Matthew 8:28-9:1 The freeing of the demoniacs

    In today’s gospel reading we learn a few things about the demons and the final judgment, but we also can learn some spiritual lessons that apply to each one of us.

    First, we see that demons have the ability to possess men, making their victims worse than dead men. For at least the dead have their souls in the hands of God, while those possessed by demons have their souls and bodies enslaved by the demons. The healing of these possessed men is actually much greater than the miracles of Christ raising the dead.

    We also learn that the demons are very strong and dangerous and desire the physical and spiritual death of all mankind. We learn from the parallel accounts in Mark and Luke that these demons caused the possessed men to cut themselves with rocks and caused them to strip themselves of clothing and dwell in the cemetery. They were able to beak the chains that were put on them by those that tried to restrain them and they forced those that lived nearby to avoid them out of fear for their lives.

    They chose to live in the cemetery to trick the people into believing that the souls of the dead became demons, causing great confusion and leading people into sorcery.

    By their action of destroying the multitude of swine, we see that they would quickly destroy all of mankind if they were given the ability to do so by God. We also see that even when they were cast out of these men, they desired to bring further misfortune to men by destroying the costly multitude of swine, with the desire that the pig herders curse God for this great financial loss.

    Next, we learn about the great judgment and the torments of Hell. The demons immediately felt the torment that awaits them when our Lord confronted them, like the bright sun to weak eyes. They knew that they had a little while to continue in their filth and were grieved when it seemed that maybe the time had come for them to be cast into hell and to be deprived of tormenting man any longer. They, like many men confronted with death, out of torment and despair, tried to appeal to our Lord’s mercy by calling on Him as the Son of God.

    We should learn from the demons who are aware of the torment to come, that this torment also awaits sinful men in no less measure. Unlike the demons, we have the choice to turn from our wicked ways and to be spared the torment prepared for the demons.

    Lastly, we can speak about the spiritual lessons that apply to each of us. By God allowing the demons to enter into the swine, we learn that the demons desire to enter into those that are swine-like in their uncleanness and glutenous behavior. Our Lord wants to teach us how quickly we go to destruction, like the herd of swine, when we do not practice patience and fasting and do not strive to lead a pure life.

    These demoniacs spiritually represent men addicted to all kinds of vices. Like the demoniacs that went about naked, these men, although clothed in garments, are deprived of the true covering, the glory of the image of God. And as they cut themselves with stones, these sinful men cut themselves with their sins. And as they haunted the tombs, these men cannot break free from frequenting places of sin which are more full of death than any cemetery.

    And as they were able to break free from all types of restraints, these sinful men also do not listen to threats or counsel that would restrain their wickedness and free them from their sin.

    And we also are very much like the city that saw the great works of our Lord and asked that He depart from us. We are given so many miracles and promises of spiritual healing in the Church and yet we still would rather enjoy the pleasures of this fallen world than take the narrow path to salvation that requires of us a stricter way of life. We would prefer the multitude of swine over being in our right mind.

    It is not possible for us to be cured of these sicknesses on our own. So let us beg our Lord to give us the strength to turn from our passions and to follow after Christ, and like the freed demoniac, share with all the great things that our Lord has done for us, to Whom be the glory together with the Father and the Holy Spirit now and ever and unto the ages of ages, Amen.

Sunday of All Saints (Matthew 10:32,33, 37, 39; 19:27-30)

    This life is a test. God, in His wisdom has willed that we be born into this world that has the plagues of sin and death. Just as we learned the reason why the blind man that was healed by our Lord was born that way; we too are born spiritually blind so that the works of God can be made manifest in us. Only by not having that which we easily threw away, will we be able to appreciate and never again forsake. Being born in death and darkness, our Lord has shown us the Light and has breathed Life into us through the Church and Her Saints. But unfortunately, we prefer the darkness and prefer death with her pleasures than Life with her commandments.

     Thanks be to God, God is patient with us and slowly we continue to be enlightened and to let go of the deception that Satan has instilled in us. Our life is a steady progress toward humility and full dependence on God and letting go of our ego and self-reliance. And we see in today’s Gospel reading the goal toward which we are aiming. At the final judgment we will either be confessed by our Lord Jesus to the Father, or we will be denied by Him. Will we have our spiritual eyes open then and confess God as our only means of Life and view all other things that contradict that view as something to be detested, whether it come from a friend or foe?

    We would never take seriously someone who insisted that we do not need oxygen to live and asked us to enter into a place void of oxygen. We know better; we know that only by breathing are we able to live. Likewise, we should never deny Christ as our God and should clearly confess Him as our source of Life.

    Saint Gregory Palamas said the following about the great superiority of God’s recompense to those who confessed Him: "Each saint, as a servant of God, boldly acknowledged Him in this fleeting life before mortal men, though actually just for a brief period of this present age and in front of only a few. By contrast, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God and Lord of heaven and earth, will speak openly on their behalf in that eternal, never-ending world before God the Father, surrounded by angels, archangels and all the heavenly host, and in the presence of all mankind from Adam onwards. For all will rise and appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Then, before everyone and in the sight of all, He will proclaim, glorify and crown those who demonstrated their faith in Him to the end."

    And in case we misunderstand the call to love God more than our family as some kind of command to hate them for no reason, our Lord makes clear that we are to also put the love of God above our love for ourselves saying, “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.” The message is clear that anything contrary to God is to be rejected and that only by enduring the persecution that comes with following Christ are we worthy of Him confessing us before His Father.

    As we celebrate the numerous Saints, many of which we don’t even know of because of their humble manner of lives, may we show them the greatest honor “by imitating them and purifying ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, and hastening towards holiness through abstaining from all evils.” (St. Gregory Palamas)

    Liturgically we have just gone through the Life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of our Lord, and His sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Now the Church shows us the many fruits that have been harvested for eternal life by the coming of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.

    As St. Nikolai Velimirovich describes them, “They are alive and powerful, and close to God. And they are also close to us. They constantly observe the life of God’s Church on earth; they vigilantly accompany us from our birth to our death; they hear our pleas, know our troubles and help us with their strength and their prayers, which, like the smoke from incense, rise through the angelic heights to the throne of God.”

John 5:1-16 The Miracle at Bethesda

    When we read the account of the man healed at Bethesda, a few questions may come to mind. First, we hear of an angel that would periodically come and trouble the water of a pool and whoever was first to enter the pool would be healed of whatever infirmity they had. It may be hard to understand what God purposed by only allowing one person to be healed at a time. Let’s look at a few reasons why in God’s Providence this was allowed up until the time of Christ’s great Salvific work, which was typified in his healing of the man that was infirm for 38 years by His words alone.

    First, we can see the Law of Moses symbolized by the few that were healed, because it was only a small group of mankind that was given the salvific communion with God through the Jewish Law. Only these were given the opportunity to be healed of their diseases of idolatry and enslavement to sin. God intended to eventually offer Salvation to all mankind, but it began with a limited group. God rewarded the faithfulness of the Patriarchs by revealing Himself to them and allowing their line to be the line through which our Lord would enter the human race and bring salvation to all mankind. But at that time, the majority of mankind was not able to healed of their spiritual infirmities. St. Theophylact says, “In former times infirmity prevented many from being healed in the waters of the pool, and only one was made whole. But now, what hinders any man from being baptized? If the whole world approached at once for Baptism, its grace would not be diminished.”

    Another lesson that can be learned by only one person being healed at a time is that obviously the most infirm would never be able to be first to enter the pool and therefore they never would be healed. This helps us to see that before Christ, it was impossible to be healed of our infirmities caused by sin, and to restore our relationship with God. The few that were healed could be thought of like the rare exceptions of men that restored their relationship with God and abandoned sin even before the Incarnation, like Enoch and Elijah who were judged worthy of being taken by God alive. The majority of man however have sinned against God in such great ways that we are not worthy of God but rather have voluntarily become sons of the devil. We, being held captive by sin and the devil, needed a savior to enter into death and to free all those held captive there. Only by becoming members of the Body of Christ are we given the Holy Spirit who is able to give us the power to overcome sin and grow in righteousness. We must recognize our inability to be healed by our own power alone and beg God to have mercy on us. But for Him to heal us, we must confess our sins and repent of our former way of life.

    One more lesson we can learn from there only being one person healed at a time is the need to struggle for salvation. It was only the person who quickly responded once the water was disturbed that was able to benefit from the gift of God. As St. Paul says to the Corinthians, “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receives the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.” (1 Cor. 9:24) God does not want us to be idle in our lives as Christians, depending entirely on Him to accomplish Good in us and in the world. He requires our participation and expects us to bring healing to the world by being His representatives who imitate Jesus’ perfect example. We are called to pick up our Cross and follow Him, dying to our old sinful way of life. How dangerous it is to believe the heresies of Calvin and others that taught that we are all predestined to be either the elect of God or condemned to Hell for our sins, that we contribute nothing to the result. The demons have infiltrated even those that claim to be followers of God and have confused millions of people, causing them to remain idle in the race for Salvation.

    Another question that arises from reading this passage is, ‘why does Jesus ask the man if he would like to be made whole?’ It clearly states that Jesus knew that he had been in this state of infirmity for a long time, and we also know that Jesus is fully God, and therefore knows all things. So why did he ask him a question that he knew the answer to and that quite frankly seems somewhat obvious to even us who have limited knowledge? We see that this man had great perseverance and never despaired of being healed by his continuing to come to the pool hoping that one day a man would help him to be put into the pool. The Lord in asking a question that many would respond to in frustration or anger, wanted to display the patience and meekness of the man worthy of Jesus’ healing. Just as He had asked for faith from those that had seen Him perform miracles before he would heal them, here He displays the virtues of the man that He is about to heal. The man answers gently and humbly, he does not blaspheme, he does not rebuke Christ for asking a dumb question, he does not curse the day of his birth. He responds this way without even knowing to whom he is speaking, but simply wanted help from Jesus to be put into the water. He endured this for 38 years and did not despair, but we suffering minor afflictions curse God and turn against Him.

    After the man is healed, our Lord tells the man, “Thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.” From this we learn that this man’s infirmity was a result of his sins, much like most infirmities of man. When we suffer, we should seek the cause of the suffering in ourselves. “We should remember all of our sins from childhood onwards; remembering them with the fear of God and with the expectation of suffering for our sins.” (St. Nikolai Velimirovich) St. Nikolai Velimirovich says, “Blessed is the man who uses his sufferings, knowing that all suffering in this brief life is loosed on men by God in His love for mankind, for the benefit and assistance of men. In His mercy, God looses suffering on men because of their sins – by His mercy and not His justice. In place of death, God gives healing through suffering. Suffering is God’s way of healing the soul of its sinful leprosy and its death. Only the foolish think that suffering is evil. Only sin in a man is a real evil, and there is no evil outside sin.”

    May we recognize our sins and when suffering exclaim the last words of our Father amongst the Saints, St. John Chrysostom, when he was dying in exile, tormented and despised by men, “Glory to God for everything!” Amen.

On the Paralyzed man in Capernaum

 

Excerpts from St. Gregory Palamas' homily on the Gospel reading for the second Sunday of Holy Lent on the Paralyzed man in Capernaum:

"It was love of human honor that distanced the Pharisees from faith in the Lord, which is why He said to them, “How can ye believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only?” (John 5:44). Others were prevented from drawing near by lands, weddings, or worries about the affairs of this life (Luke 14:18–20), 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. This was shown by the paralyzed man who did what he could, and proved by the Lord's own words and actions. The Pharisees, however, were incapable of comprehending, and blasphemed and murmured among themselves (Mark 2:6–7). “When Jesus”, it says, “saw their faith”, the faith, that is, of the bed-ridden man who had been lowered, and of those who had let him down from the roof, “he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee” (Mark 2:5).

What a blessed way to be addressed! He hears himself called “son” and is adopted as the child of the heavenly Father. He is joined to God who is without sin, having immediately become sinless himself through the forgiveness of his sins. In order that his body can subsequently be renewed, his soul first receives deliverance from sin from the Lord, who knows that in the beginning when the soul fell into the snares of sin, physical illness and death followed, in accordance with His righteous judgment.

They said that they had never seen anything like this, glorifying God by their words and showing that this miracle was greater than any previous ones. But we are unable to say the same now, for we have seen many much greater miracles performed not only by Christ but also by His disciples and their successors, just by calling upon Christ's name. Let us then, brethren, glorify Him now by our actions, regarding this miracle anagogically as a pattern for virtue. Anyone addicted to sensual pleasures is paralyzed in his soul, and is lying sick on the bed of voluptuousness with its deceptive bodily ease. Once, however, he has been won over by the exhortations in the Gospel, he confesses his sins and triumphs over them and the paralysis they have brought upon his soul. He is taken up and brought to the Lord by these four: self-condemnation, confession of former sins, promising to renounce evil ways from now on, and prayer to God. They cannot, however, bring him near to God without uncovering the roof, scattering the tiles, earth and other building material. Our roof is the reasoning part of the soul, which is set above everything else within us. But it has lying on top of it, like a large quantity of building material, its connection with the passions and earthly matters. Once this connection has been loosed and shaken off by means of the four things we have mentioned, then we can really be let down, that is, humbled, fall down before the Lord, draw near to Him and ask and receive His healing.

When did these acts of repentance take place? At the time when Jesus came to His own city, which means, after He came in the flesh to stay in the world which He created and is therefore His own. As the evangelist says of Him, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:11–12). So when we fall down before Him with such 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 bed on which it is lying. The bed is to be understood as the body to which the mind which pursues fleshly desires clings, and through which it applies itself to sinful actions. After being healed, our mind has our body under control and leads and carries it about."

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.