St. John Chrystostom - Quote
Each one of you knows what sort of person he is, and what sort of life he lived in the past.
When the Lord called you it was not to settle a score against you,
nor to bring you to account for your sins.
It was to save you, to forgive you, to offer you new life.
In the gospel Jesus himself calls out to the whole human race:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and over-burdened, and I will give you rest..."
(Matthew 11:28)
What an invitation! Come to me, all of you!
Not just the powerful, the affluent, the educated, the strong, the healthy, the respectable;
but also the lame, the disabled, the hopeless, the abandoned.
The Master makes no distinction between any of you; the good news is for everyone.
Come to me, he says, all of you who toil and groan under burdens.
He is interested especially in those who have squandered their lives,
who are weighed down by their sins,
who are filled with shame and no longer have any self respect.
These are the ones he calls to himself, not to punish them,
but to comfort their sorrows and ease their heavy load.
For there is no burden more terrible than sin.
It crushes us relentlessly, squeezing out joy and peace and life itself.
Even if we harden our hearts a thousand times over,
even if we succeed in concealing our guilt from the whole world,
sin still hangs like a millstone around our necks, our conscience still rises up to confront us.
Conscience is a judge we can never bribe; it continually accuses us,
tormenting us inwardly, pointing out the enormity of our sins.
If this is the burden which weighs upon you, the Lord's promise is meant for you.
Jesus promises to give you rest, by forgiving all your sins.
All he asks is that you should come to him in faith.
SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM