We have an obligation to advise others ( St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite )

There are people who make excuses and utter the following cold and indifferent words: 

“Why should I be concerned with what other people do? ...

 Why should I advise and correct another person?

 I am not responsible for him!” Such people must realize that they are obliged by the natural law, the ethical law, the Gospel, and the invisible warfare (which their fellow brothers in Christ are experiencing) to be concerned for others.

 

Let us listen to the divine St. John Chrysostom who reproves such people with his golden and sweet words. He says that no one should speak in this manner because such statements are demonic and characteristic of the callousness of the devil; and Christians have no ties and nothing in common with the devil, whereas they have numerous things in common with their brothers in Christ.“Do not utter this chilling phrase, ‘What concern is it to me? I have nothing to do with him’ ... for this is a satanic saying. It is diabolical cruelty. It is only with the devil that we have nothing in common, whereas with all human beings we have much in common.”

 

Furthermore, he advises us to be concerned for the salvation of our brothers because when we look after the salvation of others we simultaneously attend to what is beneficial for us.

“Do not utter that phrase replete with gross insensitivity, ‘What concern is it to me? I have my own affairs to worry about.’ For it is precisely then that you care about your own affairs, when you seek the advantage of your neighbor. This is why St. Paul said, ‘Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’swell being’ (Cor.10:24).”

 

Elsewhere, he censures them who make excuses by pointing out that the statement many people make, “It’s none of my business,” was first voiced by Cain who murdered his own brother.

 He continues to say that such remarks give rise to all the evils, and he posses the following question: If the salvation of your fellow Christian is of no concern to you, to whom is it a concern? 

To them who do not believe in God?

To the idolaters who rejoice when they see Christians sinning?

 Or to the devil who struggles to destroy and throw Christians into sin?

 

“Do not say to me, ‘What do I care? 

Fear him who first uttered these words. The statement ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ (Gen. 4:9)expressesthe same meaning. This is from where all the evils sprout forth; for we consider the wounds of our body to be something foreign. 

 

What are you saying? 

You do not care about your brother? 

Who will care about him? 

The unbeliever, who gloats over him, upbraids him, and insults him? 

The devil, who impels him to sin and trips him up?”

St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite

https://www.stnektariosmonastery.org/en/index.php 

Christ Teaches us Obedience ( St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite )

Now, what do we have to say? If the King of the angels was obedient to His parents, in other words, if he was obedient to the mud and clay that He
Himself created with His own hands, what must
we do?

We who are sinful and worse than a zero? How much obedience should we have toward our
physical parents? How much must we honor
them? How much should we love them? How much gratitude must we show to them?
Every child is obligated to give these four things to his parents, and he, in turn, should receive the
following four things from his parents:
sustenance, help, instruction, and a good example.
 
Children must especially display a great deal of patience with their parents’ shortcomings during their old age, as it is written:
“My son, help your father in his old age, and do not grieve him in his life, and if his understanding fails, be considerate and do not dishonor him
with all your strength” (Sir. 3:12-13).

Do not believe, dear reader, that we can possibly make any material or spiritual progress if we
disobey our parents.
Do not think this at all!
“An astute son is obedient to his father, but a disobedient son is for destruction” (Pr. 13:1). 
If we ignore our father, we become blasphemers; and if we annoy and sadden our mother, we are cursed by the Lord:
“He who forsakes his father is like a blasphemer, and he who provokes his mother to wrath is
cursed by God” (Sir. 3:16). If, on the other hand,
we honor our father, we will also be honored by
our children; and if  we receive our father’s blessing, the foundations of our home will be firmly established:
“He who honors his father will be gladdened by his own children, and when he prays, he will be heard. He who honors his father will have a long life, and he who obeys the Lord will give rest to his mother; and he will serve his parents as his masters. Honor your father and mother in word and deed, that a blessing may come upon you from him. For the blessing of a father establishes the houses of the children, but the curse of a mother
uproots their foundations” (Sir. 3:5-9).

In brief, we are obligated to obey our parents always. The only time we should not listen to them and instead choose the love of God is if they
ever order us to do something evil, or to transgress any of God’s commandments, or if they attempt to prevent us from choosing a way of life through
which we can better serve and be more pleasing to the Lord, such as the monastic life for example, as the divine Chrysostom affirms. 
The Lord Jesus Christ indicated this very thing when He was in the Temple and responded in the following way to His parents who were looking for Him:
“Why have you been seeking Me?
Do you not know that it is necessary for Me to
remain in My Father’s home?” (Lk. 2:49).


http://www.stnektariosmonastery.org/

Christ teaches us Obedience ( Part 1 ) - St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite

Jesus Christ, the Lord and God of all, to Whom every creature and all of creation submit, remained obedient to His parents. This is truly remarkable!
But if we carefully consider the persons whom He obeyed, the duration of His submission, and the extent of His obedience, we will stand awestruck before the unsurpassed and unparalleled obedience displayed by Christ.
The Lord’s obedience was extraordinary, firstly, on account of the people to whom He submitted Himself. Indeed, it would have sufficed if the
Lord obeyed only His Most-holy mother; for she was His biological mother who conceived Him from her immaculate flesh, who carried Him for nine entire months in her womb, and who later nurtured Him with her milk.
Consequently, He had a mandatory obligation to obey her, not only because He was her genuine and true Son, but also because He was the Law-giver Himself Who had commanded the following:
“Honor your father and mother that it may be well with you, and your days may be long upon the good land” (Ex. 20:12); “Hear my son, the instruction of your father, and do not reject the laws of your mother” (Pr. 1:9); “He who honors his father atones for his sins; and he who honors his mother is like one who stores up treasure. He who honors his father will be gladdened by his own children, and when he prayed, he will be heard. He who honors his father will have a long life, and he who obeys the Lord will give rest to his mother; and he will serve his parents as his masters.
Honor your father and mother in word and deed, that a blessing may come upon you from him” (Sir. 3:6).
The Lord, however, chose to be obedient even to Righteous Joseph, despite the fact that He was neither required nor obligated to do so. Joseph was not Christ’s true, biological father; the Lord Jesus was not Joseph’s genuine, natural son. Joseph’s fatherhood and Christ’s sonship were both a portrayal, not an actuality. Their father-son relationship was assumed to be and referred to as true kinship, but in essence it was not real. 

Despite this, the Lord desiring to display an extraordinary level of obedience submitted Himself indiscriminately and listened not only to His true mother but also to His supposed father Joseph, as if he was His real father. This is why St. Luke the Evangelist stated :
“Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and subjected Himself to them” (Lk. 2:51).


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The Devil Dies When He Does Not Receive the Pleasure of the Senses ( St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite )

         
Since the devil has as nourishment the passions and pleasures of the senses, he too will die as he is deprived of this nourishment. “The strong lion perishes for lack of prey” (Job 4:11). St. Neilos has noted that the devil is often referred to as an “ant-lion,” just as the passions are. This means that at first these passions appear as something very small, but later become great and strong like lions. Do you see, dear brother, what great enemies you have to defeat? Do you see that by cutting off the passions of the senses, you are also going to put Satan to death? But alas this cutting off and this victory cannot be won without a war. It is like the external wars, no one can win a victory without first waging a war against the enemy. It is certain that you have to experi­ence a great struggle in each of your senses both from the point of view of habit and of the enemy.


For the bad habit desires to draw each sense toward its pleasurable object when it is present. On the other hand, the enemy desires to wage a great battle in the memory and imagination of the mind in order to achieve its consent to enjoy that pleasure, so that, in doing so, the devil can also enjoy the same pleasure. But you must stand courageously and never consent to the will of the enemy. Say to yourself that iambic proverb of St. Gregory the Theologian: “No one can excel by beginning from cowardice; it is the victories that bring praise.”


An ancient people recognized their children to be their genuine offspring only after placing before them a viper and observing them catch it courageously. You too, dear brother, must make the enemy realize that you are a true child of Christ Who is your heavenly Father, and who has overcome the passions and the devil-through the cour­age you demonstrate in fighting against the evil passions of your senses. And if the enemy stands to fight you, be not afraid to tell him what that brave Spartan said to Xerxes: “Oh king, you managed to sail the sea and to cut a channel across the peninsula of Athos, but you will not pass the side of one armed Spartan.” For this reason then show the enemy that you are not a slave of your senses, but lord and king. Show that you are not only flesh and blood, but a rational mind, appointed by God to be leader and sole ruler over the irrational passions of the body. Say to yourself that wise proverb about evil habits: “The best learning for man is to unlearn evil.” Now, if I have learned, wrongly, to give to my senses their sensual objects, and this wrong learning has brought about a bad habit, and this bad habit a still further bad condi­tion, why can I not now learn to do the opposite? Let, therefore, the good learning become a good habit and the good habit a good and permanent condition. If, in doing this, I am to experience difficulties and bitterness at first, let me experience them. Afterward I will be able to experience both ease and joy. The first efforts to learn and practice the virtues and establish the habit of virtuous living are often very bitter and most difficult for the senses. The activity that follows after these initial efforts to acquire the habit of virtuous living is very easy, ineffably sweet, and enjoyable.

Briefly we can say that angels are invisibly present, holding crowns in their hands. Christ himself is the one Who will crown you every time you are victorious in the battle against the evil passions of the senses and you do not succumb to them. St. Basil said: “Suffering brings glory, and tribulation brings crowns.” But you have been beaten once or twice (I hope not!). Be not completely overcome. Stand firm and courageous, calling upon God for help. If you do so, the grace of God will come directly to your help and will not leave you to be completely overcome by the enemy. Do you want to be sure of this? Follow me and let us travel to Sodom. Have you come? Behold the five kings of Sodom mentioned in Holy Scripture (Gen 14), who were then under the hegemony of the Assyrian king Chedorlaomer and who were paying tribute to him and to the other kings with him for ten years. In the thirteenth year they rebelled and did not want to pay the tribute to the Assyrian king, who then declared war on them. It appeared soon afterward that the five kings were subdued and captured by the Assyri­ans. What happened next? When Abram heard about this, he ran to their aid; he fought, he won, and he liberated them for the sake of his nephew Lot.
 
St. Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain - A Handbook of Spiritual Council – Chapter 8; Guarding All the Senses in General pp. 136-145 (“The Classics of Western Spirituality” series.)

We have an obligation to advise others ( St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite )

There are people who make excuses and utter the following cold and indifferent words: “Why should I be concerned with what other people do?
... Why should I advise and correct another person? I am not responsible for him!
” Such people must realize that they are obliged by the natural law, the ethical law, the Gospel, and the invisible warfare (which their fellow brothers in Christ are experiencing) to be concerned for others.
Let us listen to the divine St. John Chrysostom
who reproves such people with his golden and sweet words. He says that no one should speak in this manner because such statements are demonic and characteristic of the callousness of the devil; and Christians have no ties and nothing in common with the devil, whereas they have numerous things in common with their brothers in Christ.
“Do not utter this chilling phrase, ‘What concern is it to me? I have nothing to do with him’ ... for this is a satanic saying. It is diabolical cruelty.
It is only with the devil that we have nothing in common, whereas with all human beings we have much in common.”
Furthermore, he advises us to be concerned for the salvation of our brothers because when we look after the salvation of others we simultaneously attend to what is beneficial for us.
“Do not utter that phrase replete with gross insensitivity, ‘What concern is it to me? I have my own affairs to worry about.’ For it is precisely then that you care about your own affairs, when you seek the advantage of your neighbor. This is why St. Paul said, ‘Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well being’(Cor. 10:24).”
Elsewhere, he censures them who make excuses
by pointing out that the statement many people make, “It’s none of my business,” was first
voiced by Cain who murdered his own brother. He continues to say that such remarks give rise to all the evils, and he posses the following question: If the salvation of your fellow Christian is of no concern to you, to whom is it a concern? To them who do not believe in God?
To the idolaters who rejoice when they see Christians sinning? Or to the devil who struggles to destroy and throw Christians into sin?

“Do not say to me, ‘What do I care? Fear him who first uttered these words.
The statement ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ (Gen. 4:9) expresses the same meaning. This is from where all the evils sprout forth; for we consider the wounds of our body to be something foreign. What are you saying? You do not care about your brother? Who will care about him? The unbeliever
, who gloats over him, upbraids him, and insults him? The devil, who impels him to sin and trips him up?” 

St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite

http://www.stnektariosmonastery.org