In the Beginning of the Academic Year 2003-4
October 1, 2003 - Balamand Monastery
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God, Amen.
In this first Divine Liturgy together at the beginning of this Academic Year, we chose to read this Gospel passage from Matthew (17:14-23). One man came to Jesus with the Disciples who could not heal his possessed son. Jesus healed the child and expelled the demon. The Disciples took the Lord aside and asked why they failed to heal the child. He replied that if they have faith as a grain of mustard seed, they would move mountains, adding that this kind couldn't be expelled except by prayer and fasting. The passage ended by mentioning the betrayal of Jesus, His death and Third-Day Resurrection.
In today's Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians St. Paul reminds of the words of the Prophet: "I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (1 Cor. 6:16-18).
We can learn many things from these two passages, but I would like to bring to your attention two matters.
First, in the exorcism passage of Matthew we hear the Lord hinting about faith: "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove" (Matthew 17:22) This poses an important, broad and complicated question: "What is faith?"
Is "faith" to acknowledge -theoretically, mentally or logically- the presence of a power that we call God, and that this power resides in heaven, and we on earth fear it and are afraid of it, and ask it insistently that it may overwhelm us with wealth and blessings, or save us from hell and pain. Is this "faith?" Is this what ought to govern our relationship with God? As we all know, faith is much beyond this.
Second, Jesus is hinting that this kind cannot be expelled except by prayer and fasting. Indeed, my beloved ones, prayer and fasting have a great meaning in the life of every believer, and especially in the life of every Christian, for this person lives in the midst of the community of faithful, within the Church.
Even though we shall not define now "prayer," we would like to say that prayer is, in a way, standing in the Divine Presence, and abandoning all earthly cares, as we are doing today in this Divine Liturgy. Even though everything in this world God created good and man brought in evil, we do not abandon the world because of hatred, but because we seek what is superior, we seek out the Divine presence. "Let us lay aside all earthly cares." Sometimes, there are some cares that may be necessary and important, but let us now lay aside all earthly cares that we receive the King of All.
As I mentioned, prayer, whether personal, in one's room or alone, or communal in the fellowship of the faithful in Jesus Christ, is in a way entering the Divine Presence, and this is not an easy matter. The same is with fasting. What is fasting?
We can give various and wonderful meanings to fasting. One is abstention, when man decides to desist certain things in order to pursue other things. Fasting is this journey of self-restraint and abstinence, of abandoning the old man and sin and pursuing life in the Lord Jesus, new life full of virtue and ethical behavior drawn from the Holy Scripture. This ethical behavior beautifies the Christina life.
If prayer and fasting are two essential pillars in the life of every believer, then how much more are they for those people who consecrate their life to the Lord, pursue divine knowledge, and plan to serve the people of God? Those people need much more the grace of God. One of many ways in which they receive this grace is through the prayer and fasting.
Here, I would like to make a connection between the Gospel passage and what we heard in St. Paul's letter to Corinthians where God said in the words of the prophet: "I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." This is equivalent to what we just heard of faith, prayer and fasting. The Apostle reminds us of what God is personally saying to His people about Himself: "I will be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
This faith, this relationship with God, is a personal one. As I mentioned, faith is not a theoretical confession that God exists, and that I believe in one God sitting on His Throne in the heavens, and I on earth. No, it is not like that, my beloved. God is speaking to each person individually, saying: "I will be a Father to you and you will be my son." He is talking about an intimate relationship of faith in the Lord inviting us to enter into. It is not a relationship of theoretical faith, some beautiful ideas, and some attractive information. Faith permeates all the life of Man and his whole being: mind, heart, senses, and even body. As you know, we venerate the relics of saints, and we have saints whose body remains intact, being sanctified by the grace of the Lord. A quick example is Saint Saba the Sanctified. God penetrates our life, our behavior, and our words. We are all being formed in the mold of the Lord, as we enter this new life in the Lord Jesus. This formation happens in Baptism. "All of you who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." What do we mean by "put on Christ?" It means that if I have faith as a grain of mustard seed I can do wonders. If I have faith in the Lord, then "the Lord is my God, and I am His son or daughter."
On the hand, you may notice in the prophetic passage quoted by the Apostle Paul that it speaks to a community. No one can be a church alone, by himself, or sits on a top of a mountain and be saved alone, saying: "I have a personal relationship with God apart from the whole world."
There is the community, that's why God says, "I will be for you and you will be for me," you being in the plural not singular. He is talking to a community. Man is saved in Church, and this is the function of the sacred mysteries. As you know in Liturgy, one belongs and is part of the Body of Christ, communes of the Divine mysteries where the Lord is present, and is sanctified by the grace of the Lord through the descent of the Holy Spirit on him.
We are saying all this to remember and be assured in the beginning of this Academic Year that the Divine knowledge obtained here is very important, and we have to study the word of the Lord and be familiar with it, since ignorance is fatal and deadly. We must therefore gain knowledge of the Divine word, but we must also live according to it, and not just be satisfied with studying it. This is very important since studying the word of God is a two-edge sword. Otherwise, one may lead oneself to perdition, as we know many people who are very smart and studied the word of God and fell into heresy. Therefore, to control oneself and be on the right track one has to live according to this Divine word. He or she has to be sanctified by the grace of God. Furthermore, man becomes a tool of sanctification and a testimony of the Lord in the world. What are the means that help us not fall into perdition? They are humility, prayer, and fasting, means to continuously struggle seeking the help of God to stay on track.
To us, faculty, students and staff, who reside and work in this holy monastery of the Theotokos and in this Institute of Theology that carries the name of Saint John the Damascene, may the Lord God give the power to have a strong determination, through the prayers of all the saint. In the beginning of this year, may we be firm, serious and sober, having the resolve to keep all knowledge in mind, heart, and all our being and life, thus truly growing in this knowledge.
My prayers to the Lord from the bottom of my heart -and I ask that we may all lift up this prayer together- that we may reach the end of this year having achieved a great deal at all levels in our life, our heart, our mind, and all our being, by the grace of God. May we have our Lord enter all our senses, members, and life, and be transformed to a fountain of giving and holiness in the Lord Jesus, a pleasing witness to the Lord, revealing the beauty of the life in Christ. We must live this beauty, experience it, and be joyful. When we are in joy, people notice and realize we are in joy and not in despair, and that we left all the cares of this world on the feet of Christ. Thus we become witnesses of the brilliance and goodness of the life in the Lord and a tool of His glory, Him the ever blessed and glorified now and forever, Amen.
