The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark. (10:32-45)
On this day we hear Our Lord Jesus Christ preparing His disciples for what is to come in the following days. Our Lord told the disciples everything that was to happen to Him. He did not hide anything from them at all. Yet, when all of the events of Holy Week, all of the events including the betrayal and arrest and imprisonment and yes, the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus occurred, the disciples were still completely unprepared. They were shocked, stunned by what was happening. Our Lord is telling them about His royal path of suffering as the humble servant, and in the midst of His teaching about suffering and death, the sons of thunder, James and John, come asking for a simple request. And we see that Our Lord is quite gracious to them. He asks them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The Son of God is so generous to us, so humble, so willing to act on our behalf. Our Lord, the lover of mankind is pleased to hear our requests. To each one who come to Him in faith He says the same, “What do you want Me to do for you?” But of course there is a small catch. What we ask for has to be according to God’s will and it must be for our salvation. So the Lord waits for the sons of thunder to give their request and they ask, if they can sit in glory near the Lord, in the kingdom. They agree to split the glory as one wants to sit at the right hand of Jesus and one at the left.
Our Lord has just finished talking about going to His death, about experiencing the worst pain imaginable, about experiencing the greatest shame as He would hang naked upon the cross, but the disciples had not yet realized that He was quite serious. And they had not realized something else…in order to sit next to Christ, in order to be with Christ, in order to know Christ and commune with him, in order to share in His glory, we have to walk His path of suffering humbly, we have to be willing to make sacrifices and sometimes even give up our lives for the sake of following Christ.
Each one has to do this in their own way. A martyr does this by literally offering their lives for the sake of Christ. A monk or nun does likewise through their daily living. A priest or deacon sacrifices their lives to serve Christ and His Church. But each one of us can and must offer our lives to Christ. A husband or wife can offer their life to Christ by first honoring their marriage. When their marriage feels very difficult, that is when the sacrifice is that much more powerful and noteworthy. Parents can offer their lives by raising godly children in the faith. Parents can offer their lives by working to support the needs of their family without thinking about themselves.
Each one who follows Christ has to die in some ways. Each one has to put to death whatever is selfish or vain. Each one has to put to death sin in their lives. Each one has to put to death the things that are of the world in order to know God in truth. Each one of us has to learn to lay aside all earthly cares. This is part of our preparation for the eternal life. Each one of us is required to descend in humility in order that God might raise us up to a much higher state. Each one of us must offer our lives selflessly in order to grow in the likeness of Christ. If you aren’t willing to make any painful sacrifices and you aren’t willing to be uncomfortable, how can you claim to have faith and how can you know Christ who is the embodiment of true love? Christ the Lord is the King of glory, as He embraced being the innocent, suffering servant. He who descended in humility to the shame of crucifixion is raised to be seated in glory at the right hand of the Father!
On this the fifth and final Sunday of Great and Holy Lent, the Church as a wise mother also brings forth one of the greatest of all of her saints, Mary of Egypt. We read her life on Thursday evening. When Mary was in the world she was desired by many for her physical beauty and her lack of self-control and loose morals. Yet by God’s grace she was changed and she made this change permanent through heartfelt repentance and sorrow for her past. Through the love of Jesus Christ and prayers of the Mother of God, Mary of Egypt became once again desired by many more through the beauty of her soul and her chaste and harsh manner of life. What was once soiled and stained and broken, became radiant, and healed. As Mary offered her brokenness to the Mother of God, she was healed to such a degree that she herself became a great vessel of God’s grace.
Without knowing Scripture, her heart flowed with the word of God. Without being trained in theology, she grew in wisdom. She who had lived a life that was perverse and fleshly and full of sexual sin, later worked some of the greatest miracles recorded in any of the lives of the saints. She who greatly desired the attention and affection of all men, cast aside all of this in order to find true love that knew no end. This demonstrates that God’s desire is to heal and save us completely, regardless of our past history, regardless of the ways in which we may have struggled. Leave your past behind through repentance and confession. God is here, waiting to help us in the present and to give us a future!
Let me leave you with a beautiful quote from St. Kosmas Aitolos, a saint of the 18th century. He writes,
“Blessed Mary of Egypt was twelve years old when she fell into the hands of the devil. She lived in sin day and night. But the merciful God enlightened her and she abandoned the world and went into the desert. There she led a hermit’s life for forty years. She was cleansed and became like an angel. God wished to give her rest, so He sent the holy ascetic Zosimas to hear her confession and to give her holy communion. Then He received her holy soul into paradise, where she rejoices with the angels. If there is anyone here like Blessed Mary, let him immediately weep and repent, now that he has time, and let him be assured that he will be saved as was Blessed Mary.”
Glory be to God forever AMEN.
Source: Sermons