This Sunday's readings are continuous, near the beginning of Matthew. They should be read as a whole and contain important instructions in three things that are absolutely necessary to be saved. We must decide to follow Christ, leave our nets, and climb to top of the Mountain, (the only place) where Christ is. Without simple resolutions on our part, we cannot ever understand the truth about the God-man, Jesus Christ.
Personal request: I am always interested in improving the message. I thought my homily was one of my best, but when I asked for some feedback, I was told I rambled a bit and treid to say too much, and that it was too long. I would appreciate honest critical comments. This subject is at the core of what I try to teach my flock, and I want to do it well.
Matthew 4:18-23, 4:25-5:12 18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. 21 And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. 22 And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. 23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. … 25 And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan. 1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. 10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
More homilies (text, audio, video) on the Second Sunday after Pentecost and All Saints of Russia are at:
http://www.orthodox.net/sermons/index.html#2nd_Sunday_after_Pentecost
If the "LISTEN NOW" link does not work, copy this URL into your browser: http://www.orthodox.net/sermons/pentecost-sunday-02_2010-06-06+all-saints-of-russia+3-necessary-things.m3u
If this file does not work for you, try the direct link to the actual mp3 file:http://www.orthodox.net/sermons/pentecost-sunday-02_2010-06-06+all-saints-of-russia+3-necessary-things.mp3
RSS feed of Sunday and some weekday homilies:http://feeds.feedburner.com/OrthodoxChristianSermonsOnTheGospelsEpistlesAndOtherTopicsArchive of Audio and text homilies:http://www.orthodox.net/sermons
Father, Bless,
It is clear that you are speaking from your heart about the most important thing of all—our salvation. Your deep love and concern for your flock is very apparent in your voice. Perhaps the reason that it may come across as rambling and long is that you are trying to convey knowledge that is difficult to explain in words—knowledge that is best revealed in the love and earnestness of the speaker.
We don’t really understand what you mean when you speak of 'holiness' and all the words in the world will not really be able to explain it to us. The concept of holiness sounds so ethereal, unattainable and sometimes even impractical to our sinful ears. We don’t even really know why we need to be holy. Yes we know we must become holy to be saved and it is clear to us that we need salvation from our sins. But our sins keep us from understanding what these concepts of salvation and holiness really mean. Our sins keep us from seeing our true sinfulness or our need for holiness. So you are trying to explain something to us that is simple but extremely difficult to explain and even more difficult for us to comprehend. (In fact, apart from the grace of God, these things are impossible for us to understand.)
I do this all the time with my children. I have something on my heart I wish to share with them—the hard won knowledge of experience. So I begin talking to them. I know what I am trying to say and I keep trying to find different ways of conveying it. I go on and on, speaking of things that are important and make sense to me—but I can tell from the glazed look in their eyes that I am not going to be able to inject my knowledge and experience into them like a simple transfusion.
So I can’t really offer any suggestions of improvement on you homilies, but I can assure you that your message is being conveyed to us—although perhaps not as much by your words as by your prayers and priestly service, and through your dedication, concern and demonstration of God’s love.