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ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE
ARCHDIOCESE OF
THYATEIRA & GREAT BRITAIN

BULLETIN OF SPIRITUAL EDIFICATION

10 2013
. . 1274

MEATFARE SUNDAY
10 March 2013
Varys Mode. No. 1274

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EPISTLE READING
1 Cor. 8:8-9:2

rethren, food will not bring us closer to God. We are no worse off if we do not
eat, and no better off if we do. Only take care that this liberty of yours does not
somehow become a stumbling block for the weak. For if someone sees you, who
have knowledge, sitting at table in an idols temple, may they not be encouraged, if
their conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge the
weak person is destroyed; the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, by sinning
against your brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin
against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of my brothers stumbling, I will never
eat meat, lest I cause my brother to stumble. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle?
Have I not seen Jesus Christ, our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If to
others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my
apostleship in the Lord.

. 31-46

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GOSPEL READING
Matt. 25:31-46

he Lord said, When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels
with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be
gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd
separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and
the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, Come, you
that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and
you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you
clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.
Then the just will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and gave you
food, or thirsty and gave you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and
welcomed you, or naked and clothed you? And when did we see you sick or in
prison and visited you? And the king will answer them, Amen I tell you, just as you
did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me. Then he will say to
those at his left hand, You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I
was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not
welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not
visit me. Then they too will answer, Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or
thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not serve you? Then he
will answer them, Amen I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of
these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but
the just into eternal life.

Let us observe a fast acceptable and pleasing to the Lord. True fasting is to put away all evil, to
control the tongue, to forbear from anger, to abstain from lust, slander, falsehood, and perjury. If
we renounce these things, then is our fasting true and acceptable to God. (The Lenten Triodion)


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Consider well, my soul: do you fast? Do not despise your neighbour.

Do you abstain from food? Do not condemn your brother (The Lenten Triodion)

SERMON ON THE GOSPEL READING

ast Sunday, the parable of the Prodigal Son assured us of our heavenly Fathers
complete mercy towards all who repent and return to Him. But lest we should fall
into negligence by remembering Gods mercy while forgetting our own need for
repentance, the fearful parable of the Last Judgement today reminds us that our
salvation is not an easy matter.
We can readily be tempted to avoid this uncomfortable issue with vague hopes
that, if we have not actually murdered anyone or robbed a bank, we shall probably be
alright and allowed to slip in with the sheep. But let us not forget that the root of all
sin, the cause of all strife and trouble in the world, is selfishness; and which of us can
say that we are never selfish? Moreover, the mere avoidance of sin is not the criterion
applied by Christ in separating the sheep from the goats. He expects something much
higher of us for salvation - the active presence of love and compassion towards others
in need, whose hunger, thirst, illness, imprisonment or nakedness may be physical,
emotional or spiritual. Indeed, even more than that is required. For those who inherit
Gods kingdom, in asking with surprise when they had ever helped in this way, reveal
that they did so with a love which springs from a pure and selfless heart, without
seeking recognition from others, without desiring to feel good about themselves,
without thinking of their own convenience, but helping simply because they could not
do otherwise in the face of others need, so that they were unaware of having done any
good at all. Those, on the other hand, who are condemned, are equally surprised, but
because they were so wrapped up in themselves during life that they were blind to the
needs of others and so remain unaware that they had done no good; they evidently
expect to be saved because they are not conscious of having done any wrong.
Gods ultimate judgement of our life is a prospect which should instil a healthy
fear in us all. God is indeed love, but His love is so dazzlingly pure and selfless that
when, at the end of our time we all meet it face to face, it will either bathe us in bliss or
scorch us like fire, in proportion to the quality of our own love for both God and our
neighbour. The righteousness of God is nothing like human justice, and He knows
perfectly what each of us is capable of, and what our circumstances are in this life. But
let us not tempt Gods mercy, either with our laziness if we make little effort, or with
our pride if we make a big effort. As St Isaac the Syrian reminds us: when a sinner
becomes aware of his failings and begins to repent, he is righteous; when a righteous
man becomes aware of his righteousness and his conscience is persuaded of it, he is a
sinner.
Our salvation depends entirely on the inscrutable judgement of God, who sees
and knows everything. We are mere creatures, and cannot see God; but we can, with
Gods help, achieve a human kind of perfection by forgetting ourselves and seeing and
responding to the needs of the person in front of us instead of our own. That way, we
shall learn humility and love, and so live in peace both in this life and in all eternity.

You were commanded to keep the body as a servant, not to be unnaturally enslaved to its pleasures
(St. Thalassios the Libyan)
Sin is a blazing fire. The less fuel you give it, the faster it dies down; the more you feed it, the more it burns
(St. Mark the Ascetic)
ArchdioceseofThyateira&GreatBritain,5CravenHill,LondonW23EN
Tel.:02077234787.Fax:02072249301.Email:mail@thyateira.org.uk.Website:www.thyateira.org.uk

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