Endure to the End
March 20
(The Holy Martyr Photini, the Samaritan Woman with whom Christ spoke at the well, and those who were martyred with her.)*
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
March 20
(The Holy Martyr Photini, the Samaritan Woman with whom Christ spoke at the well, and those who were martyred with her.)*
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
Once the Lord appeared to the Holy Martyr Sebastian and the other martyrs who suffered with him and said: “Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). And then, turning to Sebastian, He said further: “Blessed is he who completes his struggle to the end!” And with these words He ascended into heaven.
Let us dwell, brethren, on these last words of the Lord and speak about what they teach us.
The words of the Savior, “Blessed is he who completes his struggle to the end,” undoubtedly teach us endurance to the end. And, of course, it must be so. “Everything is good that ends well,” says human wisdom. Otherwise, it is the opposite — and consider, for example, salvation and good works: what benefit will there be for you from good deeds, if today you perform them, and tomorrow you cast them into the dirt? What benefit will there be if today you begin to fast, to pray, to read the word of God, and tomorrow you abandon all this and go to houses of vice, to corrupt companions, to houses of drunkenness and debauchery?
Before us is a young man: he comes to church earlier than all, leaves later than all; his face shows purity, modesty in his gaze and in his walk; his speech is only about God and eternal salvation. What could be better, more joyful, more pleasing than all this? But the enemy does not sleep. A little time passes, and the good deeds and intentions of the young man disappear, and all his work becomes like a house built upon sand, which, when the wind blew, was completely destroyed (Matt. 7:26–27). And that same young man, whose face had been like that of an angel of God, becomes like an Ethiopian, and his face becomes black as coal, with bruises and swelling under his eyes. He forgets the house of God, and pious conversations, and the thought of God and eternity leaves him; and he gives himself to drunkenness, to lawlessness, becomes a thief, and a tyrant both to his parents and to all those close to him. Thus truly a good work ceases to be good when it is not brought to completion!
But not so is the one who completes his struggle fully. He attains peace with God, with his own conscience, and with all; he flees from vices, from evil people, and from all temptations as from a destructive plague; and in the end, with a pure conscience, he can say with the Apostle: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” Such is the image of the one who has completed his struggle to the end!
Let us remember, brethren, that “no one can serve two masters” (Matt. 6:24). And “no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). But blessed is only he who completes his struggle to the end. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
* St. Photini and those with her are commemorated on March 20th in the Slavic calendar, while in the Greek calendar they are commemorated on February 26th.
