2nd Sunday in Luke 2007

I'm sure that all of us are well aware of the fact, that our Lord's teachings chiefly centered around the supreme virtue of love. So many times He appealed to His listeners to "love one another." In today's Gospel Lesson, we heard the Lord state that, which most people say is impossible. He stated: "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those, who love them. But, I say unto you: "Love your enemies, and your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High."

As always, our Lord gave substance to His Teachings, especially suffering torture on the Cross in the midday sun, by forgiving His torturers saying: "Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing!"

Just three years later, the first Martyr of Christendom, the Archdeacon, St. Stephen, also forgave those, who were stoning him to death for preaching the new Faith! Many others imitated the Lord by forgiving their enemies. Perhaps, in a miniscule way, many Christians have imitated the way of the Saints. How many times we have heard God-fearing Christians, who having suffered some injustice, chose the Christian way by saying: "May God forgive them," whereas so many others would seek revenge!

St. Paul, the arch-persecutor of the first Christians, and who became Christianity's greatest Apostle, emphasizes in his Epistle to the Galatians, chap 5, verses 22 - 26. the stepping stones, which lead to the peak of perfection. Just listen how beautifully he lays the foundation.

He says: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, fidelity, gentleness and self-control. Those, who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." St. Paul completes this teaching by saying: "If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another, and no envy of one another."

The basic problems of humans, are no different today, than they were 2000 years ago. We are tempted by the same sins, and we still face the greatest of all problems --- self-mastery --- to become masters over ourselves through self-discipline.

How happy, or rather I would say, how victorious is the person, who has succeeded in the art of self-mastery! The person, who has succeeded in reaping the rich harvest of self-discipline. But, to reach this point of self-mastery in life, St. Paul outlines, and heads the list of virtues by the supreme of all virtues - love. From love, source all the other virtues. Love is Christianity's supreme ideal, because it truly binds a person to God, and unites humans among themselves. Love is truly the fulfillment of the law.

St. Paul, in speaking of the harvest of the Spirit, and mentioning the virtues quoted; all these are social virtues. They are interpersonal, and can be practiced only in our relations with our fellow humans. But, without question, the most powerful of all human desires, is the desire to love, -- to be wanted, and to be needed by others.

St. John the Evangelist, in his 1St Epistle, chapter 4, verses 7 and 8, is most eloquent when he tells us: "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone that loves, is born of God, and knows God. He who does not love, does not know God; for God is love."

In the 1St edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica in 1768, there were only four lines on the subject of the atom, and five whole pages on love. In the last Edition of the Brittanica, there were 20 full pages on the atom, and NO separate entry on love. Does this not give us an answer of how values have shifted, and the fact that the spiritual has given way to the material?

The word "love," without a doubt has become the most misused, and the most abused, and even degraded word in our day. We're not wrong to hold Hollywood and TV as he worst offenders, because their version of love is lust.

The Greek language, in which the New Testament was written. is

 always so precise, and helps us find the true meaning of the word love. In English, we use the word love to express the supreme Christian virtue. But, the same word for the Hollywood and TV version is lust. Love, being one of the 3 meanings in Greek, the Greek word is "eros." That is the meaning of love for Hollywood and T.V. for love.

Secondly the word love is also known as "philia", which means "friendship." The city of Philadelphia literally means the City of Brotherly love. Thirdly, we have the ultimate in love, as only the Greek word can express it. It is called "Agape." This is the epitome of love.

Agape expresses God's supreme love for the human race. Thus, in Greek we have 3 distinct meanings for love; Eros, Philia and Agape. It has been said that Eros, is all take; and this is so true with the life of any sinner. Philia, is give and take, and of course the sinner can give and take; but when it comes to Christianity, it is all give. Our Lord is the prime example "by giving His Life for the ransom of all." (Matthew 20:28).

All Christians should check their actions, to see if they are within the context of the supreme virtue, Agape, be it in our Family, in our inter­personal relationships, in our every day experiences, in our work and no less in our Churches.

Somehow, we expect people to come to us, but the ideal is for us to make the first move. Somehow, we tend to exclude ourselves from the obligation we have, to apply the Golden Rule, as pronounced by our Lord in today's Gospel Lesson "Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you." (Matthew 7:12). When the Golden Rule is applied, we sense deeply the spiritual harvest, that takes place in our total being. We sense fulfillment, by burying our old nature and putting on the armor of light, as St. Paul states in Romans, 13:12. This can only happen when our Christian Agape dominates our life. Amen.

+ Fr George Papadeas

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Last modified: 19 May, 2011 11:16:58 AM