22nd Sunday after Pentecost
By St. Justin Popovich
(Delivered on November 1, 1965 at the Ćelije Monastery)
Today we have received an all-seeing eye: you and I, all of us. An all-seeing eye. And we have seen and learned a great mystery. There are only three worlds: Earth, Paradise, and Hades. Earth lies between Paradise and Hades, and from it lead only two paths: one to Paradise and the other to Hades. This is the truth revealed by today's Holy Gospel. The Lord Christ Himself opened His heavenly mouth. God spoke and opened all the worlds, lifted the veil from them, and the mystery of God now stands revealed before us: Earth, Paradise, and Hades. Earth populates both Paradise and Hades. This is the terrifying thing about earthly life, brothers. That is why it is frightening to live on earth, for the earth supplies inhabitants to Paradise and, alas, to Hades as well. We human beings live on this earth as in a nursery, an immortal nursery. It produces immortal beings, human beings.
You heard in today's Gospel how the rich man, that thoughtless rich man, suddenly found himself in Hades in the other world (Luke 16:22). "He died," the Savior says, "and was buried." His body was buried. But behold, in the other world he sits in Hades, suffering terrible torments, having given his soul over to eternal death. And there, far, far above him, he sees the holy and righteous Abraham, with Lazarus in his bosom. Lazarus, covered with sores, who had once lain at his gate. And look at him now! Lazarus is in the splendor of the Heavenly Kingdom. What is this? What has happened to the rich man?
Through this, the Savior tells us how the man had lived on earth, like a lord. "He was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day" (Luke 16:19). And when he departed from this world, Hades seized him. Behold! This rich man had committed no particular crime. The Savior does not say that he was, for example, a fornicator, an adulterer, a murderer, or a thief. None of these things! What did he do on earth? He dressed in fine clothes and took pleasure in his clothing. Take care! Take care that you and I do not commit the same sin. When a person reduces his life to clothing and food, he is following the same path as the rich man. Whether you are rich or poor, if your life here on earth consists of food and clothing, woe to you! You are not merely walking toward your eternal Hades; you are running toward it. The rich man had simply made thoughtless use of this life. He did not regard Heaven as anything serious, nor did he remember God or his own soul. He simply lived carelessly, enjoying himself, dressing well, eating and drinking. And how many people today live only for food and clothing?
Look at European culture and civilization, after which everyone runs, destroying themselves in the pursuit of it. What does it actually preach? What does it impose upon man? Concern for food and clothing. The wardrobe and the menu are what matter most! Statesmen, politicians, the wise men and scientists of this world all wear themselves out trying to enlarge the wardrobe and the menu on every continent: in Europe, Asia, America, and Australia. What are they doing? They are doing the very same thing as that foolish, thoughtless rich man, who understood this life to be nothing more than food and clothing. And how many people today live by this rule, by this principle! Everything, in schools, universities, lectures, and concerts, is subordinated to food and clothing. What is this? What is happening in Europe? People amuse themselves and dress in silk and velvet. But look! In reality, they are galloping toward Hades. Through their careless way of living in this world, they are sending their souls into the arms of the devil. It is frightening to be a human being! It is frightening to live on earth and to spend this life, which is God's gift, this life which is a great miracle of God, carelessly, reducing it to food and clothing and reducing man to an ordinary animal. European culture and civilization, for the most part, do precisely this: they prepare the unfortunate inhabitants of the earth to become inhabitants of eternal evil, of Hades!
The Good Lord came into this world and became man. He took upon Himself a human body, a foul-smelling human body, a worm-ridden human body, in order to sanctify it and to open our eyes to the truth that the body was created for immortality and eternal life, and not the soul alone. The Lord gave man an immortal soul in a mortal body. He Himself took a body upon Himself and rose from the dead, conquering bodily death, conquering the death of the body, in order to secure eternal life and Paradise for me, for you, and for every human being. He came here, into this world, and proclaimed that the most important thing for man is to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness: "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33), including food, clothing, and everything you need.
Who sows the stars above you? Who sows the sun above the earth? Who? The Lord. Did you human beings create the heavens? Who spreads the air over the earth? You? Where are your factories for producing air? All this comes from the Lord. And after all this, He came into this world and took a human body in order to open our eyes and tell us why He created us: me, you, and every human being. He created us for eternal life, because your body, too, must rise from the dead and enter the Heavenly Kingdom.
Behold, the Lord descended into this world in order truly to give us Heaven. For God became man, and with Him the entire Heavenly Kingdom descended. Where the King of Heaven is, there also is His eternal Kingdom: eternal divine Truth, eternal divine Righteousness, eternal Life, Paradise. This is the Lord Christ! Where God is, there is Paradise. But today we hear in the Lord's Gospel that between Hades and Paradise there extends a terrible chasm, and that those in Hades cannot go to Paradise, nor can those in Paradise go to Hades. The Lord came into this world to remove that chasm between Paradise and Hades and to transform the whole world into Paradise. For what is Hades? Hades is the kingdom of sin. Hades is when sin reigns in my soul and in yours. That is Hades. And what is Paradise? It is when I drive sin out of myself, when I remove it through repentance and a life according to the gospel. The Lord came into this world for this very reason: to restore Paradise to you and me, and to show both you and me the shortest path to Paradise, so that we do not find ourselves there in Hades with the unfortunate and thoughtless rich men. What must we do in this world? We must regard this life as a serious gift from God. We must understand that man is a very serious being whom God has created. God created man for eternity, for immortality. He created man so that his life, which begins in this world, will never cease but continue in the heavenly worlds.
What happened to the earthly world when the Good Lord descended into it? People began to conquer their sins and to rise from the dead, from spiritual death. Look at the thief on the cross. What did he do? He gained Paradise in a single moment. "Remember me, O Lord, when You come into Your Kingdom!" (Luke 23:42), the thief cried out to the Lord Christ, who was crucified beside him. And the Good Savior answered: "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). Behold how short the distance is between you and Paradise. What is required of you? The same thing that was required of the thief: repent, believe in the Lord Christ, believe that He is the true God and that He came into this world to secure Paradise, the Heavenly Kingdom, for the human being, and to secure immortality and eternal life for man.
Behold, you always have a passport to Paradise in your own hands. It is your repentance. Repentance! You have committed a sin, a great sin, not just one but thousands of sins. Darkness and gloom have come upon you. You have not remembered God for years, for decades. You have become completely submerged in gloom, in darkness, in shadow. But remember the Lord Christ. Remember the Gospel. Remember His remedies, repentance. Cry out only this: Lord, bring me to repentance! Lord, lead me to Yourself! Lord, "remember me when You come into Your Kingdom!" Behold, the Good Lord will surely answer your love because of your faith in Him.
This happened in Belgrade several years ago. There were various kinds of pupils in one eight-grade school. Some of them secretly attended religious instruction at a church. Their classmates found out about one of them and began to mock and tease him. A boy named Petar took particular aim at the boy who went to church and attended religious instruction. He constantly teased him, saying, "There is no God, there is no God." His classmate begged him, "Leave me alone, please. Do not bother me. Stop teasing me." But Petar continued. One day the boy seriously pleaded with him, "Please, stop it." Petar then said, "If I dream about God tonight, I will go to church tomorrow and enroll in religious instruction, too."
And what happened? That night Petar, a boy of thirteen or fourteen, had the following dream. He found himself on an immense, boundless plain. Rain was pouring down, and he ran to take shelter from it. Suddenly, the rain turned into stones, and stones began falling all around him. He cried out, shouted, ran, and called for help. Then, far away, he saw a cross, and the Lord Christ upon it. He heard a voice saying, "Come to Me, for I alone can protect you. If you do not believe in God, do not hinder others." The Lord said only this. Petar awoke. The next day he went to church and enrolled in religious instruction.
Behold how short the distance is between the human being and God's Paradise, and between the human being and the Lord Christ Himself, the true God. He descended into our earthly world to tell us what God is, what man is, what life is, and what this world is. The Lord revealed all these things. He gave them to us in His Gospel and left them in His Church. O man! What more do you want? You have the Heavenly Kingdom. You have Paradise in the Lord Christ. In His Church you have every means necessary. What is faith? Faith brings you to the Lord Christ, gives you the Lord Christ, and makes God dwell in your soul. There is your Paradise! When your soul departs from this world, behold, the Heavenly Kingdom is yours. And what is Holy Communion, which you receive in the Holy Church of Christ? You receive the Lord Christ, the living and true Lord Himself, and with Him you receive the Heavenly Kingdom. You receive Paradise. O man, O Christian! How small is the distance between you and Paradise, between you and the true God, between you and the Lord Christ, between you and the Heavenly Kingdom!
And what is Paradise like? What is Paradise? Today's Holy Gospel tells us. The Paradise in which poor Lazarus dwells is full of such delights and such joys that they cannot be described. You hear the rich man crying out to Abraham: "Send Lazarus to me, and let him dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am burning and suffering in this flame" (Luke 16:24). The tip of his finger, rich man? That finger was covered with sores on earth, rich man! Dogs licked that finger, while you watched, rich man! That finger, Lazarus's sore-covered finger, means so much to you now? Is that how great Lazarus's wealth has become? And where is your wealth? Where is your myrrh? Where are your amusements, where are your feasts? Yes! The Lord Christ, the true God, is so rich! He created man for all the splendors of the Heavenly Kingdom and the heavenly worlds. When the Apostle Paul was granted the vision of heaven and of all that the Lord has prepared for the human race, he said: "The Lord has prepared for those who love Him what no human eye has seen, what no human ear has heard, and what has not entered the human heart" (1 Corinthians 2:9). This is what the Lord has prepared for those who love Him, for those who believe in Him, and for those who live according to His Holy Gospel.
Brothers, how rich we are! How securely each of us is provided for eternal life! Banks and savings institutions do not provide this security. They provide for a month, two months, a year, ten years. They secure food and clothing. But the Lord Christ secures for you and me the Heavenly Kingdom and eternal life. We Christians are rich men! The Holy Apostle Paul also writes to Christians: "You became rich through His riches..." (2 Corinthians 8:9). The Lord Christ enriched you with every kind of wealth, with every eternal and imperishable treasure. Such wealth is offered to you and me, and to every human being, by the one true God and Lord Christ, who came into this world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15).
And Hades? Hades is the kingdom of sin, the kingdom of evil. What is sin? Sin is the power of the devil. Sin is the devil's darkness. Sin is the devil's poison. When we keep sins within ourselves and do not confess them, we poison ourselves. No, we are preparing ourselves for Hades and eternal torments! Brother, whenever you embrace a sin, whenever some sin or passion becomes dear to you, remember that this sin, that this passion, is preparing Hades for you. Remember this, and become disgusted with your sin. Become disgusted with your passion and say to yourself: Look, I must be mad if I remain attached to my sin, to a passion that leads me to Hades, to eternal Hades, to the eternal flame, to that place from which the unfortunate rich man begs for mercy, for the tip of a finger, for a drop of water to cool the flame in which his soul burns. I must be mad if I remain attached to my sin, to that passion which leads me to Hades.
Truly, until a person repents, he is like a madman, like someone out of his mind. The Savior Himself said this, not I: "Everyone who hears My words and does not do them," the Savior says, "is like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. And the winds beat against it," the temptations, troubles, and afflictions beat against it, "and the house fell, and its fall was great" (Matthew 7:24–27). Such is every person who has heard the Gospel of the Lord Christ but does not put it into practice and does not live according to the Gospel of Christ. In the eyes of the Lord Christ, such a person is foolish, he is mad.
Remember the prodigal son, who asked his father for his wealth, his share of the inheritance, and "went into a far country." He squandered everything he had, spent everything, his conscience and his soul, and became beside himself (Luke 15:11–32). This means that madness took hold of the prodigal son when he separated himself from God. He demanded, in effect: "I no longer want to be with You, O God and Father. I am going into a far country." And he went there, to the land of the devil, the land of sin, the land of passions.
"And when he came to himself," the Savior says, he said: "How much wealth there is in my father's house, and how many hired servants, all of them having more than enough, while I am dying of hunger" in this foreign land, in the land of the devil. "I will go to my father." He got up and went. When his father saw him from afar, he ran to him, embraced him, forgave him, and received his repentant son. "When he came to himself" means that the prodigal son had been beside himself while he was far from God. It is the same with every person who is far from God. In reality, he is always beside himself. He is out of his mind, he is mad. Only when he returns to God, when he believes in the Lord God and cleanses his soul of sin, does he come to himself.
For sin is the greatest crime and a stranger in your soul and mine, the most dangerous stranger. Sin, passion, love of money, lust, anger, pride: these are the criminals in our souls, our enemies, those who prepare ropes and nooses for us and drag us into Hades! Yes, as long as sin and passions reign within us, we remain beside ourselves. Only when you come to repentance do you come to yourself. Only when you awaken and consider what sin is, what it is preparing for you, what kind of eternity it is preparing for you, Hades, fire, an unquenchable flame, will you, if you have even a little sense, embrace faith, repentance, prayer, fasting, mercy, and all the holy virtues of the Gospel. You will follow the one true God. You will leave everything behind, so to speak, and follow the Lord Christ, for one follows Him through faith, love, hope, and fasting.
The good news of today's Gospel, the Gospel of the rich man and Lazarus, concerns both you and me, brother. Whose side am I on? Whose side are you on? Are we with Lazarus or with the rich man? Let us look at ourselves. Where is our soul? Is it with the rich man? Has it become attached to this world, thinking only of food and clothing? Or does our soul follow the Lord Christ and seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness in this world? Let us examine ourselves. Whose side are we on?
But let us know this, brothers and sisters: in this world, you and I and every one of us are constantly traveling, either toward Paradise or toward Hades. There is no third path! Every good deed you perform is a path leading you to Paradise. But know this: every evil deed you commit without repenting before the Lord, every sin you commit without repenting before the Lord, is a path leading you to Hades. Choose! Paradise and Hades stand before you, before your free will. It depends on you whether you go to Paradise or to Hades. It depends on you alone, brother. Do not blame anyone else. Hurry and set out! Live by faith in the Lord Christ. Live through Gospel prayer, fasting, vigils, and mercy. Do the works of the Gospel, and you will be traveling continually toward your Paradise.
When the moment of death comes and the gates of the heavenly worlds open, your soul will then be led by your good deeds into the eternal Kingdom of goodness, into the Heavenly Kingdom, into the Kingdom of Christ. But if you and I, God forbid, fall asleep in our sins, fall asleep in our passions, if our souls fall asleep in the pleasures of this world, then we are digging a terrible, impassable chasm between ourselves and our souls, and the heavenly Paradise. And if, God forbid, we do not repent while we are still on earth, alas! The chasm will remain between your soul and Paradise, a chasm that your soul will never be able to cross in the other world.
My brothers, when the Lord created us as human beings, when He created you and me as human beings, He gave every person one great task: to acquire the Heavenly Kingdom and eternal life through the Lord Christ. He is here. He came into our earthly world. He gave us His Church and His saints so that we might acquire the Heavenly Kingdom!
Today, when we celebrate the Holy Unmercenaries, the physicians who treat without payment, Kosmas and Damian, who are they? People of Paradise, inhabitants of Paradise even while still on earth. They conquered every sin while still on earth, every passion. Their hearts were full of heavenly delight, full of faith, love, evangelical prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Behold the inhabitants of Paradise! Behold people who acquired Paradise while still on earth, because they acquired the one true Lord Christ, His Holy Gospel, and lived by it and according to it.
And how many saints of God are there in this world? Every day the Church of Christ celebrates one, two, or hundreds of saints of God. All of them are inhabitants of Paradise. They all help us and show us the way, the way of goodness that leads to Paradise, and they help us along such paths. That is why they are around us. That is why today we celebrate the Holy Physicians, the physicians who treat without payment, who are worthy to heal you and me, and every one of us, of all our illnesses.
Do not say, "I am not ill." You are ill! If you have any sin in your soul, that is already an illness. Every sin is an illness; every passion is an illness. Love of money: what an illness! A deadly illness that kills the soul forever. Fornication, adultery, theft, if you do not repent: these are terrible illnesses. You need the holy physicians Kosmas and Damian. I need them, you need them, and every one of us needs them. From these various spiritual deaths, how many times have our souls died, yours and mine, through various sins!
May the Lord grant repentance to all of us, so that we may raise ourselves from every spiritual death, and, guided and led by the saints, may we too enter the Heavenly Kingdom, into Paradise, the wondrous Paradise of the Lord Christ, the God of Love, who came into this world to save us from sin, death, and the devil, and to secure for us Paradise and eternal life.
Therefore, always, today and tomorrow, whenever you remember, and even at the very hour of death, do not forget the repentant cry of the repentant thief: "Lord, remember me in Your Kingdom." And be assured that if you cry out to the wondrous Lord Christ with faith and repentance, you will hear His gentle answer: "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." Amen.
