Homily on the 10th Sunday after Pentecost Matthew 17: 14-23.
In today’s Gospel, we have the account of the healing of the epileptic boy. At first, the disciples try to heal him – however, their faith at this stage is weak, and nothing happens. After this, the man brings the boy to our Lord and Saviour who heals the boy delivering him from the demon who afflicted him. What is important here is that our Lord and Saviour makes the point that if one does not have faith, then what one attempts cannot and will not happen. For instance, how can one attempt to achieve some good if one does not have faith in the All-Holy Trinity that this good can be achieved?
Oftentimes, people say, ‘I would like to believe but I cannot.’ However, many of these people have never had been able to put their trust wholeheartedly in anyone else let alone the All-Holy Trinity. Now this is a rather sad state to be in for in our daily lives as well as in our spiritual lives it is vital that we can trust others. This is made especially clear in today’s Gospel where the disciple’s faith was weak, and they did not trust in what they were doing. How different things are after the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour when their faith became much stronger.
It seems as if today we live in an age where people have made their focus solely on themselves. Now, this is a terrible way to live, for if one cannot trust in others, let alone the All-Holy Trinity, then one’s life can only be an empty shell of a life for one will not be connected to anyone. How did we get here? It seems that our society glorifies being messed up! How many television shows have characters that are dysfunctional and morally debase?
This is a sad situation for there are many in our society who isolate themselves and are disconnected from others! Yet there are even more who glorify being obnoxious to other people which is the exact opposite of Christ’s message of love! This is a situation that can only be solved if people take their faith seriously - for if one really takes Christ’s Gospel to heart then one will enter into Communion with the All-Holy Trinity (via the Holy Mystery of Communion), and as a result, one will enter into a deep communion with others by virtue of being part of the Lord’s Body the Church. Let us pray that our prayers and actions will bring many to faith in Christ and His Gospel of Truth.
This Wednesday we Christ’s Body the Church will celebrate the feast of the Holy Dormition of the All-Holy Theotokos. This is a very important feast for us- for the All-Holy Theotokos is the mother of the Orthodox Church, for Christ gave her to us at the foot of the Holy Cross (John 19: 26-27). This is the feast where we celebrate her rising and being taken into Heaven. This is a special feast for she like Christ was raised from the dead, and taken into Heaven. In fact, she was the first person after Christ’s Resurrection to be raised from the dead.
This is a feast of great importance to us for she the All-Holy Theotokos is a great help to us in the Church. She is a great intercessor to her Son and through her prayers to her Son a great many miracles are wrought. She is the one who exemplifies the phrase, ‘Ask and you shall receive (Matthew 7:7),’ for at the wedding at Cana she asked for Him to provide more wine and He did (John 2: 1-11)! This is the sign par excellence, which shows us the power she has with her Son – anything she asks He will do! This is why it is essential for us to pray to her and ask her to intercede to her Son for us- for anything is possible for Him!
Finally, this week, let us focus on bringing the Gospel to those that have cut themselves from our society. Many of these people are broken and need to be shown that there is a way to wholeness – membership in Christ’s Body the Church. In many ways ministering to these poor souls will be difficult but like our Lord and Saviour, we must go to those broken ones and offer unto them the message of Christ’s Gospel. Remember it is up to us to be His hands and feet in this world. Too often, people of faith are scared to get their hands dirty and enter into ministry with those that need it the most. Whilst we are not a social justice agency, we are called to help where possible those that need it. However, we are also called to proclaim Christ’s message of hope to the world – especially to those that need it the most!
Let our prayer this week be to the All-Holy Theotokos that we may ask her to intercede not only for us but also for those that need her prayers. Let us also pray this week that our faith may help us to move mountains and achieve that which needs to be achieved to bring many to our Lord and Saviour.
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