Tenth Sunday After Pentecost
By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin
"Being blasphemed against, we entreat" (1 Corinthians 4:13).
By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin
"Being blasphemed against, we entreat" (1 Corinthians 4:13).
Christian Listeners! What should we do when someone offends or insults us? To be angry in such a case is harmful - harmful to the soul, harmful to health; to repay an insult for an insult is even more harmful; to forget the insult suddenly, although it is best of all, yet it is very difficult. So what should be done? Since the cases in which we may be offended are very frequent, it is of no use to us to know the means to which we must resort in such cases.
The apostles, when they preached the gospel, were met with many insults: they were insulted on land and on the sea, insulted in cities and deserts, insulted by their own and others, everywhere and everyone insulted them. What did they do? Where did you find solace? When they blaspheme against us, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, we pray. Likewise, pious listener, when someone insults or offends you, then immediately hurry to a secluded place and there in prayer open your sorrow to God and bring your grief to Him. Then your soul will calm down, the excitement of the heart will subside and resentment will pass with tears, just as the heat of the sun passes with the appearance of rain. And simple tears, shed due to insults, relieve the soul a lot, but prayerful tears can bring much stronger and more relief. What then to pray for? Certainly not about so that God would take revenge on the one who offended you, because by doing this you offend only God. Pray that God will give you the strength to endure and forget the insult, and you will easily endure it.
Therefore, pious listener, in every offense and in every insult, do what the apostles did - pray. Amen.
The apostles, when they preached the gospel, were met with many insults: they were insulted on land and on the sea, insulted in cities and deserts, insulted by their own and others, everywhere and everyone insulted them. What did they do? Where did you find solace? When they blaspheme against us, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, we pray. Likewise, pious listener, when someone insults or offends you, then immediately hurry to a secluded place and there in prayer open your sorrow to God and bring your grief to Him. Then your soul will calm down, the excitement of the heart will subside and resentment will pass with tears, just as the heat of the sun passes with the appearance of rain. And simple tears, shed due to insults, relieve the soul a lot, but prayerful tears can bring much stronger and more relief. What then to pray for? Certainly not about so that God would take revenge on the one who offended you, because by doing this you offend only God. Pray that God will give you the strength to endure and forget the insult, and you will easily endure it.
Therefore, pious listener, in every offense and in every insult, do what the apostles did - pray. Amen.