Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulation with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord, as well as with our special Canadian Orthodox feastday – the day of the appearance of the miracle-working Iveron Montreal Icon of the Mother of God!

In today’s Gospel reading we heard the parable of the good Samaritan, which is familiar to all of us. When we read the parables of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel, we do not always know the context in which they were told, but today we heard that the parable of the good Samaritan was told as an answer to the cunning question of certain lawyer. When this person asked his question, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” he was hoping that Christ would pass over the Old Testament Law of Moses and would offer some novel answer such as “follow me and you will be saved.” Such an answer would obviously have given the lawyers, pharisees, and priests an excuse to condemn Christ as an apostate from the Jewish faith. Our Lord Jesus Christ did not fall into that trap and gave a simple answer, as if saying the following: you yourself know well that you must love God and your neighbour to inherit eternal life, therefore don’t trouble Me, don’t interrupt My preaching, and do as is written in the law! After receiving such an answer, the lawyer should have calmed down, but his pride was wounded and therefore he asked one more question, “And who is my neighbour?” which Christ answered with today’s very familiar parable.

It is interesting that at the end of today’s Gospel reading, the lawyer himself answers that the Samaritan – a heretic and enemy of any pious Jew – was the neighbour of the man waylaid by the thieves. The words of the Saviour “Go and do thou likewise” concluded today’s Gospel excerpt. Do you see how our Lord Jesus Christ took the theoretical question of the lawyer and slightly changed the discussion to take another direction. Instead of theory, the following practical advice is given: love everyone, even your enemies, and if they fall into any misfortune, serve them, help them as much as it is possible for you, and don’t be like the priest and the Levite, who knew all the details of the law, but did not understand its spirit.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, today when we find ourselves on the doorstep of Advent, let the words of today’s Gospel reading be words of encouragement for the coming spiritual journey! Let’s try to speak fewer empty or idle words, and instead, to serve both God and our neighbour so as to prepare for the coming feast of the Incarnation of the Word of God and to then worthily meet it.

priest Alexis