Sunday sermon by His Eminence Archbishop Serafim Kykotis of the Orthodox Archbishopric of Zimbabwe (May 17, 2020)

Διαδώστε:

Today’s Gospel extract refers to the dialogue Jesus Christ had with a Samaritan woman, who was in fact considered by the Jews to be a fallen, sinful woman, who had denied and betrayed her national Jewish identity. This is why John the Evangelist stresses that it was not common for the Jews to have any sort of social contact with the Samaritans. As in the case of the parable of the Good Samaritan where it is proven that he who theoretically lays claim to something like this is not close to God, but he who does the will of God, is.

Close to God is he who goes to Church and lights candles and simultaneously in his daily life tries to transform life’s hell into a Paradise. Close to God is he who often attends Church and partakes worthily of the holy and sacred Sacraments of the Church and simultaneously in his daily life becomes the light of Christ who enlightens his neighbours.

It is he who with patience and sacrifice tries to help everybody as much as possible. He continually prays to God for enlightenment, so that he does not wrong anybody and he simultaneously has as his role model his patron Saint after whom he is named. He tries to be compassionate, peaceful, friendly, humble, honest, generous, patient, fair, well-intentioned, calm and tranquil. He tries to be a friend to everybody with his goodness and love. He tries to behave like the Saints of our Church. He is aware that his nature is relative and incomplete. He is aware that only when he follows the perfect and complete God, can he also become complete. That is, he tries to become complete as a personality so that he can bring about the joy of creation in his life as well as the beauty of life.

Naturally, he begins by trying to improve the life of his family members and in continuation the lives of other people whom he meets daily but also when he can, the lives of those who are suffering and those who are far from him, as is evident with the example of first Christians of the first century of today’s Gospel extract, who entrust their Church leadership and send their help to the rest of the Christians who were suffering in the Palestinian region.

. The greatness of offering assistance to people does not as much benefit those who accept our help, as much as it benefits us who help, because while those persons who accept our help are assisted materially and morally for a little while in the present life, we who offer our help accept God’s grace which leads us to eternal life, to salvation through Christ.

This is why therefore, in the eternal life, Christ refers today to His dialogue with the Samaritan woman. Eternal life is correct knowledge due to the real God. By man knowing the real God, he also lives a real, genuine life. He lives according to the will of God. He advances spiritually and he contributes to the spiritual and social progress of the society in which he lives with his creative and positive presence. The example of the Samaritan woman which our Church extends to us today, aims to also give a message of hope to those of us who have become entrapped and imprisoned by our great sins to become conscious of the fact that when we ask God for His forgiveness and we show true repentance, He again accepts us close to Him. This is why the Sacrament of Holy confession is absolutely necessary for all of us.

Simultaneously, with reference to the dissolute and sinful life of the Samaritan woman who changes men like one changes shirts with her unlawful relationships of prostitution, our Church wants to remind us and to underline to us the importance of the Sacrament of Marriage.

The Samaritan woman was baptized by Saint Peter on the day of Pentecost, she is know as saint Photini. She proclaimed the Gospel in Africa, Minor Asia and in Rome and she became Martyr of the Church during the Roman persecutions with her sons and her sisters.

When we remember how the roman emperors, because of their corruption, started killing everyday many Christians, we take strength by God to be strong during this threat of the Pandemic of coronavirus to rely on God and assisting each other, showing everyday between us social solidarity, carry on praying God to protect us and very soon to get the medicine we need for killing coronavirus.

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