Today in the Gospel we heard about a man who received healing, although he did not ask for it.

When the devil-possessed Gadar residents, after healing two demon-possessed and the death of their pig herd, asked Christ to leave them, He, having left the healed one as a witness, entered the boat, crossed the lake and arrived in His city, that is, in Capernaum.

And so, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic: “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” He didn’t say “now you are well”, but “your sins are forgiven”, making it clear that the cause of disease is sinfulness and that He, as God, has the power to heal both.

Then some of the scribes who did not want to believe in His Deity said in themselves: He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins except God?

And Christ, seeing their thoughts, said: Why do you think evil in your hearts? for is it easier to say: sins are forgiven you, or say: get up and go?

What is primary and what is the consequence? Of course, the remission of sins is primary, and healing is the result of the remission of sins. And after that He says to the paralyzed: Get up, take your bed and go to your house. And formerly paralyzed got up, took his bed and went to his house, and the people, seeing this, were amazed and glorified God.

Not always people get sick because of obvious sins. One saint from ancient Kiev Russ, Pimen, was paralyzed since his childhood, and in this state, as a teenager, his parents brought him to Kiev Pechersk Lavra. He lay in his cell all his life, and he was granted great spiritual gifts from God, and he was told that he would be healed before his death, which was fulfilled. He was given a gift to beg for the health of others, but not his own.

He had fewer sins than any of us, but he understood that the disease was given to him for salvation.

Unlike many other people, he understood that we are all born alien to the kingdom of God, and that in our natural state we cannot enter there. Christ gives us Holy Baptism, thereby opening the door to His Kingdom, but in order to enter this Kingdom and become its citizens, we ourselves must work and labour. And first of all, we must learn to love God and cut off our fallen will before the will of God, our desires — before His Commandments.

And the Lord gives everyone the burdens and sorrows that serve as a medicine for one’s soul to gain the aforementioned, to get it anyway, anyhow.

If this is a disease, and it is not healed, then you need to take it as a medicine — bitter, but saving — and endure to the end, that is, how much it is needed.

There were three people in another monastery: one vigorously performed his obediences (monastic chores), the other perfectly kept the monastic enclosure and was silent, and the third was just sick, but thanked God for that, and didn’t do anything else, and in the end they appeared to be all in equal dignity.

And that paralyzed, healed by the Savior in Capernaum, like all people who have ever been sick, was sick because without sorrows and illnesses a person cannot be saved.

And Christ, seeing the faith of those who brought him, forgives his sins.

We can see how illnesses can cure not only personal sins, but the sins of the community, of families, of all the people, — that become compassionate, forget about their own chores and businesses and express an active love to the poor ones…

So, the illness can be a final shelter, and some kind of a protective mechanism against the corruption of the whole human nature…

And if we want to be healthy, we would first of all want to seek healing for our souls. We would want to repent of our sins, not only saying in confession, but trying not to sin anymore either by deed, word or thought, as we say.  With the soul, and not with the body, the healing of the whole person begins. Who forgets about salvation because of health, loses everything. The one who seeks first of all the Kingdom of Heaven can be much easier given health as well. Amen.

The gospel of the previous Sunday, which is the first so to say “non-festive” Sunday, marking the beginning of the “spiritual week-days” (or “working days”), this gospel reading defines the first step of this Christian way, not surprisingly, as the renunciation of the excessive care of all things worldly. Very much like the “Ladder [of spiritual ascent]” of St. John of the Ladder!

So that, because of worrying too much, not to lose the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

“For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

But one of the greatest worries in this world, the people of this world – is about the self of people, self-esteem, self-realization…  Even sometimes greater than the worries about riches…

Today we hear about the miraculous healing of the centurion’s servant in Capernaum (Matthew 8: 5-13). And we were marveled at the high praise that the faith of the Roman commander was awarded from our Lord Jesus Christ:

“When Jesus entered Capernaum, the centurion approached Him and asked Him:

saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”

And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.

For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!

…Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.””

What is this way of the centurion, to go with him?

At the beginning of their reflections on this Gospel, many teachers and preachers point out to the centurion’s mercy, as he intercedes not about his child or relative, but about the servant, his slave.

(As we see, the mercy and grace of the Lord is often attracted by the mercy and grace of man.)

And the Lord spoke simple words: «I will visit you and heal him.»

It would seem, to host Christ Himself at home — what a great honor! But the man was reasoning in this heart if it was a too much honor for him? Like the apostle Peter once: depart from me, Lord, I am a sinful man.

And by his humility how he magnified Christ!

What a wonderful confession of the Lord’s almightiness was born out of that human meekness: “Say only a word!”

When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!

The centurion, however, was reasoning quite wisely: if I often do not go out of my place to do anything, I only order my servants and they do, although I am also a man under the rule of an even more powerful lord, then, is not this Divine Teacher and the Lord more than me: «Say only a word.»

Filled with sorrow, however, was the Savior’s surprise, sorrow about those who should first of all learn this highest theology and confess the Word of God that came into the world…

“And his servant recovered at that hour,” the Evangelist testifies.

“The power of God in the weakness of man is accomplished,” says the Apostle Paul.

“Retribution happens … not to the virtue or the labor for it, but to the humility that is born out of them. If the latter is lost, the first ones will be in vain” says St. Isaac the Syrian.

How can we also gain the humility of the Capernaum centurion?

“Painstaking fulfillment of Christ’s commandments teaches man about his weakness” (4:9), concludes the seal of theologians, the Monk Simeon the New Theologian.

The “healthy” (cf. Mt 9:12) have no need of Christ.

The “healthy” crucify Christ.

«I do not see my sin because I still labor for sin” — Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov is adding.

And here is what St. Gregory of Nazianzus says of the centurion’s faith: «. . . be like the Centurion who would seek for healing, but would not, through a praiseworthy fear, receive the Healer into his house. Let each one of us also speak so, as long as he is still uncleansed, and is a Centurion still, …serving in the army of Caesar, the false and cruel World-ruler: “I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant (that is, my soul) will be healed».  Amen.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Today, our Saviour has begun calling the Twelve Apostles. Our Saviour is coming by the shore of the Sea of Galilee to these particular men, and He is saying to them: ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men’.

When He says this to them, He says the same thing to us, now and here.

Our hearts want to follow the Lord immediately also. However, our hearts are very often distracted by one thing or another. That does not stop the Lord from calling us. He is constantly calling you and me to follow Him because He loves us. He desires that we will participate in Him eternally, in the fulness of life. He wants us to become our real selves, our full selves, our healed selves, our selves as He created us to be in the first place. He wants us to live an abundant life, not shackled by fear, not weighed down by unnecessary cares, but free in Him and alive in Him. He wants us to LIVE our life, rather than just to act it as actors do, as it seems to be more and more the case of contemporary society… That is why He is constantly telling us: “Follow Me”

When He is calling us, He is also in our hearts enabling us, in His mercy and in His love, to say ‘yes’ to Him. From without He is calling, and from within He is enabling so that we can have the strength. First of all, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, that we celebrated recently, which became possible very much due to His sacrificial Love!

We, human beings, scared sheep that we are, really do have difficulty believing the depth of His love. Yet, the Lord in His mercy and His care does love us. His love for us is stable, and it does not end. He wants us to live in Him, with Him, and to be like Him.

As we hear, the Apostle Paul is reminding us today the Lord has created all of us to be equal: “There is no partiality with God”.

And the undercurrent of this are the words of the Lord Himself, which come from the Old Testament, and which are repeated many times: “‘You shall be holy; for I, the Lord your God, am holy’” (3 Moses [Leviticus] 11:44). We are in Him. We are in His likeness, and He created us to be holy. He created us to be like Him. To be like God can only mean to be full of love, full of life-giving love, full of selfless love.

…

Two weeks ago, we celebrated the Great Feast of Pentecost and the descent of the Holy Spirit, the completion and sanctification of our Lord’s Salvation Work.

And last Sunday, we celebrated the feast of All Saints, whose holiness was the fruit of their collaboration with the same Holy Spirit, revealed to the world. They have witnessed the Grace of the Holy Spirit.

Today we celebrate the day of all the local saints, and the saints of our spiritual holy tradition. So, here, in Canada, we celebrate All Saints in the land of North America and the saints of our fore-fathers – the saints of Rus – Ukraine, Russia, Byelorussia, and the Slavonic saints of Poland, Austria, Hungary, Moldavia etc.

This reveals to us and to the entire world the holiness in time and space, and even ‘some certain place’, ‘some certain people’, our people… and here we start hearing this call personally: “Follow me!”

The Church, in her wisdom, wants us to clearly understand that holiness is not limited to anything, except, perhaps, our own rejection of it.

In whatever place we are, in whatever century we live, neither the special cross of life that we carry, nor our special calling in this life can separate us from the love of God and from the life in Him.

Even today one of the greatest evens related to our local saints is taking place here in North America: the official glorification — the canonization as a saint — of Righteous Olga (O’Michael) of Kwethluk (of Alaska, USA) (+1979), whose relics were obtained on November 16, 2024, in the city of Kwethluk.

Matushka Olga lived in the village of Kwethluk, an Aboriginal village. Olga was a midwife. And she was living as a widow (and even when her husband was living), and she was caring for needy children. She was making clothes for needy children, and she was also making food for children. She was making the food, and leaving it where the children could take it and not feel that it was being given to them, somehow (thus giving secretly). She was a very compassionate woman.

Since her death, many people are finding that the Lord is healing them through her prayers. This is happening not only in Alaska, but also in the United States and Canada, where she has become very well known. She is helping many women who have trouble with childbirth, with children, and with their husbands, also. Matushka Olga has been very helpful with her prayers since she has gone to the Lord.

…

In these days when we are having so many difficulties in our lives as Orthodox Christians, the Lord is showing signs such as this one through simple persons like Matushka Olga.

Wonderous is God in His saints! Even today, and even here, so close to us, healing people through the prayers of Matushka Olga, as well as all those who followed Him.

So that we can see how close the way of sanctity and holiness is, and how close is God to His saints, and could be to us if we live our life after their lives, and follow Him.

Amen.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!

It is no coincidence that the day dedicated to all saints is placed on the first Sunday after Pentecost: the very first thing we remember after the Church’s founding is holiness. This shows that saints are the fruit of the Church’s work in the world. Church and holiness are inseparable: without the Church there can be no holiness, yet the Church itself is inconceivable without saints. Were there no saints, it would mean that the Holy Spirit is not active in her and that the Lord’s words spoken already in the Old Testament—“Be holy, for I am holy” (Lev 11:45)—are not being fulfilled. If the Church has no saints, then it is not the Church of Christ. That is why, immediately after Pentecost and the remembrance of the Holy Spirit’s descent upon the apostles, the Church honors all the saints. What further proof could one need that the Orthodox Church is truly Christ’s Church?

Many people do not believe in holiness or venerate the saints—sadly, some of them even call themselves Christians. Such disbelief is madness: how else can one explain ignoring the obvious fact that thousands who believed in Christ as God and Savior left everything to follow Him? And how could people who sacrificed everything—even their own lives—for God not become saints?

By honoring the saints, we proclaim again: the Church is holy, the Holy Spirit dwells in her, and where the Spirit is, there are saints. To the very end of the world, despite every test and temptation, holiness in the Church will never fail.

Holiness cannot be reduced simply to “not doing evil.” Around us are many who are neither thieves, murderers, nor swindlers—but that alone does not make them saints. Refraining from great sins is not yet holiness; even doing good is no guarantee, for many do good only when circumstances permit. Let a disaster strike, and lofty intentions may vanish as a person thinks only of self-preservation.

So what is holiness? Scripture and the Fathers show that holiness is, above all, life in God. A saint is not someone who never once sinned or even thought of evil; a saint is one who lives wholly for Christ, in Christ, with Christ—whose every moment is devoted to doing God’s will, for God’s will is the beginning, foundation, and fulfillment of holiness. Only one who seeks the very source of holiness—God—can be holy. Seeing souls who long to keep His commandments and be united with Him, the Lord condescends and joins them to Himself. Thus holiness is born.

In today’s Gospel reading we heard words that may trouble even church-goers: “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Mt 10:37). Parents and children are a person’s dearest treasures—how are we to understand this? Christ is not telling us to stop loving our relatives. The Old Testament already commands “Honor your father and your mother,” the only Decalogue command with a promise: “that it may go well with you and you may live long on the earth” (Deut 5:16; cf. Eph 6:2-3). The Savior’s words point to a correct hierarchy of values: first God, then everyone else—parents, children, loved ones, and so on. Moreover, only by truly loving God can we learn to truly love our neighbor. Love of God never cancels love for family; it purifies it, cleansing it from every admixture of sin, passion, or flaw. That is the meaning of today’s Gospel.

We remember how Adam’s fall began: he preferred love for Eve over love for God. History shows that many crimes have been committed supposedly “for love” of husband, wife, or children. Love, far more than hatred, can blind a person and drive terrible deeds—jealous, irrational, or false love. But when we sincerely love God, we recognize something higher than merely human affection. If crimes arise from distorted love, divine love alone will never let us break love’s true law. “If you love Me,” Christ says, “keep My commandments” (Jn 14:15).

Thus, commemorating all the saints today, we see that a saint is one who lives for God. A saint loves everyone, yet clings to no one and nothing, for his heart is wholly given to the Lord. Saints were not identical grey-haired ascetics; they were as diverse as we are. St Seraphim of Sarov greeted visitors with “My joy, Christ is risen!”, while St John the Forerunner, whom Christ calls the greatest born of women, addressed some as “brood of vipers.” Both served God, loved people, and are glorified as saints. Holiness cannot be confined to human categories. As St Paul writes, “The spiritual man judges all things, yet he himself is judged by no one” (1 Cor 2:15): only another saint can truly comprehend a saint. Therefore the Church says holiness cannot be grasped in theory—one can only partake of it.

Saints have always unsettled the worldly-minded, because they do not fit ordinary ideas of righteousness. In that sense the saints, like the Church herself, become a stumbling block for those who love the world and its values. Here Christ’s words ring true: “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of Me.” (Mt 11:6).

So, on this feast of All Saints, the Church once more proclaims her greatest mystery: any person—even the most notorious sinner—can become a saint in Christ’s Church. No sinner is beyond repentance; no sin is beyond God’s forgiveness; no human being is rejected by the Church. The millennia-long experience of holiness confirms this truth with the countless saints who glorify God forever and ever. Amen!

The great feast of Pentecost is also called the Day of the Holy Trinity, the descent of the Holy Spirit, or the birth of Christ’s Church and sometimes – Green Sunday!

This is a remarkable feast brothers and sisters because with it the entire work of salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ comes to fruition, comes to completion, comes to perfection.

In the Old Testament Pentecost was the feast which occurred fifty days after the first Passover. Pentecost celebrated God’s gift of the ten commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai [ˈsaɪnaɪ] during their exodus – the liberation from Egypt and entrance into the Promised Land.

The “exodus” that we celebrate today is the liberation from sin as well as from all its consequences.

It was in the very beginning that sin separated us from God, and it caused a great discord between us and God and between each other, and inside of us… Sin is separation… Though nothing could separate God from his creation!

And this great feast is truly a celebration of spiritual re-unity.

As the Kontakion says: “When the Most High came down and confused the tongues, he divided the nations. But when he distributed the tongues of fire, he called all to unity. Therefore, with one voice, we glorify the All-Holy Spirit!” (Kontakion)

Everyone who heard the preaching of the Apostles on that day, heard it in their native languages. But it was not just the case of knowing all foreign languages but learning them either naturally or supernaturally, but that was the initial uncorrupt language, the sinless language of the Holy Spirit!

The Holy Spirit brings light and life, brothers and sisters — life and light to our souls and to our spirit!

Holy fathers say, Holy Spirit is like oxygen to our souls, just as we cannot live without oxygen we cannot live without the grace of God. Without the grace of the Holy Spirit people are not people!

The apostles left us the following commandment: “Do not extinguish the Spirit!”,

How not to put up this life-giving, but, as you see, very humble and long-suffering fire, how to keep and cherish it? How not to reject it, as there is no other hope for us.

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” – says apostle Paul (Gal. 5: 22-23).

“With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Math. 19, 26).

But if we carefully examine our hearts and do not find these fruits—or even find their opposites—it means we are still far from the Spirit’s presence. Yet even this recognition is already the work of the same grace, of the same Spirit, who illumines us and calls us to repentance. He does this through many means: by co-working with our conscience, through the reading of Holy Scripture, through the writings of the Holy Fathers, through the counsel of a spiritual guide, through our condensation to the weaknesses of the other people, not judgemental and forgiving, through prayer and fasting, and even through analyzing certain tribulations in our life.

Only then the Holy Spirit will dwell in us and help us do what is naturally impossible.

Oh Heavenly King the comforter the Spirit of Truth
who are everywhere and fillest all things
Treasury of blessings and giver of life
come and abide in us and cleanse us from every impurity
and save our souls oh good one. Amen!