In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
In Palestine there are two seas, Galilee to the north and the Dead Sea to the south; both are fed by the Jordan River. Galilee, despite its misfortune in being below sea level, is full of life, it receives the blessings of the Jordan and passes on those blessings as the Jordan continues its journey southwards. The Dead Sea, in contrast, receives the blessings of the Jordan but does not let them go: it is a dead end and in its greed life there for any complex organism is near impossible.
“If any one thirst,” says the Lord,
let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’
And I must judge myself based on this: am I as the Sea of Galilee receiving the blessings of Jordan and passing them on? Or am I as the Dead Sea holding onto the blessings for myself? For if “out of my heart flows rivers of living water” then where I hold on to them they will drown me: but, in contrast, if I share them I may become truly alive.
Yes, I have found the Pearl of Great Price, (Matthew 13:45–46) but I must cry out with the Apostle,
For if I preach the Gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the Gospel!
First Corinthians 9:16
Let us, then, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, be as the Sea of Galilee and send out the blessings we have received by preaching the Gospel throughout this land. Let us preach the Gospel throughout this land by
[loving] the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind … and [loving] our neighbour as ourself,
Matthew 22:37–38
let us preach the Gospel throughout this land by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned (Matthew 25:31–46), let us preach the Gospel throughout this land by serving the Liturgy,
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till he comes.
First Corinthians 11:26
We live, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in a land in desperate need of the Gospel, where so many struggle for meaning, for hope, for love, and in this darkened sphere we have the opportunity to bring Life, abundant Life, and let the Light, which darkness cannot overcome, (John 1:5) shine out in our society, “the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.” (v. 9)
“I am the Light of the world;” says the Lord, “he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the Light of Life.” Let us follow but not hinder, let us receive but not withhold, let us allow ourselves to be loved by the Lord but not exclude our neighbour, that we may be worthy to be called Christians and inherit eternal Life.
To our crucified and risen Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, be all glory, honour and worship, together with his unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-creating Spirit. Amen.
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. And they were amazed and wondered, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontos and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
— Acts 2:1–11
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'” Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This is really the prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the scripture said that the Christ is descended from David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. The officers then went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this man!” The Pharisees answered them, “Are you led astray, you also? Have any of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, who do not know the law, are accursed.” Nikodemos, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and you will see that no prophet is to rise from Galilee.” Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
— John 7:37–52, 8:12