“Faith is a gift of God, but at the same time it’s the fruit of our personal efforts. The ability to believe has been by the Creator in our very nature so that we could learn Him. At the same time, in order to unleash our potential, we personally need to make spiritual efforts, overcome temptations, doubts, and pride,” reads the post on the Metropolitan’s official Facebook page.
According to Metropolitan Epifaniy, the concepts of “faith” and “trust” are close and inextricably linked.
“Without trust in God, it is impossible to gain faith in Him. And the example of such trust, which lit the majestic lamp of faith, is St. Mary Magdalene. Healed by the Savior from the power of evil spirits and sinful life, inspired by repentance and gratitude, she learned deep faith and dedicated her whole life to Christ, zealously serving Him during His earthly journey and preaching the gospel after His Ascension,” he said.
The head of the OCU noted that it is often difficult for people to trust someone they do not know.
“But having found God, in particular through prayer and scripture, we find in him our best friend who will never deceive or betray and to whom we can entrust our lives. “God is not human, that he should lie” (Num. 23:19). In trusting in the Lord, we are filled with peace and tranquility, we find the inner strength and faith with which He has endowed us, but for which we were not ready. And we must continue to be faithful to Him,” said the sermon of the Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine.
Metropolitan Epifaniy quoted the message of the Apostle Paul to the Jews: “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
“Such a blessed example for us is Mary Magdalene, among other saints. May her life inspire us to trust in God, to be faithful to Him and, through the word of truth and good deeds, to kindle the fire of faith in the hearts of others,” the primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine concluded.
