Our Venerable Father Theodore of Syceum.
Acts 8:18-25; John 6:35-39.
Read Acts 8:18-25
In Acts 8:18–25 we encounter Simon the magician, who, seeing that the Holy Spirit is given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, offers them money: “Give me also this power.” Peter’s response is sharp and revealing: “Your heart is not upright before God… you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money.”
At the center of this passage is not simply the misuse of money, but the condition of the human heart. Simon does not understand that what is given by God cannot be bought, controlled, or possessed. The Holy Spirit is not a power to acquire, but a gift to receive. And that difference lies in the heart.
Scripture consistently reminds us that God looks not first at actions, but at the heart. Again and again, Christ speaks about the heart: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt 6:21); “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Mt 5:8); “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Lk 6:45). The heart, in biblical understanding, is the center of the person — the place of desire, intention, and truth.
Simon’s problem is not ignorance alone; it is a disordered heart. He wants the gift, but not conversion. He desires power, but not communion. And so Peter calls him not to a transaction, but to repentance: “Repent… pray to the Lord that the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.”
How often do we fall into a similar temptation? We may not offer money, but we try to “earn” God’s grace through our own efforts, or reduce faith to something useful, manageable, or advantageous. We want God’s gifts, but on our terms.
Yet the Gospel calls us to something deeper: not control, but surrender; not possession, but relationship.
To grow closer to God, the tradition of the Church points us always to the purification of the heart. As the Psalm says: “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Ps 51:10). And as Christ invites us: “Abide in Me, and I in you” (Jn 15:4).
The gift of God is given freely — but it is received only by a humble and open heart.
So today we are invited to ask not merely what we seek from God, but how we stand before Him. Is our heart upright? Do we desire God Himself, or only what He gives?
And with the apostles we pray: Lord, purify our hearts, that we may receive Your gifts rightly, and live not for ourselves, but in You.