Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord and the forefeast of Theophany, as well as the feast of St. Seraphim, the Wonderworker of Sarov!

This Sunday, i. e. the Sunday before the feast of Theophany (Epiphany, or the Baptism of our Saviour), we always hear the wonderful and very expressive opening words of the Gospel according to Mark. In this excerpt we read about John the Forerunner, but about Christ Jesus we only hear that He is coming and that he is incomparably better and more wonderful than the amazing prophet John.

We learn much about John the Baptist from this reading. We hear that he was a great ascetic, that he lived in the desert, that he wore rough clothing, that he ate only that which he could find in the desert. This type of ascetic and holy life could not go unnoticed by Jewish society and thus the people from all Judea land strived to see him. He, in turn, did not hide from them, but accepted all that came to him and preached of the imminent coming of the Saviour. People came to confess their sins, make a commitment to change for the better, and, as a sign of the Lord accepting their confession and hearing their desire to live correctly, were baptized by John. They were immersed or washed as a sign of purity after confessing. This type of more-or-less general spiritual rebirth of the Jewish people was necessary before the appearance of the Saviour.

Although Christ came to our world on the day of His Nativity, few people noticed that the Messiah was already here. Only after His baptism, when the voice of God the Father, heard from heaven, bore witness to His Divinity, and the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, descended on Him did it become evident to many that Jesus was the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, the second person of the Holy Trinity!

Many years ago, Jesus Christ appeared on earth, lived among us, suffered for our sake on the Cross, rose from the dead, and opened for us a way into the Heavenly Kingdom. Unfortunately, we do not always remember or feel this. Sometimes it seems that Christ is far from us, that the way into the Kingdom is not very accessible. In such moments, let’s remember John the Forerunner’s message of repentance; let’s confess our sins and, in such a way, call our Saviour to once again appear in our hearts.

priest Alexis