Post-feast of Theophany; Our Venerable Father Theodosius, Founder of the Cenoebitic Monastic Life (529)
2 Corinthians 4:6-15; Matthew 11:27-30
Read Matthew 11:27-30
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
As we continue to celebrate the post-feast of the Theophany, it is fitting that we reflect on the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Today’s gospel reading begins by telling us that the Father has handed all things over to the Son, and “no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him” (Mt. 11:27). On the Feast of the Theophany, we remember the manifestation of the Trinity to the world. The troparion of the feast is as follows:
When You, O Lord, were baptized in the Jordan,* worship of the Trinity was revealed;* the voice of the Father bore witness to You,* naming You the beloved Son,* and the Spirit in the form of a dove confirmed the word’s certainty.* Glory to You, O Christ God,* who appeared and enlightened the world.
We come to know the Father through the Son. By joining ourselves to Christ in Baptism, Chrismation, and the Eucharist, by extension we become participants in the very life of the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Although the three divine Persons of the Holy Trinity are distinct, God is One and indivisible.
When St. John Chrysostom reflects on today’s gospel reading in his Homily XXXVIII on Matthew XI, he emphasizes that Christ calls everyone who is “in anxiety, in sorrows, in sins” to come to Him so that He may rid them of their sins. Come to Christ not to be condemned and judged, but rather come to Him to be saved. However, when we come to Christ we will not only be saved but also be placed in security. Chrysostom says that the burden will be light if we “duly perform His words,” and to duly perform them we must do so by being lowly, meek, and gentle. As Christ is “gentle and humble in heart” (Mt. 11:29), we must seek to be this way likewise.