Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of Christ, as well as the feastday of St. John the Wonderworker of Kronshtadt.

In today’s Gospel reading we not only heard the parable about the sower, but also Christ’s own interpretation of this story. Since the Lord Himself explained everything, it would seem that we have nothing to talk about today, but in fact, there is always something that we can think on.

Today let us take notice of the godly-wise and meek apostles. These holy men were truly that rich and good soil into which the Word of God fell and which brought forth a hundred-fold harvest. It is precisely because of this that the Lord picked them to be His disciples. Despite their high calling, they don’t understand this parable and ask their Teacher for an explanation. What is important for us to note is not that they didn’t understand, but that they had enough wisdom and meekness to admit that they did not comprehend, and that it was necessary for them to come to Christ seeking an explanation.

If the apostles were in need of help in understanding the Word of God, how much more are we in need of this. After all, we are more often not the productive ground, but the stony soil overgrown with weeds. One way for us to get an explanation of the Word of God and in general to receive guidance in our spiritual life is to begin to read the holy fathers. This may at first seem difficult and beyond the strengths of a person living in the 21st century, but this is not so. Often we turn to our contemporaries for spiritual help. We read articles on Orthodox internet sites and watch Orthodox films and videos. This all seems to us to be logical and correct, because we think it is nearly impossible for us to get anything out of the writings of saints who lived so many years ago (some even over a thousand years ago), without some priest to interpret it all for us. We tell ourselves this, forgetting that very often the saints wrote or spoke not to other saints or theologians, but to normal, sinful people living in the world, who in their spiritual lives were not much different from us.

There is such diversity in the works of the church fathers that, without a doubt, you will find something that appeals to you. You may come across some writers that are hard for you to understand, but it’s also true that you will come in contact with some that will become as if they were a close friend. Therefore don’t be afraid and just begin reading. You won’t regret it and you will acquire much spiritual benefit.

Whenever any kind of question came up among the apostles, they were able to approach Christ for an answer. We can also approach Him for help through prayer, but it sometimes happens that we don’t hear the answer. Christ Himself wrote nothing, and only a small fraction of what He said and did has been written down by the Evangelists. Because of this, we sometimes need to find other ways of finding answers. In such cases, let us approach the written works of the holy fathers and, through such reading, hope that the Lord will make out of the rocky and weed-infested soil of our hearts a fertile, plowed ground that will bring forth a good harvest.

priest Alexis