The Transfer of the Holy Relics of the First-martyr and Archdeacon Stephen (5th c.)
2 Corinthians 2:4-15; Matthew 23:13-22
Dormition Fast.
Read Matthew 23:13-22
Jesus’ teaching is genuine, to say the least. He indeed lived according to His teachings. Jesus did not allow temptations and worldly pleasures to deviate Him from His mission, which is: “to bring glad tidings to the poor” (Lk 4:18); that He should not lose anything of what the Father gave Him (Jn 6:39); “to seek and to save what was lost” (Lk 19:10).
Jesus entrusted the continuation of His mission of bringing people to God to His apostles, who in turn entrusted the same mission to their successors, down to this day.
We have religious and monastics who lived up to what they were entrusted to bring to fruition. Others, preached the good news, but perhaps did not practice as much; and others, neither preached nor practiced.
Keeping in mind that the master of lies never sleeps, it is expected that the Devil is always on the hunt to find the weaknesses of those who have been called to serve the Lord and His people in order to spiritually ruin them, while also instigates others without a calling to pursue a religious or monastic life for wrong reasons.
This is a spiritual threat that we cannot take for granted, while at the same time we cannot let ourselves become disheartened and use different excuses for not practicing true Christian life anymore.
Why we should not be disheartened?
Because we have God by our side, Jesus Christ, Who promised to not leave us orphans (Jn 14:18), but to be with us always (Mt 28:20). We also have the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, Who testifies on behalf of Jesus (Jn 14:26) and guides believers in all truth (Jn 16:13).