed an example of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, the descendants of Japheth and Ham will be summoned by the King of Heaven to the royal feast, since the descendants of Shem, the elect and the first-called, refuse the invitation. This should have served as a warning and reproach. But all the same, the Jews persisted to the end, which is why they were rejected by the Rejected.

Look now how great is the faith of a pagan woman! She went out to meet the Lord, she called Him Lord and the Son of David. Without a doubt, she had heard about Christ the Wonderworker, for the rumor about Him spread among the peoples neighboring the Jews. And now she knew that He had come to those parts. And she rushed to Him with joy and great faith. According to the description of the Evangelist Mark, the Lord entered one house, because He did not want anyone to know about Him.