Chrysostom
Beloved of All
When these tiny creatures swarm your home and every one you kill only seems to summon more, let their persistence teach your soul. A bodily plague is but a faint shadow of the pestilence that truly corrupts, sin. For just as the fly invades your house and defiles what is clean, so sin darts into the heart and makes it foul, inflaming it with desires more torrid than any fever. Do you see the annoyance you feel at these insects? Consider then how much more offensive is the stench of unrepented sin before God.
Yet do not think these small afflictions happen without purpose. Nothing comes to pass outside His permission, whether wars, famines, or the swarm within your walls. All proceed from His hand to rouse the sluggish, to shake the comfortable soul from its sleep. The Lord sent a plague of flies upon Egypt to humble a hardened king. He sends smaller nuisances to you, not to destroy, but to call you to examine what manner of house He enters, the dwelling of your soul. Is it swept clean? Or have you left doors open to Satanic trifles and filthy entertainments, inviting a worse swarm than insects?
Pray, then, but not merely for the removal of these bothersome creatures. Cry out that God would cleanse the house of your heart from the plague no eye can see. Endure this little affliction with patience, watching and giving thanks, for our light momentary troubles are preparing for us an eternal house not made with hands, where no corrupt thing can enter. Touch the hem of Christ’s garment with secret faith, and He who delivers from the curse will also grant you the grace to see even in flies a spur toward heaven.
Yet do not think these small afflictions happen without purpose. Nothing comes to pass outside His permission, whether wars, famines, or the swarm within your walls. All proceed from His hand to rouse the sluggish, to shake the comfortable soul from its sleep. The Lord sent a plague of flies upon Egypt to humble a hardened king. He sends smaller nuisances to you, not to destroy, but to call you to examine what manner of house He enters, the dwelling of your soul. Is it swept clean? Or have you left doors open to Satanic trifles and filthy entertainments, inviting a worse swarm than insects?
Pray, then, but not merely for the removal of these bothersome creatures. Cry out that God would cleanse the house of your heart from the plague no eye can see. Endure this little affliction with patience, watching and giving thanks, for our light momentary troubles are preparing for us an eternal house not made with hands, where no corrupt thing can enter. Touch the hem of Christ’s garment with secret faith, and He who delivers from the curse will also grant you the grace to see even in flies a spur toward heaven.
