Dear Friends of Saint Dumitru Monastery,
Today, God the Father invites us to the wedding of His Son. Today, the Son of God unites Himself with human nature. It is “the newest of all new things, the only new thing under the Sun”, as Saint John of Damascus calls it, and the purpose of all Creation, as Saint Maximus the Confessor says. We hope and pray that we all may feast bountifully today and be filled with the grace of the Lord’s Nativity.
But, there are (many) other invitations that God addresses to us daily. And we turn down those invitations, much like the people in the Parable of the Great Banquet (cf. Luke 14, 16-24; in the Gospel of Matthew the parable is about the wedding of the son of an emperor, cf. Matthew 22, 2-14). “The invitation” can take on the form of an inner call to pray, or to go to church, or to do a good deed. Alternatively, it can take on the more surprising form of something unpleasant (a harsh word from a loved one, an injustice), of suffering (sickness, privation), of sacrifice, etc. These divine invitations are a means for us to “feast bountifully”, to be enriched with the grace of God, according to our Lord’s word, “I am the vine, you are the branches. And My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15, 1-2). It requires our watchfulness to discern these “invitations” to banquet, and it requires our prayer and humility to accept the “invitation” (“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” – Revelation 3, 20).
It is the season of gifts. God gifts us His Son. It is meet to thank Him, and not stop doing so! But it is also meet to thank Him for everything He gave us (cf. Thessalonians 5, 18). Especially, to thank Him for all people He ordained to be in our lives. And, as the “invitations” to the banquet could take on pleasant or less pleasant forms, it is possible that the people around us may be kind or less kind to us. For all of them (brothers, sisters, spouses, parents, colleagues, bosses, etc.) we have to give thanks to God! In doing so, God will sustain the good in their goodness, and He will make the wicked good through His goodness, much like He transformed Saint Paul from a persecutor (“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting”) into His “chosen vessel” (cf. Acts 9).
We entreat our good God that He gives us the wisdom, the humility and the strength to not refuse His invitations to the Wedding of His Son and to make the people around us God’s gifts for whom we thank Him every day.
Bright Feast!
Abbot Jeremiah with the Community of Saint Dumitru Monastery
PS
Kursk Root Icon. With the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae, and at the invitation of His Eminence Metropolitan Nikolai (ROCOR), we will continue the beautiful New Year’s tradition of serving an Akathist Hymn before the miraculous Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God. We invite you to join us in prayer on Thursday, January 1, at 6pm, at the ROCOR Cathedral of the Sign in Manhattan, E 93rd St. & Park Ave.
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