Three Days of Good
15 February 2023
Great Lent – Father Pimen Vlad
23 February 2023
It is very toxic to judge others – it is a destruction of the love between us in our heart, whether the other person knows we are judging them or not. For some advice on this topic, listen to the following material.
Enjoy!
We meet again, my dear ones. Do you see how much beauty we have now? I used to call snow “The embrace of God, who covers all the filth in this world and makes everything beautiful.” This is what God always does in our lives, He erases everything, but we need to ask for forgiveness, [have] a little repentance.
“Lord, forgive me!” and God erases, makes everything around us beautiful. See how much beauty there is? Look at the beautiful snow! Let us rejoice in it because God gave it to us. Yes, dear ones, snow has reached us too. Everything has its beauty, all things in their own time: when it’s warm we enjoy the heat, the rain, now we enjoy the snow, we freeze a little, we warm up a little, but we enjoy everything God gives us.
Recently it was the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee. Those of you who have listened to the gospel, did you understand? Did you see what it says there? They went to the temple (now that would be at church) to pray, a Pharisee and a Publican. Of course, the Pharisee stepped forward, he thought God would hear him better, but he did not go humbly saying:
“Lord, you know that I am human, I am powerless, I make mistakes, I upset you every day.” He went as he was used to in these earthly things: like when you go with the package, you hand over the envelope and the job is done. He thought God didn’t know and he could tell Him whatever he wanted. He said, “Thank you that I’m not like other people!” He went there to brag.
He tithed everything, fasted twice a week, he went, “Lord, see, how great I am! Don’t you applaud me? Look how good I am, not like that publican sinner there!” Even though he had a big, round belly, he thought he was the good one and the other was the sinner, the way he saw it. He didn’t think about how God looked at others, only how he looked at them: “Lord, I’m not like that sinner!” But how did he know what that sinner was like? Who gave him the right to judge that sinner?
Indeed, back then publicans were considered sinners because they always got their share of the money raised, but it does not mean that they were all like that, or it does not mean that some of them did not repent for what they did.
During this time, the publican was standing at the door, in a corner, he did not even dare to come forward. He got down on his knees, with his head on the ground, beat his chest and said, “Be merciful unto me!” No matter what the Pharisee said, he had no business with others, he regarded himself as a sinner:
“I am not interested in others. Lord! You know, you can have mercy on everyone, but I know I am the most sinful! Be merciful unto me, Lord!”
How did it end? More righteously did the publican return to his house than the Pharisee, of whom it is said somewhere that he really did those things of which he boasted. He fasted twice a week, did his prayers (as he did them, we have seen them).
He had, as they say, proof: “I have read two akathists, Lord, I have fulfilled my duty. You owe me!” As if God demanded that. And we often do this: “Well, I read one kathisma, two akathists, I am settled with God, now I can do what I want!”
No, God wants a humble heart and never to judge
The moment we ascended, rose above each other, and threw mud at one another (look at that, how bad, look at what he does), we stood up against God. We oppose God and turn God against us. As long as we humble ourselves, ask God for forgiveness and make amends, we become better. We do more good without judging. You want to correct someone, go and do 50 prostrations every night for him. Pray for him if you want to correct him and you’ll see him become better!
Do you think if you throw mud all day, he becomes better? He doesn’t, instead you make it worse, you make him become even worse!
I also get messages sometimes: “Father, why don’t you say [this]? Why don’t you fight? Why don’t you say anything? It means you’re a traitor!” I mean, what do you want? Should I try to judge everyone, as the media does, to get applauded? No!
We do the right thing, each in our own right, without trumpeting. Let each of us humble ourselves before God. This is the beginning of all good deeds: to humble ourselves, to see our sinfulness. Let us understand what we are before God—a grain of sand. Let’s not think we’re great! We are nothing without God, we are zero, nothing! Do you understand, dear ones?
Much hope in God! That’s going to save us, in all these times now! Let us truly humble ourselves and cry out to God and you will see then that He works miracles, that God can [do anything]! He said [something] and it was done, He can renew everything, stop all the madness of the world. Yes, God can calm everyone’s mind, but we need much repentance, not judgment! We can’t boast about ourselves that we’re great, because we’re not.
Starting with me, up to everyone else, we are people subjected to passions and we must fight continuously, because God, in His mercy, sees that we fought, wounded, we threaded water, we fought! Let us fight and God does the rest! Let us have love for others, let us pray for them!
The Holy Fathers say that God covers up the mistake of one who covers up his brother’s mistake. They don’t say to publicize [the mistake], as is done in the media, and all day long to throw mud [at the other]. Cover up your brother’s mistake and God will cover yours—that’s what we must do. That means “zipper up the mouth”, as I have said many times, or “[hold] water in your mouth.” It is not for nothing that the Holy Fathers said that silence is golden, speech, the word of God, silver, and the rest is vanity.
Don’t forget to enjoy every moment, it might be your last day. It’s snow, don’t murmur against God, it’s cold, gas or electricity is expensive… When you grumble, does it get cheaper? No, that’s how it stays. Give glory to God, take your family and go into the snow and play, see how you warm up. Bring everyone, run around and play for hours, until you can’t anymore, until you get tired, and you will see that you refresh yourself, ventilate the brain, open lungs, strengthen immunity.
Everything is made beautiful by God, it is enough for us to have eyes to see it. Have some care in the family, pay some attention in raising children. Give them time, that’s what kids need: time, not the other things. When you give them money, when you buy them computers so they can have them, [so they can] kill their time, it doesn’t help them. Give them your time!
I remember a little story: there was a parent who had a seven-year-old daughter, whom he took to the gym. He hoped that she would grow up properly, or maybe even pursue a sport, and he took her there twice a week. Once, when she got there, as usual, the girl went to training, there were [also] other children brought by their parents, the coach was taking care of them, and the man took the phone out of his pocket, but it turned off pretty quickly. He had forgotten to charge it, and the battery had run out.
Having nothing else to do, the man thought to watch the girl’s training and noticed something that seemed strange at first: the girl ran a little bit and looked at him and smiled. He smiled back at her, she did some gymnastics and after 2 minutes she looked at him again and smiled at him again. Then he saw that the other children were looking at their parents, but the parents weren’t looking at the kids because they were on their phones.
Children kept looking and there was sadness in the eyes of the children, as their parents did not look at them, that is, they did not encourage them in what they did, nor did the children see their parents enjoy what they do, but they were all deep into the phone, clicking away and looking down.
Then he realized that his little girl had gone through the same as the other children, because he had been on the phone just like the others, only now, because his phone was turned off, he realized the reality, that his little girl needed him, to encourage her, to look at her. That is, to be by her side, to give her his time, to give her his attention. Since then, the man said, when he got there, he turned off the phone and left it in the car, because he realized what his attention as a father meant to the little girl. Did you see? Be careful what you do!
That doesn’t mean you should be agreeing to all your child’s whims, that’s not what I meant. You explain what’s right, what’s bad, but you give them time to make them understand what’s right and wrong. Time so when they do something good, you give them courage and are by their side.
Do you hear that, dear ones? There needs to be a lot of attention in this, because time passes, we waste it, looking only on the phone, on the Internet. We don’t have time for children and one day we will go to God and be asked how we spent this time. Did we make use of it or waste it? How did we raise the children?
“Well, God, I didn’t have time.” How did you not have time? For hours you were on your phone wasting time! Do you hear, dear ones? [Pay] some attention and you will see in time the fruits of raising children. If you put a seed somewhere and water it and take care of it, it will start growing until it bears fruit – if it’s a flower, it gives you flowers, if it’s a tree, it gives you fruit. Your child will also bear fruit, which you will enjoy later, if you really give them what’s good and proper.
Much prayer to the Mother of God. Know that the Mother of God helps a lot in our daily lives, all the time. Whatever we do, let us not leave home without kissing the icon of the Mother of God, let us say “Mother of God, help us, be with us!” She is our Mother, who covers us and takes us in her arms all the time.
I have said it before and I repeat myself, it is said that somewhere there was a man to whom a hermit came, who knocked on his gate and said: “The Mother of God sent me to ask you why you don’t pray to her anymore.” He was surprised: “Okay, but I prayed for 20 years to the Mother of God and I didn’t get any help and then I gave up.”
Then the hermit replied, “Let’s look over your life. When you were about five years old, a disease came through the village and many children died, but you had nothing, it didn’t affect you, do you know who helped you? The Mother of God. Your mother taught you from an early age to say prayers to the Mother of God and she protected you.
You know when you were about ten years old and you rode the cart with your parents and the cart overturned, the others broke their legs, but nothing happened to you? The Mother of God took you in her arms!” And he repeated different things from his life, when nothing ever happened to him, but everyone around him had something going on, but he seemed to be held in someone’s arms.
At the end he told him: “You see, the Mother of God has always been present in your life and now she has sent me to ask you why you are dissatisfied. Why did you push her aside when she held you in her arms?” Did you see? So the Mother of God holds us in her arms, but let us not forget her. Not that she needs that, but we need her. We need our Mother to hold us in Her arms.
Do you really not want to sit in the arms of the Mother of God? Think that it doesn’t end here: if She holds us in her arms and takes care of us here, in the end, at the judgment, she will go with us there and put word in and say, “Lord, please have mercy on him, for he sat at My feet and put his hope in Me, and even though he fell so many times, he stood up and did not lose hope in me. Help him, Lord, have mercy on him, receive him into heaven!” See then how much we will want to hear the Mother of God intercede for us, to receive us where we need to be!
Dear ones, don’t forget to enjoy the snow! Look how beautiful it is! Snow; clean and beautiful snow, enjoy it. Take your children, go out and play, strengthen your natural immunity!
May the Mother of God and the good God help us to become better, and let us strive to become, through humility and love, white as snow.
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