Homily on the first Sunday after Pentecost
Matthew 10:32-33, 37-38; 19:27-30.
These words might sound incredibly harsh to some, as they indicate that our Lord and Saviour will deny those who deny Him! Unfortunately, we live in an age where our faith is under constant attack. This is an age where to be identified as a Christian is to bring great derision upon one’s self. How many times does one turn on the television to hear the name of our Lord and Saviour used in vain? How many countless refugees have been turned away from asylum in countries simply because they are Christians? This is truly a difficult situation which one might think is hopeless. However, let us not lose heart as our Lord and Saviour promised in Matthew 16:18 that the gates of Hell cannot prevail over the Church! If we the Church stand firm in our faith, then we will not fall as Christ has promised to stand by us.
Our faith is a faith that has been built on the blood and sacrifice of the many holy Christian Martyrs. These many brave men and women stood before their accusers and refused to deny our Lord and Saviour. Therefore,it follows that their standing up for Christ, is the manifestation of their deep faith in Christ. These Martyrs knew one thing, and that is, that our Lord and Saviour would stand by them as they had stood by Him. We today are called to have that same trust and faith in Christ. Let us never forget that our faith is a faith of hope and love! Remember, our Lord and Saviour loves each and every human that has ever been or will ever be. We as the Body of Christ must remember this – even more so when we are being attacked by those who hate us! Therefore, whenever we are being attacked let us stand up for our Lord and Saviour in a way that manifests His commandment of love. What I mean by this is that we as Christians are to stand up for our Lord and Saviour in a way that shows our enemies the love that comes from the All Holy Trinity. Let us be compassionate towards those who do not have faith as it is clear that many have willfully fallen victim to the empty lies of the devil.
The next theme in today’s Gospel is that of humility. Christ states that:
“…many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
What does this mean? Well simply put it highlights the importance of being humble. Humility is central to the Christian faith. Psalm 50:17 puts it well as it states:
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God you will not despise.”
In many ways this verse shows us the attitude that we are to have towards God; especially when we have committed some wrong. However, in some ways this verse is also a prefiguration of the suffering Christ as he went to His death (Christ was broken and humbled as he went on his way to Golgotha). Christ is the example of humility par excellence - think of it in this way in His incarnation (becoming man) prior to the resurrection, Christ who is the second Person of the All Holy Trinity accepted (in His human condition) the limited mortal nature of man (as it was after the fall prior to the resurrection) as well as having His divine nature (two natures in perfect union). However, through His resurrection Christ perfected human nature - this means that through His resurrection Christ opened the door for all humans to be perfected (should they choose to do so by becoming members of His Body the Church). Christ could have chosen to be exactly what the Jews expected a strong and powerful warrior king (a warrior king with supernatural powers). However, Christ chose to manifest His divinity in miracles and healings, showing all that witnessed these events, that Christ was humble of heart and desired all to see His love for mankind.
Finally, let us reflect on why so many people hate Christ. Unfortunately, many people in this age have started to believe that morals are relative – meaning that if it feels right I can do it regardless of the what the consequences might be. However, this approach is flawed. For example, it cannot be both morally right and morally wrong at the same time to kill a human being – it just is morally wrong. Something is either moral or it is not - there are no two ways about this. Sadly, many of these ‘moral relativists’ feel that the only way to happiness is to do whatever they like whenever they like. Nevertheless, these people are often the most damaged and depressed people who subsequently often seek to make others as miserable as they are. Put simply, many who hate the faith do so because if they were to admit that God is real then they would have to take responsibility for their actions. This is why the socialists (communists) everywhere tried so hard to eliminate the Orthodox Church – no church meant no one to stand up to their murderous treachery. Also, without the Church in the picture they hoped that they would be able to influence the people, so that the people would do whatever they (the communists) wanted. This was particularly so in relation to their attitude to human life – they saw humans as just another animal to be disposed of as needed. This is why it was so easy for Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Mao and Ho Chi Min to murder hundreds of millions of people - because to them human life was cheap and disposable. This is why a Christian cannot be a socialist as it is a deeply flawed, sinful and immoral form of government. Socialism at its heart sees that man is but a tool to be used to feed the greed and lust for power of its leaders. Moreover, they often disguise this lust for power under the pretext that someone needs to direct the revolution promising the revolutionaries a future workers utopia without a dictator – this is exactly what Lenin did. This has happened time and time again – neither Lenin or Stalin had the peoples interests at heart - rather while the people starved they lived like kings enjoying the fruits of the harvest - stolen from those they purported to protect. Furthermore, socialism takes away that very great gift the All Holy Trinity has bestowed on mankind - the gift of free will. In any socialist system that has ever been the citizens have watched as every bit of freedom is eroded finally leaving them without hope. This is problematic as our freewill is exactly what separates humans from animals in that we can choose what we want to do etc. Therefore, any system of government that seeks to take away mankind’s freewill is an intrinsically evil form of government.
Let us pray this week for all those that do not believe, that they like Saul, may encounter Christ, and come to a knowledge of His profound love for mankind.
Comentários