Showing Mercy
35th Sunday (Meatfare)
1 Corinthians 8:8-13; 9:1-2; Matthew 25:31-46
Towards the end of World War II, a young officer in the U.S. Army was sent to a Pacific island where there was a leper colony. As he walked among the buildings of the leper hospital, he looked into one of the wards and saw a nun-nurse washing and bandaging the terrible wounds on the patients.
When the soldier saw the festering sores on the legs of lepers, when he saw the flesh falling off the bones, he was sickened. A nun-sister was tending to those wounds, slathering onto them some sort of oil or ointment, applying bandages... And he said to that nurse,
"I would not do that for a million dollars!"
The nun turned to him and answered:
"I wouldn't do this kind of work for a million dollars, I wouldn't touch those wounds, but for Christ's sake I help these unfortunate ones, I tend to the wounds of those whom even their relatives don't want to touch."
For the sake of Christ, this woman left her home, the benefits of life, the comfort of living in a civilized society, and traveled thousands of miles to serve Christ. For in serving other people, she served Christ.
For she and many people who profess Christ, His divine teaching, try to show love and help their neighbour as the Lord Jesus Christ commanded, not only with their minds, but with their sincere hearts, with all their feelings,
The Gospel passage we have just read today tells us about the virtues by which the Lord will judge our love for Him, judge how we have shown our true faith in God in our earthly life.
"For I was hungry, and you fed Me; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me."(Matthew 25:35-36)
Christ clearly states:
“Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” (Matthew 25:40)
(This is why Taras Shevchenko, imitating Christ, called out to us: "Embrace, my brothers, Our smallest brother...", To The Dead, The Living, and To The Unborn)
Those who did not do those good deeds for their neighbours; who did not want to help the poor, hungry, weak, sick, imprisoned, enslaved, even though they had the opportunity to do so, had the opportunity to show those good deeds, mercy to their neighbours, or to the "least brother", did not want to do all this for Christ, therefore Christ's judgment will be severe for them:
“Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels”
(Matthew 25:41).
The Church of Christ does not wish to frighten anyone with these words of Christ, but it is the duty of the ministers of the Church to bring to the minds of believers the teachings of Christ, His commandments, upon fulfillment of which He will evaluate, judge, and accept into His Kingdom or reject. He testifies that He will not judge us on the basis of our knowledge, wisdom, education, or wealth, but on the basis of the virtues of love and mercy.
Therefore, the manifestation of these virtues in life has always been the greatest concern of the Church of Christ. At times, different brotherhoods or sisters of charity and mutual aid were founded, but even if there were no such particular voluntary associations, the Church of Christ has always encouraged and still encourages Christians to endeavour to do their best in life, to show love and mercy to their neighbours, because by doing so we show love for our Lord Jesus Christ and obedience to his commandments.
In our time, when there is a state social security system, pensions, and nursing homes, asking for money is usually unjustified. Christian consciousness is gradually being lulled into sleep because people in this system, generally, can have a secure roof over their heads, and have at least minimal food and drink.
It would be good if each of us got to know each other better and visited those nursing homes and the elderly who are infirm in their private homes. They do indeed have accommodation and food for their bodies: in the so-called "nursing homes" people are washed, bathed, and their beds are made. Such needs are usually met, but in the vast majority of these homes people work mainly to earn a salary, and therefore there is often little expression of love.
All forms of human weakness and injuries are clustered together in these "nursing homes"; people with paralysis and severe chronic illnesses are gathered there so that their children and relatives, in general, can have peace at home... But the tragedy is that these ailing people are deprived of love, deprived of being surrounded by the people they can love the most. Because of this, it is very debilitating for these people... Many of them complain that, outside of big holidays like Christmas and Easter, they are forgotten.
It may be that these unfortunate people are over sensed and overwhelmed and their complaints may not always be justified, but we, united in the Community of Christ, must never forget about these weakened people. We need to try to see them more often so that we can listen to them, as well as tell them about our life, and our activity in the Community, and in society so that they can constantly feel our love in Christ.
This is what we must do constantly, but as we approach Lent, we should think especially about showing Christian love and mercy, as we are reminded of this in today’s Gospel story, from which our Lord Jesus Christ speaks to us.
Amen.
Very Rev. Fr. Taras Slavchenko
Taras Slavchenko was born on March 8, 1918 in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine. After graduating from school and the Pedagogical College, he entered the language and literature faculty of the Scientific Pedagogical Institute. Having successfully completed it in 1938, he served as a teacher in a secondary school.
