Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the feast of the resurrection of the Lord, as well as the feast of the Apostle Jude, the son of Joseph, the brother of James (the first bishop of the Church of Jerusalem). We could also call him the brother in the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Chris, since Joseph was the, you could say, step-father of the Lord.

Today we could talk about many different things, but since we have already begun the subject of the Mystery of Repentance, let’s continue. Last time we discussed the process by which a person falls into sin and noted that as soon as a thought that pushes us to sin appears in our mind, it is good to begin battle with it immediately so as not to be led to the sin itself. Unfortunately, we are not always successful in our fight with temptations and it sometimes happens that we sin. Of course, when this occurs we can’t fall into despair, but rather we should have firm faith in the loving kindness of the Lord God and should run to Him with repentance.

Sometimes we forget what is the main element of repentance. The most important thing is not regret, or reconciliation, or confession of the sin before God and a priest. No, although all of these are important elements of repentance, the main thing is a firm intention to change. The most genuine repentance is when we no longer return to that sin, when we change for the better.

A good example of such true repentance is today’s saint, the apostle Jude. It would seem that a person who knew Christ practically from the day of His birth would have been convinced that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, but this was not the case. Out of the four sons of Joseph, only James was from the beginning well disposed towards the little Jesus. The Holy Hierarch Dimitry of Rostov notes that Jude sinned against Christ doubly, through lack of faith and lack of brotherly love. He lacked faith because initially he did not believe in Christ, but instead envied His piety, holiness, perhaps His success in preaching, etc. His lack of love was demonstrated when he refused to divide a portion of the inheritance he received from his father for Jesus Christ. Subsequently, Jude repented, changed completely, became one of the twelve apostles, preached Christ in Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Persia, composed an epistle which now is part of the New Testament, and suffered a martyr’s death for the sake of his brother, Jesus Christ. According to church tradition, he meekly called himself the brother of James and not the brother of the Lord, because Jude considered himself, because of his past sins, unworthy of such a name.

We should take as an example the Holy Apostle Jude and also try not to repeat our sins. This is an extremely difficult task. Most likely all of us have to admit that more often than not, we repeat the same sins. It turns out that we do not fulfill the basic or main part of repentance. We very much regret our sin, we ask God for forgiveness, sometimes we even make an effort to reconcile with our enemies, but often our heart does not change after confession. Perhaps the Apostle Jude gives us not only an example of true repentance, but also an example of how to bring it about. First, let’s note his meekness. He could have called himself the brother of the Lord, but didn’t do so on account of his past trespasses. We should also remember that because of our sins, we have no rights whatsoever and can hope only on the mercy of God. Second, let’s notice what medicine St. Jude used to heal his soul. He made amends for his sins through their opposite good deeds: for lack of faith through steadfast faith in Christ, and for lack of love through love for his brother. His subsequent missionary struggles and martyric death dramatically bear witness to this. We can also try to heal some of our sins in such a manner. If we don’t love someone, we can act with kindness towards them, if it’s hard to pray, we can come to church more often, etc.

Through the prayers of the Holy Apostle Jude, may the Lord God help us repent perfectly, that is, not only through regret and confession of sins, but also by reforming our lives so as to no longer repeat our sins.

priest Alexis