A sermon of His Grace, Bishop Parthenius of Antania, Abbot of the Holy Bigorski Monastery, delivered on Meatfare Sunday during the Liturgy at the Church of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victory-Bearer on the 7th of March 2021
My dear faithful from Struga, first let me thank you for inviting me, the smallest and least worthy among the Bishops, to celebrate today the Eucharistic Mystery in this wonderful church, built by our God-loving and noble ancestors. Also I’m very grateful to the main priest of this church, protoereus Vasko Golabovski, my faithful spiritual child, who works diligently on the field of God and indulged the wish of the faithful who wanted me to be with you here today. But above all, I would like to convey my special gratitude to our most respected Metropolitan of Debar and Kichevo, His Eminence Mr. Timothy, who gave his blessing for this Holy Eucharistic gathering.Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world… the righteous go into life eternal.
(Matthew 25:34-46)
Still, my dear ones, as we have said, our fear from hell should not be the main reason for us to approach Christ, but rather our love for Him. St. John Chrysostom explains it in this way: “Our suffering should not be from the eternal fire, but rather from the fear that we might be deprived of seeing that most wonderful sweet face of Jesus Christ.” You have probably felt in your lives how much inspiring is just to look at the person you love. The parents, for instance, would endure anything, would overcome any difficulty or temptation only to see their child healthy and happy. Therefore, love and the presence of the most sweet face of our Lord should be our imperative too, if we want to be with Him in all eternity. That’s because the Kingdom of God and the eternal life begins here and now, in this life. In the Church we are given opportunity to live the Heavenly Kingdom even now, while on Earth. Our Lord Jesus Christ was incarnated once and then became poor in order to make us rich. We can see His image on the holy icons. He became a Man, visible to us, so that by seeing Him and uniting with Him, we could become citizens of Heaven even in this life. The attaining of this citizenship for eternal life happens here in the divine temple, where through the holy mysteries of the Church, we have the opportunity to unite with the eternal Christ.
But, my dear ones, it is of great importance to know that in order to be close to Him we should recognize his image in the souls of our neighbors. In fact we should be especially careful regarding His two greatest Commands: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength… Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself! (Mark 12:30-31) It’s not possible for us to be close to our Saviour if we cannot attain true loving relations with all the people around us in this world. He is the real Spring of love from Whom we should drink and then convey this love to our neighbors. In today’s Gospel He clearly says to those on His right side: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. (Matthew 25:35-36) Take notice the way He, the Merciful One, is present in every human being, is identified with the smallest, the most insignificant; He stretches His hand before us as a beggar, so that He could give us the eternal life. He presents Himself to us as a beggar, prisoner or ill person. That’s right, He came to save every man and despises no one in this world. Therefore if we want to be true Christians, to be truly Christ’s disciples, it’s essential that we have good relations with all His children. We too are His children, but so are the others around us. That’s why we should never measure the love we give the others. We should give it abundantly, without expecting anything in return. Then we could truly be called disciples of Christ and inherit the Heavenly Kingdom.
And one more thing. Christ’s return to Earth is a joy for the true believer, because he longs for His most beloved face every day. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh (Luke 21,28). Hence, those intimidations about Dooms Day which are popular today, unfortunately, even within the Orthodox Church, are completely wrong. Coming here, a spiritual child sent me a message: “Dear Bishop, do not take the corona vaccine at all, because the Antichrist wants to kill us all! If we are to die, at least let us die for the sake of Christ.” Of course, this long-time believer wrote the message to me out of love, because she respects me, but look how much that false apocalyptic propaganda has penetrated the Church and fed the souls of the faithful with harmful food, with something foreign to Orthodox theology and tradition. This is what Christ meant when he spoke of the ending times: Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For false Christs and false prophets shall appear, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive even the elect (Matthew 23,24). And you should know, this goes not only for the infidel and heretics, but also for the Orthodox clergy and believers, all-knowing, who understand everything, know what vaccines contain (and do not listen to the medical experts and science given by God who have the responsibility to say whether the thing is harmful or not). They even announce the Coming of the Lord. And they insist on imposing all this on others, spreading fear and creating doubts in their souls. Do you understand how wrong those unhealthy insinuations are regarding the End, the Last Judgment and the Second Coming of Christ? Yes, we believe and know that the linear course of history will come to an end, that Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead, but we, as believers, should rejoice in His coming. And we will rejoice if we are with Him in this life. I have to wait for Him and long for Him every night; I should rejoice in the face of our Lord every day; should seek Him, long for Him every day. Magnificent is the dialogue found in the last chapter of the Revelation of St. John the Theologian: “Lord, when will you come? Come, Lord Jesus, hasten! ”Yes, I am coming soon! Both the Spirit and the Bride say: Amen! Let it come! Lord Jesus! Who is the Spirit? He is the Holy Spirit who dwells in the Church. And the Bride? The Bride is the Church. So, the real faithful, my beloved ones, the one who really knows Christ, he longs for Christ and says to Him: “Come, Lord Jesus!” That is a true Christian. He awaits Christ as a Redeemer; a Redeemer from sin, from suffering, from death. And the exact time of the End and of the Last Judgment is not ours to know. Christ Himself speaks plainly about this: But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only (Matthew 24,36). He wants to tell us that we should not deal with it, but rather strive to be with Him every day. You know, even in the first century Christians thought that Christ would come and the world would end. If you read, for example, the Epistle of Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians, you will notice his paternal reproach to them regarding this: “How many times have I told you of the Second Coming of Christ! “Until the antichrist appears, Christ will not come.” The Apostle scolded them because some of them, as soon as they heard that the Lord was coming soon, left their jobs, closed their shops, and began to walk from door to door, idling and judging. We should strive and work as if we were going to live long, and prepare for the final encounter with Christ as if today were our last day. For we are much more likely to stand before our personal Judgment, than to witness the Second Coming. How should I know that tonight My Lord would not take my soul? If we think like this, we will be righteous Christians. My dear ones, let us pray that God gives us the most important thing – love. Seek it constantly, love one another, and be of one mind; then the Lord will multiply you and give you eternal life. If we love one another and are like the Christians whom the Lord set at His right side in today’s Gospel, I assure you, this temple would be too small, we would need more churches, more people would be saved and enter the Kingdom prepared by the Father since the creation of the world. I wish you to be true Christians, who will only fear what they should – sin and not some unreasonable projections of their mind. But above all, I want you to be Christians who will love devotionally and long for the beautiful and most beloved face of Christ, our source of joy and love. Because He Himself is the Kingdom of Heaven, the eternal life, as St. John the Theologian, says: And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent (John 17,3). May you all be blessed and I wish you a God-pleasing Lent!
