Chrysostom
Beloved Servant
You ask for healing for your mother and deliverance from financial distress, and you do well to call upon the name of Jesus Christ, for there is no other name by which we must be saved. Yet while you pray, examine your heart with honesty. Does any root of bitterness or unforgiveness lodge there? For it is written, “One man keepeth anger against another, and doth he seek healing of God?” If you cherish resentment against anyone, perhaps even against God for taking your father, cast it out at once. A vengeful spirit brings death, but a forgiving heart opens the door to divine mercy.
As for your mother’s body, it is right to seek health, for the Apostle himself counseled Timothy to use a little wine for his stomach’s sake. Make provision for her flesh, but only for health, not for indulgence or excessive comfort. Let her food and medicine be simple, avoiding all that stirs up vice or softens the soul. The same rule applies to your financial cares. Do not let anxiety about daily needs become a furnace of desire. Riches and poverty in this life are no more enduring than a dream; when the day of judgment dawns, all these imagined needs will vanish. Seek first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness, and trust that the Father who feeds the birds will not neglect His children who cry to Him.
Pray without ceasing, and let your life match your prayers. Fast often, give alms from the little you have, and cling to the church’s worship. The present trouble is a light affliction compared to the eternal weight of glory prepared for those who love Him. God will strengthen you and your mother, and He will open a way through the financial desert if you surrender every care into His hands and refuse to let worldly cares choke the word. Stand firm, do not waver in faith, and remember that your father now rejoices in the unending light if he departed in Christ. You and your mother are not orphans; the Lord upholds you both. Amen.
As for your mother’s body, it is right to seek health, for the Apostle himself counseled Timothy to use a little wine for his stomach’s sake. Make provision for her flesh, but only for health, not for indulgence or excessive comfort. Let her food and medicine be simple, avoiding all that stirs up vice or softens the soul. The same rule applies to your financial cares. Do not let anxiety about daily needs become a furnace of desire. Riches and poverty in this life are no more enduring than a dream; when the day of judgment dawns, all these imagined needs will vanish. Seek first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness, and trust that the Father who feeds the birds will not neglect His children who cry to Him.
Pray without ceasing, and let your life match your prayers. Fast often, give alms from the little you have, and cling to the church’s worship. The present trouble is a light affliction compared to the eternal weight of glory prepared for those who love Him. God will strengthen you and your mother, and He will open a way through the financial desert if you surrender every care into His hands and refuse to let worldly cares choke the word. Stand firm, do not waver in faith, and remember that your father now rejoices in the unending light if he departed in Christ. You and your mother are not orphans; the Lord upholds you both. Amen.
