On this 36th Sunday after Pentecost we commemorate the Hieromartyr Theodotus, Bishop of Cyrenia (ca. 320), St. Agatho of Egypt, monk (257), St. Arseny, Bishop of Tver (1409), Virgin-martyr Euthalia of Sicily (257), the Martyr Troadius of Neo-Caesarea (3rd c.), Ven. Agathon of Egypt (5th c.), the 440 Martyrs slain by the Lombards in Sicily (579), St. Sabbatius, monk, of Tver (1434), and his disciple St. Euphronsynus (1460), Sts. Barsanuphius (1459) and Sabbas (1467), abbots, of Tver; St. Joachim (Papoulakis) of Vatopedi, Mt. Athos and Ithaca (1868), St. Cointus of Phrygia, confessor and wonderworker, and St. Chad, bishop of Litchfield, England (672).
As Erich Fromm said: "The spiritual task which a person can and must set for himself is not to feel secure, but to be able to tolerate insecurity." And this insecurity encourages total reliance on God, along with personal accountability and vigilance, since we are responsible before God and must give account at the dread Judgment Seat of Christ.
Prepare your heart for your departure. If you are wise, you will expect it at every hour. Each day you will say to yourself: "See, the messenger who comes to fetch me is already at the door. Why am I sitting idle? I must depart forever. I cannot come back again." Go to sleep with these thoughts every night, and reflect on them throughout the day. And when the time of departure comes, go joyfully to meet it, saying: "Come in peace. I knew you would come, and I have not neglected anything that could help me on the journey."- St. Isaac the Syrian
Death walks invisible behind us, and the end will overtake us when we least expect it, and it will overtake us where we least expect it, and it will overtake us in a way that we least expect. Abide in perpetual repentance, then, and be prepared for departure at all times and in every place. The wise servant always watches and waits till his master calls him. You, too, should watch and wait till Christ your Lord calls you, for He calls everyone through death. Then always be in your life what you wish to be at death. Always live piously and work out your salvation with fear and trembling (cf. Philippians 2:12). Always and everywhere proceed with caution and guard yourself, lest you be deprived of eternal salvation, which Christ our Lord obtained for us with His blood and death, and so shall we have a blessed end.- St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, Journey to Heaven
At the Last Judgment, the righteous will be recognized only by their humility and their considering themselves worthless, and not by good deeds, even if they have done them. This is the true attitude.- Holy Russian Newmartyr Barlaam
Compare time with eternity, the present with what is to come, living people with the dead, and so your mind will be enlightened and you will know for yourself and acknowledge that they do ill who lay up treasure for themselves but are not rich toward God (cf. Luke 12:21). The dead have all left the world, and with the world they have left everything. You too will leave it, even though you may have the whole world at your feet. Godliness alone will stay with us unto the next age. Be godly to the end, then, and have godliness as your true treasure.- St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, Journey to Heaven
How will He go about separating the goats from the sheep on the Day of Judgment? Will He leaf through some sort of register? No. He will judge on the basis of what He sees. Wool characterizes sheep: a shaggy, wrinkled skin marks goats by contrast. You, if you have been cleansed from your sins, will put on clothing woven from your holy deeds, and that clothing will be like pure wool.- St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catecheses, 15
Today's Bible reading tells us that those who do not help their neighbor will be condemned to eternal damnation and those who are charitable to their neighbor will inherit eternal life. A question is raised for those who read or hear today's Gospel reading: Will only the virtue of charity be rewarded, and only the vice of pitilessness be punished? Will all the other virtues remain unrewarded, and all the other vices go unpunished?To accept such an interpretation is not in accordance with Holy Scripture, because Holy Scripture is more than today's parable; it is other passages of the Bible, which testify that every violation of God?s commandments is subject to punishment. No evil shall remain unpunished and no virtue unrewarded.
Whoever reads Holy Scripture finds, not one or two passages, but many that prove that God will not punish only one kind of sin, but all sins and that He will not just reward one kind of virtue but all virtues. We say this because some Christians, because they do some charitable work, think that, according to today's Bible reading, they are safe. I do good works, they say. But which good? Good has depth and width and is not just the few crumbs of charity that are undertaken to impress others.
But then another question is raised: If every kind of virtue will be rewarded according to Scripture, why does the Lord only mention charity in this fearful parable? The answer is that charity is love in practice, applied love. That love, according to the word of Christ, is the height, the Queen of virtues.
"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one for another" (John 15:35). That is to say, from this all will understand that you are my disciples, if you have love among you. By keeping the commandment of love, all other commandments are kept. Truly, whoever loves his fellow man with a sincere love does not deceive him, does not lie, does not slander him, does not make malicious statements, does not take false oaths, does not fornicate and commit adultery, and generally does not commit any sins that will hurt his neighbor.That is why Christ said that all the commandments depend on the keeping of the great commandment of love -- love for God and love for one's neighbor.
Bishop Augoustinos Kantiotes
We should always be on the lookout to compare ourselves with the Saints and the lights who have gone before us. If we do, we will discover that we have scarcely begun the ascetic life, that we have hardly kept our vow* in a holy manner, and that our thinking is still rooted in the world.- St. John of the Ladder, On Pride
* St. John is referring to the vows taken by monastics, but all Orthodox Christians have also taken vows: our Baptismal vows to renounce Satan and to unite ourselves to Christ.