Ορθοδοξία / Πατερική Θεολογία

Υπάρχει ελεημοσύνη που αποστρέφεται ο Κύριος;

22 Οκτωβρίου 2016

«Τας νουμηνίας υμών και τα σάββατα, και ημέραν μεγάλην ουκ ανέχομαι νηστείαν, και αργίαν, και τας νουμηνίας υμών, και τας εορτάς υμών μισεί η ψυχή μου«.

Αυτά λέει ο Προφήτης Ησαΐας (1, 13-14). Γιατί το λέει όμως; Μας το εξηγεί εν μέρει ο άγ. Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, στο «Λόγο κατά τοκιζόντων»:

Αν ο φτωχός ήξερε από πού προέρχεται η ελεημοσύνη που του προσφέρεις, δεν θα τη δεχόταν, γιατί πρόκειται να γευθεί έτσι σάρκα ανθρώπινη και αίμα συγγενών. Θα σου έλεγε μάλιστα λόγια φρόνιμου θάρρους: «Να μη με τρέφεις, άνθρωπε, με τα δάκρυα των αδελφών μου. Μη δίνεις στο φτωχό ψωμί που βγαίνει από τους στεναγμούς των άλλων φτωχών. Μοίρασε στους συνανθρώπους σου όσα μάζεψες με αδικίες, κι εγώ θα ομολογήσω την καλή σου πράξη».

This was taken about halfway up the block on the east side of Broadway, between 79th and 80th Street. It's at the north end of the "Filene's Basement" store on the corner, and it's a place where I've often seen homeless people holding up a sign that asks for assistance... With very rare exceptions, I haven't photographed these homeless people; it seems to me that they're in a very defensive situation, and I don't want to take advantage of their situation. But something unusual was happening here: the two women (who were actually cooperating, and acting in tandem, despite the rather negative demeanor of the woman on the left) were giving several parcels of food to the young homeless man on the right. I don't know if the women were bringing food from their own kitchen, or whether they had brought it from a nearby restaurant. But it was obviously a conscious, deliberate activity, and one they had thousght about for some time... What was particularly interesting was that they didn't dwell, didn't try to have a conversation with the young man;they gave him they food they had brought, and promptly walked away. As they left, I noticed the young man peering into his bag (the one you see on the ground beside him in this picture) to get a better sense of the delicious meal these two kind women had brought him... ********************** This is part of an evolving photo-project, which will probably continue throughout the summer of 2008, and perhaps beyond: a random collection of "interesting" people in a broad stretch of the Upper West Side of Manhattan -- between 72nd Street and 104th Street, especially along Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. I don't like to intrude on people's privacy, so I normally use a telephoto lens in order to photograph them while they're still 50-100 feet away from me; but that means I have to continue focusing my attention on the people and activities half a block away, rather than on what's right in front of me. I've also learned that, in many c

Πηγή: wikimedia commons

(Ει εγνώριζεν ο πένης πόθεν ορέγεις την ελεημοσύνην, ουκ αν εδέξατο, ως αδελφικών σαρκών γεύεσθαι μέλλων, και αίματος των οικείων· είπε δ’ αν προς σε λόγον γέμοντα σώφρονος παρρησίας. Μη με θρέψης άνθρωπε, από δακρύων αδελφικών. Μη δως άρτον πένητι γενόμενον από στεναγμών των συμπτώχων. Ανάλυσον προς τον ομόφυλον ό κακώς απήτησας καγώ ομολογήσω την χάριν, PG 46, 445Α).

Γι’ αυτό και σωστά έχει λεχθεί ότι πρέπει να θεραπεύσουμε τα αίτια με τη δικαιοσύνη και όχι τα αποτελέσματα με την ελεημοσύνη (Χέλντερ Καμάρα).