Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos- Suffering is Part of Our Life

The Problem of Suffering

by Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

In today’s turbulent society there is no one who does not face suffering in his life and taste the bitter cup of afflictions. We see people in distress, miserable, tormented, prostrate under the heavy burden of suffering. Their faces are downcast, but their hearts even more so. They are tormented and afflicted. Because of this suffering, or rather, because they handle suffering in the wrong way, they suffer various illnesses of body and soul. We shall therefore look at some aspects of this vast subject of suffering and pain in our lives.

1. Suffering is Part of Our Life

It is well known that suffering is closely linked with human life. Christ declared to His Disciples that they would have much suffering in their lives. “In the world ye shall have tribulation” (John 16:33). We encounter this truth throughout Holy Scripture and the teaching of the holy Fathers, who are successors to the holy Apostles. The Apostles Paul and Barnabas visited Lystra, Iconium and Antioch together, “confirming the souls of the Disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). St Paul testified to the Christians of Corinth, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed” (2 Cor. 4:8). The necessary comments on the phrase “yet not distressed” will be made later in the chapter. Here we insist on the fact that the Christian life is closely linked with suffering and pain.

The saints lived through many sufferings, trials and difficulties. St Nikitas Stithatos, a disciple of St Symeon the New Theologian, says, “The present life is full of suffering and pain for the saints. They are afflicted by other people and by demons.” We encounter the same testimony in St Isaac the Syrian: “For it is impossible, when we are travelling along the path of righteousness, for us not to encounter gloom, and for the body not to suffer sickness and pain, and to remain unaltered, if indeed we desire to live in virtue.”

The Apostles and saints insist on this fact, because many Christians, like many of our contemporaries, wrongly think that, provided we live Christian lives, we shall be joyful all the time. To be sure, as we shall see below, we have joy and consolation, but this consolation, joy and comfort come through experiencing the Cross. “Through the Cross joy has come into the whole world.” First come trials, then joy follows, and we rejoice inwardly, in spite of external temptations.

2. The Causes of Suffering

«Εἴδομεν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν...»

 

Τὸ ἀποκορύφωμα τῆς θείας Λειτουργίας εἶναι ἡ θεία Κοινωνία. Ὅταν ἡ θεία Κοινωνία τελειώνει, ὅλα μέσα στὸ Ναὸ εἶναι φωτεινὰ καὶ γεμάτα γαλήνη.

Δὲν ἦταν μικρὸ τὸ δῶρο ποὺ λάβαμε ἀπὸ τὰ χέρια τοῦ Κυρίου. Μᾶς ἀξίωσε τῆς μεγίστης τιμῆς νὰ Τὸν κοινωνήσουμε, νὰ Τὸν βάλουμε ἐντός μας, νὰ Τὸν ἔχουμε «κατοικοῦντα ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν». Μᾶς χάρισε διὰ τῆς θείας Κοινωνίας τὴν ἄφεση τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν, μᾶς ἔδωσε τὴν ἐγγύηση γιὰ τὴν κληρονομία τῶν αἰωνίων Του ἀγαθῶν, μᾶς ἔκανε χριστοφόρους, θεοφόρους.

Χρέος μας νὰ Τὸν εὐχαριστήσουμε μὲ ὅλη μας τὴ δύναμη καὶ μὲ ἐγκάρδια εὐγνωμοσύνη.

Ὁ λειτουργὸς ἱερέας ἀπευθύνει θερ­μὴ δέηση στὸ Θεό:

«Σῶσον, ὁ Θεός, τὸν λαόν Σου καὶ εὐλόγησον τὴν κληρονομίαν σου». Σῶσε, Κύριε καὶ Θεέ μας, τὸν λαό Σου καὶ εὐλόγησε αὐτοὺς ποὺ σὰν κλῆρο ξεχώρισες ἀπὸ τὸν κόσμο γιὰ νὰ εἶναι δικοί Σου.

Καὶ οἱ δικοί Του, ὁ πιστὸς λαός, σὲ ὕ­­φος πανηγυρικὸ καὶ χαρμόσυνο ψέλνει: «Εἴδομεν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν, ἐλάβομεν Πνεῦμα ἐπουράνιον, εὕρομεν πί­­­­στιν ἀληθῆ, ἀδιαίρετον Τριάδα προσ­κυνοῦντες, αὕτη γὰρ ἡμᾶς ἔσωσεν».

Εἶναι ἄξια πολλῆς προσοχῆς αὐτὴ ἡ ἀπάντησή μας, ἡ ἀπάντηση τοῦ πιστοῦ λαοῦ, τοῦ φωτισμένου καὶ ἁγιασμένου διὰ τοῦ Μυστηρίου τῆς θείας Κοινωνίας.

Βεβαιώνουμε μὲ τὴ λαμπρὴ ὁμολογία μας ὅτι εἴδαμε διὰ τῆς πίστεως τὸν Χριστό, ποὺ εἶναι τὸ ἀληθινὸ φῶς. Τὸν εἴδαμε νὰ μᾶς διδάσκει κατὰ τὴν ὥρα «τῆς ἀκροάσεως τοῦ ἁγίου Εὐαγγελίου», καὶ μὲ τὰ θεϊκά Του λόγια φωτίσθηκαν οἱ καρδιές μας καὶ ὁ νοῦς μας.

Κατεξοχὴν ὅμως μὲ τὴ θεία Κοινωνία ­δεχθήκαμε μέσα μας τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινό, τὸν ἴδιο τὸν Χριστό. Ἡ ψυχή μας ἑνώθηκε μὲ τὸν Ἥλιο τῆς ­Δικαιοσύνης. Ὁ νοῦς μας περιλάμπεται ἀπὸ τὸ θεῖο φῶς. Ὁ Χριστὸς ποὺ κοινωνήσαμε ἔγινε φῶς, εἰρήνη, χαρά, ζωή, τροφή μας. Αὐτὸ τὸ φῶς τοῦ Χριστοῦ διαλύει τὰ ­σκο­τάδια τοῦ κόσμου, τῆς ἁμαρτίας μέσα μας. Ἀνοίγει τοὺς οὐρανούς, μᾶς δείχνει τὸν χῶρο τῆς ἐπου­ράνιας Βασιλείας, ἐκεῖ «ὅπου ἐπισκοπεῖ τὸ φῶς» τοῦ Χριστοῦ.

Ψάλλοντας τὸ «εἴδομεν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινὸν» βεβαιώνουμε ἀκόμη ὅτι ἐλάβαμε διὰ τῆς θείας Κοινωνίας Πνεῦμα ἐπουράνιο, ὅτι βρήκαμε τὴν ἀληθινὴ πίστη, μὲ τὸ νὰ προσκυνοῦμε τὸν ἐν Τριάδι Θεό μας, διότι αὐτὴ ἡ πίστη στὴν Ἁγία Τριάδα μᾶς ἔσωσε.

Αὐτὸ σημαίνει πὼς μὲ τὸ ὕψιστο αὐτὸ Μυστήριο τῆς θείας Εὐχαριστίας ἐρχόμαστε σὲ κοινωνία καὶ ἕνωση μὲ ὅλη τὴν Ἁγία Τριάδα, γινόμαστε «θείας κοινωνοὶ φύσεως» (Β΄ Πέτρ. α΄ 4). Ἡ θεία Μετάληψη ἐκεῖνον ποὺ μετέχει σωστὰ τὸν ἑνώνει μὲ τὸν ἐν Τριάδι Θεό.

Ἔτσι, ὁ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς γίνεται ὁ συνεκτικὸς δεσμός, διὰ τοῦ Ὁποίου ὁ ἀπρόσιτος ἐν Τριάδι Θεὸς ἔρχεται σὲ κοινωνία καὶ σχέση μὲ τὴν πεπερασμένη καὶ ἀσθενικὴ ἀνθρώπινη φύση μας καὶ τὴ μεταβάλλει σὲ ἔμψυχο ναὸ καὶ κατοικητήριό Του. Τὸ βεβαίωσε ὁ ἴδιος ὁ Κύριος, λέγοντας ὅτι ἐκεῖνον ὁ ὁποῖος Τὸν ἀγαπᾶ καὶ τηρεῖ τὶς ἐντολές Του, θὰ τὸν ἀγαπήσει ὁ ἐπουράνιος Πατέρας Του, καὶ ὁ ἐν Τριάδι Θεὸς θὰ κατοικήσει μέσα του: «πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐλευσόμεθα καὶ μονὴν παρ’ αὐτῷ ποιήσομεν» (Ἰω. ιδ΄ 23).

 

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Ἕνας ὕμνος! Πόσες σπουδαῖες καὶ βαθιὲς ἔννοιες περιέχει! Πόσες φορὲς τὸν εὐχαριστήριο αὐτὸν ὕμνο τὸν ἔψαλαν τὰ χείλη μας, συγκινήθηκαν οἱ ψυχές μας καὶ μὲ θέρμη τὸν ἀπευθύναμε στὸν Τριαδικὸ Θεό!

Μακάρι καὶ ἡ ζωή μας, τὸ φωτεινὸ παράδειγμά μας νὰ βεβαιώνει τὶς ἀλήθειες τοῦ ὕμνου αὐτοῦ κάθε φορὰ ποὺ τελειώνει ἡ θεία Λειτουργία καὶ ­ἀποσυρόμαστε ὁ καθένας μας στὸ χῶρο καὶ στὰ ἔργα του.

πηγή:osotir.org