Homily for the Commemoration of Saint John the Merciful
By Fr. Daniel Sysoev
By Fr. Daniel Sysoev
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!
I congratulate you all on the feast day of John the Merciful, Patriarch of Alexandria! Mercy, co-eternal with the nature of God, was embodied in this great Saint, who shone forth in our Church in the sixth century. He was married and had children, but then both his wife and children died. After their death, he decided to dedicate his life to God. At the time, he was still quite young, about forty years old. One night, he saw a beautiful maiden come to him, dressed in a sparkling white tunic and wearing a wreath of olive branches on her head, a sign of mercy. This maiden told John that if he wished to receive a great reward, he must become her beloved. He asked, "Who are you?" The maiden replied that she was the eldest daughter of a great king: "My power is so great that I brought the Son of God to earth." John asked, "What is your name?" She replied that her name was Mercy. And the maiden became invisible.
John, regaining consciousness, thought it was a delusion and saw a completely naked beggar passing by. John took off his outer garment and gave it to the beggar, leaving himself in his shirt. Then a man approached him, gave him a bag of gold, and disappeared. Thus John understood that the Lord had rewarded him for this small gift with such a reward. And John decided to dedicate his life to showing mercy. And his compassion was so great that he was elected Archbishop of Alexandria by decree of Emperor Heraclius and by the Alexandrian priests. This was then the third bishopric in the world (now it's the second). After his episcopal consecration, he designated days when anyone could approach him. Every Wednesday and Friday, he sat on a chair near the entrance to the cathedral and received anyone who wished to consult with him on various matters.
People came to him for a fair trial, and many for alms. But this wasn't enough for John. He gathered all the clergy and deacons and ordered them to list all the homeless and beggars in Alexandria, so that they could receive food from his table every day. He granted all requests, no matter what anyone asked for. People said that John's generosity was comparable only to the generosity of God. One day, a beggar approached him and took three gold coins from him, then changed into other clothes, approached him, and took three more gold coins. A cleric noticed this and informed the bishop, who allowed the beggar to take another. The beggar changed clothes a third time and approached to take three coins. John recognized him and said to the cleric, "Give him six coins; Christ must be testing me." There were many such examples of amazing generosity.
Saint John had a bishop named Troilus under his command, a very greedy and stingy man. One day, he came to visit Saint John, and together they went to a poor area of the city. Troilus had thirty gold coins with him, which he was terribly reluctant to part with and was afraid John would force him to fork over. And so it happened. John forced him to give the money to the poor, and Bishop Troilus was greatly upset. A few days later, Saint John summoned Troilus, but he refused, as such waste had made him very ill. John understood the reason for his illness and insistently invited him to visit. When Troilus arrived, John promised to give him the thirty gold coins if he would write a receipt. Bishop Troilus was surprised and asked what receipt he was talking about. John began to dictate the text to him: “Lord Jesus Christ, I pledge myself before You that the reward that You must give me for these thirty gold coins in Heaven, I will, with a firm mind and clear memory, hand over to Archbishop John, and for this I will receive from him the corresponding sum.”
Bishop Troilus wrote out this receipt, received the money, and went home happily. That night, he had a wondrous vision. He allegedly entered heaven and saw a beautiful golden palace, on which was inscribed: "This palace was built for Bishop Troilus." Troilus rejoiced. But then a noble military commander approached and said, "Take off the plaque; it's outdated; attach a new one." The new plaque read, "This palace belongs to Archbishop John." Troilus became indignant, and the nobleman said, "But the money is in your pocket."
The opposite of compassion is earthly pragmatism. We think that if we don't calculate everything in an earthly way, nothing will work out. A similar story happened to Saint John. One day, a bankrupt merchant approached him and asked for fifteen liters of gold (approximately seven and a half kilograms). John ordered his steward to give the merchant the gold and write out a receipt. But the steward decided to cheat him and gave the merchant five liters of gold (one-third), since the money in the vault was running low. The next morning, a woman came to John and brought him five hundred liters of gold as a gift. He turned to the steward and said to him, "Did you give him all the money you were ordered yesterday?" The steward began to prevaricate, but John said, "I know you gave him three times less." Then he called the woman over and asked her how much gold she wanted to bring. The woman said she'd written a receipt for fifteen hundred liters, but suddenly an invisible hand erased a thousand, and she realized God wanted her to donate only five hundred liters of gold. John turned to the steward and said to him, "You see, your greed and your lack of faith have led to you receiving less."
The Lord's commandment of mercy has nothing in common with earthly charity. We feel sorry for people today, but not so much tomorrow, and our help is usually sporadic. Christ's commandment of mercy, however, is built on a completely different principle; its meaning is that we must be godlike.
The Lord says: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).
And His mercy is boundless; it was this mercy that brought the Lord down from Heaven and offered Him as a sacrifice for our souls. Therefore, Christian mercy is built on the principle that man becomes like God. He lives recklessly, without calculation, because he is under the strong hand of God the Father. Whose calculation in this life is more reliable, God the Father's or ours? God the Father's! People do not give alms, do not support others, because they have little trust in God the Father. And this lack of faith leads to hardness of heart. And God the Father punishes for this. Older people remember how in 1991 their savings disappeared, and later, in 1998, the situation repeated itself. God says that betting on the earth is a surefire loser. Nothing can be done reliably on earth. The only reliable investment is one placed in the Heavenly Treasury, in the Heavenly Bank. Let us learn mercy!
When no one came to John the Merciful for help, he became deeply saddened, approached the altar with bitter tears, and prayed to God with these words: "God, why have You punished me so that I have not been able to do good for anyone today?" This is the approach of a normal Christian who suffers, who is pained by the fact that he can't support anyone. Let us learn mercy, because it is too little, and the devil has come up with too many excuses not to be merciful. These include "we don't have enough for ourselves," "what if a rainy day comes?" and "how will my grandchildren and children live?" All these excuses are empty. Leave your care to the Lord, and He will provide for you.
“Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you” (Ps. 54:23).
Let us learn this, and Saint John the Merciful will help us all!
God bless you!
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
