Homily for the Fourteenth Sunday of Matthew (St. Cleopa of Sihastria)

Homily for the Fourteenth Sunday of Matthew, 
or Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost

On the Wedding Garment

“Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?” (Matthew 22:12)

By St. Cleopa of Sihastria

Beloved faithful,

The parable from today's Holy Gospel, besides the other hidden teachings contained within it, also reminds us of the wedding garment with which we were clothed at Holy and Divine Baptism. We will be called to give an account for this garment on the great day of God's judgment at the end of the ages.

We must understand that this garment is Jesus Christ Himself, our Lord and Savior, according to the testimony of the great Apostle Paul, who says: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ!” (Galatians 3:27). We ask ourselves: What duty do we have, we who at Holy Baptism put on Christ? In answer, we shall say that all of us who have put on Christ have the great duty to cast off the works of darkness and to put on the garments of light (Romans 13:12).

What are the works of darkness, and why are they called by this name? The works of darkness are all evil, fruitless works, that is, the sins which we commit of our own will, about which the divine Apostle Paul tells us (Ephesians 5:11).

The evil works are called this for two reasons, namely: first, because they come from the devil, who is called “the ruler of the darkness” (John 14:30; Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 1:13); and secondly, they are called the fruitless works of darkness because they darken the mind and soul of man and separate man from God, Who is light: “God is light, and the light shines on all, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:5), for “God dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16).

What are the garments of light which, according to the teaching of the Holy Apostle Paul, we must put on? These are all the good works, which are also called “the weapons of light” (Romans 13:12). With these good works and spiritual weapons of light it is fitting that we Christians clothe ourselves, as the same Apostle exhorts us, saying: “Stand therefore firm, having your waist girded with truth, and put on the breastplate of righteousness, and put on your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. In all things take up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:14–17). Therefore, you see what kind of garments it is fitting for us Christians to put on, and what the fruitless works of darkness are from which we must strip ourselves.

We, brothers, have put on Christ at Divine Baptism, and through Him we have the power to accomplish every good work, as the Holy Apostle Paul teaches us, saying: “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). The Lord Himself also showed us that, through union with Him, we can accomplish every good work, while without Him we can do nothing good, as He Himself says: “Abide in Me, and I in you, for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4–5). For we must at all times have union with Christ through the living faith “which works through love” (Galatians 5:6; 2 Thessalonians 3:5), and through this faith we must work with great diligence every good work.

At Holy Baptism we renounced Satan and all his works. If, after Holy Baptism, we return again to sins and do not repent of them through confession to our spiritual father and by fulfilling the penance given to us, then we become like the dog that returns to its own vomit and the pig that again wallows in its own mire (2 Peter 2:22; Proverbs 26:11). For, truly, we Christians who have put on Christ at Holy Baptism have a great duty to follow Him in all good works, just as the Holy Apostle Paul exhorts us, saying: “Become imitators of me, brothers, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).

But let us ask the great Paul how he followed Christ, so that we too may know in what manner we ought to follow Him. Let us hear what he tells us: “For three years, night and day, I did not cease with tears to teach, exhorting each one, amid many labors, beatings, imprisonments, and dangers many times” (Acts 20:31). “From the Jews five times I received forty lashes less one; three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; I spent a night and a day in the open sea; on journeys many times, in dangers on rivers and from my own people and from robbers, in dangers in the wilderness and at sea, in toil and labor, in many watchings, in cold and nakedness, until this present day and hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked and are beaten, and wander about; we labor, working with our own hands; being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being blasphemed, we comfort. We have become as the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all, until this day” (2 Corinthians 11:25–27).

Beloved faithful,

This is how, and through how many tribulations and persecutions, the divine and great Apostle Paul followed Christ. Let us ask ourselves: Do we Christians today, who have put on Christ through Holy Baptism, follow in the footsteps of the Holy Apostle Paul, just as he followed in the footsteps of Christ's sufferings? If we were to pay attention to the Holy Gospel, to how much the Savior suffered for us, to how much the Apostles and all the saints suffered for the love of Christ, we would realize how sinful and powerless we are, and with how much laziness and indifference we work for the salvation of our souls. We would realize how little care we take to adorn the wedding garment of our souls, which we received at Baptism purer than the sun, and which will be required of us on the day of our death and at the time of the fearsome judgment of God.

The Holy Apostle Peter, showing us what the true garment and adornment of a Christian are, teaches us, saying: “Let your adornment not be outward, in the braiding of hair and wearing gold or putting on fine clothing, but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible adornment of the spirit, gentle and quiet, which is of great price before God. For in this way the holy women who hoped in God formerly adorned themselves” (1 Peter 3:3–5). The Holy Apostle Paul teaches Christian women the same thing, saying: “Likewise, women should adorn themselves in respectable clothing, with modesty and prudence, not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or expensive clothing, but with good works, as is fitting for women who fear God” (1 Timothy 2:9–10).

This is how Christian women ought to adorn themselves: not by loving only outward adornment, but by adorning themselves above all with the spiritual garment of their souls through the practice of good works, and by remembering the warning of God, Who says: “Because the daughters of Zion are so proud and walk with their heads held high and with wanton eyes, walking with measured steps, with the jingling of the ornaments on their feet, the Lord will make the crown of the heads of the daughters of Zion bald, and the Lord will uncover their nakedness. In that day the Lord will take away all their ornaments: bracelets, headbands, crescent ornaments, earrings, necklaces, veils, headdresses, armlets, belts, perfume boxes, amulets, signet rings, nose rings, festive garments, cloaks, shawls, purses, mirrors, fine linen, turbans, and robes. Then instead of perfume there will be rottenness; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of carefully curled hair, baldness; instead of a costly garment, rags; and instead of beauty, the mark of slavery” (Isaiah 3:16–24).

But not only women; men, too, must flee from luxury and adornment, and each one must strive to adorn with good works the gold within, that is, his soul. Every Christian must remember that at the future judgment God will not judge our garments, but our deeds. Whoever strives to adorn the garment of his soul with every good work will not be ashamed when he is called to the wedding feast of the great King (Revelation 19:7–9).

If one of us were called to appear before an earthly emperor or a great ruler of a country, how concerned he would be to adorn his garments so that he would not be mocked for his negligence. But when we are called to the wedding of Christ the Bridegroom before Him Who is “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16), what shame, what dread, and what torment will we endure if we do not take care to adorn the garment of our souls? Will we not also hear, like the man in today's Gospel parable: “Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?” Will we not then hear the righteous Judge and Everlasting King say: “Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 22:13)?

Woe to us, brothers, how little care we take to adorn the wedding garment of our souls, and what punishment from God awaits us for this laziness and negligence! We sinners forget that death is coming, and after death there are judgment and eternal torment for the one who dies unrepentant and unprepared.

The divine Father Ephraim the Syrian, showing the torments that await sinners there, says: “There the eyes of drunkards will melt away; there the flesh of judges will wither; there those who drink wine to the accompaniment of harps and flutes will be tormented by terrible hunger and suffer dreadfully; there fornicators and adulterers, thieves, murderers, sorcerers, enchanters, charmers, those who write false letters, corrupters of children, magicians, and blood-drinkers will lament with great anguish and gnash their teeth and bitterly beat their faces. All these, and those like them, who have sinned without repentance until the end of their lives and walked along the broad and spacious path that leads to destruction, will certainly find their dwelling there in the torments of hell” (St. Ephrem the Syrian, Volume III, Bucharest, 1910, p. 39).

The divine and holy Apostle Paul, the mouth of Christ, shows us that we must strip off the garments of our wickedness and put on the new man, saying: “You have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man, who is renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.” And again he says: “Therefore, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, and longsuffering… And above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection” (Colossians 3:12–15).

You have heard, Christian brothers, what clothing we Christians must have and what the spiritual adornments of the wedding garments of our souls are. O that we sinners would not forget the teaching and exhortation of the great Apostle, and that we would take care at all times to clothe ourselves with these holy virtues, which adorn the wedding garment of our souls, so that on the great day of God's judgment we may not be ashamed and may not be cast into eternal torment! On that day “the righteous will shine like the sun.” Then the adornment and beauty of the wedding garments of each one will be seen, and by the outward garment the love and zeal of each will be known, with which we have labored in this life for the eternal salvation of our souls.

Beloved faithful,

Up to this point we have spoken about the adornment of the wedding garment of our soul. In conclusion, I will relate several holy stories, through which you will understand that the holy and chosen people of God shone during their lives with spiritual light, not only inwardly, but even outwardly they appeared with divine adornment and glory, by which the holiness and spiritual light of their souls were revealed.

For example, we read in the holy stories that when Seth the patriarch, the son of Adam, was forty years old, he was taken up by the Angel of the Lord to the heights and learned the knowledge of many mysteries of God and the renowned science of astronomy; and when he descended to the earth, his face was greatly illumined by the heavenly visions he had seen there. This radiance and glory of his face, which was like the face of an angel, remained with him throughout his life (Chronograph, Neamţ Monastery, 1837, pp. 86–87).

Likewise, the face of Moses, the servant of God, shone when he descended from Mount Sinai with the Tablets of the Law: “The face of Moses shone so greatly that all the children of Israel were afraid when they saw his face and could not endure the radiance of his face, so that the prophet Moses covered his face until they entered to speak with him” (Exodus 34:29–35). Thus also the face of the holy apostle, the first martyr and archdeacon Stephen, shone “like the face of an angel” when he spoke to the Jews (Acts 6:15).

The face of Venerable Sisoes the Great shone like the sun at the time of his death, as it is written in the Paterikon: “When this great and venerable father was about to depart this life, while the fathers of the desert were sitting beside him, his face shone like the sun, and he said to them: ‘Behold, Abba Antony has come!’ After a little while he said: ‘Behold, the company of the Apostles has come!’ And his face shone again, and behold, it was as though he were speaking with someone. And the elders entreated him, saying: ‘With whom are you speaking, Father?’ He said: ‘Behold, the angels have come to take me, and I ask that I be left to repent a little longer!’ The elders said to him: ‘You have no need to repent, Father!’ And the elder said to them: ‘Truly, I do not know that I have made a good beginning.’ And they all knew that he was perfect. And behold, suddenly his face became like the sun. He said to them: ‘Behold, the Lord has come and says: Bring Me the vessel of the desert!’ And immediately he gave up his spirit, and it was as though there were a flash of lightning, and the whole house was filled with a sweet fragrance” (Paterikon, Bucharest, 1828, p. 70).

Behold, Christian brothers, how God glorifies even in this age His chosen and holy people, who truly loved the good throughout their entire lives and labored with great ascetic struggles, with fasting, with vigils, with prayer, with virginity, and with many other good works, and above all adorned the wedding garment of their soul with humility.

The Lord says in Holy Scripture: “The one who glorifies Me, I will glorify” (Philippians 4:19; Romans 9:23), and behold how He glorified those who loved Him even in this present age. See how great and profound the humility of this holy and God-pleasing man was. At his death there came the great Antony, the company of the prophets, the angels, and, above all, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Himself, while he prayed that he might be left a little longer to repent, because in his mind he did not consider that he had made a beginning in good works. Saint Isaac the Syrian rightly said: “Humility is the garment of Christ.” The soul of this great Saint Sisoes was clothed with this garment of Christ. Therefore, humility, says Holy Scripture, goes before glory (Proverbs 15:33; 29:23). Our Savior Jesus Christ Himself so glorified and exalted him that his face shone like the sun, just as His own face did on Mount Tabor. This was so that His word might be fulfilled, when He said: “The one who glorifies Me, I will glorify” (Psalm 83:12; 1 Kings 2:8), and “the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12; Luke 9:48; Job 5:11).

Therefore, beloved Christian brothers, let us unworthy ones not forget the glory of these holy people whom we have mentioned above, and let us strive with all diligence to adorn the wedding garment of our souls with every adornment of good works, but above all with love for God, love for our neighbor, and perfect humility. Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.