Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) Secret eating is the eating of food in solitude in order to hide one's intemperance. Misappropriation (from Ts. — slav. m'shelъ — profit) — the acquisition of things that are unnecessary for a given person.

Is it true that if the Lord wants to punish a person, He takes away reason?

Hieromonk Job (Gumerov)  

The thought given in the letter belongs to the realm of Hellenic pagan wisdom. It is first encountered in a fragment of a tragedy by an unknown ancient Greek author that has come down to us: "When the Deity prepares misfortune for a person, it first of all takes away from him the mind with which he reasons." There is a Latin version: "Quos Deus perdere vult dementat prius" (Whom God wants to destroy, he first deprives of reason).

The words of an unknown Greek poet, quoted by the Athenian orator Lycurgus (390-324 B.C.) in his speech against Leocrates, help to understand the idea contained in this aphorism correctly: "When the wrath of the gods befalls a man, the deity first of all deprives him of common sense and gives a perverse direction to his thoughts, so that he does not realize his mistakes." As we can see, there is no reason for any mental illness to apply this saying. The punishment does not consist in the fact of deprivation of reason, but in the fact that, having lost reason, a person can take some wrong step that leads him to death.

The simple opposition of people to the rational and the devoid of reason, characteristic of pagan philosophy, was completely overcome in Christianity. The divinely revealed religion of the New Testament does not set reason as the measure of everything, but holiness, which is accessible to all: the sick and the healthy, the reasonable and the unwise. The Holy Scriptures clearly and definitely distinguish the state of absence (or weakening) of reason as illness and madness, as a blind and reckless denial of God. The text of the 13th and 52nd Psalms convinces us that the Word of God's foolishness is identified with godlessness: "He is a fool in his heart: There is no God" (Psalm 52:1). The state in which most people live is truly tragic.

A spiritual or mental illness that befalls a person who lives with faith is not a tragedy, but a cross. It is especially difficult for the people closest to him. It is necessary to treat this with full confidence in the Divine will, unshakably believing that it leads to salvation, both for the sick himself and for relatives who show active Christian love. Hidden from us in the Wisdom of God is that which is known only to the Lord. Relatives must realize that the illness of a loved one is a test of their Christian virtues and a spiritual school, without which it is difficult to be saved.

It is necessary to regularly commune such a person, take him to church, and help him in his prayer life. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the patience of Christ (2 Thess. 3:5).

Why is intimacy between people who love each other considered a mortal sin?

Hieromonk Job (Gumerov)  

First of all, it is necessary to clearly understand what sin is and why Divine revelation classifies fornication and adultery among the mortal sins. The Lord God created the world perfect and laid down laws to maintain this primordial harmony. If people violate the laws of the physical world, there are disastrous consequences, ranging from injuries and injuries to large-scale disasters like the Chernobyl accident. Laws are also given to the spiritual world. There is no chaos there. And when, in conditions of mass disbelief, the majority of people do not know and do not want to know the laws of the invisible world, a spiritual Chernobyl arises, the destructive consequences of which we are witnessing. Statistics reveal to us only certain aspects of this tragedy. In our country, about 5 million people suffer from drug addiction. Every year, 6.5 million women kill their babies by having abortions. About 3 million people commit crimes in the country every year. More than 80 thousand murders occur per year. 80% of marriages end in divorce. There are 5 million homeless children in Russia. According to the results of a study conducted by the World Health Organization, "Health Behavior of School-Age Children", more than 40% of adolescents in our country aged 13-15 are already sexually active.

An external crime is preceded by an internal state of sinfulness. Generally speaking, any transgression of God's commandments is a sin: Whoever commits sin also commits iniquity; and sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4). The divine word not only reveals to us the nature of sin, but also enumerates the most egregious and dangerous of them. Why is fornication included in this list? Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortioners, will inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). People who lead a sexual life without marriage pervert the Divine plan for a grace-filled life union. The Lord blesses this union: "What God has joined together, let not man put asunder" (Matt. 19:6). That is why the holy Apostle Paul so persistently exhorts: We beseech and beseech you through Christ Jesus, that having received from us how you ought to act and please God, you may be more successful in this, for you know what commandments we have given you from the Lord Jesus. For the will of God is your sanctification, that you abstain from fornication; so that each one of you may know how to keep his vessel in holiness and honor, and not in the passion of lust, like the pagans, who do not know God (1 Thessalonians 4:1-5).

The sin of fornication is by its nature equivalent to the transgression of Adam, which damaged human nature. "It is obvious that the forefathers, having disobeyed God and bowed down in obedience to the devil, made themselves strangers to God, made themselves slaves of the devil. The death promised to them for the transgression of the commandment immediately seized them: the Holy Spirit, who dwelt in them, departed from them. They were left to their own nature, infected with sinful poison. This poison was imparted to human nature by the devil from his corrupt nature, full of sin and death" (Ignatius (Brianchaninov), St. Discourse on Man).

The Holy Fathers call any mortal sin (including fornication) a serious illness. Just as a deadly bodily illness suffered by a person weakens a person's physical health, so a mortal sin seriously undermines the ego's spiritual health. Mortal sin inevitably injures the soul and leaves scars. Such a person, even after repentance and mercy brought to God, finds it difficult to build a spiritual life. He painfully feels inner weakness. In the words of St. John Chrysostom: "In the New Testament [the sin of fornication] received a new gravity, because human bodies received a new dignity. They have become members of the body of Christ, and the transgressor of purity already brings dishonor to Christ, dissolves unity with Him. The adulterer is punished with spiritual death, the Holy Spirit departs from him."