This hurts me more than it hurts you Insults, thefts, even torture—none of these things do any real harm to the person who suffers them, says St. John Chrysostom. But they do lasting harm to the person who does them. So if neither loss of money, nor slander, nor insult, nor banishment, nor diseases, nor tortures, nor what seems more formidable than all those, namely death, harms those who suffer them, but rather adds to their profit, how will you... Read more

Fear God, not death When the city of Antioch was in danger of total annihilation, St. John Chrys­ostom dared to tell his parishioners that there was nothing fearful about death. The only thing we need to fear, he said, is displeasing God. There is nothing to be dreaded in human ills except sin—not poverty, or disease, or insult, or ill treatment, or dishonor, or death, which people call the worst of evils. To those who love spiritual wisdom, these things... Read more

Not being with God is the real punishment Whatever happens to sinners in hell, says St. John Chrysostom, their worst punishment is not being with God. Now, it’s true that most people who don’t have much sense expect to be content with avoiding hell. But I say it’s a far worse punishment than hell to be excluded from the glory of the other world. I think that someone who has failed to reach it should be sorry, not so much... Read more

Pity the prosperous sinner St. John Chrysostom tells us that the person most to be pitied is the sinner who enjoys all the good things in life. Some people are punished here only; others suffer no ill here, but receive the whole punishment hereafter; still others are punished both here and hereafter. Which, then, of these three classes do you think is lucky? Without doubt, the first; those who are punished and purged from their sins here. But which class... Read more