The Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Gabriel; Venerable Father Stephen the Sabbaite (9th c.); Holy Father Julian, Bishop of Kenomane
Abstinence from meat and foods that contain meat.
Read
1 Corinthians 11:8-22; Matthew 17:10-18
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
How often do we doubt our ability to perform a certain task or achieve a certain goal? How often do we in our innermost hearts believe that we are not worthy of great things? We can all too often get discouraged when we fail and then believe we are somehow less of a person in the eyes of others because we have failed. We also struggle sometimes with sloth, a persistent laziness, or discouragement that leads us away from pursuing what we believe our talents to be, or from pursuing that which we most desire. On a very simple level, this might be putting in a greater effort to learn a new musical instrument, or a new language, or to dedicate ourselves to reading more in a new subject area, or to improve our skills in a sport. On a more profound level, discouragement in the spiritual life can be a great challenge to us, especially when it is linked to struggling with that persistent sin or a seeming inability to dedicate ourselves to prayer. Such a struggle with faith in God and in His loving mercy can be and often is linked to a lack of confidence in ourselves and an inability to recognize the gifts God has bestowed upon us. We must continually remember that all of our gifts and talents, both those we have discerned and those that may be unrealized as yet, are given to us by God and that with His help and the grace of perseverance, especially in the spiritual life, we can live those gifts and talents to the full.
The disciples in today’s Gospel were disheartened by their inability to live out the ministry of healing that Our Lord had given them. Jesus’ somewhat frustrated and stern rebuke of them for their faithlessness must have been a hard pill for them to swallow, especially given their desire to follow Jesus in all things. In our own lives, we must guard against a lack of faith or a sense that we alone without God’s help can accomplish anything we want. No. We are always called to be in a relationship with God and to put our trust in Him, such faith in His saving help conquers discouragement and sloth. He alone knows our full struggles and He alone knows all of the beautiful things we might accomplish unto His glory by simply placing our trust and faith in Him.