Sermon 77C

SERMON 77/C On the Birth of John the Baptist And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people. And has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

FROM THE SERMON ON THAT WHICH IS WRITTEN:
"If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself"
[FRAGMENT]

Let correction not be withheld.

When a man sees someone living badly and perhaps giving something to the Church, and does not correct him, he flees in spirit. What does it mean to "flee in spirit"? To be afraid. Fear is an internal flight. Why is he afraid? Because he is a hireling. Perhaps the person receiving the correction will take it badly and stop giving what he usually gives. He sees the wolf coming, that is, the devil breaking the neck of the one living badly, and flees in spirit, refrains from useful correction, full of fear. But he who is a shepherd and cares for the sheep does not let him go and does what the Apostle says: Correct the restless, comfort the faint-hearted, and so on. Therefore, let no one suppose that a pious shepherd, or one who calls himself a shepherd, does not repay evil for evil, when he rather repays evil for good. For though he is a sinner and wicked, he gives of his goods to the Church; but the other one repays him evil for good, from whom he withholds correction. But because all this must be done out of love, and sometimes men consider their correctors their enemies, therefore, after saying: Correct the restless, he added: Comfort the faint-hearted. Perhaps, due to the correction, he begins to lose heart and is disturbed: then it is necessary to comfort him. Support the weak so that they do not fall through weakness. If weakness has caused him to stumble, let love receive him into its bosom. And after saying these things, he added finally: See that no one repays anyone evil for evil. Therefore, correction is not evil if it is done. But what does a good sheep say when corrected by his superior? "The righteous will correct me in mercy."