June 13, 2021

Third Sunday after Pentecost, Tone 2; the Holy Martyr Aquilina (286-305); Holy Triphillius, Bishop of Leucosia (Nicosia) on Cyprus (343)
Romans 5:1-10; Matthew 6:22-33
Apostles’ Fast.

Read Matthew 6:22-33

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light.” (Mt 6:22-23)

This may sound strange to some, but we always interpret our circumstances subjectively. For example, if several artists paint, say, the same church, each of them will portray it differently. If you ask three people who took part in an event to tell about it, each of them will describe it in a different way.

Knowing our propensity for subjectivity, the Lord reminds us that we perceive reality primarily through our eyes. As we become freer from sin, we begin to see things in a clearer and more transparent way, more objectively. The more we ourselves are defiled and stained by sins, the more we see everything around us in a perverse and distorted way.

The more we are transfigured and transformed, the closer we become to God, the better we see everything in God and in God’s way, and then we know how to respond correctly to everything!