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ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE
ARCHDIOCESE OF
THYATEIRA & GREAT BRITAIN

BULLETIN OF SPIRITUAL EDIFICATION
11th SUNDAY OF MATTHEW
19th August 2012
2nd Mode . No. 1245

19 2012
. . . 1245

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Some think that the Old Testament is stricter than
the New, but they judge wrongly; they are fooling
themselves. The old law did not punish the desire
to hold onto wealth; it punished theft. But now the
rich man is not condemned for taking the property
of others; rather, he is condemned for not giving his
own property away. (St Gregory the Great)

EPISTLE READING

(1 Cor. 9: 2 - 12)

rethren, if I am not an apostle to

others, at least I am to you; for
you are the seal of my apostleship in
the Lord. This is my defence to those
who would examine me. Do we not
have the right to our food and drink?
Do we not have the right to be
accompanied by a believing woman, as
do the other apostles and the brothers
of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only
Barnabas and I who have no right to
refrain from working for a living? Who
at any time pays the expenses for doing
military service? Who plants a vineyard
and does not eat any of its fruit? Or
who tends a clock and does not get any
of its milk? Do I say this on human
authority? Does not the law also say the
same? For it is written in the law of
Moses, You shall not muzzle an ox
while it is treading out the corn. Is it
for oxen that God is concerned? Or does
he not speak entirely for our sake? It
was indeed written for our sake, for
whoever plows should plow in hope
and whoever threshes should thresh in
hope of a share in the crop. If we have
sown spiritual good among you, is it too
much if we reap your material benefits?
If others share this rightful claim on
you, do not we still more? Nevertheless,
we have not made use of this right, but
we endure anything rather than put an
obstacle in the way of the gospel of
Christ.

RESURRECTION APOLYTIKION
2nd Mode

When you went down to death, O immortal life, then you slew Hell with the lightning
flash of your Godhead; but when from the depths below the earth you raised the dead,
all the Powers in the heavens cried out: Giver of life, Christ our God, glory to you!
GOSPEL READING

(. , 23-35)

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(Matt. 18:23-35)

he Lord told this parable: The

kingdom of heaven may be
compared to a king who wished to settle
accounts with his slaves. When he began
the reckoning, one who owed him ten
thousand talents was brought to him; and,
as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to
be sold, together with his wife and children
and all his possessions, and payment to be
made. So the slave fell on his knees before
him, saying, Have patience with me, and I
will pay you everything. And out of pity for
him, the lord of that slave released him and
forgave him the debt. But that same slave,
as he went out, came upon one of his fellow
slaves who owed him a hundred denarii,
and seizing him by the throat, he said, Pay
what you owe. Then his fellow slave fell
down and pleaded with him. Have
patience with me, and I will pay you. But
he refused; then he went and threw him
into prison until he would pay the debt.
When his fellow slaves saw what had
happened, they were greatly distressed,
and they went and reported to their lord all
that had taken place. Then his lord
summoned him and said to him, You
wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt
because you pleaded with me. Should you
not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as
I had mercy on you? And in anger his lord
handed him over to be tortured until he
would pay his entire debt. So my heavenly
Father will also do to every one of you, if
you do not forgive your brother or sister
from your heart.
You do not wish to be forgiven as much as He desires to
forgive you If you want proof that you do not desire it,
consider that you have no wish to practice vigils or to give
your money freely: but He, in order to forgive our sins, did
not spare His Only-Begotten Son (St John Chrysostom).


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Poor human reason, when it trusts in itself, substitutes the strangest absurdities for the highest divine concepts

(St John Chrysostom)

SERMON ON THE GOSPEL READING

here are many parables in the gospels but only a relatively small number are set
by the Fathers to be read as the Gospel for Sunday. This means that when one is
set we should take trouble to understand what the Lord is saying to us. The parable
today has always been understood as an allegory. It is a story that tells us a truth and
that truth concerns true forgiveness.
So, by the king in the parable we are to understand God. He decides to settle
accounts, meaning some form of judgement. He identifies one of his servants who
owes him a very great deal of money ten thousand talents is an enormous sum. As the
servant cannot pay he, along with all his family, will be sold into slavery in order to
redeem part of the debt. The point here underlines just how serious the debt is,
affecting not only the servant, but also his wife and children. The servant begged for
mercy and we are told that the king was moved to compassion, released him and
forgave him the debt. So, although the servant offered to pay, he was entirely forgiven
the debt. And here we are to understand the great debt we have to God, the vast
amount of things that we owe him yet do little or nothing to redeem our debts. Yet God
has compassion for us and forgives us all the debt. But this forgiveness requires
something from us.
The servant goes out and finds his fellow servant who owes him a small debt
and treats him badly. He attempts to extort the money from him by throwing him into
prison. He did not have compassion for his fellow servant and did not follow the
example of his master, the king, at all. However, other servants tell the king what has
happened. The Church Fathers here suggest that these servants are the angels who are
always watching us and are alert to what we are doing. The king reacts angrily and
hands the wicked servant over to the torturers until he pays all that he owes. And
here the Church Fathers identify the torturers with the demons in hell who will give us
what we deserve if we have lost the mind of Christ and fallen away from His
commandments.
However, the reality is that when we have been wronged by someone else, and
it may be a very bad wrong, it is in fact difficult to forgive them. It is easy to say I
forgive you. It is a very different matter to actually mean what we say. The parable
then gives us two guides as to how we go about forgiving. The first is that we must
have self knowledge. We must actually accept that we are not perfect. We have
wronged others and we are in as much need of forgiveness as everyone else. The
second thing is that we must learn to have compassion. The king had compassion, the
wicked servant did not. We must pray that our hearts are softened so that we too may
learn and exercise the compassion that is shown to us by God.

APOLYTIKION OF ST ANDREW THE GENERAL

(& his 2,593 fellow martyred soldiers)
ou renounced the glory of earthly rank and inherited the kingdom of heaven; you
adorned your incorruptible crown as with beautiful stones. You led an army of
martyrs to Christ, and with the angels in the unfading light you found Christ the neversetting sun. Together with those who suffered with you, holy general Andrew, ever
pray to Him that He may save our souls.

Archdiocese of Thyateira & Great Britain, 5 Craven Hill, London W2 3EN

Tel.: 020 7723 4787. Fax: 020 7224 9301. E-mail: mail@thyateira.org.uk . Website: www.thyateira.org.uk
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