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good. And hear what is more wonderful: In the time of the contest the Lord struggles with those who are wrestling, and in the hour of victory he presides as judge, he anoints for the fight, and after a little while he himself places the crowns; he wrestles with, to the one who is weary he grants strength, he provides the means for victory, and after a little while he gives the rewards as to a victor. From where is this clear? Hear David crying out: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him and I will glorify him. O ineffable love for mankind! O goodness beyond all reason! For see what the Lord says: “In the time,” he says, “of tribulation I am with him, I share in his distress, I snatch him from danger.” All these things I do, struggling with him. “Then, therefore, as judge and Lord I set forth the honor, saying: ‘I will glorify him, with length of days I will fill him.’”

The Lord is accustomed to do this also for the generous person; he 60.741 holds out his hand to the poor man receiving the good deed. When you hear of the hand of Christ, think of the palm that holds the ends of the world. Therefore he stretches out his right hand ineffably, he secretly receives the obols, he marks the face of the giver, on earth he receives the benefaction, and in heaven he prepares the rewards. And how, and when does he make the recompense? “When,” he says, “the Son of Man comes in the glory of his Father, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory; and all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them from one another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and he places the sheep on his right, but the goats on his left; and he will say to those on his right: ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; for you have found the judge to be a debtor; do not fear the throne, but run to the one who is seated as to a benefactor; what I set forth for you I bring forward as a manuscript; I do not hide the benefaction, lest you be deprived of the love for mankind; I do not deny the gift; for I hasten to the recompense.’ ‘Come you, you have shown the seed of compassion, I have prepared for you the harvest of joy.’ ‘Tell, Lord, the reason.’ ‘I was hungry, and you gave me to eat.’ Therefore let no one send away the poor man as being without resource; for he overlooks the Judge of the 60.742 future ages when he is hungry. Let us therefore acquire as a debtor the one who will judge there. For “he who has mercy,” it says, “on the poor, lends to God.” Let us strive to become worthy of the portion on the right, let us hate the abominable kinship of the goats, let us pursue the fellowship of the lambs; for we have the power to choose the better.

For this reason the judge foretold to us that masterly and fearsome judgment seat, and the severity of the decision, so that by learning of the threat we might avoid suffering evil. Let us not pass over the command of Paul which says: Piety is a great means of gain. It is not subject to an accounting (and by this he means the severity of the Judge in due time); it does not fear the cry of an accuser at the throne; it does not expect condemnation, but awaits exhortation; for it is a never-failing enjoyment of good things, inalienable wealth, honor without a successor, unhoarded gain, a help that goes before, accompanying grace, healing of the heart, exultation of the soul, pride of conscience, an approachable defense, an occasion for confidence. Piety is profitable for all things; having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come, of which may we also be counted worthy to attain, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

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ἀγαθόν. Καὶ τὸ θαυμαστότερον ἄκουσον· Ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τοῦ ἀγῶνος ὁ ∆εσπότης συναθλεῖ τοῖς παλαίουσι, καὶ ἐν τῇ ὥρᾳ τῆς νίκης βραβευτὴς προκαθέζεται, πρὸς πάλην ἀλείφει, καὶ μετ' ὀλίγον τοὺς στεφάνους αὐτὸς ἐπιτίθησι· συμπαλαίει, τῷ κάμνοντι χαρίζεται δύναμιν, παρέχει τῆς νίκης τὰς ἀφορμὰς, καὶ μετ' ὀλίγον ὡς νικητῇ τοὺς μισθοὺς ἀποδίδωσι. Πόθεν τοῦτο δῆλον; Ἄκουσον τοῦ ∆αυῒδ κεκραγότος· Μετ' αὐτοῦ εἰμι ἐν θλίψει, ἐξελοῦμαι αὐτὸν καὶ δοξάσω αὐτόν. Ὢ φιλανθρωπίας ἀφράστου! ὢ τῆς ὑπὲρ πάντα λόγον χρηστότητος! Βλέπε γὰρ ὅπερ λέγει ὁ ∆εσπότης· Ἐν τῷ καιρῷ, φησὶ, τῆς θλίψεως μετ' αὐτοῦ εἰμι, τὴν ἀνάγκην συμμερίζομαι, ἐξαρπάζω τοῦ κινδύνου. Ταῦτα πάντα ποιῶ συναγωνιζόμενος. Εἶτα λοιπὸν ὡς βραβευτὴς καὶ ∆εσπότης τὴν φιλοτιμίαν προτίθημι λέγων· ∆οξάσω αὐτὸν, μακρότητι ἡμερῶν ἐμπλήσω αὐτόν.

Τοῦτο ποιεῖν εἴωθεν ὁ ∆εσπότης καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν εὐμετάδοτον· κοι 60.741 λαίνει τὴν χεῖρα τῷ πένητι δεχομένῳ τὴν εὐποιίαν. Ὅταν ἀκούσῃς Χριστοῦ χεῖρα, νόει τὴν παλάμην τὴν βαστάζουσαν τῆς οἰκουμένης τὰ πέρατα. Ἐκτείνει τοίνυν τὴν δεξιὰν ἀποῤῥήτως, λάθρα τοὺς ὀβολοὺς ὑποδέχεται, σημειοῦται τοῦ διδόντος τὸ πρόσωπον, ἐπὶ γῆς τὴν εὐεργεσίαν λαμβάνει, καὶ ἐν οὐρανῷ τὰς ἀμοιβὰς εὐτρεπίζει. Καὶ πῶς, καὶ πότε ποιεῖται τὴν ἀντίδοσιν; Ὅταν ἔλθῃ, φησὶν, ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ Πατρὸς αὑτοῦ, καὶ πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι ἄγγελοι μετ' αὐτοῦ, τότε καθίσει ἐπὶ θρόνου δόξης αὑτοῦ· καὶ συναχθήσονται ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ ἀφοριεῖ αὐτοὺς ἀπ' ἀλλήλων, καθὼς ἀφορίζει ὁ ποιμὴν τὰ πρόβατα ἀπὸ τῶν ἐρίφων· καὶ τίθησι τὰ μὲν πρόβατα ἐκ δεξιῶν αὑτοῦ, τὰ δὲ ἐρίφια ἐξ εὐωνύμων· καὶ ἐρεῖ τοῖς ἐκ δεξιῶν αὑτοῦ· ∆εῦτε, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρός μου· ηὕρασθε γὰρ τὸν δικαστὴν ὀφειλέτην· μὴ φοβεῖσθε τὸν θρόνον, ἀλλ' ὡς εὐεργετημένῳ τῷ καθημένῳ προσδράμετε· ὅπερ ἐξεθέμην ὑμῖν προφέρω χειρόγραφον· οὐ κρύπτω τὴν εὐεργεσίαν, ἵνα μὴ ζημιωθῆτε τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν· οὐκ ἀρνοῦμαι τὴν δόσιν· πρὸς γὰρ τὴν ἀνταπόδοσιν σπεύδω. ∆εῦτε ὑμεῖς, τὸν σπόρον τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν ἐπεδείξασθε, ἐγὼ τὸ θέρος τῆς χαρᾶς ὑμῖν προητοίμασα. Εἰπὲ, ∆έσποτα, τὴν αἰτίαν. Ἐπείνασα, καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν. Μηδεὶς οὖν ὡς ἄπορον παραπεμπέτω τὸν πένητα· πεινῶντα γὰρ παρορᾷ τὸν ∆ικαστὴν τῶν μελλόντων 60.742 αἰώνων. Κτησώμεθα τοίνυν χρεώστην τὸν μέλλοντα κρίνειν ἐκεῖ. Ὁ ἐλεῶν γὰρ, φησὶ, πτωχὸν, δανείζει Θεῷ. Τῆς ἐκ δεξιῶν μερίδος ἄξιοι γενέσθαι σπουδάσωμεν, μισήσωμεν τὴν βδελυρὰν τῶν ἐρίφων συγγένειαν, τῶν ἀρνῶν τὴν κοινωνίαν μεταδιώξωμεν· ἔχομεν γὰρ ἐξουσίαν τὴν ἐπιλογὴν τοῦ βελτίονος.

∆ιὰ τοῦτο γὰρ ἡμῖν ὁ κριτὴς προηγόρευσε ∆εσποτικὸν ἐκεῖνο καὶ φοβερὸν δικαστήριον, καὶ αὐστηρίαν τῆς ἀποφάσεως, ἵνα τὸ κακῶς παθεῖν ἐκ τοῦ μαθεῖν τὴν ἀπειλὴν ὑπεκκλίνωμεν. Μὴ παραδράμωμεν τὸ τοῦ Παύλου παράγγελμα τὸ φάσκον· Πορισμὸς μέγας ἡ εὐσέβεια. Οὐχ ὑπόκειται λογοθεσίῳ (ἐν καιρῷ δὲ νοεῖ ∆ικαστοῦ αὐστηρίαν)· οὐ δέδοικε κατήγορον ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου κραυγήν· οὐκ ἐκδέχεται κατάγνωσιν, ἀλλ' ἀναμένει παράκλησιν· ἔστι γὰρ ἀνενδεὴς ἀπόλαυσις ἀγαθῶν, ἀναφαίρετος πλοῦτος, τιμὴ ἀδιάδοχος, κέρδος ἀταμίευτον, προβαδίζον βοήθημα, συνοδεύουσα χάρις, θεραπεία καρδίας, ψυχῆς ἀγαλλίασις, συνειδότος γαυρίαμα, ἀπολογία εὐπρόσιτος, ἀφορμὴ παῤῥησίας. Ἡ εὐσέβεια πρὸς πάντα ὠφέλιμός ἐστιν· ἐπαγγελίας ἔχουσα ζωῆς τῆς νῦν καὶ τῆς μελλούσης, ἧς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐπιτυχεῖν καταξιωθείημεν, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.