“Lord, I Believe…”
4th Sunday of Great Lent
Hebrews 6:13-20; Mark 9:17-31
The man asked Jesus to heal his son, but he turned to Him with distrust:
"But if you can do it, have mercy on us and help us." (Mark 9:22)
And the Lord rebuked him for saying "if you can". One cannot address God in this way. It is to people that we can address with such a condition - "if you can" - for people cannot do everything. As the Gospel story shows, the man had already appealed to people on behalf of his son, and he also appealed to Christ's disciples, but they could not heal his son.
The Apostle Paul provides us an instruction:
"But it is impossible to be justified without faith. And the one who comes to God must believe that He is, and to those who seek Him He gives a reward." (Hebrews 11:6)
Jesus Christ, as we can see from numerous Gospel examples, healed those who showed great faith, or healed the sick through the faith of their neighbours. Thus, this sick man could have been healed through the faith of his father, who had asked for him, when the father was able to demonstrate his faith:
"I believe, Lord, help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24).
Imitating the Lord, the Apostle James explains to us that "the prayer of faith will save the sick." (The Epistle of the Apostle James 5:15) Therefore, the Church of Christ, through its priests, calls people to manifest deep faith before any prayer for healing.
This deep faith is also necessary when we come to the Sacraments of Christ, for without them, the healing of our souls and bodies will not be accomplished. When people say that they went to Confession and Communion and did not feel lighter, did not feel unity with God, it is because they did not approach these sacraments with proper faith.
If we have not fasted bodily and mentally before Confession, if we have not forgiven our offenders, if we have not gotten rid of anger and hatred, if we have not condemned our sins and transgressions with our conscience, then Confession cannot help us. The mere performance of the rite cannot bring about spiritual transformation, for we have not rid ourselves of spiritual burdens, we are not lightening our souls.
When someone puts a clean shirt over a dirty body, he/she will not feel freshness of the body. Likewise, if we do not have purity in our souls, we will not feel the gracious influence of the Holy Communion. God, Christ, is absolute holiness, and for that reason we need spiritual purity to feel unity with the Lord, to become one body with Him.
There was even a proverb in Ukraine: "One rejoices as after Communion," which Ivan Nechuj-Levyts’kyj uses in his written works. For the people who said it--who attended Lenten services for a whole week, who fasted in body and soul, who sincerely repented--felt spiritual purity and relief, really felt joy after receiving Holy Communion.
Dear brothers and sisters! Our true faith should guide us and determine the true purpose of our fasting: we fast for spiritual purity, for the healing of the soul and body, for unity with God, so that we may meet the risen Jesus Christ in holiness with dignity.
We should also set ourselves the goal of being with the Lord at all times, not only at the time of receiving the Holy Communion. As Apostle Paul says:
"As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him." (Colossians 2:6)
But in addition to spiritual benefits, it is good for us to remind ourselves that the very fasting of the body - the rejection of animal products - cures our body of intestinal and even heart diseases. Experience shows that when people lived in the days of “ration-card” systems, when there was a shortage of food, even though it was an unpleasant time, people eliminated many bodily diseases and problems. In our present day, because people don't like to fast, to be on a restricted diet, they may be subject to undergoing many surgical procedures.
Nevertheless, we also need to know that the Church of Christ has long treated its children like a mother, so even physical fasting does not oblige people who experience various bodily infirmities and weaknesses. Also, very young children under the age of seven and mothers who are breastfeeding are exempt from fasting. Both people who are physically weak and mothers can freely set certain limitations for themselves that they can tolerate without harm to their health; but, in the case of mothers, they should make their primary consideration the health of their babies.
In our time, in our societal environment, many people, especially older people, have prescriptions for various medications that they need to take regularly. When people take their medications with drink, and in the case of insulin, with food, they do not sin before receiving Holy Communion.
Let us always remember that the most important factor for receiving Holy Communion, for unity with God, is purity of soul and the presence of faith. Essentially, we can receive all the mercies of God according to our faith, said the Lord:
"Let it be done to you according to your faith." (Matthew 9:29)
Amen.
Very Rev. Fr. Taras Slavchenko
Taras Slavchenko was born on March 8, 1918 in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine. After graduating from school and the Pedagogical College, he entered the language and literature faculty of the Scientific Pedagogical Institute. Having successfully completed it in 1938, he served as a teacher in a secondary school.
