His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania, celebrated today, 8 December 2013, on the 27th Sunday after Pentecost, the Divine Liturgy in the Patriarchal Cathedral of Bucharest, surrounded by a group of priests and deacons.
In the sermon delivered, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel showed why the Gospel text presenting the Healing of the crippled woman was fixed to be read during the Lent Nativity: “This text was fixed by the Church to be read in preparation for receiving the Saviour Jesus Christ, who mysteriously comes to be born through the Holy Spirit in the cave of our soul in order to draw our attention more on the need for improvement, change for the better of our lives, to meet face to face with God”.
Good must be done at any time
Further, the Patriarch of Romania emphasized the spiritual meanings drawn from the text of the Gospel (St. Luke, chapter 13, verses 10-17) read in the Divine Liturgy: “The Gospel tells us that one Saturday, in the synagogue, Jesus Christ met a woman who was always bent over facing the ground and could not straighten up at all, and her disease was going on for 18 years. Feeling mercy for the woman, He called her to Him and healed her. Thus, we learn that Christ the Lord heals this woman of her infirmity not because He was asked by someone, not even by the sick woman, but because of the merciful love for a human in suffering. Secondly, we learn that Jesus healed this woman not just because she suffered for a long time, but because He sensed in her heart her strong faith, her deep humility and her longstanding patience. Therefore, Christ the Saviour discovered in this woman three great virtues: strong faith, profound humility and great patience. Thirdly, Christ the Lord shows us as an example for us that good must be done at any time, even on holidays. At any time we must do good, not just on certain days, because love is not conditional on time, i.e. the merciful love, love that helps, showing by itself the gracious God’s Goodness. Thus, these three great teachings are of immense importance. To the three virtues of the crippled woman a fourth virtue is added, namely: her big gratitude, since as soon as she was healed of her disease ’she glorified God’, that is she thanked God for the goodness she received unexpectedly”.
The crippled woman becomes for us a great spiritual teacher
This crippled woman becomes for us a great spiritual teacher, His Beatitude said, noting that: “In the 18 years of suffering, in patience without slander, she was not angry, she reproached neither God nor the people for something, but she was carrying the cross of her illness in silence and prayer. The crippled woman from today’s Gospel text has her body bent over the ground. She could not stand face to face to see the others, could not see the blue sky, and could not see anything beyond the horizon of the earth. She is accustomed to see only the earth, thinking that in it she will end her life. But her much patience, humility, and her strong faith made Christ the Lord, the eternal Son of God, Who became Man out of love for people, to call her to Him in order to free her of her infirmity and heal her disease”.
Where we see suffering, helplessness, loneliness, poverty, isolation and deep sorrow we must go from our own initiative to alleviate the suffering.
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel has shown that good has to be done on our own initiative where we see suffering, loneliness and poverty: “The Gospel shows us also that we must not always be sought or asked to do good, nor be expected to do good, but we must do good on our own. Where we see suffering, helplessness, loneliness, poverty, isolation and deep sorrow we must go from our own initiative to alleviate suffering and help people and thus we become the hands of the merciful love of Christ the Lord. He uses the hands of those who believe and love Him to help the people praying to Him”.
Even if we do not have bodily health, spiritual health is more important
“The Gospel calls us to spiritual improvement, even if we do not have bodily health, spiritual health is more important. Justification is done by repentance, confession, good deeds, by multiplying spiritual food, reading from the Scriptures and the writings of the Holy Fathers and fasting completed with alms for the needy and poor. If we do not have material goods, we may offer a kind word, a prayer for the health and salvation of those who need our help. The Gospel calls us out of our crippled condition of the mind. In many ways people become bound by Satan through incapacity. An unseen link, but felt, because every sin committed cripples the soul, it directs it towards the earthly and temporal. Each spiritual improvement raises the soul to heaven and receives healing and joy from the heavenly grace of Christ. Therefore, there is a deep connection between healing and absolution of sins. Christ the Lord is called Healer“, said the Patriarch of Romania.
It is very important to be faithful, to put our trust in God, but let Him work in our lives when and how He wants
Steadfastness in the faith is a very important aspect of human relationship with God, His Beatitude also stressed: “The period we are in now, the period of preparation for receiving the joy of the feast of the Nativity of the Lord, should be a period in which we learn from the crippled woman who has been steadfast in her faith. Even if God does not immediately respond to our prayers, we continue to pray and even if we are not cured from bodily diseases we should ask that He cures us from the disease of sin, the spiritual diseases. The crippled woman no longer thought about the healing of the body, but she was preparing for the salvation of the soul. It is very important to be faithful, to put our trust in God, but let Him work in our lives when and how He wants. Sometimes people pray but they are not heard by God immediately. Some other times, Christ the Lord calls to Him either by joy or sorrow people who do not expect to be called by Him. There were a lot of atheists who had passed through a lot of trouble in the family and have returned to faith and were a lot of believers when they prospered they forgot God. He works in our lives in unexpected ways, not when we do expect, but when He considers useful for us and those around us. Therefore, the Gospel shows us the great virtue of humility and patience in suffering. Even if the disease is incurable important is the union of the human being with God and his salvation”.
At the end of the Divine Liturgy, His Beatitude showed the urge of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church to make “collections of money, food and clothing for the poor, elderly and sick. Therefore, every parish during the Lent of the Nativity these collections of mutual help are conducted. The collected money and food are used only during the Lent of the Nativity for the local needs of each parish of the Romanian Patriarchate”.
His Beatitude also said that the money collected at the Patriarchal Cathedral, the Metropolitan Cathedral “Saint Spiridon“- the New, at the Chapel of the People’s Salvation Cathedral, at the Chapel of the Patriarchal Residence, every feast day and Sunday of the Lent of the Nativity will be designed to help the Day Centre for children “Saint Martyr Sophia“, the “Patriarch Justinian” Settlement from Pajura neighbourhood for the protection of persons who are victims of domestic violence, the “Barnabas” Canteen, where 50 poor people eat daily and the palliative care Centre “Saint Nectarie the Healer“.
The Patriarch of Romania announced that in the Capital City a new centre for the elderly will open: “In the near future a home for the elderly called Saint Sylvester will open on the Parish of Saint Sylvester ground, where Father Constantin Galeriu has been for a long time servant priest. This home for the elderly built in cooperation with the local authority of the District II of the Capital will be a shelter for the elderly who are alone and helpless. There is much suffering and there is a great need of help”.
