This week’s Gospel begins just after our Lord comes down from Mount Tabor. There was the peaceful moment when He instructed Peter, James, and John to tell no one of His Transfiguration until after His Resurrection. Now, however, at the bottom of the mountain, there is great noise. Christ finds a crowd waiting for Him, and a man falls at His feet, saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; for often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him” (Matthew 17:15-16). Moments after speaking to Moses and Elijah, Christ is upset with the lack of faith all around Him: from the remaining nine Disciples, from the boy’s father, and from the crowd.
It is for this reason that He says, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me” (Matthew 17:17). After He miraculously heals the boy, Jesus is privately approached by the Disciples who ask, “Why could we not cast it out? (Matthew 17:19). Jesus is very clear with them: “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. But this kind never comes out except by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:20-21).
My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, let us consider the Feast of a servant of God who shows this kind of faith. I am, of course, speaking of the Theotokos & Ever-Virgin Mary. When the Archangel Gabriel announced God’s intention to make her part of His plan for the salvation of the world, Mary showed faith, and accepted God’s Will. Despite her uncertainty, she put away her doubts through faith. And just as a mountain moving is a great mystery to our natural world, the mystery of the Virgin Birth was accomplished, and so was our salvation, through Christ’s Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection. After our Lord entrusted the care of His mother to John the Beloved Disciple, the Theotokos followed John to Ephesus, before returning to serve the Jerusalem Church. Now, as then, the Archangel Gabriel returned to tell her that her time was close at hand. Unlike so many weak and sinful human beings who fear death, armed with her great faith, the Theotokos was instead full of joy, knowing that she would live again with her Son and her God.
My beloved ones, as we prepare to celebrate this great feast (and so honor all our Marias, Despinas, Panagiotes and Panagiotas) may we continue to pray and fast, so that as true Christians, we may have that small grain of faith needed—not just to move mountains, but live out the Gospel through works of charity, hope, and love. Χρόνια Πολλά!
+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.
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