That We Might See

In every Divine Liturgy, before the Gospel reading, The Prayer of the Holy Gospel is read:

Illumine our hearts, O Master who loves mankind, the pure light of your divine knowledge, and open the eyes of our mind that we may comprehend the proclamations of your Gospels.  Implant in us also reverence for your blessed commandments so that, having trampled down all carnal desires, we may lead a spiritual life, both thinking and doing all those things that are pleasing to you.  For you, Christ our God, are the illumination of our souls and bodies, and to you we offer up glory, together with your Father, who is without beginning, and your all-holy, good and life-creating Spirit, and and forever and to the ages of ages.

The Gospel reading for January 19, 2025 relays the account of the healing of the Blind Man of Jericho.  The text comes from St Luke 18: 35 – 43.  Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, and he passes through Jericho.  There is a blind man sitting along the way, and he is begging.  He hears the crowd coming to him, and asks what is happening.  The crowd informs him that Jesus is passing by with his disciples.  A portion of the narrative reads,

Those going before him rebuked him so that he might be silent.  But he cried out all the more, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  Jesus stood and ordered him to be brought to him.  And as he was drawing near, he asked him, saying, “What do you want me to do for you?”  And he said, “Lord, that I might see!”  And Jesus said to him, “See.  Your faith has saved you.”  And immediately he had sight, and he followed him glorifying God.  And all the people seeing [this] gave praise to God (St Luke 18: 39 – 43).

As the text reads, with his regained sight he followed Jesus and gave glory to God.  Hopefully, he was also now following with an illumined heart and with the eyes of his mind opened to walk along the path that leads to salvation.  With such spiritual sight, and being led and empowered by the Holy Spirit, one will not wander from the path required by Christ:

Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few (St Matthew 7: 13 -14).

With such new, spiritual sight, we also need new and proper clothing for this journey with Christ.  But first, we must discard improper clothing, clothing unfit for walking along the narrow path:  “…and seeing that you have taken off the old man with his practices…put on the new man who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator”…(Colossians 3: 9 – 10).  Thus, we see the need for a new wardrobe.  From the day’s epistle reading St Paul tells us what we are to be wearing as we follow Christ:

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience.  Forbear one another and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also must forgive.  And over all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body.  And, become thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God (Colossians 3: 12 – 16).

Let me list the articles of clothing we are to wear:  compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, love (as an overcoat), the peacefulness of Christ, and thankfulness.

There is a saying, “The clothes make the man.”  How are these new clothes to be put on, or better, worked into our lives to make us the man, or woman, of God?  The suit is put on by doing, or practicing, them.  I offer a favorite axiom:  “To become, you must do.”

Therefore, with renewed sight and new holy garments, we must have a new volition — a will that the Holy Spirit can use to accomplish our sanctification.  St Macarius the Great of Egypt informs us:

For those truly believing in Christ, it is necessary to change and transform the soul from its present degraded nature into another, divine nature, and to be fashioned anew by the power of the Holy Spirit…He grants to everyone’s free will the grace of the Holy Spirit, which operates in an individual and directs the life of all who yearn to be saved.

I repeat the axiom:  “To become, you must do.”  We put on these garments of light and life by choosing to “do” them.  As we choose and “do” these garments, these virtues will be worked into our souls — into our very being — by the Holy Spirit.  These holy clothes will be seen and recognized by those who observe them when displayed by our lives of faith.

In closing, I present this prayer which is found near the conclusion of the First Hour:

O Christ, the True Light that enlightens and sanctifies every man that comes into the world, let the light of your countenance be signed upon us, that in it we might behold the Unapproachable Light.  Guide our footsteps in the keeping of Your commandments, by the prayers of your most pure Mother and of all your saints.  Amen.

The following is the corresponding sermon:

In Christ,

Fr Irenaeus