There are many passages in Holy Scripture that instruct us to manifest our love for our neighbours—indeed, for every human being—through active engagement in good works. For, in the words of the Holy Apostle James, “faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). This active Christian love to which we are called “does not seek its own” (1 Cor. 13:5), and in this spirit, Christ Himself declares: “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:32–36). By doing good to those we encounter along our earthly journey, we become true followers and imitators of our Lord, who is the very source of all goodness. Performing good deeds without expecting any reward confirms our Christian vocation: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). Thus, a good deed is never unidirectional; it is not directed solely toward our brother or sister, but ultimately aims at the glorification of God. We cannot perform good deeds without the help of God, relying solely on our own will or zeal. Divine pedagogy teaches us to love our neighbours and makes us capable of doing good.
The deeds of Christians have always been expressions of virtue and love imbued with faith. The saints, whom we honour daily in our liturgical life and whose intercession we continually seek, performed good deeds and built for themselves imperishable and eternal treasures “where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matt. 6:19), thus leaving us an example of how blessed and righteous acts are rewarded by the Lord. The saints serve as models, showing that by doing good we are sowing that which is eternal, yielding imperishable fruits. The act of doing good can be likened to sowing blessed seed in fertile ground: when the fruits of such sowing grow in the field of our soul, they shall be gathered into the great granary of our Father who is in heaven.
We often ask ourselves how we may know whether our deeds are truly good and whether they bear fruit. The answer to this question is likewise found in the lives of the saints of the Church, whose blessed examples, in addition to their hagiographies, are exalted in the hymns sung on their feast days. The liturgical poet frequently emphasises that a given saint performed good deeds by which they drew others to Christ. Therefore, only those deeds that are viewed from the perspective of eternal life and that aim to glorify God can be considered truly good. Our human goodness is genuinely good only if it comes from God and is directed toward God—if it reflects the divine goodness mirrored in our God-like soul. “I am the vine, you are the branches. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. He who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4–5). These words of the Lord remind us that our good deeds bear fruit only when we are united with Him, and such union is primarily realised through active participation in the sacramental life of the Church, which is grounded in the Mystery of Mysteries—Holy Eucharist.
The Divine Liturgy is celebrated beyond the constraints of time and space; it is a heavenly-earthly reality that ushers us into another mode of existence, leading us into the forecourt of the Kingdom of Heaven. This is attested to by the initial exclamation in which the celebrant, together with the gathered liturgical community, blesses and glorifies the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit—the Kingdom of the Holy Trinity. The catechesis of the Liturgy is practical and applicable in all dimensions of our life. The Liturgy, by its very nature, is a praxis—a perpetually renewed act—and as such, it inspires each person to act, to move with unceasing dynamism, and consequently to do good. The Liturgy, as the heart of our Christian life, is also a Mystagogy; it offers the highest form of instruction, revealing, explaining, and interpreting the ineffable Mystery.
In numerous liturgical prayers, the importance of performing good deeds is strongly emphasised. One of the most concrete examples is found in the text of the Anaphora of Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia:
“Remember, O Lord, those who bring forth fruit and do good works in Your holy Churches, and those who remember the poor. Recompense them with Your rich and heavenly gifts: grant them heavenly things in place of earthly, eternal in place of temporal, incorruptible in place of corruptible. Remember, O Lord, those who dwell in deserts, in mountains, in caves, and in the clefts of the earth. Remember, O Lord, those who live in virginity, piety, asceticism, and a virtuous life. Remember, O Lord, our faithful people; gird them with the armour of truth, and grant them victory over visible and invisible enemies, so that in tranquillity and peace they may live in all godliness and purity. Preserve the good in Your goodness, and by Your goodness turn the wicked into the good.”
We see that the cited passage from the Anaphora of Saint Basil the Great, beyond its supplicatory character, also bears a catechetical and instructional dimension. It reminds both the members of the clergy and the royal priesthood of the faithful of the importance of good works and points to their ultimate purpose—the glorification of God as the source of every good. Inspired by the words of this liturgical text, we are called to embrace goodness and to perform it fervently toward all, glorifying God, for His word has for centuries resounded in our hearts: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matt. 7:21).
This text was published on the Kinonia portal in the section “From the Editor’s Pen,” on 6 July 2025.
WRITTEN BY: Catechist Branislav Ilić, Editor of the Kinonia Portal
