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ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE
ARCHDIOCESE OF
THYATEIRA & GREAT BRITAIN

BULLETIN OF SPIRITUAL EDIFICATION
2nd SUNDAY OF LUKE
29 September 2013
Plagal of the
the 1st Mode.
Mode No. 1303

29 2013
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. 1303

RESURRECTION APOLYTIKION

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et us believers praise and let us

worship the Word, who like the
Father and the Spirit is without
beginning, born from a Virgin for our
Salvation;
Salvation; for he was well pleased to
ascend the Cross in the flesh and
undergo death, and to raise those who
had died, by his glorious Resurrection.

EPISTLE READING

(B . , 21 , 4)

(2 Cor. 1: 21 2:4)

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rethren, it is God who establishes

us with you in Christ and has
anointed us, by putting his seal on us
and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as
a first instalment. But I call on God as
witness against me: it was to spare you
that I did not come again to Corinth. I
do not mean to imply that we lord it
over your faith; rather, we are workers
with you for your joy, because you
stand firm in the faith. So I made up my
mind not to make you another painful
visit. For if I cause you pain, who is
there to make me glad but the one
whom I have pained? And I wrote as I
did, so that when I came, I might not
suffer pain from those who should have
made me rejoice; for I am confident
about all of you, that my joy would be
the joy of you. For I wrote to you out of
much distress and anguish
anguish of heart and
with many tears, not to cause you pain,
but to let you know the abundant love
that I have for you.

What, I ask, is more wonderful than the beauty of God? What thought is more pleasing and wonderful than Gods majesty? What
desire is as urgent and overpowering as the desire implanted by God in a soul that is completely purified of sin and cries out in its love:
I am wounded by love? The radiance of divine beauty is altogether beyond the power of words to describe. (St Basil the Great)

GOSPEL READING

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(Luke 6:31-36)

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he Lord said: As you wish that

others would do to you, do so to
them. If you love those who love you,
what grace is that to you? For even
sinners love those who love them. And
if you do good to those who do good to
you, what grace is that to you?
you? For even
sinners do the same. And if you lend to
those from whom you hope to receive,
what grace is that to you? Even sinners
lend to sinners, to receive as much
again. But love your enemies, and do
good, and lend, expecting nothing in
return; and your reward
reward will be great,
and you will be children of the Most
High; for he is kind to the ungrateful
and the wicked. Be merciful, just as
your Father is merci
merciful.

Today, we keep the memory of Saint Theophanis the Merciful, an inhabitant of the
Syrian city of Gaza. He had a burning desire to help the poor, and spent all his
substance on assisting the needy, driving himself into abject poverty in his love for
others.
Lift up and stretch out your hands, not to
heaven, but to the poor; for if you stretch forth
your hands to the poor, you have reached the
summit of heaven; but if you lift up your hands
in prayer without sharing with the poor, it is
worth nothing. Every family should have a
room where Christ is welcome in the person of
the hungry and thirsty stranger.
stranger. The poor are
a greater temple than the sanctuary; this altar,
the poor, you can raise up anywhere, on any
street, and offer liturgy at any hour.
If you want to honour Christ, do it when you
see him naked in the person of the poor. Do
not honour him here
here in the church with silken
garments and precious metals while neglecting
him outside where he is cold and naked God
does not want vessels of gold, but hearts of
gold. In saying this I am not forbidding you to
offer such gifts; I am only saying that along
along
with such gifts and before them you should
give alms. He accepts the former, but he is
much more pleased with the latter.
St John Chrysostom



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SERMON ON THE GOSPEL READING

odays Gospel reading encapsulates the quintessence of the whole New Testament.
In it Jesus Christ explains in a few words His fundamental teaching concerning
love, the most important of His commandments. St Silouan
Silouan the Athonite was once
asked, What is the content of the Gospels in a nutshell?, to which he replied: The
content of the Gospels is included in these three words, love your enemies.
enemies. This principle
remains the fundamental criterion of the Christian
Christian truth and is the core of the New
Testament.
To love in the way Jesus Christ loved means going beyond the standard: If you
love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Christs injunction involves a radical
effort to surpass the logic of this world,
world, even the positive one: that is, to respond with
good to the good that we receive; to lend to those we know will pay us back; and to love
our friends and relatives, who love us. For the Orthodox Christian this is not sufficient.
We need to follow the teaching
teaching of our Lord and go beyond the standard.

Christ wants us to be like His Father who is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked,
and is merciful.
merciful. This means that we need to learn to do good, to love, to lend without
expecting any positive response from the
the others; to be kind where goodness and
kindness are, as it were, undeserved; to give to others with overflowing measure; to
love even those who hate us; to love our enemies, to pray for those who hurt our
feelings.
This may feel a little too demanding for us, but that is because we have,
unfortunately, become accustomed to the mentality of this world. Sacrifice, humility,
suffering injustice, giving away our most essential property - all this is madness to our
contemporary world. But for us Orthodox Christians,
Christians, the real treasure is not found in
any worldly goods, but in the grace of the Holy Spirit, in the spiritual gift of peace, joy
and love, which the Lord gives to us from the Father in the Holy Spirit. This we will
receive for loving our enemies, for lending
lending without expending anything in return, for
doing good to those who seemingly do not deserve it, for praying for those who do us
injustice and cause us offence.
To be an Orthodox Christian is a great challenge. It requires that we transform
our lives from day to day to correspond to these eternal principles of love that our Lord
and God and Saviour Jesus Christ has given us. We will not easily reach that measure,
but let that difficulty not be an obstacle for us. Instead, let it be a source of inspiration
inspiration
for a continuous renewal of our desire to be the children of the Most High,
High, to become
merciful, compassionate and loving as our Heavenly Father is.
is.
SAINT JOHN OF THE LADDER
ON THE HUMAN BODY
By what rule or manner can I bind this body
of mine? By what
what precedent can I judge him?
Before I can bind him he is let loose, before I
condemn him I am reconciled to him, before I
can punish him I bow down to him and feel
sorry for him. How can I hate him when my
nature disposes me to love him? How can I
break away
away from him when I am bound to
him forever? How can I escape from him
when he is going to rise with me? How can I
make him incorruptible when he has received
a corruptible nature? How can I argue with
him when all the arguments of nature are on
his side?...
side?... He is my helper and my enemy, my
assistant and my opponent, a protector and a
traitor. I am kind to him and he assaults me. If
I wear him out he gets weak. If he has a rest
he becomes unruly. If I upset him he cannot stand it. If I mortify him I endanger myself.
If I strike him down I have nothing left by which to acquire virtues. I embrace him. And
I turn away from him. What is this mystery in me? What is the principle of this mixture
of body and soul? How can I be my own friend and my own enemy?
Archdiocese of Thyateira & Great Britain, 5 Craven Hill, London W2 3EN
Tel.: 020 7723 4787. Fax: 020 7224 9301. E-mail: mail@thyateira.org.uk. Website: www.thyateira.org.uk

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