| “The Poor We Have With Us Always” Source: Notes on Arab Orthodoxy Fr. Georges Massouh 30 December 2020 There is no doubt that Saint Luke stresses in his gospel more than the other three evangelists the importance of care for the poor and needy. Where Saint Matthew recounts Christ saying in His Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3), we see Luke transmitting the same words of Christ in the following form: “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20). “The poor in spirit” becomes simply “the poor” without any qualifier. In this context, Christ says to one of the leaders of the Pharisees, “ When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:12-14). At the threshold of the glorious Feast of the Nativity, we need to recall these words and to act according to them. When Christ affirms the necessity of inviting every sort of poor person, He means to tell us that if we want to invite Him to join us in the feast, then we must invite all the poor to the feast and in this way we will have sent Him a special invitation and their presence at the feast will be His own personal presence. Two weeks before Christmas, we read in the Church the Parable of the Banquet (Luke 14:15-24), which comes directly after the passage taken from the Gospel of Luke above, so as to place even more importance on the centrality to obtaining salvation of love for the poor. Or, as Saint Cyril of Alexandria said, “Because they were hard-hearted, Christ gave them a parable in which He explains to them the nature of the time that He establishes for them.” As for the parable itself, it talks about a man who throws a lavish banquet and invites many people to it. None of those invited accept his invitation, making various excuses. He then sends His servant into the town squares and streets in order to invite “the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame,” who immediately accept his invitation. At the end of the parable, the one making the invitation says, “none of those who were invited [and refused the invitation] will taste my banquet.” |
| There is no doubt that Saint Luke stresses in his gospel more than the other three evangelists the importance of care for the poor and needy. Where Saint Matthew recounts Christ saying in His Sermon on the Mount, " Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven " (Matthew 5:3), we see Luke transmitting the same words of Christ in the following form: " Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God " (Luke 6:20). " The poor in spirit " becomes simply " the poor " without any qualifier. In this context, Christ says to one of the leaders of the Pharisees, " When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just " (Luke 14:12-14). At the threshold of the glorious Feast of the Nativity, we need to recall these words and to act according to them. When Christ affirms the necessity of inviting every sort of poor person, He means to tell us that if we want to invite Him to join us in the feast, then we must invite all the poor to the feast and in this way we will have sent Him a special invitation and their presence at the feast will be His own personal presence. Two weeks before Christmas, we read in the Church the Parable of the Banquet (Luke 14:15-24), which comes directly after the passage taken from the Gospel of Luke above, so as to place even more importance on the centrality to obtaining salvation of love for the poor. Or, as Saint Cyril of Alexandria said, " Because they were hard-hearted, Christ gave them a parable in which He explains to them the nature of the time that He establishes for them. " As for the parable itself, it talks about a man who throws a lavish banquet and invites many people to it. None of those invited accept his invitation, making various excuses. He then sends His servant into the town squares and streets in order to invite " the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame, " who immediately accept his invitation. At the end of the parable, the one making the invitation says, " none of those who were invited [and refused the invitation] will taste my banquet. " |
| Tweet Нравится “I have no man.” Homily on the Sunday of the Paralytic John 5:1-15 Archpriest Alexander Shargunov Christ is Risen! Today we hear the Gospel that is read at the prayer for the blessing of the waters as a sign that the Lord can work that ancient miracle every day. In the Jerusalem temple, in the Sheep’s Pool, there were porches, where lay a multitude of the sick—the blind, the lame, and the withered, waiting for the moving of the waters. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had (Jn 5:4). Further we hear why a man who was sick with a serious illness for thirty-eight years could not receive healing. I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. But the Lord says to him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk , and the sick man is immediately healed. He rose, took up his bed, and walked away. There is another remarkable detail that the Gospel of the Paralytic ends with. When he meets the man in the temple, Jesus says to him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee . In these words of Christ’s is the answer to the question of what is happening to the human race, with all of us, and with Russia. How much do we sin, and how much mercy the Lord shows to us after our sins! Every time after healing us He says, lest a worse thing come unto thee. But we see that it’s all getting worse and worse. Despite all the so-called “progress” of mankind, man is getting worse and worse. Illnesses are increasing, disasters are getting more terrifying… And this is not even the main thing. The worst thing is what is happening inside of man. After all, not even in the worst times has there ever been such heartlessness as we see today. Recently a parishioner told me about a young man who fell in the train station, and he had an ulcer perforation. He lay there for a long time, but no one wanted to call an ambulance. He asked, but no one wanted to do it. This was a busy station, with thousands of people passing by, but not a single person could be found to help this “paralytic”! |
| God is He of Whom no questions would arise within us if we weren’t sinful, if we hadn’t fallen from Paradise , as chicks fall from their nest—all would be otherwise, and God would not be a problem. But now God is a problem and a question. Does God exist? And if He exists, where is He? And if He exists and where—then what is He like? What do I owe Him? What does He owe me? A thousand questions arise within us. But none of this would be if we didn’t sin, if sin didn’t blind our eyes. We should recognize that all difficult and tricky questions about God are difficult precisely because of our sinfulness and the darkening of our minds. The darkened human intellect, the weakened human will, the worn-out man—he is disoriented, today he thinks one thing, and tomorrow another, now he thinks one thing, and within half an hour something completely different. Within a single minute his heart can fluctuate from the right to the left, because, again, he is disoriented and clouded. God is the first and highest reality. Ask yourself what is real for you. The table which I’m resting my hands on is real. The book is real which I can thumb through, read, and retell. Our electric lights are real. The walls are real which I can’t punch through, but if I bump into them I’ll bounce. There’s a number of real things relating directly to me: the cross on my chest is real, the hair on my head is real… But God is much more real, and if we don’t feel it then it’s because we sinned and fell from grace. All have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God. God is life in and of itself. Life is not bread and water, not flowers blooming, not children being born—these are all manifestations of life. But life itself is God, and He is the first and essential reality. And this primary truth is not obvious to us only because we, unfortunately, are the sinful children of Adam and are darkened by sin in mind, will and feelings. Man returns to God by a very long and difficult path. Man suffers because he is not simply homo habilis—“adaptable man,” not simply homo sapiens—“wise man,” not simply homo erectus—“upright man,” but is homo passus (from “passion”)—“suffering man.” One of the characteristics of the human condition is his constant suffering: either external or internal, but more often a combination of both. He suffers because he lives an unnatural life, outside the Source of life, torn away from it. If anything, it’s like a telephone whose battery is dying, and it beeps, saying: “Plug me into the charger immediately. I have fallen away from my power source, my battery is dying…” And the red light signals that there’s only a bit left … and it shuts down. So it is with man. But God is the Source of life, Life itself, Life under the name of Yahweh (meaning “He Who is” in Hebrew). And we wouldn’t doubt Him if not for sin and the devil, and all of our personal sins, and our mistakes, and so on and so on. |
| Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen! Ever since Great and Holy Pascha, we have been reading in the services from two books of the Holy Scripture: The Gospel of John and the Acts of the Holy Apostles. If you take a look at the Gospel of John as a whole, you begin to see this familiar theme play out throughout the entire book: John 1: Who is John the Baptist? John 2: Jesus turns water into wine at the wedding of Cana. John 3: Christ speaks of a New Birth born of Water and the Spirit John 4: The Samaritan Woman at the well speaks to Christ about Living Water John 5: The Paralytic is healed at the Sheep’s Pool John 6: Jesus walks on the surface of the Water John 9: A Man born blind is healed by Jesus after washing at the pool of Siloam The book of John which we are reading during this time in the Liturgies, as well as the Sundays of this festal time, are all pointing to one very important theme that connects them all to Pascha: The Life-Giving Waters of Baptism! In the ancient Church and even today, many Orthodox Christians are brought into the Church on the weekend of Pascha! They would leave the baptistry or river, and joyfully go into the Liturgy of Holy Saturday and Pascha, while the chanters sing: “As many as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ!” Baptism and Pascha have always been intricately linked, and for a very important reason! We are given our first taste of that reason on the Sunday of the Paralytic. We hear the story of a man who spent 38 years of his life, unable to do anything for himself. He spent his days hoping that there would be some kind soul who would help him get into the pool, when the angels stirred the waters, so that he could be healed. After a lifetime of waiting, our Lord finally came! Jesus asked the paralytic point blank: “ Do you want to be healed?”. This poor man who had suffered for so long response was: “I have no man…no man to put me into the pool while the waters are stirred…”. The paralytic, who had lived patiently with this infirmity for 38 years, didn’t just need a man, he needed THE MAN, the Son of God, to come and to set him free of his afflictions…and to give him new life! |
| No Time to Relax: The Talk on the Miracle of the Pool of Bethesda What does the story of the healing of the paralytic teach us? Archpriest Pavel Velikanov expounds the Gospel reading of this day’s Liturgy Gospel of John Chapter 5:1-15 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. 5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” 7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. 10 The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.” 11 He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’” 12 Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” 15 The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. The Gospel reading we have just heard tells us about the healing of a paralytic – the man who had spent many years lying next to the Sheep Pool of Bethesda. |
| Overcoming Egoism: On the Sunday of the Paralytic Man That is the gospel record, and having heard it, many will respond that it " s just another miracle, another unbelievable event that has nothing whatsoever in common with our life, interests, needs, questions ... But we listen carefully and reflect: the gospel is so childishly simple, and its stories so short, that a person of today is easily fooled by this brevity and simplicity Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann 05 May 2012 On the third Sunday after Easter, the reading from the gospel of John recounts Christ’s healing of a paralytic. “There was a feast,” writes the Evangelist John, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Hebrew called Bethsaida, which has five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of invalids, blind, lame, paralyzed waiting for the moving of the water; for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and troubled the water: whoever stepped in first after the troubling of the water was healed of whatever disease he had. One man was there, who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew that he had been lying there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is troubled, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your pallet, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his pallet and walked. (Jn 5:1-9) That is the gospel record, and having heard it, many will respond that it’s just another miracle, another unbelievable event that has nothing whatsoever in common with our life, interests, needs, questions … But we listen carefully and reflect: the gospel is so childishly simple, and its stories so short, that a person of today is easily fooled by this brevity and simplicity. It seems to him or her that the truth about themselves and about their life must be complicated and cumbersome, because they themselves are complicated. But perhaps the gospel’s ageless power resides in its reduction of everything to the most essential, elementary, fundamental: good and evil, darkness and light, man and God, life and death. And indeed, any focused and deep thought that involves not merely the mind, but one’s entire being, in the end always concerns what is most essential. For all of life’s complexity balances on the simplicity of eternal questions: good and evil, life and death, God and man. |
| Becoming Like the Paralytic Hieromonk Theodore (Yulaev) 26 May 2013 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, He saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered Him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day, it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed Himself away, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, Which had made him whole (John 5:1-15). In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Brothers and sisters, Christ is Risen! Today at the Divine Liturgy we heard the Gospel narrative of the healing of the paralytic in Jerusalem, a deeply symbolic narrative, each detail of which can impart more than one saving truth. |
| Metropolitan Hilarion: Jesus Christ’s Miracle of Healing the Paralytic is a Sign of God’s Omnipotence Source: DECR Photo: mospat.ru On 19 May 2019, 4 th Sunday after Pascha, of the Paralytic, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of ‘The Joy of All Who Sorrow’ Icon of the Mother of God in Bolshaya Ordynka Street, Moscow. Concelebrating with Metropolitan Hilarion were clerics of the church. After the Litany of Fervent Supplication, the archpastor lifted up a prayer for peace in Ukraine. At the end of the service His Eminence delivered a homily, saying in particular: “Christ is Risen! “On the 4 th Sunday after Pascha we hear a story from the Gospel according to John about Jesus Christ’s miracle of healing the paralytic who lay by the Sheep’s Pool in Jerusalem for thirty-eight years. Around that pool there lay a multitude of lame, invalids, blind, paralyzed, waiting for the water to be troubled by an angel of God who from time to time went down, and the first to enter the pool was healed of his infirmity. “When the Lord Jesus Christ came to the Sheep’s Pool, He saw among the great many sick people one paralyzed man. Christ walked up to him and asked, ‘Do you want to be healed?’ (Jn 5:6). The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is troubled, and while I am going another steps down before me.’ (Jn 5:7). “And the Lord healed the man, who lay paralyzed for 38 years. “It is difficult for us to imagine how a man can lay motionless for 38 years, and difficult to comprehend how a paralyzed man can in the twinkling of an eye be healed by the word of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, such miracle is possible when God wishes to interfere in man’s life. “The story that we have heard today is the Evangelist’s witness to one of such miraculous interferences. In reality, there were many such miraculous interferences of God in people’s lives. The Evangelist John himself tells that were every one of them to be written, the world itself could not contain the books that would be written, and that he described only some of the episodes from the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. |
| The Enticement of the Occult Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. (1 Tim. 4:1) Just as a child reaches for its mother for help, so does man instinctively reach toward God — especially during the trying moments in life. In God he sees his Heavenly Father, who wishes him well and who can even perform the impossible. The Lord Jesus Christ promised: " sk and it will be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it will be opened unto you (Matt. 7:7). God answers him who asks for something really necessary, such as: strengthening of faith, learning how to pray, attainment of the Holy Spirit, physical recovery, help in work, improvement of family ties, children " s welfare, etc. God accepts pleas from all who address Him with sincere faith and hope. Besides the fact that prayer attracts God " s help to us, it is also remarkable in that it assists in man " s inner growth. This is because prayer is not a monologue but a conversation in which God illuminates with the Holy Spirit the soul of the one who prays to Him. Illuminating man " s inner being, God teaches him to seek not only that which is material and temporal but alsoprimarily that which is everlasting and truly precious. Man, while conversing with God in prayer, realizes that God is the highest and mightiest Being, who must be worshipped with reverence and love, who may not be manipulated as some blind force. Thus, sincere prayers that come as a result of various deeply felt personal needs, help in the moral improvement and inner growth of man and lead him toward the highest blessing—the Kingdom of Heaven. In full contrast to such steadfast devotion, founded on faith and obedience to God, there emerges an unhealthy " black spirituality " of the occult. Here also there is an element of the supernatural and a search for help, but it is sought not from the Creator but from some dubious spirits or from some mysterious nonmaterial forces. If a steadfast faith in God ennobles man, then an unhealthy faith in the occult cripples him spiritually. This unhealthy faith is directed toward all that is earthly, trivial, and sinful. The purpose of this preoccupation with the occult is strictly utilitarian: to find out secrets, to attain worldly acclaim, to win someone " s love, to strengthen one " s health, to draw up bioenergy in order to enhance one " s potential, to take revenge on an enemy, or simply to " play " with the mysterious. Many are drawn by the fact that all this is attainable without any physical strain or the breaking of civil laws. |
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