Help To The Weak
My beloved in the Lord:
If faith is genuine, it expresses itself through works. To believe in Christ involves “faith working through love” writes Saint Paul in Galatians 5:6. Saint Paul throughout his letters exhorts Christians to show high moral conduct worthy of the Lord. In the Gospels the Lord praises the “doers” rather than merely the “hearers” of His words. Think for a moment about the Parable of the Talents. The Master had given various talents to His servants and expected that they would increase them. In interpreting this parable Saint John Chrysostom comments that God has given us speech, hands, feet, strength of body and mind, and many other gifts, that we might use all these things both for our salvation and for the benefit of others.
One cannot expect God’s blessings without true obedience. The Lord accepts us as we are when we come to Him by faith and repentance. Christ establishes a saving relationship with us by a free act of grace. However, the Lord then requires relinquishing of our inner control to Him, a profound renunciation of our autonomous and rebellious self, that He may live His life in us and through us in all areas of existences. True renunciation is not merely sacrificing certain things but sacrificing self as such for the love of the Lord. We can conceivably do the very same things in our marriage, family, job, recreation and so forth, as before, but now from the perspective of Christ, with His Spirit, and for His glory. Thus, everything is transformed by a new light. Everything acquires a new grace. Everything becomes true life.
A special area where faith works with love is in serving the weak and the needy. Saint Pal writes, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). By “law” Saint Paul refers to the example of sacrificial love set by the Lord. Christ’s entire life centered on complete obedience to His Father and in selfless service to others. The Lord did not come to be served but to serve. Before His arrest and trial, the Lord washed His disciples’ feet to give them an example of serving one another. In the anguish of Gethsemane, the Lord remained faithful and obedient to God’s will. The Lord gave His life on the Cross for our forgiveness and redemption. “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. . .He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:4-5; Matthew 8:17).
Praying that the abundant blessings of Almighty God and the prayers of the Holy Theotokos be with you and all your loved ones, I humbly remain
With paternal love and blessings in Lord,
Father Panagiotis