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In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Glory to Jesus Christ, dear brothers and sisters.
Today, God has blessed us again to pray to Him, to be sanctified with His Angels, His forces, which are on earth. Be sanctified to serve many people who believe, for their souls to be sanctified also, to approach to God and to be ready to build the kingdom of God on Earth.
Today we hear the Holy Gospel (Luke, XIII:10-17), which tells how Jesus having entering the synagogue, saw a woman who suffered in for 18 years, being bent over and stooped. Disabling spirit has been tormenting her for 18 years, perhaps, for some sin, some pride. Maybe she had been carried herself in arrogant way, ranking herself above others, above pure souls. Therefore it was allowed by the law of God's Justice for a disabling spirit to bend her over. And so she had been suffering for 18 years.
It can happen to any man who treats others improperly. And if a person praise himself/herself up to the sky, if a person is proud-herded, such a person may be bent over also. And here the Lord, seeing such a woman who had been suffering for 18 years, seeing that the penalty for her sin had been already exhausted, wanted to heal her. And it was the Sabbath day. He approached to the woman and said: "Woman, you are freed from your disability". He laid his hand on the woman and she was made straight. And it seemed that those Jewish priests would have to rejoice that this stooped woman was healed, who stayed in this temple for 18 years, and perhaps was an eyesore to those priests with her presence, her disease. Maybe she asked them not once to pray for her, help her to heal, but none of them could have done that. But here Jesus entered the temple and He healed her. It would seem that they should have been happy if they had loved God. But no, they envied Jesus and started to hate Him even more. Their hatred toward Him grew more every time He did good deeds. And we heard the words of the priests: " There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day".
Well what did Jesus do here? He made a prayer to God the Father. And God the Father showed that He heard prayers of Jesus. Jesus prayed for this woman with disabling spirit, and the woman was healed. But the priests dared to accuse Him that there was Sabbath day, and on Sabbath day you could not have done anything. Yes, nothing can be done by Jewish law, you should pray only on that day. Yes? And they accused Him every time, as we know from the Holy Gospel, when he healed someone on Sabbath day.
It is clear that the Lord was disturbed again, he was angry and said: "You hypocrites - that means: you are liars - You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it?" That is, if their goat or sheep gets in trouble, they rescue them on Sabbath day. And here is the woman bent over with a disabling spirit for 18 years! Do not you feel sorry for her?
And when he shamed them, it is clear that all the God's souls, as it is written in the Gospel, rejoiced. They rejoiced that God brought to shame those superiors, who, hiding behind God, crucified God, did not love God really. It is clear that their reaction was so - to crucify our Lord Jesus Christ.
"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark, II: 27), as Christ said. For example, the churches in the western Ukraine were not so destroyed during the Soviet atheistic times, as throughout the rest of country regions. And people had got used to do nothing on Sundays, not to work, but to go to church and pray. And it's good when they go to church to pray. But many of them come here, to the central Ukraine to earn some money but here they do not work on Sunday and their neither go to church. Instead of it they hit the bottle and cursed on Sunday. On holidays they also do not work, even on minor church holidays they hang back, and again get drunk and do nothing. Do you understand? They do not sanctify themselves, and this day very much.
If on the seventh day it happens so that you should do something good, even of the physical nature (because you do not have gifts to heal people, but you can work physically), then you give that day not for yourself but for the glory of God. As we went to build the temple on Sunday after liturgy, right? So did many of us suffer? God blessed us and loved, and loved us now, because on that day we were not going to watch TV, eat, drink and quarrel with each other. And we go to confirm our love for God with our good deeds on this day. We go to help, to build a temple, to visit someone in hospital, to help someone who needs our help. Maybe it's the only day of all days in the week when we do not work for yourself and when we can and make some good physically in the name of God. Understand?
Therefore the seventh day should be devoted to God, to glorifying God and to good deeds. It should be dedicated to good deeds, because God does not have a rest on this day. He gave His only begotten Son to teach people how to be redeemed. People crucified Him for that, but He rose from the dead, ascended into heaven. That is on the seventh day the Lord works with us, with everyone of us, He does not have a rest. For Jesus Himself said about it: "My Father is working until now, and I am working" (John, V:17).
He is working to save us, sinners, by His course; because everyone has free choice to do good or evil deeds, but God still leads us to salvation to the utmost possible. For a person to understand that it is better not to do evil, it is better to save yourself. For that Heavenly Father had given His the only begotten Son, who brought us the most perfect teaching that we could not have even comprehended it to the end. But we try, aspire for that, and God gives us this understanding and gives us strength for us to achieve that. So if we are Christians, then salvation lives in us, Christ lives in us, and we must give the seventh day in the glory of God. This day blesses us, calms our souls and eases our karma, because we work it off with our good deeds.
We work it off not with such diseases that knock us down, that we cannot stand up after those diseases, but we work it off with our good deeds. Your good deed has gone to God - and you will not knocked down by car. Your good deed has gone to God - and some trouble are not going to happen with you, maybe you will fall ill but you will not have such a serious disease so that you will lie for years and think, whether you have been living correctly in this world or not?
So let's be ahead of our punishment by doing good deeds. Let's show that we are the God's children, let's show it in secret before God, not before people. And then we will be rewarded with God's protection. It is possible that we had to be knocked down by a car - but we are sound. Maybe we would have slipped and fallen and then had brain concussion - but no, we do not fall, maybe slip a bit. At the same time we see a large number of accidents, for example if we go to the hospital - how many people are there, how many diseases they have and how do they suffer? And who works as a trauma surgeon, they can certify how many people die before their eyes, even the very young. As a priest, I know this because I have been visiting hospitals, giving the Holy Communion, praying for healing.
So every time when we hear the Gospel, let's take it as an example, let's analyze it and strive for living as our Savior Jesus lived on earth. He is now with us and loves us and blesses us. Till you will save your soul, nothing terrible will happen to you. You will undergo some trials, but not fatal ones, some misfortunes will happen, but reparable ones, till you are saving your soul. And nothing will happen with your family if you are saving in the Lord. You can leave your family, but if you do good deeds, your family will also be protected. This happens if the family at least does not stand against the Lord. If they stand against God, it is clear that they stand against their health, happiness, confidence, joy in their soul, success in their life. God is a source of peace, a source of happiness, a source of joy, a source of health. Do you understand or not?
May God bless us all with His holy Sabbath. Let God heal us, as He healed a woman with a disabling spirit, because we ask Him very much and begging Him sincerely : "O God, help us to be healed spiritually ". And physical health will be given then too.
Glory to Jesus Christ!
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Apostle (?phesians, 6:10-17):
6
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his
might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to
stand against the
schemes of the devil.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but
againstthe rulers,
against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present
darkness, against
the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be
able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of
truth, andhaving put on the
breastplate of righteousness,
15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness
given by the gospel of peace.
16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with
which you can extinguish all the
flaming darts of the evil one;
17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God,
Gospel (Luke, 13:10:-17):
13
10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the
Sabbath.
11 And there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for
eighteen years.
She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself.
12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her,
"Woman, you are
freed from your disability."
13 And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made
straight,
and she glorified God.
14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because
Jesushad healed on the Sabbath,
said to the people, "There are six days in which work ought to be done.
Come on those days and be healed,
and not on the Sabbath day."
15 Then the Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Does not each
of you on the Sabbath
untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water
it?
16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan
bound for eighteen years,
be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?"
17 As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to
shame, and all the people
rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.
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