On Sunday, May 24, Sunday of the Blind Man, the Protosyncellus of the Archdiocese of Australia, Bishop Aimilianos of Meloa, officiated the Orthros and presided over the Divine Liturgy at the Church of St. Catherine in Sydney.
In his sermon, addressing the faithful who had the opportunity to watch the service live online, the Bishop expounded on the pericope of the day referring to the miracle of the healing of the born blind man by Jesus Christ, and noted the valuable lessons that can be provided from that miracle.
Bishop of Meloa first observed that, although they believed in the coming of the Messiah and were looking forward to it, the Pharisees were constantly reading the Bible and knew all the prophecies. Nevertheless, when He came, they “remained confined in their ideology and knowledge,” thus losing their salvation and crucified their Savior.
He even contrasted the attitude of the Pharisees with the obedience of the born blind man, who could see nothing and, therefore, was illiterate.
The Bishop urged the faithful “to tell the difference between the wise teacher of the law and the illiterate blind,” by stressing that “here you can tell difference between hypocrisy and holiness.” “And do not think that we will never be in such a situation,” he added, noting that “it is the same when our spiritual master tells us to do something and we are either confined in our perception and disagree with it, or we do not obey.” “And it’s even worse,” he added, “because we are not aware of our blindness.”
