Melkite Eparchy of Newton

But love your enemies A Homily for the Second Sunday after the Exultation of the Holy Cross By Archbishop Cyril Salim Bustros

But love your Enemies

(2nd Sunday after the Exaltation of the Holy Cross - Luke 6: 31-36)

What is the definition of the human being? What characterizes a human being? Usually philosophers give 3 characteristics: They say that a human being is first a living being, second a rational being, and third a social being.

1. As living being he has been given a human life, a human body which he needs to take care of, so that he may live in health and happiness.
2. As rational being he has been given a reason, an intelligence to know things and reach the truth. He has to develop the capacities of his reason, so that he can enjoy the happiness of knowledge.
3. As social being he is called to live in a family and in a society, and he is called to live in peaceful and just relationship with the members of his family and the members of the society.

These are the 3 characteristics by which the philosophers define a human being. As believers we add a fourth characteristic. We say that more of that a human being is also a spiritual being, which means a being related to God. And it is this spiritual relationship to God which guarantees the perfect development of each of the 3 first characteristics. I say "the perfect development", because without God, our life is relative and destined to death, our knowledge is limited, shaky and subject to error, and our social relationships are unstable and rocky.

In today's Gospel, Jesus teaches us how to develop our social being in a spiritual way. He starts by considering the axiom, "the golden rule", that is accepted as a virtue by all people – Jews and pagans alike, believers and atheists. It goes like this: "Even as you wish men to do to you, so also do you to them". Such a rule is very simple and is accepted by everyone; it only requires equal treatment among people. So Christ's disciples have no merit if they are content with this rule. And he applies this rule to 3 actions: "to love", "to do good", and "to lend". He says:

"If you love those who love you, what merit have you? For even sinners love those who love them.

And if you do good to those who do good to you, what merit have you? For even sinners do that.

And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive in return, what merit have you? For even sinners lend to sinners, that they may get back as much in return."

This is the right human behavior between people. To do otherwise would be considered as demonic and evil.

Now Jesus describes to his disciples the divine behavior. His followers must not be content with the human behavior; they are called to imitate God's behavior: "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful just as your Father is merciful".

Why must we love our enemies? From the teaching and example of Jesus, we see 3 reasons:

1. The first reason is in order to be really sons of God. How does God behave towards the wicked and unrighteous? God, says Jesus, "is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked"; God is merciful to everyone. In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus says: "God causes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (5:45). Why is God merciful to the righteous and the unrighteous? Why does God love the ungrateful and the wicked? Because they are his children. God hates the sin, but he loves the sinners, because, even sinners, they remain his children, and he still loves them. So the first reason which motivates us to love our enemies is to behave as children of God, to imitate our Father in heaven.
2. Second: God is merciful to the sinners and he shows them his mercy, in order to save them, by calling them to repentance, as we read in the Gospel of St. John: "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him" (3:17). According to modern psychology, what is the best way to approach aggressive behavior in children? It is not by further aggressive behavior towards them, but by showing them your love. Because aggressive behavior, when fully understood, is, in fact, nothing but love frustrated and an expression of the need for love. And this is true not only for children but for every man and woman. Violence and enmity shown by a person are usually means for taking revenge on society which has let that person down, had deserted and dehumanized him. We read in the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (12:20-21). In this sense love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.
3. A third reason for loving our enemies is that only love can break the vicious circle of hatred. Jesus on the Cross forgave his murderers. He prayed to God: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). When the Roman centurion heard Jesus dying in this way, he said: "Surely this man was the Son of God" (Mark 15: 39).

I knew a Muslim Lebanese Shiite who converted to Christianity, became a priest and founded a social institution in Beirut for poor children. His name is Fr. Afif Osseiran, and his brother was a member of the Lebanese parliament. When we asked him what caused him to become a Christian, he answered: "I started reading the Gospel, and when I arrived at this saying of Jesus: "Love your enemies", I said to myself: These words cannot be said by a man, they must be divine words; and the man who said them must be the Son of God. Only by loving our enemies we can convert them, and change the world to God.

Who are my enemies? Don't go so far. Our enemies may be very close to us. They may be members of our family: husband, wife, children. They may be our relatives. They may be members of our parish. Wherever and whenever there is hatred between people, grudge, bitterness, quarrels, antipathy or lack of understanding, there is enmity. Don't let these evil feelings overcome you. When you come to pray, get rid of them. God does not want us to live in hatred and bitterness, but in peace and love. God wants us to live in happiness. And we come to the church to ask God to forgive our sins, to change our minds, to give us the real happiness, for "every good gift and every perfect grace is from above, coming down from him the Father of lights". That is the meaning of the Beatitudes by which Jesus started his sermon on the mount:

Blessed are the poor in spirit …

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness …

Blessed are the meek …

Blessed are the merciful …

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

The word "blessed" in Greek is makarioi, and it means "happy". It is a real blessing, and a real happiness to be called sons of God.

Let us conclude by the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi:

"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, let me sow pardon;

where there is doubt, let me sow faith;

where there is despair, let me sow hope;

where there is darkness, let me sow light;

where there is sadness, let me sow joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek:

to be consoled as to console,

to be loved as to love;

For it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."

Amen!

"You are invited to a wedding banquet" A Homily for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost By Archbishop Cyril Salim Bustros

You are invited to a wedding banquet

(14th Sunday after the Pentecost - Mt. 22:1-14)

When Jesus started preaching, he said just three short sentences, which are the central point of his mission. He said: "This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of heaven is at hand! Repent and believe in the Gospel" (Mc. 1:15).

To speak about heaven is very difficult, because it is speaking about things we cannot experience in our daily life. So Jesus, in teaching His listeners about heaven, told them a story, a parable, about a marriage feast.

What is the meaning of this story? What did Jesus want to teach by it?

1. The king who made a marriage banquet for his son represents God the Creator of heaven and earth, God the Father.
2. The King's son is Jesus Christ; he is the eternal Word and Son of God, who became man for our salvation. This mystery of the Word and Son of God becoming man we call "The mystery of the Incarnation". And this mystery is itself the marriage banquet to which God sent his messengers to invite people. The relationship between God and his people was compared in the Old Testament for the relationship of bride and groom in a marriage. In the New Testament, this comparison is used to the relationship between Jesus Christ and his Church, as we read in the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians: "Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, to make her holy, cleansing her with water and words, so that when he took her to himself she would be glorious, with no speck or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and faultless " (5:25-26).
3. The king's servants are the Prophets in the Old Testament, the Apostles in the New Testament, and now they are the ordained ministers in the Church.
4. The invited Guests who refused to come are all the ungrateful people of the Old Testament who refused to listen to the Prophets, and the indifferent people of the New Testament and of the Church who are so busy with their business that they do not care about God's invitation.

This invitation is not for something boring but for a banquet, for a festivity, for a celebration. What is the meaning of this banquet? It means a new relation between human beings and God through his Son, Jesus Christ. So the people who refused the invitation were not interested in this invitation, because it does not concern their business. But God is not the God of business, of possessions, of what we have, but He is the God of what we are, of our being. We must make a clear distinction between what we have and what we are: we can be very poor in having, in material possessions, and at the same time very rich in being: in love, in generosity, in sharing and in caring. And Jesus did not come to enrich our possessions but to enrich our being. And that is the meaning of his teaching: "Do not be anxious, saying ‘what shall we eat?', or ‘what shall we drink?' or ‘what shall we wear?' For the unbelievers seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his Kingdom and his way of holiness, and all these things will be given you besides" (Mt. 6:31-33).

That is the spiritual meaning of the man who was not dressed correctly for the wedding feast. What kind of garment do we need to enter the Kingdom of God ?

1. First of all by our baptism we put on as garment Jesus Christ himself, as we sing with St. Paul : "All of you who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ". Through our faith in Christ and our baptism we "put on Christ", we clothed ourselves with Him; we identified ourselves with Him. Jesus placed on us the robe of righteousness, the robe of His Divinity, and we became with Him and through Him children of God. That is the meaning of the two first sentences of the first preaching of Jesus: "This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of heaven is at hand!" When we put on Christ, we are already in the time of fulfillment; we are in the Kingdom of God .
2. Then this garment also includes our sorrow for the sins of life, and our reconciliation with our brothers and sisters. How difficult it is to sincerely repent for our wrongs. But they are there – bare wounds on our souls, and bare wounds in the Body of Christ. We can heal them, by pouring on them the holy blood of Christ. And that is the meaning of the third sentence of the first preaching of Jesus: "Repent and believe in the Gospel".
3. Finally the wedding garment also contains the jewels of good deeds. Our Christian acts of kindness and mercy shine like diamonds. It is through our virtues that others see the light of Christ. "Not everyone who prays Lord, Lord, shall enter the Kingdom of God", Jesus said, "but who does the will of my Father". The will of the Father means living like and being united with His Son Our Lord Jesus Christ.

So it is that day by day, week by week, and year by year, as we go through life, we are weaving the garment that we shall wear on Judgment Day. And we must work while it is day, Jesus said, for "the night comes when nobody can work". That night is the night of death.

The Gospel story ends with the words of our Savior: "For many are called, but few are chosen". The call of Christ for faith, for repentance, for Christian living and loving, goes on and on. We are all among the called, and remember: we are invited to a marriage banquet, the banquet of the marriage of the Son of God with his Church that means with us. God grant that we might also be among the chosen.

Every Sunday we are invited to a banquet, the banquet of the Eucharistic meal, in which we are united in a sacramental way to the risen Christ, for our personal sanctification and the building of the Church. This sacrament strengthens the unity of the Church, according to the words of St. Paul : "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread" (1 Corinthians 10:16-17). We can find many excuses not to come to this banquet. But if we really love the Bride, and if we really love one another, all these excuses become nonsense. When the priest invites the people to the Communion, he says: "Approach with fear of God, with faith and with love". We come to the Eucharistic banquet full of reverence, faith and love. So that, after the Holy Communion, we can sing with joy and thankfulness:

"Let our mouth be filled with your praise, O Lord,

for you have counted us worthy to share your holy immortal and spotless mysteries.

Keep us in sanctification that we may sing your glory /

meditating on your holiness all the day.

Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia!"

"The Two Greatest Commandments" A Homily for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost By Archbishop Cyril Salim Bustros

The Two Greatest Commandments in the Law
(15thSunday after Pentecost – Mt. 22:34-36)

The greatest commandment

"Which is the greatest commandment in the law?" This question was very important for the Jews, because they had so many commandments in the law, more than five hundred. And they had to follow them all. Now we consider ourselves very pious if we keep the Ten Commandments. And many Christians even do not know the Ten Commandments. And who remembers the Commandments of the Church? How many are they? Who remembers them? Only eight!

The answer of Jesus was clear: the first and greatest commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind". Notice the three "alls": all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. If you really love, your love cannot be half your heart, half your soul and half your mind. To love is to give oneself totally to the beloved one. We read in the book of the prophet Isaiah: "The Lord said: this people draws near with words only and honors me with their lips alone, but their hearts are far from me" (29:13).

The second commandment, says Jesus, is like the first: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself". In his first Epistle, S. John explains that to prove to ourselves that we keep the first and greatest commandment, to know that our Love for God is real and sincere, the only way is to ask ourselves if we keep the second commandment, if we really and sincerely love our neighbor. If not we are liars. He writes:

"Anyone who says, ‘I love God', and hates his brother, is a liar, since a man who does not love the brother that he can see cannot love God whom he has never seen. So this is the commandment that he has given us, that anyone who loves God must also love his brother" (1 John 4:20-21)

If we love God we prove our love by keeping his commandments.

It is sometimes difficult to follow the commandments of God. We do not live the Gospel of Christ, that is all there is to it. We say: Oh, Christ doesn't mean this or that!" But Christ does mean that and this and all the things we don't want to take in. All the things we want to discard are frightening. I was just reading the other day that 75 per cent of the people disagree with the Church's teaching on abortion, sex and some other issues. That is an awful lot of people who disagree. And all along Christ is watching this happen. Sometimes I think we make Christ cry, I really do; because he is human, he can cry. And I think we make Christ cry because we don't live by His way and His commandments.

In his first interview since his election, Pope Benedict told Vatican radio he hoped young people would see Christianity as fresh nourishment for modern living rather than a stale spiritual meal warmed up repeatedly for the past 2,000 years. He said: "I want to show them it is beautiful to be a Christian. Many people think Christianity is a bunch of rules, prohibitions, and dogmas you have to follow, and therefore it is a heavy load".

The essence of Christianity is the encounter with God to allow Him to enter our very depths. Remember that God loved us first, and that our religion is truly a love affair between God and us, us and God; it is not merely a system of morals and dogmas.

To live the Gospel is painful

You cannot live the Gospel of Christ without pain. Christ was the greatest revolutionary on earth. He calls you to the impossible.

Are you willing to be totally poor, in spirit or otherwise? Are you able to hope when every hope is gone? Can you love when you are not loved? Can you love your enemies as did Christ on the Cross, when he said: "Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). Can you continue to have faith when all around you faith is disappearing? Love those who hate you! Renew the faith of those who have lost it. Bring hope and love to everybody! For this you have been created. And you have to do it, because the time is so short.

Pope Benedict XVI said also: "The ways of the Lord are not comfortable. But we were not created for comfort, but for greatness, for good".

How can we see God?

Jesus calls us today to be sincere in our love for God and for our neighbor. And if we keep His commandment, we will be happy, we will reach the fullness of our being, because God will come to us and dwell in us. We read in the first Epistle of St. John: "Whoever keeps his commandments lives in God and God lives in him" (1 John 3:24). At the Last Supper, Jesus said to his apostles: "He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me, and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him" (John 14:21). One apostle asked him: "Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?" Jesus answered: "If anyone loves me he will keep my commandment, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home in him" (John 14:23).

Sometimes we ask: can we really see God? And how? The answer of Jesus is that God is not a being to be seen outside us. He manifests Himself to us only if we keep His commandments, because God is not an immobile and motionless being. He is Love, and Love is relationship. That is what we mean when we say that God is a person, and that there are three persons in God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This mystery of the Trinity means that we are related to God by a triple relationship of love: God is our Creator, and our Savior, and our Sanctifier. He has created us out of love; he has saved us out of love; and he sanctifies us out of love. By keeping the two commandments love of God and love of our neighbor, we deepen our relation to Him: we live as children of God the Father, we live as saved by our Savior Jesus Christ, and we live in the holiness sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Prayer:

O Lord, to You I come for shelter, teach me to obey Your will, for You are my God!" Help me to love you with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my mind, and to love all my neighbors, friends and enemies, as myself.

Amen

"The Fruits of God's Vineyard" A Homily for the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost By Archbishop Cyril Salim Bustros

The fruits of God's vineyard

This parable of the vineyard reminds us of other vineyard stories in the Holy Scripture. There is the famous "Vineyard Song" in the fifth chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah, and this song was familiar to the Jews who were listening to Jesus:

"Let me now sing of my friend, my friend‘s song concerning his vineyard.

My friend had a vineyard on a fertile hillside; he spaded it, cleared it of stones, and planted the choicest vines; within it he built a watchtower, and hewed out a wine press.

Then he looked for the crop of grapes, but what it wielded was wild grapes.

Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard;

What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done?

Why, when I looked for the crop of grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?

Now, I will let you know what I mean to do to my vineyard: take away its hedge, give it to grazing, break through its wall, and let it be trampled!

Yes, I will make it a ruin: it shall not be pruned or hoed, but overgrown with thorns and briers; I will command the clouds not to send rain upon it.

The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his cherished plant;

He looked for judgment, but see, bloodshed, for justice, but hark, the outcry!" (5:1-7).

Historically, the vineyard is the symbol of the Jewish nation of the Old Covenant. God chose them as his people, and trained them in his ways, to bear fruits of justice. But instead of justice, what the vineyard produced was, "bloodshed" and "outcry". The series of messengers who were sent by the householder are the prophets who were sent by God to Israel to speak His word, and to remind them of their destiny. But the Jews "beat one, killed another, and stoned another". That reminds us of Jesus weeping on Jerusalem: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often have I longed to gather your children as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you refused! Behold, your house will be left to you desolate!" (Matthew 23:37-38).

The parable goes on: "Finally he sent his son to them, saying: they will respect my son. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other: this is the heir. Come on, let us kill him and take over his inheritance. So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him". "Out of the vineyard", that is a reminder that Jesus was crucified outside of Jerusalem.

The difference between the "Vineyard Song" and the parable of the wicked husbandmen is in the finale: in the "Vineyard Song", the finale is total ruin: "Yes, I will make it a ruin: I will command the clouds not to send rain upon it". In the parable of Jesus, the finale is a word of hope: "He will certainly kill those evil men, and rent the vineyard out to other tenants, who will give him the fruits in their seasons".

God had chosen the people of the Old Testament to build his Kingdom. He sent them his own Son, they killed him. Then he rented his vineyard to a new people, the Christian Church of the New Testament, of whom St. Peter says in his first Epistle: "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart to sing the praises of God who called you out of the darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people at all; and now you are the People of God" (2:9-10).

We, Christians, are the new people of God, and God wants us to bear the fruits of justice and holiness. The judgment of God in the Old Testament was total condemnation: "I will command the clouds not to send rain upon it." In the New Testament, God sent us Jesus not to condemn us but to save us. But we have to come to Him. He told us: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me. Let the man come and drink, who believes in me; as scripture says: from his breast shall flow fountains of living water. He was speaking of the Spirit which those who believed in him were to receive;" (John 7:37-38).

In another parable on the vine in the Gospel of St. John, Jesus reminds us that we cannot bear fruit if we are separated from the head:

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that bear no fruit he cuts away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes to make it bear even more… Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing" (15:1-5).This is a clear reference to the Eucharist, the sacrament of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, as food and beverage for our souls.

Let us listen once more to what God said to us: "What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done?" God has given us everything: He created us in his image, and when we had fallen, he sent us in the Old Testament the prophets as his messengers, and in the New Testament his Son as Savior, and in the Church his Holy Spirit as sanctifier.

When God created humanity he had a dream for all human beings. He created us in his image to be his body on earth and to continue the work of creation. Because of our dignity, He made us stewards of the creation, "to cultivate the earth, to accomplish it", to fill it with His Holy Spirit. No angel reflects God, only human being do. The angels say: "holy, holy God". We say, hugging God: Our Father thy Kingdom come (that means: through us); thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven (that means: by us). This dream of God we call it in theology "the plan of salvation", or the "economy of salvation". God has no body, He is a Spirit. We are the body of God. The dream of God cannot be implemented without us. God entrusted to our care the building of his Kingdom.

Tomorrow is the "Labor day". Congratulations to all the workers. All of you are workers. Jesus, St. Joseph, the Blessed Virgin Mary were too workers. All of you work to have a decent life, to build a new house, a good family. Do we care to build the Kingdom of God as we care to build our material houses? Do we take care of God's vineyard as he took care of us? Are we growing in Christian stature? Are we more forgiving than we were in the past? Are we giving more to the Lord's work in our Churches? Do we attend services more often than in the past? Are we more concerned about other people than we used to be? Listen to what St. Paul says about the fruits of the Spirit: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (Galatians 5:23-24). What are the fruits we are bearing in our families, in the society and in the Church? Are we spreading love or hatred? Are we peacemakers or trouble makers? Are we patient, kind, faithful, gentle with each others or always fighting each other?

Let us remember always in every thing we do that we are responsible of the creation of God. Let us live up to this responsibility.

I conclude with the traditional blessing of the bishop in our Byzantine liturgy: "Lord, Lord, look down from heaven and see. Bless this vineyard which your right hand has planted"; help them to be faithful workers in your Church to build your Kingdom. Amen.