On love for God and neighbor
Sunday sermon.
This week’s Gospel reading answers clearly and simply what a person needs for salvation: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
However, this "simple" commandment turns out to be the most difficult one in the Gospel. We have become so "righteous" that we tear each other apart, and so lacking in humility that we fail to show compassion to our neighbors. Yet, God lives not in words but in a loving heart. If we gain love in our hearts, we gain everything. But for this to happen, we must cleanse our hearts.
We often equate a pure heart with being free of sinful thoughts, but hearts and minds can also be cluttered with an excess of good deeds and thoughts, creating chaos.
In truth, a pure heart is simple, uncomplicated, and free from all clutter.
A pure heart is not only free from evil but also from the complexity of vain thoughts and worries. In this simplicity – this absence of everything – one can see God. Thus, only the "pure in heart" shall see God. They are unencumbered by obstacles that hinder this vision. A pure mind is not distracted by external or parallel matters; it focuses solely on God.
Until we achieve this purity of vision, we live in an illusion of our own ideas about God. But these ideas are not God; they are our fantasies about Him, and it is impossible to love a fantasy. Genuine love can only be directed toward the Living God, who is not an object of study.
The concept of "knowing God" is conditional. By our own will and intellect, we cannot comprehend God. Only God Himself reveals Himself to us to the extent that our hearts become pure. And this God of Revelation becomes impossible not to love.
Simplicity, purity, and humility – these are what we need to love both God and people.
The people around us, in truth, we do not really know. Our ideas about them are constructed from false judgments, evaluations, and opinions. The true image of others cannot reach us because our perception is distorted by layers of passions that warp and damage their image in our consciousness. An unpurified soul sees the world through distorted mirrors. Thus, the one we claim to "love" today, we might hate tomorrow.
Therefore, we should seek not good deeds themselves but God Himself, and through Him become kinder and purer. Obeying commandments does not bring us closer to God; rather, dwelling in God enables us to live by His commandments. And this is possible only for a profoundly humble person.
Humility does not argue with anyone but fills hearts with peace. Humility knows no defeat, for there is nothing that can humiliate or destroy it. Humility lives calmly because it fears nothing. Whatever obstacles threaten it, humility passes through them unshaken. He who humbles himself gains Love, while he who exalts himself invites hatred. Humility lives and helps others live, whereas pride destroys both itself and others.
Life exists only because of humility, while death appeared because of pride. All falsehood is sustained by pride, and all truth by humility. Humility loves all, forgives all, but resides only in a kind heart.
Our happiness and unhappiness entirely depend on how much humility we possess. The more humility in our hearts, the more of God we have in them.
Here is an essential secret of life: anything achieved without humility cannot be lasting. Whatever is done without humility contradicts God's will. Whatever we desire to acquire without humility is false, vain, and deceitful. Abandon humility, and you will encounter suffering. But if you suffer, accept it with humility, and this humility will bring you peace in Christ.
We should strive to keep our minds in places that are pure and bright. Let our hearts experience only what is good and light. Let us not allow anything bad to enter or dwell in our attention and emotions. Then love for God and people will reside in our hearts.
Often, we try to change the world by worrying about it, yet we neither improve the world nor preserve ourselves. Instead of empty concerns, it would be better to offer the world something real – holiness, or at least a striving for holiness. But not our own holiness, for we do not possess it and cannot.
Holiness is the reflection of God's Light in our souls. We cannot shine on our own. The only Light in the world is the Holy Trinity. We can only be mirrors reflecting this Light, or black holes through which it passes without touching our darkened inner spaces.
The path to holiness involves cultivating a soul as a mirror capable of reflecting the Light of Grace.
It may seem as if the moon shines in the sky, but it does not shine; it merely reflects the sunlight. The same is true of our souls. They either reflect God's likeness or become demonic in character.
Perfect love is perfect purity and chastity in relationships. Love does not tolerate licentiousness, which is foreign to Love. Most people choose pleasure, but only a few choose Love. Carnal love is rooted in self-gratification and always takes. Divine Love is complete self-giving and always gives.
Passion is like a splash of water in a puddle, which cannot last long. Love is the perfect calm of a boundless sea, and this calm endures forever. Only a steadfast soul – one that is chaste and courageous – can know Love. Perfect Love is pure, for in it, nothing remains but Love itself.
Never trade Love for anything that is not and cannot be Love. A peaceful soul is a healthy soul because it loves. Only a sensitive and suffering heart can contain Love.
Love is ultimate humility, devoid of any pride.
