"I Am the Door"

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In the reading today from the holy Gospel according to St. John the Theologian, our Lord says of Himself that He is “the door.” What does He mean when He says this? One place we can go for insight is the reading from the holy Gospel according to St. Mark: a memorable scene, in which a paralyzed man, carried by four friends to our Lord to be healed, is actually brought into His presence by being lowered through a hole they made in the roof. What does the Lord tell this man to heal him? “Your sins are forgiven.”

Of course, this stirs up the Pharisees, who sought at all times to live according to the 613 laws of Moses, because they thought that this was the pathway to salvation. Having dealt with the man’s problem, our Lord then dispels their objections by healing the man physically as well as spiritually, linking the two. This is important for us to understand; so let’s look at the objections raised by the dissenters.

“Who but God can forgive sins?” they ask. Our Lord thus shows all who would raise this objection that He is, indeed, God, by restoring the paralyzed man to physical health, so that he could stand, pick up his bed, and return without help to his home. So it is that we begin to understand how we should grasp that our Lord says of Himself, “I am the door.”

Remember that when Adam and Eve were cast out of Paradise, cut off from dwelling in the immediate and intimate presence of God, the gate – a form of a door – was guarded by cherubim with a flaming sword, to prevent Adam and Eve from seeking to return to the presence of God in that way. Now here is our Lord telling us that He, God, is the way for us to return to Paradise, to return to dwelling with God close by us – indeed, within us, something that Adam and Eve did not possess. He is the door to the abundant life He came to bring.

How do we access that door? We access it by becoming like Him: by drawing near to Him with faith, in love, through prayer and fasting and giving and forgiving; and by living at peace, with the love of God, with all those around us. And, to the extent we fail to do these things in love, we confess our sins, asking forgiveness, and starting again – even if we must break through our own ceiling, our earthly desires and attachments, in order to be lowered into His presence to be healed by the forgiveness of our sins.

Brothers and sisters, let us keep this in our hearts and on our minds as we journey through the forty days of fasting before Holy Week and Pascha. Let us remember that our Lord is the door by which we enter into eternal life; and let us, through the way of life of the Orthodox faith and church, strive to let the light and life of Christ be seen in and through us, so that we may enter through the Door, and bring others with us as well.

Which Path Will You Choose?

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In the hymns during the Vigil for this joint celebration of the Casting Out of Adam and the Meeting of the Lord, we are presented with two pictures that give us an interesting contrast. One the one hand, the hymns from the Triodion show us, again and again, Adam outside the gates of Paradise, from which he had been expelled because of his sin, forced to leave his dwelling place in the intimate presence of God because of his unrighteousness. On the other hand, we see the righteous Symeon waiting in the Temple, the place where God promised to meet His people, receiving in his arms the One for whom he had been waiting; the One who would open once more the gates of Paradise for us to enter once more into the intimate presence of God. Adam is lamenting for his loss; Symeon is rejoicing that the promise God made to him has been fulfilled by the coming of the One God had promised to Adam.

The world into which Adam was exiled is the same world in which we live today. It is the same world in which Symeon lived; it is the same world which our Lord Jesus Christ entered upon His incarnation. So we can see from Adam that it is possible to live in this world and feel cut off from God; but we can also see that God has entered into the world into which we were exiled in order to bring us back to where we belong; and we see in Symeon that it is possible for us to rejoice at what God is doing in this world, and to turn away from sin and all unrighteousness and live, as Symeon did, in a way pleasing to God.

We are about to depart on the spiritual journey that takes us through Great Lent, coming to the city of Jerusalem as our Lord makes His entrance on Palm Sunday, watching and waiting with Him as He is arrested and mistreated, led to Golgotha, and His death on the Cross – and to the empty tomb on the morning of Pascha, as He rises from the dead, setting us free. Will we go through this season lamenting, like Adam, the loss of the things that we traditionally deny ourselves during this time? Or will we instead rejoice like Symeon that God has come into the world to save us, and we receive Him in our hearts as the righteous elder received Him in his arms? Brothers and sisters, the choice is ours. Which will you choose: Adam’s way? Or Symeon’s?

Riches, Retirement, and the Kingdom of Heaven

This is the time of year when the accountants and tax preparers are contacting us to help us with the end-of-the-year steps we can take to reduce our tax bills for the year. If you haven’t already heard an appeal from some agency about making an end of the year donation on the television or on the radio or on the internet or in a newspaper, magazine, or email, you probably will in the next few weeks.

In the first reading today from the Gospel according to St. Luke, we hear the parable of a man who is wealthy in worldly terms, whose riches are increasing so much that he needs to build larger barns in which to store his possessions. We also hear him planning his retirement into a life that he expects will be comfortable.

Now, to this point in the story, who among us would not want to be in the same situation: to be rich; to have additional riches at hand; and to have the prospect of a comfortable retirement? Most of us would take a deal like that with barely a moment’s thought.

Of course, being familiar with the rest of the parable, perhaps we wouldn’t be as quick to exchange our situation for his. We hear him called a fool by God; and we learn that his soul will be required of him that very night. What, then, will come of his wealth and his plans? As we all know very well, “You can’t take it with you.”

Truth be told, most of us are, indeed, very much like the rich man in the parable. This is not to say that we are rich – although you must admit that, by the standard of living of most people around the world today, as well as the vast majority of those who have ever lived – the average American lives more comfortably, more abundantly, than almost anyone anywhere at any time. But it is true that there are people who have more material possessions and greater worldly wealth than we have. But it is not on the basis of wealth alone that makes us like the man in the parable. We are like him in that our thoughts and concerns are dominated by the things of this world; we pursue wealth in order to make our own lives more comfortable – and we do this even though we know that we do not know when our own soul will be required to come into the presence of God and to give an accounting of how we used the things that God entrusted to us – time, talents, and treasures – not for ourselves alone, but for the good of all. Like the man in the parable, we are rich in worldly terms, but poor in spiritual things: praying, fasting, giving, loving.

The truth is, we can take it with us. Not in its worldly form; but by using the time and talents and treasures we have been given to lay up wealth for ourselves in the kingdom of heaven. By feeding the hungry, by clothing the naked, by visiting the sick and those in hospitals and prisons, and, yes, by giving to help support the work of the church, we can employ the things of this world for the benefit of others now, and for our own benefit in the world to come. Then, we will not be like the man in the parable, finding ways to store our wealth here while contemplating a comfortable retirement. Rather, we will have the safest place of all to store our wealth; and the hope of eternity sharing the love of God with Him and each other in His kingdom, because we have already learned how to do so in this world.

Brothers and sisters, let us not be ignorant, and let us not be lazy, but rather let us set our minds to use what God has entrusted to us for the service of His people, to give glory to God, and to bear witness to Him in the world.

Saved by Grace? Grace and Works in Our Salvation

“For by grace you have been saved by faith; and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; not by works, lest any man should boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)

St. Paul writes this in his epistle to the Church in the city of Ephesus. He tells them of God’s plan and purpose, to bring all of creation together under Christ: a plan that begins with His reconciling us to Him through the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Being reconciled with God, we are then to be reconciled to each other, with the barriers that separate us having been torn down by the Lord Jesus. Made one, we are able to become the Church, through which and in which the message of salvation is to be proclaimed throughout all the world, so that everybody everywhere has the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Why emphasize the point that we cannot save ourselves? The saint wants us to know that we lack the capability to truly love, or to forgive, or to be merciful, when we are apart from God – and sin, of course, separates us from God. He is telling us that God works first in us; that His work is that of faith, the faith in Jesus Christ that saves sinners. There is nothing, no work that we can do to earn the favor of God. Does this mean, then, that it does not matter what we do? Is there any need for praying, or fasting, or giving? Is there any need to struggle against our passions, against the impulses and appetites that, left uncontrolled, soon control us, and lead us away from the path that leads to heaven? If we are not saved by our works, why bother to forgive, or to discipline our flesh, or to pursue humility or patience or generosity or mercy?

Our salvation is a gift from God. No one “earns” a gift; no one “deserves” a gift. A gift is given, at least, ideally, because the giver loves the person for whom the gift is intended. The act of giving is independent of the recipient. But this is not to say that we need do nothing. Actually, those aspects of the Orthodox way of life that might be called “works” – praying, fasting, giving, forgiving, struggling to be patient, humble, laboring to uproot the passions that betray us – these are things we undertake in response to the gift we have been given. We follow the Orthodox way of life not because it saves us – it does not – but because it is through the development of the qualities that praying and fasting and giving and struggling produce in us that allows us to “get out of the way,” as it were, and allow the life of our Lord Jesus Christ given to us in holy Baptism to come forth, to be seen and heard in what we say and do. The “works” of the Orthodox way of life are a way of giving thanks for the gift of salvation given to us freely, while we were still sinners, while we were still the enemies of God, so that we might know the love of God for us in His Son, and in His death on the Cross on our behalf. As we allow the life of our Lord and Savior to be seen in and through us, we may know that we are becoming His Body, His Church – and that the message of salvation is being proclaimed in this time and this place, as St. Paul wanted the believers in Ephesus to know and to do.

Brothers and sisters, we cannot save ourselves; but the good news is that God has saved us, doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Let us give thanks to God for the love that is the source of His mercy and grace; and let us, with thanksgiving, embrace the way of life of our Orthodox faith, so that we may fulfill His purpose for us, and be His servants, gathering in all His people, to the glory of God.

Life, Death and the Way of the Cross

In the reading today from the Gospel according to St. Mark, we are told that we must deny ourselves, and take up our cross, and follow the example given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ. He tells us – His disciples – that if we try to save our lives, we will lose them; but if we will lose our lives for His sake, and for the sake of proclaiming the good news of our salvation, our lives will be saved. He is calling to our attention the inherent tendency in our fallen state to seek to live in this earthly life for as long as possible, even at the cost of life without end in His Kingdom. It is ironic that the more we cling to life in this world, the more likely we are to enter into a life of torment in the age to come; while if we pursue heavenly things, dying, in effect, in this world, we have the hope of life without end in the joyous presence of God.

In the reading today from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church in Galatia, we hear as well something about life and death. The Apostle is writing to a community of the faithful that he had established during one of his missionary journeys. Most of the people who had joined this community had previously been pagans, and so did not know of the Law given by God to Moses; and so had been influenced by some Christians who had been Jews before coming to have faith in our Lord, who were teaching that the only way someone could become a Christian was to first become a Jew, and to obey the Law of Moses as well as the Gospel of our Lord. St. Paul is writing to correct the Galatians, urging them to set aside this false teaching. In doing so, he teaches them about the new reality of our existence when we have been baptized into the death of Christ, and raised to new life with Him. He writes, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me.”

So: Here is how things stand. Before our baptism, we are alive in the flesh, but dead in our sins. When we are baptized, we are buried with Him; and when He rises to a life over which death has no power, He raises us to that same life. We have Christ living in us – a most wondrous and amazing gift! Yet if we do not realize this change that has taken place in us, we will continue to live as we did before our baptism; we will continue to follow the ways of this world, and we will not follow the ways of the heavenly life, and so risk losing that life. Among other things, this is why we must understand our Lord’s command to take up our cross, and follow Him.

When our Lord took up His Cross, He did so knowing that He would be put to death on it; that He would have to endure one of the most agonizing ways of death that the mind of fallen humanity has ever devised. The power by which it was possible for Him to willingly accept this death was the power of His love for us. This same power is available to us, so that we may also take up our cross to follow Him. That is, we are given the ability to turn aside from the ways of this world, dying to the world, and living so that the life of Christ in us may be seen and heard and experienced by everyone around us: our families, our friends, our neighbors, the people we work with, even the strangers we encounter during the course of a day. When we fail to live as we should; when we fail to express to those around us the love of God in Jesus Christ, it is because we love what we have in this life more than we love God; and because we love ourselves more than we love the other people in our lives.

What can we do? How can we become dispensers of the love given to us by God? We can do so by embracing the way of life we learn in the Church. That is, we dedicate ourselves to work to see God in every person we meet, and to respect them, even reverence them, as living icons, better, more pleasing to God, than we are ourselves, sinful as we are. We labor to see our own sins, and only our sins, fighting against pride by seeking humility. We learn to ask ourselves, “Do I really need this thing I want to buy?” while asking God to guide us in the use of the time and talents and treasure He has entrusted to us, so that we may do more to support the work of the Church, and to help those in need around us. We must also fast and pray, for without praying, we cannot come closer to God; and without fasting, we will not have the strength to overcome the desires of our flesh, and the comforts and pleasures the flesh seeks in the world.

Brothers and sisters, let us dedicate ourselves to taking up our cross, dying to the world, and seeking above all the kingdom of God. Let us ask God to give us the grace and strength needed to take up the Cross of His love, so that we may love and serve Him by loving and caring for each other.

Racism and Our Mission of Love

In the readings today from the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John the Theologian, we hear the theme of love. We are told of God’s love for us: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” We are taught that the greatest commandment is to love: “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” We are also commanded to love one another.

From a cultural point of view -- which is to say, from the world’s point of view, as opposed to the heavenly perspective – the word “love” many times means eros; erotic love, associated with sexual desire. Used properly, this is a gift from God, drawing a man and a woman closer to each other, making them one in holy matrimony, and establishing them as a family, as children may become, as it were, the fruit of their love. Less often, “love” might mean philos; brotherly love, which also binds us together for our good as a family – whether as having the same parents, or grandparents; and also in a larger sense, being of “one blood,” the blood of Christ, being children of God, and so brothers and sisters together. But here the evangelists are speaking of agape; the unselfish love that God has for us, and which we are called to serve as fountains on behalf of all the world. It is a love that thinks more of others and less of self; it is the love that sacrifices for the benefit of others, without thought of reward or repayment. It is the love that made it possible for our Lord Jesus Christ to endure suffering and death on the Cross for our salvation.

Perhaps you have heard some of the controversy that has been taking place during the national debate over the proposal to reform health care insurance in our nation. Ordinarily, the sermon doesn’t usually address topics of current events; but the theme of the readings from the Gospel today directly addresses these events, and so it is helpful to speak of them. It has been suggested that some of the opposition to the plan being advanced by President Obama arises as a result of racism. It is, it seems, an aspect of human nature – fallen human nature – to distrust, and even to have an irrational hatred, for those who are different. Racism, of course, is a response to a perceived difference based on the color of your skin. We are all aware of the cultural aspects of racism in American history and society: of those of African origin who were unwillingly brought to this country as slaves – an action that was acceptable in the minds of many because they were considered to be inferior. After slavery ended, the hatred and discrimination continued. You don’t need to go far outside the doors of the church here to see this: At one time, few, if any, “white” people lived south of Indian School Road; while those sometimes called, “persons of color” – blacks and Hispanics – were only permitted to buy property south of there, including this neighborhood, and surrounding ones. By God’s grace, things have been changing; but according to some, this controversy is a reminder that there is still work that needs to be done.

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Brothers and sisters, let us not be mistaken. Those of us who have been joined to Christ by baptism, and who partake of the holy Mysteries of His Body and Blood are one with Him, and are one family in Him. The relative presence or absence of melanin – the pigment that produces the color in our hair, and in our skin – is not of any significance. That is to say, there are not three races, as was once thought and taught: there is one race, the human race. Every person, regardless of the color of their skin, is a human being, made in the image and after the likeness of God, and therefore worthy of respect, dignity, honor, and love – of agape, the sacrificial love of the Cross. It is not always easy to overcome the thoughts and habits of the culture in which we grew up; but we are called to do so as children of God, and as disciples, followers, of our Lord Jesus Christ. We each need to remember that we, those baptized, the Body of Christ, share in the priesthood of all believers: to minister to the world, to show all the world the love of God for us in Jesus Christ, in what we say, in what we do – in how we treat each other.

Let us examine ourselves for any signs that we do not yet love with the love of God, and ask for grace and strength to bring this love to a world which still needs to hear the good news of salvation, so that they also may receive the love God has for each of us, so that He may be glorified, and we may be blessed to fulfill our mission of unselfish love.

Dressing for the Feast

In a way, it could be said that the “theme” today is about clothing. This is the day on which the Church celebrates the deposition of the cincture of the Theotokos; and in the reading today from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, we hear how, as the guests are gathering for the wedding feast, there is one who is found to be improperly dressed for the feast, and so is cast out of the banquet hall into torment.

The canon of the Feast says, in Ode 7 of the first canon, ”The Queen of all, having departed for the mansions of heaven, has left behind her cincture as a treasure for the king of all cities, and by it we are saved from the invasions of enemies, visible and invisible.” It is said that, at the time of the Dormition, the most holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-virgin Mary gave her cincture – a belt, or sash, worn around the waist, helping to keep closed the outer garment being worn – to the Apostle Thomas. Some time later, it was taken to the city of Constantinople, placed in a special casket, and kept in a church dedicated to the Mother of God. So it remained until the ninth century, when Zoe, the wife of Emperor Leo, fell into a sickness in her soul. As the result of a vision, she asked that the cincture be placed upon her; and when this took place, she was healed.

The treatment of the man who lacked the proper garment is given to us as a warning – indeed, one of many in that particular parable. There are several groups of people mentioned: those who were originally invited to share in the celebration; those who were invited to take their place; and those who were compelled to attend, without regard as to whether or not they desired to do so. At the time our Lord is telling the story to His disciples, the first group, who had been invited but were found to be unworthy, and whose city was destroyed, was clearly the Jews, to whom God had given the revelation of Himself and the Law, and the promise of the Messiah – Who had now come, but was not accepted by the people who claimed to be awaiting Him. The group invited to take their place at the feast were the Gentiles, who were not Jews but were truly seeking God in response to His call to them; while the group that had to be forced to attend was made up of those who had little or no desire to find God, or to leave behind the ways of the world.

We need to be aware of this; and to realize that the first group today – the group that is invited to the feast – is the Church. Indeed, the Church is the Bride of Christ, the Son of the King, Who is God the Father, the host of the feast. The treatment of the first group, related in the parable, concludes with the destruction of their city; which took place on August 4th in the year 70 A.D., when the city of Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in response to the revolt by the Jews. We also need to know that the wedding garment, the means by which we are properly admitted to the celebration, is our baptismal robe. You may recall that, in the service of Holy Baptism, we pray several times asking the Lord’s grace and mercy so that the newly baptized person may be blessed and empowered to keep their baptismal robe clean and unstained by sin; and that, when we fail to do so, we are able to have the stains and filth of our sins removed, washing (as it were) our robes through the mystery of repentance and the confession of our sins. If we forget these things; if we neglect the way of life we learn from the Church, we are at risk of finding ourselves to be improperly attired, and, like the man in the parable, at risk of being tied hand and foot, and cast out into the darkness, into an eternal existence outside the light of the love of God – and the knowledge of our loss will certainly cause us to weep and wail and gnash our teeth.

We can draw wisdom as well from considering the cincture of the Theotokos. If we think of it only in worldly terms, it has little or no real value to us. It’s only a length of rope, or of cloth, or of leather. Even if it was made of gold, it still has only a fixed value – it is not unlimited. But if we think of it spiritually, we find it is a gift of incalculable value: a source of healings, and a token of God’s love for us, and of our connection with the Church of the saints who have completed their course, and have entered into their rest, with the Lord today in Paradise.

Brothers and sisters, let us not follow the ways of the world, nor seek its wisdom; but rather let us ask God for the grace and strength we need to turn away from the world, and to pursue the heavenly way of life. Let us confess our sins, and ask that our baptismal robes be made clean once more; and let us not neglect to come to the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, for the holy gifts offered today are a foretaste of that great wedding banquet, to which we are all invited. May God grant that each of us, and all Orthodox Christians, will be welcomed at that feast, coming with rejoicing and properly dressed; and that our preparations for the feast will cause others to desire to attend as well, so that their souls, with ours, will be saved.

What Are We Working For?

At one point in his first letter to the church in Corinth, the holy apostle Paul asks the question, “Does a soldier serve at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard, and does not eat of its fruit?” He is asking the people of that congregation to consider the right of one who labors on behalf of the Kingdom of God to receive his or her reward – that is, payment – for the work he or she has performed. In the reading today from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, we hear, in the parable of the two servants in debt, of another form of payment; of what happens when a servant is unable to repay; and of the necessity to forgive in order to be forgiven.

The holy martyr and archdeacon Laurence of Rome shows us the labors of a martyr, and the reward, both earthly and heavenly, that is paid to one who testifies to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, even at the cost of one’s life. The holy martyr Laurence was an archdeacon and servant of the Pope, St. Sixtus, and the treasurer of the Church. When St. Sixtus was arrested for his faith, Laurence wanted to go with him, but was told by the Pope that he must wait, and that he would suffer greatly and then would follow him in martyrdom. St. Sixtus was beheaded; and Laurence was arrested. As he was tortured, not only was he told that, if he denied Christ, he would be set free, but he was also offered the opportunity to obtain his release by turning over to his captors the treasury of the Church, which he had hidden before his arrest. The holy martyr refused to yield the money and also refused to deny Christ, yielding instead his body to torture. He was placed on a griddle, and roasted alive; calling to his tormentors at one point, “This side is cooked; turn me over, so that the other side may be roasted, as well!” He entered into his reward – the Kingdom of heaven – in the year 258 A.D.

Most of us, God willing, will never be tested in our faithfulness as was the holy martyr Laurence. We would do well, however, to examine ourselves, and consider the reward for which we are laboring, to which we devote the majority of our time and energy and resources. In all probability, we will find that we do very little when it comes to laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven; and that the vast majority of our labors are devoted to acquiring the means to obtain ease and comfort for ourselves and our families. Isn’t it amazing that we will go deeply into debt in order to purchase worldly comforts, but give no thought to the debt that we owe for our offenses against God, against others, and even against ourselves? We often say, as a form of ironic humor, that we are “slaves to our employers”; and yet we do not consider that we were bought at a price: the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died on the Cross to set us free from our captivity to sin and death. It is through this act of giving that the debt we owe because of our sins, a debt we cannot possibly repay, is canceled – forgiven – because of God’s love for us. Think about this: Adam and Eve became the slaves of the enemy of our salvation because of their disobedience in the Garden of Eden; and each of us has done the same by our own actions, choosing to sin rather than to do what is pleasing to God. He might very well have abandoned us for our wickedness; but He did not leave us in such a wretched state. He came to us, and became one with us, joining His divinity to our humanity, so that we could be restored to Him, and delivered from death, which is the wages paid for sin. We cannot do this by ourselves; but the good news is that it has already been done for us. Now, we have a choice to make: to continue to live as slaves to sin, or realize that, having been redeemed by the sacrificial offering of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are now called to be slaves to righteousness. Remembering the love that has saved us, let us show our love for God by drawing near to Him each day in prayer, confessing our sins and asking for grace to overcome them; praying for those in need; and above all, praising and thanking the Lord for all He has done, and is doing, for us. Let us fast, and so teach our flesh to be obedient to our will. Let us give from what God has given to us, for the benefit of others and to set our souls free from attachments to our possessions. Let us be humble, gentle, patient, and forgiving – and in this way allow the life of our Lord Jesus given to us in baptism to be seen in what we say and do, in who we are. No earthly reward can approach the value of this gift we have been given; and any earthly suffering, whether it is as little as keeping the fasts or as great as that endured by the martyr Laurence, is treasure we set aside for ourselves in heaven. May the God Who loves us and Who has saved us grant us the grace to follow Him faithfully, as did the holy martyr Laurence, so that we may show Him to the world while in this life, and join the choir of heaven to sing His praises!

Weakness in the Face of Temptations

Our holy father Sisoës the Great was born in Egypt. As a young man, he left his city and went into the desert, settling finally on the same mountain where St. Anthony the Great had lived and struggled with the ascetic way of life, until he came to victory over the flesh, the passions, and the demons. Sisoës did the same, praying and fasting and in other ways taking no regard for this world or for his body, seeking only communion with God and a desire for the kingdom to come. He also won the victory; and God gave him the ability to heal the sick, to cast out demons, and to raise the dead. Many people came to the saint, and he helped them for some sixty years in this world before departing this life; and has been a healer and a helper after his repose, until today.

He gave many people direction for their own spiritual development. A monk asked the holy father what he needed to do in order to please God, and be saved. He was told to leave the world and everything in it behind, and to draw near to God with prayers and with tears of repentance. Another complained that he was not able to memorize the wisdom given to him by the elder, so that he could repeat it. The holy father told him that he should rather work to obtain purity of mind, and then to speak from this purity, trusting to God in everything. Then it would not be necessary to memorize someone else’s words. He taught that when temptation comes against us, we must acknowledge that this is the result of our sin, and we must then yield ourselves completely to the will of God. Likewise, when something good comes to us, or when we respond to a situation by doing what is good and pleasing to God, we should acknowledge that this, too, is because of God’s mercy, and not anything of which we can claim for ourselves. When asked about acquiring humility, the holy father taught that, when we consider every other person as being better, more worthy, than ourselves, we are on the path to being truly humble.

In the reading today from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, we hear of our Lord healing a man who was paralyzed. What does our Lord say? He says, “Your sins are forgiven.” It is only after the teachers of the law accuse Him of blasphemy that He directly addresses the physical ailment, commanding the man to rise, take up his bed, and walk. St. Sisoës shows us the same connection: When we do not acknowledge that we are weak in the face of temptations, when we do not confess our sins and our weakness, we are overwhelmed, and become paralyzed by our sins: certainly in spirit, and sometimes even physically, for we are beings of body, mind, and spirit, and what harms one part harms us in all our parts. As did the man healed in the Gospel, we need to draw near the Lord with faith, with prayers, and with repentance with tears. It is our Lord’s desire that we be made whole, a gift freely given to us, ours for the asking, because of His love for us – a love so great that He endured His Passion and the Cross and burial to set us free from sin and death.

When we are honest with ourselves, and remember our sins, how can we think that we are better than another person, more worthy, entitled to anything good? This is the entryway into the humility that gives us an indication of how well – or how poorly – we are serving as vessels of the love of God and for our neighbor we are meant to be. This is not easy. Indeed, the most restrictive fast is nothing compared to acquiring humility. Standing in prayer throughout the night is far easier than thinking that we are each first among sinners, and everyone else has not sinned as we have. The person who cuts you off in traffic; the person who ignores your plea for help; the person who rejects your efforts; the person who ridicules your faith, and your effort to show the life of Christ in your own – yes, I am saying that the people who anger and injury and hate and even kill you are meant to be considered more important, more valuable, and more worthy than we think of ourselves. When you find it difficult or impossible to do this, confess this as a fault, asking, begging, God for help – and remembering above all God’s love for you, and all that He has done for you, and has promised that He will do for you. When we allow the truth of the great mercy and love of God for us to fill us and to guide our thoughts and words and deeds, then we, like our holy father Sisoës, have come one step closer to mastering our passions, and to leaving this world and all its snares behind.

Holy father Sisoës the Great, pray to God for us!