HOMILY 11 #

On Wednesday of the First Week of the Fast: A Teaching of Saint John Chrysostom on Wednesday and Friday

Brethren, the time hath come for a good confession and for hastening unto God. Now is the season of purity, refreshing the thirsting fasters. Lo, the Healer of sinful wounds draweth near, driving away deceit and cutting off fleshly pleasures. Wherefore, let us arise, brethren, and, having opened the ears of our mind, let us clearly hearken unto that which is spoken unto us by the Apostle, as he teacheth us, saying: “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” The night is indeed our life, bearing much turmoil and many stumbling blocks within it. Wherefore he saith: “Let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light,” of eternal life, of abstinence, of fasting, and of purity. For God hath not made us that we should live as beasts and thereafter depart into eternal torment, which is prepared for the devil and his angels. But rather, having labored but a little in this world, we should pass into eternal life, which He hath promised to those who keep His commandments.

Wherefore, let us not deceive ourselves, brethren, cleaving unto this life; for this life is brief, but torment is long, never knowing rest nor end. To what end, then, is the sweetness of this life? It is but sorrow and weeping. Today there is sighing, and tomorrow—affliction or grievous sickness. And again, on another day—death, whether of oneself, or of one’s wife, or of one’s children, or of a kinsman, or of a servant, or the ruin of a household or possessions—all these bring sorrow and the perdition of the soul. Wherefore the Lord saith: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” Let us, brethren, gather for ourselves treasure there, and here let us distribute unto the poor, that there we may find good things.

Let us take up the struggle, brethren, and renew ourselves day by day through fasting and purity, especially in these days which the Lord Himself hath appointed for abstinence and repentance. For this cause, let us not surrender, brethren, to the indulgence of the flesh. If a man in this life loseth something—gold or some other possession—he may yet find another in its place. But if he loseth the time of repentance—a day or even an hour—he shall not find another in its place. For this is no bodily thing, but spiritual and rational. And though it may be seen, yet it is not grasped. Wherefore the Lord saith: “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”

If, brethren, we do good, we shall be able to flee from all evil and stand blameless before the Son of God, when Christ, our true God, shall come in the glory of His Divinity to judge the whole world and to render unto every man according to his works. For since we are called Christians for the sake of Christ’s name, we are also bound to keep all that is commanded unto us. For these things were established for our sake, according to the word of the Apostle: having cast off all uncleanness and fleshly lusts, let us live soberly and righteously, not only in these days of fasting, but until the departure of the soul from the body.

And if any man be unable, due to sickness, to keep the entirety of the fast of these days, let him at the least observe fasting on two of them—Wednesday and Friday—as hath been handed down unto us by the Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, according to the ordinance of apostolic and patristic tradition.

And whoever does not keep this is called a false Christian, for such a one is neither warm nor cold. On these two days, except for Meatfare Week, it is commanded that Christians abstain not only from meat but also from fish and oil. Since on Wednesday the counsel was taken to put Christ to death, and on Friday our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, it is fitting to grieve for the sufferings of Christ. Christians observe the fast on these days, except when a feast of the Lord, or of the Most Holy Theotokos, or of the holy apostles occurs, for a feast is a time of joy, not of mourning.

Let fasting be sincere, not merely abstaining from food but also from drunkenness, fornication, wrath, slander, envy, theft, usury, and gluttony, so that the fast may be true, not out of shame before men, but in fear of God. Although honor should be rendered to men, it should not be done contrary to the law of Christ. For the Lord says: “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Let there be fear of him, brothers, especially when the Lord himself speaks thus, for he is truly to be feared.

To authorities, let tributes, taxes, and honor be rendered, as the Lord himself says: “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” Having heard this, beloved children, let the time of fasting be spent in purity, so that the radiant day of Christ’s Resurrection may be reached. Let no one say: How shall fasting now begin, having lost a week, or two, or three in negligence? For there are many mansions in the heavens, and each one receives a reward according to his works.

Let there be no sloth, brothers, but rather a diligent striving to attain to the righteous, through hunger, thirst, and repentance. For God receives the last as he does the first, if repentance is sincere. But if in these holy days of fasting there is no repentance, and the hour of death arrives, then it would have been better never to have been born. If someone is condemned on earth to be burned by fire, or beheaded, or hanged, or to suffer some other form of death, will he not be in great distress, taking no food for two or three days, knowing that such torment awaits? Yet there is refusal even to fast until midday, and such things are done as have been heard.

These things are fitting for a Christian to observe, each keeping them for his own sake, and not for the sake of another. Therefore, brothers, having heard this, let there be a striving to pass through these days of fasting in purity, glorifying the Holy Trinity, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.