Homily on the Love of God
By St. Anthimos of Chios
(Delivered on August 30, 1954)
By St. Anthimos of Chios
(Delivered on August 30, 1954)
The goodness of God, sisters, is so rich in graces that it seeks a reason to have mercy on man. The grace of God is ready at any moment to reflect in the heart of man and to give him learning, to give him grace and mercy, but it wants to be given a reason. They say that Emperor Napoleon once went to a forest to rest, to take in its air, to enjoy there the beauty of nature. There he saw a beautiful tree, but it was a panorama: tall, cool, shady, its bark gleamed like a mirror. The emperor liked that tree so much, it aroused his admiration and curiosity so much, that he sat down opposite the tree and looked at it and admired it. Inside, his heart was filled with the beauty of the tree.
All the emperor's soldiers and the whole world had learned this and everyone appreciated the emperor's tree and kept it with great care. After a while the emperor died, and on the same day the tree also withered. Then they all thought it good to cut down the tree and with its wood to make the emperor's coffin, since he loved it so much. Indeed, they cut down the tree, and when they went to cut it down they saw the emperor's face in the wood like a photograph. It was so successful that the best camera could not have achieved it as well.
Thus everyone was amazed and wondered how this strange thing could have happened. Apparently at that time when the emperor first saw the tree and liked it so much and sat down and observed it, a certain reflection occurred, something like magnetism occurred. Just as the camera draws with electricity and prints what it sees in front of it, so the sap of the tree electrified and magnetized through the rays of the sun the form of the emperor, received it like a camera and engraved it on the wood so beautifully.
Shouldn't we, sisters, also receive the image of our king Christ and print it in our hearts? Shouldn't we also take care to love Christ so much, so that for our love His image is engraved in us? He does not neglect to come and be printed and is printed with the greatest success. He only wants us to come, and immediately the grace of God comes and is received.
God loves man so much that His love is indescribable. He never separated the righteous from the sinner, He never made a comparison between the wicked and the good. Just as the bee, if a lump of sugar or anything else sweet is found on a pile of dung, does not care that it is on something unclean, but will go over the dung to receive the sugar or any other kind, from which she will then make honey, so also the goodness of God does not see where man is, in sin or virtue, in goodness or wickedness. He sees only that moment when he approaches Him, he does not turn you away for your first life, but accepts you for that moment of your return. For perhaps you cried at that moment, perhaps you mourned, perhaps you thought of repentance and asked forgiveness from God.
He does not see the impurity of man, He sees His own compassion, He sees His sympathy and is overcome, in order to pour out mercy on the sinner. Is there a reflection of grace? It happened on the Cross for the thief. The thief's gaze drew the image of Christ into his heart. For that gaze was pleading, full of pain and repentance, and he spoke to Him a sweet word, which was not heard sweeter in all the world, "Remember me, Lord," he said to Him, "when You come into Your Kingdom." Remember me too, my Christ, when You come into Your Kingdom!
What sweet words! All the syrups, all the joys, all the pleasant things of the world are overcome by these words. Immediately these things were imprinted in the heart of Christ and became a reflection of grace. So He answered him: “Truly I say to you, today you will come with me to paradise. For the repentance of this moment that you show, I forget all the murders and crimes that you had committed and My compassion prompts Me to say this word to you: come with Me to My Kingdom."
Do we also, sisters, not sometimes resemble the thief? Are we all adorned with graces? Do we not have impurities and sins? Do we not pollute our souls every now and then? Do we not see our neighbor with evil intent? Do we not judge and criticize? Do we not get angry? Do we not envy? Do we not slander? However, does God blame us for all this? Does He get angry with us if we are impure, if we are wicked and evil-minded? Does He hate us? No. With these impure lips that we have, does He not accept our glorifications of Him? With these rotten entrails, does He not allow us to taste Him? With these sinful hands and feet, does He not preserve us in life? Such love does He have for us, such sympathy does He have for man, such long-suffering for all of us. He does not single out a Jew, a Greek, or an Ottoman. He feels the same affection for everyone. And just as at the time of the crucifixion, nailed to the black wood, He cried out ever so sweetly: "My Father, do not condemn those who crucify Me, for they do not know what they are doing, they did not understand who I am, they still do not understand." Christ continues to cry out the same thing to all of us to this day.
How much humanity wrongs God every day! And yet He never gets angry with us, never casts evil towards us, never! Never! We blaspheme Him, we anger Him, we mock Him, we crucify Him again and He endures us again, He loves us again. For He is the God of mercy, He is the God of love, the God of compassion. For all these unclean things, which we offer Him, He offers us mercy and comfort. God is never satisfied with any of us. Only man is cruel, only man does not tolerate one another, but judges and criticizes and slanders and accuses and seeks to harm and destroy and wrong the other. But God does not do so - He always seeks to help man, always seeks to give him a helping hand. Sometimes He reveals a spiritual person to advise him...
Do not forget, sisters, that we also encounter hours and moments when we feel sorry for each other. Let me feel sorry for you and you for me, let each other feel sorry for each other. We do not need to talk about other people. When you see my mistakes, say: "It is time for us to sympathize," and thus show sympathy, sisters, as Paul did for the Jews and said: “Father, do not hold this sin against them.”
So you should say about me and I about you. I may sometimes show that I am distressed with you and sometimes scold you, again for your good. But then I go off to the side and God knows what I say. God hears invisibly what I say: “Forgive her, my God, she is also a human being, created from the same creature that the whole world is created from and she is also dragged by the same passions and is tyrannized and tormented; do not shut Yourself off to her, but forgive her.”
And you, sisters, have sympathy for one another. Not with hatred and enmity, not with envy and malice, not with wickedness and hardness of soul and inhumanity, but with sympathy, with long-suffering, with patience, with bowels of compassion and philanthropy for one another. Today it is you, tomorrow it is me, now one errs, in a little while the other. Every moment God forgives us. And let us forgive one another, and let us weep and lament and be sad and sympathize and pray to God for the error of our sister. This is the greatest virtue. No matter how many virtues you have, no matter how many good works, prayers, and philanthropic deeds you do, it surpasses them all if you say one phrase: "My God, forgive my brother for what he did to me."
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
