By His Eminence
Panteleimon, Archbishop of Antinoes
Man
is by nature a social being. He lives, moves, acts and develops within a
society of human beings. Right from the beginning of Creation, God Himself
noticed, that “is not good for man to be alone upon the earth”, and thus He
forms the woman taken out from one of Adam’s ribs, fulfilled the missing flesh
and thus presented Eve to Adam, to be a helpmate for him. In other words, God
Himself created and then blessed the society of man. Our ancestors, the Greek philosophers, said: “A man, who does not
live with other fellow men, either has to be a god or crazy”.
The
Triune God is social, because He is Three: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is
One in His Essence, but Three in His Hypostases or Persons. (Hypostasis means
the way of existence). Among the Three Persons an absolute and perfect
harmonious relationship exists. None of the created things in the whole
Universe, either visible or invisible, knows that which is of the Father, but
only the Son; and no one knows that which is of the Son except of the Father.
The Holy Spirit searches the depths of the Father’s Essence.
The Love of the Three Persons is
mutual and it is expressed towards the world, especially towards man. Love is from
God, and anyone who loves his neighbor is from God and knows God. He who does
not have love, does not know God, because God is Love (1 John 4:7-8). He, who
struggles to remain in the love towards his fellow man, partakes of the love of
God and God dwells in the heart of that person who has love. For this reason,
if God has loved us so much, we also must love one another in a similar manner
(1st John 4:11).
Love
is the connection link in our relationships with our fellow man. The question
of today’s Gospel reading is: Do we love correctly? Is our love that love which
God demands from us, pure and unconditional? Is our love distinguished from the
worldly love?
If,
e.g., we do not surpass the boundaries of our daily life, if we do not overcome
our weaknesses, then in what our Christian love differs from anything
else? If we love only those who love us,
what Grace have we received from God? How can the Divine Act and Power of the
Holy Spirit be distinguished in the inner change of your character? When one is
baptized in Christ, he receives the Grace of God. Man becomes a new creation,
he is reborn. Although, man receives this Divine Gift from the moment of his
baptism, yet, if he does not activate the Grace of God within his life, then,
it remains inactive and profits him nothing.
Man
who does not love unconditionally all his fellow man proves one thing, that he
hasn’t known God. Sinners love sinners, because they look forward to benefit
something.
Similarly,
when we do good deeds towards our fellow man, we must never think of receiving
something in exchange. We must not give presents, knowing that in the near
future we will ask for another favor. We
must not give gifts to someone, who in a high position, in order to achieve for
ourselves a special position in our work. These acts are not in good terms with
God.
An
Orthodox Christian does not perform good deeds in order to satisfy worldly
satisfaction, but, on the contrary, he does good deeds out of love towards his
fellow man and towards God. He helps those who are unable to return his good
deeds. If you have plenty of food, feed the poor and fill those who hunger. If
you have more than enough clothes, vest those who cannot afford to buy new
clothing. Open your wardrobes and you will see how many unnecessary clothing
you have; and, yet, you can feed and vest Christ Himself through your fellow
man.
Why
do we fill our wardrobes with so many clothing, which, at the end, will become
food for the woodworm? Why do we struggle to have greater bank accounts and we
find it difficult to assist those families who truly need our assistance? Some
people spend millions at the casino, playing cards, throwing dices, and wasting
their precious time in gambling hoping to become more and more rich; and, yet,
when you ask them to support those in need, then, they do not have anything to
spear, their faces become bitter and they find many excuses in order not to
help.
But,
my beloved friends, you must know, that he who helps the poor is lending to
God. His acts of good deeds will follow him in the afterlife, and on the Day of
Judgment, they will stand up for him before the Righteous Judge, Who will judge
the living and the dead.
Our
Christian love must be as the sun and the rain. For God rises the sun and sends
the rain, not only for the just, but for every man on the face of the earth,
even to those who oppose His Will. Similarly, the faithful Orthodox Christian
loves not only those who love him, but even those who hate him. He loves those
who harmed him, those who envy him, those who persecuted him and those who work
evil against him in a daily basis. As our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ forgave
those who crucified Him, when He was on the Cross, at the moment when He felt
the outmost pain; likewise, we must also forgive all those who have done wrong
to us.
Our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through the daily Gospel reading gave us His
Teachings and showed us the Way of Life in which we should follow. As we want
others to do good to us, we must also do the same to them. As disciples of
Christ, we must become imitators of God in His Love. Only, when we surpass the
boundaries of natural human love, we will be able to partake in the Divine
Love, which does not know boundaries, prerequisites and interests. Then, and only
then, we will be children of God, Whose Divine Grace I humbly pray to be
bestowed upon all of you. Amen.
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