Love and Forgive One Another - Br, Justin Varghese by St. Luke Orthodox Mission Church

Partake in Christ Suffering (1 Peter 4: 12-19) - Rev. Fr. Gheevarghese John by St. Luke Orthodox Mission Church

Giving a defense of what we believe is not something that most of us are comfortable with. In fact, it’s the one thing that most of us don’t like doing or will not do in terms of our Orthodox Christian faith. Personally, I have to tell you that I am not comfortable with defending my faith when questions arise or when I find myself in a situation where I have to reply to someone else’s idea of faith or religion. But I can also say that I have gotten better at it. I mention this because I want to make the point that this is not something that unique to laypeople, it is also true for clergy.

We are gathered together today: the first Sunday after the Ascension of our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ. We are met with the words of the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians in chapters 7 and 9. In chapter 7: 1-2, St. Paul talks about how a man and a woman should have a spouse, albeit because otherwise we might fall into sexual immorality. In chapter 7: 25-34, he talks about those who are married and unmarried. He also talks explicitly about how the unmarried can focus on God; and how the married must focus on their spouse. In chapter 9: 1-10, he mentions that he and Barnabas are not married but that the other apostles are. The content of chapter 7 and 9 are being read today, partial because it is the Sunday of Monks, but also because the Church is attempting to explain the three "journeys" that we all have in life; that is, either we are single, or we are living a celibate life (unmarried), or we are married. These are NO three different paths or roads, but a "journey" that an individual takes on the same road. The Scriptures do not point to singlehood, celibacy, or married-life as being different roads that we take that are isolated from each other; instead, it is the same road that each one has chosen to take. Although the path or road is the same, the journey has different struggles and experiences. Let me explain this a little bit further.

One thing in this life that will be constant is being treated contemptuously for doing the Will of God. In whatever way it shows itself, it is relatively hard to find a supportive group, outside of the Church, that wishes to live according to the Gospels. Often, those who influence our lives push us towards a life that is in direct contrast to a life according to the Scriptures. We may have friends or even family members who either question, mock or even ostracize us when we wish to live a good Christ life. We may not be physically attacked, but very often, our resolve to do the good which is asked of us shatters because of the influence of friends and family. The number one way this happens is when we are left out of certain circles because of our religious affiliation. This can show itself through fewer phone calls or text messages or people outright avoiding us. When we go through this, two things may pop up in our minds. We either build up resentment for those who ignore us, or we put the fault on God, though never directly.

There is a lot to say about this Gospel portion, but the most exciting point that hits most readers is that two of the 72 Evangelists could not recognize Jesus, even though they talked about Him. After having received the news that the tomb is empty and that the women received a vision from the angels that Christ had risen, Sts. Luke and Cleopas traveled from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Christ meets them on the journey, but they do not recognize Him. To be more specific, Scripture states that their eyes were held fast or shut from seeing Christ. What was the reason why these two could not recognize Jesus? It was due to their preconceived notion as to who Jesus was. For those two Evangelists, Jesus was merely a great Prophet, not the Son and Word of the Father. As it states in this Gospel portion, these two Evangelists were hoping for an earthly ruler, not the Ruler of all creation.

In the Bible, we read about building the first Temple, which is described in chapter 6 of 1 Kings. But such a Temple would not last because King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his army entered Jerusalem and burned down the Temple. The Temple was in utter ruin, but in God’s time, the Temple was rebuilt with the decree of King Cyrus, under the reign of King Darius 1, as described in Ezra 5: 1-7. But again, in 70 AD, as Our Lord had prophesied (Mark 13: 3-4), the Second Temple was utterly destroyed by the Romans. After that, no attempt was made to rebuild the Temple, and it remains so till the present.

It has been two weeks after the Great Fast, two weeks after celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord. What has changed within us? Are we the same people from before the Fast? Did we not grow in our spiritual journey? Or, worse yet, did we grow during the Fast and, once it was over, choose to revert back to our old ways? This was the case for the Disciples. Even after having communed with the Risen Lord, the Disciples went back to their old lives. There is almost an immediacy regarding how quickly they went from seeing Christ and St. Thomas saying "my Lord and my God" to the Disciples getting into the fishing boat to return to their life before they met Christ.

The Eagles Training Camp begins in August, followed by the preseason and then, what the NFL calls, the "regular season." These distinctions are made because each area of football has a meaning and purpose. The training camp's focus is to identify critical plays and acclimate the players and the coaching staff to the rigor and toughness necessary for the regular season play. Although the points and scores begin to count in the regular season, the regular season has a high probability of failure without a proper training camp and preseason. Even though we are speaking of football, much of what I said relates to our Great Lent experience, which we just completed last week.

Christ is risen. This phrase is one of the most common things you will hear people say today. Even little children will be able to respond when anyone states, Christ is risen. Today marks the greatest event in history. Christ is risen. In our songs today, we sing “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by His death...” and the author of the piece is so filled with joy that he had to include, “rejoice oh beloved Church, for your master has risen.” Today is the feast of all feasts; there is nothing more significant to exclaim except that Christ is risen.