Sermons & Homilies
Time impresses itself on our attention most frequently when we realize that it will come to an end. At these moments, what comes to the fore is the vanity of much of what we do, the pettiness of our likes and dislikes, and the impermanence of all that we hold dear. It motivates us to change, to become better, to live our life differently. Yet, this surge of enthusiasm wears off. How is it that a near-death experience, a bout with cancer, or the loss of a loved one draws us into such an atmosphere without our consent, the value of which is evident to us but seems so fleeting as time moves on and we become forgetful of those moments?
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In the Epistle appointed for this Sunday, we hear St. Paul instructing us in a very important truth concerning the Holy Scriptures: “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” Such an understanding of the Scriptures is absolutely foundational to the Christian life: the Divine Scriptures are not merely stories about events that occurred halfway around the world many thousands of years ago, nor are they a collection of abstract and intellectual propositions concerning abstruse systems of theology. No, quite the contrary.
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Today we commemorate St. Mary of Egypt, who is the third Saint whom the Church has brought to our attention during this period of Great Lent; the first two being St. Gregory Palamas and St. John Climacus. Last Sunday we commemorated St. John Climacus as the model of ascetics and today we commemorate St. Mary of Egypt, who is for us the model of repentance as we sang in the exapostilarion for the saint last evening, “Thee we have as a pattern of repentance, all-holy Mary.” From her life, let us see how this is so.
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