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Kindle it more. For our word will not be able to kindle you so much as the sight of the things themselves. Do not say, "Let me talk to my wife, and first I will settle my affairs." This postponement is the beginning of indifference. Hear that someone wished to bid farewell to those in his house, and the prophet did not allow it. And why do I say bid farewell? The disciple wished to bury his father, and Christ did not even permit this. And yet what matter seems to you so necessary as a father's burial? but He did not permit even this. Why ever? Because the devil stands near vehemently, wishing to gain some entrance; and if he lays hold of even a small occupation and postponement, he works great indifference. For this reason someone advises, "Do not put off from day to day." For thus you will be able to accomplish the most important things, thus also will the affairs of 58.648 your house be well-ordered; For "Seek," He says, "the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you." For if we place in great freedom from care those who overlook their own affairs and put the care of ours first; much more will God, who even without these things cares for and provides for us. Therefore, do not be anxious for your own things, but leave them to God. For if you are anxious, you are anxious as a man; but if God provides, He provides as God. Do not be anxious for them, having left the greater things, since He Himself will not provide for them very much. So that He may provide for them very much, entrust all things to Him alone. For if you yourself handle them, having left spiritual things, He Himself will not make much provision for them; Therefore, so that these things may be well-ordered for you, and you may be freed from all anxiety, hold to spiritual things, despise worldly things; for thus you will possess the earth along with the heavens, and you will obtain the good things to come, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen. 58.647 HOMILY 69. And Jesus answered and spoke again in parables: The kingdom of heaven is like a king, who made a marriage feast for his son. And he sent his servants to call those who had been invited to the marriage feast, and they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying: Tell those who have been invited, "My dinner I have prepared, my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready; come to the marriage feast." But they made light of it and went away, one to his own field, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them, and what follows. 1. Did you see in both the former and in this parable the difference between the son and the servants? Did you see the great similarity of both parables, and also the great difference? For this one too shows both the long-suffering of God and His great providence, and the ingratitude of the Jews. But this one has something more than that one. For it proclaims beforehand both the casting out of the Jews and the calling of the Gentiles; and along with this it shows the strictness of life, and how great a penalty is laid up for the negligent. And this one is well placed after that one. For since He said, "It will be given to a nation producing its fruits," He consequently makes clear here to what nation; and not this only, but He again shows His unspeakable providence towards the Jews. For there He appears calling them before the cross; but here, even after the slaying, He insists on drawing them to Him. And when they ought to have paid the most grievous penalty, then He both draws them to a marriage feast, and honors them with the highest honor. And see how there too it was not the Gentiles first, but the Jews, and here again. But just as there, when they would not receive him, but even slew him when he came, then He gave away the vineyard; so also here, when they would not attend the marriage feast, then He called others. What then could be more ungrateful than they, when being called to a marriage feast, they leap away? For who would not choose to come to a marriage feast, and a king's marriage feast, and 58.648 one that a king is making for his son? "And for what reason," he says, "is it called a marriage feast?" That you may learn the care of God, His desire for us, the brightness of the occasion, how nothing there is sorrowful, nor

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ἀνάκαυσον αὐτὸν πλέον. Οὐ γὰρ οὕτως ὁ παρ' ἡμῶν λόγος δυνήσεταί σε ἀνάψαι, ὡς ἡ τῶν πραγμάτων θέα. Μὴ εἴπῃς, ∆ιαλεχθῶ τῇ γυναικὶ, καὶ διαλύσω τὰ πράγματα πρῶτον. Ἀρχὴ ῥᾳθυμίας αὕτη ἡ ἀναβολή. Ἄκουσον ὅτι συντάξασθαι τοῖς ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ ἠθέλησέ τις, καὶ οὐκ εἴασεν ὁ προφήτης. Καὶ τί λέγω συντάξασθαι; Θάψαι πατέρα ἠθέλησεν ὁ μαθητὴς, καὶ οὐδὲ τοῦτο συνεχώρησεν ὁ Χριστός. Καίτοι τί σοι πρᾶγμα ἀναγκαῖον οὕτως εἶναι δοκεῖ, ὡς κηδεία πατρός; ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἐπέτρεψε. Τί δήποτε; Ὅτι σφοδρὸς ἐφέστηκεν ὁ διάβολος, παρείσδυσίν τινα βουλόμενος λαβεῖν· κἂν ὀλίγης ἀσχολίας ἐπιλάβηται καὶ ἀναβολῆς, μεγάλην ἐργάζεται ῥᾳθυμίαν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο παραινεῖ τις, Μὴ ἀναβάλλου ἡμέραν ἐξ ἡμέρας. Οὕτω γὰρ δυνήσῃ τὰ πλείονα κατορθοῦν, οὕτω καὶ τὰ κατὰ 58.648 τὴν οἰκίαν σοι καλῶς διακείσεται· Ζητεῖτε γὰρ, φησὶ, τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ταῦτα πάντα προστεθήσεται ὑμῖν. Εἰ γὰρ ἡμεῖς τοὺς τὰ ἑαυτῶν ὑπερορῶντας, καὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν προτιθέντας, ἐν πολλῇ καθιστῶμεν ἀμεριμνίᾳ· πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ καὶ χωρὶς τούτων κηδόμενος καὶ προνοῶν. Μὴ τοίνυν φροντίσῃς τῶν σῶν, ἀλλὰ ἄφες αὐτὰ τῷ Θεῷ. Ἂν γὰρ σὺ φροντίσῃς, ὡς ἄνθρωπος φροντίζεις· ἂν δὲ ὁ Θεὸς προνοήσῃ, ὡς Θεὸς προνοεῖ. Μὴ φροντίσῃς αὐτῶν ἀφεὶς τὰ μείζω, ἐπεὶ αὐτὸς οὐ σφόδρα αὐτῶν προνοήσει. Ἵν' οὖν σφόδρα αὐτῶν προνοῇ, αὐτῷ μόνῳ πάντα ἐπίτρεψον. Ἂν γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς αὐτὰ μεταχειρίσῃ, ἀφεὶς τὰ πνευματικὰ οὐ πολλὴν αὐτῶν αὐτὸς ποιήσεται πρόνοιαν· Ἵν' οὖν καὶ σοὶ ταῦτα εὖ διακέηται, καὶ φροντίδος ἀπαλλαγῇς ἁπάσης, ἔχου τῶν πνευματικῶν, ὑπερόρα τῶν βιωτικῶν· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ τὴν γῆν ἕξεις μετὰ τῶν οὐρανῶν, καὶ τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν ἐπιτεύξῃ, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. 58.647 ΟΜΙΛΙΑ ΞΘʹ. Καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπε πάλιν ἐν παραβο λαῖς· Ὡμοιώθη ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ βασιλεῖ, ὅστις ἐποίησε γάμους τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ἀπέστειλε τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ καλέσαι τοὺς κεκλη μένους εἰς τοὺς γάμους, καὶ οὐκ ἤθελον ἐλθεῖν. Πάλιν ἀπέστειλεν ἄλλους δούλους, λέγων· Εἴπατε τοῖς κεκλημένοις, Τὸ ἄριστόν μου ἡτοίμασα, οἱ ταῦροί μου καὶ τὰ σιτιστὰ τεθυμένα, καὶ πάντα ἕτοιμα· δεῦτε εἰς τοὺς γάμους. Οἱ δὲ ἀμελήσαντες ἀπῆλθον, ὁ μὲν εἰς τὸν ἴδιον ἀγρὸν, ὁ δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν ἐμπορίαν αὐτοῦ. Οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ κρατήσαντες τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ ὕβρισαν καὶ ἀπέκτειναν, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. αʹ. Εἶδες καὶ ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ καὶ ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ παραβολῇ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τῶν δούλων τὸ μέσον; εἶδες πολλὴν μὲν ἑκατέρων τῶν παραβολῶν τὴν συγγένειαν, πολλὴν δὲ καὶ τὴν διαφοράν; καὶ γὰρ αὕτη δείκνυσι καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν μακροθυμίαν καὶ τὴν πρόνοιαν τὴν πολλὴν, καὶ τὴν Ἰουδαϊκὴν ἀγνωμοσύνην. Ἀλλ' ἔχει τι καὶ πλέον ἐκείνης αὕτη. Προαναφωνεῖ μὲν γὰρ καὶ τὴν ἔκπτωσιν τῶν Ἰουδαίων, καὶ τὴν κλῆσιν τῶν ἐθνῶν· δείκνυσι δὲ μετὰ τούτου καὶ τοῦ βίου τὴν ἀκρίβειαν, καὶ ὅση τοῖς ἀμελοῦσιν ἡ δίκη κεῖται. Καὶ καλῶς αὕτη μετ' ἐκείνην ἐστίν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἶπε· ∆οθήσεται ἔθνει ποιοῦντι τοὺς καρποὺς αὐτῆς, δηλοῖ λοιπὸν ἐνταῦθα καὶ ποίῳ ἔθνει· καὶ οὐ τοῦτο μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄφατον εἰς τοὺς Ἰουδαίους πάλιν τὴν πρόνοιαν ἐπιδείκνυται. Ἐκεῖ μὲν γὰρ πρὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ φαίνεται καλῶν· ἐνταῦθα δὲ καὶ μετὰ τὸ σφαγῆναι ἐπίκειται ἐπισπώμενος αὐτούς. Καὶ ὅτε τὴν χαλεπωτάτην αὐτοὺς ἔδει δοῦναι δίκην, τότε καὶ εἰς γάμους αὐτοὺς ἕλκει, καὶ τῇ τιμῇ τῇ ἀνωτάτῳ τιμᾷ. Καὶ ὅρα πῶς καὶ ἐκεῖ οὐ πρότερα τὰ ἔθνη, ἀλλ' Ἰουδαίους, καὶ ἐνταῦθα πάλιν. Ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἐκεῖ, ὅτε οὐκ ἠθέλησαν αὐτὸν δέξασθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐλθόντα ἔσφαξαν, τότε ἔδωκε τὸν ἀμπελῶνα· οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα, ὅτε μὴ ἠθέλησαν παραγενέσθαι ἐν τῷ γάμῳ, τότε ἑτέρους ἐκάλεσε. Τί τοίνυν γένοιτ' ἂν αὐτῶν ἀγνωμονέστερον, ὅταν ἐπὶ γάμους καλούμενοι ἀποπηδῶσι; Τίς γὰρ οὐκ ἂν ἕλοιτο ἐπὶ γάμους ἐλθεῖν, καὶ γάμους βασιλέως, καὶ 58.648 βασιλέως υἱῷ ποιοῦντος γάμους; Καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν γάμος εἴρηται; φησίν. Ἵνα μάθῃς τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν κηδεμονίαν, τὸν πόθον τὸν περὶ ἡμᾶς, τῶν πραγμάτων τὴν φαιδρότητα, ὡς οὐδὲν λυπηρὸν ἐκεῖ, οὐδὲ