Holy Cross Orthodox Mission founding by Archbishop Peter

 

    We are happy to announce that Archbishop Peter has founded our mission, giving us the name of Holy Cross Orthodox Mission. Our parish feast day is August 1/14 for the Procession of the Precious Wood of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. We are grateful for the support and pray that we will continue to grow in size and in God's Love. For now, Fr. David Companik will continue to server our mission with the Holy Mysteries of the Church once a month. We will continue in our reader services on the other weekends. Under the guidance of Fr. John Whiteford we pray Small Compline on Saturday evenings at 6 pm and Third and Sixth hours and the Typika on Sunday morning at 10 am.  All are welcome to attend.  Here is a link to our address.

Sincerely,

Greg Solis
gregsolisjr@gmail.com
361-249-7908

Matthew 15:21-28 - The Canaanite Woman

 

²¹ Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
²² And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
²³ But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
²⁴ But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
²⁵ Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
²⁶ But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.
²⁷ And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.
²⁸ Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

          How do we respond when people ignore us, oppose us, or insult us? In our pride, we begin to think negatively about the person doing it, rarely recognizing our own sinfulness and our deserving of calamity.

            We have all most likely committed deeds worthy of God's wrath, but have hopefully been forgiven such deeds through baptism and confession. We therefore are in no position to expect good things to come to us because of our worthiness.

            It is always a blessing when good things happen, but when we confront trials, we must remember that we are deserving of all kinds of suffering due to our choosing to reject God, the source of Life.

            While we as Christians have been forgiven our sins, in God's wisdom, He allows us to continue to confront trials to help us grow in virtue and to help others to see how to respond to temptation. God only allows bad things to happen if it could be of benefit in some way.

            The woman in today's Gospel reading is one of the greatest examples of the humility and faith required to enter into the Kingdom of God. She was not even from the Jewish race, shaming those that rejected our Lord, and offering hope to those outside the Church.

            Having experienced the hardships of life in this fallen world and in idolatrous beliefs, she was seeking for the True God. And by persistence in searching for such relief, God encountered her giving her the opportunity to come to True Faith and be healed.

            But our Lord Jesus Christ, wanting to show us the humility and perseverance needed by us greatly sinful beings originally made in the image of God Himself, allowed the great Saint to be tested for our instruction.

            He first ignores her entreaty and then states that He was not sent to those outside Israel. And even after her worshipping Him and begging for His help, He answers with the words, "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs."

            Our Lord was not personally insulting this great Saint with these actions, but rather rebuking those outside of His chosen people that were still in idolatry and living as mere beasts in their sinful way of life.

            This holy women was able to understand our Lord's words because of her humility and felt no anger because of the truth in them; that she was not worthy of God's mercy, but asked it nonetheless as a gift.

            She not only acknowledged that she was more comparable to a dog than to a child of God, but even added that these children of God were her masters.

            Our Lord teaches us about the Eucharist in these words by speaking of the bread for the children of God. We see that it is not for those outside the Church, but those that have come to the Church in a lowly state eat the crumbs that fall from the table. We should all feel as lowly as dog's ourselves and our brothers in the Church as Children of God.

            She knew that a crumb from this bread of Life was enough to heal her daughter that was possessed by a devil. She only longed to be allowed to be a lowly member of the household of God. She sought the lowest place and was rewarded by God.

            This is a very encouraging account that displays God's great call to all mankind. He draws all those searching for Him and encounters them, but requires that they come in humility and conversion from their former sinful way of life.

            We see that while the Apostles were not able to cast out a demon out of a young boy, this woman had learned the method of casting out demons by humility and faith.

            St. John Chrysostom explains that we have to do our part if we are to successfully conquer the devil saying, "Seest thou how this woman too contributed not a little to the healing of her daughter? For to this purpose neither did Christ say, 'Let thy little daughter be made whole,' but, ' Great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou wilt;' to teach thee that the words were not used at random, nor were they flattering words, but great was the power of her faith."

            We need to remember our humble beginning as Christians and not allow ourselves to think more of ourselves than we ought, believing that we are worthy of eating at the table of God because of our great piety. We could easily find ourselves cast out and others with humility found in our place.

            May we stay lowly of heart, conquering temptations that test our pride. Only then will we be freed from our demonic passions and hear our Lord say to us, "O great is thy faith: be it unto thee as thou wilt!" Amen.

           

If Thou Wilt Be Perfect, Go and Sell That Thou Hast - Matthew 19:16-26

 

^{16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?}

^{17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.}

^{18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,}

^{19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.}

^{20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?}

^{21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.}

^{22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.}

^{23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.}

^{24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.}

^{25 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?}

^{26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.}

          St. Gregory of Nyssa says the following about this Gospel reading: " The history regards the rich man to whom the Lord spoke this word as young—the kind of person, I suppose, inclined to enjoy the pleasures of this life—and attached to his possessions; for it says that he was grieved at the advice to part with what he had, and that he did not choose to exchange his property for life eternal. This man, when he heard that a teacher of eternal life was in the neighborhood, came to him in the expectation of living in perpetual luxury, with life indefinitely extended, flattering the Lord with the title of “good,”—flattering, I should rather say, not the Lord as we conceive Him, but as He then appeared in the form of a servant. For his character was not such as to enable him to penetrate the outward veil of flesh, and see through it into the inner shrine of Deity. The Lord, then, Who sees the hearts, discerned the motive with which the young man approached Him as a suppliant,—that he did so, not with a soul intently fixed upon the Divine, but that it was the man whom he besought, calling Him “Good Master,” because he hoped to learn from Him some lore by which the approach of death might be hindered. Accordingly, with good reason did He Who was thus besought by him answer even as He was addressed. For as the entreaty was not addressed to God the Word, so correspondingly the answer was delivered to the applicant by the Humanity of Christ, thereby impressing on the youth a double lesson. For He teaches him, by one and the same answer, both the duty of reverencing and paying homage to the Divinity, not by flattering speeches but by his life, by keeping the commandments and buying life eternal at the cost of all possessions, and also the truth that humanity, having been sunk in depravity by reason of sin, is debarred from the title of “Good”: and for this reason He says, “Why callest Thou Me good?” suggesting in His answer by the word “Me” that human nature which encompassed Him, while by attributing goodness to the Godhead He expressly declared Himself to be good, seeing that He is proclaimed to be God by the Gospel."

          St. Nikolai Velimirovich likewise comments on the young man's words, 'What good thing shall I do?' saying, "This question was obviously in the context of his riches, as is usually the case with the rich, who cannot see a distinction between themselves and their possessions, nor think of themselves without thinking of their possessions."

          Our Lord responds by telling the man to keep the commandments, but had in mind a deeper spiritual way to keep them. We do well to consider some of these spiritual interpretations of the commands listed by Christ.

          St. Nikolai says, "'Thou shalt do no murder' means: over much pampering of the body in riches and luxury kills the soul. 'Thou shalt not commit adultery' means: the soul is intended for God as a bride for her husband; if the soul occupies itself with love for worldly riches and brilliance, for luxury and transitory pleasure, it thus commits adultery against its immortal Husband, God. 'Thou shalt not steal' means: do not steal from the soul for the body's benefit; do not steal the time, care or toil that you should devote to the soul and give them to the body. 'Thou shalt not bear false witness' means: do not in any way justify love for riches and the neglect of your soul, for that is the distortion of God's truth, and a false witness before God and your conscience. 'Honor your father and mother' means: do not give respect and honor only to yourself, for it will be to your loss; honor your father and mother, through whom you have come into this world, that you may in this way give honor to God, from whom you came, both you and your parents."

          Commenting on the command to 'Love thy neighbor as thyself,' Blessed Theophylact says, "For no one who loves his neighbor as himself is wealthier than his neighbor," calling us to really examine the way in which we use our wealth.

          Commenting on our Lord's words, 'go and sell that thou hast', St. Nikolai interprets it as the Lord saying, "Go and show yourself to be master of your possessions, and not they of you. In reality, your possessions have hold of you, not you of them."

          But there is still even here the temptation to fulfill the works of the law without truly advancing into the Likeness of God.

          Blessed Theophylact warns, "But since there are some who give alms but who lead a life full of every kind of filth, He adds, 'and come and follow Me,; that is, possess every other virtue as well."

           St. John Chrysostom gives advice on how we today can undo the idolatry of worshipping riches saying, "How is it possible for him that is once sunk in such lust of wealth, to recover himself? If he begin to empty himself of his possessions, and cut off what are superfluous."

          He uses a fitting illustration to explain the need to transform our thinking if we are to free ourselves from the delusion of love of riches, saying: "If you have ever had an absurd desire to fly and to be borne through the air, how would you extinguish this unreasonable desire? By fashioning wings, and preparing other instruments, or by convincing the mind that it is desiring things impossible, and that one should attempt none of these things? It is quite plain, that by convincing the mind. But that, you may say, is impossible. But this again is more impossible, to find a limit for this desire. For indeed it is more easy for men to fly, than to make this lust cease by an addition of more."

          May we beg the Lord to deliver us from the delusion of love of riches and pleasures of the world. It is tempting to want both the pleasures of this world and eternal life, but we learn from this account in today's Gospel reading that it is not possible. To gain eternal life, we must begin today in a life-long progression of emptying ourselves as our Lord did out of love for God and our brothers. Then we will be truly rich, beholding the ineffable beauty of the countenance of our God in the divine palace of His glory for all eternity. Amen.

         

Matthew 18:23-35 The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

 

²³ Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. ²⁴ And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. ²⁵ But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. ²⁶ The servant therefore fell down, and worshiped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. ²⁷ Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. ²⁸ But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. ²⁹ And his fellow-servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. ³⁰ And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. ³¹ So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. ³² Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: ³³ Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee? ³⁴ And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. ³⁵ So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

          When we hear this sad parable, we might wonder how it is that our Lord compared this story to the Kingdom of Heaven. It is amazing how our Lord could teach the whole Gospel with each of His illustrations.

          We can we see the importance of the Church and her Life-giving Mysteries clearly taught in this parable.

          We see a man that has a debt of 10,000 talents which symbolize man's many sins, especially the sins that we Christians have incurred from hearing the thousands of Life-giving words read and sung in Church and not putting these talents to good use.

          But fortunately our Loving Lord calls each of us to Himself, requiring a settlement of accounts. He does this knowing that He will forgive our debt on the condition that we repent and begin to use the Life-giving talents in a useful way, imitating the self-sacrificing example of our Lord, Jesus. He gives us the Mysteries of Baptism for those coming to Christ, and Confession, the baptism of tears, for Christians that have fallen into sin.

          Our Lord threatens us with being stripped of our family and being sold to help us see our miserable condition, that of being stripped of the gifts of God, namely the Holy Spirit.

          But as the great St. John Chrysostom says, this was said "to alarm him by this threat, that He might bring him to supplication, not that he should be sold."

          He also wanted to teach man how great a deliverance was bestowed upon him, so that he would become more mild towards his fellow-servants.

          The story, sadly ends with the man going straight from being forgiven his debt to punishing a fellow-servant for not paying an insignificant debt. We learn that it is a great error to believe the heresy of "once saved, always saved." We must struggle against sin the rest of our lives, but we have the Church and Her Mysteries and the Holy angels and Saints as our aid.

          Up until this point, the illustration was about life currently before our death or our Lord's second coming, but at this point it transitions to the time of our death or the Lord's coming.

          We know that at our death, angels and demons will battle over ownership of our soul, and whether we are more Godlike or Devil-like, we will be claimed by one or the other. Our lord will allow the demons to take away those that did not come to repentance and imitate our Lord's mercy to his fellow man.

          And although God is all-knowing, he allows man and the angels the opportunity to pray to God about these problems to help them to practice their love of good and hatred of evil.

          We see that now, God calls the man wicked, whereas before even though he owed him 10,000 talents in sin he didn't call him wicked or reproach him, but showed mercy on him. How important it is to show mercy to our fellow-servants.

          Then we see the terrifying threat of Hell taught by the words, "The Lord delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him." That is forever; for he will never repay.

          May we always turn to the Lord in repentance for our many transgressions, trusting in His great mercy, while imitating such mercy to our fellow man, so that our Lord will grant us passage to the heavenly Kingdom, the Church Triumphant. Amen.

Next Divine Liturgy will be September 5/6 2020

We will be having Vespers and Divine Liturgy at our house on September 5/6. Fr. David Companik and his family will be visiting from St. Jonah's in Spring, TX. We will have Vespers at 5:00 p.m. Saturday, September 5 and Hours and Divine Liturgy at 9:00 a.m. Sunday, September 6. 

All are welcome to come, and if you are not Orthodox, but would like to experience a service, you are more than welcome to visit. Fr. David is a very kind, knowledgeable man that would love to answer any questions or give advice. 

In Christ,

Gregory Solis

The miraculous healing of the blind men (Matthew 9:27-35)

            We see in this reading how men of all conditions come to our Lord and how our Lord treats individually each person according to his ailment. There is not a one size fits all remedy to the various diseases and severity of these diseases that our Loving Physician applies to all mankind.

            We see in the case with the blind men that had been instructed in the old Law of Moses and knew Jesus to be the Messiah, Son of David, our Lord helps them to come to a fuller understanding of the deep truths of Theology about Who He really was.

            He asks them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? to teach them about His Divinity. He was bringing them further to the Truth by showing that He had no need to ask God for the miracle to occur, but that He was their Lord that governs the world and all therein.

            Responding correctly to our Lord's instruction, the blind men responded, Yea, Lord. They showed their eagerness to grow in their knowledge of God as true sons of God, hungering and thirsting after God.

            Next our Lord states that it was according to their faith that He was willing to heal their blindness. Our Lord was teaching us that His love toward man has a kind of proportion, depending on the faith of them that are healed.

            He also is teaching us about the synergy necessary for our healing. We are participators in our healing, just like patients that work with their physical therapists.

            This miraculous healing of the blind men can be symbolically interpreted for all mankind that is spiritually blind. As St. Gregory Palamas says, "The Lord's principal reason for coming to earth was not to open men's physical eyes, but the eyes of their souls, which receive their sight through the preaching of the gospel."

            Then next a mute man possessed with a devil is brought to our Lord. Our Lord asks nothing of this man, knowing that in his severely sick state, he was capable of contributing very little. Our Lord Jesus quickly casts out the demon and gives the man speech, enabling him to advance in healing so as to eventually reach full recovery.

            Then we are given the example of the sickest of all men, the Pharisees that rejected our Lord Jesus. They were the ones truly blind in the most serious sense.

            As St. Nikolai Velimirovich says, "The blind saw, and beheld Him; the deaf heard, and listened to Him; the mad came to themselves, and knew Him; the dumb spoke, and confessed Him, but the wise men of this world, with minds clouded by the wisdom of earthlings and hearts ossified by vanity and envy, were unable to see, hear, know or confess the Son of God, for the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God."

            And finally we are told of Christ going into all places, cities and villages, He was not a respecter of class as many of us are. He performed three things everywhere, 1. He taught by interpreting the Old Creation and the Old Law. 2. He preached the gospel of the kingdom, laying the foundations of the New Creation, the Kingdom of God, the Church of the Saints. 3. He healed diseases to give testimony to His teaching and preaching by His miraculous acts.

            May we come to Christ in our infirmities willing to work alongside our Lord for our healing. So that on the last day we may hear from our God about our deliverance from sin and the devil, According to your faith be it unto you!

The healing of the Paralytic in Capernaum - Matthew 9:1-8

    As we read the account of the paralytic, we might wonder why it was that Jesus forgave the man his sins when it appears that he was brought to Jesus to be healed of his sickness. Was Jesus trying to indicate a connection between the man's sin and his disease? Or was he merely trying to emphasize the need for us to recognize that beyond our physical life, we have a spiritual life that is more important and that it must be free of sin to be healthy?

    St. Nikolai Velimirovich says, “The soul can be healed in no other way than by the forgiving of its sins. When its sins are forgiven, the soul is healthy, and to a healthy soul it is easy to give a healthy body. Sin is virtually always the cause of sickness, both of soul and body.

    St. Cyril of Alexandria says, “As God is good, and wills that all men should be saved, He often purifies those who are entangled in sins by inflicting sickness upon their body. He says by the voice of Jeremiah, "Thou shalt be taught, O Jerusalem, by labor and the scourge." And the book of Proverbs also says, "My son, despise not thou the teaching of the Lord, nor faint when thou art convicted by Him, for whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He accepteth." Christ announces that He will cut away the cause of the disease, and the very root of the malady, even sin: for if this be removed, necessarily must the disease which sprung from it be also at the same time taken away."

    In forgiving the man his sins, our Lord is saying "I must heal your soul before I heal your body: for if this is not done, by obtaining strength to walk, you will only sin more: and even though you have not asked for this, yet I as God see the maladies of the soul, which brought upon you this disease." (St. Cyril)

    We can also view the account as symbolically representing our need to come to Christ for spiritual healing. We learn that the paralyzed man was brought by four friends in the parallel accounts. The paralyzed man represents the soul that turns back to the Lord and is brought to Him by these four things: self-condemnation, confession of sins, the promise to renounce evil, and prayer to God." (Gregory Palamas)

    When we fall down before Christ with faith, our paralyzed mind immediately hears Him saying 'Son', and receives forgiveness and healing. In addition, it receives strength to lift up and carry the flesh, which is represented by the bed. Before, the mind clung to the body and pursued fleshly desires, and through it applied itself to sinful actions. After being healed, our mind has our body under control and leads and carries it about. (Gregory Palamas)

    St. Gregory Palamas said, “It was love of human honor that distanced the Pharisees from faith in the Lord. Others were prevented from drawing near by lands, weddings, or worries about the affairs of this life, but the paralyzed man's physical weakness put an end to such things and removed them from his thoughts. There are times when illness is better for sinners than good health, because it helps them towards salvation and blunts their inborn evil impulses. Inasmuch as it repays the debt of sins by means of suffering, it makes them able to receive healing of their souls in the first instance, then healing of their bodies. This happens most of all when the sick person, understanding that the affliction is a remedy from God, bears it courageously, falls down before God with faith and asks for forgiveness, through whatever works he can manage.”

    "'O come', brethren, 'let us', too 'worship and fall down and weep', as David himself urges us, 'before the Lord that made us', who has called us to repentance and to this saving sorrow, mourning and contrition...But even if someone could say that he had his passions under control, the Scriptures show us another basic reason for this sorrow that saves us. The disciples grieved when they lost Christ, their good Teacher and Savior, and we too are deprived of Him now, and not just of Him, but of the joy of Paradise. (Gregory Palamas)

    Blessed Theophylact explains what Jesus meant when He asked, "For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?": "He rebukes them by saying, 'You think that I am blaspheming by promising to forgive sins, which is a great thing, and that I resort to this because it is something which cannot be verified. But by healing the body, I shall guarantee that the soul has been healed as well. By doing the lesser deed, though it appears to be more difficult, I shall also confirm the remission of sins, which is indeed something great even though it appears easier to you since it is not visible to the eye.'"

    Another important point in this reading is the fact that Jesus showed the wicked scribes and Pharisees that he could read their thoughts saying, "And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?"

    If you, therefore, O Pharisee, you say, who can forgive sins but One, God; I will also say to you, Who can know hearts, and see the thoughts hidden in the depth of the understanding, but God only?

    Christ, knowing their inner thoughts, revealed the evil in their corrupt hearts. It was an astonishing revelation, revealing even more than the miracles of the healings that Christ is the true God. (Augoustinos)

    It is said that an evil woman tried to tempt an ascetic to sin with her. The ascetic pretended to consent. But he proposed that they sin at noontime in the square of the city. "No!" said the woman, 'we can't do that.' Why not?' asked the ascetic. 'Because people will see us.' But, woman, wherever we go, even if we shut ourselves up in the darkest cave, God sees us. We're ashamed to be seen by people, yet we are not ashamed to be seen by God?' The sinful woman repented and was saved. She was saved by these words of the ascetic. There is, in spite of what the atheists say, an eye that sees everything, an ear that hears everything, and a hand that writes everything down. It is Christ Who sees, hears, and knows everything. And one day He will judge the world. (Augoustinos)

    Also notice that He did not say "Wherefore think ye evil in your minds," but "in your hearts", signifying that their thinking was bound up with bitterness and hatred. They were not listening to Christ either as believers or as objective questioners, but as spies and persecutors. Had they been open to learning like the centurion at the crucifixion, they would have recognized Jesus as God.

    May we come to Christ in repentance for our sins so that He will willingly forgive us and heal us in both soul and body. Amen.

The Sons of God - 1 John 3:1-9

            Do we really know what we are awaiting when either we die and come before the judgment seat of Christ, or when He returns and brings judgment on the whole world?

Have we learned what it means to become sons of God as mentioned in our reading? Or have we perhaps fallen for false teachings about life in Heaven, false understandings that originate in a longing to continue in our passions and sins, simply without end or without pain?

It is unfortunate that we have many in the Church, including clerics, that have developed a secular view of Christianity. They are driven by comforts and avoidance of suffering in their decisions and way of life, even at the cost of transgressing God's commands.

Sadly many heterodox do not believe that as Christians we have commandments any longer, and some even go as far as to say that it is acceptable for us to sin as long as we continue to have "faith" that we will one day be freed from our sins, not repenting for such sins. These protestant ideas influence members of the Orthodox Church.

Things have not changed very much since the times of the early Church in the first century. St. John was writing to the Churches to stand guard against heresies that were influencing the faithful with ideas from Gnostics that promoted the freedom to continue in sin even after becoming members of the Church, the Body of Christ. 

He had to make it very clear that it is by our will and works aided by God's grace that we maintain our status as sons of God. It is not as simple as being baptized that makes one a child of God. We could unknowingly revert back to being sons of the devil if we continue to sin.

We must really contemplate this passage from St. John's epistle and ask what does it mean to be unknown by the world. Abba Isaiah of Scetis explains that this world is where sin is trained, unnatural acts are carried out, the will of the flesh is accomplished, the body, and not the soul, is cared for, and where worldly men think they will remain to boast in all of this.

We cannot live this way as Christians, and those that do, need to revaluate their promises made at their baptisms to renounce the devil and his ways. 

St. Maximus explains why it is that Christians continue to sin even after being baptized. He says, "What is lacking, therefore, in each of us who is still able to sin, is the unequivocal desire to surrender our whole selves, in the disposition of our will, to the Spirit."

Part of the reason that we cannot let go of the pleasures of the world is that we have been deceived by the devil into thinking that these pleasures cannot be compared with anything that living a pious Christian life can offer. We fail to see both the joy that God offers to those that become children of God, here and in Heaven, and also fail to see the death-dealing pain that comes with the transient pleasures of this world. 

God has not fully revealed what heavenly life will be like because, in His Providence, He knows that it is for our own benefit that we develop a greater longing and trust in Him who desires only our eternal salvation and well-being. Yet we are able to understand aspects of heavenly life by what God has revealed to us, and we are wise to often contemplate these things.

We can read about our Lord after His resurrection and marvel at His ability to appear wherever He needed to and ascend bodily into the Heavens. We long to be united with the Holy Trinity and one another in ways that we cannot now comprehend. St. John tells us that we will be like Christ and will be given clear vision of God, communion as gods in God.

It takes great courage however to resist the devil's wiles especially if we have been enslaved to them for a long period of time. But we must be aware of our eternal state, whether we will be in pain now for a short while, or for all eternity.

We do not have to do this alone, we actually are not capable of doing so. We have the Creator of all things as our aid. He longs to deify us and enable us to do His works. Abba Isaiah tells us how to respond to sin saying, "Do not be silent! Our enemy pursues us at all times, seeking to capture our souls, but our Lord Jesus is with us, rebuking him through His holy words, if we observe them, for how can one make an obstacle to hinder the enemy except with the words which God has said against him? They oppose and crush him without anyone's knowledge."

As the Church goes through this time of trial where Bishops are demanding that Churches be closed and that we must bow down to cultural norms that blaspheme or loving Lord Jesus Christ, we need to boldly speak out and do what we can to not allow the comfort of fitting into the world beguile us into thinking that everything is okay.

We know that to remain children of God, we must follow the commandments of God and partake of the Holy Mysteries given to the Church for our spiritual nourishment, without which we will perish. If the world persecutes or even kills us, we should be comforted because we would only be following in our Lord's footsteps.

At our death, we will be inspected by the wicked demons who will look for signs of us being children of the devil. May we be found worthy to declare boldly to them, "The world knoweth me not, because it knew Christ not."