– perished, because he did not
repent and did not mourn his sins). In the Holy Spirit – prays for the whole world, without the Spirit – mourns his own perdition!!! This is not praise to the Orthodox, that they do not preach the Gospel (there are almost no missions – no missionaries-spirit-bearers), rather it is an occasion to repent even more in their Spiritlessness. The true missionary, benefactor, the one who preaches Christ (in Whom he abides by the Holy Spirit; or better to say – Whom he manifests by the Holy Spirit), not in the wisdom of the word, but in the power of the Holy Spirit, like for example the Apostle Paul…
Do not forget: Truth in Love and Love in Truth! Where there is no Truth – there is no Love!
And then what to do when I myself cannot help my neighbor – wave him off?! We are commanded to love one another, to bear one another’s burdens, to do good! First, we must learn not to do evil to one another, and then we’ll see how to do good and what is good. Since only the Lord is Good, only He does good, then the good deed that we sinners can do – is to accept mercy from the Lord. That is, to do good – is to accept mercy from the Good – Jesus Christ, to be in Christ. As in the parable of the last judgment: I am needy, hungry, sick, a prisoner, and the homeless (homeless, one who has no place to lay his head, who, voluntarily or involuntarily, has nothing of his own), the thief, the cripple – this is Christ, who pours mercy on me. Not the homeless needs me, but I cannot do without the mercy of the homeless! So, if for you the homeless is Christ (as it really is, as Jesus Christ says), then you are not far from the Kingdom of God! So, if you saw Christ in the homeless, and began to communicate with him in the coordinates: you and the homeless-Christ (Christ testified about himself that he has no place to lay his head, that is, that He is Homeless), then it no longer matters whether you take him into your home – buy, clothe, feed and even give him money for the road, or just say a kind word to him, or give him something – it no longer has any importance. The main goal is achieved for both of you: for you – to see that the neighbor is Christ, god after God; for the homeless (neighbor) – that he is a person, and so valuable that the whole world is not worth him!
And to receive grace – you need to have receptive humility. Therefore, a good deed is only that which in me bears the fruit of humility, through which only the Holy Spirit enters into history and performs miracles! Thus, a deed after which I do not see that I perish, drown, that I am a godless person and my place is in hell (this is a sign of humility, which is in me, this is the state of a spiritually healthy person in this form of existence) – is not good. ‘Believe me, brothers – says Pimen the Great – where Satan will be thrown, there I will be thrown!’ Pimen saw his place in hell, and we – in a modest corner of Paradise!? Why? – Because we have a few ‘good’ deeds and consider ourselves good, a little, but good, and God is already obliged to admit us into paradise!? Excuse me (i.e., bear with me), that I repeat phrases, expressions several times – it is not so easy to stop being ‘good’. To stop living overt, crude carnal passions (fornication, gluttony, lying, theft) – naturally, because they bring bodily torments, pain, but to stop being
‘good’ – absurd, madness, and temptation, this is the ideal (god) of all pagan religions and atheistic currents – all call for ‘good’, ‘morality’ and such are set as an example to follow. ‘Even the Christian God said, – quoting the Gospel, say the pagan ‘benefactors’, – that we need to do good, be merciful’ (but they poor do not want to understand, that it is not about the good done by pagans – but: Be merciful, as your heavenly Father – let’s give one another Christ, engender Christ in ourselves by the Holy Spirit and give Him for the salvation of the world…). Only Orthodoxy, even at the level of theology- logos (life almost does not exist – one form of piety, but no power!), speaks the Truth – that only God, Jesus Christ and all those who are in Christ, in the Holy Spirit are good!
If you love someone strongly, pity, have mercy, as you can
– what can I, spiritually weak, do for him? In the
Gospel there is
a hint-answer, what to do when I myself cannot help.”
Do you remember how a few men brought a paralyzed man to Christ—they themselves could not heal him; the most they could do was bring him to Christ and lay him at His feet. Another situation: after the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, the Lord at the foot of the mountain met a man whose son was possessed. The father told Christ that the apostles could not drive it out, to which Jesus said, “Bring him to me.” Another Gospel event to recall is the healing of the Roman centurion’s servant—the servant was healed only after the centurion spoke with Christ about the servant: he spoke, and Christ responded, meaning the centurion was in prayer—dialogue with God, and after true prayer, the servant was healed. Although the centurion had already been “praying” (sending servants to Jesus), asking for his servant, the healing only occurred after prayer-communication with God, not prayer-monologue. Therefore, if you want to help someone (believer or non-believer—it doesn’t matter, as the holy fathers explain these Scripture passages)—bring, carry your loved one to Christ; ask Christ for him, like the Roman centurion!!! And to do this, you need to know Christ, to be personally acquainted with Him, not just to have heard about Him (as a result of knowing Christ, abiding in Him—Orthodox theology), and to bring someone to the Lord, you need to know the way to Christ (a sign of knowing the Way-Christ—correct spiritual life, at the core of which is the Holy Eucharist).