The Good We Do To Others Turns Into Good For Ourselves
October 26
(On Muschus the Tax Collector, How He Showed Mercy To The Poor Woman and Did Not Touch Her)
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
October 26
(On Muschus the Tax Collector, How He Showed Mercy To The Poor Woman and Did Not Touch Her)
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
The fifth beatitude, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy," shows us that those who desire blessedness must be merciful. This commandment can be fulfilled through physical and spiritual works of mercy. Physical works of mercy are: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, visiting one in prison, visiting the sick, welcoming a stranger into one's home and giving rest, and burying the poor dead. Spiritual works of mercy are as follows: teaching the ignorant truth and goodness, giving good and timely advice to one's neighbor in difficulty or unnoticed danger, praying to God for him, comforting the sad, not repaying the evil done to us by others, forgiving offenses from the heart and turning the sinner away from sin. I now intend to say a few words to you about this final act of spiritual mercy, in conjunction with material mercy. As great as a person's misfortune is, brethren, when he stands on the path to destruction, so great is the virtue of the one who saves the perishing. Such a person will save his soul from death and cover the multitude of his sins.
In the city of Tyre there lived a tax collector named Muschus. He related the following incident from his life. “One day,” he says, “late in the evening, as I was walking through the city, I encountered a woman and invited her to follow me. She did not refuse, and when she came into the house with me, I offered her some food with me. She refused the food, and I noticed that despair was expressed on her face. A little later, she suddenly cried out: ‘Woe is me, a wretched wanderer, lost in both soul and body!’ Hearing this, I was astonished and asked the reason for her cry. Then, with tears in my eyes, she told me that her husband, a merchant, who was carrying his own and others’ goods by sea, had suffered shipwreck and was now imprisoned for the property of others. ‘Not having the means,’ continued the woman, ‘even to bring him a piece of bread, I gave in to despair and decided to sin to earn his living.’ 'And how much,' I asked, 'does your husband owe?' 'Five liters of gold,' she replied. Then I took the gold, gave it to her, and said, 'I have the fear of God: take this, ransom your husband, and pray for me, a great sinner.' A year passed after that, and then I was slandered before the king as a thief. As a result, my estate was confiscated by the treasury, and I myself was thrown into prison. I spent the entire summer in prison in rags; and, hearing that the king wanted to execute me, I lost all hope of deliverance. One day, finding myself in such a hopeless state, after bitter tears and sobbing, I fell asleep and saw in a dream the woman I had given the ransom to, who said to me, 'What is the matter with you, my lord, and why are you suffering here?' I replied that, having been slandered before the king, I was suffering here and awaiting my death. 'Do you wish,' she replied, 'for me to ask the king for your release?' I said, 'Does the king know you?' She answered, 'He does.' And thus my dream ended. When I awoke, I could not figure out what it could mean. The next night the same woman appeared to me again and said directly, 'Do not be afraid; I will let you go.' After this, in the morning, I was summoned to the king, who, seeing my pitiful situation, took pity on me and said, 'I forgive you.' I looked up at him and, to my surprise, saw that woman standing next to him, and she looked at him with a smiling face. The mercy of forgiveness was immediately followed by other favors: my estate was returned; the king gave me rich gifts, and then I was made chief of all the tax collectors. After this happy day, the same woman appeared to me again at night and asked, 'Do you recognize me?' I was silent. 'I am the one,' she continued, 'to whom you showed mercy, ransoming my husband from prison and thereby saving me from sin. It is for this mercy of yours that I have delivered you from trouble.'
What shall I now say to you in conclusion of this narrative? I will say in the words of the Apostle James: “Brethren, if any of you err from the way of truth, and someone brings him back, let him know that he who brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:19–20). Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
