My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST1 HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
" FOR THOSE THINGS THAT ARE GOOD AND PROFITABLE FOR OUR SOULS"
[Divine Liturgy]
"Those things that are good and profitable" which we ask of the Lord are not what worldly people call ‘good and profitable.’ Because ‘for believers "things profitable" means something different, not what the broad mass of people think they mean. A Christian KNOWS THAT THE SOUL EXISTS AND THERE IS ANOTHER LIFE, AND HE SEES EVERYTHING THROUGH THE PRISM OF ETERNITY.
Nevertheless, we Christians often do not know what is profitable for our souls, and that is why we ask Christ to give us whatever He judges to be in our interests. Saint John Chrysostom says: "You yourself do not know wha is in your best interest–unlike God, Who knows your interests very well. Often you ask for things that are harmful and dangerous; yet God, Who is more concerned with your salvation, does not pay attention to your request, but IN EVERY CASE TAKES CARE OF YOUR INTERESTS." So the believer is not upset when he does not receive what he asked for, because he believes that the Lord ‘orders all things out of love for man in the depths of His wisdom, and distributes to all what IS PROFITABLE TO THEM. And whether or not he receives an answer to his request, he gives thanks and glorifies God’s love.
If we do not receive from God what we ask, IT IS BECAUSE WE ASK FOR A STONE AND NOT FOR THE Bread of Life [cf. Matthew 7:9]. "Let your petitions be spiritual, and then without fail you will receive what you ask" stresses Saint John. The Lord Himself exhorts us not to ask for trivial things because, as He has assured us, "ONE THING IS NEEDFUL" [Luke 10:42]. And we in turn ask in the Divine Liturgy for the Heavenly Bread, which is CHRIST. This is the One Thing which profits us — in Greek, SYM-PHERI, which literally means, ‘brings together.’ IT BRINGS US ALL TOGETHER CLOSE TO THE HEAVENLY FATHER.
GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD
The magnitude of the gift of God the Father gave the world shows the greatness of His love: You "did so love Your world as to give Your Only-begotten Son." He gave His Only-begotten Son to the world which was as dead, so that life could come anew. ‘It was not that He was unable to deliver us in some other way, but in this way He showed us His exceeding love. He drew us to Himself through the death of His Only-begotten Son. And if He had had anything more precious than Him, He would have given that for our sake in order to bring our race back to Him!’ [Saint Isaac the Syrian]
"God so loved the world" [John 3:16]: notice how much wonderment is contained in this. Reflecting on the magnitude of what he had to convey, Saint John the Evangelist could not but say, "so loved…" Tell us, blessed John, how much is that "so loved?" Tell us the measure; tell us the magnitude; teach us of the superabundance. "God so loved the world that He gave His Only-begotten Son." ‘Each word has great significance… and [the whole] demonstrates the exceeding greatness of the Divine love. For the distance separating God and mankind was vast, infinite even. The Immortal God Who is without beginning, the boundless greatness, "loved" those who were formed from earth and dust, who were filled with innumerable sins. He "loved" the ungrateful, those who were constantly contravening His Divine will.’ [Saint John Chrysostom]
The sacrifice of Christ IS THE MANIFESTATION OF LOVE. "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the expiation for our sins" [1 John 4:9-10].
At the Mystical ("Last") Supper, Christ celebrates sacramentally His Sacrifice on the Cross. He offers His Holy Blood and by calling it the "blood of the New Covenant [or Testament], ‘He shows that He is going to die. That is why he talks about a testament, A WILL. And indeed He recalls the earlier Covenant [the Old Testament], because that too was ratified by blood [cf. Hebrews 9:18-21].’ At the Mystical Supper, we see the past (Old Testament), the present [New Testament] and the future [His imminent death] coexisting in the Person of Christ.
In the Liturgy of Saint James (Iakovos], before the Consecration of the Holy Gifts, the people sing with compunction: ‘Your death, O Lord, we proclaim, and Your Resurrection we confess.’ The Divine Eucharist is the sacramental ‘LIVING OUT’ OF CHRIST’S SACRIFICE. During the celebration ‘Christ the Master IS PRESENT, and His death is accomplished, the awful Sacrifice.’ ‘Revere this Sacred Table,’ says Saint John Chrysostom, ‘revere the Sacrifice that lies upon it which is Christ slaughtered for us.’ [Saint John Chrysostom]
The Lord was given over to death for our sake, or, rather, He gave HImself up WILLINGLY [cf. Matthew 26:21]. In Holy Scripture ‘it is said that He was betrayed, but it is also written that He gave Himself up’ [cf. Ephesians 5:2]. Christ ‘SUFFERED DEATH ON OUR BEHALF’ and for our sake, willingly. We see Him going to His death VOLUNTARILY, even though He could easily have avoided the Passion. [Saint Gregory the Theologian]. Christ was handed over to the chief priests by "Judas, or, rather, gave Himself up, for the life of the world."
The Divine Eucharist is the MYSTERY OF CHRIST’S DEATH ON THE CROSS. So as we participate in this Mystery, WE TASTE THE FRUITS OF CHRIST’S SACRIFICE. Through the Cross of Christ, ‘DEATH WAS ABOLISHED, RESURRECTION WAS GRANTED TO US, THE GATES OF PARADISE WERE OPENED… WE BECAME CHILDREN OF GOD.’ [Saint John of Damascus] Man was freed from enslavement to the Devil, and HIS ORIGINAL BEAUTY WITH WHICH HE WAS ENDOWED WHEN FIRST CREATED WAS RESTORED: ‘When Christ ascended the Cross and died and rose again, THE FREEDOM OF MANKIND WAS FIRMLY ESTABLISHED, AND FORM AND BEAUTY [THAT OF THE FIRST-CREATED MAN] WERE FASHIONED.’ MAN AND THE COSMOS WERE SANCTIFIED FOR ALL AGES: ‘A FEW DROPS OF BLOOD RE-CREATE THE ENTIRE WORLD.’ [Saint Nicholas Cabasilas]
Upon the Table of Life we encounter the Loving Father, Who ‘through the Passion of His Son was reconciled with the human race, and showed love to His enemies.’ DIVINE AGAPE (LOVE) IS AT ONCE THE ROOT AND THE FRUIT OF THE CROSS. [The Divine Liturgy. A Commentary in the Light of the Fathers by Hieromonk Gregorios]
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 