The Holy Wonderworker and Equal-to-the-Apostles Abercius, Bishop of Hieropolis (c. 200)
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Philippians 2:16-23; Luke 6:37-45
If there is one thing that election cycles remind us of, it is the preoccupation of the mainstream media and the world with personal sinfulness. No matter where you live, elections bring out and dig up stories of past transgressions or actions that the world perceives as transgressions. The mainstream media spends hours researching and delivering this “news” while most consumers eat it up without a reservation and it becomes water-cooler fodder for the days and weeks that follow.
Our Lord instructs us to stop focusing on the sins of others and making a story out of the transgressions of our neighbour. We need this reminder so that we focus on our own sins which are oftentimes no different than the sins of our neighbour. We need greater self-awareness of how we sin against our Lord rather than being concerned with the sins of others.
Our response to the sins of our neighbour should be prayer. St. Cyril of Alexandria sums it up thus: “And yet it is our duty rather to have compassion on the infirm, as those who have been overcome by the assaults of the passions and entangled without hope of escape in the meshes of sin, and to pray on their behalf, exhort them, and rouse them to soberness, and endeavour ourselves not to fall into similar faults” (Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Homily 29).