Be of good cheer... μη φοβεῖσθε...στά Αγγλικά...

   Be of good cheer, don’t be afraid, it is I…..Mat 14,27….

 

 

After Christ’s wonderworking act, the miraculous multiple of the five loaves in the wilderness, when five thousand men, apart from the women and the children, ate to satisfaction, the Lord, teaching his Disciples humbleness in practice and how they should avoid men-pleasing, he forced them to get into the boat and cross the lake to the other side, while He sent the multitudes, the people away, foreboring being commended by the crouds. He did so, because, when people witnessed and tasted the miracle that had happened, they were praising and glorifying Him and His Disciples · after that, he went up on the mountain by Himself to pray, teaching us prayer with His acts. Teaching us the necessity and the power of prayer as well as that we ought to pray before and after any action, deed, movement or work of ours and after successes as a thanksgiving.

  The boat with the Disciples was now in the middle of the lake, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary, and the boat was in danger to be overturned.

   Now in the fourth watch of the night, (that is from 3 o clock in the night to dawn), Christ appeared walking on the waves· 

Taking this opportunity I would like to remind you, what is «fourth watch» and what does that mean...

   In the army we have the guard duty, the spell and the so called «...german spell...»,which is the guard duty, from 2  to 4 o’clock in the night. That is the most difficult one, due to the night hours. In the same way, at that time….the spells, the guardings, were called... «watches...»...

Each guarding, watch, spell, lasted for 3 hours ·

And the first watch, the first spell we could say, was the watch, 

from 6 o’clock in the evening to 9 o’clock at night· 

The second watch was from 9 o’clock to 12 o’clock, at midnight· 

The third watch was from midnight to 3 o’clock in the night, 

And the fourth one from 3 o’clock to 6 o’clock in the morning.

  So, when Christ had finished his lonely morning prayer, He went to meet His Disciples, during the course of 3-6 o’clock·

The Evangelists don’t mention the exact time. They only say that this incident took place, during these hours. 

  In the lake, when the boat was tossed by the waves, Christ revealed Himself walking on the waves, likewise we are walking on the ground ...in that painful anxiety of the Disciples, while the danger of sinking was close, in the middle of darkness of the night, they saw Him walking on the waters. They were troubled, for they thought He was a ghost, and they cried out in a loud voice, because they were horrified...

Immediately, Jesus who is the source, the giver of peace and tranquility, talked to them saying:... be of good cheer, don’t be afraid, it is I ... Mat. 14, 27 ... 

  Peter, the warm and ever-ready Disciple, replied directly :... Lord , if it is You, command me to come to You on the water..... So He said «Come»· And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus· But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out,  saying «Lord,  save me!» And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, «Oh, you of little faith!!!, why did you doubt?» And when they got into the boat the wind ceased.... Mat. 14, 22-32 ... 

What an instructive and timeless passage!!!!!

What a magnitude !!!!!! 

How topical !!!!!

Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever ...

Let us elaborate on that message of the Gospel, it has many things to teach us, to specify. It will strengthen us, reinforce and nourish us; it will reveal and remind us many things, it will admonish us…

 It teaches us to avoid pleasing men and showing off, but work the deeds of God, in a way befitting to God, out of sight…for there is the sleepless and all-seeing eye… 

The Deciples are being tested,  they are wavered, they are afraid and worried, they are asking for evidences, something to hold on to, they are looking for an anchor.

In that dizziness and tempest, within the danger of the sea, when the Disciples where in danger, Christ  appears. He knows. He watches the logic sheep that are being shephered by Him and whenever there is need, He makes His presence known in practice, through His actions.

He comes and through His presence and the given faith, He stretches forward the anchor, the harbour, the refuge, the life-saving board, the life belt, if we leave back…..the heavy load of our desperation. 

They consider the divine Presence to be a ghost. But, He intervenes, calming their consciousnesses first, and then the tremendous sea.

   In the fluster, in the storm, in the desperation, in the danger, the sweet voice of the Lord pours out like balsam, 

Be of good cheer, don’t be afraid, it is I ....

Courage...!!! Don’t be afraid, it is me, the Lord and the Teacher...

He is the One who...spoke and they were made, He commanded and everything was created.

He is the One, who set a boundary and waves of the sea shall not pass over it, neither any other creature which was made by His word only, and since their creation….they are obeying, at the specific duty that each of them was given. .....

The Disciple’s faith is tested: ...Lord !!! if it is You, command that I come to You...

And He who fullfils the pleas and hears the prayers,  says... come !!!. He is the One who said... Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest...Mat . 11, 27-30...

Come, Peter, don’t hesitate, come, to observe my power , the power of faith, the power of those who run to me for refuge and look upon me...

Come , so that the others (and all faithful after you) learn , how not to be wavered, when sense is being shaken, when earth’s foundations are swaying, when the world suffers hardships. 

Come, so that the rest will learn, how to remain stable when reason and all the elements and laws of nature rock and are upset ...

Come so that all know,  how to stand firm when trials come, since faith beats the laws of nature...The bounds of nature are overcome...

The warm Disciple with the warm zeal and the warm faith, came down out of the boat, and he walked to Christ, stepping on the waters....and when he was between Christ and the boat carrying the anxious and quiet Disciples, who were observing the glorious and extraordinary, the amazing and strange things, the Disciple began to..realize, that he was walking on the waves, on a tremendously stormy sea….and then he started putting his sense to work….or better…his sense started cheating him…

he was like a babe, which is about to make its first steps. It starts from its cot, its cradle having its arms extended for fear and anxiety, and steps to its mother’s open arms. She is looking at it with gladness, for it starts walking and growing up....

The same with the Disciple. But at that moment he threw the... autopilot, that is to say faith, and he caught reason which scared him, shook his faith and he began sinking and asked for help…

 

Lord !!! save me...!!! 

save me, o Lord...

and the Teacher, who always watches invisibly and is always awake, like a mother watches her children, immidiately He streched His divine hand forward, and saved him... saying to him...o, you of little faith, why did you doubt?

This way showing him that the reason of sinking was not the weight of the Disciple‘s body, neither the severity of the blowing winds, nor the rough sea, neither the watery essence of the sea, but the Disciple’s little faith...

So, whenever we are also in trial, personally, as a family, as a society or as a nation, let us run for refuge to Christ, the only one able to save us, who by only His words calms any kind of storm· ...peace, be still...Mark, 4, 3 ... , He said once to the stormy sea and immidiately obeying to the godly command the wind ceased and there was a great calmness ·

In issues having to do with health, we do, we follow that what the doctors suggest. We don’t reject nor we disregard science, which is God-given, as the Holy Scripture says... physicians I gave to you... , but medicine combined with faith produces miracles, like the ones that the Holy Unmercenaries were practicing· so, we follow the prescriptions, the advices of the doctors, and at the same time, we implore the Physician of souls and bodies, to enlighten the doctors, to make good diagnosis and treatments, and as for the patients we plea Him so that their constitutions may accept the treatment and that they may recover fast, and also that He may overshadow and protect us all under His wings .

  Peter was saved, because he was realizing the difficulty, the danger, and immediately he turned to Christ and seeked for help... 

Lord !!! save me....

Christ extended His arm and held the shaking and trembling hand of His Disciple and they both got into the boat. The storm calmed, the wind ceased and a great serenity was spread all over the sea which a little while before was so much disturbed. 

When Christ, steps into the boat of our soul, then, thoughts, doubts and all disorders cease and calm down. Then we see all issues and things from another viewpoint and we face our  difficulties with spiritual nobility, and without desperation… 

Let us unite our spiritual warfare, our worry, our efforts. Let us show, give and practice love. Let us draw near to each other and to God, like that plumbing fitting which is screwed on the edges of two different loose pipes, facing eachother, and it matches them tightly, in a way that they become as one· let us also remember the case of Jonas, and let’s remember the case of people in Nineveh,  the Prophet’s preaching, and the people’s change, and let’s beseech for our Lord's help. May His healing and protective power intervene and help the whole world. 

We have a pandemic of a fatal virus, which is like a new plaque of Faraon. So, let us plead warmly the Son of the VIRGIN , who is Victorious over death, to grand His help and provide us with the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit as a spiritual patriot against the current epidemic of the virus. May He act and aid the efforts of the scientists, so as  them to defeat the danger worldwide. 

We are not sheep without a shepherd, 

neither a boat without a captain...

Humanely we do that what we can and that what is suggested as a preventive measure, and we plead Christ to pour down His divine grace, which always heals that which is infirm, and completes that which is wanting, to aid us and assist us effectively.

The solution is One; Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life...

Church, is the loving mother, who does everything for her children· she is not showing off; she has King Christ, who is the King of glory at the moment when He is crucified, 

and her power, the power of Church, is hidden in her humiliation, she has canons, not...cannons· she doesn’t expose anyone to public ridicule, but she embraces and heals all·

She is not marking absences, she doesn’t keep any attendance or absence register, she is not suspending, but as an affectionate mother, she sacrifices her self for her children’s life sake.

A Troparion of the Great Friday’s Lamentations says : ... Like the Pelican, when you were pierced your side O, Word, You bestowed live to your dead young, pouring out on them life giving fountains…

(Lamentetions, 2nd stanza..)..

 

What does this mean?....

Pelican is the most affectionate bird. When it finds itself in need and it cannot provide food to nourish its young, it peckes at its side, the blood poures out and the pelican feeds its young with it· Of course,  the mother pelican may bleed to death, but the young are saved.

   That is what Christ accomplished when His godly Blood flowed from His divine side. He bestowed us eternal life. He fell for short into a life-blowing sleep, for a sleep was His death indeed· Our Church which is Christ prolonged throughout the ages and in which divine grace is treasured and distributed…does the same.

We have worldwide the epidemic of a deadly virus, and every day we mourn over new casualties and we don’t know what the next day will bear ….

There is also something communicated to people in the Church with the Holy communion... that is the Son and Word of God, Christ,  who came to dwell in us....

And we implore Christ to grand us with a spiritual patriot,  with another spreading, that of His Holy Spirit, so as united with Christ in one body, we may remain invulnerable from the arrows of visible and invisible enemies, from the mortal virus. 

We have always in mind Him, who defeated death, His everywhere constant presence, His words….Be of good cheer, don’t be afraid, it is I….

 and we endure patiently the trial, complying with the suggested protective measures,  and we run for refuge with a longing heart and thoughts full of willingness,  to the One who has the governing authority over all, in order to get mercy and find grace always and for every need, putting forward His ALL-HOLY MOTHER, THE GUARANTOR, the Moter of light, of love and of life, as a mediator who cannot be put to shame…

may you be healthy both, physically and spiritualy ....