Post-feast of the Nativity of Christ; the Two Thousand Martyrs Who Were Burned in Nicomedia (303); Passing into eternal life (1945) of Blessed Hryhoriy (Gregory) Khomyshyn, Bishop of Stanyslaviv (Ivano-Frankivs’k) and martyr.
James 1:19-27; Mark 10:17-27.
Read Mark 10:17-27
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
We we hear the account of the rich young man, who comes and inquires of Jesus: “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” It is a question we encounter frequently in apologetics, or even in our own approach to the Christian life – what must I do? What is necessary?
St. Hilary of Poitiers explains the false premise behind the young man’s question: “He assumed he could be justified by works. He was not aware that Jesus had come for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and that the law could not save except through justifying faith” (On The Trinity, 9.7)
We have finished our Fast and are now celebrating the Feast of the Lord’s Nativity. But it is worth reflecting on how we kept the fast for the way we conduct ourselves during our festal times gives us insight into what we truly think of the Church’s ascetic practice. If a festal period is considered simply a time to throw off the shackles of fasting and abstinence – this may proceed from a view of the Church’s ascetic practice as external restraints.
But as St. Augustine says ,in explaining Christ’s response to the rich young man, the keeping of the law proceeds from an internal transformation, not merely from an external action: “Hear the good teacher respond to him: if he wishes to enter into life, he should keep the commandments; that he should remove from himself the bitterness of malice and wickedness; that he should not kill, or commit adultery, or steal, or bear false witness, in order that dry land may appear and bring forth the honor of mother and father and the love of our neighbor” (Confessions 13.19)
Christianity is not about doing things but about becoming someone. It is simply about not stealing or lying, but about becoming someone who does not lie or steal – if we think about it the difference is immense. We have specific practices and prayers that we keep, to be sure, but these are tools to help us become like Christ, not Christianity itself, and in this sense, they are all necessary. For they represent the path already trodden by our Holy Fathers who have gone before us and now live in the Glory of God.
So, as we continue to celebrate this Great feast, let us remember that our Faith is not an abstract list of rules and practices to be followed, but the very path of theosis, of becoming like the very one born in the manger for our salvation.