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

There’s a great deal about the Christian life that involves simple, and plain trust in Jesus Christ, even when He asks us to do strange, and difficult things. I, myself, can’t very well imagine being able to comprehend what Christ did today: feeding 5,000 with five loaves, and two fish. Yet, it happened.

The Apostles, even though they had questions, nevertheless went ahead, and did exactly what the Lord asked them to do. They gave Him the five loaves, and the two fish; He prayed, and they distributed them. To prove the whole point, Christ said to pick up what was left over: twelve baskets full of leftovers. The leftovers were more than what they began with. This is just to prove to them, and to us, Who Jesus Christ is: Lord of the universe, Lord of everything, Provider of everything. He knows what He is doing with us. We don’t know anything. He knows everything.

It’s important for us to put our hearts towards the Lord. We have to put our hearts first, our minds second. With the eyes of our hearts on the Lord, we will be able to trust Him that He knows what He is doing with the universe that He created, that He knows what He is doing with your life, and my life. We will be able to accept this even if things are not working out the way I had hoped for them to work out. The Lord knows what He is doing with us. In this case, we cannot find our own property, and building yet, because the time is not right. That doesn’t mean that we don’t keep looking. We do keep looking, but we wait until the Lord blesses one of the things that we come up with to offer Him, or, until He sends something to us that we don’t expect at all. However, we keep offering our part, which is our looking, and our growing together.

This community has been stable for a while, and is slowly growing. This slow growth at the very beginning is very important. It’s important for the founders of any community to know each other, and to trust each other in Christ. It is important for them to trust that each one loves Jesus Christ, and to trust that each one is going to do the best he or she can in building up the church here. It is greatly important that we nurture one another here. When the time comes to grow substantially, visibly, you will need jet propulsion at that time. You need this time (although it seems long), and you might be impatient. You need this time for putting down your deep, spiritual roots, and learning how to trust the Saviour, as the Apostles did.

The Apostle Paul, in the Epistle today, was talking about how people among the Corinthians were being divided, and saying: I belong to this Apostle, and I belong to that Apostle, having forgotten about Christ. They all belong to Christ. There is no Peter, Paul, Apollos or anyone else. They are only there for Jesus Christ. The devil is the great divider. He plays with people’s hearts, and emotions, in order to break up Christian communities, so that the light of Christ will not shine. It is our responsibility to trust Christ as the Apostles trusted Christ with the five loaves, and the two fish, and as the Apostle Peter trusted the Saviour when He called to him to walk on the water with Him (cf. Matthew 14:29).

It is up to us to learn to trust the Saviour with our lives, and with the growth of this community, to trust each other, and not to allow the devil to divide us with silly suspicions, and silly ideas, and silly fears. That’s all he ever needs to do with us, because we are such stupid sheep about these things. He just needs to plant suspicion, and fear in our hearts one for another. We, like silly, silly sheep, fall for it, and believe that my brother or sister doesn’t like me. Very often, a brother or sister doesn’t behave normally towards me on a particular day because he or she doesn’t feel well on that particular day, or has had bad news of the family, or is worried or pre-occupied about something. I am not the centre of the universe. Jesus Christ is. If someone is behaving strangely towards me, it’s my responsibility not to say: Poor me, my brother or sister has got something against me. It’s for me to say: “Lord have mercy” for my brother or sister for what is bothering him or her. “Lord have mercy”; help my brother or sister. It’s important for me to keep my heart warm towards my brother or sister, no matter what, and to live in forgiveness, and reconciliation in Christ with each other.

It’s on this firm foundation that this community will shine brightly here in N, and will grow for Christ. It will grow new Christians, and grow rehabilitated Christians for Christ. So, as St Herman of Alaska said, “From this day, from this hour, from this minute, let us love God above all, and do His holy will”, glorifying the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now, and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

† Archdiocese of Canada - Orthodox Church in America