On the 5th Sunday of Lent, Patriarch Daniel said that “the Saviour Jesus Christ overturns the logic of oppressive selfish power and brings the logic of humble beneficent or helpful ministry; not selfish dominion should be the rule for the disciples, but humble service.”
“The way of thinking of the Saviour Christ is not of a political, worldly nature, but of a thought of humility and merciful love, not of possessive love over others,” the Patriarch of Romania explained during his sermon at St George Chapel at the Patriarchal Residence.
The Patriarch of Romania also explained: “The honour of sitting at the right and left of the Saviour Jesus Christ is not given to ambitious and proud people, but God Himself will determine who will be given this honour and who will be considered worthy by Him, not to those who consider themselves entitled.”
“In other words, this is not a right to sit at the right or left of the Saviour Christ. It is a gift over which God decides. These words of the Saviour were a teaching for all the disciples, not just for the two,” Patriarch Daniel said on April 10.
According to His Beatitude, the Gospel of the 5th Sunday of Lent summarizes the following teachings:
- The Lord Jesus Christ foretells to His disciples His Holy Passions, His death and resurrection;
- Jesus Christ teaches His disciples by telling them that one’s honour does not come from mastering others but from humble and sacrificial service to others;
- The Lord Jesus Christ Himself came into the world to serve men, not to be served, and He showed sacrificial service unto death on a cross.
Patriarch Daniel also stressed that the Fifth Sunday of Lent is dedicated to Saint Mary of Egypt, whose life he presented briefly. In the first part of her life, she was drawn to many sins, but later, through repentance, she acquired holiness.
“The Sunday of the Holy Venerable Mother Mary of Egypt, as well as the Sunday of St. John Climacus, are preparatory Sundays for the Saturday of St Lazarus, Palm and the Week of the Holy Passions of Jesus Christ, so that we may then enter the light of Holy Easter,” Patriarch Daniel concluded.
Photo credit: arhivă Basilica.ro / Raluca Ene
