The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.

The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.

Sunday after Epiphany 1-13-2013

By Fr Ted Toppses

In the Name of the Father and of The Son and of The Holy Spirit.

Let us review the today’s  Gospel from Matthew 4:12-17

At that time, Jesus heard that John had been arrested, He withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth He went and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned." From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

In our earthly world the sun is shining and warming the earth.  Each and every day God provides, and the sun touches each part of the earth.  Sometimes the light of the worldly sun can be hidden from us.  We might be inside a building or home and not experience the sun’s rays.  If we stay hidden from the sun, at first we may seem fine, but soon after our bodies are deprived of vitamin D and we can experience a seasonal disorder due to lack of light which can lead to depression commonly occurring during the darkest months of the year.

The Light of Christ shines in all forms of darkness and warms and nourishes our soul, mind and even our bodies. The light of Christ shines in the darkness of this world.  It is imperative that we receive the light of God and have true health.  To receive this light we need to immerse ourselves in God’s presence and thereby receive the Light of God, shining the true light that enlightens all. 

It is important to understand when we need sunlight so that we can go outside and experience the rays of sunlight.  This exposure to the sun may relieve our seasonal depression or lack of vitamin D.  In our earthly life the sun can however damage our skin or even burn us if we are exposed to too much of it.  The Light of God that nourishes our soul is needed endlessly and never burns us, as long as we seek Christ.  With His Light we are blessed and God gives us His Grace.  Instead of going outside, we receive this light when we open our hearts and minds and pray reaching to God who receives us.  I repeat: Instead of going outside, we receive this light when we open our hearts and minds and pray reaching to God who receives us.   The more we pray the more we are nourished in our souls and transformed.

From the book entitled Sayings of the Desert Fathers we read the following story.  “The brothers asked Abba Agatho, which virtue in our way of life needs most effort to acquire?’ He said to them, ‘I may be wrong but I think nothing needs so much effort as prayer to God. If anyone wants to pray, the demons try to interrupt the prayer, for they know that prayer is the only thing that hinders them. All the other efforts in a religious life, whether they are made vehemently or gently, have room for a measure of rest.  But we need to pray till our dying breath. That is the great struggle.’”

[PENGUIN GROUP (UK) (2003-03-27). The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks (Penguin Classics) (p. 130). Penguin UK..]

Let us also read a small part from Bishop Igantius’ famous work entitled The Arena: “Prayer is the daughter of the fulfillment of the Gospel commandments, and is at the same time the mother of all the virtues, according to the general opinion of the holy Fathers. Prayer produces virtues from the union of the human spirit with the Spirit of the Lord. The virtues that produce prayer differ from the virtues that prayer produces; the former are of the soul, the latter—of the spirit. Prayer is primarily the fulfillment of the first and chief commandment of those two commandments in which are concentrated the Law, the Prophets, and the Gospel. It is impossible for a person to turn with all his thought, with all his strength, and with all his being toward God, except by the action of prayer, when it rises from the dead and, by the power of grace, comes to life as if it received a soul.  – This was from the book The Arena by Bishop Ignatius.

Brianchaninov, Ignatius (2012-09-01). The Arena: Guidelines for Spiritual and Monastic Life (Kindle Locations 1385-1391). Independent Publishers Group. Ch 17

Prayer gives us breath and life to be with God here and now. Prayer begins the receipt of all blessings.  We need the Light of Christ that is received through prayer for us to become sanctified.  We must pray without ceasing, our prayer is the breath of our Soul.  Our prayer brings light into the darkness.  Our prayer awakens the light of God in us.  We must pray.  We need to pray.  With prayer we are full of light, when we cease praying we are full of darkness.  "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."

Amen.