Homily XLI. For the 14th Sunday After Pentecost. -St. Gregory Palamas

First, I will deliver to your charity the concluding words of the Lord’s parable read today in the Gospel: “Many are called, but few are chosen”; for this thought the Lord carries through the entire parable, so that we might strive not only to be called but also to be chosen. For one who is merely called, but not chosen, not only fails to attain the unfading light but is also cast into outer darkness, bound hand and foot: by the feet, because they did not hasten to God; by the hands, because they did not perform godly deeds; and is given over to weeping and gnashing of teeth. Perhaps someone will immediately ask: why did the Lord say that “many” are called, and not that “all” people are called? For if not all are called, it would not be just that those who were not even called should be deprived of the promised blessings and subjected to the torments He threatened; because, perhaps, they would have heeded and responded to the call if they had been invited. It would indeed be just to say that it is not fair to exclude them as unworthy if they were not even called. But the truth is, it is not correct that not all were called. For the Lord, ascending into heaven after His Resurrection from the dead, said to His Disciples: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15); and: “Teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19–20). And that the Disciples fulfilled this command in deed, Paul rightly testifies: “Have they not heard?”—he says—“Yea verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world” (Rom. 10:18), that is, of the Apostles. Thus, all people were called, and consequently, those who did not come to faith are justly subject to punishment. So why did the Lord not say “all” but “many are called”? Because in this case, He speaks of the believers; and therefore, after this parable, He spoke these words. For if one who is called responds to the call and, being baptized, is called by Christ but does not walk worthy of this calling, and if, living in Christ, he does not fulfill the obligations he made at baptism, such a person, though “called,” is not “chosen.” But some raise another question—or rather, those who are mere earth and dust dare to find fault with the Supremely Heavenly, the transient with the Eternal: “Why,” they say, “did God call those whom He knew would either refuse or not respond in deed? And why, foreknowing this, did He create those who would be given over to torments?” But they do not consider that “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My thoughts higher than your thoughts, saith the Lord” (Isa. 55:9), yet they presume to call to account and, one might say, deal familiarly with Him who is above all thought. How do we humans differ from ants? Are we not composed of the same natural elements, I mean, our bodies? Do we not feed on the same elements? Do we not live in the same places as they? Are we not endowed with nearly the same basic faculties as they? Do they not possess some abilities in which they even surpass us? Indeed, they are more diligent about their own advantage, more discerning from afar of their own benefit, and more industrious in gathering yearly provisions. But we surpass them in the rationality of our soul. Yet what is this superiority of ours compared to the superiority that God has over us? And if all the ants in the world, gathered together, could never comprehend even the smallest of our deeds or designs—though we do not surpass them in all things—then, when God infinitely and boundlessly surpasses us, how could we penetrate His deeds and understanding, or without faith perfectly know the consequences of events? For just as the great luminary in the heavens could not produce day if the light of its rays did not surpass the organ of our sight, so too the Creator of our nature, God, would not be the Author of our salvation if He were comprehensible to us and did not possess wisdom and goodness surpassing our reason. Yet those who accuse God for calling even those who would not respond in deed to His call do not consider that, if He had not called them, they would then blame Him for their destruction. And so that no one could say He is the cause of their ruin, He called them. Why, then, did He create people who would be given over to torments? He did not create humanity for torments but for salvation, as is evident from the fact that He called them. For if He wished to punish anyone, He would not have called all to salvation. If, by His goodness, He brought and called me to salvation, but I proved myself unworthy, should my sin—before it was even committed—prevail over and bind His eternal goodness, so that He would not even call me to salvation beforehand? Would that be just? But one who does not frame the question thus, but blames the Creator, in essence declares that God should not have created a rational being. For what is reason if there is no free will to make choices? And how could anyone possess free will if they could not, if they so wished, also be evil? Yet if one cannot be evil without free will, certainly one cannot be good without it either (both are tied to free will and choice). Therefore, he who says that God should not have created those who would face punishment is, in effect, saying that neither those who are to be saved, nor any rational being endowed with free will, should have been created. And if all else was created for the sake of this rational being, then, as he implies, God should not have been a Creator at all. See what absurdity! But since the human race was created by God as rational and gifted with free will, and by using this gift in various ways, some were to become evil while others virtuous, would it truly be fitting for a good God, because some would be evil, to refrain from bringing the virtuous into existence? Could anything be more unjust than to imagine such a thing? For even if only one person in the world were virtuous, it would still not be fitting to withhold creation, because one who does the will of the Lord is better than tens of thousands of lawless ones. Shall we say to those who sift gold from gold-bearing sand that they should not first bring up useless earth for the sake of gold particles? But let us consider when choosing would be impossible: there would be no chosen if there were no called, and how could there be called ones if they had not been brought into existence? Let us bring our discourse closer and ask those who blame Him who desires all to be saved, concerning those people who consciously refuse their own salvation. We mortals need food. Since our body, for its existence, takes in food, absorbing part of it and expelling the unusable part through the organs of elimination, shall we, because of this unusable portion of food, entirely abstain from eating? Or rather, for the sake of that portion of food which our body takes in for its sustenance, assimilating it through digestion and turning it into its own substance, do we not accept all food? There is no need to deliberate on this, for in practice we answer it daily by eating and assimilating the elements of food that our body either accepts or rejects. Why do we do this? Because of the innate love of life within us. So too, God, by reason of His inherent goodness and mercy, did not allow the existence of the virtuous to be prevented for the sake of those who, by their own will, become evil; rather, for the sake of the virtuous, He created even those who would become evil. Do you not see that physicians do not permit those patients who, due to a weakened stomach, cannot retain food but cast it out, to go hungry? Why do they compel them to eat? So that the body might take in at least something from the food, even if the greater part remains unused. Thus, the art of medicine is rightly called humane. So too, the goodness and mercy of God are even more manifest in the fact that, despite the many who do not seek salvation, and the few who strive for it, He created the entire human race. And though few are to be chosen, He, in the abundance of His love for humanity, called all. “The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which was a king, who made a marriage for his son: and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the marriage, and they would not come” (Matt. 22:2–3). Here, “marriage” refers to the union of the Son of God with human nature, and through it, with our nature. For thus Paul, saying that the mystery of marriage is great, added: “But I speak concerning Christ and the Church” (Eph. 5:32). And elsewhere he says to us: “I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2). Why then is it not said “marriage” but “a marriage” that the Heavenly King, the Most High Father, made for His Son? Because Christ, the Bridegroom of pure souls, mystically unites with each such soul, giving the Father “nuptial” joy in this; for He Himself says: “There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:7). For again, this joy, as the Apostle says, is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, who through repentance unites and joins souls living in repentance to Christ, a joy that encompasses those living in God, whether in heaven or on earth; therefore, there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents. Thus, for the sake of this ineffable union, already accomplished, of human nature with the Son of God, who granted us repentance, and for the sake of this joy mystically celebrated by God the Father in heaven, servants were sent: John the Forerunner of the Lord, Zechariah, whom the Jews slew between the temple and the altar, Simeon the God-receiver, and all those who, before the saving Passion and Resurrection, proclaimed the already accomplished coming of the Lord in the flesh to the earth. These were sent to invite the called, that is, the Jews, for they were the called, as they had been called before through the Prophets, but they would not come, that is, they would not believe and become partakers of the ineffable communion and grace, though they were called often, both before and now. Then again, He says—O ineffable magnanimity!—the King sent other servants, saying: “Behold, I have prepared My dinner: My oxen and My fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage” (Matt. 22:4). But they, hearing this, some, neglecting it, went to their fields and their merchandise. Are those who, using the pretext of gathering harvests, vineyards, or business troubles, forsake sacred assemblies and refuse to hear sacred psalmody and instruction, much different from them? Others, says Christ, seizing the servants, mistreated and killed them. Those who even now do not submit to the Church’s leaders and, when something is not to their liking, revile them with hostility, are not far from these. But we, based on the parable, will bring to such people the saving sweetness as a gift. “Behold,” He says, “I have prepared My best, My oxen and My fatlings are killed, and all things are ready.” Truly, through the Incarnation of the Lord, God accomplished the best of His works; for all that was providentially done for us by God before this was beautiful and good and aimed at this purpose. But the best of all His works—or rather, the unique and incomparably best—is the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, and especially its purpose: the saving Passion and Resurrection. For it is clearly evident that this calling (to the marriage of the Son) came after the Lord’s Resurrection from the dead; for then all was prepared for our salvation: the completed economy in the flesh of the Son of God, the divine teaching then given to humanity, the deeds of the God-man’s energy, the making of people partakers of the God-man’s Body, the great and divine and saving Sacrifice, the three-day Resurrection from the dead, the firstfruits of eternal life, and the divine joy accompanying it. “My oxen,” He says, “and My fatlings are killed,” because the Old Testament was then united with the New Testament; and this (the New Testament) is represented through the offering of the fatlings as a sacrifice; for now the bread is what is offered in the Church as a sacrifice for us, while that (the Old Testament) is represented in the form of offering oxen, which, thanks to the New Sacrifice, was transformed into a sacrifice more worthy of God. Thus, other servants, the Lord’s Apostles, were sent to preach this to the Jews, for the Master still had mercy on them. But they, hearing, some neglected it, being wholly fastened to fields and trade, to earth and earthly things; others, seizing the preachers, insulted some and stoned others, mistreating and killing all as far as they were able. Therefore, “the King being wroth,” says Christ in the parable, “sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city” (Matt. 22:7). For despite the suffering they inflicted, and still having mercy on them, He sent those calling them to repentance, promising forgiveness and proclaiming the gift of great blessings, giving pledges and sureties thereof. But they not only did not repent or heed, but returned insults and put the heralds to death. Therefore, the King justly sent soldiers who destroyed them and burned their city. Who does not know that all this was manifestly fulfilled upon Jerusalem, which He deservedly calls here “the city of murderers”? Since those who were called many times, both before and now, not only proved themselves unworthy of the invitation but also worthy of God’s wrath and destruction, by the King’s command, those same servants, that is, the Lord’s Apostles, went out to the highways and gathered all, as the Savior says in the continuation of the parable, whom they found, both bad and good, and the house was filled with those reclining; these are those called from the Gentiles. For at that time, Jerusalem was the only “City of God,” and the only “house of God” was Israel. Those outside it, namely the Gentiles, were as if wandering on the highways, and on many and various ones, because such were their worldviews. It is said that on the highways both bad and good were found and gathered, speaking thus in accordance with the difference in the inner state of their soul and will, by virtue of which some truly became chosen, showing a character and way of life in harmony with faith, while others were found excluded from those gathered, having lived a shameful and evil life not in harmony with faith. Christ shows this in the further exposition of the parable. For, “the King came in,” it says, “to see them that were reclining” (Matt. 22:11), that is, those who came from among the called. His coming to see and judge those reclining signifies the proclamation of the judgment to come in its time. Thus, “the King came in,” it is said, “and saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment” (Matt. 22:11). The garment of the spiritual marriage is virtue, in which if one does not clothe himself here in this life, he will not only be found unworthy of that wedding chamber but will also be subjected to bonds and unspeakable torments. If the garment of every soul is the body joined to it, then one who has not kept it or purified it here in this life through temperance, purity, and chastity will find it unfit and unworthy of that incorruptible wedding chamber and will deservedly be cast out from there. For the King, having reproved and shamed this man who was not clothed in a garment worthy of the calling, said to the servants: “Bind him hand and foot, and take him away” (Matt. 22:13), that is, enveloping him in inescapable torments, separate him from the dwelling and fellowship of those who rejoice. “And cast him into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 22:13). For it is just to bind hand and foot one who is already bound in this life by the chains of his sins, and being far from God, he is cast into outer darkness as one who did not perform bright deeds in his life. And there, it is said, shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for that darkness is not only darkness but also unquenchable fire, filled moreover with sleepless worms. Thus, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth because of the unbearable sufferings that seize both soul and body, and endless cries due to the infinite and futile repentance there. Having declared this, Christ added: “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matt. 22:14), showing by this that not only that one man will suffer these horrors, but generally anyone who, based on his deeds, bears similar unworthiness. For in the example of this one man, the Lord showed what those bad ones are like who are among the called and who came and were baptized, yet did not change their lives for the better and did not, through repentance, remove the defilement resulting from evil pleasures and passions. But we, brethren, let us cast off the torn garment—defiled through drunkenness, gluttony, and the intemperance of the flesh—and through temperance and chastity, let us clothe ourselves, as Isaiah says, “with the garments of salvation, and with the robe of gladness” (Isa. 61:10). Let us put off the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and put on the new man, which is created after God in holiness and righteousness (Eph. 4:22, 24). Let us put off every garment of a life built on greed and covetousness, as a garment shameful before the eyes of God and condemned. Let us clothe ourselves, as God’s chosen, in mercy, humility, chastity, and meekness, and let us strive in all things, according to the Apostolic exhortation (2 Pet. 1:10), to make our calling and election sure. For by doing so, we will not be deprived of the promise of future blessings and fellowship with those who rejoice eternally, which may we all obtain by the grace and love for humanity of the eternal and heavenly Bridegroom of our souls, Christ, to whom, with the Father, is due glory with the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. source