Metropolitan Onuphry urges faithful to forgive from the heart
His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry. Photo: UOC
On the 11th Sunday after Pentecost, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of St Agapit of the Caves in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the UOC Information and Education Department reports.
After the reading of the Holy Gospel, His Beatitude addressed the faithful with a sermon on the Gospel parable of the Kingdom of Heaven and the unforgiving debtor.
“The Lord depicted our sins against our neighbor as 100 denarii,” the Primate explained, “while our sins against God are 10,000 talents.”
Metropolitan Onuphry noted that people’s debts before the Creator are immeasurably greater than any wrongs committed against us by others. Ten thousand talents of silver, he said, would amount to 260 tons of the precious metal. To earn such a sum, a person would have to work for around 200,000 years.
The archpastor said sincere repentance is the only way to receive forgiveness from the Creator: “Lord, forgive me. I am guilty. I have offended You. Forgive me. I have no justification before You – this is the only way we can ask God for mercy.”
At the same time, the Creator expects people to forgive one another.
“If I cannot make room in my heart to forgive my neighbor such a small debt – if I cannot forgive 100 denarii – then I cannot make room for the great forgiveness that God grants me for 10,000 talents,” the Primate warned.
The archpastor compared this to a person’s physical strength, noting that someone who cannot lift one kilogram will never be able to lift a hundred.
His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry also spoke about the difficulty people often experience in forgiving those who have hurt them.
“Sometimes I understand with my mind that God has commanded us to forgive, and I forgive – but the heart resists and does not want to. Yet if a person compels himself, prays, and asks God to soften his heart, then God will help him sincerely forgive his neighbor.”
The Primate urged believers to guard their conscience and read Holy Scripture attentively. His Beatitude explained that constant prayer makes a person more attentive to the voice of conscience. Through prayerful communion with God, a believer begins to distinguish clearly between the voice of God and the voices of the flesh, the world, or the devil.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that His Beatitude led celebrations marking the 510th anniversary of the Lavra skete in Horodok.
Read also
Lavra reserve head estimates damage to Dormition Cathedral at €15 million
Maksym Ostapenko said restoring the Dormition Cathedral would take at least a couple of years and require major funding.
DESS official says state should not govern the Church
A DESS official called for cooperation between the state and the Church for the benefit of citizens.
Poltava court upholds mobilization of Protestant pastor
A court in the Poltava region ruled that a prior criminal conviction and religious beliefs do not exempt a person from military service.
Ostapenko: Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra would not exist without Soviet-era reserve
The reserve director spoke about the Soviet museum’s role in saving the monastery, while stressing the need to rethink its history.
Metropolitan Anthony criticizes DESS order on Boryspil Eparchy
The UOC chancellor rejected officials’ findings, pointing to procedural violations in the DESS review.
Two more parishes in Sloviansk reregistered under OCU
The organizer behind the transfer of UOC communities in Sloviansk said the reregistration of churches would continue.