Let the life of a priest be the most vicious; but if you are attentive to yourself, you will not suffer any harm in what God has entrusted to him. If the Lord made a donkey speak and through the sorcerer granted spiritual blessings; if, therefore, both through the dumb mouth of the ass and through the unclean tongue of Balaam, He worked for the ungrateful Jews, how much more for you, if you are grateful, He will do all that is necessary on His part, and send down the Holy Spirit, even though the priests are extremely wicked. For even the pure (priest) does not attract the Holy Spirit by his own purity; but grace does everything. "For all things are yours," it is said, "whether they are Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas" (1 Cor. 3:22). Everything that is entrusted to the priest is the only gift of God; and no matter how much human wisdom succeeds, it will always be below that grace. I say this not so that we carelessly dispose of our lives, but so that you, subordinates, seeing the negligence of any of the primates, do not multiply evil for yourselves on this occasion. But what do I say about priests? Neither angel nor archangel can have any effect on what is given by God: here everything is arranged by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and the priest only lends his tongue and stretches out his hand. And it would be unjust if, because of the depravity of another person, those who approach the symbols of our salvation with faith suffer harm. Therefore, knowing all this, let us also fear God and respect His priests, giving them every honor, so that we may receive a great reward from God both for our good deeds and for respect for them, according to the grace and love of humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, with Whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory, dominion, honor, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

CONVERSATION 87

"But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Twin, was not there with them when Jesus came. The other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said unto them, Except I see, I will not believe" (John 20:24-25)

1. Just as to believe simply and indiscriminately is the work of light-mindedness, so to test and investigate more than is necessary is the work of an extremely stubborn mind. That is why Thomas is also reproached. When the apostles said to him: "We have seen the Lord," he did not believe, not so much because he distrusted them, but because he considered this work, that is, the resurrection from the dead, impossible. He did not say, "I do not believe you," but, "I will not put my hand in His side, I will not believe." But why, while all were gathered, was he not alone? Probably, he had not yet returned from the former dispersion. And you, when you see this disciple as an unbeliever, think about the love for humanity of the Lord, Who even for the sake of one soul shows Himself in wounds, and comes also for the salvation of one, although more stubborn than others. In fact, Thomas sought confirmation for himself by means of the crudest feeling, and could not even believe his eyes. He did not say, "If I do not see," but, "If I do not touch, to know if it is not a phantom that I see." Without a doubt, the disciples who proclaimed were already worthy of faith, as was Himself, who promised it; nevertheless, since Thomas sought more for himself, Christ did not refuse him even this.

Why does He appear to him not immediately, but eight days later? In order that Thomas, heeding the convictions of his disciples during this time and hearing the same thing, would be inflamed with a great desire and become more firm in his faith for the future. But how did he know that the ribs were also pierced? I heard this from the disciples. Why did he believe this, and not believe that? Because it was a completely unusual and miraculous event. But note the love of truth of the apostles: they do not conceal the shortcomings of either their own or others, but describe them with all truth. So Jesus appears again, and does not wait until (Thomas) asks Him or says anything of the kind, but before he has said anything, he fulfills his wish, showing that He was with the disciples while (Thomas) was talking to them. He used the same words, strongly rebuking him and admonishing him for the future. Saying, "Put thy finger hither, and see my hands; Give thy hand and put it into my side; and thou shalt not be unbelieving, but believing," he added, "and thou shalt not be unbelieving, but believing" (v. 27). Do you see that doubt came from unbelief? But this was before they received the Holy Spirit; but after that, they were not so: they were already perfect. And not only with these words did Christ reproach, but also with further ones. When Thomas, having ascertained himself, calmed down and exclaimed: "My Lord and my God!" - Christ said: "You believed, because you saw Me; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed" (v. 28, 29). Faith, indeed, consists in accepting the invisible: "Faith is the fulfillment of things hoped for, and the assurance of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1). And here He calls blessed not only the disciples, but also those who will believe after them. But the disciples, you say, saw and believed? However, they did not demand anything of the kind, but immediately received the word of the resurrection from the burial shrouds, and before they saw Christ Himself, they had already shown full faith. And so, if anyone at the present time says: how I would like to live in those times and see Christ working miracles! – let him think that "blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed." In this case, one can justly be perplexed as to how the incorruptible body had nail wounds on it, and how it was possible to touch it with a mortal hand. But do not be embarrassed: this was a matter of condescension. The body, so thin and light that it entered through the closed doors (v. 26), was evidently devoid of all debility; but Christ shows him in this way in order to assure him of the resurrection and teach that it was He who was crucified, and not another who rose in His place. For this reason He rose again, having the signs of the cross on Himself; therefore He also eats food. And the Apostles very often presented this as a testimony of the resurrection, saying: "Those who ate and drank with Him" (Acts 10:41). For just as before His crucifixion we see Him walking on the waves, and yet we do not say that His body was of a nature other than ours, so after His resurrection, when we see the wounds on Him, we will not call Him corruptible, because He showed them to the disciple. "Jesus did many other miracles before his disciples" (v. 30). Since this Evangelist said less than the others, he says that all the others did not say everything, but as much as was necessary to attract the hearers to the faith. And if, he says, all things were described, then I think that the world would not contain books (John 21:25).

2. From this it is evident that they did not speak of the miracles they described out of boasting, but only for profit. And how is it possible for them to describe out of boasting, when most of them have been omitted? But why didn't they tell about everyone? Mainly by their multitude; then they also thought that whoever did not believe what was said would not believe more, and whoever accepted it would need nothing more to be confirmed in the faith. However, it seems to me that here (the Evangelist) speaks only of the signs that occurred after the resurrection, which is why he remarks: "before His disciples" (v. 30). Just as before the resurrection many miracles were needed in order to believe that Christ is the Son of God, so after the resurrection – in order to be convinced that He was resurrected. That is why He added: "before His disciples", since after the resurrection He dealt only with them, which is why He said: "The world will see Me no more" (John 14:19). Then, that thou mayest know that all these things were done only for the sake of the disciples, he adds, "And believing, they had life in his name," v. 31. Here He addresses His speech to men in general, and shows that He did not speak of it for the sake of Him in whom we believe, but chiefly for our own benefit. "In His name," that is, through Him, because He is "life" (John 14:6). "After these things Jesus appeared again to His disciples by the Sea of Tiberias" (John 21:1). Do you see that He doesn't deal with them all the time, and not as He used to? He appeared in the evening, and disappeared; then – once more, after eight days, and again he hid himself; then now – at sea, and again with great fear. But what does it mean, "appeared"? From this it is evident that if He had not descended, He would not have been visible, since His body was already incorruptible and immortal. And why did he mention the place? To show that Christ had delivered them from their excessive fear, so that they went out of the house and went about everywhere. They no longer sat shut themselves up in the house, but, escaping the danger of the Jews, went to Galilee. And so Simon goes fishing. Since Christ was not constantly with them, and the Holy Spirit had not yet been given to them, and they were then left without any commission, then, having nothing to do, they turned to their providence. "There were with Simon Peter, and Thomas, and Nathanael," who had been called by Philip, "and the sons of Zebedee, and two others" (v. 2). As I say they had nothing to do, they went fishing, and did it at night, because they were afraid. Luke also speaks of fishing (5:1-10), but he does not mean this event, but something else. The rest of the disciples went (after Peter), since they were no longer separated from each other, but at the same time they wanted to see the fishing and use their free time usefully. So they work, and when they are tired, Jesus appears to them, but He does not immediately reveal Himself, but first enters into conversation with them. He says to them, "Have you any food" (v. 5)? He enters into conversation in a completely human way, as if intending to buy something from them. When they replied that they had nothing, He commanded them to throw to the right: they threw and received the catch. And when they recognized Him, the disciples Peter and John again revealed the peculiarities of their characters. The former was more ardent, and this one was more exalted; the one is faster, and the other is more perceptive. Therefore John was the first to recognize Jesus, and Peter was the first to go to Him, for the signs were not small. Which ones? First, a great deal of fish was caught; then, the darkness did not break; Further, they found the coals ready, and "the fire set up, and the fish and bread lying on it" (v. 9) before they reached the shore. Now Christ no longer created from a ready-made substance, as He had created before. So Peter, as soon as he knew Him, threw away everything, both fish and fish, and girded himself. Do you see both reverence and love? Although the disciples were two hundred cubits away, yet Peter did not want to wait until he came in the ship, but hurried to swim. What about Jesus? "Come," he said, "dine." "No one dared to ask Him" (v. 12). Now they no longer had their usual boldness, they did not dare as before, and did not address Him with speech, but in silence, with great fear and reverence, they sat and looked at Him. They knew "that this is the Lord" (v. 12), and therefore they did not ask, "Who art thou?" Seeing the changed face, full of extraordinary majesty, they were very much astonished, and would like to ask something about it; but fear and the realization that it was not someone else, but HIM. they restrained them from questioning, and they only ate what He had created by His high power. Here He no longer looks to heaven and does not do anything human, as He did before, showing that even then this was done out of condescension. And that He did not constantly and not in the same way as before, the Evangelist says:

"This is the third time that Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection from the dead" (v. 14). Christ commands that a part of the fish be brought, in order to show that what they see is not a ghost. However, it does not say here that He Himself ate with them, but Luke in another place says of Him: "And He took it, and ate before them" (Luke 24:43). and he also ate with them (Acts 10:41) How it was, we cannot say. Without a doubt, this happened in some miraculous way, not because nature was still in need, but out of condescension, in order to prove the resurrection.

3. Hearing this, you may have been inflamed, and called blessed those who have dealt with him, as well as those who will be in communion with him on the day of the general resurrection. Let us use all means to behold His wondrous face. If now, when we only hear of this, we are so inflamed, and would like to live in the days when He also lived on earth, to hear His voice, to see His face, to come to Him, to touch Him, and to serve Him, then consider what it means to see Him, when He is no longer in a mortal body, and does not act in a human way, but is carried by angels, when we ourselves will be in an immortal body and, contemplating Him, we will enjoy other bliss that surpass every word. Therefore, I beseech you, let us do our best not to lose such glory. And there is nothing difficult in this, if only we will, nothing burdensome, if we are attentive: "If we endure, we will also reign with Him" (2 Tim. 2:12). What does it mean: "endure"? If we endure sorrows, persecutions, if we walk the narrow path. The narrow path is difficult in itself, but our determination and hope for the future make it easy. "For our slight suffering for a short time produces eternal glory in an immeasurable abundance, when we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen: for the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). Therefore, let us lift up our eyes to heaven and let us constantly imagine and contemplate the things there. If we always keep this in mind, then the pleasures here will not be attractive to us, and the sorrows will not be burdensome. We will laugh at this and like, and nothing will be able to enslave or puff us up, if only we strive there with our desire and look at that love. And what do I say: let us not grieve in the present calamities? We will not even notice them: such is the property of love. Whom we love and who is not with us, but far from us, is exactly what we imagine every day. Great, indeed, is the power of love: it removes the soul from everything and binds it to the beloved object. If we love Christ so much, then everything here will seem to us a shadow, everything will only be a sign and a dream. Then we also will say: "Who shall separate us from the love of God, tribulation or distress?"

(Romans 8:35)? He did not say: property, wealth, beauty, since all these are extremely insignificant and contemptible, but pointed out what is done with grievous things - hunger, persecution, death. He despised this as nothing, and we are separated from our lives and removed from the world because of money. Paul prefers love for Him to death, and life, and the present, and the future, and to every creature in general; but we, as soon as we see a little gold, are immediately inflamed and trample on the laws of Christ. If it is unpleasant to hear about this, then it is all the less necessary to endure it in practice. But the trouble is that when we hear this, we are horrified, and when we do, we are not terrified, on the contrary, we swear lightly, and break oaths, and predge, and demand interest, and neglect chastity, and abandon diligent prayer, and transgress most of the commandments, and for the sake of money we pay no attention to our fellows. Yes, whoever is addicted to wealth causes a thousand evils to his neighbor, and with him to himself. He is easily irritated, reviled, calls a freak, swears, transgresses his oath, and does not even observe what the Old Testament law prescribes. Whoever loves riches will not even love his neighbor, and yet we are commanded to love our enemies for the sake of the kingdom. And if we, by fulfilling the ancient commandments, cannot reach the kingdom of heaven, "unless our righteousness" "surpasses" them (Matthew 5:20), then, transgressing them also, how will we receive justification? A person who is partial to wealth will not only not love his enemies, but will also look upon his friends as enemies.

4. What am I talking about friends? Those who are addicted to wealth often do not recognize nature itself. Such a person knows no kinship, no acquaintance, no age, no friend, but he shows hostility to everyone, and most of all to himself, not only because he destroys his soul, but also because he burdens himself with innumerable cares, labors, and sorrows. He resolves to travel, is exposed to troubles, dangers, intrigues, and the like, if only to have the root of evil and count a lot of gold. What could be more terrible than such a disease! A person who is obsessed with it renounces both luxury and all pleasures, because of which people sin so much, and deprives himself of glory and honor. He who loves wealth suspects everyone and has a multitude of accusers, envious people, slanderers and malefactors. Those who are offended by him hate him, because they have suffered evil from him; those who have not yet suffered anything take up arms against him, out of fear of suffering and out of sympathy for the victims; and finally, great and powerful people, partly out of indignation against him out of compassion for the inferior, and partly out of envy, also become his enemies and hate him. But what do I say about people? Against whom God Himself is armed, what hope remains, what consolation, what consolation? He who is addicted to wealth will never be able to use it; he shall be his servant and watchman, but not his master. Trying to always increase it, he will never want to spend it, but will exhaust himself. will be poorer than all the poor, because he will never satisfy his passion. And money does not exist in order to save it, but in order to use it. But if we begin to bury them from others, can there be anything more pitiful than we are, when we run everywhere and try to seize everything in order to lock it up in our own house and remove it from common use? There is, however, another ailment, no less than this. Some bury money in the ground, and others squander it for the belly, for luxury and drunkenness, and thus, together with the punishment for unrighteousness, they bring upon themselves the punishment for voluptuousness. Some use them for idlers and flatterers, others for games and harlots, and still others for other similar needs, and thus make for themselves innumerable paths leading to hell, and leave for themselves the straight and lawful path that leads to heaven, while this path is not only profitable, but also more pleasant than those paths. Whoever gives to harlots becomes ridiculous and shameful; he will have many quarrels, but the pleasure is brief, or rather, he will not even receive a brief one. No matter how much he gives to rejected women, they will not be grateful to him in the least: "A stranger's house is a drilled vessel" (Prov. 23:27). Moreover, this generation is shameless, and Solomon likened the love of such a woman to hell. She only calms down when she sees her lover no longer having anything. It is better to say that even then it does not calm down, but exalts itself even more, tramples on the lying man, gives him over to great ridicule, and does him so much harm that it is impossible to describe. Such is not the pleasure of those who are saved. Here no one has a rival in love, but everyone rejoices and rejoices – both those who prosper and those who look at them. Neither anger, nor sorrow, nor shame, nor reproach trouble the soul of such a person; on the contrary, there is great peace of conscience and great hope for the future, bright glory and great honor, full favor of God and security. There is not a single cliff and no danger, on the contrary, there is a shelter and silence inaccessible to the waves. Imagining all this and comparing one pleasure with another, let us choose the best for ourselves, so that we may be worthy of future blessings, according to the grace and love of humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

[1] That is, it is worn on spears (Greek "doros"). There was a custom of carrying the victorious commanders in a special way with the help of spears for glorification.

CONVERSATION 88

"And as they were supper, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon Jonah! Do you love Me more than they do? [Peter] said to Him, "Yes, Lord! You know I love You. [Jesus] saith unto him, Feed my lambs" (John 21:15)

1. Many other things can give us boldness before God, and make us glorious and honorable; but above all, we gain favor from above by caring for our neighbors. This is what Christ requires of Peter. As the disciples' meal was finished, "Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon Jonah! Do you love Me more than they do? [Peter] said to Him, "Yes, Lord! You know I love You. [Jesus] said to him, 'Feed my lambs' (vv. 15-16) Why, in addition to the other disciples, does he talk to Peter about this? Because he was chosen from among the apostles, the mouth of the disciples, the supreme one in their countenance, which is why Paul also once came to see him primarily before others. At the same time, Christ entrusts him with the care of the brethren in order to show that from now on he must have boldness, since his renunciation has been consigned to oblivion. He does not remember his renunciation and does not blame him for what has happened; but He says, If you love Me, then take care of the brethren; show now that ardent love which you have always shown and which you have been comforted by; Give your life, which you promised to lay down for me, for my sheep. Being questioned for the first and second time, Peter called as witnesses the Knower of the innermost secrets of the heart. And when he was afterwards questioned a third time, he was troubled, fearing that the same thing as before might happen again, for even then he spoke with confidence, but the consequences refuted him. Therefore, he again runs to Christ and says: "You know, that is, both the present and the future." Do you see how he has corrected himself and become more reasonable? He no longer persists in his opinion and does not contradict. That was why he was embarrassed. Perhaps I only think that I love, but in fact I do not love, as before I thought a lot about myself and spoke with confidence, but the consequences refuted me. And three times Christ asks him and three times commands him the same thing, in order to show how highly He values the care of His sheep, and that this is especially a sign of love for Him. Having told him about His love for Himself, Christ also predicts to him the martyrdom to which he will be subjected, and thereby shows that what He said to him did not speak out of distrust of him, but on the contrary, out of complete confidence in him, wishing to show an example of love for Himself and to teach us how we should love Him in the first place. Wherefore He says, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou didst gird thyself and went whither thou wilt; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you up, and lead you whither you will not" (v. 18). There is no doubt that Peter himself wanted and desired this, and therefore Christ announced it to him. He repeatedly said: "I will lay down my life for Thee" (John 13:37), and: "Though I should die with Thee, I will not deny Thee" (Matt. 26:35); therefore Christ arranged it according to his will. Christ speaks here of the property of nature, of the necessary law of the flesh, of the fact that the soul is reluctant to depart from the body, so that, even though the intention be firm, nature reveals itself. No one parts with the body without suffering, and this God has arranged, as I have said before, for the sake of benefit, so that there may be few violent deaths. For if even at the same time the devil succeeds in inducing suicide and leads very many to rapids and abysses, then, if such were not the love of the soul for the body, many would immediately rush to this even from the most insignificant sorrow. So the words, "whither thou wilt" signify natural love. Why does Christ, having said: "When you were young," then says: "And when you are old"? By this he shows that Peter was no longer young, as is true, but not old, but of perfect age. Why did he remind him of his former life? To show that such are His works. In the affairs of life, a young man is useful, and an old man is useless; but in My works, he says, it is not so: on the contrary, with the onset of old age, valor is more brilliant and courage more glorious, meeting no obstacles from age. And this he said not in order to frighten, but in order to inspire, because He knew his desire, knew that he had long ardently striven for this good. At the same time, Christ also points here to the image of his death. Since Peter always wanted to be in danger for Him, He says, "Be calm, I will fulfill your desire, so that what you did not suffer in your youth, you will suffer in your old age." Further, the Evangelist, stirring up the listener, added: "And he said this, giving it to be understood by what death [Peter] would glorify God" (v. 19). He did not say, "He will die," but, "He will glorify God, so that you may know that suffering for Christ is the glory and honor of the sufferer." "And having said these things, he saith unto him, Follow me." Here again Christ points to His care for him and to His great disposition towards him. And if anyone asks: why did Jacob receive the throne of Jerusalem? – then I answer that Christ made Peter a teacher not for this throne, but for the universe. "And Peter turned, and saw a disciple coming after him, whom Jesus loved, and who at supper, bowing down to His breast, said, Lord! who will betray you?" (vv. 20-21).