Homily on the 25th Sunday After Pentecost.
Ephesians 4: 1-6; Luke 13: 10-17.
Gratitude is a word that is thrown about everywhere these days. One only has to go onto social media pages and there are many articles about the importance of gratitude.
However, whilst it is good to be grateful for the blessings in one’s life- it is more important to thank the source of these blessings.
We as Christians tend to be very good for asking the All-Holy Trinity for favours and blessings yet slow to thank Him for that which He has done for us – that which is known to us and that which is unknown to us! To be grateful is at the heart of the truth of the Faith.
For we hear in the account of the healing of the ten lepers only one of them came back to our Lord and Saviour to thank Him for what He had done for him (Luke 17: 11-19).
Moreover, the leper who came back to thank Him was a Samaritan alluding to the reality that many people who are considered as outcasts by the pharisaical types are often the ones that thank the All-Holy Trinity with an attitude of thankfulness and humility.
How many people in society pray to the All-Holy One in a time of need – yet when the crisis is averted forget to thank God for the help rendered?
We have all had that one person in our lives who cannot get enough of us when we have something to offer that they want.
Oftentimes, this affection will only last as long as one is useful to that person. This is a sad reality that many people face – the realisation that one has been used for the gain of another to be ignored after the fact by that same person!
How much more terrible is it that many in this world treat the All-Holy Trinity with the same contempt! People forget the great Love that came amongst us that all may have the opportunity to be saved should they so choose! This is a gift that we ought to be grateful for – for God so loved the world that He gave His only Son (John 3: 16)!
Look at it another way – God became man – meaning that He chose to come amongst us that all might have the option to choose salvation if they so wish – doing this through their faith and deeds!
The invitation is sent, the table set, the banquet prepared (the Holy Mystery of the Eucharist) – all we have to do is reply with a heartfelt yes and then we can progress on the journey that leads home to the All-Holy Trinity!
Let us never forget the word ‘Eucharist’ means thanksgiving – it is through the Eucharist that the Body of Christ through joining their prayers to that of the priest offer their thanks unto God!
Moreover, the priest as an Icon of Christ offers the Holy Anaphora (the great prayer of thanksgiving in the Divine Liturgy which leads to the consecration of the Holy Eucharist) in union with Christ this act joining the prayers of the people to Christ’s and his.
For at his ordination a priest receives the All-Holy Spirit and is given the ability to intercede for the people under his care amongst many of the other gifts given him at his ordination!
This is why a newly ordained priest is given the consecrated Lamb (Body of Christ) and warned by the bishop to guard the Eucharist for it is the very Medicine he will give to the people he serves.
Moreover, this ceremony is also enacted to remind him of all that he is to do for his people including praying for them!
In short, this moment in the ordination ceremony shows what an important role the priest is to play in the salvation of others. It is by his hand that the people of God are given the Holy Mysteries that will enable them to be saved.
What an awesome Mystery this is - for through this Holy Mystery of the Eucharist the incarnation, death, resurrection of Christ are made present for us in the Divine Liturgy.
In this Mystery our Lord and Saviour offers Himself for the salvation of mankind – this mystery is not a repeat of Christ’s incarnation, death and resurrection.
Rather, in the Eucharist, these events are made present to us and by this reality of the real presence of our Lord and Saviour in the Holy Mysteries we are able to fulfil the injunction of Christ in John 6: 53.
It is by partaking in the Mystery of the Holy Eucharist that we are truly made alive in Christ – for this partaking of the Holy Eucharist brings us into communion with our Lord and Saviour who is the Bread of Heaven - whose sacrifice on the Holy Cross was foretold by the provision of the Manna in the Desert (Exodus 16: 1-11).
This is why all who desire to be saved must be brought into communion with the Church of Christ - the Orthodox Church. Whilst people may be well-meaning and infer that salvation is by faith alone – faith alone without deeds and the Holy Mysteries of the Church is dead!
Put it this way – our ultimate aim is to return back to the state of deep communion with the All-Holy Trinity as was the state of Adam and Eve prior to the fall! Through the fall man inherited ‘Ancestral Sin’ which marred mankind’s ability to be brought into perfect communion with the All-Holy Trinity.
Every soul who is unbaptised still has the stain of Ancestral Sin meaning that they cannot come into perfect communion with the All-Holy Trinity. The only way that they can be brought into that perfect communion with the All-Holy Trinity is through Holy Baptism, Chrismation (Confirmation) and the reception of the Holy Eucharist.
Now our journey home is like any journey with all its bumps, trials, tribulations which inevitably accompany any traveller - in much the same way that a person on a plane might experience turbulence or motion sickness.
Does the person on the plane give up because the turbulence on the plane makes their journey difficult?
The All-Holy Trinity in His wisdom gives us gifts that are freely given to help us have the strength to persevere and fight the good fight and run the race (2 Timothy 4:7) – the Holy Mysteries of the Church.
The All-Holy Trinity is not as some try to depict Him an angry tyrant bent on revenge but rather a compassionate God who loves mankind. Think of the depiction of the All-Holy Trinity in the parable of the ‘Prodigal Son’ (Luke 15: 11-32).
What truth does this Parable illustrate about the mercy that the All-Holy Trinity wishes to show us?
Quite simply, the father in this parable (who represents the All-Holy Trinity) is moved with love and compassion at the return of the son (who represents us) and through his actions shows us how the All-Holy Trinity chooses to forgive.
Let this be a lesson for those who run around stating that sins require many years of odious penance!
Whilst it is true that the Church Fathers often gave long penances for many varied sins -yet it must be realised that these were man imposed acts of contrition that were imposed to reform the behaviour of the penitent.
This is not to say that penance must be not be rendered unto the All-Holy Trinity – rather it must be balanced and reflect the gravity of the sin.
Therefore, if a person is truly sorry and willing to try and mend their ways then this is enough for minor sins.
Indeed, in this parable the son shows us the perfect model of contrition for he is humble and asks his father his forgiveness.
The All-Holy desires that all are saved and like the father in the parable will forgive the sins of a penitent if their sorrow is genuine!
Furthermore, the only injunction that our Lord and Saviour gives to penitents is – go and sin no more!
The All-Holy desires that all are saved and like the father in the parable will forgive the sins of a penitent if their sorrow is genuine!
Yet let us not forget that we are human and as a result of this we will all inevitably sin. This is not the end of the world as some would have us believe. The All-Holy Trinity is a God of love who desires that all can approach Him and seek the healing which they need through the Mysteries of His Church.
Therefore, let us rejoice for we are loved and despite our failings, we have a God who desires us to pick ourselves up when we fall and strive to be better.
What loving parent stays angry at their child forever?
The All-Holy Trinity is the same – as soon as the priest utters the words of absolution over the penitent their sins are washed away!
As soon as a person receives the Holy Mystery of the Eucharist in a respectful loving way their sins are forgiven them.
Remember, the Church is a hospital where all who are spiritually sick come to receive the Medicine that will make them whole and heal their minds, bodies, and souls.
Finally, we are now in the midst of the season of Advent where we the Church prepare to meet the baby Jesus in the Bethlehem of our Souls. What do I mean by the Bethlehem of the Soul?
Well just as the Church awaits to welcome Christ in Her midst at His Nativity, so too, must we Her individual members prepare to make a spot for Him in our hearts!
This is why the season of Advent is a penitential season – because we the members of His Body the Church must use this time to clean our hearts of all that holds us back so that we can welcome Christ into the Bethlehem of our hearts.
What will our hearts be like? Will they be places of warmth and love?
Our Lord and Saviour will not dwell in a heart that is full of anger, resentment, and hate!
Let us welcome Him so that He may give us the spiritual medicine that we need so that we may be strong and despite our faults, grow so that we too may be holy as He is Holy (1 Peter 1:16) and grow in love for Him.
I advise each and every one of you to use this time as a time of prayer, fasting, and reflection so that you may be ready to let in the King of Glory.
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