Arabic original here.
Sermon for New Year's 2017
At New Year's, beloved, we must once again stand and contemplate the meaning of our life, the essence of our existence, and how we spend our time. We must pause over the meaning of time, how we live it and how we should live it.
Generally speaking, we distinguish three aspects of time: the past, the present and the future. If we want to approach the present objectively, we will be sure that it is nothing other than the aspect that overlaps between the past and the future. The present is that tiny finite moment that we cannot separate, but which divides the past from the future. The moment of the present is in reality the only one that is occurring, but it cannot be seized or grasped, since it immediately recedes into the past. A person doesn't live time as moments isolated from each other, but as a broad extension that embraces the past and the future. The present is that station in which the past and future are traversed, in the sense of traversing time and connecting with eternity. In it takes place preparation for eternal life. Time becomes an opportunity to seize eternity. The present is the temporal scope in which man meets God, according to the Elder Sophronius. Prostrations, bowing and rising, express this state: rising from the earth to seek heaven, tying earth's time to eternity. Time, in its present moment, can transform into moments when man encounters God. Time, only in its present moment, can mix with eternity. Thus we can approach time, its meaning, its value and its purpose in its present moment: it grants man the possibility of accessing eternity.
Time is inextricably entangled with the world and with the affairs of the world. It is entangled with life and leads it to death. The sea is this age, the boat is each of our lives, humans are the passengers, the rudder that guides the ship is time, and the destination is death. So it would be ignorance for us to go to death sleeping. Man's lifespan is the time of life that has passed and ended. On our birthdays we rejoice that we have gotten older and that we have added years to our lifespans. Our standard of measurement is, unfortunately, what is gone and passed. Passing time is not the measure of the time of life, but the measure of the time of passing away. But we must be wiser and more wary because we are drawing nearer to death and we do not know when death will open its gates to us. The God who loves humankind has kept the time of death unknown for humans in order to put them in a state of wakefulness and repentance and in a state of expectation: "let your loins be girded about and your lamps burning," especially when they see death knocking at the door for those around them. Unfortunately, however, Christians have come to treat death in an abstract manner where it concerns people around them but not themselves. The logic of Christianity is for the Christian to celebrate the triumph of his entrance into the kingdom, not his entrance into life. For this reason, the Church generally designates the feasts of martyrs and righteous ones on the dates of their martyrdom and repose, not on the day of their coming into life; on the day of their entering into the kingdom, not on the day of their entering into life.
Beloved, we must make this day into an opportunity that we dedicate to remembering God in the time of our personal lives. We must dedicate it to prayer, good works and sacrifice. Let us know that when we offer our present moment to God, we are offering Him our lifespan and our entire life. In this way, we truly live our life as fragrant incense for God, to Him be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Sermon for New Year's 2017
At New Year's, beloved, we must once again stand and contemplate the meaning of our life, the essence of our existence, and how we spend our time. We must pause over the meaning of time, how we live it and how we should live it.
Generally speaking, we distinguish three aspects of time: the past, the present and the future. If we want to approach the present objectively, we will be sure that it is nothing other than the aspect that overlaps between the past and the future. The present is that tiny finite moment that we cannot separate, but which divides the past from the future. The moment of the present is in reality the only one that is occurring, but it cannot be seized or grasped, since it immediately recedes into the past. A person doesn't live time as moments isolated from each other, but as a broad extension that embraces the past and the future. The present is that station in which the past and future are traversed, in the sense of traversing time and connecting with eternity. In it takes place preparation for eternal life. Time becomes an opportunity to seize eternity. The present is the temporal scope in which man meets God, according to the Elder Sophronius. Prostrations, bowing and rising, express this state: rising from the earth to seek heaven, tying earth's time to eternity. Time, in its present moment, can transform into moments when man encounters God. Time, only in its present moment, can mix with eternity. Thus we can approach time, its meaning, its value and its purpose in its present moment: it grants man the possibility of accessing eternity.
Time is inextricably entangled with the world and with the affairs of the world. It is entangled with life and leads it to death. The sea is this age, the boat is each of our lives, humans are the passengers, the rudder that guides the ship is time, and the destination is death. So it would be ignorance for us to go to death sleeping. Man's lifespan is the time of life that has passed and ended. On our birthdays we rejoice that we have gotten older and that we have added years to our lifespans. Our standard of measurement is, unfortunately, what is gone and passed. Passing time is not the measure of the time of life, but the measure of the time of passing away. But we must be wiser and more wary because we are drawing nearer to death and we do not know when death will open its gates to us. The God who loves humankind has kept the time of death unknown for humans in order to put them in a state of wakefulness and repentance and in a state of expectation: "let your loins be girded about and your lamps burning," especially when they see death knocking at the door for those around them. Unfortunately, however, Christians have come to treat death in an abstract manner where it concerns people around them but not themselves. The logic of Christianity is for the Christian to celebrate the triumph of his entrance into the kingdom, not his entrance into life. For this reason, the Church generally designates the feasts of martyrs and righteous ones on the dates of their martyrdom and repose, not on the day of their coming into life; on the day of their entering into the kingdom, not on the day of their entering into life.
Beloved, we must make this day into an opportunity that we dedicate to remembering God in the time of our personal lives. We must dedicate it to prayer, good works and sacrifice. Let us know that when we offer our present moment to God, we are offering Him our lifespan and our entire life. In this way, we truly live our life as fragrant incense for God, to Him be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.
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