John Chrysostom, On Strength of Soul

of you; for you are dying, and you will not live; but I mock our earthly choices, because we judge the possessions transferred by them from these to be more precious than those which have no successors. Truly, godliness is a great gain; it is not subject to the successions of death, it is not scattered by the letters of testaments, it is not inherited by others after leaving its possessor. The lover of God is his own chest, he is the heir of his own substance, he travels abroad with the purse of piety, he takes with him the wealth of his hopes, while journeying he carries the income of his virtues, he finds heaven as his home, he mingles in the banquet of the just, he reaps the reward of an eternal kingdom, he approaches the King with boldness crying out: You are the one who restores my inheritance to me. 64.480 For Christians, the goal is toward those things; for those things to be born is blessed, because one will attain a divine sight beyond conception; of the sudden opening up of men, of the wondrous alteration of the earth, of the trumpets raising the dead from the ages, of the just being carried through the air, of the angelic revelries seen with the eyes, of the descent of the master upon the earth in the sight of the world. Oh how great a thing it is for those who have now loved him fervently to cry out at that time as they approach to meet him: Remember, Lord, how we walked before you with truth and did the things pleasing in your sight, and as they cry out, to hear at once in return one crying: And I know my own, and am known by my own.

Let us then turn away from the great anxiety for the things of this life; let us lighten the soul of its earthly burdens; let us pass on to the future with our thoughts; let us love the treasures that have no successors; let us guard with the purple robe of virtue the dignity of the royal image; having been appointed to rule over the things of this life, let us not turn our royalty into slavery; before all wealth, let us seek the patron of wealth; For the rich, it says, have become poor and hungry, but those who seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good thing; to him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

σου· ἀποθνήσκεις γὰρ σὺ, καὶ οὐ ζήσῃ· ἀλλὰ τὰς τῶν γηΐνων ἡμῶν κωμῳδῶ προαιρέσεις, ὅτι τὰ τούτοις ἐκ τούτων παραπεμπόμενα χρήματα τῶν ἀδιαδόχων τιμιώτερα κρίνομεν. Ὄντως πορισμὸς μέγας ἡ εὐσέβεια· οὐχ ὑπόκειται θανάτου διαδοχαῖς, οὐ διαθηκῶν σκορπίζεται γράμμασιν, οὐκ ἀφεὶς τὸν κτησάμενον κληρονομεῖται παρ' ἄλλων. Αὐτὸς ἑαυτοῦ κιβωτὸς ὁ φιλόθεος, αὐτὸς κληρονόμος τῆς οἰκείας οὐσίας, τῷ τῆς εὐσεβείας συνεκδημεῖ βαλαντίῳ, τῷ τῶν ἐλπίδων συνεπάγεται πλούτῳ, βαστάζει τῶν ἀρετῶν ὁδεύων τὴν πρόσοδον, εὑρίσκει τὸν οὐρανὸν οἰκίαν, ἀναμίγνυται συμποσίῳ δικαίων, καρποῦται βασιλείας ἀξίαν αἰώνιον, πρόσεισι τῷ βασιλεῖ σὺν παῤῥησίᾳ βοῶν· Σὺ εἶ ὁ ἀποκαθιστῶν τὴν κληρονομίαν μου ἐμοί. 64.480 Πρὸς ἐκεῖνα Χριστιανοῖς ὁ σκοπός· δι' ἐκεῖνα τὸ τεχθῆναι μακαριστὸν, ὅτι τεύξεταί τις θέας ὑπὲρ ἔννοιαν θείας· τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐξαίφνης ἀνοίξεως, τῆς παραδόξου τῆς γῆς ἀλλοιώσεως, τῶν τοὺς ἐξ αἰῶνος σαλπίγγων νεκροὺς ἐγειρουσῶν, τῶν φερομένων δι' ἀέρος δικαίων, τῶν ἀγγελικῶν ὀφθαλμοφανῶς βακχευμάτων, τῆς ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ὑπ' ὄψεσιν τῆς οἰκουμένης τοῦ δεσπότου καθόδου. Ὦ πηλίκον τὸ νῦν αὐτοὺς πεφιληκότας θερμῶς κατὰ τὴν τότε βοῆσαι προσελθόντας ἀπάντησιν· Μνήσθητι, Κύριε, ὡς ἐπορεύθημεν ἐνώπιόν σου μετὰ ἀληθείας καὶ τὰ ἀρεστὰ ἐνώπιόν σου ἐποιήσαμεν, καὶ βοῶντας εὐθέως ἀντακοῦσαι βοῶντος· Καὶ γινώσκω τὰ ἐμὰ, καὶ γινώσκομαι ὑπὸ τῶν ἐμῶν.

Ἀνανεύσωμεν δὴ τῆς πολλῆς περὶ τὰ βιωτικὰ φροντίδος· κουφίσωμεν τῶν γηΐνων τὴν ψυχὴν φορτισμάτων· διέλθωμεν πρὸς τὸ μέλλον ἐννοίαις· τῶν ἀδιαδόχων θησαυρῶν ἐρασθῶμεν· φυλάξωμεν ἀρετῆς ἁλουργίδι τὸ τῆς βασιλικῆς εἰκόνος ἀξίωμα· βασιλεύειν τῶν τοῦ βίου ταχθέντες, εἰς δουλείαν τὴν βασιλείαν μὴ στρέφωμεν· πρὸ παντὸς πλούτου ζητῶμεν τὸν τοῦ πλούτου προστάτην· Πλούσιοι γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐπτώχευσαν καὶ ἐπείνασαν, οἱ δὲ ἐκζητοῦντες τὸν Κύριον, οὐκ ἐλαττωθήσονται παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ· αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.