SUNDAY MESSAGE (audio message)
BY HIS EMINENCE THE METROPOLITAN
KYTHIRA & ANTIKYTHIRA SERAPHIM
Third Sunday in Matthew
(21-06-2026)
WRITTEN DIVINE PROCLAMATION
«Since we have been justified by faith, let us have peace
»to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.".
The Holy Apostle Paul, through the divinely inspired reading from the Epistle to the Romans that we heard today, opens for us the gate to true justification in Christ—that is, to salvation. It calls us to understand how Faith is a living reality that fundamentally transforms human life. And the first great gift of this Faith is peace.
But what is this peace of which the heavenly Paul speaks? Let us be careful, my brothers and sisters, lest we misunderstand the divine word. As St. John Chrysostom teaches us, the «Let us have peace» means: «Let us no longer sin»! It means «Let us never sin again, nor return to our former ways, for that would mean we are at war with God.». Let us not return to sin, for persisting in sin is not peace, but open war against God. And if anyone asks, «Is it possible not to sin?» St. Chrysostom answers us with comforting courage: «If, even though we were responsible for so many sins, we were freed from them all through Christ, how much more so now, in the situation we find ourselves in, will we be able to persevere through Him?»· because it is not the same thing to attain a peace that did not exist, than to preserve the peace that has already been granted to you, since acquiring it is more difficult than preserving it. But, despite all this, what was most difficult became easy and came to pass.
This peace and our union with God did not come about automatically. A Mediator was needed. And our Mediator is the incarnate Son and Word of God. Christ is the inseparable Son of the Father. By His divine nature, He is always united with the Father, but through His humanity, He was united with us. He thus becomes the bridge Himself, so that those who are united with Him, Christ, may be offered by Him to God the Father. Where there was once the chasm of sin and separation, Christ became the cause of our reconciliation and union with the source of life.
This divine peace with God is granted to all Orthodox Christians who have been baptized, since Holy Baptism is participation in the Cross and in the death of Christ, through which peace was brought about and achieved. Consider, my beloved, the magnitude of this love: «A man would hardly ever agree to die, even for the sake of a virtuous person.». But Christ, in shedding His blood on the Cross, did not die for the righteous, but for the sake of sinners and enemies!
Unfortunately, we, as constant sinners, appear ungrateful toward Christ, and it seems that He has reconciled the wicked and ungrateful with the Father, rejecting peace with God and returning to our pre-baptismal state—that is, enmity toward Him. Repentance, asceticism, and vigilance are what will purify us and, by the grace of God, lead us to divine enlightenment. «If, while we were far from God, Christ brought us near to Him, how much more will He keep us close if we draw near to Him.» (St. John Chrysostom).
«In the quiet and peace of your life, accept the gift of Christ» (St. Gregory of Nyssa). Amen.
Rev. Hierotheos Kritikos, Preacher
