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ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE
ARCHDIOCESE OF
THYATEIRA & GREAT BRITAIN

BULLETIN OF SPIRITUAL EDIFICATION
12TH SUNDAY OF LUKE
20 January 2013
Plagal of the 4th Mode. No. 1267

20 2013
. . . 1267

EPISTLE READING

B . , 6-15

2 Cor. 4: 6-15

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rethren, it is the God who said,

Let light shine out of darkness,
who has shone in our hearts to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of
God in the person of Jesus Christ. But
we have this treasure in clay vessels, to
show that the transcendent power
belongs to God and not to us. We are
afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken; struck
down, but not destroyed; always
carrying in the body the death of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be
manifested in our bodies. For while we
live we are always being given up to
death for Jesus sake, so that the life of
Jesus may be manifested in our mortal
flesh. So death is at work in us, but life
in you. Since we have the same spirit of
faith as the one had who wrote, I
believed, and so I spoke, we too
believe, and so we speak, knowing that
the One who raised the Lord Jesus will
raise us also with Jesus and bring us
with you into his presence. For all was
done for your sake, so that as grace
extends to more and more people it
may increase thanksgiving, to the glory
of God.

RESURRECTION APOLYTIKION

ou the Compassionate came down from above, you accepted burial for three
days, that you might free us from the passions. Our life and resurrection, Lord,
glory to you!

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GOSPEL READING

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t that time, as Jesus entered a

certain village, ten lepers
approached him. Keeping their
distance, they called out, saying, Jesus,
Master, have mercy on us! When he
saw them, he said to them, Go and
show yourselves to the priests. And as
they went, they were made clean. Then
one of them, when he saw that he was
healed, turned back, praising God with
a loud voice. He prostrated himself at
Jesus feet and thanked him. And he
was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked,
Were not ten made clean? But the
other nine, where are they? Was none
of them found to return and give praise
to God except this foreigner? Then he
said to him, Get up and go on your
way; your faith has made you well.

. 12-19

aint Euthymius was born in 377 in

Melitene, Armenia. Since his mother
had been barren, he was named Euthymius,
meaning "joy". He studied under Bishop
Eutroius of Melitene, by whom he was
ordained and entrusted with the care of the
monasteries of Melitene. After arriving in
Palestine in the year 406, he became the
leader of a large order of monks. Euthymius
rigorously opposed the heretics of his day: the
Nestorians, Eutychians, and Manichaeans. He
was also the instructor of Saint Savvas the
Sanctified (Feast Day: 5th December). He
passed away on 20th January 473, at the age of
ninety-six.

The reason why sometimes you have asked

and not received, is because you have asked
amiss, either inconsistently, or lightly, or
because you have asked for what was not
good for you, or because you have ceased
asking.(St. Basil the Great)

Luke 17: 12-19


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SERMON ON THE GOSPEL READING

odays Gospel tells how, on occasion when Our Lord was passing through Samaria
and Galilee on His way to Jerusalem, He came across a band of ten lepers who were
standing together at a distance from Him. We are not told precisely where this
happened, only that it was in a village. Presumably the lepers had banded together as
miserable outcasts in a kind of fellowship as they roved about the countryside seeking
alms and whatever kind of other livelihood they could find and crying their dreadful
warning cry unclean, unclean [Leviticus 13:45]. They stayed at a distance as was
required by the law, and when they saw Jesus, the Great Prophet about Whom they must
have heard, they changed their cry to a desperate petition that He would have mercy on
them, a cry to the One Whom they believed had both the power and the will to heal
them. On this occasion Christ sees and hears them but does not touch them, though we
know from other occasions that He does not shrink from doing this [see Chapter 5]. He
simply tells them to go and show themselves to the priests. The Law required the priests
to confirm when a person became a leper and also when someone had been cured of the
disease [Leviticus 14]. Christs command here is just one of the many instances recorded
in the Gospels showing, as He Himself said, that He had not come to destroy the Law. The
lepers obeyed His command and started off on a journey to find a priest, and as they went
they were cleansed. What a miracle! No skill of man could heal ten lepers in a moment,
either then or now. They were men without hope, incurable pariahs. Yet, when a full
life was restored to them, nine of them entirely failed to remember Who had restored
them to health and to offer Him thanks. Probably, they never even bothered to find a
priest and offer the prescribed offerings, which would have been a witness of the
presence of the Messiah on the earth
One of them, however, seeing he was healed did turn back to Christ and glorified God
with a loud voice falling on his face at the feet of his Benefactor and giving thanks. This
one out of ten---a tithe!---was a Samaritan, a race hated and despised by the Jews because
they were partly or wholly of Assyrian blood. Ingratitude has been described as the
basest of crimes, but Our Lords reaction here is a gentle one. Were not ten cleansed?
He says, where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except
this foreigner? Before we condemn the nine, let us ask ourselves how sure we are that
we are always like the one. Our inherited nature lures us to live unthankful lives, to do
the works of the flesh. Thankfulness is a fruit of the Spirit---it is not of this world but
has to be engrafted in us. We need to covet earnestly all the fruits of the Spirit and not
the works of the flesh Unfortunately we live in a society largely dedicated to the works
of the flesh. To seek only the fruits of the Spirit sets us apart from most of our fellows
just as the one returning leper who had been healed was apart from the nine. It requires
us to grow daily in grace, gentleness, goodness, love, and faith, and to have a Christlike
life engrafted within us. We cannot do this of ourselves; it requires desire,
perseverance, prayer, and the rejection of the things of this world, maybe even life
itself. As we gather to meet Our Saviour at that supreme act of thanksgiving, the Holy
Eucharist, how do we respond to His voice saying Where are the rest of my
children? Glory and thanksgiving to God Who freely offers us His spiritual gifts!

Perfection in holiness can be achieved only through humility (St John Cassian)
ArchdioceseofThyateira&GreatBritain,5CravenHill,LondonW23EN
Tel.:02077234787.Fax:02072249301.Email:mail@thyateira.org.uk.Website:www.thyateira.org.uk

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