10th Sunday after Pentecost (12/25 August)

[Arsenios]

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why were we not able to cast it out?" And Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief. For verily I say to you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard, ye shall say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you.

I take this literally as I think there have been saints that have done this and there is no reason to not take it literally. But on the other hand is it at least possible for other ways of looking at the passage to be true? Like maybe saying that saving a soul is even greater than moving a mountain and so we spiritualize it? Or maybe saying that Jesus was talking metaphorically and that we sometimes move mountains by difficult things we do in our lives over a long period of time? Or maybe its just a saying that is intended to motivate us and not so much be a goal we WILL reach as a goal we have to TRY and reach. In that way it would be like when Jesus and Moses said be perfect and holy because God is and Paul tells us to be spotless.

[OrthodoxyOrDeath]

Thank you Mary and everyone for your very informative notes.

As long as we are learning about the meaning of words, I thought Mary's qoute of Blessed Theophylact was very interesting:

"He is a lunatic". The father calls him 'a lunatic' (some versions 'an epileptic'). The impression of the multitude was that the moon was the cause. The demon, to bring reproach upon the created element of God, attacks when the moon is full, and lets the victim go according to the courses of the moon, as though it were the worker of it. The demon seeks to have the people blaspheme God when they reproach his works." [P.G. 123:90B (col. 332).] (ONT. p. 108)

The English word Lunar comes from the Latin word for moon. The word "lunatic" originally referred to people who were thought to have been driven insane by the moon. Blessed Theophylact has some harsh words for people who attribute the Lord's works as a cause of evil - and, interestingly enough, peoples superstition with the moon has not stopped to this day.

[Mary Kissel]

I just found a homily that pertains to the Gospel reading for tomorrow (Sunday) I found it online at Orthodox.net and I thought I would share it with you. 10th Sunday after Pentecost

MaryCecilia

[Julianna]

I just wanted to say that when I was doing the endnotes for the Gospel of John last night, I learned something about that Gospel reading that I never knew before, I never really even thought about it before...I figured there was a reason for what was done, but wasn't sure and didn't think to check it out (see what I quoted below) I think that that is very interesting what St Gregory says about what the significance was regarding the first time Christ told His Apostles to cast their net into the water and didnt say any specific side to cast it into, as opposed to this second time when he told them to put it specifically on the right side of the boat.

Jn. 21:6 St Gregory the Great: "We read twice in the holy Gospel that the Lord ordered that nets be let down for fishing. In the earlier catch [Lk. 5:4-6], before the Passion, He did not say whether the net be cast on the right side or the left; and so many fish were taken that the nets were torn. In the later catch, after the resurrection, He ordered the net be let down on the right side; and though many fish were taken, the nets were not torn. The good are designated by the right side and the wicked on the left [Mt. 25:33]. The earlier catch signifies the Church in the present time, when she takes along the good with the wicked. She does not choose those she brings in, because she is ignorant of those whom she can choose. The later catch takes place on the right side, since only the Church of the elect, which will possess nothing of the works of the left side, will come to see the glory of His brightness. In the earlier catch the net was broken because the number of the wicked now enters with the elect, and they tear the Church apart with their heresies. In the later catch many large fish are caught, and the net is untorn, because the holy Church of the elect remains in the uninterrupted peace of her Creator and no dissension tears her apart." [Ib., 181, 182.] (ONT. p. 555)

That's neat MCk thanks!

[Justin Kissel]

We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ. - 1 Cor. 4:10

Strictly speaking, this passage speaks of the apostles, and specifically those who preach the true Gospel (Paul, Timothy, etc.). This verse also speaks to us today, however (as the Fathers teach.) How then are we, today, fools for Christ's sake?

When we are humble (Matt. 5:3), for the world uses the humble as stepping stones to better things.

When we mourn our spiritual state (Matt. 5:4), for the world thinks us zealots for worrying about such things.

When we are meek (Matt. 5:5), for the world takes advantage of the meek.

When we seek righteousness (Matt. 5:6), for the world shuns righteousness but seeks joy.

When we are merciful (Matt. 5:7), for those in the world look out for their own interests. But some will say: "many are merciful in the world!" But this is misunderstanding mercy, for mercy is not just giving a dollar to a homeless man or some such act of kindness. Mercy is giving up that which you do not have to give up: but you give it up anyway for the benefit of someone else. It is therefore merciful to forgive someone when they offend you and won't apologize. It is merciful to give a man a cloak after he steals your shirt. It is merciful to give a man a cup of water after he has mocked you.

These things are the mercy which the Lord speaks of. They are not merely wordly kindness, but they are efforts of faith done through God's grace. The "many" who would give a dollar to a homeless man would almost all call someone a fool for giving that same man the clothes off their back. The "many" who would "spare a dollar" (out of their $50,000 a year salary) would almost all call someone a fool for being so merciful as to helping someone who had mocked them. The many are prideful, and so even their "mercy" is tainted with sin. A truly merciful man is as rare as a truly meek man, a truly humble man, and a truly righteous man.

But when else are we fools for Christ's sake?

When we try to be pure in heart (Matt. 5:8 ), for the world seeks to "just get by," and do not seek purity of heart.

When we seek peace with our brothers, even at our own personal expense (Matt. 5:9), for the world says that we must "fight for our rights".

When we allow ourselves to be persecuted for righteousness' sake, (Matt. 5:10), for the world sees no need for such things: "surely a loving God," they reason, "would not condemn us for not being able to hold up under the pressures of life!" And who are those persecuted for righteousness' sake today? Those who seek all the things mentioned before this. And who are the persecutors? It is as it has always been: the persecutors are everyone: layman, priests, monks, bishops, deacons, non-believers, members of other religions, atheists; in a word, everyone.

Jesus says: "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." (Matt. 5:12).

And who persecuted the prophets except (for the most part) those who claimed to be in God's Israel? It was the (supposedly) "holy people of God" who persecuted the prophets. We should not be so foolish as to think that times have changed. The greatest persecutor of the righteous today are those who call themselves Orthodox, but then by their words and lifestyle make a mockery of Orthodoxy. Then, being totally foreign to the whole spirit or savor of Orthodoxy, and judging their fellow Orthodox not by the criterion of truth, or the beatitudes, or Jesus Christ our God, but by their own worldly pleasures and opinions, they condemn and persecute those seeking righteousness.

They do not kill them with literal stones as they did in the past, but now they throw stones just as dangerous, for their stones may make the weaker of those seeking righteousness to turn back, thinking that they will be unable to make the entire journey and will die along the way. To these modern-day persecutors, Jesus says: "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and thathe were drowned in the sea... Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 18:6, 10)

[尼古拉前执事]

Our sermon today was about how the apostles were unable to extract a demon because they lacked Faith and with Faith we can do anything, but this demon was the kind that is extracted with prayer and fast ing which are the twin wings of Christianity as there is no Christian Faith without each of these things. Fasting being denial of the body to strengthen the soul and prayer being direct communication with our Creator.

[Mary Kissel]

For some reason today our priest didn't give any sermon on the Gospel or Epistle readings. He just went on with the Liturgy and after Liturgy he did his usual buliten announcements then the Dismissal.

MaryCecilia