October 3, 2021
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Your Eminences and Your Graces,
My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Speaking plainly. The great Apostle Paul tells us that God has spoken to us in many and diverse ways (Heb 1:1): through dark sayings, in parables and riddles, in prophecy and law, and in teaching and words of wisdom. The words that have been spoken in Scripture are given over to us in mystery, which often requires that we, like the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:31), need a guide in order to understand properly what they reveal to us.
However, the words of our Lord that the Evangelist Luke presents for us today are not so. The Lord teaches us today directly, clearly, unambiguously to love one another without distinction. The love we have for those whom we hold near and dear is the same love we are to have for our enemies, for sinners, for exactly and precisely those whom we do not hold near and dear.
In fact, our Lord reveals to us that we will be sons of the Most High (Lk 6:35). And here we should let this sink into our ears, our minds, and into our hearts: we will be sons, sharing and participating in some way with the Most High God, which constitutes something truly inexplicable, unexplainable, truly a mystery. We will be sons of the Most High —
when we love our enemies;
when we do good;
when we lend;
when we give, expecting nothing in return, out of the great abundance of our riches;
when we are merciful to the sinners, the ungrateful, the selfish in exactly the same way that our Heavenly Father is.
When we do all these things, then our reward will be great in the Kingdom. We will be accounted sons of the Most High God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the God who summoned light out of darkness.
Having this light. These words of our Lord shine resplendently off the pages of Luke’s Gospel. Hearing them, we are illumined by them as any light illuminates the darkness. This light is not any light, however. It is the light that has shone forth from the first day of creation down to our present day. It is the light that darkness cannot overcome, because in this light we have life (Jn 1:4–5). And it is this light, the light that enlightens the whole of creation, that shines in our hearts and gives us the very knowledge of God in the face of Christ, as the Apostle Paul teaches us today (2 Cor 4:6). These words of Luke are words of life and light and knowledge, because they teach us the will of God for us.
Needless to say, hearing, knowing, coming to understand, and then doing the will of God is absolutely necessary for all Christians, whether clergy or lay. There is no distinction, no mitigation, no way around this fundamental truth. God’s will is for all His faithful. Each of us are to have our lives enlightened by the knowledge of this will: bishops, priests, deacons, monastics, men and women. We are to love not only those who love us, but those who hate us. We are to be merciful to those who spurn or reject our mercy. We are to be compassionate to those who fall into sin. We are to seek in all things and every way to do good. Out of our abundance, our riches, our possessions, we are to give, to lend, and to expect nothing in return.
Living by this light. As we know, this light that illumines us with the knowledge of the will of God shines throughout creation. The rays and beams of light fall upon rich and poor, weak and strong, the vulnerable and the powerful—God shows no distinction. As the righteous Judge, whom we will encounter on the last day, He shows no partiality. To each of us He will ask: “Did you do good? Did you show mercy, compassion, and love to your enemies, to the weak, to the ungrateful and the selfish?” He will say: “From the beginning of creation, when the earth was without form and void, I separated light from darkness so that you could live by this light. I spoke by patriarchs and prophets, and gave you the Law. I sent you My Son, who gave you knowledge of My will.”
What will we say in response? “Lord, I covered my eyes. I cowered in the darkness. I preferred the shades and shadows and death to light and life.” May it never be so! May each of us gathered today in this sacred gathering hear this teaching, be illumined by it, and from this day, from this hour, from this very minute, strive to love God above all else, each other as ourselves, and seek to do God’s will in all things throughout our life.
This gathering. Our Lord has summoned us today in this our sacred and solemn gathering to receive these words, and also to receive the very Body and Blood of the Exalted Word. We also gather to be with one another. We have been gathered together from this city, but also throughout this country. We would be remiss, my brothers and sisters, if we did not start right now leading our lives according to what has been taught to us this day. Along with love for one other, we should offer one another forgiveness. Along with forgiveness, we should offer one another the right hand of fellowship, in the knowledge that if we cannot do these things here and now, we are not fulfilling the will of God.
To my brother bishops, I offer this final word: This week as we gather in our meetings, as we consider and discuss, as we hear reports and see presentations, we should never lose sight, in fact we cannot lose sight — it is a matter as clear as light and darkness, as serious as life and death — that the precious Church of God, in which are the lives of the faithful whom God has entrusted to us as bishops, is called to do nothing else but guide people to the knowledge of the will of God as revealed in the Scriptures, bringing them to the sacred and sanctifying illumination that leads to life, life that begins now and continues to the ages of ages. Amen.