January: Day 20: Teaching 2: Venerable Peter, Who Was a Publican

January: Day 20:* Teaching 2:
Venerable Peter, Who Was a Publican
 
(On the Motivations for Philanthropy)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Venerable Peter, whose memory is celebrated today, was at first a rich man, but unmerciful, and was not only deaf to the prayers of the poor who asked his help, but also cruel in his treatment of them. From such hardness the merciful God saved Peter in the following way.

One day, some beggars, talking among themselves about their benefactors, reproached the unmerciful Peter, from whom none of them had ever seen any alms. Then one of the beggars offered to ask the unmerciful rich man for alms, and for this purpose, stopping at the gate of his house, boldly and persistently asked Peter for alms when he was leaving the house with a lot of bread for the prince's house. Peter in anger looked for a stone to drive away the beggar, but not finding one, he grabbed the bread and threw it in the beggar's face, who picked up the bread and told his companions that he had received it from Peter himself. Two days later, Peter fell seriously ill and in a vision it seemed to him that he stood before a court where his deeds were being weighed. On the one hand he saw gloomy men collecting the sinful deeds of his life, on the other he saw light-bearing men standing in sorrow and not knowing what to put on the scales against the multitude of grave sins of the publican. Then one of the light-bearing men said that there is only one bread, which Peter gave in the person of a beggar to Christ and that involuntarily. Having put this bread on the scales, they saw that it outweighed all his evil deeds. The light-bearing angels said to Peter: "Go and add to this bread also alms, so as not to fall into the power of the devil and not be subjected to eternal torment." Coming to his senses, Peter thought: "If small and involuntary alms so contribute to deliverance from the powers of darkness, how much more can the work of doing good with zeal and generosity help." From that time on, he completely changed in his life – he began to distribute alms to the needy without meagerness, and not only to understand the holy feeling of Christian mercy, but also to live it and enjoy it.

Venerable Peter was even more strengthened in his exploits of philanthropy by a new circumstance and a new heavenly vision. One day he met a man naked and deprived of all his property during a shipwreck. Venerable Peter immediately took off his expensive outer garment and gave it to the unfortunate man, who, ashamed to wear such clothing, sold it. It happened that the Saint saw his clothing hanging in the marketplace. He was deeply grieved, thinking that God did not want to accept his alms, but the following night in a night vision Venerable Peter saw Christ Himself, dressed in the very clothing that Peter had given to the beggar. After this vision, which convinced the Saint of the acceptability of alms given to the poor by God Himself, Venerable Peter decided on complete self-sacrifice. Having given away all his property and having set all his servants free, he left one of them, whom he persuaded to assume the guise of a master and sell him into slavery, to spend the money on the poor, and to give the servant his own freedom. And so the servant actually did at the insistence of his master. Having come to Jerusalem and having venerated the life-giving Tree, Venerable Peter sold himself into slavery to a Christian, for whom he had served for many years, performing all the work with humility and obedience, not wanting the freedom offered to him by his master. When he was finally recognized by the silver sellers who had come to Jerusalem, he immediately hid and remained unknown until the end of his life, continuing his feat in slavish humiliation and labor. For such a feat, the Holy Church canonized Venerable Peter and in his life shows us the power and importance of philanthropy, equally pleasing to God and saving in small and great measures.

II. Therefore, "do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased" (Heb. 13:16).

A Christian has many motivations to do good to his neighbors.

a) The first impulse is the awareness that by doing good to the poor, you are doing good to Christ Himself, as we saw in the life of the Venerable Peter. If the Lord Himself is pleased to accept our meager offerings in the person of the poor and needy, then what could be higher and more effective than this impulse to provide charitable assistance to those in need in every possible way?

b) The second motivation is the height of the virtue of philanthropy. “It is good in all respects to give to the poor: besides pardon at the Last Judgment, and here on earth, almsgivers often receive great favors from their neighbors, and what others get for a lot of money, they are given for free. Indeed, the most philanthropic, most righteous and most generous Heavenly Father, whose children are merciful to the merciful, will He not reward them here as well, to encourage them to greater deeds or at least to continue the same deeds of mercy and to correct the unmerciful, who mock the merciful? He will reward them both worthily and justly.”

c) Gifts, scattered in abundance throughout the world, also inspire the idea of philanthropy and dispose one to it.

"Looking at the world of God, we see everywhere the extraordinary generosity of God in the gifts of nature: the surface of the earth is like the richest meal, prepared in abundance and variety by the most loving and generous host: the bowels of the waters also serve to nourish man. What can we say about four-legged animals and birds? And here – how much generosity is there in the delivery of food and clothing to man? The bounties of the Lord are innumerable. See what the earth does not deliver in summer and autumn! Thus, every Christian, imitate the mercies of the Lord, let your table be open to everyone, as the table of the Lord."

d) But, without a doubt, the most disposing factors in the soul of a Christian to compassion and beneficence are the blessings of God, revealed to us for our salvation: redemption from sin, damnation and death through the sufferings of the cross, the communication of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, our deification by the most pure flesh and blood in the Mystery of Communion.

“Should we not, according to His will, share that which serves to support our soul and body: our mind, our knowledge, our material property with our neighbors, while He Himself promised us not a depletion, but an increase in the talents entrusted to us and returned by us? 'With the measure you use, it will be measured back to you!' (Matt. 7:2). If God accepted us into the fellowship of the Divinity, into the fellowship of His flesh and blood, then we too must help the poor, give alms, receive strangers, visit the sick, comfort the sad, instruct the ignorant, admonish the erring, forgive offenses, remembering that we are all Christ's. And Christ will repay for everyone and for everything!”

d) The examples of the great saints of God, “who lived on earth in a heavenly, wondrous manner, in great deeds, in great love, in great humility, gentleness, patience, selflessness, loving God more than anything else!” teach us about philanthropy and beneficence.

“If we have a living, active connection with the members of Christ here, if we love them in deed and in truth, then all the holy people of God will have a living union with us, and whatever we ask of them, they will obtain it for us from Christ God, for Whom they sacrificed everything that was dear to them.”

III. Through the prayers of Venerable Peter, who was distinguished by great Christian mercy, may the Lord grant us to imitate the saints in mercy and to receive mercy from God at His terrible and righteous judgment.

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* In the original text, Saint Peter the Publican is listed under September 22nd, which is the day of commemoration of this Saint in the Slavic calendar. I have moved it to January 20th to align it with his feast day in the Greek calendar. 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.