“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed,” Patriarch Daniel said at the beginning of his sermon on the Sunday of Saint Thomas.
“Faith in Christ is a way of knowledge different from knowing through the senses, through touch. Knowing through the senses is limited knowledge. Knowing by faith is a feeling and a spiritual view of God’s presence and work in the world and the life of each person,” the Patriarch of Romania explained May 9, 2021.
“Blessed are those who have this spiritual capacity to perceive the presence of God beyond sight through the senses or knowledge through physical touch,” His Beatitude said.
Patriarch Daniel emphasized that by faith, we establish a living relationship with God. “Not an intellectual conviction that God exists somewhere in heaven, but a living connection that is manifested through love for God and results in a joy blessed by God in the human soul.”
That joy is not of this world, Patriarch Daniel added. “It is a joy given by God as a reward for faith.”
To detail the living connection between man and God by faith, Patriarch Daniel turned to the writings of the Holy Apostle Peter. This connection is expressed primarily through prayer, through conversation with Christ, and by fulfilling His commandments.
“Though you have not seen him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1: 8-9)
“Joy above expression, above words,” the Patriarch explained, “And glorified. It is a joy given by God, joy from the love of the Most Holy Trinity, joy from the joy of the crucified and risen Christ who ascended into heaven in glory.”
Believe and feel the joy of faith!
“Today’s Sunday urges us to believe in the crucified and risen from the dead Christ, to keep in touch with Him by faith, to partake of His presence in the church through all services, but especially through the Holy Sacraments and particularly through the Holy Mystery of the Holy Eucharist and let us feel the joy of faith.”
“The faithful man is a joyful man, a man who has in his soul the presence of the merciful love of Christ, the joy and peace of Christ,” His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel noted.
Christ gave these on the first day of His resurrection to the myrrh-bearing women when He said, “Rejoice,” and to His disciples, when He said, “Peace be with you!”
His Beatitude added that “this living and confessing faith, bringing peace and joy, still gives us from this passing world the provision of eternal unfailing life from the kingdom of the love of the Most Holy Trinity which is, as the Holy Apostle Paul says, justice, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
“So, both St. Peter and St. Paul and St. John the Evangelist show us that the kingdom of God is the kingdom of merciful love that gives peace and joy,” the Patriarch of Romania said, ending his sermon.
On Sunday, May 9, 2021, Patriarch Daniel attended the Divine Liturgy at the historic chapel of St George at the Patriarchal Residence.
Photography courtesy of the Basilica.ro Files
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