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12TH SUNDAY OF LUKE, Luke 17: 12-19
Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.
They were lepers.
They were respectful, they were obedient, they were humble.
And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
They were reverent, faithful, pathetic, needy, helpless, desperate.
So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.
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Dear brothers and sisters,
We heard today the Gospel narrative the Lord’s teaching on the salvation of the soul and how our salvation is deeply rooted in the Cross. Jesus said today in the Gospel, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Taking up one’s cross does not imply wearing a cross around your neck, neither does it suggest to lift up on your shoulders and giant and heavy cross. The experience of the cross is when we sacrifice our own will and subject it to the will of the other, repeating in ourselves what the Lord did in Gethsemane in relation to the will of his Father. Continue reading
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In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The Gospel for the 13th Sunday of Matthew is the parable of the vineyard. An owner built a vineyard, hedged it around, built a wine press and a tower and then let it out to tenants. When he sent servants to take the rent, they were beaten and stoned. He sent others, but they did the same. And when the owner sent own his son, they killed him. Continue reading
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12th SUNDAY OF MATTHEW, Matthew 19: 16-26
Saint Luke the Physician, Archbishop of the Crimea
In today’s Gospel reading, we hear about a rich young man who was unwilling to share his wealth and thus become an heir to the kingdom of heaven. The Lord then told his disciples that it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Before we give any interpretation of the words spoken by Christ to the rich young man, let’s hear what the Apostle Saint James has to about the wealthy: ‘Come now, you rich people, weep and wail over the miseries that are approaching you. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh. What you have stored for the last days is as fire. Behold, the wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you deprived them of, cry out, and the loud complaints of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and extravagance; you have fattened your hearts on a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous, who was not against you’. (James 5, 1-6).
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11th SUNDAY OF MATTHEW, Matthew 18: 23-35
Jesus said: Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses. (Matthew 18:21-35) Continue reading
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Matthew 17: 1—9
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!
Today, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we commemorate the event when our Lord’s human nature was transfigured by the Holy Spirit, proceeding from Our Heavenly Father, Whose voice witnessed to His Son’s divine nature. This Feast shows us firstly that the human and the divine natures of Our Lord Jesus Christ are united in One Person, secondly that, therefore, there is no unity without the Holy Spirit, and thirdly that our Saviour and Lord, dominates over Life and Death, for prophet Moses, who died, and prophet Elijah, who did not die, both came to worship Him on the Mount Tabor.
Еvery minute detail of this Evangelical event is, indeed, full of a profound significance but today I would like to point out an aspect of this Feast which is often overlooked: the symbolical meaning of Mount Tabor, the ‘mountain’ where the Transfiguration occurred. This Mount Tabor is for us a figure of repentance. We note that, like for the disciples, in order for us to see the transfiguration or to hope to be transfigured ourselves, we will first have to climb up, to mount, from our present condition. Otherwise any transfiguration or change for the better in our lives is impossible.
Our transfiguration or salvation is like Mount Tabor: however hard we try, we will not be guaranteed salvation through a swift, if arduous, climb today. Salvation takes a lifetime, it is a long climb up a long slope, which is why the Lord gives most of us so long to live… Salvation is a long struggle which requires determination and perseverance, patient long suffering…
Our spiritual progress is then not sudden and dramatic. And there are many obstacles through our path in our daily life: to pick up our prayer books in the morning and again in the evening is a struggle, and there are always hindrances along our path to even this: meals to prepare, trains to catch, phones to answer Church life is indeed made up of little sacrifices, obstacles to overcome: there are prayers to be said, fasts to be kept, a donation to be made, the washing-up to be done, flowers to be bought, the church to be cleaned, a choir rehearsal to go to, a vigil service to be attended, a confession to be prepared for…
We may well ask ourselves what are those little sacrifices that we have made since the Feast of Transfiguration a year ago? How far have we ascended up our own Mount Tabor? How have we changed over this time? What have we done to lead a better life since then? How have we improved? What have we given to God that we had not given Him before? It is this that we call progress: in what way am I a better Orthodox Christian than a year ago?
In our faith we are called to struggle daily, whatever the rocks or boulders in our way: whether they are pride or selfishness, lust or discouragement, envy or judging of others; we have to struggle to ascend our personal Mount Tabor, we have to fight for our personal transfiguration. That is why it is so important to come to confession and communion!
If we do not do this, then the Church will move away from us. For we can both go up and down a slope. We can spiritually progress, but we can also spiritually regress. We can be transfigured by the love of God or we can be disfigured by the love of sin. And like progress, regress is not sudden and dramatic, regress, too, is a slope, as we say, a slippery slope.
Let us, therefore, take heed and give God what He really wants from us – our hearts and minds spiritually progressing. Amen.
http://www.orthodoxengland.org.uk/sermtran.htm
“You were transfigured on Mt. Tabor showing the exchange mortal humans will make with your glory at your second and fearful coming O Saviour!
(Matins)
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8TH SUNDAY OF MATTHEW, Matthew 14: 14-22
And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”
But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”
He said, “Bring them here to Me.” Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
The Work of the Church
Who is in this crowd upon whom Jesus has compassion/mercy? Some who are sick, lost souls, some seeking God, the walking wounded, those who have lost their faith, the downcast and the outcasts. But also, there were curiosity seekers, non-believers, some who are hostile to Christ – His enemies. Throughout the Gospel His enemies follow Him everywhere, listening to His words, gathering evidence against Him – but they are in the mix and often very near Christ for they engage Him in conversation.
Christ ministers to all of them. His grace, love, mercy, compassion is not limited to His disciples, but extends to all whom He sees. Jesus teaches us by His own example to love and commands us to love one another in the same that that He loves us. He is moved by compassion when He looks on us. We have to be aware of how Christ loves us and to see the world through the eyes of Christ.
How are we to judge others? With compassion. Any who come to Christ, who seek Christ for any reason are to be welcomed by us and blessed by us. This is how the Lord Jesus loves us. He expects us to love as He loves us. Is it hard? Yes. Is it impossible? Hardly.
Jesus does not simply make their hunger go away by divine magic. Rather, Christ feeds them. He blesses the only food they had, and feeds 5000 men besides women and children from this food. The food doesn’t miraculously appear on each plate, but rather the disciples distribute it. The disciples have to work to make sure the people are fed. Christ receives from His disciples the food which some people had worked to make possible – bread and fish. He takes this human made food and blesses it. There is synergy between the disciples and Christ, working together for the good of all the people. This is the Church.
Christ entrusts some problems to us His disciples and asks us to deal with the problems. He doesn’t miraculously make the problems go away. He says to us: I am not taking hunger away, but I empower you to do the work necessary for these people to feel cared for and to be fed. The disciples themselves had to provide the food and distribute it.
We obey Christ not by having problems go away but by dealing with them. The Gospel lesson began with Jesus seeing the crowd and feeling compassion for them. The Gospel lesson ends with Jesus feeding them. It is the work of the Church.
~ Fr Ted Bobosh
The Miracle of Miracles
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ: There is actually a great miracle we have all experienced! A miracle far superior to the multiplication of the five loaves and the two fish. The miracle of miracles, of which the miracle of the five loaves was only a prefigurement and a symbol. The miracle of the multiplication of the five loaves is only an image of the far greater miracle – the feeding of countless millions of people from that One Loaf of Life. I’m referring to none other than the heavenly Bread that comes down from Heaven. The Bread that transforms us and renders us divine! The holy Eucharist.
As we ready ourselves to approach the Bread of Life, let us hear one more time the words of the prayer recited by the priest immediately before reciting the Lord’s prayer, in which we ask for “our daily bread”, which is the bread of sustenance, the substantial and necessary bread, the true bread of maintenance and sustainment, the bread that sustains the true life. Let us ponder upon the benefits received from the communion of this Bread and Wine. Can you find anything in life, not greater and more marvelous than it, but that even approaches the spiritual benefit and the blessings received from it?
~ Fr Emmanuel Hatzidakis
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Matthew 5: 14-19
Years ago a young missionary doctor was embarking on a ship for China. Despite the pleas of his friends, he insisted on making the voyage. “Look,” they said, “you are absolutely helpless against the suffering of that giant nation. You will disappear in that vast mass of humanity. What can you do about their epidemics? What can you accomplish against war, famine, flood?”
As he stepped up the gangplank, the young doctor gave his answer: “When it is dark about me, I do not curse the darkness, I just light my candle.”
One tiny candle can pierce and destroy the darkness that surrounds it.
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God is greater! Greater than your illness whatever it may be. Greater than your deepest disappointment. Greater than your greatest worry. Greater than your worst enemy. Greater than your most difficult problem. Greater than life. Greater than death. God is greater! Believe it! Live by it! Affirm it! Claim it by faith and use it as a pillow to rest your weary soul. God is greater! If your God is not greater, then the God you believe in is too small. He is not the God the Church believes in. ~ St Isaac the Syrian
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