September: Day 13: Teaching 3:
Holy Hieromartyr Cornelius the Centurion
(Without Love For Your Neighbor You Will Not Be Saved)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
(Without Love For Your Neighbor You Will Not Be Saved)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
I. The news about Saint Cornelius, now glorified in ecclesiastical hymns and readings, is reported by the Holy Evangelist Luke, who mentions him in the 10th chapter of the Book of Acts of the Apostles. He was a centurion of the regiment called the Italian; he believed in God with all his family, and pleased the Lord with his pious life and mercy to the poor. The Lord in His mercy wanted to open to good Cornelius the way to salvation, through faith in Christ, of whom Cornelius did not yet know. And then one day an angel appeared to Cornelius and said to him: “Your prayers are pleasing to God. Send men to the city of Joppa and call for Simon, who is called Peter. He is staying with a certain Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you words by which you and your whole household will be saved.” When the angel departed, Cornelius immediately sent servants and a soldier to Joppa to invite the Apostle Peter to come to Caesarea. The Apostle was living in Joppa at that time to preach the word of God. The Apostle Peter, by a miraculous vision and instruction, came to Cornelius and proclaimed to him the words of the gospel teaching - and the Holy Spirit descended on all who heard the word of God, and they began to speak in different languages, after which Cornelius and his family were baptized. Holy Scripture is silent about the further fate of Cornelius, but there is a tradition that for some time he shared the labors of the Apostle Peter, who later consecrated him as a bishop. He converted many idolaters to the truth, performed miracles by the power of God, suffered torture from the pagans for confessing his faith, and died in old age.
II. The life of the Holy Hieromartyr Cornelius, now glorified, who was distinguished by his pious life, and especially by his mercy towards his neighbors, which attracted to him the saving power of God's grace, teaches us, my beloved brethren, the truth that without mercy and without love for one's neighbor one will not be saved.
This is how Saint John Chrysostom teaches about this great and saving truth: “Christian! Even if you abstain from food and sleep on the ground instead of a bed; even if you eat ashes and always weep; despite this, you do nothing important when you do not care about the benefit of your neighbor."
a) The great and glorious men of the Old Testament were most concerned about this. Look closely at their lives, and you will see that they all strove only for the benefit of their neighbors, leaving their own benefits unattended – for which they were especially famous.
Moses, for example, performed many miracles and signs, but nothing made him as great as that ever-memorable voice with which he cried out to God: "If you forgive them their sin, forgive them; but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written" (Ex. 32:32).
Thus says David: "Surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house" (2 Sam. 24:17).
Likewise Abraham, for the sake of his neighbor's benefit, refusing his own advantages, subjected himself to various calamities for this purpose, and prayed to God for people who were completely strangers to him.
This is why these holy men were glorified! See what harm was suffered by those who cared only about their own advantages.
Such was Abraham’s nephew, when he heard from him: "If you go to the right, I will go to the left" (Gen. 13:9), and when, having received the land by choice, he began to look there only for his own benefit, then not only did he not find it, but he himself almost burned up together with the land on which he lived, while the land of Abraham remained untouched.
Such was Jonah (the prophet), while he neglected the benefit of his neighbors for his own, was in danger of perishing (for at the time when the city of Nineveh stood firm, it was torn by the waves and was submerged in the sea); but when he began to seek the benefit of others, he found his own.
Likewise, Jacob, because he did not seek his own benefit in the flocks, acquired great wealth.
Finally, Joseph, like them, since he cared for the benefit of his brothers, found his own benefit at the same time. For when his father sent him to his brothers, he did not say to him: “What is this for? Do you not know that they are ready to tear me to pieces because of my dreams, that I have become a criminal in their eyes for interpreting dreams and guilty for your love for me? What will they not do to me when they seize me in the field?” Joseph not only did not say, but did not even think anything like this, putting the service of his brothers above his own safety.
Are not all these actions great?
But the deeds of the Apostle Paul are still more excellent. All the righteous men named, who disdained their own advantages, only shared in misfortunes with others; but Paul did much more: he not only suffered with others, but also resolved to undergo extreme calamities alone, in order to make others happy. Now to renounce happiness oneself in order to suffer with others, and to suffer alone only for the good and safety of others are not the same thing. In the first case, although the change of one’s own well-being to misfortune for the benefit of one’s neighbor means much, yet here it provides some consolation that one has participants in misfortune; but to resolve alone for the good of others to endure all sorrows and privations alone - this is characteristic only of an extremely courageous soul, the soul of Paul. This is not enough: the Apostle surpassed all those whom we mentioned above, not only in this, but also in another, even more important advantage. Thus Abraham and other holy men were exposed to the misfortunes of this present life alone, and all resolved to die only a temporary death. On the contrary, Paul, for the sake of saving others, wished to be deprived of the glory of the future. May I present to you a third advantage of his? What is it? That many, although they defended their neighbors from oppression, defended them because they were entrusted to their care. Consequently, they did the same as a father would do, who must defend his son, notwithstanding even his wickedness and corruption. Meanwhile, Paul wished to be excommunicated from the inheritance of eternal life for those who were not entrusted to his care: for he was sent to the Gentiles. Do you now comprehend the greatness of the soul of the apostle and the height of his thoughts, which surpassed heaven itself? Imitate him then with zeal: and if you cannot imitate him, then imitate, at least, the righteous men of the Old Testament presented to us. For you too will only find your benefit when you seek the benefit of your neighbor. If you are lazy in taking care of your brother, then do not forget that you cannot be saved otherwise, and therefore try to take care of him and his affairs, at least for yourself.
b) But perhaps you wish to convince yourself of this by examples taken from the circle of ordinary things? Imagine that someone's house caught fire, and the neighbors, caring only for themselves, instead of hastening to help their neighbor, not only did not do this, but also out of fear that someone, in their absence, would steal from them, locked themselves in and remained at home: how they would be punished for this! The fire, having spread, would burn all their property, and they would lose their benefits because they did not take care of the benefit of their neighbor. God, wishing to unite all people among themselves, subjected all our affairs to such a necessity that the benefit of one is connected with the benefit of another, and this is how the whole order of the world is maintained.
So if a helmsman, during a storm, disregarding the safety of those sailing with him, began to take care of his own safety, then he would suddenly destroy both himself and others.
And other arts, if they had in view only their own advantages, then neither our life, nor even they themselves, could stand. Therefore, the farmer sows such a quantity of grain, which would be enough not only for himself alone, because otherwise he would have long ago destroyed both himself and others, but in sowing he always has in mind the benefit of strangers.
Likewise, a warrior does not expose himself to danger in war in order to save himself alone, but in order to provide security to entire societies.
Likewise, the industrialist tries so hard to obtain goods that there will be enough for him and for many others.
They will say to me: “Everyone acts in this way because he has his own advantage in mind, and not mine; for everyone strives either for money, or for glory and security, and therefore, caring for his own advantages, he unintentionally brings them to me at the same time.” But I can say the same thing, and have long wished to hear others say it; and I have composed this speech for the sole purpose of showing that your neighbor only finds his advantage when he has yours in mind. People would never seek their neighbor’s advantage if they were not forced to do so by necessity. That is why God has arranged everything so that one can achieve one’s advantage in no other way than through the advantages brought to others. True, even such assistance to the advantage of one’s neighbor will be an act of philanthropy; but we should be prompted to this not only by philanthropy, but also by the desire to please God. For whoever does not have this, not only cannot be saved, but even if he occupies himself with the highest love of wisdom and disdains everything transitory, he will still have no boldness before God. From what is this evident? From the following words of blessed Paul: "If I give away all my goods, and if I give up my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing" (1 Cor. 13:3). Do you see what he demands of us? Even if he who gives away his goods seeks not his own benefit, but that of his neighbor; but this, he says, is not enough, but he desires that we act in such a case with sincerity and great compassion. For God commanded this in order to bring us into the union of love. If He demands such a great measure from us in the matter of love for mankind, and meanwhile we do not fulfill it even in a lesser measure, then how shall we be justified before Him? (From the 25th homily of St. John Chrysostom on 1 Corinthians).
III. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God! Who desires no one's destruction, but desires the salvation of all, grant us love for our neighbors, so that we may be Your true disciples and be recognized by You at Your terrible judgment, when You shall say to all the merciful: "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
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