Holy Metropolis of Kythira – Sunday Message (July 26, 2026)

SUNDAY MESSAGE (audio message)
BY HIS EMINENCE THE METROPOLITAN
KYTHIRA & ANTIKYTHIRA SERAPHIM
8th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Matthew)

(26-07-2026)

WRITTEN DIVINE PROCLAMATION
«You are all children of God through faith in Jesus Christ» (Gal. 3:26)

If someone comes from a noble lineage or from a family that raised a great figure, they want to boast about it. How much more worthy of boasting is it, then, to come from God—to be a child of God?; «For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus», we heard the Apostle Paul teaching us in today’s Epistle reading. Through faith, that is, in Jesus Christ, you have all become and remain children of God. And indeed, the person who approaches Holy Baptism is revealed as a child of God by grace.

However, since the Apostle spoke of something great and marvelous, he also explained the manner of adoption, the way in which one becomes a son of God, which is for the one being baptized to put on Christ; «For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.». In his commentary on these words, St. Chrysostom says: «Since Christ is the Son of God and you have been clothed with him, having the Son within you and having become like Him, you have attained kinship and have become one image with Christ.». Putting on Christ, therefore, means becoming like Christ. «For this is what it means to put on Christ: never to forsake Him. May Christ be seen everywhere within me through my holiness and goodness.» (St. Chrysostom).

So, my friends, my dear friends, that what many people say—that all people are children of God—is not true. All people are God’s creations, but they are children of God only in potential. Only those who have become like Christ and walk the path of holiness are children of God. This is also what it means to be adopted by God: holiness, deification, justification, as the Apostle Paul calls it.

And, since we must not interpret Scripture in isolation but as a whole, for «Scripture interprets Scripture,» let us listen to the Evangelist John, who says: «To all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God». To those, that is, who believed in Christ and confessed Him as God, Christ «He gave authority» (possibility) through Baptism «to become children of God». «Like a newborn,», writes Saint Gregory Palamas, «By nature, he has the potential to become wise, and as he grows older, if he devotes himself to the things that contribute to knowledge, he will also become actively wise, in the same way as one who has been reborn through Holy Baptism…». If, after Baptism, a person follows God’s commandments, this possibility becomes a reality.

How much effort does it take to attain this adoption as children of God… That is why it is essential that we not rest on our baptism and think that, because of it, we are already saved. Let us not forget that we have the potential to become children of God and, therefore, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. This potential, however, must become a reality. We will become heirs, however, only when we attain adoption. And what does adoption mean? St. Gregory Palamas writes: «The grace of adoption is the light of God’s ineffable glory, which the saints behold.». Adoption, then, means seeing the uncreated light of God, just as the saints see it.

How much effort does it take to attain this adoption as children of God… So that this reason, let us take the life of the Lord as our guide and strive to live according to His divine example and His savingcommands, taking care «Let us not overlook anything that has been ordered» since we know that «Nor is it possible for anyone to be saved without doing the works that are in accordance with God’s command, nor is it safe for anyone to overlook any of the things that have been commanded.», as St. Basil the Great says.

How much honor and thanksgiving, then, should we offer to God, who has given us the opportunity, through Baptism, to become children of God… How much glory and thanksgiving are due to Him who has deemed us worthy to be set apart from a world far removed from God. For there is a difference between the baptized and the unbaptized. Socially, everyone may be equal, but spiritually they differ. The baptized person is spiritually superior to the unbaptized, because he has the Grace of God and the prerequisites to fulfill the «in the image of God’. The unbaptized person has neither the grace of God nor the prerequisites to become like God.

May the Lord grant us the grace to attain adoption as His children and, consequently, salvation!

Rev. Hierotheos Kritikos, Preacher