SUNDAY MESSAGE (audio message)
BY HIS EMINENCE THE METROPOLITAN
KYTHIRA & ANTIKYTHIRA SERAPHIM
SUNDAY G’ MATTHEW
(23-7-2023)
WRITTEN TH. KIRYGMA
«In unison»
SUNDAY NINTH OF MATTHEW (23-7-2023)
«...Hire one another, as Christ also hired you.». That is, receive one another, as Christ received you.
If, my brothers and sisters, we consider that Jesus accepted to associate with sinners, even emphasizing that «the healthy do not need a doctor, but those who suffer», then we understand how much Jesus (as a human being) cared for Himself. This is why the Apostle Paul emphasizes in today's reading «....do not like yourself» and that's because «... Christ did not rest in himself». Reaching up to the humiliating for the time His death, the death on the cross.
As guests of the Great Supper of the Church, we are also called to imitate Him. An imitation, which has consequences: «They have judged me and persecuted you.». Even if in our life we are not asked to sacrifice our own life, let us be ready for the minimum, the shedding of complacency.
Self-righteous man is in a spiritual prison. He is isolated from others. He finds no joy in their presence, but only a threat and a threat to his own interests. If he happens to be baptized, he uses the great Doros frivolously. And he is only interested in what will be shown to the outside world, without self-control, without reflection, without repentance, without love. He is not really interested in others. Sometimes, he takes meticulous care of what he has ordered in his life as his duty. There he is strict about himself! He observes all the trivialities or the useless, because they have no cost to his self-importance. And he thinks of himself as a «Good Christian». But, himself and only himself.
Such a model to avoid, my Christians, we ought to reject.
Our faith calls us to communion. Communion with one another in love, with tolerance, with avoidance of criticism and with an infinite willingness to forgive. Always separating the sinful act from our guilty brothers and sisters, accepting the latter unreservedly and rejecting the former adamantly. Ever mindful «Let us not be tempted.», we shall thus contribute to the unity of the Faith. To a unity which will be a witness and a preaching to those «from outside’. After all, by experiencing our hope in unison, we do only the least we can do to imitate the One who said: «In this all men know that ye are disciples of me, if ye have love one to another.».
Rev. P. Mariatos
