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Fr George's Letter

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Written by: Fr George

HEALING OF THE EPILEPTIC BOY.

“The virtues build a new person radiating love to the world.”

(Metropolitan Paul (Yazigi) of Aleppo who consecrated our temple.)

 

“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  

                                                                            (Hebrews 4:15-16)

 

SUNDAY 9^th AUGUST. Apostle Matthias (c 63). St. Psoi of Egypt (4^th). Glorification of St. Herman of Alaska, Wonderworker of all America (1970).

 

“At the Last Judgement I will not be asked whether I satisfactorily practised asceticism, nor how many bows I made before the divine altar: I will be asked whether I fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited the sick, and the prisoner in his jail. That is all I will be asked.”

                                                                            (Mother Maria of Paris)

 

“Never confuse the person, formed in the image of God, with the evil that lies within; because evil is but a chance of misfortune, an illness, a devilish attack. But the very essence of the person is the image of God, and this remains despite every disfigurement.”

                                                                             (St. John of Kronstadt) 

TODAY’S GOSPEL. Matthew 17:14b-23b. “And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, “Lord have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? Bring him here to Me.”  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Him and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”  Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful.”  

 

A mustard seed is very tiny but it can grow into a large plant.  Jesus tells us that if we have a little genuine faith we can move mountains. Do not despair if we cannot move mountains, the Lord’s own disciples were gently rebuked for their lack of faith. They followed Him, they shared their meals with Him, they listened to His words, they witnessed His miracles; and yet they were unable to cure the epileptic boy. 

Even after the Resurrection they still were not sure, hiding away they still had doubts, until He appeared to them. They, like us, were human. Jesus became one of us, being born of the Virgin Mary and being fully human but being also fully divine. Theologians may ponder and try to explain this phenomenon, but we as Orthodox Christians leave all this behind and accept the great mystery of the Incarnation with love and not blind faith, for God is love.

However we view today’s Gospel, we see the love of God poured out for an epileptic boy and his sorrowing, loving father, who in desperation at the failure of the disciples to cure his son approached the Master, perhaps feeling unworthy to do so to start with. We too may feel unworthy but with deep humility, when we recite the Creed, and ponder each of its words, instead of just saying them, we can begin to build our faith with sure foundations. The opening words can begin to move mountains when we say, “I believe in one God........”

Jesus’s words, “........how long shall I be with you?” is a precursor of what He tells the disciple what is going to happen to Him. They became so unhappy. Did they only believe that He would be killed and didn’t understand “.........and the third day He will be raised up.”  Our faith often ebbs and flows like the sea, but if like the father in today’s account, we, kneeling down before Him and asking for His mercy, can take the first faltering steps on our journey of faith. The journey may be difficult, we may take a wrong turn, we may even abandon the journey only to resume it when we feel the need of God in our lives. The disciples were a group of men who supported each other and, like in all human relationships, sometimes they disagreed, but the Judge of all always set them on the right track. So it is with us, we are all on the same path and must help each other because, at some point, we also may need the strength of others when we are in difficulty. We are called to love and embrace all and try to see in each the image of God, for it is in His image that we are made.

 

                                                                                      Much Love, 

 

                                                                                      Fr. George.