Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

On this Sunday a man was brought to the Lord Jesus Christ, paralyzed, by four of his
friends. And Christ, seeing their faith, said to him that he could be healed. There are two things in this story which I would like you to think about. The one is that this man was ill, he was in need; perhaps he was unable either to express his need, or to express the faith that he had in the possibility of healing; but his friends had faith: faith in Christ, faith in His power to heal, to make whole. And they took this man and brought him to the Lord.

But their faith would not have been sufficient; many were paralyzed, many were sick who did not find friends who would bring them to the healer. It is not only their faith in Christ; it is also their love to their friend that prompted them to act. And again, it is because this man, in the years when he was whole, was able to call out love, friendship, devotion, faithfulness in their hearts that in the hour of need they came to his rescue.

Here are two lessons for us. The one is that we can bring forth the needs of people - physical, spiritual and other needs; we can bring forth their needs to God if we have faith in His healing power, and our faith can open the gates of salvation for those who perhaps have not enough faith, who might not even be able to say, ‘I believe, Lord, help my unbelief - those who doubt, those who hesitate, those who are uncertain that we can bring them to the Lord. But this is possible only if the person in need has created in us, called out in us love; a love so personal, so faithful that we prove capable of acting. Or perhaps, if our life in Christ is deep enough that God has sawn into our hearts so much of His own compassion, of His own love that we can turn to the unknown, turn to whom we have never heard of, prompted by nothing but by his or her need, and bring him or her to God unto salvation, unto healing.

We must remember both the necessity for us to become capable of love and capable of calling out love around us. And also we must learn to have the daring of faith when we see need around us, and bring it to the Only One who can resolve it, who can heal, Who can make whole not only bodies, and minds, and souls, but the complex relationship between people. Here is a calling, here is a vocation for us; let us pay attention to what God says to us in this Gospel, in this Good News of the power of love, divine and human, and the power of faith to which God’s love and mercy responds. Amen.

DON’T BLACKMAIL GOD!

- Elder Porphyrios (+1991)

We shouldn’t blackmail God with our prayers. We shouldn’t ask God to release us from something, from an illness, for example, or to solve our problems, but we should ask for strength and support from Him to bear what we have to bear. Just as He knocks discreetly at the door of our soul, so we should ask discreetly for what we desire, and if the Lord does not respond, we should cease to ask. When God does not give us something that we ask for insistently, then He has His reasons. God, too, has His “secrets.” Since we believe in His good providence, since we believe that He knows everything about our lives, and that He always desires what is good, why should we not trust Him?

Let us pray naturally and gently, without forcing ourself and without passion. We know that past, present and future are all known, “open and laid bare” before God. As St. Paul says, “Before Him no creature is hidden, but all are open and laid bare to His eyes.” We should not insist; such persistence does harm instead of good. We shouldn’t continue relentlessly in order to acquire what we want; rather, we should leave things to the will of God. Because the more we pursue something, the more it runs away from us. So what is required is patience, faith and composure. And if we forget it, the Lord never forgets; and if it is for our good, He will give us what we need, when we need it.

On Forgiveness

A brother who was insulted by another brother came to Abba Sisoes, and said to him: “I was hurt by my brother, and I want to avenge myself”.

Abba Sisoes tried to console him and said: “Don’t do that, my child. Rather leave vengeance to God”. But he said: “I will not quit until I avenge myself”.

Then Abba said: “Let us pray, brother; and standing up, he said: “Our Father... forgive us our trespasses as we forgive NOT those who trespass against us...”

Hearing these words, the brother fell at the feet of the Abba and said: “I am not going to fight with my brother any more. Forgive me, Abba.”

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

When He reached the region of the Gadarenes on the other side, two men came to meet Him from among the tombs; they were possessed by demons, and so violent that no one dared pass that way.

One day a five year old boy climbed onto an eight ton road roller left idling near his home where some highway construction was being done. He pressed the buttons and pulled the levers like he saw the regular driver do. The machine started rolling and rolled over five automobiles before someone was able to get it under control. The boy was able to start the huge piece of equipment but he could not control it or stop it.

Sometimes our own lives are like that. We know how to start, but we can’t stop. We start out with freedom of choice, but we continue to choose the wrong thing until it is out of control and we cannot stop it. Any drug addict will tell you he or she would give anything to be freed of his or her habit which has him or her “hooked”. In sober moments the alcoholic hates himself for the hell that he creates in his home, but his bottle is like a chain from which he cannot break loose. So it is with the sex pervert, the compulsive gambler, the person married to his work, and so many others chained and bedeviled like the two men in today’s gospel story (Matt. 8:28-34). They could not control themselves. They were held captive and looked for freedom. We pray for people like that in every Divine Liturgy: “For the sick, the suffering, the captive, for their health and salvation.”

Our Lord freed those two unfortunate men from the terrible possession tormenting them. Jesus Christ today still has that power to destroy the demoniac in anyone. What no human being can do, Christ can. No one could set an alcoholic free until one day fifty some years ago, one alcoholic turned to Christ and went on the establish Alcoholics Anonymous. Today hundreds of thousands of alcoholics have been set free by God through A.A. There are similar kinds of groups working now with drug addicts. The names of the devils may not be the same as Our Lord exorcized in today’s gospel, but the power of Christ is greater than any demon can claim over a human being. No matter what kind of bedevilment may threaten our own lives, we have available to us the saving power of Jesus Christ if we want it and ask for it.

- by Msgr. John T. Sekellick, J.C.L.

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

The centurion in today’s Gospel reading receives a great compliment from Our Lord. He said: “"Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” Why? Because, in this army officer we see examples of three virtues in action – not just in theory – but in action. First of all the centurion was a man of great compassion. Remember at the time of Our Lord the Romans practiced slavery and had a reputation for being cruel to slaves.
In this culture a centurion could have easily let a servant die and buy another. After all they were ONLY property. However, he was concerned about his servant. This shows compassion.

The second virtue we find in the centurion is his great faith. This was the virtue Jesus noticed up front. He said, “Speak only the word and my servant shall be healed.” The centurion was not even Jewish. He probably worshipped all the pagan Roman gods. He most probably didn’t know anything about Jewish faith and the longing for the Messiah and Savior. He probably didn’t believe in only one God. Also he was a man of social standing so for him to go to Jesus, this poor itinerant preacher of no social standing, was a tremendous act of faith.

The third virtue is one of humility. This is not a popular virtue in our day at all. In our “me first” generation we see pride, stubbornness and selfishness high on the list. Pride involves putting other things before God, his Church and others. Many people operate like this: “I’ll go to church ONLY if it fits my schedule; OR only if I don’t have a ball game, a trip or something “MORE” important. Last week we heard the Gospel, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.” Our commitment to Christ and His Church cannot be a hobby or a pastime. What is the first of the Ten Commandments? “I am the Lord Your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.” God wants first place or no place! The virtue of humility involves doing God’s will even when I feel like it or not or even when something else looks more exciting to do. We can learn so many things from this centurion and this Gospel reading.

On this Sunday ask yourself this: If I were put in front of Christ today or encountered Him like the centurion did, what would He say? What would my Lord say about me?

What is the Significance of Liturgical Colors

Anyone who has at least once attended a Divine Service of the Eastern Church, has most likely noticed the beauty and festivity of the vestments. The diversity of colors is an inalienable part of the Liturgical - Church symbolism, a way of affecting those praying. Bright and radiant vestments convey the joy and exultation of God’s beauty and greatness, while dark vestments instill within us a sense of repented to return to God.

Since ancient times, the Liturgical books have offered flexibility in Liturgical color, only specifying whether the vestments worn for a particular feast or season should be light or dark. This has led to various local practices over the years. In the contemporary practice common to many parishes, there are six basic color groups.

1. White is used for Pascha and Transfiguration. In some jurisdictions it is also used for the Nativity, Theophany and Ascension.

2. Gold is used on the Nativity of Our Lord and when no other color is called for as it conveys the riches and glory of God’s kingdom.

3. Dark Red or Purple is used for the Great Fast – Lent.

4. Green is used for Pentecost and monastic saints. In some jurisdictions it is also used on Palm Sunday.

5. Blue is used for the Feasts of the Mother of God.

6. Red is used for the Feast of the Holy Cross, Beheading of St. John the Baptist, martyr saints and during the Nativity Fast (Philip’s Fast).

The color of the Feast is worn from the Vigil the night before the Feast Day until the leave-taking of the Feast, the final day of the festal season. The length of these post-feasts vary, and are given in the Liturgical calendar and rubrics.

Third Sunday After Pentecost

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?In today’s Gospel reading Christ urges us not to be anxious about our lives and bodies - what we shall eat, drink, or wear. But how can this be, if we must eat and drink, and clothe ourselves? Are we not earthly beings, who are bound by laws of biological existence?
Christ came to restore our nature, to lift us out of the fallen state, and to give a new and original order to our lives. Our spirit must now find nourishment in God, the source of being; our soul must be inspired by things divine, even as the spirit draws it to God; even our bodies must not live “by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Mt 4:4)
Christ is not calling us to stop eating - He Himself ate and drank, and His disciples did the same; He is not calling us to disregard our clothing - He Himself wore a robe made for Him by His Most Pure Mother. Christ is not calling us to reject our life, but to sanctify it: to bring every aspect of our life to the service of the kingdom, to remember that the goal of Christian life is THEOSIS - a union with Christ and ascension of our nature to the right side of the Father, not SHOP - OSIS - a union with groceries and ascension to the nearest shopping mall.
“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well” (Mt. 6:33). Note that Christ is saying that these things will be yours as well. God knows that we need all these things. He placed us in this world, and He blesses the labor of our hands. But let us not be like the man to whom God said “Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” (Luke 12:20). Let us instead firmly bind our hearts to heaven by making it: heaven - our treasure. Only such a life is pleasing in God’s sight, because only such a life is truly life, life in the fullness of being and life abundant (John 10:10). Amen.

Second Sunday after Pentecost

“Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

Matthew 4:19


Jesus called all types of people. Andrew was a simple fisherman like his brother Peter. Andrew was present when John the Baptist proclaimed that Jesus was “the Lamb of God” and they followed Jesus to learn more about Him. After spending the day with the Lord, Andrew told his brother Peter: “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41). Tradition has it that perhaps John was the unnamed disciple with Andrew during his first encounter with Jesus (John 1:35). These two men were actively searching for God and responded to Jesus’ call with enthusiasm and obedience.

The first disciples were not extraordinary people. The original twelve included several fishermen, a tax collector, and at least one who was a political activist. The power of Jesus transformed all but one into men whose lives were dedicated to the preaching of the Gospel and the proclamation of the message of salvation to all peoples. Old prejudices, divisions, and ways of thinking were laid aside as they listened to the Lord and followed Him.

Jesus calls us to serve Him in this same way. He calls us just as we are - faults, strengths and weaknesses notwithstanding - to a life of holiness. “We have been buried with Him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

Perhaps during these upcoming days we can go to our Church or to a quiet place in our homes and make a short retreat with the Lord to examine our lives. How have we responded to the call of Jesus over the year just passed? If we see that we have fallen short of the Lord’s plan for us, let us repent and know the forgiveness of Christ. If we see areas where we have grown stronger, let us try to make further progress in them this year. God wants to work marvelous things in our lives because He loves us and is faithful to His promises. We, in turn, can offer our lives to Him as we announce to the world: “We have found the Messiah!” (John 1:41).