Do while it is day, do the work of God while you still can

Has God placed you somewhere? Do as much as you can during the day, do as much of God’s work as you can through the human work you do. Are you a mayor? Are you a doctor? Are you a priest in a parish? In the time that God has appointed you, do the work that God has called you to do. […]

Saint Basil the Great lived a short time, very short. And of this short time, his years as a bishop were only nine. And in these few years of bishopric, of serving God, he did as many other servants, whether priests or bishops, a whole life. Put your seal on the work you do, not even thinking about how long you have been assigned for it – a mandate, an interim period, a period in which you are directors of the respective institution, after which you may no longer be in that position – do it while it is day, as much as possible and as much as God gives time for the work, the works of the Lord, for the night comes, there comes an end when we can no longer work.

And there is something else, going deeper. As long as we can, as long as we are in peace, as long as we are in silence, as long as we have love to pray, we have love to do good deeds, we have the desire to come to the holy Church, we have the desire to do the things of God, let us do them! This is the day in which we can work! That a night comes, an illness comes when you can no longer pray so much, old age comes when you can no longer kneel or make prostrations, a time comes when, for who knows what reason, you can no longer make it to church. Don't you feel sorry then? Didn't you feel sorry in the months when you couldn't come to church on those Sundays when you could come and didn't, when you could bring a candle and didn't. Saint Mark the Ascetic says: Remember God in times of peace, so that He may remember you in times of war. Spiritual war. When you come out of confession, when you are in a good mood, when you feel like praying, you have a settled spiritual state, then pray! Gather in good times, in times of peace, in times of clear skies, gather fruitfulness, gather light for yourself, because a time is coming when you will not be able to, and we will feed on what we gathered when we were able to pray, when we were able to come to church, when we were able, being in a state of grace, to do the things of the Lord. […]

And there will come another night, beloved believers, before the end of this world, to put it bluntly, a short night, for the Lord said that for the elect those days will be shortened, a short night in which I do not know how many of us will find a light; a night in which we will be even more persecuted, in which we will not be able to buy, we will not be able to sell, we will not have anything to eat, if we want to be with the Light and we will not want to enter this new “kingdom”. That night will be difficult, but whoever gathers spiritual food now, during the day, will then have something to feed on and something to relate to. Now, when we have strength, when we have grace from God, when the bell rings, when the Liturgy is celebrated, when the priest stands to hear our confessions, whoever now gathers, as the people say, white money for dark days, let us gather that of the Light for the dark days, whoever will do this, then will be more protected.

And when we see that the light is going out, that there is no longer any zeal, that the spiritual clouds are great, whether of our passions, or of the world that does not love God, brothers and sisters, you have where to light your light. This is the new Siloam, the Church! Here souls are washed, here the dirt from the eyes is washed, from here the light is lit, here Christ is still the Light of the world, because it is an Orthodox, sanctified church. You still have where the light shines, we still have where to refresh our spiritual life. Hold on to what you still have, what you can still accomplish! Love God Who shows Himself to us, shares Himself with us as Light, and walk in the Light, for whoever walks in the light, not only the external paths are bright, but especially the internal paths.

The Word of His Holiness Father Damaschin Dorneanul