Work And Leisure

Ὁ νόμος ἓξ ἡμέρας τυπικῶς ἐργάζεσθαι, τῇ δὲ ἑβδόμῃ σχολάζειν παρακελεύεται· διότι ψυχῆς ἔργον ἐστὶν ἡ διὰ χρημάτων εὐποιία· σχολὴ δὲ αὐτῆς καὶ κατάπαυσις, τὸ πωλῆναι πάντα, καὶ δοῦναι πτωχοῖς κατὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ Κυρίου· καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀκτημοσύνης καταπαύσαντα τῇ νοερᾷ σχολάζειν ἐλπίδι. Εἰς ταύτην τὴν κατάπαυσιν καὶ ὁ Παῦλος ἡμῶν μετὰ σπουδῆς προτρέπεται λέγων· Σπουδάσωμεν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς ἐκείνην τὴν κατάπαυσιν. Ταῦτα δὲ εἰρήκαμεν, οὐκ ἀποκλείοντες τὰ μέλλοντα, οὖτε ὧδε τὴν καθολικὴν ἀνταπόδοσιν εἶναι ὁρίσαντες· ἀλλ' ὅτι χρὴ πρῶτον ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ἔχειν τὴν χάριν τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἐνεργοῦσαν, καὶ οὔτω κατ' ἀναλογίαν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν. Τοῦτο φανεροποιῶν ὁ Κύριος, ἔλεγεν· Ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐντὸς ὑμῶν ἐστι. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Ἀπόστολος ἔλεγεν· Ἔστι πίστις ἐλπιζομένων ὑπόστασις· καὶ πάλιν· Οὕτως τρέχετε, ἵνα καταλάβητε· καὶ πάλιν· Δοκιμάζετε ἑαυτοὺς εἴ ἐστε ἐν τῇ πίστει· εἰ δὲ οὐκ ἐπιγινώσκετε ὅτι Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν; εἰ μήτι ἂρα ἀδόκιμοί ἐστε. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Τῶν Οἰομένων Ἐξ Ἔργων Δικαιοῦσθαι Source: MignePG 65.952a-b

The law commands as a type that six days are for work and the seventh for leisure, 1 because the work of the soul is the making of goods, and its leisure and rest is to sell everything and to give it to the poor, according to the word of the Lord, 2 and so by a restful poverty in the mind it has leisure for hope. To this rest Paul calls all of us with zeal, saying: 'Let us make haste to enter into that rest.' 3 And we say this not to the exclusion of the future, nor to the limitation of the fullness of reward here, but that one must first have the grace of the Holy Spirit working in the heart, and according to that measure one enters into the kingdom of heaven. This the Lord made clear when he said, 'The kingdom of heaven is within you.' 4 And the Apostle said: 'Faith is the substance of things hoped for.' 5 And again: 'So run that you might seize.' 6 And again: 'Examine yourselves, if you stand in the faith. For how do you not know if Christ is in you, unless perhaps you are condemned?' 7 Saint Mark The Ascetic, from On Those Who Think Themselves Justified By Works 1 Exod 34.21 2 Mt 19.21 3 Heb 4.11 4 Lk 17.21 5 Heb 11.1 6 1 Cor 9.24 7 2 Cor 13.5