Fifth Sunday after Pascha – Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, Tone 4; The Holy Apostle Simon the Zealot
Polyeleos Feast
Read
Acts 11:19-26, 29-30; 1 Corinthians 4:9-16
John 4:5-42; Matthew 13:54-58
Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!
Today we see a new word used to describe those who were originally called simply “The Way” and that is “Christian.” A great risk was taken which we sometimes overlook. The gospel was preached not to the Jews, as was the typical target audience to this point, but to pagan Greeks! This tremendous risk was met with tremendous success and so the Church of Jerusalem dispatched Barnabas to Antioch to minister to this new group of “Christians.”
I remember sharing the good news that one of my close friends was to be ordained a deacon. I was grateful that the Lord had provided another worker in the vineyard, someone who was committed to Christ and His Church. The old woman I was chatting with seemed very happy and asked his name, but upon hearing it she became sad as “it wasn’t a Ukrainian last name…what will happen to the Church?” Fears about identity run deep brothers and sisters, and I don’t mean to belittle her concerns. What I do want to emphasize is that mission is not something extra that the Church “does,” the Church IS a mission, and this man approaching for ordination was an indication of the success of that mission.
Today we read about Barnabas rejoicing over the Greeks entering the Church. Every year we celebrate the Slavic people entering the Church through Sts. Cyril and Methodius and Volodymyr the Great. What stops us from celebrating the gospel being accepted by “others?” How can we overcome our fears (sometimes even legitimate fears) that things might be done differently if we welcome others into our parishes? Are we willing to do for others what we have benefited from, namely spread the gospel of Christ to people who might be different or think differently than us?
Over this time of the self-isolation imposed on us by the pandemic, let us feel acutely the inability to come together. Let us use this opportunity to be in solidarity with the tremendous number of people who live without the guiding light of Christ’s Church and His life-saving gospel in their lives. But more importantly, let us mourn our part in not bringing that message to them, through our own fears or sinfulness. With this repentance will come joy, and from this joy, we can announce to all of our neighbours as did the Samaritan woman: “Come see the man who told me everything I ever did. Come meet the One who is Risen from the dead, the one who has brought me, and can bring YOU to life.” Christ is Risen!