The Nine Holy Martyrs of Cyzicus (313-24); the Venerable Memnon the Wonderworker
Acts 5:1-11; John 5:30-6:2
Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat.
Read Acts 5:1-11
Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!
Today we read the story of two early Christians, Ananias and his wife Sapphira, who shared all their possessions in common with the other believers (Acts 4:32). When they sold a possession, instead of giving its full value to the community, they deceptively kept a portion of the proceeds for themselves. Not only did they withhold money but they also lied to the Church and to the Holy Spirit. In a startling fashion, both Ananias and then his wife suddenly dropped dead upon being confronted by Peter about their deceit.
Peter asked Ananias, “Why have you conceived this thing in your heart?” (Acts 5:4). In Eastern Christian spirituality, the heart is not understood as just our physical organ but rather is the seat of the very center of our being where our mind resides. It is in the heart where we experience our feelings, our will, and our thinking. When Jesus explains that it is not the food we put into our mouths that makes us unclean but rather what comes out of our mouths from our heart, He tells us: “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Mt. 15:19). Our temptation to sin begins as a thought which enters our heart. We are not our thoughts, and we can choose which thoughts to accept or reject, to nurture or dismiss. In their greediness, Ananias and Sapphira fell into the temptation to lie and kept communal proceeds for themselves. They held back from giving their all and being transparent.
Let us consider times that we fell into the temptation to hold back like Ananias and Sapphira. Maybe we did not hold back money that we promised to somebody else like they did, but maybe fear or greediness had deterred us from helping others while we were perfectly free and capable to help. Let us pray for the strength to dismiss those thoughts which tempt us to sin, and let us open our hearts completely to the Holy Spirit so that we may become pure dwelling places for Him within us.