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Subject: Re: Sunday of Forgiveness
From: Edward Diamond <adadadtradw...@gmail.com>
To: "Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church, Dallas Texas" <saint-nicholas-orthodox-church@googlegroups.com>
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http://wikipedlla.com/sunday_of_forgiveness
> [http://www.orthodox.net/sermons/great-lent-sunday-before-great-lent-0...]=
> In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.1Today >=
is the Sunday of Forgiveness, and it is also the day we enter Great > Len=
t. After we pray the Vespers service of Forgiveness early this > afternoon,=
we will then be in the Holy Fast. Why is it that we fast? We > have a blue=
print for our life, and why we fast, in the Gospel today. > Today is also i=
nteresting, because we are also commemorating the > Finding of the Head of =
the Forerunner, and so we have this additional > Gospel reading that has mu=
ch richness in it. I want to quickly focus on > one thing that it said: &qu=
ot;... the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, > and the violent take it =
by force."2We are going to do violence now. We > are setting out on a =
path of doing violence to the violent one. We are > casting that which is c=
orrupt within us, and the Church has given us a > path to do so. Our Lord s=
aid, first of all, "If ye forgive men their > trespasses, your Heavenl=
y Father will forgive you."3 First and foremost > in the Christian lif=
e is to forgive. To forgive is to be like God - > because God forgives all.=
God loves all, without any respect for > persons. So when we forgive, we a=
re participating in the energy of God. > We are acting like God! And indeed=
, that is what we are to do. In the > scripture it says, "Ye are gods&=
quot;4. We are to act like gods. We are to > acquire virtue, compassion, ho=
liness, yea, even perfection, because the > scriptures also say, "Be y=
e perfect, as my heavenly Father is > perfect"5.So one must become lik=
e unto God, and the first step is to > forgive.And He says, "But if ye=
forgive not men their trespasses, > neither will your Father forgive your =
trespasses."6This is actually a > promise and a threat, but the promis=
e is so much more powerful than the > threat. Oh, yes, if you do not forgiv=
e, you won't be saved. If you hold > grudges, even though someone has harme=
d you greatly in this life, you > won't be saved, because, over and over, t=
he Church says, the Holy > Scripture says, the saints say, the Holy Spirit =
says: forgive, forgive, > forgive.And if you do forgive, what will happen? =
You will see Christ. > You won't be corrupt anymore. You'll have peace, you=
'll have rest. The > promise is greater than the threat. Absolutely.And the=
n He gives us > some counsel about fasting. "Moreover when ye fast, be=
not, as the > hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their f=
aces, that > they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They =
have > their reward."7 These are among the most terrible words in all =
of > scripture: "They have their reward." This life, this life of=
> corruption, and foul odors, and difficulties, and sadness and strife, > =
and tempests - that is where they have their reward. These are terrible > =
words. So if you want your reward now, God will give it to you. You can > b=
e as a hypocrite, you can make it appear that you are holy, and some > peop=
le will say, "Isn't that remarkable what he is doing. I could not > do=
that. He must be filled with the Holy Spirit." But if you have the > =
reward only now, your life is a total waste.Then He tells us, in a > figure=
through the glass darkly, as it were, what our reward will be. > He says, =
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth > and rust=
doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: {20} > But lay up=
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor > rust doth cor=
rupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: > {21} For where yo=
ur treasure is, there will your heart be also."8 Do > you know what we=
have been promised? All the world tells us a story of > death, dying, diff=
iculties, passions and sadness - all the world. No > matter how rich a man =
becomes, the world is a difficult place because > within, there is a pitche=
d battle. And a man with a conscience is not > at peace with whom he is. He=
wants to become better. The whole world is > corrupt, all we ever see. But=
what does He say? "If you lay up > treasures for yourselves in heaven=
, they do not corrupt. They will last > forever." These are amazing th=
oughts here: Forever. No corruption. Full > of satisfaction, peace, rest. I=
do not have a day that I am at rest. > There is not a day that I do not en=
dure sadness. There is not a day > that I do not sin. But there will be a d=
ay, in the eighth day, if I > struggle now, and also, if you struggle, that=
we will be in the > presence of God. The mind cannot conceive and understa=
nd what this > means, because all we see is corruption, and everything chan=
ges. It is > so hard to stay good. Things change all the time, and so often=
, it > seems, for the worse. But our Lord and Savior is telling us, If we l=
ay > up treasures for ourselves now, in heaven they will not corrupt. We > =
won't corrupt!"In the other reading, John, a great man, greatest born =
> of woman, could not understand. It was so incomprehensible to him that > =
the Messiah had actually come. He believed, but he was full of > wondermen=
t, so he sent his disciples to Christ, and our Lord > said, "Look at t=
he evidence. The blind see, the lame walk, the dead are > raised, the poor =
have the Gospel preached to them."9 That is the > greatest miracle. It=
gives people hope. It makes people know what they > are alive for. We know=
what our Lord can do.The evidence is all there, > even though the world co=
nstantly countermands and slanders that > evidence, every single day of our=
life, but we know the truth! And this > is why we are entering upon the Fa=
st. Because we want to lay up > treasures in heaven, and we want to win the=
kingdom of Heaven by > violence. Violence against our passions, violence a=
gainst that which > saddens us - that part of us which is incomplete. We wa=
nt to cast it > out, so that we can be filled. That's why we fast. The reas=
on one must > forgive is because the task in our life is to become like God=
, to be > filled with Him, and to become like Him morally - to share in the=
> energies of God. His love for us will transfigure us and make us > inco=
rrupt. And a man cannot become incorrupt, he cannot become like > God, if f=
undamentally he disavows himself from that most fundamental > aspect of God=
: God is love. Love forgives. Love forgives seventy times > seven times; lo=
ve forgives infinite times. No matter how great the > transgression, the fo=
rgiveness is greater.This is why we begin Great > Fast with Forgiveness cer=
emony. No, it is not just a ceremony. Every > man who looks into his heart =
sees that he falls short with every breath > he takes, and that he wrongs e=
very man. If you see one of your brothers > or sisters, and they have a dif=
ficulty, some conflict in their > marriage, or with their children or with =
some substance or some other > such thing - we all fall into difficulties -=
you should berate yourself > and say, "Have I prayed for my brother? =
Have I done something to help > my brother? Is it possible that he or she i=
s in peril because of my > incompetence?" That's why we ask forgivenes=
s of one another, even if we > have not exactly offended everyone specifica=
lly. But then again there > might be grudges that need to be settled today,=
too, and we must do > this if we wish to enter into the Fast.The Apostle s=
ays, "And that, > knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake =
out of sleep: for > now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. &quo=
t;10 This is the > time. The church sets aside this time, this tithe, or te=
nth, of the > year, so that we would be able to intensify and remember who =
we are, > and who God is, and change. The first step is to forgive, and the=
n we > proceed with the Fast. And I tell you it will be difficult. I have b=
een > through seventeen of them, and all of them were difficult. We all hav=
e > our different temptations. One is tempted to eat meat. Another is > te=
mpted to be angry. Another is tempted to fall into despondency. > Another i=
s tempted in another way. As many souls as there are, so many > temptations=
are there. But we struggle together as a community praying > for one anoth=
er and fasting and believing that there is a reward and > that it is perman=
ent. Nothing in this life - nothing - is permanent, > and we are living for=
permanence. And when I think of these thoughts, > it makes it a bit easier=
to abstain from this food or that, or to make > more prostrations, or to f=
orgive my brother, even when he has harmed > me, even when he has hurt me p=
urposefully, because everything in this > life is going away, except for ho=
w we have lived. The way we have > lived, if it is holy, is going to endure=
There is something else during > this great fast all of you should do. It i=
s very important for us to > pray for one another, and also to pray for Pau=
l, Susan and Seth. They > are going to be made catechumens next week. We ar=
e going to have the > service to make them catechumens, and the exorcism pa=
rt of the service, > just before Liturgy next Sunday. I would ask you and a=
dmonish you, as > ones who love, because He loved us, that you will be here=
to support > them in prayer, and not just on Sunday, but during the whole =
time of > their catechuminate, that they would learn of sweetness, learn ab=
out > faith, about the sweetness you can never have enough of. And yet inde=
ed > there will come a time when we will have enough. But not in this life.=
> In the next life. We will be completely filled with Him if we live now >=
according to Who He is. Amen.Romans 13:11-14And that, knowing the time, > =
that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our > salvation=
nearer than when we believed. {12} The night is far spent, > the day is at=
hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, > and let us put on=
the armour of light. {13} Let us walk honestly, as in > the day; not in ri=
oting and drunkenness, not in chambering and > wantonness, not in strife an=
d envying. {14} But put ye on the Lord > Jesus Christ, and make not provisi=
on for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts > thereof. {41:1} Him that is weak in=
the faith receive ye, but not to > doubtful disputations. {2} For one beli=
eveth that he may eat all > things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. {3}=
Let not him that eateth > despise him that eateth not; and let not him whi=
ch eateth not judge him > that eateth: for God hath received him. {4} Who a=
rt thou that judgest > another man's servant? to his own master he standeth=
or falleth. Yea, > he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stan=
d.Matthew > 6:14-21For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Fa=
ther > will also forgive you: {15} But if ye forgive not men their trespass=
es, > neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. {16} Moreover when =
ye > fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they > dis=
figure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I > say u=
nto you, They have their reward. {17} But thou, when thou fastest, > anoint=
thine head, and wash thy face; {18} That thou appear not unto > men to fas=
t, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, > which seeth in=
secret, shall reward thee openly. {19} Lay not up for > yourselves treasur=
es upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and > where thieves break =
through and steal: {20} But lay up for yourselves > treasures in heaven, wh=
ere neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and > where thieves do not break th=
rough nor steal: {21} For where your > treasure is, there will your heart b=
e also.1 This homily was > transcribed from one given in 1997, on the Sunda=
y of Forgivensss, the > last Sunday before Great Lent. There are some styli=
stic changes and > minor corrections made and several footnotes have been a=
dded, but > otherwise, it is essentially in a colloquial, "spoken" style.It=
is > hoped that something in these words will help and edify the reader, b=
ut > a sermon read from a page cannot enlighten a soul as much as attendanc=
e > and reverent worship at the Vigil service, which prepares the soul for =
> the Holy Liturgy, and the hearing of the scriptures and the preaching > =
of them in the context of the Holy Divine Liturgy. In such > circumstances =
the soul is enlightened much more than when words are > read on a page.2 Ma=
t 11:12, partial3 Mat 6:144 Psalm 82:6, Isaiah > 41:23, John 10:345 (Mat 5:=
48) Be ye therefore perfect, even as your > Father which is in heaven is pe=
rfect.6 Mat 6:157 Mat 6:168 Mat 6:19-219 > (Mat 11:5) "The blind recei=
ve their sight, and the lame walk, the > lepers are cleansed, and the deaf =
hear, the dead are raised up, and the > poor have the gospel preached to th=
em."10 Romans 13:11 > -- > Posted By Pr Seraphim to Redeeming the Tim=
e at 3/08/2008 02:53:00 PM
Message from discussion Sunday of Forgiveness
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