Sermon of 21 February 2016
FIRST READING
Genesis 15:5–12, 17–18
In those days: And God led Abram out and said to him, ‘Look’
Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can count them all. And
said to him: ‘That is how many descendants you will have.’ Abram believed him
to the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness. And He said to him:
I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, so that
to give you this land as your possession. He said: ‘Lord’
Goodness me! How am I to know that I’ll end up with her?
The Lord said to him, ‘Take for Me a three-year-old heifer,
a three-year-old goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtle dove and a young
a pigeon. He took them all, cut them in half, and placed one
one side against the other; the only thing he didn’t split in two was the birds. And they swooped down on
the carcasses of birds of prey; but Abram drove them away. When
As the sun set, a deep sleep came over Avram; and behold,
He was overcome by terror and a great darkness. When the sun had set, and
Darkness fell: there, smoke as if from a stove and the flames of a fire
walked amongst the slaughtered animals. On that day
The Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants’
I give you this land, from the River of Egypt to the great
rivers, the rivers of the Euphrates.
SECOND READING
FLP 3, 17–4, 1
Follow my example, brothers and sisters, and look to those who
act in accordance with the impression you have of us. For many, oh
which I have often told you, and now even with tears in my eyes
I say, they are acting as enemies of the Cross of Christ. Their end is—
doom; their god is their belly, and their glory lies in their shame; they think
about earthly things. But our true home is in heaven, from where we
we also await the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ,
Which will transform our humiliated body so that it
will be in keeping with His glorious body, by the power with which He
He acts and brings all things under His control. Now then, my brothers
my beloved ones and those I long for, my joy and my crown, stand still
So then, in the Lord, beloved.
THE GOSPEL
Luke 9:28b–36
At that time: Taking Peter, John and James with him, Jesus went up to
to the mountain to pray. And whilst he was praying, the expression on His face changed, and
His clothes became white and dazzling. And behold, two
The men who were talking with Him were Moses and Elijah.
Appearing in glory, they spoke of His departure, which was His
was to be carried out in Jerusalem. Peter, however, and those who were with
They were overcome by sleep; but when they awoke, they saw the glory
Him, and the two men standing with Him. And as they were walking away
Peter said to Jesus: ‘Master! It is good for us to be here’
Let’s make three bushes: one for You, one for Moses, and one
Iliya — without realising what he was saying. And when he said this,
A cloud appeared and overshadowed them; and they were afraid as they entered
a cloud. And a voice came from the cloud, saying: ‘This is the Son’
My Beloved; listen to Him. When this voice was heard,
Jesus was left alone. And they fell silent, and told no one about it
those days, talking about what they’d seen.
Beloved in Christ the Lord, dear brothers,
Dear sisters! Human beings have the sense of hearing, the sense of sight,
the sense of touch, other senses. Thanks to these, he is able to have
contact with the outside world. We are able to hear
other people, to see them, to contemplate the world. It’s a shame when
a person cannot see or hear, or even when their hearing or
His eyesight is impaired. This prevents him from seeing better
understanding the world, understanding other people. But apart from feelings
As well as physical sight, we are also talking about spiritual sight, a certain kind of
Spiritual Hearing: How to See and Hear God. This is far
is more difficult than seeing and hearing another person, for God
We do not see in the same way as we see one another, nor do we hear in the same way as
we can hear one another. God cannot, in fact, be empirically
to feel – just as we feel another person.
This requires a certain spiritual vision, a spiritual
hearing. We are aware of the limitations of our abilities
we are constantly aware of this. And we are all the more aware of it when we are
Christians, the limitations of their spiritual
options. Who should we listen to? Who should we believe? We have plenty
We can see what’s going on in the world. We listen a lot, especially
We watch and listen to the telly. And we’re already so confused –
Who should we believe? Who should we listen to? Is all of this good for us? Is all of it
Is that true? And anyway, how is one supposed to live in this world? And in the end
we end up feeling utterly at a loss; it’s just as well if only
confusion. It is far worse when we become embittered, when
We are consumed by hatred and phobias. What can we do?
‘This is my beloved Son; listen to him.’
Dear brothers and sisters, we have just heard these words
from the Holy Gospel, the words of God the Father concerning his Son. His
Listen – this is the One we ought to listen to.
We read about the scene of the Transfiguration. The Transfiguration, on
In fact, it is a source of comfort for us in our earthly
paths. Just as it was for the apostles whom Jesus took with him
up the mountain. It is hard to be a disciple of Jesus. It is hard to seek God
in life. It is difficult to follow His example. And so Jesus, as it were, in a special way
in this way offers a glimpse of our future destiny – the contemplation of God
face to face, the fullness of God’s glory. It is already beginning to reveal
here on earth, in the scene of the Transfiguration – so that those who,
Those who were on their way found some comfort and hope.
On the other hand, in the Transfiguration scene, the most
It is precisely these words that are a key element: ‘This is
‘My beloved Son, listen to him.’ God must
Listen. Today’s Liturgy of the Word is a kind of
A treatise on biblical faith – faith as complete trust and
obedience, faith which is founded on truth, which
is based on loyalty.
The first reading from the Liturgy of the Word tells us that,
just as God made a covenant with Abraham. Abraham in the Bible
is regarded as a man of faith. Indeed, God said to him:
‘Leave Ur and go to the land that I will show you.’ And
Abraham got up and set off. Abraham did not ask God where
He set off without asking God what he would eat tomorrow, or where
where will he spend the night, will he even make it to this land, and what
...awaits him in this land. Never mind. He got up and went on his way.
It is a symbol of faith, representing complete trust and obedience.
Faith is built on trust, and where there is trust, there is also
obedience. Obedience to God, Who (and He alone) does not
can neither err nor mislead. Such faith
is not based solely on the assertion that I am –
a practising Christian of one denomination or another. Such faith
is not based solely on our emotions, which we
are often prone to this. This is particularly true of newcomers who take
The sacrament – let’s be honest, no offence meant, my dears
newcomers, but that’s just how it is. It’s quite common: in your faith
There is an emotional aspect to it. Particularly in Russia (this is
(I suppose it’s a national trait of ours) faith
very emotional. We love these emotions. But they
pass. They pass – and faith vanishes somewhere. And we are still
we try to blame the whole world around us and the Church for the fact that,
that there is no faith; no one has given us faith. Faith is not merely linked to
only with our emotional experiences. If we
If we reduce faith to this, we shall fall into the heresy of modernism.
Faith is not merely linked to certain aspects of our
rules of conduct, but only in relation to certain
acts of the will. This, too, is a dangerous temptation in matters of faith, especially
in the context of our national ideology, when we
we are trying to turn religion into a kind of ideology
the outpost of society. Religion plays a huge role in
society’s life – that is beyond dispute. And religious organisations
are called upon and must contribute to moral
education, and the revival of spiritual and moral values
traditions. That is beyond dispute. But these are all consequences of faith, not its
Reasons. That’s the whole problem. He’s already a believer
acts in accordance with God’s will; a believer is righteous,
A person of faith is a patriot of their homeland; a person of faith
a person is properly socialised within society, and so on.
But not the other way round. Faith is not limited to this alone; otherwise, it would be
It will be a parody of some sort of ideology.
Faith, in fact, is complete trust and
obedience to God as the highest value. To God, Who does not
may neither err nor mislead. Saint Thomas
Aquinas made excellent use of philosophical
terminology, so as to speak of faith in this way: ‘This is
an act of the mind which, under the influence of the will, is brought into
'The movement, by grace, accepts the truth revealed by God.'
Our mind – under the influence of our will – plus God’s
Grace. It is God who gives us the gift of faith. This, incidentally, is also
It is worth bearing in mind.
And an example of such faith is Abraham, who set out and
I’m off. Faith is a risky path, because you don’t know,
where are you going? But you are walking on in complete hope, in complete
security, because you trust and listen to the One who
cannot make a mistake or mislead anyone.
Do you place your trust in the greatest value of all – God’s love; the love of God,
Which is love itself.
The first reading from the Liturgy of the Word tells us that,
how God made a covenant with Abraham. An interesting passage,
when Abraham sacrifices the animals. In ancient culture
Thus, the covenant (contract) was concluded. And the contracting parties –
those who entered into the covenant – passed between the carcasses
animals that had been cut open. This symbolised that the covenant
is eternal. And if I break the covenant, then this will befall me
the same fate as these slaughtered animals. Faith,
It turns out that it is based on constancy and loyalty. Our
The word ‘Amen’, which we use, comes from Hebrew
language. In Hebrew, this root conveys the idea of
constancy. It is that which is unchanging, unshakeable and constant.
This is precisely how truth is understood in the Bible. God is faithful to His
God is faithful to His promises concerning
a person. It is therefore also worth maintaining consistency in
in relation to God.
From this, dear brothers and sisters, follows something of the utmost importance
a conclusion that is particularly relevant during Lent, for
our reflection on what is most important in life.
After all, reflection is precisely this: pondering the question of whether,
What’s more important. Everything we need for life is also this
That’s right. It would be naive to say that nothing is needed at all
in this life. God works through the world, and we live in the world, and
We need many values in this world. But here is the most
The greatest value is God, and He alone.
‘Our Father in heaven’, as the prayer tells us
Today, the Apostle Paul. Our home is in heaven, from where
We are also awaiting the Saviour. This is our greatest treasure. It is precisely
We Christians realise, especially during Lent,
which is what matters most to us. Yes, it is important, of course, and
to relax; of course, it’s important to work; it’s important to provide for oneself
a family, travelling to work, earning money; it’s important
watching telly, no matter what nonsense they say on it –
Everything in this world seems to be important. But there is something more
What is important, and of a more fundamental nature, is what we desire
defend. This is our home, which is in heaven. Not in
a particular country, although loving one’s homeland is important. Not in
a particular city, although loving a city is important. It’s not about
a specific landing, although, of course, it is important to keep an eye on
Tidiness is important there too. But even so, there are things
more fundamental, more important. This is our home,
which is in heaven. And dwelling in heaven is life
Eternity is the contemplation of God face to face.
It is the Transfiguration that reveals the mystery to us
the final chapter of our lives, the final chapter of a life lived by faith. But we are here on earth
We are walking the path of faith. It is a difficult path; no one ever said that
This path is an easy one. Let the newcomers not take offence again; yet
Let us repeat: this path is a difficult one; there is no easy path of faith and
That’s not how it is. This is the path of carrying one’s cross. Each of us carries
a certain cross to bear in life. And let no one think that my cross
heavier than my neighbour’s cross. No, everyone bears
It’s quite a heavy cross to bear. But it’s worth bearing it. Because
that the glory of the Cross is followed by the glory of the Resurrection. It is precisely
Lent gives us this hope. The hope that
Like Abraham, we are walking a difficult path, the path of faith, towards
eternal life. Amen.
Genesis 15:5–12, 17–18
In those days: And God led Abram out and said to him, ‘Look’
Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can count them all. And
said to him: ‘That is how many descendants you will have.’ Abram believed him
to the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness. And He said to him:
I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, so that
to give you this land as your possession. He said: ‘Lord’
Goodness me! How am I to know that I’ll end up with her?
The Lord said to him, ‘Take for Me a three-year-old heifer,
a three-year-old goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtle dove and a young
a pigeon. He took them all, cut them in half, and placed one
one side against the other; the only thing he didn’t split in two was the birds. And they swooped down on
the carcasses of birds of prey; but Abram drove them away. When
As the sun set, a deep sleep came over Avram; and behold,
He was overcome by terror and a great darkness. When the sun had set, and
Darkness fell: there, smoke as if from a stove and the flames of a fire
walked amongst the slaughtered animals. On that day
The Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants’
I give you this land, from the River of Egypt to the great
rivers, the rivers of the Euphrates.
SECOND READING
FLP 3, 17–4, 1
Follow my example, brothers and sisters, and look to those who
act in accordance with the impression you have of us. For many, oh
which I have often told you, and now even with tears in my eyes
I say, they are acting as enemies of the Cross of Christ. Their end is—
doom; their god is their belly, and their glory lies in their shame; they think
about earthly things. But our true home is in heaven, from where we
we also await the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ,
Which will transform our humiliated body so that it
will be in keeping with His glorious body, by the power with which He
He acts and brings all things under His control. Now then, my brothers
my beloved ones and those I long for, my joy and my crown, stand still
So then, in the Lord, beloved.
THE GOSPEL
Luke 9:28b–36
At that time: Taking Peter, John and James with him, Jesus went up to
to the mountain to pray. And whilst he was praying, the expression on His face changed, and
His clothes became white and dazzling. And behold, two
The men who were talking with Him were Moses and Elijah.
Appearing in glory, they spoke of His departure, which was His
was to be carried out in Jerusalem. Peter, however, and those who were with
They were overcome by sleep; but when they awoke, they saw the glory
Him, and the two men standing with Him. And as they were walking away
Peter said to Jesus: ‘Master! It is good for us to be here’
Let’s make three bushes: one for You, one for Moses, and one
Iliya — without realising what he was saying. And when he said this,
A cloud appeared and overshadowed them; and they were afraid as they entered
a cloud. And a voice came from the cloud, saying: ‘This is the Son’
My Beloved; listen to Him. When this voice was heard,
Jesus was left alone. And they fell silent, and told no one about it
those days, talking about what they’d seen.
Beloved in Christ the Lord, dear brothers,
Dear sisters! Human beings have the sense of hearing, the sense of sight,
the sense of touch, other senses. Thanks to these, he is able to have
contact with the outside world. We are able to hear
other people, to see them, to contemplate the world. It’s a shame when
a person cannot see or hear, or even when their hearing or
His eyesight is impaired. This prevents him from seeing better
understanding the world, understanding other people. But apart from feelings
As well as physical sight, we are also talking about spiritual sight, a certain kind of
Spiritual Hearing: How to See and Hear God. This is far
is more difficult than seeing and hearing another person, for God
We do not see in the same way as we see one another, nor do we hear in the same way as
we can hear one another. God cannot, in fact, be empirically
to feel – just as we feel another person.
This requires a certain spiritual vision, a spiritual
hearing. We are aware of the limitations of our abilities
we are constantly aware of this. And we are all the more aware of it when we are
Christians, the limitations of their spiritual
options. Who should we listen to? Who should we believe? We have plenty
We can see what’s going on in the world. We listen a lot, especially
We watch and listen to the telly. And we’re already so confused –
Who should we believe? Who should we listen to? Is all of this good for us? Is all of it
Is that true? And anyway, how is one supposed to live in this world? And in the end
we end up feeling utterly at a loss; it’s just as well if only
confusion. It is far worse when we become embittered, when
We are consumed by hatred and phobias. What can we do?
‘This is my beloved Son; listen to him.’
Dear brothers and sisters, we have just heard these words
from the Holy Gospel, the words of God the Father concerning his Son. His
Listen – this is the One we ought to listen to.
We read about the scene of the Transfiguration. The Transfiguration, on
In fact, it is a source of comfort for us in our earthly
paths. Just as it was for the apostles whom Jesus took with him
up the mountain. It is hard to be a disciple of Jesus. It is hard to seek God
in life. It is difficult to follow His example. And so Jesus, as it were, in a special way
in this way offers a glimpse of our future destiny – the contemplation of God
face to face, the fullness of God’s glory. It is already beginning to reveal
here on earth, in the scene of the Transfiguration – so that those who,
Those who were on their way found some comfort and hope.
On the other hand, in the Transfiguration scene, the most
It is precisely these words that are a key element: ‘This is
‘My beloved Son, listen to him.’ God must
Listen. Today’s Liturgy of the Word is a kind of
A treatise on biblical faith – faith as complete trust and
obedience, faith which is founded on truth, which
is based on loyalty.
The first reading from the Liturgy of the Word tells us that,
just as God made a covenant with Abraham. Abraham in the Bible
is regarded as a man of faith. Indeed, God said to him:
‘Leave Ur and go to the land that I will show you.’ And
Abraham got up and set off. Abraham did not ask God where
He set off without asking God what he would eat tomorrow, or where
where will he spend the night, will he even make it to this land, and what
...awaits him in this land. Never mind. He got up and went on his way.
It is a symbol of faith, representing complete trust and obedience.
Faith is built on trust, and where there is trust, there is also
obedience. Obedience to God, Who (and He alone) does not
can neither err nor mislead. Such faith
is not based solely on the assertion that I am –
a practising Christian of one denomination or another. Such faith
is not based solely on our emotions, which we
are often prone to this. This is particularly true of newcomers who take
The sacrament – let’s be honest, no offence meant, my dears
newcomers, but that’s just how it is. It’s quite common: in your faith
There is an emotional aspect to it. Particularly in Russia (this is
(I suppose it’s a national trait of ours) faith
very emotional. We love these emotions. But they
pass. They pass – and faith vanishes somewhere. And we are still
we try to blame the whole world around us and the Church for the fact that,
that there is no faith; no one has given us faith. Faith is not merely linked to
only with our emotional experiences. If we
If we reduce faith to this, we shall fall into the heresy of modernism.
Faith is not merely linked to certain aspects of our
rules of conduct, but only in relation to certain
acts of the will. This, too, is a dangerous temptation in matters of faith, especially
in the context of our national ideology, when we
we are trying to turn religion into a kind of ideology
the outpost of society. Religion plays a huge role in
society’s life – that is beyond dispute. And religious organisations
are called upon and must contribute to moral
education, and the revival of spiritual and moral values
traditions. That is beyond dispute. But these are all consequences of faith, not its
Reasons. That’s the whole problem. He’s already a believer
acts in accordance with God’s will; a believer is righteous,
A person of faith is a patriot of their homeland; a person of faith
a person is properly socialised within society, and so on.
But not the other way round. Faith is not limited to this alone; otherwise, it would be
It will be a parody of some sort of ideology.
Faith, in fact, is complete trust and
obedience to God as the highest value. To God, Who does not
may neither err nor mislead. Saint Thomas
Aquinas made excellent use of philosophical
terminology, so as to speak of faith in this way: ‘This is
an act of the mind which, under the influence of the will, is brought into
'The movement, by grace, accepts the truth revealed by God.'
Our mind – under the influence of our will – plus God’s
Grace. It is God who gives us the gift of faith. This, incidentally, is also
It is worth bearing in mind.
And an example of such faith is Abraham, who set out and
I’m off. Faith is a risky path, because you don’t know,
where are you going? But you are walking on in complete hope, in complete
security, because you trust and listen to the One who
cannot make a mistake or mislead anyone.
Do you place your trust in the greatest value of all – God’s love; the love of God,
Which is love itself.
The first reading from the Liturgy of the Word tells us that,
how God made a covenant with Abraham. An interesting passage,
when Abraham sacrifices the animals. In ancient culture
Thus, the covenant (contract) was concluded. And the contracting parties –
those who entered into the covenant – passed between the carcasses
animals that had been cut open. This symbolised that the covenant
is eternal. And if I break the covenant, then this will befall me
the same fate as these slaughtered animals. Faith,
It turns out that it is based on constancy and loyalty. Our
The word ‘Amen’, which we use, comes from Hebrew
language. In Hebrew, this root conveys the idea of
constancy. It is that which is unchanging, unshakeable and constant.
This is precisely how truth is understood in the Bible. God is faithful to His
God is faithful to His promises concerning
a person. It is therefore also worth maintaining consistency in
in relation to God.
From this, dear brothers and sisters, follows something of the utmost importance
a conclusion that is particularly relevant during Lent, for
our reflection on what is most important in life.
After all, reflection is precisely this: pondering the question of whether,
What’s more important. Everything we need for life is also this
That’s right. It would be naive to say that nothing is needed at all
in this life. God works through the world, and we live in the world, and
We need many values in this world. But here is the most
The greatest value is God, and He alone.
‘Our Father in heaven’, as the prayer tells us
Today, the Apostle Paul. Our home is in heaven, from where
We are also awaiting the Saviour. This is our greatest treasure. It is precisely
We Christians realise, especially during Lent,
which is what matters most to us. Yes, it is important, of course, and
to relax; of course, it’s important to work; it’s important to provide for oneself
a family, travelling to work, earning money; it’s important
watching telly, no matter what nonsense they say on it –
Everything in this world seems to be important. But there is something more
What is important, and of a more fundamental nature, is what we desire
defend. This is our home, which is in heaven. Not in
a particular country, although loving one’s homeland is important. Not in
a particular city, although loving a city is important. It’s not about
a specific landing, although, of course, it is important to keep an eye on
Tidiness is important there too. But even so, there are things
more fundamental, more important. This is our home,
which is in heaven. And dwelling in heaven is life
Eternity is the contemplation of God face to face.
It is the Transfiguration that reveals the mystery to us
the final chapter of our lives, the final chapter of a life lived by faith. But we are here on earth
We are walking the path of faith. It is a difficult path; no one ever said that
This path is an easy one. Let the newcomers not take offence again; yet
Let us repeat: this path is a difficult one; there is no easy path of faith and
That’s not how it is. This is the path of carrying one’s cross. Each of us carries
a certain cross to bear in life. And let no one think that my cross
heavier than my neighbour’s cross. No, everyone bears
It’s quite a heavy cross to bear. But it’s worth bearing it. Because
that the glory of the Cross is followed by the glory of the Resurrection. It is precisely
Lent gives us this hope. The hope that
Like Abraham, we are walking a difficult path, the path of faith, towards
eternal life. Amen.