The Holy Hieromartyr Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata.
Apostle’s Fast.
Romans 12:4-5, 15-21; Matthew 12:9-13.
Read Romans 12:4-5, 15-21
There is a saying often attributed to St. Augustine that says, “One Christian is no Christian”. What he means is that Christian life is not something that can be cultivated in isolation. It is always corporate, always located within the one body of the Church. The passage from St. Paul appointed for today’s epistle makes this explicit: We, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another (Romans 12:5). Further we read: “rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep..repay no one evil for evil.” This is not a moral ideal, but a description of what it means to live as one body rather than as a collection of autonomous individuals.
“Great is the power of the medicine and force of this illustration in correcting the disease of haughtiness,” explains St. John Chrysostom, “why do you by your haughtiness separate yourself? Why do you put your brother to shame? For he is a member of you, so you are also of him.” (Homily 21 on Romans)
The phrase translated as “haughtiness” (ὁ ὕψιστος φρονέω / ) does not mean merely rudeness or social coldness, rather it is a mindset (phronema) by which one places oneself above or outside the body, treating the other as less than a member of Christ. This is directly opposed to the mindset Christians should have as St. Paul writes elsewhere, “Have this mind (phronema) among yourselves, which was in Christ Jesus…” (Phil 2:5)
Chrysostom explains what this means in the concrete: “When your neighbour is ill-treated, you ought to make the calamity your own. Share then in his tears. Has a poor man come into your house?…there is no rich and poor in Christ. Be not then ashamed of him because of his external dress, but receive him because of his inward faith.” (Homily 22 on Romans) This is more than having general good will or sentiment towards our brothers and sisters in Christ, it is a reality that holds the body together and allows all to proceed on the path towards union with Christ, As St. Leo the Great writes, “The bond of our unity cannot be firm unless the bond of charity has tied us together in indivisible solidarity.” (Letter 14).
The desert mother, Amma Theodora knew that as soon as we resolve to live in this kind of peace, with our neighbours resistance follows immediately, “You should realize that as soon as you intend to live in peace, evil comes and weighs down your soul through acedia, faintheartedness, and evil thoughts.” We may have experienced the reality that as soon as we make these good resolutions, somebody will do something to annoy, hurt, or test us in some way. The life of the body is not natural to us in our fallen state; it must be chosen, and then chosen again, each time the body’s demands press against our self-will. May God grant us the grace to choose it.