An Instruction for the 20th Sunday After Pentecost

«The Lord said: young man, I say to you, arise. So he who was dead sat up and began to speak» (Lk 7:14-15).

In today’s Gospel we see, in divine majesty, our Lord Jesus Christ, raising with a word a dead man being carried out for burial. This happened as the Lord and His disciples, with a great multitude of people, were entering the city of Nain. They were carrying out a dead man, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd was going with her. «When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and told her: do not weep. Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He declared: young man, I say to you, arise. So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother. Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying: a great prophet has risen up among us; and God has visited His people» (Lk 7:11-16). In what simplicity and accessibility, and, at the same time, in what majesty of Godhead, do we see the Lord Jesus Christ here! What meekness and humility! The almighty Creator of the world and the King of all ages, in the form of a man, walks along, surrounded by His disciples and pressed by boundless crowds of people, speaking of the kingdom of God, healing every manner of sickness, and working countless miracles. Unapproachable for the Angels, He became, out of His love for mankind, an approachable man for all; at a single word from Him—even at a mere touch of His garment—the sick are healed; at a single word from Him the dead rise; all His deeds and words show in Him the almighty God and Creator of creation. Only some people, blinded by pride, malice, and envy, refuse to recognize in Him the Creator and Redeemer of mankind. But I hear many Christians sometimes say: ah, how we too should like to see the Lord, to touch Him, to hear Him, to receive healing from Him! But we, they say, are deprived of the sight of His face! He no longer works among us such miracles as He worked then! To this I will answer them, and say to you: be at peace. The Lord is with us even now, and works great miracles, though not, it is true, in that same visible form as in the days of the Apostles, but in another form—in the form of His most pure Body and Blood, or in the form of the mystical bread and wine, and also in His holy icons and in the holy cross, or invisibly, through prayer and faith. And yet the Lord Himself blesses still more those who have not seen and yet have believed (Jn 20:29). Indeed, what a wondrous miracle! In the Mystery of Communion the Lord is essentially, personally present whole, in Godhead and in manhood, and works, without ceasing, wondrous miracles with all who truly commune: He raises souls put to death by sin, creates peace in souls, heals, cleanses, and sanctifies souls and bodies, comforts, strengthens, renews—in short, works wondrous changes in a person, not in fancy, not in appearance, but truly, actually, tangibly! What blessedness for those who believe in the Lord!

Sons of men! Why, then, do you die in soul through sin, when the Source of life is so near to you? Why do we grow stagnant in sin? Behold, each of us, like that mother mentioned in the Gospel we heard today, has, as it were, an only child—our own soul—perishing in sins: in drunkenness and foul speech, or in unbelief, frivolity, and vanity, or in anger, envy, enmity, or in love of gain and wastefulness, in laziness or in a dissolute life. Why, then, should we die? Behold, our very Lord and Savior is always with us. Here, and in every temple, there flows an abundant, pure, and radiant fountain of living water, His life-giving word, and the fountain of eternal life, His most pure blood, sacramentally offered upon His holy and fearsome table: here is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world (Jn 6:38). Here you hear, every day, the sweetest voice of your Lord, calling you to the mystical supper. The exclamations at the Liturgy: «take, eat, this is My Body»; and: «drink of it, all of you; this is My blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins» (Mt 26:26-28). Taste, then, and drink from the fountain of immortality; live, and do not die—that is, the death of the spirit.

«Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light» (Eph 5:14). Hasten at once, beloved brother and sister, to repentance—to inward repentance, secret, before God, and, in due time, to open repentance, before a minister of the altar: and you will rise again in soul. The holy Angels grieve for us, the Church of God sorrows over you, that your own souls, so precious, made in the image and likeness of God, redeemed by the blood of the Son of God, are perishing and becoming the devil’s prey, while you take no care. Rouse yourself, turn to God, and you will be saved. His fatherly embrace is always open to you. Remember the Savior’s parable of the prodigal son. So, let me say again: arise, sleeping sinner, through repentance, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light and bring you to life. Amen.