On the leave-taking of the feast of the Transfiguration and the 10th Sunday after Pentecost, Fr. Matthew Howell talks about the importance of fasting and prayer as pillars of personal faith that can move mountains as laid out by our Lord Jesus Christ in today's gospel. He points out that prayer and fasting and enable someone--by God's grace--to move the mountains of sin that grow in one's heart. In the middle of the sermon, Fr. Matthew reads a paragraph from St. Nikolai Velimirovic (of Zica) about how fasting purifies the body and makes it a clean vessel to receive the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Previous homilies on this gospel:
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 4:9-16
Gospel: Matthew 17:14-23
"Fasting and prayer are two pillars of faith; two living fires that burn up the evil spirits. Through fasting, all bodily passions are calmed and destroyed, especially immorality; through prayer, all other passions of soul, heart and mind are calmed and destroyed: evil intentions and evil deeds, revenge, envy, hatred, malice, pride, ambition and the others. By fasting, the vessels of body and soul are cleansed of their filthy contents of worldly passions and vices; by prayer, the grace of the Holy Spirit is drawn down into the empty, cleansed vessel - and the fullness of faith consists in the abiding of God's Spirit in man. The Orthodox Church has, from time immemorial, stressed fasting as a tried and tested medicine for all the physical passions, and a powerful weapon against the evil spirits. All who underrate or reject fasting, in fact, underrate or reject a clear and decisive ordinance of the Lord Jesus in the scheme of man's salvation. Prayer is strengthened and extended by fasting; faith is confirmed by the one and the other - and faith moves mountains, drives out devils, and makes the impossible possible."
--St. Nikolai Velimirovic, Homilies Vol. 2 (Lazarica Press, 1998) pages 101-102
