My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE. Ο ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΕΝ ΤΩ ΜΕΣΩ ΗΜΩΝ! ΚΑΙ ΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΑΙ.
ON GRATITUDE TOWARDS OUR LORD AND CREATOR
[A homily on the Gospel on Healing of the Ten Lepers bySaint Nikolai Velimirovic, bishop of Ochrid, from "Homilies, vol. Two: Sunday after Pentecost," Lazaria Press, Birmingham.]
"As Jesus entered into a certain village, there met Him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off; and they lifted up their voices, and said: 'Jesus, Master; have mercy on us!' And when He saw them, He said unto them: 'Go shew yourselves unto the priests.' And it came to pass that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks; and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said: 'Were there not ten cleansed, but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.' And He said unto him: 'Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole" (St. Luke 17:12-19).
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We are taught through small things, not always being, able to grasp big ones. If we are unable to grasp how God sees all men, let us see how the sun shines and sheds its light on all things on earth. If we are unable to grasp how a man's soul cannot live for an instant without God, let us see how a man's body cannot live for a moment without air.
If we do not know why God seeks obedience from men, let us understand why the head of a family seeks obedience from its members, a king from his subjects, a commander from his soldiers and an architect from his builders. If we do not know why God seeks gratitude from men, let us reflect and understand why a father seeks gratitude from his children. Let us pause for a moment on this subject: why does a father insist that his son take off his cap and make a reverence to him, and say "thank you" for everything, large and small, that he receives from his parents? Why do parents have to do this? Are they enriched by their children's thanks, or made more powerful or more eminent, or do they have more influence in society? No; nothing of all this. So, when parents gain nothing personally from their children's gratitude, is it not strange that they constantly teach their children to be grateful, and make them practice gratitude--and this not just on the part of devout parents, but also that of unbelievers?
This is not in the least strange, but is, rather, sublime. It is the parents' selfless love that drives them to teach their children gratitude. Why? That is should be for the child's good. That the child should grow up as a cultivated fruit tree and not as a wild thistle; so that it should go well with the child in this transitory life among men, among friends and enemies, in villages and towns, in authority and in commerce. A grateful man is everywhere valued, like, invited and assisted. He who learns gratitude leans, mercy, and a merciful man walks more freely in this world.
Let us now ask ourselves why God seeks men's thanks. Why did He see Noah, Moses, Abraham and other of our forefathers that they offer Him sacrifice of thanksgiving (Gen. 8:20-21; 12:7-8; 35:1; Lev. Ch. 3)? Why did the Lord Jesus every day give an example to the world of how we must give thanks to God (St. Matthew 11:25; 14:19; 26:26-27)? Why did the Apostles do the same (Acts 2:47; 27:35), commanding all the faithful to give thanks to God in and for all things (Ephesians 5:20; Col. 3:17)? Do we find great Isaiah's words incomprehensible: "I will mention the loving kindness of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness!" (Isaiah 63:7)? Or what the gentle Psalmist advises his own soul: "Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits" (Ps. 102/103:2)? Why, then, does God seek men's thanks, and why do men give Him thanks?
It is out of His endless love for mankind that God seeks that men give Him thanks. The thanks of men will not make God greater, more powerful, more glorious, richer or more alive, but they will make men all of these things. Man's gratitude will not add anything to God's peace and contentment, but it will add greatly to man's. Thanksgiving to God will in no way change God's state and being, but it will change these in a grateful man. God has no need of our gratitude, nor are prayers necessary to Him. But it is this same Lord Who said: "Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of; before ye ask Him" (St. Matthew 6:8) who at the same time recommended "that men out always to pray, and not to faint" (St. Luke 18:1). God may not feel the need of our prayers, but He nevertheless tells us to pray. He may not feel the need of our gratitude, but nevertheless demands it of us--the thanksgiving that is nothing other than a form of prayer, a prayer of thanksgiving. (Source: Orthodox Heritage)
(To be continued)
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"--Saint John Chrysostom
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George