Post-feast of Theophany. Our Holy Father Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa (after 394). Venerable Dometian, Bishop of Miletene (582-602). Our Venerable Father Marcian, Presbyter and Econome of the Great Church (450-57).
James 3:11-4:6. Mark 11:23-26.
Read Mark 11:23-26
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
Jesus teaches us the importance of having strong faith when we pray. Multiple times in the gospels, Jesus heals someone and then says, “your faith has made you well” (see Mt. 9:22; Mk. 5:34; Mk. 10:52; Lk. 8:48; Lk. 17:19; Lk 18:42). To prove that “the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins,” Jesus forgave a paralytic’s sins before working the miracle of restoring physical health and wholeness to him (see Mt. 9:6; Mk. 2:10; Lk. 5:24). What is the greater miracle: restoring health to the body or restoring our relationship with God? With Jesus, both are possible! In Jesus, sin, sickness, and death have no power. When we have faith, God can work incredible miracles in our lives. He can heal a paralytic; He can move mountains.
Everything we are given from God comes from His boundless love, goodness, and generosity. This includes His forgiveness to us when we turn our backs on Him and distance ourselves from Him. We are called to become more and more Christlike and distance ourselves from sin and evil, learning to love more perfectly and draw near to God. God freely extends His forgiveness to us, but He demands that we forgive others in return. In the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, Jesus illustrates how a servant who was forgiven a huge sum of money by his master failed to forgive the small debt of someone indebted to him. This unforgiving servant had his forgiveness revoked and was delivered “to the torturers until he should pay all that was due” to his master (Mt. 18:34).
Just as God can heal our physical infirmities, He can work the miracle of restoring our spiritual health and extending His limitless forgiveness and mercy to us. However, if our hearts are wicked, stubborn, prideful, cold, and unwilling to extend mercy and forgiveness to those who have harmed us, then how could we expect to receive forgiveness for our trespasses against our infinite God? We need to focus on the disposition of our heart. When we pray, we must pray with the strong faith of a trusting, innocent child. We must ask for our heart to become like the Lord’s, “slow to anger and great in mercy” (see Ps. 103:8 and Ps. 145:8).