Day 48 (7th Saturday of the Holy Great Fast)
“And that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God.” (Num 15:40)
“Seventh, blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God (v.9). Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Is 9:6) and the Son of God. He says several times to His disciples: ‘Peace to you!’ We traditionally think of peacemakers as policemen, war protestors and neighbourhood watchperson. Yet, we forget that the most powerful peacemaking begins from within, emanating outwardly. When in the company of a true saint the sense of peace, calm and joy is palpable. Another important form of peacemaking is shared by Chromatius, ‘the peacemakers are those who guard the peace of the church under the unity of the apostolic teaching.’ Cyril of Alexandria adds, ‘The peacemaker is one who demonstrates the harmony of the Scriptures, where others only see a contradiction.’ Thus, peacemakers are those who help preserve unity and harmony within the Church and Her teachings. When we make peace, we become a son/child of God.
Eighth, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake (v.10). The world that we live in is under the sway of the devil. Therefore, he opposes everything that is good, holy, righteous and true. Satan uses subtle means to get others to do his dirty work. Jesus says, ‘If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you’ (John 15:18-19). Thus, one sign that we might be doing the right thing, which the devil wants stopped, is that we meet opposition and endure poor treatment in return.
The ninth builds upon the previous one. Jesus says that we are blessed when we are reviled, persecuted and falsely slandered (v.11). That seems odd because we don’t feel blessed or happy when this happens. We are often angry and bitter when we suffer and it is compounded if it is unjust. But instead of feeling this way, Jesus tells us to rejoice and be exceedingly glad, not just glad, but exceedingly glad (v.12). Why? Because we shouldn’t focus on rewards in this life but rather on those of our future life in heaven. It reminds us of the rulers in John 12:42-43, who ‘because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.’ They were focused on rewards of this earth, not heaven.
A saint is a holy person, set apart, godly. God Himself tells us, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’ (Lev 11:44-45; 1 Peter 1:16). The Beatitudes of Jesus, given during the Sermon on the Mount, provide us a map, a diagram and a set of instructions on how to be a saint. If we want to be holy as God is holy we must be poor in spirit, mournful and repentant, meek and gentle, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, merciful and forgiving, pure in heart, full of peace, endure unjust persecution, revilement and slandering. We strive to be saints for no other reason than we love God because He first loved us. And wish to share godly love with each other because we know that our reward is in heaven and it is great. Amen!”
Fr Rick
7th Saturday of the Holy Great Fast
ካብ ውሽጢ ኤርትራ ዝተረኽበ ንቤተ ክርስቲያን ተዋህዶ ንምቁጽጻር ብመንግስቲ ኤርትራ ክካየድ ዝጸንሐን ዘሎን ሽርሒ ዘቃልዕ ቪድዮ
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