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My Beloved Ones,
This Sunday’s Parable from the Gospel of Matthew contains an important lesson for all of us, if we are truly to unite ourselves to our Creator and to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
The Lord tells us of a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he approached a servant to whom he had loaned 10,000 talents, and found that the servant could not pay, the king ordered that he should be sent into debtor’s prison along with his wife, children, and all his possessions. The servant fell at his master’s feet, begging for time, and the king showed him mercy. However, this same servant later approached one of his coworkers, who owed him 100 denarii. When his fellow servant also begged for mercy, the Wicked Servant refused and had him thrown into prison.
Several other servants saw this, and they reported the Wicked Servant to the King. Naturally, the King was furious, and when he summoned the servant who owed him 10,000 talents he said, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you besought me; and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' (Matthew 18:32-33) Christ finishes this parable by explaining that the wicked servant’s fate will befall us too, “if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” (Matthew 18:35)
There are a few details we can examine to show the Wicked Servant’s hardness of heart. In saying the Wicked Servant owed 10,000 talents, the Lord is exaggerating to show us something. If we begin with the understanding that a denarius was the daily wage of a worker, and that one single talent could equal up 10,000 denarii, we understand the Wicked Servant’s trouble: he must work for 200,000 years to repay everything! By comparison, the fellow Servant’s 100 denarii is a very small amount. Also, remember that nowhere in the Bible is prison a punishment for debt. Our Lord is instead using the language of Roman laws to demonstrate that unlike the legalistic spirit of the pagans, even as sinful beings, we can hope only for God’s mercy to save us.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, let us not be like the Wicked Servant and forget the mercy of our own Heavenly King, who lovingly understands our weakness and faults. Let us instead willingly forgive our brothers and sisters for the wrongs they have done to us. Only then will we truly imitate the perfectness of our Father who is in Heaven.
+SEVASTIANOS
Metropolitan of Atlanta

Greek Orthodox Nun Elucidates the Plight of Christians in the Holy Land

Dear Brother Archons and friends of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,

Mother Agapia Stephanopoulos, a Greek Orthodox nun who has lived in the Holy Land for many years, recently granted a lengthy and detailed interview to journalist Tucker Carlson on the persecution of Christians in the Holy Land. If you have not watched this interview in its entirety already, I strongly urge you to do so, as Mother Agapia provides a uniquely illuminating perspective on the difficulties that our sister and brothers in the faith face on a daily basis.

As you watch this revealing and often shocking interview, please remain in prayer for the Greek Orthodox Christians of Israel and its environs, and for all the embattled Christians of that war-torn region.

Watch the interview here, and see a full transcript here.

Yours in the service of our Holy Mother Church,

Anthony J. Limberakis, MD
Archon Grand Aktouarios
National Commander

Homily for the Eleventh Sunday of Matthew

The Mystery of the Divine Eucharist

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

"Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?" (Matt. 18:33)

The parable of the ungrateful and cruel servant shows us the great philanthropy of God and the great inhumanity of man. That is, while God with His love forgives all our big sins, we cannot forgive the small sins of our brothers.

Some aspects of this truth will be highlighted below.

Saint Gregory Palamas, comparing the passage of the Second Coming of Christ with the parable of the ungrateful servant with the debt of the ten thousand talents, says that the passage of the Second Coming refers to the future judgment, while the events narrated in the parable of the debt of the ten thousand talents, "the present is eternity". In fact, the forgiveness of the servant's debt, his cruelty to his servant, his re-punishment, etc. cannot be referred to the terrible, impartial and final judgment, but to the present life.

Explaining how the events of the parable refer to the present life, Saint Gregory Palamas says that the Holy Temple is heaven and within the curtain - Holy Bema - there is the despotic throne on which the King of all sits and "speaks invisibly to his servants".

All of us who enter the Holy Temple are before Christ. From what is said during the worship and the Divine Liturgy, we understand the great debt we have towards the Despot Christ. At the same time we see the punishments that await us. Being in the Temple we repent, we fall to the ground, we pray to God, we promise that we will change our behavior and live godly for the rest of our lives and then Christ forgives all our debt. However, we, usually, coming out of the Holy Temple, "are burdensome to them (our brothers) and unrelenting and merciless", thinking of the small debt they owe us. Thus, Christ, seeing "unsympathetic and unyielding human beings, is justly angry with us" and hands us over to the torturers. That is, He delivers us on the one hand to present temptations, on the other hand to eternal and endless hell.

This eucharistic analysis has a deep meaning and is very topical. In the Divine Liturgy we experience the great love of God. Our heart captures His mercy and compassion. It is very characteristic that all the troparia of Orthodox worship ask for our mercy or end with God's mercy. Also, the incessant cry of our Church is "Lord have mercy".

Thus, coming out of the Divine Liturgy, we must be merciful to our brothers. Let us not remember what others did to us. Everything must be transformed. Not only to "attend" the Divine Liturgy, but to leave liturgical and to continue the Divine Liturgy in our lives. Whatever you liturgize, is liturgized properly and whatever is offered, is what is offered. The case of Christians, who leave the church with hatred and revenge, shows that they have not been liturgized. They stayed a few hours in the Temple, without understanding anything.

The parable of the ungrateful servant clearly shows the content of the Orthodox ethos. We can say with certainty that this is closely related to mercy. We stand before God to ask for mercy for the multitude of our transgressions, for wasting the many gifts He has given us, and we approach our brothers to offer mercy. It is observed that those who have spiritual senses and feel the mercy of God, they constantly spread mercy to their brothers. Those who love God also love others.

We, however, do not have an Orthodox ethos and, unfortunately, do the opposite. We do not approach God to ask for mercy, nor do we approach our brothers to offer mercy. Separated from God, we are also separated from our brother. This explains why we are cruel and merciless towards our brothers.

The case of the ungrateful servant also reveals another side. The slave was hard-hearted. He had no sensitive heart at all to be moved by the pain of others. In modern society, there is a lot of talk about sensitivity, about empathy. Because young people live in a "rational" society, which is full of cruelty and self-interest, they are looking for something sensitive. They make an effort to escape from the cruel rope of hypocrisy and inhumanity. They want to become sensitive people and they try to do so in many ways, with the result that they fall into various fallacies.

However, when we talk about sensitivity and empathy, we don't mean an emotional state or when we speak of the heart, we don't mean a feeling, just as when we talk about escaping from the coldness of reason, we don't mean a passage into the land of dreams and illusions. We mainly mean the arrival of divine Grace in the heart. The heart, when it is purified, becomes very sensitive, perceives all the problems of the world with pain, which is connected with love and peace, and prays for the whole world. Like a transmitter, he captures the pain of the world and offers effective help through prayer.

When we feel the mercy of God, then we will become truly merciful. We will have spiritual sensitivity, we will experience the Orthodox ethos and we will not be ungrateful and cruel slaves.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

https://youtu.be/HrPN3YQICAc

In the video above the Hellenic Byzantine Choir lead by Protopsaltis Lykourgos Aggelopoulos chant the Megalynaria of the Reception of Christ in a version composed by Peter Lambadarios (1730-1815).

Below is the original Greek text together with an English translation under it:

Ωδή θ’. Εν ή ψάλλονται τα επόμενα Μεγαλυνάρια. (Ήχος γ΄.)

Ακατάληπτον εστί, το τελούμενον εν σοί, και αγγέλοις και βροτοίς, Μητροπάρθενε αγνή.

Αγκαλίζεται χερσίν, ο πρεσβύτης Συμεών, τον του νόμου Ποιητήν, και Δεσπότην του παντός.

Βουληθείς ο Πλαστουργός, ίνα σὠση τον Αδάμ, μήτραν ώκησε την σήν, της Παρθένου και αγνής.

Γένος άπαν των βροτών, μακαρίζει σε Αγνή, και δοξάζει σε πιστώς, ως Μητέρα του Θεού.

Δεύτε, ίδετε Χριστόν, τον Δεσπότην του παντός, όν βαστάζει Συμεών, σήμερον εν τω ναώ.

Επιβλέπεις προς την γην, και ποιείς τρέμειν αυτήν, και πώς γέρων κεκμηκώς, σε κατέχει εν χερσί;

Ζήσας έτη Συμεών, έως είδε τον Χριστόν, και εβόα προς αυτόν· Νυν απόλυσιν ζητώ.

Η λαβίς η μυστική, η τον άνθρακα Χριστόν, συλλαβούσα εν γαστρί, συ υπάρχεις Μαριάμ.

Θέλων ενηνθρώπησας, ο προάναρχος Θεός, και ναώ προσφέρεσαι, τεσσαρακονθήμερος.

Κατελθόντ’ εξ ουρανού, τον Δεσπότην του παντός, υπεδέξατο αυτόν, Συμεών ο ιερεύς.

Λάμπρυνόν μου την ψυχήν, και το φως το αισθητόν, όπως ίδω καθαρώς, και κηρύξω σε Θεόν.

Ο Ειρμός

Εν νόμω σκιά και γράμματι, τύπον κατίδωμεν οι πιστοί· πάν άρσεν το την μήτραν διανοίγον, άγιον Θεω· διό πρωτότοκον Λόγον, Πατρός Ανάρχου Υιόν, πρωτοτοκούμενον Μητρί, απειράνδρω μεγαλύνωμεν.

Μητροπάρθενε αγνή, τί προσφέρεις τω ναώ, νέον βρέφος αποδούσ’ εν αγκάλαις Συμεών;

Εν νόμω σκιά και γράμματι…

Νυν απόλυσιν ζητώ, από σού του Πλαστουργού, ότι είδον σε Χριστέ, το σωτήριόν μου φως.

Τοις πριν νεογνών τρυγόνων ζεύγος, δυάς τε ην νεοσσών, ανθ’ ών ο θείος Πρέσβυς, και σώφρων Άννα προφήτις, τω εκ Παρθένου τεχθέντι, και οίω γόνω Πατρός, εν τω ναώ προσιόντι, λειτουργούντες εμεγάλυνον.

Όν οι άνω λειτουργοί, τρόμω λιτανεύουσι, κάτω νυν ο Συμεών, αγκαλίζεται χερσί.

Τοις πριν νεογνών τρυγόνων ζεύγος…

Δόξα Πατρί και Υιώ και Αγίω Πνεύματι.

Η τη φύσει μεν Μονάς, τοις προσώποις δε Τριάς, φύλαττε τους δούλους σου, τους πιστεύοντας εις σε.

Απέδωκάς μοι εβόα Συμεών, του Σωτηρίου σου Χριστέ αγαλλίασιν, απόλαβέ σου τον λάτριν, τον τη σκιά κεκμηκότα, νέον της χάριτος, ιεροκήρυκα μύστην, εν αινέσει μεγαλύνοντα.

Και νυν και αεί, και εις τους αιώνας των αιώνων· αμήν.

Θεοτόκε η ελπίς, πάντων των Χριστιανών, σκέπε φρούρει φύλαττε, τους ελπίζοντας εις σέ.

Ιεροπρεπώς ανθωμολογείτο, Άννα υποφητεύουσα, η σώφρων και Οσία, και πρέσβυρα τω Δεσπότη, εν τω ναώ διαρρήδην, την Θεοτόκον δε ανακηρύττουσα, πάσι τοις παρούσιν εμεγάλυνεν.

Ode 9 in Tone 3 From Matins For the Feast of the Presentation of Christ

That which was fulfilled in thee is beyond the understanding of Angels and mortal men, O Pure Virgin Mother.

Symeon the Elder takes in his arms the Maker of the Law and Master of all.

The Creator, wishing to save Adam, took up His dwelling in thy pure and virgin womb.

All mankind blesses thee, O Pure Virgin, and in faith glorifies thee as Theotokos.

Come ye and behold Christ the Master of all, Whom Symeon carries today in the Temple.

Thou looketh down upon the earth and maketh it tremble: how then can I, aged and weary, hold Thee in mine arms?

Symeon had lived for many years when he beheld Christ and cried aloud to him: "Now do I seek my release."

Mary, thou art the mystic tongs, who hast conceived in thy womb Christ the live Coal.

O God Who wast before all things began, of Thine own will hast Thou become man and art carried, a Child forty days old, into the Temple.

Symeon the Priest received the Lord of all, come down from heaven.

Illuminate my soul and the light of my senses, that I may see Thee in purity: and I will proclaim that Thou art God.

Eirmos

In the shadow and the letter of the Law, let us, the faithful, discern a figure: every male child that opens the womb shall be sanctified to God. Therefore do we magnify the First Born Word and Son of the Father without beginning, the First Born Child of a mother who had not known man.

O Pure Virgin Mother, why dost thou bring into the Temple a Newborn Babe and commit Him into the hands of Symeon?

From thee, the Creator, I now see release: for I have seen Thee, O Christ, my Salvation and my Light.

Of old the people offered a pair of doves and two young pigeons. In their stead the godly Elder and Anna the Prophetess, sober in spirit, ministered and gave glory to the Child of the Virgin, the Only Begotten Son of the Father, as He was brought into the Temple.

Him Whom the Ministers at the Liturgy on High entreat with trembling, here below Symeon now takes in his arms.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

O Thou by Nature One but in Persons Three, watch over Thy servants who put their faith in Thee.

"Thou hast committed to me the exceeding joy of Thy salvation, O Christ," cried Symeon. "Take Thy servant, who is weary of the shadow, and make him a new preacher of the mystery of Grace, as he magnifies Thee in praise!"

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

O Theotokos, thou hope of all Christians, protect, watch over and guard all those who put their hope in thee.

Holy Anna, sober in spirit and venerable in years, with reverence confessed the Master freely and openly in the Temple; and proclaiming the Theotokos, she magnified her before all who were present.

Protopresbyter Michael A. Platanis, Dean

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral

1900 Main Street - Columbia, SC 29201

Mailing Address:

1931 Sumter Street

803-252-6758 Church Office

803-403-7557 Cell

803-254-6197 Facsimile

NewSmyrna@gmail.com

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