Abba Poemen said, ‘There is no greater love than that a man
lays down his life for his neighbour. When you hear someone complaining and you
struggle with yourself and do not answer him back with complaints; when you are
hurt and bear it patiently, not looking for revenge; then you are laying down
your life for your neighbour.’
When Abba Apollo heard the sound of singing from the monks
who welcomed us, he greeted us according to the custom which all monks follow
... he first lay prostrate on the ground, then got up and kissed us and having
brought us in he prayed for us; then after washing our feet with his own hands,
he invited us to partake of some refreshment...
One could see
his monks were filled with joy and a bodily contentment such as one cannot see
on earth. For nobody among them was gloomy or downcast. If anyone did appear a
little downcast, Abba Apollo at once asked him the reason and told each one
what was in the secret recesses of his heart. He used to say ‘Those who are
going to inherit the Kingdom of heaven must not be despondent about their salvation
... we who have been considered worthy of so great a hope, how shall we not
rejoice without ceasing, since the Apostle urges us always, “Pray without
ceasing, in everything give thanks”?’
The community founded here by St
David was a monastic community, which looked to the Desert Fathers and Mothers of
Egypt and the Levant as their source and inspiration: as it was here that
through prayer, the recitation of the Psalms and of the reading of Holy
Scripture that their common life was formed. There is a little bit of the Egyptian
desert here at least in spirit. There are those who would wish to characterise
Christianity in general and monasticism in particular in negative terms, as
gloomy, focussing on what one cannot do, and yet when we consider the parting
advice of St David to his followers, he began with ‘Byddwch llawen’ ‘Be joyful’ just like the Desert Fathers quoted
earlier. The Christian vocation then is one of JOY, we are to be joyful
Christians, joyful in the knowledge that God loves us, that God died and rose
again for us. To have the humility to accept the fact that God loves us, not because
we are loveable but so that we might become so, requires that we circumcise the
foreskin of our heart, or perhaps more literally ‘cut away, therefore, the
thickening about your hearts and stiffen your necks no more’ (JPS Tanakh). The advice
given in Deuteronomy 10-11 has at its heart the gentleness and generosity which
lies at the heart of the Christian faith, in the same way that St Paul despite
many trials and tribulations en route to his eventual execution in Rome remains
joyful and generous.
This
is how we live out our faith in our lives, not jealously guarding our faith as
some treasured possession too precious to be sullied or shared, but by recognising
that such things were given to us freely, and so should be likewise shared
freely. We can be serious, as after all there are souls at stake, it is a serious
business, but not so much that our seriousness of purpose and resolve should
ever overshadow the generosity and joy inherent in our loving God and our neighbour.
The
Christian life may be many things but it is certainly rarely easy, which is why
it needs to lived together by a community of faith, so that we can support each
other when times are tough, as St Antony the Great said: ‘Our life and our death
is with our neighbour. If we win our brother, we win God. If we cause our brother
to stumble, we have sinned against Christ.’ How we support each other is how we
live out our faith in our lives, and how we as Christians convert others – actions
speak louder than words – and if our faith affects who we are and what we do and
how and why we do it then it will be attractive, it cannot fail to be – hence the
need for joy, given that one may catch more flies with honey than vinegar. It is
the joy of being loved by a God whose service is perfect freedom. This is the pearl
of great price, and the heart of the Gospel, so let us live it together in love.
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