Chrysostom
Beloved
The body’s ailments are not beyond the tendance of Him who desires to gather us as a hen gathers her chicks; He stretches out His wings even now, though our sins have scattered us. Do not fix your eyes solely on the sicknesses of your mother’s lungs or your father’s swelling limbs, but see in them an invitation to call upon the name of the Lord, for whoever calls upon Him shall be saved. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission, and the Blood of the Cross has made peace not only for the soul but echoes healing through the whole creation. Yet what does excess avail?
To load the body with fretting and rich foods is to invite a worse famine; a sufficiency is both nourishment and pleasure, and nothing so deters disease. Trust not in your own anxieties, which push the memory of God from the mind as dread once drove Peter from his Master. The Lord’s tender look is still cast upon your household to summon tears of repentance and relief. For your mother’s infection and your father’s failing sight, there is a table free of turmoil, a modest feast of honest provision and pure water, which nourishes more than the dainties of the wealthy.
Entrust them into the hands of Him who reconciles all things to Himself through the blood of His Cross, not merely speaking words but giving Himself. Whether the flesh mends or languishes, to depart and be with Christ is far better; but while they remain, let them fill up no measure of sin by clinging to this world’s remedies alone. Call, then, upon the Lord, and cast their pains into the depth of His affection, for the creature is warm in its love toward its brood.
To load the body with fretting and rich foods is to invite a worse famine; a sufficiency is both nourishment and pleasure, and nothing so deters disease. Trust not in your own anxieties, which push the memory of God from the mind as dread once drove Peter from his Master. The Lord’s tender look is still cast upon your household to summon tears of repentance and relief. For your mother’s infection and your father’s failing sight, there is a table free of turmoil, a modest feast of honest provision and pure water, which nourishes more than the dainties of the wealthy.
Entrust them into the hands of Him who reconciles all things to Himself through the blood of His Cross, not merely speaking words but giving Himself. Whether the flesh mends or languishes, to depart and be with Christ is far better; but while they remain, let them fill up no measure of sin by clinging to this world’s remedies alone. Call, then, upon the Lord, and cast their pains into the depth of His affection, for the creature is warm in its love toward its brood.
