Good in Every Man

A homily on Pentecost delivered by Serbian Bishop Hrizostom (Vojinovic) of blessed memory.

It is good, dear brothers and sisters, to set some time aside from your daily duties, your everyday problems and worries, thoughts and discussions and come to this holy place where one can refresh oneself through prayer and other, new thoughts which are not everyday.

Feasts are given to us for this reason, that man might take a breath from the ordinary everyday routine and, immersing oneself in prayer and a remembrance on all of God’s great deeds, gather the strength for the path ahead, future sacrifices and future (spiritual) uplifting.

And today’s feast gives us thoughts which refresh and uplift the spirit. These are the thoughts of the first, radiant days of Christianity and the life-giving power of good and love.

On this day, a small group of people in the distant and obscure Palestine received inspiration from on high to go out into the world and announce the new and salvific truths.

Before them was the vast Roman Empire which stretched from the Euphrates to the Atlantic and from the Rhine and the Danube to Ethiopia, where people lived, enjoyed life, slaved, but also mutually hated one another and at times killed for the purpose of torturing.

They were governed by a model of legislature and an elevated culture,  they had an external organization and an external abundance in all things however this is not everything that man seeks and desires after. Instead, the people were thirsty for something deeper, something filled with more warmth and more life.

It was into this world that the Apostles set out on this very day in order to announce the Savior’s good news that that which man seeks is not far from him, that indeed every person carries within himself a treasure he is not even aware of, a treasure of sonship to God and goodness, which nothing in this world can be equated to and, if he doesn’t find it either in himself or his neighbor, cannot be exchanged with anything else.

They announced that the Savior approached also those who were hated by others and cast out and He revealed in them as well an entire world of beauty: in the unfortunate and disrespected Zacchaeus, in a sinner named Magdalene, in Peter who was quick to anger and draw a sword, in the crucified thief.

They revealed that all of the misfortune came from the fact that people assume the wrong position, that they always decipher, find and see that which is bad in one another and not that which is good; that they seek that which feeds on hatred and kills the spirit, not that which uplifts the spirit and which gives fruit to love and joy.

They advised:

Stop looking for that which is bad in your neighbors but rather find and love that which is good in them and you will save both them and yourselves.

You will save them since every man already believes in his own goodness, everyone likes and wants to be good, everyone feels that eternal and divine calling to perfection. One should, therefore, support others in this: believe in them and help them develop that which is good, which abides in them and which they ultimately respect in themselves, that they develop that inner goodness, that it be strengthen and that it bring them victory over evil…..For, it is only that which is good in man that can be loved and it is only in love that one can live.

It is with this teaching that the Apostles set out into  the world on this day.

(…)

And so Christianity, not fighting with weapons, not using force and not killing a single enemy, defeated the world in not even a full three centuries.

Let someone find anything similar from history!

(…)

The only thing is that new generations of Christians frequently forget that which is first and essential in Christianity. One of the first and essential rules of a Christian spiritual life is: do not look for that which is bad in one another, but that which is good, that you might stop hating and begin loving – for, our salvation and joy and life is in love!

(…)

We know of one church leader who, before the war, was criticized and judged greatly. The daily papers constantly wrote against him….they brought resolutions and protests against him and sought that he be removed from their area. Then, the war came and the “Independent State of Croatia” came and from that man appeared something that no one even imagined: he became the greatest shepherd and hero and finished his life better than any king – he ended it magnificently, as  a great martyr. Today he is the pride of the Church which he, in everyone’s opinion, one time served to his shame.

No one knows what sorts of good things are hidden in a man!

We cannot find a perfect man in this world but also we cannot find such a person that there is absolutely nothing good. Every person who passes us carries God’s icon inside of them, everyone – even the worst – has those moments when they are great, good and dear. This is, in fact,  that which we should focus our attention on, which we should seek and in what we should rejoice.

For this reason, when the devil tempts us to think evil about anyone, when we meet someone or when we recall someone we cannot stand, let us calm ourselves down immediately and think lovingly: that man too, whom I can’t stand, is a child of God; Christ died for him, too; God looks on him with love as well and awaits for his return to the Fatherly embrace; that man too knows how to be good, maybe far better than me; he certainly must have his problems, somethings that burns inside of him and causes him pain; he, too, is my brother, worthy of compassion and love…

(…)

For this reason, when you make your grass wreaths today, weave into them your prayers for those who have left us and have gone to that other world, and for all those who are dear to you in this world, weave into them also the prayer that God help us not see in one another only that which is bad, but also the good, that we might rejoice in the good of our neighbor, so that we too might be filled with goodness.

And when you look at those wreaths by your icons in your homes, add this daily prayer and petition:

Lord, help me to see the good in every man that droplets from Your great, holy and eternal ocean of love might also fall into my soul. Amen.