Do not be afraid, little flock! for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give alms. Prepare for yourselves vaginas that do not decay, a treasure that does not fail in heaven, where the thief does not approach and where the moth does not devour: for where your treasure is, there will your heart also be. 

The Lord calls those who wish to be His disciples "a little flock" either because there are very few saints in this world because of the required arbitrary poverty and lack of acquisitiveness, or because they are fewer than the Angels, whose hosts are innumerable and incomparably exceed the number of us. And that there are many more angels is evident from the parable in which the Lord said that the shepherd rejoices more over one who has gone astray and is found again than over ninety-nine who are not lost (Luke 15:7). For from this it can be seen that as one belongs to the ninety-nine, so does the human race to the angelic world. "Do not be afraid," he says, "of the little flock," that is, do not doubt that God will provide for you, even though you do not care for yourself. Why? Because the Father was pleased to give you the Kingdom. If He gives the Kingdom, how much more will He give earthly things. Therefore, do not think that if you do not assimilate poverty to yourself, there will be no Providence for you, but sell your possessions, give alms, and make your treasure inexhaustible. Then he convinces us with indisputable conclusions. Here," he says, "the moth eats, but in the sky it does not. Is it not madness, then, to store treasure in a place where it is damaged? Then, because the moth does not eat gold. He added, "Where the thief does not approach." For if the moth does not eat the gold, the thief steals it. Then, since not everyone is robbed, He adds an even greater and completely irrefutable foundation. "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." "Let it be," he says, "that the moth will not eat it, and the thief will not come near, but the very enslavement of the heart to the treasure buried in the ground, and the casting into the ground of the godlike being of what soul, is worthy of punishment? How much more is the punishment (offered) to him who has understanding? Where your treasure is, there is your heart. If the treasure is in the earth, then the heart is in it; if the treasure is in heaven, then the heart is woe. Who would not rather be woe than underground, to be an angel than a mole living in subterranean holes?

     Let your loins be girded up, and your lamps burning. And be like men who wait for their lord to return from his marriage, so that when he comes and knocks, he may immediately open it to him. Blessed are those servants whom the lord comes, and finds watching; Verily I say unto you, he shall gird himself up, and sit them down, and when he cometh near, he shall minister to them: and if he come to the second watch, and come to the third watch, and thus find them, blessed are those servants. You know that if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief would come, he would have been awake and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. Be ye also ready, for at an hour when you do not think the Son of Man will come.

     The Lord, having made His disciple free from superfluous things, having abolished him from all worldly cares and arrogance, and thus making him light, makes him already a servant. For whoever wishes to serve must be easy and quick. Therefore He says: "Let your loins be girded up," that is, you must always be ready for the works of your Lord, and "the lamps burn," that is, do not live in darkness and without reasoning, but let the light of reason show you all that you should and should not do. Thus, this world is night. Girded on the loins are those who lead an active life. For such is the clothing of the workers. They also need burning lamps. For in an active life it is also necessary to have the gift of reasoning, that is, that the actor should be able to discern not only what should be done, but also how he should be done. For many have done good, but have not done well. These, although they were girded around their loins, because they worked, did not have burning lamps, that is, they did not have rational reasoning, but fell either into pride or into another abyss of madness. And to note that first our loins are girded, then the lamps are kindled. For first there is activity, then contemplation, which is the illumination of our mind. For the lamp, our mind, is then called burning when the light of God shines in it. Therefore, let us carefully exercise ourselves in virtue, so that we may have both our lamps burning, that is, the inner word and the spoken word, the inner one that illumines everything in the soul, and what is spoken that shines on the tongue. For the inner lamp enlightens us, and the word of instruction and utterance shines on others. "And we must be like men waiting for their master to return from marriage. Who else is this Lord but Christ Jesus? He, taking on human nature as a bride and uniting it with Himself, created marriage, cleaving to it in one flesh. And He does not create one marriage, but many, for in heaven He daily deprives Himself of the souls of the saints, whom Paul or someone like Paul presents to him as pure virgins (2 Corinthians 11:2). He returns from the heavenly marriage, perhaps openly before all, at the end of the universe, when He comes from heaven in the glory of the Father, or perhaps invisibly and unexpectedly appearing at all times, at the death of each in particular. Blessed is he, then, whom He finds girded up at the loins, that is, ready to serve God as an active part of Christian wisdom, and having a burning lamp of word and reasoning, not only doing good, but doing it well, and moreover accepting contemplation as a kind of lamp. For through the girdle of our loins the lamp of contemplation also becomes burning, and even two lamps, the inner and the outward. - For such a servant, the Lord himself becomes a servant. For it is said, "And he shall sit them down, and when he comes, he shall minister to them." God girds Himself, because He does not exude all the fullness of good things to us, but restrains it. For who can contain God as He is? This is also seen in the Seraphim, who are covered by the superiority of the Divine light (Isaiah 6:2). He puts good servants on the bed, that is, He calms everyone in everything. For just as he who lies on a bed calms the whole body, so at the future coming all the saints will be calmed in all respects. Here they find no rest for the body, but there, together with their souls, their bodies, spiritual and divine, having inherited incorruption, will enjoy perfect rest, and God will be all in all of them (1 Cor. 15:28). The Lord will "serve" the worthy (servants), giving them equally. As they served Him, so He will serve them, offering them a bountiful meal and giving them the enjoyment of spiritual gifts. "By the 'second and third watches' you can mean different times of our lives. Let me explain with an example. Just as he who does not sleep during the second and third watches is considered the most vigilant, for these hours of the night especially give people sleep, and the first sleep: so understand, perhaps, that even in the various states of our life there are times which, if we find ourselves awake in them, make us blessed. Has anyone stolen your possessions? Have your children died? Has anyone slandered you? If in such circumstances you find yourself vigilant before God and the Lord, and do not allow yourself to do anything contrary to His commandments, then He has truly found you to be vigilant "in the second and third watch," that is, in a time of trouble, in which negligent souls fall and fall asleep in the sleep of death. So, it is necessary to be awake. For we are like the master of the house. If he does not sleep, the thief cannot steal anything from his possessions; if he is sleepy, then the thief will take everything and leave. Some here understand the thief as the devil, by the house the soul, and by the owner of the house as a man. However, such an understanding does not seem to fit the connection of speech. Here the coming of the Lord is likened to the thief, because of his unexpectedness, as one of the apostles says: "The day of the Lord is like a thief in the night" (2 Pet. 3:10). And here, see how the Lord explains who a thief is. "Be ye ready, then," he says, "for at an hour when you do not think, the Son of Man will come." - Some say that by those who watch in the first watch are meant those who are more attentive than others, by those who watch in the second watch are those who yield to them, and by those who watch in the third watch are those who are lower than these. And others explained to the guards about different ages: the first about youth, the second about courage, and the third about old age. Blessed therefore is he who, at whatever age, is found to be vigilant, and not careless about virtue.

     Тогда сказал Ему Петр: Господа! к нам ли притчу сию говоришь, или и ко всем? Господь же сказал: кто верный и благоразумный домоправитель, которого господин поставил над слугами своими раздавать им в своё время меру хлеба? Блажен раб тот, которого господин его, придя, найдет поступающим так. Истинно говорю вам, что над всем имением своим поставит его. 

Петр, как обо всех заботящийся и по братолюбию ревнующий о пользе слушателей и как получивший уже Церковь в свое доверие, спросил (Господа): ко всем ли Он говорит эту притчу. Господь ясно не отвечает ему на вопрос, а прикровенно показывает, что хотя сказанная притча обща и простирается на всех верующих, кто бы они ни были, но относится и к вам - апостолам и вообще удостоенным учительства или предстоятельства. Слушай. "Кто верный и благоразумный домоправитель". Вышесказанная притча, - говорит, - многим прилична, а теперь говорит о тех, которые удостоены предстоятельства: недоумеваю, кто окажется имеющим то и другое, то есть верность и благоразумие. Ибо таковые редки, и трудно находить их.

Ибо я знаю многих, которые, по-видимому, и усердны к добродетели, и богобоязливы, и имеют веру, но, поскольку не могли благоразумно распоряжаться церковными делами, повредили не только имению, но и душам. Например, если кто впадет в духовное преступление, но предстоятель не будет благоразумен, а будет иметь только веру, то есть добродетель бессознательную, то падший может потерпеть вред или от непомерной строгости, или от неуместной кротости его, и не уврачуется, но сокрушится. Итак, кто будет найден верным и благоразумным, тот поставлен будет над слугами Господа, то есть над всеми рабами Его, чтобы каждому в свое время раздавать определенную меру хлеба, то есть или догматическое учение, которым питаются души, или образец деятельности и начертание, как должно жить. Если он будет найден поступающим так, то блажен, и Господь поставит его "над всем имением своим", не только над рабами, но и над всем поставит его, удостоив его высшей степени, так что ему будет покоряться земное и небесное, каковы были, например, Иисус Навин и Илия. Один из них повелевал солнцу, а другой - облакам небесным (Нав. 10, 12; 3 Цар. 17, 1). Да и все вообще святые как друзья Божии, пользуются достоянием своего Друга. И у друзей обыкновенно все бывает общее (Деян. 4, 32). И всякий, кто при безмятежной жизни упражняется в деятельной добродетели и подчиняет себе рабские страсти - гнев и похотение, давая каждой из них в свое время определенную меру пищи, гневу, например, ненависть к ненавидящим Господа и раздражение против врагов Его (Пс. 138, 21), похотению - заботу только о необходимом для плоти, а всецелое устремление - к Богу, всякий таковой блажен: он достигнет и созерцания, и будет поставлен над всем имением (сущим у) Господа он удостоится созерцательным умом зреть и наблюдать все, не только существующее не само по себе, но и то, что в собственном смысле существует, то есть вечно.