A
Homily delivered at St. John the Baptist,
Greek
Orthodox Church,
Carmel,
CA
April 27th, 2016
Dear
Orthodox Christians, and those who are going to be baptized,
Here
we are, in the third day of the Holy Week
We
just had the Pre-sanctified Liturgy for the last time for this Lenten
period and from tomorrow on we will star focusing and meditating on
Christ's Passions.
Before
we take a trip with our vehicle, we need to make a stop to put some
gas, otherwise, we will be left on the middle on the road stranded.
This is exactly the same thing with attending church services. How we
will understand the Lord's Sufferings if we choose not to attend
church and get understanding of the word? It is imperative to listen
the reading of the Gospels, and the chanting of the beautiful hymns.
Our souls thirst for the living God. It is essential that we are
filled with the grace of God. We will lose out on many blessings that
God have to offer, if we choose to stay home or go to church
occasionally.
I
will share something with you: one of my favorite topics that I would
like to discuss and to think about is the Sufferings of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Many times when I think what He had endured for us, how
much He was beaten, and at the end Crucified, I say to myself: It is
time to surrender myself onto the Lord. He had done so much for me
and without Him I am nothing.
Yesterday,
at the reading of the Gospel from the matins, the following words
were read: “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has
that which judges him – the word that I have spoken will judge him
in the last day.” John 12: 48. Today don't we reject Christ by our
evil actions and darkened thoughts? We see His miracles every day and
still we keep our ayes closed as the Jews did.
How
many of us confess Christ publicly? Since we are all currently living
in the United States, I'll be talking particularly about this
country. Today, we don't experience such persecutions (on
this land),
and yet many
are ashamed
to cross themselves
when they
are
in public. Our sweet Lord, Jesus Christ came down to earth, became
Incarnate, allowed Himself to be humiliated, mocked, beaten by the
hands of man, suffered and was crucified for you, me and for every
single human being,
and this is how we thank Him: many
of us
are ashamed of His name and
fail to make
God a
priority in our lives. For the sake of the reality, we have to
acknowledge that this is the truth today.
St. John Chrysostom writes the following: “We live on the earth,
but we are citizens of the heaven.” The
Holy Saints of the Church
had this in mind, and bravely, without fear gave up their
lifes
for Christ. Which of us human beings will stay on this earth forever?
None of us. We serve either God or Mammon. We are FOR GOD or AGAINST
GOD.
Now
let's say a few words about today's Gospel reading: Holy
and Great Wednesday:
the time of Christ betrayal has come. He already knew
that He was
going to be Crucified and betrayed by one of His disciples.
A
woman came to Him wish alabaster jar of very expensive ointment and
poured on His head. The actions, the events and the words that Christ
spoke to His disciples
and to the people vividly testified about His sufferings, Crucifixion
and burial, but their spiritual eyes were closed and they could not
understand.
If
someone is a disciple
to a great teacher, that person would be proud to be his follower for
he might receive great benefits such as money, respect etc. People do
not think of the spiritual things, of the wealth that never gets
rust, but on the contrary, the material things
that would satisfy the body. Judas,
who was one of twelve disciples
of Christ, followed Him
for the time the Lord Preached the Gospel. He saw so many miracles
and still, could not realize Who really Jesus Christ was. The
teaching of the Orthodox Church tells us that Judas thought that
Christ was a Messiah who very soon will rule with the world and Who
will have great power. As time was passing, he became
bored of following Christ and
felt he was not
getting anything
out of the deal,
so he
decided to find another way of rewarding
himself: we went to the chef priests and agreed to betray his Master
for thirty pieces of silver.
Beloved
brothers and
sisters,
let us stay away from the
Judas of
this world
and strengthened
our Orthodox faith for “our faith is not simply inner matter; it
always reflects the times we life as Christians.” Let us have more
zeal in this Passion Week and throughout the year. “The zeal also
preserves us from sin. Many of the Fathers say that zeal is like a
pot boiling on the stove: no fly or any domestic animal comes near to
pollute the food that is meant for man only, because of the heat of
the stove. But as soon as the fire goes out and the food cools down,
the flies approach and leave their impurities in it. The same applies
to man's heart: if it burns with zeal for God, it will never be
pillaged by thoughts arising from the passion.”
As
we approach to Pacsha, let as reflect of sufferings of our sweet Lord
Jesus Christ Who endured
horrible sufferings for all
mankind
and for our salvation.
Beloved,
Christ, the Lord is our First Love, therefore REMEMBER
THY FIRST LOVE! Amen!
Stoyan Andov
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