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1st Sunday in Matthew - Holy
Fathers of the 1st Ecumenical Council
"Father, I glorified
You on earth, having accomplished the work, which You had given Me to do." John
17:4 This phrase is from the 17th
Chapter of St. John's Gospel. The whole chapter in its entirety, can give us the
strength, emphasized in prayer. The whole Chapter is a prayer of the Lord Jesus,
which He prayed shortly before He was to be captured and hung upon the cross. I
would strongly then suggest, that you remember to read and meditate on the 17th
Chapter of St. John, which we heard from today's Gospel Lesson. How blessed we would be my
beloved, if we were worthy at sometime in our life, to be able to repeat the
very same words of Jesus, by praying to God and saying: "Father, I
glorified you while living on earth, and I accomplished the work, which You had
given me to do!" This prayer was selected by
the Holy Fathers of our Church to be read each year today, the Sunday before
Pentecost, so that we could honor the Holy Fathers of the 1st Ecumenical
Council, held in Nicaea, near Constantinople in 325 A.D. This prayer reflected the
work that the Holy Fathers did to preserve the unity of the Faith and the Church
by giving us the first 7 Articles of our Creed, which we all recited some
minutes ago. Therefore, I would like for
us today to concentrate on this most vital expression, which we call prayer. I am sure that at some
moment we may have heard, or we may have even said of ourselves, how on some
occasion we experienced a bitter disappointment in prayer. It seemed as if we
prayed and prayed, but ultimately it seemed in vain! Periodically we see in the
papers, or on TV, of a tragic circumstance, where a person's life hangs in
balance. We are deeply touched, as are countless people, and personal prayers
are offered countrywide. But, when the tragic occurrence ends in tragedy, so
many who prayed wonder, if their prayers were in vain. Of course, it is most
natural to ask the question: "why did not God hear the voice of so many,
and permitted the accident victim to die?" On the other hand, are we to
think, that it is vain to expect an answer in prayer? And that God will not, or
does not hear our petitions? Still further, does it mean that perhaps we may
have confused notions as to what prayer really is? Does the trouble lie with
prayer itself, or, is it due rather, to our methods of prayer, and the type of
things, for which we pray? It has been proven over and
over again, that prayer is the greatest single reservoir of spiritual power
available to anyone. -Yet, it remains largely untapped. Why do we fail to take
advantage of prayer? Let's begin with noting a few things that prayer is not. No. l. Prayer is not a blank
check on which God places His signature. God's infinite wisdom, is not at the
mercy of the whims of finite men and women. No. 2. Prayer is not a
rabbit's foot, or some other charm, which people think will protect them from
all evil. Dependence on these charms is not an expression of true faith, but a
reversion to primitive superstition. No. 3. Prayer is not a
child's letter to Santa Claus. No. 4. True prayer is never
an attempt to change God's mind, or, to bring Him around to our way of thinking. These,
and so many other fallacious ways of looking at prayer, must not constitute the
essence of our conversing with God. Our Lord Jesus re-assured us that no true
prayer ever goes unanswered. While we may agree, that a particular request in
prayer may be denied, we must believe that true prayer can never be lost. Divine
Love and Divine response belong to the very essence of prayer. This Love in
itself, constitutes the greatest gift and privilege that God has given to
mankind - the right to call Him, Father. On one
occasion, when our Lord was discussing prayer with His Disciples, He mentioned
that if they wanted to understand God's relationship to man, they should always
think of a kind and just human father. Jesus illustrated this by saying:
"If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will the father
give him a stone? Or, if the son asks for a fish, will the father give him a
serpent?" Jesus
still further asks: "Would a father seek to deceive and ultimately destroy
his child?" Then he concludes: "If then, a human father, with all his
weaknesses and sins plans and seeks the best for his children, how much more,
shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit for guidance and counsel to them
that ask of Him" Now
then, the fault lies not in the father, but in the son, who instead of bread
asks for stone, and instead of fish asks for a serpent! Our prayers oftentimes
remain unanswered because God the Father refuses to give us a stone; He insists
on giving us bread. God knows the things that we need to fulfill our life, and
which ultimately will lead us to the path of salvation. Jesus
repeatedly emphasized the need to beseech God in prayer, which indeed makes us
sensitive to God's presence. When we experience this
through our faith, patience and perseverance, all our problems, desires and
anxieties will have been minimized in the realization, that God is
truly with us, and really nothing else matters. When we pray in this manner
with all our mind and all our heart, a transformation will be felt; and when we
have finished praying, we shall be so undergirded with spiritual power, that we
will wonder, why we were ever so baffled by our problems. It is so very important for
us as children or God, to keep alive in our heart an awareness of God's presence
not only when we are concentrating in prayer, but throughout each day. For instance, anytime we
take time for a walk, we should not take things for granted, but we should
marvel at nature, which the Lord has bequeathed to us. Looking up at the sky,
the mountains, the forests and bodies of water, we should sense God's presence
and inwardly repeat like the Psalmist:"Lord, how marvelous are Your works;
You have created everything in wisdom!" Thus, when we are conscious
of God's presence in our life, we can be sure that in the midst of this fevered
generation, we will find ourselves moving with quietness, serenity and
tremendous inner strength! The greatest men and women whom the world has known,
are those, who have walked with God. There is no question that we
all have our share of life's trials, tribulations and disappointments; life's
temptations and difficulties. For these, there is no stimulus half as great as
the assurance that God is with us, and that the spiritual forces of the Godhead
are at our side. God
does not give to a closed mind or a
concealed heart. Therefore, we must open up our mind and our heart to Him.
Prayer means just that, - - the opening of our soul to the spiritual forces and
influences that are playing all around us, just as the sunshine plays on the
closed shutters bright and early in the morning. Open
the shutters quickly and fully and we see what happens. The light and warmth of
the sun immediately and completely envelop us. So it is, that the thoughtful
person dares not set limits to the power of prayer, because, as it has been well
said: "More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of." After
all, prayer is founded, - not on argument, nor on experience. Throughout all
human history, all great men have prayed, and thus received strength from Above
to face great tasks. Yes,
prayer through faith, has the power to move mountains of fear and worries. But,
this conviction can be ours, ONLY if we have sought and found the will of God.
That is when we should fully believe and accept the phrase from the Lord's
Prayer "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven!" If we are
conscious of our Christian convictions, and have truly made sincere efforts to
be spiritually fortified, there is no doubt that we shall be able to repeat with
the Psalmist David: "I called upon the Lord in distress; the Lord answered
me and set me free. The Lord is on my side; I will fear not. What can man
possibly do unto me?" back to sermons |
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