God commanded the Israelites in the Old Testament to be circumcised, and this was a sign of the Divine Covenant. He who was circumcised belonged to the people of the Covenant, to the people who held the promises of God. It was a sign of the covenant between God and the faithful Israelites. Therefore, anyone who did not receive circumcision was not considered a faithful Israelite. But this circumcision—a fleshly circumcision—was ordained by God to prepare the people and lead them to another circumcision, which would be the only true circumcision, no longer of the flesh, but of the "old man": the circumcision of passions and the investiture with the new man of Grace. Therefore, the Apostle Paul and the Fathers of our Church say that Old Testament circumcision was only a symbol of the true circumcision—Holy Baptism.
Today, the new Israel of Grace also bears the sign of the Covenant—the New Covenant. The sign of the Old Testament was circumcision. The sign of the New Testament is Holy Baptism. In the Old Testament, male infants were circumcised. Now, all infants, all men and women, receive the new, grace-filled circumcision—the baptism of Grace—and become part of the people of God, the new Israel, the Israel of Grace. And this circumcision is accomplished in Holy Baptism. Through it, the old man is circumcised and cut off, and the new man is renewed. Then, in the Old Testament, there was only circumcision. Now, in the New Testament, we have both the circumcision of the old man and the renewal within him of the new man, the man of the Grace of the Holy Spirit. Then, people were circumcised, but they did not receive the Holy Spirit. Now not only is the old man cut off, but also the Holy Spirit is sent down.
Therefore, the only true circumcision is church baptism. And this is a new sign of Grace, a sign of the New Testament, which all sealed Christians possess. Therefore, a Christian in holy baptism is sealed with the image of the Precious and Life-giving Cross, and we all Christians, as the prayers of the Church proclaim to us, are sealed "with the image and sign of the Son of God," that is, with the Precious and Life-giving Cross of Christ. We are not sealed with physical circumcision, but with a spiritual and eternal seal—a seal that does not disappear with the disappearance of the flesh. When an Israelite died and his body decayed, the seal of circumcision of the Old Testament also disappeared. Now, even if a Christian who bears the spiritual seal of God's Grace and the Precious and Life-giving Cross dies, this seal remains eternal and indelible. And he does not lose it, unless he himself rejects faith and Orthodoxy, and falls into atheism or other religions and heresies.
Thus, we are blessed with a new portion of the Grace of the New Testament, a new sign of the people of God. And this fills us with gratitude to God for the fact that we are all sealed with His own holy seal, His indelible spiritual mark. We are not like nations, that is, not like pagans, who, outside of Christ, remain unsealed and therefore become the plaything of demons. When the devil sees someone unsealed, he easily makes prey of them. But if he sees someone sealed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and holy baptism, he cannot make them his own unless that person surrenders their heart to the devil . Neither the devil nor the Antichrist has power over those sealed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we experience all of this on this day, which is also the first day of the year. And we ask the Lord to forgive us: firstly, for the fact that we, like all people, are weak and sinful, and have constantly grieved Him: both last year and throughout our lives. And it is not only through great sins that we grieve the All-Holy God, our Maker, Creator, and Lord. I was thinking today, as I was serving the Liturgy, about the following: every time our mind wanders from God, do we not grieve God? Why did God create us ? He created us to be in union with Him. So that we would be in constant communion with Him. And when we let our minds wander here and there, even if only by thinking about good things that are not God, is God not then grieved? And when He sees that we lack love and the desire to be in constant union with Him? And for all Christians, and for us monks, who seek perfection, who seek to please God perfectly, how to please God completely, does it not cause pain that so much time in our lives has passed, including the past year, and we have not had and do not have the constant remembrance of God?
Therefore, let us offer our fervent prayer to the Lord: first and foremost, that He forgive us all our sins. Secondly, may He grant us His Grace, His blessing, His enlightenment, and His divine power, so that in the new year we may strive and struggle with great zeal to never upset Him, or at least to upset Him far less than we did last year. And may His goodness and love grant us not only not to upset Him, but also to please Him. May our entire life, all our struggle, all our prayer , all our asceticism, all our obedience, all our communion with the Most Pure Sacraments and participation in the sacred services be thus fulfilled, so that we may please the Lord and our God. And when this year passes, if it pleases God and we are alive and live to see the next year, then we will have to weigh and sum up all the time that has passed, so that we can say: “We thank You, Lord, that by Your grace we have offended You less this year than in the past.”
This is my humble wish for the entire brotherhood and our beloved Christian brothers: our friends, brothers, and co-workers, all the fathers of the Monastery: may the Lord grant us not to grieve Him this year, but only to please Him. This is my wish also for our Greek Orthodox family: may the Lord enlighten all leaders, rulers, clergy, and laity, so that in the coming year they will not grieve Him as we did last year, not only with many sins—sinful actions—but also with bills that were completely contrary to the holy will of the Lord, such as the bill legalizing abortion, which, unfortunately, still continues to exist, and while it exists, our people, from whom the Lord demands and expects different things, continue to be the cause of a terrible insult to the All-Holy God.
I wish all the fathers of the Monastery abundant blessings from the Lord and all the lay brothers many years to the glory of God, in repentance and sanctification, and preparation for the departure from this world - for bodily death, which, it would be good if it caught us at the best hour of our lives.