Glory Be to Jesus Christ!
☀️
Romans XII, 16 — ‘εἰς ἀλλήλους’ - ‘eis allelous’ - ‘among yourselves’. ‘μὴ γίνεσθε φρόνιμοι παρ’ ἑαυτοῖς‘ - me ginesthe phronimoi par eautois
- do not become thoughtful in the presence of others (faithful)’. ‘par’ before a vowel with a dative case here means ‘in the presence of’. The phrase means that the faithful should not compete to see who is the more profoundly thoughtful person, who is more cautious, circumspect, far-sighted, etc. For more information, see the link:
https://www.facebook.com/Oleksandr.S.Zhabenko/posts/
Romans XII, 18 — ‘εἰ δυνατόν, τὸ ἐξ ὑμῶν μετὰ πάντων ἀνθρώπων εἰρηνεύοντες’ - ‘ei dynaton to ex ymon meta panton anthropon eireneuontes’ - ‘if possible (if you are able), this is from you, live in peace with all people’. Here, the preposition ‘ex’ (the form of ‘ek’ before the vowel) indicates that if the cause of disagreement and lack of peace is the Christians themselves, they are violating this commandment of the apostle. The source and cause of conflicts should not be Christians, if it is within their power and capabilities. At the same time, these words do not prohibit struggling for peace when you or others are under attack, which, for example, is what courageous defenders of Ukraine and Europe do now. Another example is that if Christians are forced to abandon their faith or a part of it for the sake of ‘peace’ with non-believers, such proposals must be rejected and defeated in their entirety. The faith of Christians does not depend on them, for it is a gift from God. Therefore, it cannot be abandoned. The faith of Christians does not come from themselves, but from God.
Romans VI, 21 — ‘μὴ νικῶ ὑπὸ τοῦ κακοῦ, ἀλλὰ νίκα ἐν τῷ ἀγαθῷ τὸ κακόν’ - ‘me niko hypo tou kakou, alla vika en to agatho to kakon' - “do not be defeated by evil (or by evil as an instrument), but overcome evil in goodness. In other words: do not submit to evil, but, being good, overcome evil with goodness. Christians should not be a ‘third party in the struggle between good and evil’; it is impossible to defeat evil in a Christian way without being good, without being in goodness. There is no Christian victory over evil if it is not in goodness realised and accomplished.
These words are also very relevant in connection with the war between the Russians and Ukraine. The violation and incomplete understanding of these words of the apostle today is one of the prerequisites for the emergence of the ‘Russian world’.
For more information about the reading from the Apostle, please refer to the following link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/03072023.html
A direct continuation of the reading I wrote about here:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/19072024.html
Matthew XII, 9 — ‘εἰς τὴν συναγωγὴν’ - ‘eis ten synagogen’ - ‘into the synagogue’.
Matthew XII, 11 — ‘ἐξ ὑμῶν’ - ‘ex ymon’ - ‘among you’. ‘εἰς βόθυνον’ - ‘eis bothynon’ - ‘into the pit’.
For more information about the Gospel reading, please refer to the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/03072023.html
To Saint Mary Magdalene, the Myrrh-bearer, my beloved saint:
For more information about these readings, as well as about Saint Mary Magdalene, please refer to the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/04082023.html
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!