Don’t Be Shocked!

As we continue our Triodion journey of preparing our mindset for Great Lent, the Church offers to us, Judgment Sunday. Today’s Gospel lesson, one of the more popular social justice lessons from the Holy Scriptures, reminds us that judgment is coming to everyone. That much we can all agree on, but what happens after the judgment might be another story.

In the Gospel for today found in Matthew 25.31-46, we hear about the moment God will judge us. Sometimes we like to focus on the works listed in the reading; we must feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, and visit the sick and those in prison. On the surface we are tempted to limit our focus on the actions of those in the story, but we ignore the result.

When God welcomed the sheep, those who had lived according to God’s will, into heaven, they were amazed saying, “Lord, when did we see You…?” In other words, they didn’t realize they were even doing what God wanted them to do in their life. They were confused to find themselves in heaven as if to say, “What do you mean God? We never helped You. What did we do that gave us the great gift of heaven?”

On the other hand, the goats were equally confused when they found themselves condemned to hell. “What do you mean we didn’t get into heaven Lord? When did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You? There must be some mistake!” (adapted from Matthew 25.44)

We all walk the journey of life with our own image of what heaven will look like, and how God will judge. If we allow the Church, which has been guided into all truth by the Holy Spirit, to open our eyes, we might be surprised what is waiting for us. We might be surprised to find out that Heaven isn’t about us at all, but about God. We might find out that Heaven is not so much a place that we earn entrance into by doing good things, but a way of experiencing God’s love. 

The life that God is calling us to, isn’t a life of social justice, but a life of divine love. Social justice is a natural consequence when we love, but must never be our purpose. If we think merely helping the poor in some sort of obligatory fashion is what God desires, then we will find ourselves just as shocked as the goats in today’s Gospel lesson.

Washing, Watching and Watchfulness

On the grounds of the Great Church of Christ, Agia Sophia in Constantinople, there historically was a water fountain that had an inscription on it, Νίψον ἀνομήματα, μὴ μόναν ὄψιν. This fountain is no longer there, but the meaning remains. It is a very interesting statement because if you write it backwards in Greek, the words are the same and the meaning also remains the same: Wash your sins, not only your face. This is what is known as a Palindrome, which is a word, phrase, or sequence that reads the same backward as forward. This delightfully palindromic phrase is attributed to St. Gregory of Nazianzus, whether or not this is true it is very believable that a such brilliant Church Father, and a Cappadocian, would coin such a saying.

The word νίψις and νῆψις are similar words, but not the same although they sound the same. They are what we would call in English, homonyms. In the Christian life, we are called to go from one to the other. We are called to go from word νίψις to νῆψις. We are called to wash ourselves spiritually through the Sacraments of the Church, in order to become watchful or sober. In the Sacraments of the Church, the drunkenness of sin is washed away. But through prayer, we remain watchful and sober. Luke 21:36, the last verse from Saturday’s Gospel Reading, and 1 Peter 5:8 contain teachings and words that are similar but not the same but the meanings compliments each other. 1 Peter 5:8 instructs us to be “… alert and of a watchful mind….” And it warns us that our “… enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Luke 21:36 compliments this and tells us to “… Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass.”

The devil, like a prowling lion, will always create problems for us in our lives, temptations and difficulties but we will escape all of those things by washing ourselves spiritually in the Lifegiving Water fountain which are the Sacraments of the Church. And then, continuously strengthened by being continuously washed by the Lifegiving Divine Grace we receive in those same Sacraments, we must do our utmost to watch and remain watchful or sober minded so that we will not continue to fall but will escape all of the temptations that will come to pass.

Fr. Simeon Pardalis

Memorials

Sunday - March 7

Vasiliki Fournarakis - 40 days 

 All ministries wishing to sign up and host the Coffee Hour, please contact Chris Palaidis at 727-808-3895, once the hall reopens.

St. Nicholas Kitchen will continue preparing the Monday meals from 7:30 – 11:00 am. The meals will be delivered to the new Hope Center at the Sheppard center where the meals will be given to those in need by their and our volunteers. We will still need volunteers, food and monetary donations. Meals will be served from 11:00 – 12:00 pm. For further information, please call Chris Palaidis at (727) 808-3895.  

MAKE AN OFFERING OF OIL - Following the ancient tradition of the Temple as commanded by God, Orthodox Christians bring an offering of olive oil to be continually burned in the Church lamps, serving as a reminder of the presence of the Light of God. We invite anyone to make an offering of oil to the Church along with the names of loved ones & friends who are alive in the Lord, or alive with us on Earth, so that we may pray for you, your family and friends.

  *THE DEADLINE IS MONDAY 5PM FOR ALL BULLETIN INFORMATION*

 Memorial & Artoklasia Service Planning