13 Ἰανουαρίου 1991

Εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος.

Ὅπως τὸν καιρὸ τῆς διακονίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ στὴ γῆ, ὁ Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Βαπτιστὴς κήρυττε τὸ Εὐαγγέλιο τῆς μετανοίας, τὰ καλὰ νέα ὅτι ἡ μετάνοια, ὅταν στρεφόμαστε πρὸς τὸν Θεό, μᾶς φέρνει πάντα ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ μέσα σ’ἕνα πνεῦμα συμφιλιώσεως, ἔτσι κάνει τώρα καὶ ἡ Ἐκκλησία πρὶν τὴν Σαρακοστή, μᾶς φέρνει ἐνώπιον μιᾶς περιόδου προετοιμασίας, ὅπου ἐξετάζουμε τοὺς ἑαυτοὺς μας ὅσο πιὸ βαθιὰ καὶ τίμια μποροῦμε, πρὶν βρεθοῦμε ἐνώπιον τῶν ἔργων τοῦ Θεοῦ, τῆς δύναμης Του καὶ τοῦ παραδείγματος ἐκείνων τῶν ἀνθρώπων ποὺ ἔφυγαν μακρυὰ ἀπὸ τὸ κακό, πρόσφεραν τὸν ἑαυτό τους στὸν Θεό, ὁλοκληρώθηκαν καὶ σώθηκαν.

Καὶ πρὶν ἀκόμα προετοιμαστοῦμε γιὰ τὴν περίοδο αὐτὴ, θυμόμαστε τὸν Βαρτίμαιο, τὸν τυφλὸ ἄνδρα ἀπὸ τὴν Ἰεριχώ, ποὺ ἔρχεται νὰ μᾶς θυμίσει ὅτι ὅλοι μας εἴμαστε τυφλοί, ὅτι ἔχουμε ξεχάσει πῶς νὰ πηγαίνουμε στὸ βάθος τῶν πραγμάτων. Ἦταν τυφλὸς ἐξαιτίας κάποιας ἀρρώστειας· τυφλωνόμαστε ἀπὸ ὅ,τι βλέπουμε γύρω μας· δὲν βλέπουμε πέρα ἀπὸ τὸν ὁρατὸ κόσμο, ἐπειδὴ κάθε τι ποὺ αἰχμαλωτίζει τὴν ὅραση μας, μᾶς ἐμποδίζει νὰ καταδυόμαστε στὸ βάθος τῶν πραγμάτων.

Τὸ μήνυμα τῆς σημερινῆς περικοπῆς εἶναι αὐτό: εἴμαστε τυφλοὶ, καὶ πρέπει νὰ μάθουμε νὰ βλέπουμε. Νὰ βλέπουμε τὸν ἑαυτὸ μας ὅπως εἶναι, τὸ κακό, τὶς ἀτέλειες ποὺ βρίσκονται παραμορφωμένες μέσα μας, καὶ συνάμα τὴν ὀμορφιὰ τῆς εἰκόνας τοῦ Θεοῦ ποὺ τίποτα δὲν μπορεῖ νὰ σβήσει, νὰ καταστρέψει, ποὺ μπορεῖ νὰ καλυφθεῖ προσωρινὰ, ὅπως ἡ σκόνη ποὺ καλύπτει μιὰν εἰκόνα, ἀλλὰ παραμένει φωτεινὴ. Καὶ θα πρέπει νὰ μάθουμε νὰ βλέπουμε μέσα μας καὶ νὰ διακρίνουμε τὸ κακὸ ἀπὸ τὸ καλό: ὄχι μόνο τὸ κακό, ἀλλὰ τὸ καλὸ ποὺ μπορεῖ νὰ μᾶς ἐμπνεύσει νὰ παλέψουμε, ν’ ἀγωνιστοῦμε καὶ νὰ ξεπεράσουμε καθε τι ποὺ μᾶς καθιστᾶ ἀνάξιους ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ.

Ἀλλὰ στὴ διάρκεια αὐτῶν τῶν ἑβδομάδων θὰ πρέπει νὰ κοιτάζουμε τὸν καθένα γύρω μας καὶ νὰ βλέπουμε τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ Θεοῦ, νὰ ξεχνᾶμε τὶς ἀτέλειες ποὺ μᾶς τυφλώνουν, νὰ βλέπουμε τὴν ὀμορφιὰ κάθε προσώπου, νὰ κοιτάξουμε βαθύτερα στὴν ψυχή του καθενὸς ποὺ εἶναι ὁ πλησίον μας καὶ μ’ εὐλάβεια, μὲ πίστη ν’ ἀνακαλύψουμε τὴν θεϊκὴ παρουσία, τὴν θεϊκὴ ὁμοιότητα του μ’ Ἐκεῖνον.

Μόνο τότε θὰ συνεχίσουμε νὰ προχωρᾶμε κατὰ τῆς διάρκειας αὐτῆς τῆς περιόδου ποὺ σταδιακὰ θὰ μᾶς φέρει ἐνώπιον τῶν πιὸ συνηθισμένων καὶ καταστροφικῶν μας παθῶν. Ἄν προσπαθήσουμε νὰ ἐξετάσουμε τὸν ἑαυτό μας, νοιώθουμε συχνὰ ὅτι δὲν ἔχουμε μάτια γιὰ νὰ δοῦμε, ὅτι δὲν ἔχουμε κάποια σημεῖα ἀναφορᾶς: πῶς λοιπὸν μποροῦμε νὰ δοῦμε; Ὑπάρχει ἕνας καθρέφτης ὅπου μποροῦμε νὰ ξεχωρίσουμε τὸ κακὸ καὶ τὸ καλό. Ἄς μελετήσουμε, στὴ διάρκεια τούτων τῶν ἡμερῶν, μὲ ἀνοιχτὸ νοῦ καὶ καρδιὰ καὶ μὲ εὐλάβεια, τὸ Εὐαγγέλιο. Θὰ δοῦμε μὲσα ὰπὸ τὸν λόγο τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτὸ ποὺ πρέπει νὰ εἶναι μιὰ ἀνθρώπινη ὕπαρξη˙ θὰ δοῦμε μέσα ἀπὸ τὴ διδασκαλία Του τὶ καλοῦμε νὰ γίνουμε· θὰ δοῦμε στὴ ζωὴ τῶν Ἀποστόλων Του, σ’ ἐκείνους ποὺ ἦταν γύρω Του τὸν ἀγώνα γιὰ τελειότητα. Ἄς δοῦμε τὸ Εὐαγγέλιο καθὼς κοιτάζει κάποιος ἕναν καθρέφτη, ἄς συγκρίνουμε τοὺς ἑαυτοὺς μας μὲ αὐτὸ ποὺ βλέπουμε, καὶ τότε θ’ ἀνακαλύψουμε ὄχι μόνο τὸ κακὸ, ἀλλὰ τὴ δόξα ποὺ ὑπάρχει μέσα μας. Καὶ ἀφοῦ ἐμπνευστοῦμε ἀπ’ αὐτὸ, ἄς προχωρήσουμε, καθὼς μᾶς λέει ὁ Ἀπόστολος Παῦλος, ἀπὸ δόξα σὲ δόξα, ἀφήνοντας τὸ παρελθόν καὶ ὁρμώντας νὰ ἐκπληρώσουμε τὸ θεϊκό μας κὰλεσμα. Ἀμήν.

Ἀπόδοση στήν νεοελληνική: www.agiazoni.gr

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

As in the days of the ministry of Christ on earth, Saint John the Baptist had been preaching the Gospel of repentance, the good news that repentance, turning to God, always brings us face to face with Him in reconciliation, so does also the Church now, before Lent, face us with weeks of preparation, weeks during which we look at ourselves as deeply as we can, as honestly as we can, before we are confronted with deeds of God, with His power and with the example of those who had truly turned away from evil, given themselves to God, and have found fulfilment and salvation.

And before these weeks begin to prepare us even to this, we remember, as we do today, Bartimaeus, the blind man of Jericho, a reminder that we all are blind, that we all have forgotten how to see the reality of things. He was blinded by illness; we are blinded by the visible; the invisible becomes invisible to us because all that catches our eye prevents us from looking deep, looking into the depth.

The message which is brought to us today is this: we are all blind, and we must learn to see. To see ourselves as we are, both what is evil, imperfect, distorted to us, and also the beauty of the image of God which nothing can erase, nothing can destroy, which may be covered up as an icon may be covered up by dust, but which remain glorious within us. And we must learn to look at ourselves, and discern both good and evil: not only evil, but also that good which can inspire us to struggle, to fight and to overcome all that is unworthy of God.

But we must also learn in these weeks to look at everyone around us and see God’s image in him or in her, forget those imperfections which blind us to the beauty of every person, look deep into each one who is our neighbour, and worshipfully, reverently discover the divine presence, the divine likeness in him or in her.

Only then we will be able to move on to the weeks of preparation which will confront us one after the other with our most common and most destructive imperfections. If we try to look at ourselves, we often feel that we don’t have eyes to see, we have no terms of reference: how can we see? There is a mirror in which we can see both good and evil. Let us, in the course of these days, read with an open mind and open heart, with veneration the Gospel. We will see in Christ what a true human being is; we will see in His teaching what we are called to be and to become; we will see in His apostles, in those who surrounded Him the struggle for perfection. Let us look into the Gospel as one looks into a mirror, compare ourselves with what we see, and we will then discover not only evil but glory. And let us, inspired by it, move on, as Paul says, from glory to glory, turning away from past and rushing towards the fulfilment of our vocation. Amen.