SUNDAY MESSAGE (audio message) FROM HIS EMINENCE THE METROPOLITAN
KYTHIRA & ANTIKYTHIRA SERAPHIM
10th Sunday in Ordinary Time (December 8, 2024)
https://www.imkythiron.gr/index.php/o-mitropolitis/radiofonikes-ekpompes/6334-8-dekemvriou-2024-kyriaki-i-louka
THE SERMON FOR THE 10TH SUNDAY IN LUKE (December 8, 2024)
WRITTEN DIVINE PROCLAMATION
The Healing of the Woman with the Hemorrhage and The Christian's Spiritual Armor
The Holy Gospel today, my dear brothers, tells us about the miracle the Lord performed for a wretched woman, whom the devil had bound for eighteen whole years, so that she could not stand upright. And the merciful Lord, casting His compassionate gaze upon her, healed her, after finishing His sermon in a synagogue—and on the Sabbath, no less. In response to the synagogue leader’s objection that the Lord had performed a miracle on the Sabbath, Christ replied that man is God’s most perfect creation, and that if someone unhitches his ox on the Sabbath to let it drink water or graze in the meadows and does not fear the Law of Moses, how is it possible for anyone to deny God’s miraculous power toward every suffering human being, who is superior to any other living being, since he is a child of Abraham?;
We see, then, my brothers, that the chief priest and many other hypocrites did not want to see the miracle that was taking place right before their eyes, simply because it happened on the Sabbath. And while they accepted the law of Moses, who was not the supreme lawgiver, but rather the most honorable servant of the true Lawgiver, God, spiritually blind people, such as the chief priest, did not accept the Lawgiver Himself, Jesus Christ. They did not want to be healed because Satan had not merely bound their bodies, but had blinded the eyes of their souls, and so they acted in the spiritual darkness ruled over by the devil, and instead of becoming servants of Christ, they became servants of Satan. For they did not have the spiritual armor which the Apostle Paul asks the Ephesians to put on throughout their entire lives.
What, my brothers, is the Christian’s spiritual armor, according to the Apostle Paul?;
This one The armor is Christ Himself, which every faithful Christian puts on at the time of baptism. «All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ» says the hymn referring to the Holy Mystery. But let us consider, my brothers, and examine, one by one, the parts that make up this armor, in accordance with the Apostle Paul.
The spiritual realm is the truth, which every Christian must serve in his or her life, so that the Grace of the Holy Spirit may enlighten and strengthen him in his spiritual life. This truth is the Gospel itself.
The breastplate of this armor is the virtue of justice, which the faithful Christian must explore more deeply, so that they may not be wounded by the arrow of injustice and may not commit unjust acts against their neighbor.
Spiritual footwear is spiritual preparation which every believer must have in his or her life through the spiritual sobering of the soul, as the Lord taught us «Watch and pray, so that you may not fall into temptation.». This, then—the spiritual preparation for one’s entire life—is the observance of the Holy Gospel.
Our spiritual shield now is faith, as the Lord and the Church have taught us, with which we will face the fiery arrows of temptation and the demons.
Our spiritual helmet is the hope of salvation, with the sound reasoning we must have, and finally the spiritual sword so that we may fight against the devil, it is Unceasing prayer to the Triune God.
What, then, my brothers and sisters, the Holy Gospel and the Apostolic Reading from Saint Paul have taught us today, inspire us to engage in spiritual struggle against the devil and his works, and they emphasize to us that the devil is not invincible, nor does he rule our lives; it is enough for us to remain close to Christ and to clothe ourselves in the works of virtue. Let us pray, my brothers and sisters, that the Divine Word of the Holy Gospel may bear fruit in our hearts, in all of us who have been baptized into Christ and clothed with Christ.
