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we demand so much from the poor; but these things from the rich. But if someone is poor, and goes to the doors of others, our Master is not ashamed to receive even an obol; but He will even say that He has received more from him than from those who have cast in much. How many of those now standing here have wished that they had been born at that time, when Christ walked the earth in the flesh, so as to live with Him and eat with Him? Behold, now it is possible for this to happen, and to invite Him rather to a meal and to feast with Him, and for a greater gain. For of those who feasted with Him then, many also perished, such as Judas was, and others like him; but each of those who now invites Him into his own house, and shares with Him table and shelter, will enjoy a great blessing. For ‘Come,’ He says, ‘you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you welcomed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me.’ That we may therefore hear these words, let us clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, visit the sick, see the one in prison, so that we may enjoy confidence, and receive forgiveness of sins, and partake of those good things which surpass both word and understanding; may it be that we all attain to them, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

59.327 HOMILY 60. I am the good shepherd, and I know my own, and am known by my own. As the Father knows me, even so know I

the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. 1. Great, beloved, great is the governance of the Church, and it requires much

wisdom, and as much courage as Christ spoke of, so as to lay down one's life for the sheep, so as never to abandon them desolate and naked, so as to stand bravely against the wolf. For in this the shepherd differs from the hireling. For the one everywhere looks to his own safety, neglecting the sheep; but this one everywhere seeks the safety of the sheep, disregarding his own. Having then spoken of the marks of the shepherd, He sets forth two destroyers: one, the thief who slaughters and steals; and another, who does none of these things, but when these things are happening does not turn back or prevent them; alluding through the former to those like Theudas, and through the latter exposing the teachers of the Jews, who did not care for or concern themselves with the sheep entrusted to them. Which also Ezekiel from of old said when accusing them: Woe, O shepherds of Israel; do shepherds feed 59.328 themselves? Do not the shepherds feed the sheep? But they did the opposite, which is the greatest form of wickedness, and the cause of all the others. For this reason, He says, they did not bring back the straying, nor seek the lost, nor bind up the broken, nor heal the sick, because they fed themselves, and not the sheep. This also Paul again declared with another saying: For all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ; and again, Let no one seek his own, but each one the good of his neighbor. But Christ distinguishes Himself from both: from those who came for destruction, by saying, For this I came, that they may have life, and have it more abundantly; and from these who allow the sheep to be seized by wolves, by not abandoning them, but even laying down His life for them, so that the sheep might not die. For since they were plotting to kill Him,

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τόσα καὶ τόσα ἀπαιτοῦμεν παρὰ τῶν πενήτων· ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν παρὰ τῶν πλουτούντων. Εἰ δέ τις πένης εἴη, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς τῶν ἄλλων ἔρχεται θύρας, οὐδὲ ὀβολὸν λαβεῖν ὁ ∆εσπότης ἡμῶν ἐπαισχύνεται· ἀλλὰ καὶ μείζονα ἐρεῖ τῶν πολλὰ βεβληκότων εἰληφέναι παρ' αὐτοῦ. Πόσοι τῶν νῦν ἑστηκότων ηὔξαντο κατ' ἐκεῖνον γενέσθαι τὸν καιρὸν, καθ' ὃν μετὰ σαρκὸς ὁ Χριστὸς περιεπόλει τὴν γῆν, ὥστε καὶ ὁμοδίαιτοι αὐτῷ γενέσθαι, καὶ σύσσιτοι; Ἰδοὺ νῦν ἔξεστι τοῦτο γενέσθαι, καὶ καλεῖν αὐτὸν μᾶλλον ἐπὶ ἄριστον καὶ ἑστιαθῆναι μετ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐπὶ μείζονι κέρδει. Τῶν μὲν γὰρ τότε αὐτῷ συνεστιαθέντων πολλοὶ καὶ ἀπώλοντο, οἷος καὶ ὁ Ἰούδας ἦν, καὶ ἕτεροι δὲ τοιοῦτοι· τῶν δὲ καλούντων αὐτὸν ἕκαστος νῦν εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ μεταδιδόντων αὐτῷ τραπέζης καὶ στέγης, εὐλογίας ἀπολαύσεται μεγάλης. ∆εῦτε γὰρ, φησὶν, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρός μου, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου. Ἐπείνασα γὰρ, καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν· ἐδίψησα, καὶ ἐποτίσατέ με· ξένος ἤμην, καὶ συνηγάγετέ με· ἠσθένησα, καὶ ἐπεσκέψασθέ με· ἐν φυλακῇ ἤμην, καὶ ἤλθετε πρός με. Ἵν' οὖν τούτων ἀκούσωμεν τῶν ῥημάτων, ἐνδύσωμεν τὸν γυμνὸν, συναγάγωμεν τὸν ξένον, θρέψωμεν τὸν πεινῶντα, ποτίσωμεν τὸν διψῶντα, ἐπισκεψώμεθα τὸν ἀῤῥωστοῦντα, ἴδωμεν τὸν ἐν φυλακῇ, ἵνα παῤῥησίας ἀπολαύσωμεν, καὶ ἁμαρτημάτων συγχώρησιν λάβωμεν, καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν μετάσχωμεν ἐκείνων, τῶν καὶ λόγον ὑπερβαινόντων καὶ νοῦν· ὧν γένοιτο πάντας ἡμᾶς ἐπιτυχεῖν, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

59.327 ΟΜΙΛΙΑ Ξʹ. Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλὸς, καὶ γινώσκω τὰ ἐμὰ, καὶ γινώσκομαι ὑπὸ τῶν ἐμῶν. Καθὼς γινώ σκει με ὁ Πατὴρ, κἀγὼ γινώσκω

τὸν Πατέρα, καὶ τὴν ψυχήν μου τίθημι ὑπὲρ τῶν προβάτων. αʹ. Μέγα, ἀγαπητοὶ, μέγα Ἐκκλησίας προστασία, καὶ πολλῆς δεόμενον

φιλοσοφίας, καὶ ἀνδρείας τοσαύτης, ὅσης ὁ Χριστὸς εἶπεν, ὥστε τὴν ψυχὴν ὑπὲρ τῶν προβάτων θεῖναι, ὥστε μηδέποτε ἐγκαταλιπεῖν αὐτὰ ἔρημα καὶ γυμνὰ, ὥστε πρὸς τὸν λύκον ἵστασθαι γενναίως. Τούτῳ γὰρ ὁ ποιμὴν τοῦ μισθωτοῦ διέστηκεν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ τὴν ἰδίαν σωτηρίαν πανταχοῦ σκοπεῖ, τῶν προβάτων ἀμελῶν· οὗτος δὲ πανταχοῦ τὴν τῶν προβάτων ἐπιζητεῖ, τὴν ἑαυτοῦ παρατρέχων. Εἰπὼν τοίνυν τοῦ ποιμένος τὰ δείγματα, δύο τίθησι τοὺς λυμεῶνας· ἕνα τὸν κλέπτην τὸν θύοντα καὶ ἁρπάζοντα· ἕτερον δὲ τὸν τούτων μὲν οὐδὲν ποιοῦντα, γινομένων δὲ τούτων οὐκ ἐπιστρεφόμενον, οὐδὲ κωλύοντα· δι' ἐκείνων μὲν τοὺς περὶ Θευδᾶν αἰνιττόμενος, διὰ τούτων δὲ τοὺς Ἰουδαίων διδασκάλους ἐκπομπεύων, οὐ κηδομένους οὐδὲ φροντίζοντας τῶν ἐμπεπιστευμένων αὐτοῖς προβάτων. Ὅπερ οὖν καὶ ὁ Ἰεζεκιὴλ ἄνωθεν ἐγκαλῶν αὐτοῖς ἔλεγεν· Ὢ οἱ ποιμένες Ἰσραήλ· μὴ βόσκουσιν ἑαυτοὺς 59.328 οἱ ποιμένες; οὐχὶ τὰ πρόβατα βόσκουσιν οἱ ποιμένες; Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνοι τοὐναντίον ἐποίουν, ὅπερ μέγιστόν ἐστιν εἶδος κακίας, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων αἴτιον πάντων. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο γάρ φησιν· οὔτε τὸ πεπλανημένον ἐπέστρεφον, οὐδὲ τὸ ἀπολωλὸς ἐζήτουν, οὐδὲ τὸ συντετριμμένον ἐδέσμουν, οὐδὲ τὸ ἀῤῥωστοῦν ἐθεράπευον, ἐπειδὴ ἑαυτοὺς, καὶ οὐ τὰ πρόβατα, ἔβοσκον. Ὅπερ καὶ ὁ Παῦλος ἑτέρῳ ῥήματι πάλιν ἐδήλου λέγων· Οἱ γὰρ πάντες τὰ ἑαυτῶν ζητοῦσιν, οὐ τὰ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ· καὶ πάλιν, Μηδεὶς τὸ ἑαυτοῦ ζητείτω, ἀλλὰ τὸ τοῦ πλησίον ἕκαστος. Ἀλλ' ἀμφοτέρων ἑαυτὸν διίστησιν ὁ Χριστός· ἐκείνων μὲν τῶν ἐπὶ λύμῃ παραγενομένων, τῷ εἰπεῖν, ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἦλθον, ἵνα ζωὴν ἔχωσι, καὶ περισσὸν ἔχωσι· τούτων δὲ τῶν περιορώντων ὑπὸ τῶν λύκων ἁρπαζόμενα τὰ πρόβατα, τῷ μὴ καταλιπεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ θεῖναι ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν, ὥστε μὴ τὰ πρόβατα ἀποθανεῖν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐβουλεύοντο ἀνελεῖν,