Agios, Agios, Agios!!!

Homily on the fourth Sunday of the Lord’s Glorious Pascha.

Christ is Risen from the dead/ trampling down death by death/ and upon those in the tombs He is bestowing life! Paschal Troparion

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’

So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?” The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well. Jn 5:1-15

As we know all too well, in recent months the media has been publishing all the doom and gloom of what humanity inflicts upon itself; making many people lose faith in fellow man. I am guilty of saying to myself – why bother doing something good for someone as these days many people are suffering from – ‘me, myself and I syndrome!’

However, God never ceases to surprise us with the beauty of this world and the few good souls that live in it, sometimes in life changing ways and others in the simplest.

Last Tuesday I was having such a horrible day at work. I was being cut off the road whilst driving, people were complaining about the most stupid things and on top of that I didn’t get much sleep the night before.

Thus, as I was just about to finish my work, I knocked over a garbage bin sending the garbage flying all over the road. By that time, I was ready to cry when all of a sudden, an elderly man came out of his house with his gardening gloves and proceeded to pick up the mess I had made.

Upon seeing the elderly man, I rushed out of my truck to thank him for his kindness as it wasn’t his job to clean the mess; it was mine. At which he replied - “No, it's my pleasure. I want to help you because you guys do a fantastic job all year round.”

Therefore, this is exactly what I needed. God couldn’t have timed it any better because things are done when the time is right; only God knows when that is! I needed to know that there are people still out there that are ready to roll up their sleeves and lend a helping hand. Not all people are for themselves.

Now in my little life experience, many of the people that complain and make a fuss about the smallest of things are the older generation. Sadly, many people of the older generation have been forgotten or left alone to live out the remainder of their years in permanent isolation!

Hence, in order to release some of the anger that these lonely people rightfully harbour, they let loose and turn the smallest issues into the world's biggest dilemmas – ‘My water is too wet, there are too many vegetables in my veggie soup, The sun rises too early, the wind is too windy’ and so on.

Several weeks ago, I saw a video of an elderly man that fell on the train tracks somewhere in Australia. In the vision, two ladies jump down onto the tracks; risking their lives in order to save him before the train comes. However, you can clearly see another lady sitting on a bench, on her phone that didn’t even flinch to see if he was ok.

How desensitized have we become towards one another? Does the life of another person no longer matter? What makes us better than one another that they aren't deserving of our help?

Having stated thus, this is exactly what Jesus spoke about when He exhorts: “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Lk6:32-38

Our Lord says in the above “Be merciful” what does it mean to be merciful? To reach out onto others in times of need, to be understanding, to place yourself in their boots and to let someone know that you care. For those who haven't, I invite you to read the encyclical “Faith” on our web page. Metropolitan Raffaele has written in such a way the word itself (merciful) is dissected and explained like never before; it is a wonderful encyclical to read. I highly recommend it.

This Saturday my daughters had a birthday party at an indoor play centre and they had the time of their little lives. It was wonderful to just sit back and watch them laugh, play and run amuck.

As many of you know my little daughter Lucy was born with a Hernia so we are extra protective of her when it comes to physical activity. Thus, Lucy made a friend and this girl was perhaps 3 years older than Lucy and she watch over her as if she were her own little sister. I was watching from afar and this child would help Lucy climb over obstacles that were too high and hold her hand as they went down the slide and so forth.

Therefore, it made me wonder if all adults could learn from the innocence and love of a child, this world would be somewhat a mirror image of paradise. Suicide wouldn’t exist, depression wouldn’t be a reality, bullying wouldn’t exist as a word and instead of fighting over land, (war) we would share all we have with our neighbour!

However, apparently society has taught us to throw all these good moral values out the door once we reach adulthood! Christ invites us to learn from Him - Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Mt 11:29

Furthermore, He further exhorts- “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Mt 18:2-4

Having stated thus, let us learn from our children, as in their simplicity they have much more wisdom than those who think they know better. Believe me all of us can learn a thing or two from them and it will not only bring us closer to the Lord our God but we will meet the most wonderful people in this world and perhaps make lifelong friendships.

Through the prayers of the Holy Theotokos, Joseph Her spouse and Saint Athanasius Archbishop of Alexandrea whom we commemorate this Sunday, Lord Jesus Christ our God have mercy on us. Amen

Christ is Risen from the dead/ trampling down death by death/ and upon those in the tombs He is bestowing life! Paschal Troparion