Blessed is the person who has realized their sin, their death, the poverty of spirit (see Matthew 5:3-12). Blessed is the one who realizes their sin, who humbles themselves, and the humble the Lord grants the Kingdom of God, the Holy Spirit (for only the humble, poor in spirit, who desire salvation, can unite with the Humble God, the Holy Spirit). And who is in woe?! “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites… Fools and blind!… Blind guides!… Scribes and Pharisees, blind, hypocrites, you appear righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness… Serpents, brood of vipers! How will you escape the condemnation of hell?” (see Matthew 23:13-39). The Lord saves the real sinner, but cannot save the illusory righteous person, for the Lord respects the free will of every hypostasis. The Lord criticizes, addresses with a stern word, exposes not sinners, but illusory righteous people – scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, fools and blind, who in their eyes are wise and seeing!? “The Pharisees said to the Lord: are we also blind? Jesus said to them: if you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains” (see John 9:39-41). Hypocrisy, Pharisaism, foolish blindness that judges and condemns everyone (even God is crucified on the cross, as the last criminal and blasphemer): this is a harmful state, a state of incapacity to repent, to come to Christ, so that the Lord can Heal-Save. Now, it seems, the whole world is drowning in Pharisaism, hypocrisy, madness, and blindness! Let us hasten, while there is still time, to wage war with this evil that resides in every person, to destroy (or at least somewhat weaken) it by God’s Grace, which works in the humble striver of repentance, who labors in mercy, simplicity, sincerity, non-judgment… and (most importantly) constant prayer-supplication to the One who alone can Save!
“If we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged…” (see 1 Corinthians 11:31). Knowing oneself, judging oneself, honestly-truly discerning about oneself, we would realize our weakness and ask for mercy for ourselves, not judge our neighbors; and whoever does not judge (but has mercy), will not be judged either. God Loves, Has Mercy, Justifies! Each person will carry their own burden! Therefore, watch yourself, judge yourself, test yourself, know whether you love-have mercy on all people; whether there is any malice in you (no matter whom you are angry at: heretic, Satanist, father, wife, neighbor…) – for it is your malice, your hell, and your neighbor is not to blame – you can love-have mercy on them, or you can hate them, be angry with them (no matter who your neighbor is, even if they are the devil himself, the embodiment of all evil that “exists”). So what will you do: love-have mercy or hate-be angry?! Blessed is the one who loves-has mercy!!! Therefore it is said: love-have mercy… on your enemies… on everyone, everywhere and always!!! Foolish and blind person, what are you doing? Instead of loving-having mercy (on everyone and everything, as God always Loves-Has Mercy on everyone: good and evil, righteous and unrighteous), you hate, deceive, judge, harm… and hypocritically justify your deception-anger (hell) by saying that all this (you are angry, raging…) you do for the benefit of others!? What blind madness! “What does it profit you, person, if you gain the whole world, “save,” “expose all heretics in heresies,” “expose all works of darkness,” but lose your soul (with evil, deception, judgment)?!”. Love and have mercy! Repent, be catechized, prepare your soul (yours, not your neighbors’; acquire the Spirit of peace, and (only then) thousands around you will be saved, for whose salvation you so zealously (being blind and foolish) “care”) for salvation from hell-anger-deception, which you are full of! The Lord can and wants to cleanse you in an instant!
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (see Romans 3:23), all are gravely ill (godlessness) and suffer greatly from passions! Therefore, whoever you meet in this world, about whom you hear – pity, have mercy on them, for this person, being infernally sick with godlessness, suffers greatly! All people need mercy, all creation, “which groans and suffers until now” (see Romans 8:22), needs mercy, compassion! (Therefore, have mercy, repent, for sufferings in this world exist because of you, because of people; and
you are a person who sins a lot). Thus, our eye must be merciful (whoever and whatever you see – have mercy-love), our ear must be merciful (whoever and whatever you hear – have mercy-love), our touch, our thought… everything, absolutely everything must be mercy. You must become mercy entirely, so that with a humble, prayerful heart you can receive the Love of the Holy Spirit!
Pity, have mercy on both the offender, the criminal and the victim, the wronged! It is not enough not to judge – you must have mercy. Repentance is not just not doing something, not sinning (that is, not committing a transgression of the Law), but instead of sin, doing a good deed, instead of passion, planting (or rather, planting) the corresponding virtue. Woe to the lukewarm, “nothing,” who are neither passionate nor virtuous, who neither do evil nor good: they do not judge, but they also do not have mercy, they do not fear infernal torments, nor do they desire heavenly delights… (see Revelation 3:14-22). Not sinning does not mean anything (a corpse, a dead person also does not sin, does not harm anyone, but also does not do good). Watch and pray, so as not to fall into temptation, so as not to deceive yourself into thinking you are alive, when in fact you are a lukewarm corpse!