Homily of
His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America
Archieratical Divine Liturgy
12th Sunday of Luke
Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church
Honolulu, Hawaii
January 19, 2020
My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ:
What a marvelous thing to be here with you in Honolulu today, to worship the Lord Jesus Christ and to receive Him in Holy Communion. Though we have had to travel thousands of miles, you remain near and dear to us in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit at all times. It is a great gift, in my first year as Archbishop, to have the opportunity to come and to visit you.
In the Gospel reading, we heard the story of the Ten Lepers who came to Christ for healing. Leprosy is a terrible disease, though it is rarely seen nowadays. Leprosy causes weakness and pain, like every disease. But it also brings about isolation and loneliness. For in ancient times and modern, the person with leprosy was required to live apart from the rest of society, an outcast and an exile.
For this reason, Saint Luke tells us, the ten men stood at a distance and raised their voices, calling out for mercy from the Lord. Their speech was plain and simple. They asked much, even while saying little. And this humble prayer for mercy, Lord heard and answered.
In the request of the lepers, we find an example for our own prayers. We might get the impression from the length of church services that God requires a multitude of words before He will listen. This is certainly not the case. The Lord Jesus said that when we pray, we should not heap up phrase upon phrase (Matthew 6:7). Instead, He taught His disciples to pray in a simple and straightforward way, as we do when we recite the “Our Father.”
Saint Makarios the Great, whose feast we celebrate today, had something to say about long prayers. He was a monk who lived in the wilderness of Egypt in the fourth century, leading a life of prayer and fasting. His whole life was one seamless and continual prayer. And yet when someone asked Saint Makarios how best to pray, Saint Makarios said: “There is no need at all to make long speeches; it is enough to stretch out one’s hands and say, ‘Lord, as you will, and as you know, have mercy.’”
Just so was the prayer of the Ten Lepers. They called out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” Nothing less, and nothing more. The Spirit of God taught them how to pray; and they prayed well, indeed. For the Lord heard them. And He showed mercy. He will always grant mercy on those who ask Him, just as we should always show mercy to each other.
And having been granted mercy, we should also follow the example of the tenth leper, the Samaritan. For he alone returned to the Lord, to speak the simple word of thanks. In the Divine Liturgy, the Eucharist, the efcharistia, we offer thanks to God as Christ showed us, with gifts of bread and wine that become His Body and His Blood.
I am grateful, this day, to offer these Gifts of thanksgiving with you, as we call upon our good God, to have mercy on us.
May the Lord be pleased with these, our humble and simple prayers. Amen!
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