St. George Orthodox Church Homilies and Reflections

Prokeimenon. Mode 1. Psalm 32.22,1 Let your mercy, O Lord, be upon us. Verse: Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous. The reading is from St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians 9:6-11 Brethren, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work. As it is written, "He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures for ever." He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your resources and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for great generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. Luke 8:26-39 At that time, as Jesus arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, there met him a man from the city who had demons; for a long time he had worn no clothes and he lived not in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, and said with a loud voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beseech you, do not torment me." For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him; he was kept under guard, and bound with chains and fetters, but he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the desert.) Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Legion"; for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside; and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them leave. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. When the herdsmen saw what happened, they fled, and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how he who had been possessed with demons was healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked him to depart from them; for they were seized with great fear; so he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but he sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

Polemics and war. Do they have a similar effect on the soul? A culture warrior, or polemicist is one who is given to controversy, who wars with words. The object is not dialogue, but the destruction of one's opponent. Our face turned against them as an enemy, we engage in the sort of discussion that St. Paul urges Titus to avoid (Titus 3:9) - a factious discussion, one brother acting as an inquisitor to the other. Do we sometimes take the same misguided approach to the culture wars that we do to actual war, suffering the same consequences and the same inability to heal? What if we utilized polemics only as a last resort, aware of the damage that it causes to others and ourselves? And what if when we did find ourselves tragically forced to use it we recognized that even if we "win", we will have healing to do on the other side of the conversation? Both for our own sake, and for the others. Do we recognize the trauma inflicted by the culture wars and seek its healing?

The Gospel According to Luke 8:5-15 English Ελληνικά [https://www.goarch.org/chapel/lectionary?p_p_id=82&p_p_lifecycle=1&p_p_state=normal&p_p_mode=view&p_p_col_id=column-1&p_p_col_count=1&_82_struts_action=%2Flanguage%2Fview&_82_redirect=%2Fchapel%2Flectionary%3Ftype%3DG%26code%3D189%26event%3D883&_onlinechapelreadingdetails_WAR_onlinechapelportlet_languageId=el_GR] [https://www.goarch.org/goarch-site-theme/images/common/print.png]Print The Lord said this parable: "A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold." And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience." As he said these things, he cried out "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

The Gospel According to Luke 7:11-16 At that time, Jesus went to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd from the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." And he came and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all; and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and "God has visited his people!"

Living In God's Creation; Orthodox Perspectives on Ecology [https://svspress.com/living-in-gods-creation-orthodox-perspectives-on-ecology/], by Elizabeth Theokritoff On Themes in the Church Fathers: Matter and the mystery of Salvation And, On the Need for Wonder.