In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. God is one. Amen.

The opening line of the Epistle today from verse 11 of the ninth chapter of the Book of Hebrews is about what happened “when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come.” In the first covenant with the Jewish people there were “regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary.” This worship involved animal sacrifices, as well as the Jewish High Priest going once a year into the Holy of Holies in the Temple, taking the sacrificed animal blood “which he offers for himself and for the errors of the people.” However, now with the second covenant which Jesus Christ offers to all humanity, we are challenged to do precisely what is urged in the closing line of today’s Epistle—“Purify your conscience from dead works and serve the living God,” concludes that verse. How can we meet that double challenge? First, we need to “purify [our] conscience from dead works; and then second, we need to move beyond purification from evil to “serve the living God.” In a very real sense, Jesus Christ has brought our understanding of sacrifice from the altar in the Jewish Temple to within each of us. So, what exactly does Christ ask of us?

The challenging words of St Paul to the Corinthians in First Corinthians, chapter 2, verses 1 to 5, offer us a path to the Lord. St Paul preached; and I quote: “When I came to you, brethren, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God in lofty words of wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in much fear and trembling; and my speech and my message were not in plausible words [that is, in pleasant, smooth words] of wisdom, but in demonstration of the [Holy] Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of mankind but in the power of God,” concluded St Paul.

A note in The New American Study Bible states that “[St] Paul’s point is that unless the Holy Spirit works in a listener’s heart, the wisdom and eloquence of a preacher are ineffective. [St] Paul’s confidence as a preacher did not rest on intellectual and oratorical ability, as did that of the Greek orators,” concludes that note [p. 1664]. St Paul is seeking to reach out to the hearts and minds of the people of Corinth, especially the new Christians, who had listened to him earlier. Listening is not easy for the Corinthians or for us. But we can listen to the writings and lives of the saints, to the words of Scripture, to the Divine Liturgy, to our confessor and to words from the Lord that He gives to each of us drawing us to Him. Often these five aspects of listening—to the saints, the Bible, the Divine Liturgy, our confessor and words from the Lord privately—support and agree with each other.

On this Sunday when we celebrate the life of St Mary of Egypt it is certainly appropriate to listen to her and “to know nothing among [us] except Jesus Christ and him crucified,” because that was how she lived in the desert for 47 years. To listen only to “Jesus Christ and him crucified” we do not need to go and live in the desert. We do need to pray, to be alert to what others are saying to us and to consider carefully how we might help someone else tackle a specific problem or to deepen their faith in Christ. If we listen carefully to others and to the Lord, we may find that today or tomorrow we have an opportunity to change someone’s life for the better—someone in our family, a friend or someone we do not know well until we have listened to them.

As we listen to others we also need to listen to our own hearts, both what is good and what is not so good within us. That is the first step that this Epistle from chapter 2 of the Book of Hebrews is urging upon us—“Purify your conscience from dead works.” Our conscience helps us to clarify what is good and what is not so good within us. That is precisely what St Mary of Egypt did when she looked at herself and saw the sin in which she was living in Alexandria. With the help of the Lord, she changed her life after traveling to Jerusalem and going to pray at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. She made the move to seek the Lord; and He responded with His love for her. The Synaxarion: The Lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church cites St Mary of Egypt as “a model of repentance” [1 April, Vol.4, p. 295n.]. She recognised that she was a sinner; she asked God for forgiveness; and together, she and the Lord changed her life.  That model is helpful for all of us.

After our own personal purification before the Lord, we are then in a position to “serve the living God.” The Gospel today from the tenth chapter of the Gospel of St Mark, verses 32 to 45, reflects on the meaning of how we can serve the Lord. The Gospel begins with a bold request from the apostles St James and St John. They come up to Jesus Christ and say, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” Jesus replies to them, just as any good parent would reply to a young child with the words, “What do you want me to do for you?” The request is immature but also linked to the fact that they think their death will also be imminent, because Jesus Christ has just told them He will be condemned to death “and after three days rise again.” Understandably, the other apostles are quite angry with James and John. Followers of Christ, especially the original Apostles, are not supposed to promote themselves in this way.

However, the Apostles, like each of us, are human with their own strengths and weaknesses. Of the desire of Saints James and John to share in Christ’s glory, St John Chrysostom wrote: “God wants for nothing and has need of nothing. Yet, when he humbled himself, he produced such great good, increased his household, and extended his kingdom. Why, then are you afraid that you will become less if you humble yourself?” asked St John Chrysostom. Jesus Christ was speaking not only to the Apostles, but to all of us in today’s Gospel when He said; and I quote: “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all,” said Christ. 

To conclude, it is clear that the path that the Apostles and all Christians can follow to participate in Christ’s glory is by joining Him in humility. As St Gregory Nazianzen preached; and I quote: “[Christ] is our resurrection, because he raises up, and brings to life again, those who were slain by sin.” We are all sinners; and we can all rise again with Jesus Christ in the Last Days.



And so, we ascribe as is justly due all might, majesty, dominion, power and praise to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, always now and ever and unto the ages of ages.          Father Emmanuel Kahn