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let it be? The Lord, he says, will Himself do what is pleasing in His sight. But they held their peace, and did not compel him. Perhaps they understood that it was the will of God, conjecturing this from Paul's eagerness; for Paul would not have been so eager, nor would God have permitted it, He who always snatches him from dangers. Thus they did not wish to burden the church, since there was another who was hosting them, nor did they demand any special honor. Gladly, he says, the brethren received us. Henceforth, affairs among the Jews were full of peace, and there was not war as before. Bringing us, he says, to one with whom we might lodge. That man hosted Paul. 60.318 Perhaps one of you will say: ‘If someone gave me Paul to host, I would have done this readily and with much eagerness.’ Behold, you have the opportunity to host Paul’s Master, and you are not willing. For ‘He who receives,’ He says, ‘one of the least of these, receives Me.’ The least the brother is, the more Christ comes through him. For he who receives a great man often does it even out of vainglory; but he who receives a little one, does it purely for Christ's sake. You have the opportunity to host even the Father of Christ, and you are not willing. ‘For I was a stranger,’ He says, ‘and you took Me in;’ and again, ‘Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these, you have done it to Me.’ Even if it is not Paul, but he is a believer and a brother, even if he is the least, Christ comes through him. Open your house, receive him. ‘He who receives a prophet,’ He says, ‘will receive a prophet’s reward.’ Therefore, he who receives Christ will receive the reward of one who hosts Christ. Do not disbelieve His words, but be faithful; He Himself said, ‘Through them I come;’ and so that you may not disbelieve, He sets punishments for those who do not receive, and honors for those who do receive, which He would not have done unless He Himself were both the one honored and the one insulted. ‘You received Me,’ He says, ‘into your lodging; I will receive you into the kingdom of My Father. You relieved my hunger; I will relieve your sins. You saw me bound; I make you to be seen loosed. You saw me a stranger; I make you a citizen of the heavens. You gave me bread; I give you a whole kingdom, to inherit and to possess.’ For ‘Come,’ He says, ‘inherit the kingdom prepared for you.’ He did not say, ‘Take,’ but ‘Inherit,’ which is said of those who possess in full ownership, as when we say, ‘I have inherited this.’ You did for Me in secret; I will proclaim it openly. And I say that your deeds were of grace, but Mine are of debt. For since you, He says, began, I follow and come after. I am not ashamed to confess the kindnesses done to Me, nor what you have delivered Me from: hunger and nakedness and wandering. You saw Me bound; you will not see the fire of Gehenna. You saw Me sick; you will not see the tortures nor the punishments. O hands truly blessed, that minister in such stewardships, that are deemed worthy to serve Christ! Feet that walk to prisons for Christ’s sake easily despise the fire; hands that have seen Him bound do not experience bonds. You put on a garment, and you will put on a garment of salvation; you were in prison with Him, and you will be in the kingdom with Him. These things He confesses, not being ashamed, but knowing that you visited Him. The patriarch did not know he was entertaining angels, and yet he entertained them. Let us be ashamed, I beseech you. At midday he sat, being in a foreign land, where he did not have so much as a footstep; he was a stranger, and the stranger hosted strangers. For he was a citizen of the heavens. For this reason, even while on earth, he was a stranger. We are more strangers than that stranger, not receiving strangers. He did not have a house, and his lodging was the tent. And see the lavishness: he sacrificed a calf, and kneaded flour. Hear also the eagerness: he does this through himself and his wife. Consider also the lack of pride: he bows down and entreats. 60.319 d. For the one who hosts must have all these things: eagerness, cheerfulness, abundance. For the soul of the stranger blushes and is ashamed; and if you do not show joy with exaggeration, he departs as if slighted, and then it has become worse than not to have received him, to have been received in this way. For this reason he bows down, for this reason he receives him with words, for this reason with the seat. For who would

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γενέσθω; Κύριος, φησὶν, αὐτὸς τὸ ἀρεστὸν ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ ποιήσει. Ἡσυχάζουσι δὲ ἐκεῖνοι, καὶ οὐκ ἀναγκάζουσιν. Ἴσως συνεῖδον, ὅτι τὸ θέλημα ἦν Θεοῦ, ἀπὸ τῆς Παύλου προθυμίας τοῦτο στοχασάμενοι· οὐ γὰρ ἂν οὕτω Παῦλος προεθυμήθη, οὔτε Θεὸς ἂν εἴασεν ὁ ἀεὶ κινδύνων ἐξαρπάζων αὐτόν. Οὕτως οὐκ ἐβούλοντο βαρεῖν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, ὄντος ἑτέρου τοῦ ξενίζοντος αὐτοὺς, οὐδὲ ἀξίωμα ἀπῄτουν. Ἀσμένως ἡμᾶς, φησὶν, ἀπεδέξαντο οἱ ἀδελφοί. Λοιπὸν εἰρήνης ἦν μεστὰ τὰ πράγματα τὰ ἐν Ἰουδαίοις, καὶ οὐχ ὡς πρότερον πόλεμος ἦν. Ἄγοντες ἡμᾶς, φησὶ, παρ' ᾧ ξενισθῶμεν. Παῦλον ἐξένισεν ἐκεῖνος. 60.318 Τάχα τις ὑμῶν ἐρεῖ· Εἴ τις κἀμοὶ Παῦλον ἔδωκε ξενίσαι, ἑτοίμως ἂν καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς προθυμίας τοῦτο ἐποίησα. Ἰδοὺ τὸν Παύλου ∆εσπότην ἔξεστί σοι ξενίσαι, καὶ οὐ βούλει· Ὁ γὰρ δεχόμενος, φησὶν, ἕνα τῶν ἐλαχίστων, ἐμὲ δέχεται. Ὅσῳ ἂν ἐλάχιστος ᾖ ὁ ἀδελφὸς, τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον ὁ Χριστὸς δι' αὐτοῦ παραγίνεται. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ τὸν μέγαν δεχόμενος, πολλάκις καὶ διὰ κενοδοξίαν ποιεῖ· ὁ δὲ τὸν μικρὸν, καθαρῶς διὰ τὸν Χριστόν. Ἔξεστί σοι καὶ τὸν Πατέρα ξενίσαι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ οὐ βούλει· Ξένος γὰρ ἤμην, φησὶ, καὶ συνηγάγετέ με· καὶ πάλιν, Ἐφ' ὅσον ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἐλαχίστων ἐποιήσατε, ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε. Κἂν μὴ Παῦλος ᾖ, πιστὸς δὲ ᾖ καὶ ἀδελφὸς, κἂν ἐλάχιστος ᾖ, ὁ Χριστὸς δι' αὐτοῦ παραγίνεται. Ἄνοιξον τὴν οἰκίαν, ὑπόδεξαι. Ὁ δεχόμενος προφήτην, φησὶ, μισθὸν προφήτου λήψεται. Οὐκοῦν καὶ ὁ Χριστὸν δεχόμενος, λήψεται μισθὸν τοῦ τὸν Χριστὸν ξενίζοντος. Μὴ ἀπίστει τοῖς ῥήμασιν αὐτοῦ, ἀλλὰ γενοῦ πιστός· αὐτὸς εἶπεν, ὅτι ∆ι' αὐτῶν ἐγὼ παραγίνομαι· καὶ ἵνα μὴ ἀπιστῇς, καὶ τιμωρίας ὁρίζει τοῖς μὴ δεχομένοις, καὶ τιμὰς τοῖς δεχομένοις, οὐκ ἂν τοῦτο ποιήσας, εἰ μὴ καὶ ὁ τιμηθεὶς καὶ ὁ ὑβρισθεὶς αὐτὸς ἦν. Ἐδέξω με, φησὶν, εἰς τὸ σὸν καταγώγιον, δέξομαί σε εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Πατρός μου· ἔλυσάς μοι τὸν λιμὸν, λύσω σοι τὰ ἁμαρτήματα· εἶδές με δεδεμένον, ὁρᾶσθαί σε ποιῶ λελυμένον· εἶδές με ξένον, ποιῶ σε πολίτην τῶν οὐρανῶν· ἔδωκάς μοι ἄρτον, δίδωμί σοι βασιλείαν ὁλόκληρον, ὥστε κληρονομῆσαι καὶ κατασχεῖν. ∆εῦτε γὰρ, φησὶ, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν. Οὐκ εἶπε, Λάβετε, ἀλλὰ, Κληρονομήσατε, ὅπερ ἐπὶ τῶν κυρίως κτωμένων λέγεται, ὡς ὅταν λέγωμεν· Τόδε ἐκληρονόμησα. Ἐποίησας εἰς ἐμὲ ἐν κρυπτῷ, ἐγὼ κηρύξω ἐν φανερῷ· καὶ τὰ μὲν σὰ λέγω, ὅτι χάριτος ἦν, τὰ δὲ ἐμὰ, ὀφειλῆς. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ σὺ, φησὶν, ἤρξω, ἐγὼ ἕπομαι καὶ ἀκολουθῶ· οὐκ αἰσχύνομαι ὁμολογῆσαι τὰς εἰς ἐμὲ γενομένας εὐεργεσίας, οὐδὲ τίνων με ἀπήλλαξας, λιμοῦ καὶ γυμνότητος καὶ πλάνης. Εἶδές με δεδεμένον, οὐκ ὄψει τὸ τῆς γεέννης πῦρ· εἶδές με ἀῤῥωστοῦντα, οὐκ ὄψει τὰ βασανιστήρια οὐδὲ τὰς τιμωρίας. Ὢ χεῖρες ὄντως εὐλογημέναι, αἱ τοιαύταις οἰκονομίαις διακονούμεναι, αἱ καταξιούμεναι ὑπηρετεῖν τῷ Χριστῷ. Πόδες εἰς δεσμωτήρια βαδίζοντες διὰ τὸν Χριστὸν, εὐκόλως κατατολμῶσι τοῦ πυρός· οὐ λαμβάνουσι πεῖραν τῶν δεσμῶν χεῖρες αἱ δεδεμένον αὐτὸν ἰδοῦσαι. Ἐνέδυσας ἱμάτιον, καὶ ἐνδύῃ ἱμάτιον σωτηρίου· ἐγένου ἐν δεσμωτηρίῳ μετ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ γίνῃ ἐν βασιλείᾳ μετ' αὐτοῦ. Ταῦτα ὁμολογεῖ οὐκ αἰσχυνόμενος, ἀλλ' εἰδὼς ὅτι αὐτὸν ἐπεσκέψω. Οὐκ ᾔδει ἀγγέλους ξενίζων ὁ πατριάρχης, καὶ ἐξένιζεν. Αἰσχυνθῶμεν, παρακαλῶ· ἐν μεσημβρίᾳ ἐκάθητο ἐπ' ἀλλοτρίας ὢν, ὅπου οὐδὲ βῆμα ποδὸς εἶχε ξένος ἦν, καὶ ξένους ἐξένιζεν ὁ ξένος· πολίτης γὰρ ἦν τῶν οὐρανῶν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐδὲ ἐπὶ γῆς ὢν, ξένος ἦν. Ἡμεῖς ἐκείνου τοῦ ξένου μᾶλλον ξένοι, μὴ δεχόμενοι ξένους. Οὐκ εἶχεν οἰκίαν, καὶ καταγώγιον ἦν αὐτῷ ἡ σκηνή. Καὶ ὅρα τὸ δαψιλές· μόσχον ἔθυε, καὶ ἄλευρα ἔφυρεν. Ἄκουε καὶ τὸ πρόθυμον· δι' ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τῆς γυναικὸς τοῦτο ποιεῖ. Σκόπει καὶ τὸ ἄτυφον· προσκυνεῖ καὶ παρακαλεῖ. 60.319 δʹ. Πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα δεῖ τὸν ξενίζοντα ἔχειν· τὸ πρόθυμον, τὸ φαιδρὸν, τὸ ἄφθονον. Ἡ γὰρ τοῦ ξένου ψυχὴ ἐρυθριᾷ καὶ αἰσχύνεται· κἂν μὴ μεθ' ὑπερβολῆς ἐπιδείξῃ χαρὰν, ὡς ἀλογηθεὶς ἀπαλλάσσεται, καὶ λοιπὸν χεῖρον γέγονε τοῦ μὴ ὑποδέξασθαι τὸ οὕτως ὑποδεχθῆναι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο προσκυνεῖ, διὰ τοῦτο τῷ λόγῳ δέχεται, διὰ τοῦτο τῇ καθέδρᾳ. Τίς γὰρ ἂν