Dear in Christ Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord and the fore-feast of the Elevation of the Cross, as well as the feast of the Consecration of the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem!

Last Sunday we finished reading the first epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, and today, for the first time, we heard an excerpt from his second letter to the same Christians. Last time, we took note that the Apostle finished his letter on a gentle and loving note, and that he hinted that he wrote about such unpleasant things out of his great love for them and out of a desire to see them correct their mistakes and continue along the true path. Beginning his second epistle, he returns to almost the exact same topic.

After writing his first letter, Paul was very nervous to know how the Corinthians accepted it, whether they were offended, and whether they were ready to correct their mistakes. Since no answer arrived, he sent his disciple, the apostle Titus, to Corinth to see how things stood there, and to report back to him. The Holy Apostle Titus visited Corinth, returned to Paul, and gladdened him with the report that, in general, everything was going well there. All of the most serious problems had been corrected, although some people were grumbling that Paul had not personally come to deal with the issues in Corinth. These same people also thought that Paul had expressed himself too arrogantly in his letter, and, in such a way, had trampled on their freedom in Christ. Today we heard the Holy Apostle Paul’s answer to this complaint.

He writes that he purposefully did not personally come to them to correct their problems, and that he did this for two reasons. First, “for by faith [they] stand,” i. e. they had a solid and strong foundation (which is faith in Christ), and therefore they were capable of independently figuring out and fixing their problems without the personal presence of the Apostle. The second reason was that Paul did not wish to come to them to address problems and to thus ruin everyone’s mood, but instead, hoped to come when he could rejoice in their strong faith, unity, and moral uprightness. Therefore, knowing that they were capable of correcting themselves, he wrote to them, anticipating that later on he would visit them in a joyous and glad disposition.

Sometimes we hear that someone feels he or she doesn’t have enough strength to correct a certain sinful habit and to return to a righteous life. At other times, questions such as the following come up: why hasn’t God sent me help to free myself from my passions? Or why hasn’t He arranged my life in such a way that I don’t sin? Probably these types of thoughts or questions are erroneous, for all of us have a solid foundation, which is faith in Christ. In much we are capable of independently figuring out and correcting our own problems; therefore, let’s correct them! Having corrected those things that are wrong in our life, let’s hope that the Lord will visit us not to deal with our sins, but to bring us true joy, peace, and grace.

Priest Alexis