DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Ephesians 2:11-13 (12/26) Epistle for
Saturday of Twenty-Ninth Week after Pentecost
Remember When: Ephesians 2:11-13, especially vss, 11, 12: “Therefore remember...that time you were without
Christ....” Saint Mark the Ascetic once gave
Nicholas the Solitary wonderful and sage advice: “...when the soul has
been overlaid by pernicious forgetfulness, by destructive laziness, and by
ignorance, the mother and nurse of every vice, the afflicted intellect [nous]
in its blindness is readily enchained by everything that is seen, thought or
heard.” Your nous and mine,
is a deep place within us, the very center of our being, a quiet, inner temple
where we have genuine hope to meet God; but, for such a meeting to take place,
we must take hold of our faculty to remember and turn our heart, mind and will
- as the Apostle counsels - solely to the Master of life, allowing no
distraction and resisting every false remembrance. What else could be meant in the Divine
Liturgy, by the Priest coming through the Royal Doors and confronting us with
the words: “With fear of God and faith and love, draw near”?
There is, in fact, abundant freedom by which
our memory may wander aimlessly if we apply no bridle to it; and, as Saint Mark
points out, then we are likely to recall
“...what we have seen, heard, or touched with impassioned pleasure in the
past, and so our memory forms sinful images within us.” And what ensues? Well, says the Saint, our memories will
then defile the center of our being, and corrupt that deep meeting place where
God is found within us if it “...is still impassioned and afflicted
through the activity of the demons....Then the flesh, too, if it is well fed,
full of youthful spirit, or flabby, is easily roused to passion by such
memories, and moved to lust; and it performs acts of uncleanness either in
sleep or awake....”
This need not happen if we rein
our memories back for a moment to “...that time [when you and I] were
without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of
For God’s sake, for the sake of life
over death, and that we may have life in abundance, now is the moment to
remember Who made the promise to us - the Life-Giver
Himself, Christ our God: “...it has been given to you to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be
given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has
will be taken away from him” (Mt. 13:11,12). Yes, it may be lost. Yet it may be gained; for you and I have
the true hope “...as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and
which enters the Presence...” of God (Heb. 6:19).
Be reminded: we are not “...without God
in the world. But now in Christ
Jesus we who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of
Christ” (Eph. 2:12, 13). Do
recall what life was like without God in the world. Then embrace the words of Saint Symeon the New Theologian: “Why, my soul, are you
dejected, and why do you trouble me?
Put your hope in God, for I will give thanks to Him; for my salvation
lies not in my actions but in God.
Who will be vindicated by actions done according to the law? No living person will be vindicated
before God. Yet by virtue of my
faith in God I hope that in His ineffable mercy He will give me salvation....I
worship the Lord my God...for He is able to save me simply through His
mercy....”
Help us; save us; have mercy on us; and
keep us, O God, by Thy grace.
Return to the December Calendar