3rd SUNDAY OF MATTHEW, Matthew 6: 22-33
– Geronda (spiritual elder in Greek), does worrying about too many things take us away from God?
Look, let me try to explain. When a little child is playing and is all absorbed with his toys, he s not aware that his father may be next to him caressing him. If he interrupts his play a bit, then he will become aware of his father’s caresses. Similarly, when we are preoccupied with too many activities and are anxiously concerned about them, when we worry too much about worldly matters, we cannot become aware of God’s love. God gives but we do not sense it. Be careful not to waste your precious energy on redundant worries and vanities, which will turn to dust one day. When you do this, you not only tire your body, but you also scatter your mind aimlessly, offering God only your fatigue and yawns at the time of prayer – much like the sacrifice offered by Cain. It follows that your inner state will be like that of Cain’s, you will be full of anxiety and sighs provoked by the devil standing by your side.
You must not waste aimlessly the fruit, the inner cure of our power and then leave the shells for God. The many cares of life sap the marrow of our heart and leave nothing for Christ. If you notice that your mind constantly wanders off to various chores that you have to do, you must realize that you are not doing well spiritually, and this should alarm you because you have distanced yourself from God. You must realize that you are closer to material things than you are to God, closer to creation than to Creator.
We must learn to care about things in the right way
If
we seek above all the Kingdom of Heaven and that’s all we care for, the
rest will be given to us (Mt 6:33, Lk 12:13). If we become forgetful,
then not only do we waste our time but we waste our own self. When we
remain mindful and prepare for the next life, than this life too will
become meaningful. When we start thinking of the next life, nothing is
the same anymore. But if all we think about is how to make this a
comfortable life, then not only are we miserable, but we end up weary
and condemned. Do not be overwhelmed with anxiety and be possessed by
the thought that, “Now we must do this, next we must do that and so on,”
because this way Armageddon (Rev 16:16). Will come and you will still
be hard at work. Even doing things with anxiety is demonic. Tune in to
Christ! Otherwise, you will appear to be living near Him but inside you
will still carry the mindset of this world, and you might and up, I’m
afraid like the foolish virgins (Mt 25:1-13).
The wise virgins did not only had kindness, they also had the right kind of mindfulness, unlike the foolish virgins that were careless, they were on guard and vigilant. This is why the Lord gave them the solemn warning, Be awake and watchful (Mt 25:13). They were virgins but foolish. If someone is born a fool, it is a blessing from God. She enters directly into the next life without having to pass any examinations. But if she is gifted with an intelligent mind and yet lives a foolish life, she will have no excuse on the Day of Judgment.
Can you see in the case of Martha and Mary, mentioned in the Gospel (Lk 10:38-42), how mindless care for things caused Martha to behave somewhat impudently? It seems that in the beginning Mary was actually helping her, but when she realized that Martha was nowhere near completing her preparations, she went her and went to listen to Jesus. She thought to herself, “Am I to lose time with my Christ for the sake of Martha’s salads and sweets?” As if Christ had come to their home to taste Martha’s salads and foods! It was then that Martha became annoyed and said, Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? (Lk 10:40). Let us be careful, then, not to behave like Martha. Let us pray that we will become good “Marys”.
An Excerpt from “With Pain and Love for Contemporary Man” by Elder St Paisios of Mount Athos (Holy Monastery “Evangelist John the Theologion”, 2006)
Elder Paisios and St. Euphemia
“Father Paisios was going through a very difficult phase. A problem was created in the Church at that time and many bishops had gone to him to ask for his help. However, it was a very complicated problem and even if he wanted to, he was unable to assist; as he said, no matter from which side you look at the problem, you come face to face with a spiritual impasse. So, he decided to turn his efforts to solve the problem into prayer. During that time, Father Paisios constantly prayed for God to give solution to the Church’s problem; especially, he prayed to St Ephemia:
St Ephemia, you who miraculously solved the serious problem the Church was facing then, take the Church out of the present impasse!
One morning, at nine o’ clock, when Father Paisios was reading the service of the third hour, he suddenly heard someone discreetly knocking on his door.
The Elder asked from inside: – Who is it?
Then, he heard a woman’s voice answering: – It is me, Ephemia, Father.
– Which Ephemia? He asked again.
There was no answer. There was another knock on the door and he asked again: – Who is it?
The same voice was heard saying: – It is Ephemia, Father.
There was a third knock and the Elder felt someone coming inside his cell and walking through the corridor. He went to the door and there he saw St Ephemia, who had miraculously entered his cell through the locked door and was venerating the icon of the Holy Trinity, which the Elder had placed on the wall of his corridor, on the right hand side of the church’s door. Then the Elder told the saint: Say: Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
St Ephemia clearly repeated those words and immediately Father Paisios knelt and venerated the saint.
Afterwards, they sat and talked for quite a while; he could not specify for how long, as he had lost all sense of time while being with St Ephemia. She gave the solution for all three matters he had been praying for and in the end he said to her: I would like you to tell me how you endured your martyrdom.
The saint replied:
– Father, if I knew back then how eternal life would be and the heavenly beauty the souls enjoy by being next to God, I honestly would have asked for my martyrdom to last for ever, as it was absolutely nothing compared to the gifts of grace of God!
(taken from: http://www.pigizois.net/agglika/paisios/11.htm)
St Vasilios Greek Orthodox Church 