Chrysostom
Humble Servant of All
When the body pains and the heart fears, it is time to remember what our Lord has taught. You speak of a pain in your heart, and a fear of death that haunts every second. But I ask you: why fear death? It has been trampled under foot by Christ.
He endured the cross, the shame, the agony, and rose again, so that death might be nothing to us but a passage. The body may tremble, but the soul that belongs to Christ has no cause for alarm. For he who fears death is a slave all his life long, as the Apostle says, but you have been set free. This pain you feel, whether of the body or of the mind, is an opportunity to despise what is passing and to cling to what is eternal.
Do not let the devil make you his captive through this terror. Christ has rendered him powerless over those who count not their lives dear. I will pray for your healing, that the pain in your heart may cease and that this oppressive fear be lifted. But more, I pray that you may fix your eyes on the resurrection, and laugh at death as at a defeated foe.
For if God is for us, who can be against us? He justified us by the death of His Son; what accuser can stand? The pain you feel now is but a shadow, but the joy of the Kingdom is without end. Cast yourself upon His mercy, and say with boldness, "Whether by life or by death, Christ shall be magnified." Then the pain will lose its sting, and the fear will vanish like smoke.
He endured the cross, the shame, the agony, and rose again, so that death might be nothing to us but a passage. The body may tremble, but the soul that belongs to Christ has no cause for alarm. For he who fears death is a slave all his life long, as the Apostle says, but you have been set free. This pain you feel, whether of the body or of the mind, is an opportunity to despise what is passing and to cling to what is eternal.
Do not let the devil make you his captive through this terror. Christ has rendered him powerless over those who count not their lives dear. I will pray for your healing, that the pain in your heart may cease and that this oppressive fear be lifted. But more, I pray that you may fix your eyes on the resurrection, and laugh at death as at a defeated foe.
For if God is for us, who can be against us? He justified us by the death of His Son; what accuser can stand? The pain you feel now is but a shadow, but the joy of the Kingdom is without end. Cast yourself upon His mercy, and say with boldness, "Whether by life or by death, Christ shall be magnified." Then the pain will lose its sting, and the fear will vanish like smoke.
