Homily From the Prologue of Ochrid - Jan 30
About how men must become like children in order to be
sons of God
"Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you
"Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you
will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven" (St. Matthew 18:3).
Thus speaks the Lord and His word is holy and true. What kind of
advantage do children have over adults? They have three
advantages: in faith, in obedience and in forgiveness. The
child asks the parent about everything and whatever the parent
replies, the child believes its parent. The child is obedient to its
parent and easily subordinates its will to the will of the parent.
The child is forgiving even though he provokes easily, but the
child forgives quickly. Our Lord requires these three from all
men i.e., Faith, Obedience and Forgiveness.
He seeks that men believe in Him unconditionally, as a child
believes in its parent. To be unconditionally obedient to Him as
a child is to its parent and to be forgiving in relation to one
another, not to remember evil and not to render evil for evil.
Faith, Obedience and Forgiveness are the three main
characteristics of a child's soul. In addition to that, comes purity
and joy. A child is not greedy; a child is not lustful; and
a child is not vainglorious. The child has an eye
unspoiled by vices and a joy unspoiled by worries.
O brethren, who can make us over again into children? No one,
except the one Christ. He can make us over into children and help
us to be born again and that, by His example, by His teaching and
by the power of His Holy Spirit.
O Lord Jesus, perfect in obedience and meekness, Eternal Child
of the Heavenly Father help us to become as infants by faith in You,
by obedience toward You and by forgiveness one toward the other.
The Prologue of Ochrid is available from
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