Ἡ Κυριακὴ τοῦ τυφλοῦ Antony Metropolitan of Sourozh

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

Στὸ τέλος τοῦ σημερινοῦ ἀναγνώσματος, ὑπάρχουν λέξεις ποὺ τὶς προσπερνᾶμε πολὺ συχνά. Ὁ τυφλός λέει στὸν Χριστό, «Καὶ ποιὸς εἶναι ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ;» κι ὁ Χριστὸς ἀπαντᾶ «Τὸν ἔχεις δεῖ, εἶναι ἐκεῖνος ποὺ μιλάει μαζὶ σου».

Γιὰ μᾶς, οἱ πρῶτες αὐτὲς λέξεις εἶναι τόσο φυσικές· τὸ πρῶτο γεγονὸς στὴν ζωή μας, τὸ πρῶτο γεγονὸς σὲ μιὰ συνάντηση εἶναι ὅταν δοῦμε ἕνα πρόσωπο, ἀλλά τὶ θαῦμα ἦταν γι’ αὐτὸν τὸν ἄνθρωπο ποὺ δὲν εἶχε ξαναδεῖ τίποτα στὸν κόσμο καὶ ὁ ὁποῖος μὲ τὸ ἄγγιγμα τοῦ ζωοδότη Χριστοῦ, ξαφνικὰ βλέπει! Κι τὸ πρῶτο πρόσωπο ποὺ εἶδε ἦταν ὁ Κύριος καὶ Θεός Του, ὁ Χριστὸς, ὁ Υἱός τοῦ Θεοῦ.

Θυμᾶμαι ἕναν Ρουμάνο συγγραφέα νὰ λέει στὴν βιογραφία του, πόσο καθοριστική, πόσο βαθειὰ ἐντύπωση τοῦ ἔκανε τὸ πρόσωπο τοῦ πρώτου ἀνθρώπου ποὺ θυμᾶται. Θυμᾶται τὸν ἑαυτό του σὰν παιδί, καὶ ἐπάνω του τὸ ἀνείπωτα ὄμορφο πρόσωπο τοῦ πατέρα του ὁ ὁποῖος ἦταν ἱερέας, νὰ τὸν κοιτάζει, μὲ ὅλη τὴν ἀνθρώπινη ἀγάπη, μ’ ὅλη τὴν τρυφερότητα, ὅλο τὸ βάθος μιᾶς ἀνθρώπινης ματιᾶς. Καὶ λέει ὅτι αὐτὴ ἦταν ἡ πρώτη εἰκόνα του, ἡ εἰκόνα ποὺ ἕνα ἀνθρώπινο πρόσωπο μπορεῖ νὰ ἔχει ὅταν φωτίζεται ἀπὸ μιὰν ἐσωτερικὴ ἀγάπη, μιὰ κατανόηση, ἕνα βάθος καὶ τὴν αἰωνιότητα, μιὰ εἰκόνα Θεοῦ. Ἐδῶ αὐτὸς ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἶδε τὸν Θεὸ μὲ τὰ χαρακτηριστικά Ἐκείνου ποὺ ἦταν Θεὸς καὶ ποὺ εἶχε γίνει Υἱὸς τοῦ Ἀνθρώπου.

Θὰ ἤθελα νὰ ἑστιάσω τὴν προσοχή σας σὲ κάτι διαφορετικό. Σὲ μιὰ ἄλλη περίπτωση ποὺ διαβάζουμε στὴν ἱστορία τοῦ παραλυτικοῦ ποὺ θεραπεύτηκε ἀπὸ τὸν Χριστό· καὶ ἡ Ἐκκλησία, ψάλλοντας ὕμνους στὸν Θεὸ γι αὐτή τὴν περίπτωση λέει, «Καθὼς αὐτὸς ὁ ἄνδρας δὲν βρῆκε κανέναν νὰ δείξει ἔλεος, συμπόνια, ἐνδιαφέρον, ὁ Υἱὸς τῆς Μαρίας, ὁ ἴδιος ὁ Θεός, ἔσκυψε νὰ τὸν συναντήσει στὴν ἀνάγκη του» Ἐπειδὴ αὐτὸς ὁ ἄνθρωπος δὲν βρῆκε ἄλλον ἄνθρωπο νὰ τοῦ δείξει εὐσπλαχνία, νὰ δείξει συμπόνια, νὰ τὸν νοιαστεῖ, ὁ Θεὸς ἦλθε σ’ αὐτόν. Τώρα ζοῦμε σ’ ἄλλη ἐποχή, ζοῦμε σὲ καιροὺς ποὺ ὁ Θεὸς ἔχει πράγματι γίνει ἄνθρωπος καὶ ζεῖ ἀνάμεσα μας, κι ἀκόμα περισσότερο: μᾶς ἔκανε ζωντανὰ μέλη τοῦ σώματος Του, μιὰ σαρκωμένη, συγκεκριμένη παρουσία τῆς Ἐνσάρκωσης Του, ναοὺς τοῦ Πνεύματος, τόπο τῆς Παρουσίας Του. Τώρα κάθε ἄνθρωπος ποὺ βρίσκεται σὲ ἀνάγκη μπορεῖ τὴν ἴδια στιγμὴ νὰ βρεῖ στὸν καθένα ἀπὸ μᾶς κάποιον ποὺ κινεῖται ἀπὸ συμπόνια, ποὺ ἔχει μάθει τὸ ἔλεος καὶ κατάλαβε ἀπὸ τὸν Θεὸ ποὺ ἔγινε ἄνθρωπος, καὶ τὴν ἴδια στιγμή, ταυτόχρονα, καθὼς μᾶς συναντᾶ, θὰ μποροῦσε νὰ δεῖ τὴν ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ στὰ μάτια μας, καὶ νὰ ἀντιληφθεῖ, τὴν ἐνεργή, ἐφευρετική, δημιουργικὴ ἐνέργεια τῆς θεϊκῆς εὐεργεσίας στὰ λόγια μας καὶ τὶς πράξεις μας.

Ἀπὸ τότε ποὺ ἦρθε ὁ Χριστὸς στὸν κόσμο, ἦλθε καὶ γιὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπο ὁ καιρός· ἀλλὰ ὄχι γιὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπο ποὺ ἀποκόπηκε ἀπὸ τὸν Θεό, ποὺ χωρίστηκε ἀπὸ Αὐτόν, ἔγινε ξένος γι’ Αὐτόν, ἀλλὰ μία ὑπέροχη περίοδος ὅπου στὴ ζωὴ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, σ’ ἐκείνους ποὺ ἔχουν ἀνακαλύψει τὸν Χριστό, ποὺ πίστεψαν σ’ Αὐτόν, ποὺ ἔγιναν ἕνα μὲ Ἐκεῖνον - ἐκεῖνοι στοὺς ὁποίους ἔχει ἐμπιστευθεῖ τὴν φροντίδα τοῦ κόσμου Του – οἱ ἄνθρωποι μποροῦν νὰ δεχτοῦν μαζὶ τὴν θεία καὶ τὴν ἀνθρώπινη εὐσπλαχνία καὶ νὰ γνωρίσουν τὴν ἀνθρώπινη συμπόνια, τὴν ἀγάπη, τὴν χαρά.

Δὲν εἶναι αὐτὸ ἕνα σπουδαῖο κάλεσμα, δὲν εἶναι κάτι ποὺ θὰ μποροῦσε νὰ μᾶς κάνει ἱκανούς γιὰ μεγάλα πράγματα; Ὁ χρόνος τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ ὁ χρόνος τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εἶναι ἕνας, ὄχι μόνο μέσα ἀπὸ τὸν Υἱὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ μέσα ἀπὸ τὴν μυστηριακὴ σαρκωμένη παρουσία ποὺ ὁ καθένας μας συμβολίζει, ἡ παρουσία τοῦ Θεοῦ στὴν σάρκα, στὴν ἀνθρώπινη συμπόνια, στὴν ἀνθρώπινη ἀγάπη, κι αὐτό εἶναι μιὰ σοβαρὴ ἀξίωση καὶ μιὰ πρόκληση ποὺ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιο μᾶς παρουσιάζει. Ἔχουμε γιὰ τὸν πλησίον μας καὶ γιὰ ὅσους βρίσκονται πιὸ μακριὰ, αὐτὸ τὸ εἶδος τῆς ἀνθρωπιᾶς; Νέα ἀνθρωπιά, νέα πλάσματα, νέοι ἄνθρωποι μὲ μιὰ φρεσκάδα μιᾶς ζωῆς ἀνακαινισμένης, τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ. Αὐτὸ εἶναι ἐκεῖνο ποὺ καλούμαστε να γίνουμε.

Ἄς προβληματιστοῦμε πάνω σ’ αὐτό, ἄς πάρουμε μιὰ ἀπόφαση, ἄς κάνουμε μιὰ κίνηση κι ἄς γίνουμε μιὰ εἰκόνα τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὄχι μόνο μὲ τὴν ἀγάπη νὰ λάμπει στὰ μάτια μας, ὄχι μόνο μὲ τὰ λόγια ποὺ θὰ ποῦμε, ἀλλὰ ἐπίσης σὲ κάθε ἐνέργεια καὶ πράξη, τότε ὁ ἀνθρώπινος χρόνος θὰ γίνει ἡ ἡμέρα τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἡ ἡμέρα τοῦ Κυρίου. Ἀμήν

Χριστός Ἀνέστη! Ἀληθῶς Ἀνέστη!

Ἀπόδοση Κειμένου: www.agiazoni.gr




Πρωτότυπο κείμενο

 

SUNDAY OF THE MAN BORN BLIND
14 May 1972

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

At the end of today's reading, words stand that we pass by very often. The blind man says to Christ, "And who is the Son of God?" and Christ answers, "You have seen Him and He is speaking to you".

For us, the first words are so natural; the first event of our life, the first event of a meeting is that we see a person, but what was this wonder of this man who had never seen anything in the world and who, touched by the life-giving hand of Christ, of a sudden saw! And the first person he saw was his Lord and his God, Christ, the Son of Man.

I remember a Romanian writer telling us in his biography what definitive, what profound impression the face of the first man he remembers made. He remembers himself as a child, and over him - the inexpressibly beautiful face of his father who was a priest, looking at him, with all human love, with all the tenderness, and all the depth of a human gaze. And he says that this was a first vision for him in the icon which a human face can be when it is lit from inside by love and by understanding, by depth and by eternity, a vision of God. Here this man saw God in the features of Him who was God and who had become the Son of Man.

I would like to attract your attention also to something different. On another occasion we read the story of a paralytic healed by Christ; and the Church, singing the praises of God on that occasion says, "As this man found no one to show mercy on him, the Son of Mary, God Himself, stooped down and met his need". Because this man had not found another man to show mercy, to show compassion, to show concern, God has come down to him. Now we live in another time, we live in the time with God truly having become man in our midst, and more than this: He has made us to be living members of His body, an incarnate, concrete presence of His Incarnation, the temples of the Spirit, the place of the Presence. Now any man who is in need should at the same time find in each of us a man stirred to compassion, taught mercy and understanding by God become Man, and at the same time, simultaneously, meeting with us, he should be able to see the love of God in our eyes and to perceive the active, imaginative, creative action of divine charity in our words and in our deeds.

Since Christ has come into the world, the time of man has come; but not of man as severed from God, separated from Him, alien to Him, but a wonderful time when in man, in those who have discovered Christ, who have believed in Him, who have become one with Him - those men to whom God has entrusted the care of His world - people can both receive divine and human mercy and see human compassion, human love, human joy.

Is not this a great call, is not that something which should make us capable of great things? The time of God and the time of man is one, not only in the incarnate Son of God, but in this mysterious incarnate presence which each of us represents, the presence of God in the flesh, in human compassion, in human love, and this is an earnest claim and a challenge which the Gospel presents us with. Are we to one another and to those further afield that kind of humanity? New humanity, new creatures, new men with the newness of a renewed life, the life of God. This is what we are called to be.

Let us then reflect on it, make a decision, make a move and become an icon, a vision of God, not only in the shining of love in our eyes, not only in the words we speak, but also in every action and deed, so that the time of man should have become the day of the Son of Man, the day of the Lord. Amen.
 

CHRIST IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED!