Our Holy Father Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia
Hebrews 13:17-21; Luke 6:17-23
All-night Vigil Feast. Nativity Fast.
Read Luke 6:17-23
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Jesus Christ understood the weaknesses of His disciples and understands our weaknesses as well. Furthermore, He acknowledged the different persecutions and sacrifices that His disciples will have to undergo because of their faith in Him. He also acknowledges the various persecutions and sacrifices we have to undergo in order to stand firm in our faith in Him.
For how many times we are tempted to proceed one way, yet we know Jesus would do it differently. Or how many times we would like to take the easy way out, and then we remember that Jesus never took the easy way out.
Many times we have to humble ourselves in front of others for the sake of Christ; we have to sacrifice family time in order to serve the Lord and our neighbor; we may even be ridiculed for believing in a God Who became incarnated; we may be excluded from certain gatherings because we do not meet the requirements of such gatherings.
Then we remember that we meet the only needed requirement, and that is the baptism we received, through which we become members of the Body of Christ, the Church; furthermore, we remember that this life is temporary and Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead; and we also remember that we have Jesus by our side and one another for help, support, listening, comfort, and guidance.
Then we remember the words of Jesus to rejoice when the world does not accept us, because holding on to Christ is what really matters, because heaven and earth will pass away, but His words will not pass away (Mt 24:35).