May: Day 10: Holy Apostle Simon the Zealot

May: Day 10:
Holy Apostle Simon the Zealot
 
(About Love for God)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Apostle Simon, whose memory is celebrated today, is also called the Canaanite, because of his origin in Cana of Galilee, where the Savior showed the first example of miracles, turning water into wine at a wedding feast, at which He and His Most Pure Mother were among the invited guests. Simon is called a Zealot in the sense of being a fervent advocate of faith, according to the translation of that same word: Cana, which in Hebrew means fervor and diligence.

Based on legends, it is assumed that he preached the faith in Egypt and Britain, where he suffered a martyr's death, being crucified on the cross.

Saint Dimitri of Rostov believes that the Holy Apostle Simon (the groom at whose wedding feast the Lord performed His first miracle) received the name Zealot because he was inflamed with “such zealous love” for Christ that he left his bride for him, betrothed his soul to the immortal Christ and was numbered by Him among His twelve apostles.

II. The example of the Holy Apostle Simon the Zealot, who loved Jesus Christ more than his own life and all its pleasures, teaches us, brethren, to love our Lord more than anything else, for God first loved us. God the Father so loved us, He gave His only begotten Son, "that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

The only begotten Son of God loved us so much that for our deliverance, having taken upon Himself our nature, “He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death,” endured humiliation, insults, spitting, blows, beatings, suffering on the cross and a shameful death with the wicked, shed His blood for us, laid down His life for us, “that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver those who through fear of death were all their life subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:14, 15).

The Holy Spirit, consubstantial with the Father and the Son, loved us so much that, not disdaining our impurity, He descends upon us, revives us who are dead with sins, sanctifies us who are unclean and defiled by sins, gives us “all the divine powers that lead to life and godliness,” and makes us children of God and heirs with God. So greatly has our Lord God loved us that after this temporary life, He has promised us an eternal kingdom and unending blessedness in His heavenly abodes.

The Holy Apostle says: “If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ,” and in Him God the Father and the Holy Spirit, “let him be cursed!” Not duty and obligation, not law and command, but, so to speak, our whole being, our whole life, all our happiness both in the present and in the future age convince us “to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength, and with all our mind.”

a) He who truly loves the Lord his God, loves Him with all his heart, not dividing his heart between the world and God, not making his self-love his idol; for a man cannot “serve two masters, he cannot serve God and mammon” - he does not prefer anyone or anything in the world to God. “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me,” says the Lord, “is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever does not deny himself and take up his cross cannot be My disciple.”

b) He who truly loves the Lord his God, loves Him with all his soul, he tries to direct all the powers of his soul according to His will, to arrange his whole life and all his activities according to His holy commandments, in everything and always to imitate the example of the most holy life of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, becoming like Him in thoughts and desires, intentions and actions: “If anyone loves Me,” says the Lord, “he will keep My word; if you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love.”

c) He who truly loves the Lord his God, loves Him with all his thoughts, he loves to constantly think about God and His countless blessings, revealed to us in creation and providence for our life, in redemption and deliverance from sin, the curse and death, he loves to always be with his beloved Lord in his mind and heart, always to place himself in His holy omnipresence, to constantly have the fear of God in his heart, “to see the Lord before him always.” Following the example of God-loving David, he loves everything that reminds him of his beloved Lord: he loves to study the law of the Lord day and night, for “the words of the Lord” for him are “sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, more precious than gold and much precious stone.” He delights most of all in the Gospel of Christ, as the most precious covenant of his sweetest Redeemer. He loves most of all to stay in the house of God and to visit His holy temple, where the most holy sacrifice of our salvation is offered; thirsts for communion with the Lord in prayer and the Holy Mysteries.

d) He who truly loves the Lord his God, loves Him with all his strength. For the glory of the name of God he is joyfully ready to lose all temporal blessings, to endure all reproaches and persecutions from the world, is ready to lay down his very soul for the faith of Christ, for the observance of His holy and life-giving commandments, for the honor and glory of the gospel and His cross. “Who shall separate us from the love of God,” says the Holy Apostle, “shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? For I am assured that neither death, nor life, nor things present, nor things to come, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:35, 38, 39).

III. In a word, he who truly loves the Lord his God, with soul, and body, and heart, and thought, and words, and deeds, with his whole life and being, shows his love and gratitude to the Lord. “If anyone loves Me,” says the Lord, “he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). This is the highest reward for one who truly loves the Lord. Amen. 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.