January: Day 23: Teaching 1: Holy Hieromartyr Clement of Ancyra

January: Day 23: Teaching 1:
Holy Hieromartyr Clement of Ancyra
 
(The Inconsistency of the Objections of Those Who Dissuade Themselves From Performing Deeds of Spiritual Mercy)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint Clement, now being glorified, began to reveal the high qualities of his soul even in childhood. During the famine, when many pagans, having no food, abandoned their children in the streets and left by themselves, Saint Clement gathered them into his mother's house and fed them. Soon the house was filled with pagan boys, whom Clement took under his care. He cared not only for their bodies, but also for their souls: he taught them the Christian faith and tried to have them baptized.

II. When you give a coin or a piece of bread to a beggar, do not forget, brethren, that every Christian has a holy duty to help not only the body, but also the soul of his neighbor; among them there are many beggars with knowledge of God. At every convenient opportunity, tell the beggar what you know about God and His holy law - and you will act as Saint Clement did.

Truly, we must take as our guide the teaching and example of Christ, which were so fully reflected in the life of Saint Clement, in order to do not only physical mercy, but also spiritual mercy, which is often no less necessary than physical mercy, and is always more beneficial than physical mercy.

a) The soul is more important than the body and requires more attention than the body. If we judge sensibly and weigh things and affairs on the scales of truth: is it not strange that sometimes more attention is paid to the deprivations, misfortunes and dangers of the body, which can be freed from suffering and saved only for a short time, than to the deprivations, misfortunes and dangers of the soul, which the mercy proper to it could free from eternal suffering and save forever?

They see a man drowning in water: acquaintances and strangers rush to help, crying out for help. They see a man drowning in sin and lawlessness, in greed, in intemperance, in lust: they stand and watch, the best with regret, the worst with a smile, and others, perhaps, even wonder if it is possible to take advantage of what the drowning man leaves on the shore.

When a house is burning, crowds of people run to fight the fire for the logs and boards of an often unknown owner. But when the soul burns with the fire of evil passion, lust, rage, malice, despair: is it so easy to find people who would rush with the living water of the word of truth and love to extinguish the deadly fire before it embraces all the powers of the soul and spreads to merge with the fire of Gehenna?

b) They will say that not everyone is as capable of doing a spiritual favor, of enlightening the ignorant with the truth, of healing one infected with passion, of freeing a sinner from the bonds of a sinful habit, of arousing faith and hope in the weak and desperate as they are of doing a deed of bodily favor. In part this is true, but in part this is an expression of incomplete zeal for good deeds, and an excuse similar to that which the wise man found in the mouth of the lazy: "A lion is in the way" (Prov. 26:13). Not everyone is rich; however, almost everyone can give a beggar, if not a talent, then a mite; likewise, not everyone is so educated and spiritually experienced as to give strong spiritual help to his neighbors, but almost everyone, even the weak, can help the weaker to some extent, and the less educated the lesser educated, and even the uneducated the educated, because not everything is as it is in the spiritual as it is in the physical.

c) They will also say that it is easy to give physical mercy, because it is asked for not only by those in need, but often by those who are not in need, but spiritual mercy is difficult, because those who need it not only do not ask for it for the most part, but often reject what is offered and even insult those who give it. It must be admitted that this difficulty is great. But let us remember that when the apostles wanted to give the world great spiritual alms, namely Christian faith and morality, it not only did not ask for it, but did not even want to accept what was offered, and became embittered with those who offered it. However, their faith, love, patience, prayer finally made the world accept the great alms and was saved. What the apostles were given to do for millions of souls, for the ages, for the universe: to do even a certain part, even for one distressed soul, the grace of God will surely help every faithful and brotherly child of the Apostolic Church.

III. “Brethren, if any of you err from the way of truth, and someone convert him, let him know that he who converts a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death, and cover a multitude of sins, both his neighbor’s and his own" (James 5:19, 20). In these words, the Apostle James offers you both the feat, and the hope of success in it, and the reward. Amen.  

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