FOR OUR EDIFICATION: From The Prologue From Ochrid by Saint Nikolai Velimirovich

  CHRIST IS RISEN!

Thursday April 22 / May 5 ns 2022 

Saint Theodore the Sýkeote, Bishop of Anastasioúpolis

was born in the village of Sykeon in Galatia, because of which he was named 'the Sykeote'. While still a ten-year-old boy, Theodore gave himself to strict fasting and night-long vigils under the eye of an elder, Stephen, who lived in his house. His mother, Maria, was a rich widow and intended her son to devote himself to a soldier's calling. But St George appeared to her in her sleep and told her that Theodore was destined for the service, not of an earthly king, but of the King of heaven. St George also appeared to Theodore many times, either to instruct him or to save him from some danger in which the evil demons had placed him. He also had several visions of the most holy Mother of God. Theodore's asceticism exceeded in its severity the asceticism of all the other ascetics of his time. He tormented his body in hunger and thirst and iron girdles and standing all night in prayer. All this - only to link his soul in love to God and to achieve total mastery over his body. The merciful Lord's love responded to Theodore's love. He gave him great power over evil spirits and over all the ills and pains of men. He became known on all sides as a miraculous healer. For his great purity and devotion, he was chosen against his wishes as Bishop of Anastasioupolis. He spent eleven years in episcopal service, and then begged God to release him from this service in order to devote himself again to his beloved asceticism. After that, he returned to his monastery, where, in old age, he gave his soul to the Lord for whose sake he had undergone so much voluntary suffering. He died at the beginning of the reign of the Emperor Heraclius, in about 613.

ACTS 4:23-31 KJV

23 And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.

24 And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:

25 Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?

26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.

27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,

28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

SAINT JOHN John 5:24-30 KJV

24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

From The Prologue From Ochrid by
Saint Nikolai Velimirovich

Reflection

At the time of the First Ecumenical Council [Nicaea, 325 A.D.], the quarreling clerics wrote accusations one against the other and presented them to the emperor. Emperor Constantine received all of these accusations and not opening them, burned them over a flaming candle. To the amazement of those around him, the emperor said: "If I would see with my own eyes a bishop, a priest or a monk in a sinful act, I would cover him with my cloak, so that no one would ever see his sin." Thus, this great Christian emperor embarrassed the scandalmongers and sealed their mouths. Our Faith prohibits us to be spies of the sins of others and stresses that we be merciless judges of our own sins. The sick person in the hospital is concerned with his own particular malady so that he has neither the will nor the time to question others who are ill or to mock their illness. Are we not all in this world as patients in a hospital? Does not our own common sense underline that we look at our own illness and not at another's illness? Let no one think that they will be cured of their illness in the other world. This world is merely a hospital and a place for healing and, in that world, there is no hospital; there is only a mansion or only a prison.

Contemplation

To contemplate the resurrected Lord Jesus: 

How by His resurrection, He justified the faith and hope of mankind in immortality;
How by His resurrection, He destroyed the fear of death in the faithful.

Homily
About the power of God in the weakness of men
"For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:10).

There are no contradictions in Holy Scripture and even in these words there are no contradictions even though they sound like it. The physical is governed by sound and the spiritual by thought. For physical man, there are contradictions everywhere for he is afraid of obstacles and flees from a shadow if this shadow seems to be an obstacle for him. The spiritual man is like a knight who likes to overcome obstacles. For the spiritual man, hidden in these words of Scripture, is the entire teaching about salvation.

"For when I am weak, then I am strong." That is, when I am cognizant of my nothingness and the omnipotence of God, then I am strong. When I know that I, of myself alone, cannot do any good neither for myself nor for others and when I totally entrust myself in the power and mercy of God, then I am strong. When I sense that I am as a drowning person in this world and that I am not in the position to grab on to the extended hand of God, to hold on to it by my own strength, rather cry out to God that He with His hand grab hold of my hand and pull me out of the depths of sinful abyss, then I am strong. When I see that I am weak and that I am a hollow reed amidst the tempest of winds and floods; a reed which God is able to fill with His Almighty Grace and when I pray with faith for God's Grace, then I am strong.

O, my weak brethren, let us entrust ourselves to the power of God that we, in our nothingness, may be strong. Relying on man you are weak but relying on God you are strong. Adhere to God and all the power of God will be with you. Confess your weaknesses before God and God will send you His All-powerful Grace. This is confirmed for you by the apostle through his example and through his experience: "For when I am weak, then I am strong." In truth there is no contradiction in the Holy Scripture. Physical man speaks about contradiction in terms of the sound of the word, but spiritual man enters into the meaning and shatters the illusion of contradiction through experience.

O resurrected Lord, have mercy on our weakness and fill us with Your Omnipotent Grace.

To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.