The Publican and St Ephrem Teach Us How to Pray

This Sunday is the first Sunday of the Triodion–the four Sundays immediately preceding Great Lent.  The Gospel for today is the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican.  In his homily, below, Fr James connects the prayer of the Pharisee with the Jesus Prayer and the Prayer of St Ephrem (whose feast was yesterday, 28 January).

Join us in prayer and celebration of the Divine Liturgy at 9:30 AM on Sunday, and stay for fellowship afterwards.

THE PUBLICAN AND ST EPHREM TEACH US HOW TO PRAY

Homily for the Sunday of the Pharisee & the Publican

2 Timothy 3:10-15                                  Luke 18:10-14

Illustration of Ephrem the Syrian, from a 16th-century Russian ms. of the Slavonic translation of John Climacus and Ephrem’s Homilies

    Today, 29 January, we celebrate the Sunday of the Pharisee and the Publican, the first of four Sundays on which we prepare for Great Lent.  And yesterday, 28 January, we celebrated the feast of our Holy Father Ephrem the Syrian, whose prayer for humility is central to our Lenten observance.

     In today’s Epistle reading, St Paul writes to Timothy, “You have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions, and my suffering.  . . .  All who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted . . . Continue in what you have learned and firmly believed . . . knowing how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that instruct you for salvation.”

     And in today’s reading from the Gospel according to St Luke, we hear the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, in which Jesus contrasts the proud, self-righteous Pharisee with the humble, self-aware Publican.  A society that judges people by their social position, job status, and education would expect the Pharisee to be justified and the Publican to be disregarded.  But God sees things differently.  God looks for the right attitude—reflected in behavior, not boasted about in words.

     The Publican’s prayer—“God, be merciful to me, a sinner”—is obviously the basis for the well-known Jesus Prayer:  “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”  The Jesus Prayer is the essential prayer of monastics—monks and nuns—in our Eastern Church, but also stands at the center of the spiritual practice of all the faithful.  It sums up our relationship with Christ, affirming Him as our “Lord” or master, identifying Him as “Son of God” or Second Person of the Trinity, acknowledging Him as the source and dispenser of God’s soul-and-body-healing mercy, and admitting that because of the fallenness of the world each of us is a “sinner” who needs that mercy.

     The Jesus Prayer helps us clear our minds of proud, selfish thoughts and to focus on Jesus, our Lord, God, and Savior.  It comforts us by renewing our trust in God, who is with us in hard times and easy times.  The simplicity and brevity of the Jesus Prayer make it easy to repeat often, either very attentively or almost unconsciously, and we can easily coordinate it with the rhythm of our breathing:  “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God” as we breathe in, “have mercy on me, a sinner” as we breathe out.  When we say the Jesus Prayer over and over again, letting God work in us by opening our hearts and asking Him in, it can begin to “pray itself” in us, so that we are “praying always,” as St Paul recommends.

     We don’t know if St Ephrem prayed the Jesus Prayer.  He is best known for the prayer that we say so often during Great Lent:  “O Lord, Master of my life, grant that I may not be infected with the spirit of slothfulness and inquisitiveness, with the spirit of ambition and vain talking.  Grant instead to me, your servant, the spirit of purity and humility, the spirit of patience and neighborly love.  O Lord and King, bestow upon me the grace of being aware of my own sins and of not thinking evil of those of my brothers and sister, for You are blessed forever and ever.  Amen.”  St Ephrem’s prayer goes into more detail than the Jesus Prayer, but it conveys essentially the same message.

     We call St Ephrem the “Syrian,” but we should really refer to him as the “Syriac,” because he belonged to the Syriac or Assyrian Christian tradition, not the Byzantine tradition.  He is one of Christianity’s greatest theologians and Bible interpreters.  He lived in the 4th Century, from about 307 to 373.  Born in Nisibis, a town on the remote eastern edge of the Roman Empire, an area that is now south-eastern Turkey.  He studied with learned bishops, was ordained a deacon, and became a teacher and preacher.

     In 363, after the defeat of the Emperor Julian, the Persians took control of Nisibis and all Christians had to leave.  Ephrem moved to Edessa (modern Urfa), about one hundred miles to the west.  Ephrem continued his work, especially in defending the true faith against heretical teachings.  In the Byzantine and Latin West, his writings were not so well known, because he wrote in Syriac, but they were widely translated—into Greek, Latin, Armenian, and other languages.

     St Ephrem wrote theology in poetry—beautiful, heart-touching, philosophical but not dry.  The rhythms and images of his poetical homilies and other works made them memorable, singable, and popular.  Also, unusually for his time and place, he showed particular sensitivity to women’s faith and understanding.  He performed many charitable works, especially in times of famine.  In icons, he is usually portrayed as a monk, though he was not actually a monk, but he led a solitary, ascetic life of prayer and devotion.

     St Ephrem is almost a perfect example of St Paul’s exhortation to Timothy:  “Continue in what you have learned and believed—the sacred writings that instruct you for salvation.”  And that makes him to all of us a good example of how to lead lives of dedication, praise, and glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to ages of ages.  Amen.