January, 2018

My Beloved the benevolent

I would like to congratulate you all on the New Year and the Feast of the Nativity, may the Lord bless the New Year, rejoicing in the glorious Feast of Nativity of our Good Lord.

The month of January is a month filled with many feasts of our Lord, we rejoice during this month with the Feast of Nativity, the feast of Circumcision, the Holy Theophany, and the Wedding of Cana of Galilee.  We rejoice in these feasts with the Our Good Lord who came for the salvation of our souls.

                In Christ our Lord, the prophecy of Isiah was fulfilled which Christ Jesus has read at the synagogue in Nazareth, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” Lu.4:18-19, Is.61:1,2 and the Lord said after He read the scriptures, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Lu.4:21

I would like to contemplate on what Isiah wrote about Christ’s mission, “He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted”; Christ came to save humans whose hearts were broken by sin, as was told about them “The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” Matt.4:16, and here we pray in Monday’s Theotokia, “While Adam was sad, God was pleased to bring him back, to his authority. He shone in the flesh, taken from the virgin, without the seed of man, in order to save us. ”

In Christ’s ministry, He healed the brokenhearted.  We can ponder upon how Christ healed the widow of the son of Nain, who lost her husband and then her only son in his youth. This widow was walking behind the coffin to bury him and to bury with him all hope in her life. She did not know the Lord Jesus, and did not think that there was hope, her broken heart overcame her thoughts. The Bible says, “When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her.” Lu. 7:13 God looks upon our pain and sadness, He looks upon our suffering and has compassion on us, even if grief overshadows our hearts and we’re unable or unwilling to take up to Him our suffering because our heart is broken, “A broken and humbled heart, God shall not despise.” Psalm 50:17

These days, with the increasing terrorist attacks on Christians in Egypt, we remember the child Nesmeh Wael, who was with her mother, the martyred Nermeen Sadek.  She saw the terrorist shoot her mom, who then fell before she was taken to the hospital. Here we can imagine 13 year old Nesmeh’s young heart that was broken with this horrific criminal terrorist act. Although many of her family and friends were surrounding her to console her, but who would be able to console her except He who consoled the heart of the widow of Nain, who lost her son? We ask You O Good Lord, to look upon Nesmeh and every broken heart, to have compassion on Your people and take away from us these sufferings.

The Lord Jesus came to the widow of Nain and told her “Do not weep.” How can she not weep? She lost her husband and then son. This is true according to human measures, but with Our Good Lord, He wipes away every tear of those who are brokenhearted.

We ask you O Good Lord to say to Nesmeh and every broken heart, “Do not weep.” As we say in the Resurrection Praise, “Why did you mix fragrant oil, weeping and mourning, with each other O Disciples of the Lord? The luminous angel at the tomb said to the women carrying the spices, “Look and be aware that the Savior has risen from the dead.” Truly, we do not weep because Our Christ is living, Our Christ is strong, Our Christ is capable to destroy the evil ones and bring justice to the oppressed.

“Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still, and He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, arise.’ So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.” Lu.7:14-15 We ask you O Good Lord to open Nesmeh’s eyes to see her martyred mother Nermeen alive, for you trampled death with death and granted eternal life to those who are in the tombs. For You promised; and Your promise is true when You raised Lazarus from the dead, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” Jn.11:15-26

Nesmeh, trust that your mother, Nermeen is living with the souls that John the Beloved saw under the altar, “Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.” Rev.6:11 Let us work with Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ to heal those who are brokenhearted, by helping them face life’s circumstances, by supporting Santa Verena Charity Programs which seeks to help those who are brokenhearted. May the Lord bless your offerings for the glory of His Holy Name.

                                                                                                                                                                Metropolitan Serapion