Repose of Blessed Olga (Olha), Princess of Kiev, named Helen at Holy Baptism (c. 970); The Holy and Praise-worthy Martyr Euphemia (303); Hoshiv Icon of the Mother of God (Attestation of Miracles by Metropolitan Athanasius Sheptytsky, 1737)
Galatians 3:23-29; Matthew 25:1-13
Read Galatians 3:23-29
To be a Christian is to put on Christ. It is not simply to follow His example. There might be many people including non-Christians who want to follow Christ’s example, or what they believe is His example: to be charitable, to care for the sick and the poor, to dwell with sinners, to speak truthfully. These are all good and noble things, but this is to domesticate Christ, it is to reduce Him to simply another good person, a social justice advocate, a holy man.
For us as Christians this is insufficient. We are called to put on Christ, to join ourselves with the Divine, to unite ourselves with God, to participate in the life of the Most Holy Trinity. This is something far greater, brothers and sisters. We are called to participate in Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection. And this means that we are called to suffer. But as we know, suffering in Christ means to be eventually raised with Christ and to be heirs to the promise made to Abraham. God is faithful to those who know Him and keep His commandments – a novel concept in our world today.
Let us truly put on Christ with all that it requires so that we might be united with Him, not only, please God, in the age to come, but also here on earth. If we have truly put on Christ, then our actions through which we show love for others will bear full witness not to our own perceived goodness but to His divine love manifested in and through us.