For
those of you don’t know me, my name is
Pete Sotiras, and I’m the Youth &
Family Ministries Director for the
Metropolis of San Francisco.I’m excited about the upcoming
year and I’m looking forward to coming
to your area at some point during
2006-07.Each month I’ll be sending you
a message about how our Orthodox faith
impacts our lives.This year’s theme for the
Metropolis is “Embrace Your Faith”.Each month’s message will have
a sub-theme.For instance, this month’s
sub-theme is “Embrace Justice.”
One
of the biggest realities of middle
school and high school is social status
and roles.Just take a look around on your
campus—there are different cliques
(the jocks, the preps, the skaters,
etc.) and a hierarchy of who’s
“cool” and who’s not.Some people move up that social
ladder, others move down and others may
even switch cliques and change their
identity to fit in.There’s no question all of us
want to be accepted.However, sometimes one of the
ways we’re accepted by a person or a
group is by putting down, gossiping or
mistreating others.I’ve had plenty of discussions
with teenagers to know that gossip and
mistreating people plays a huge role in
the teenage experience.This month I want to share with
you the life of St. Demetrios, who chose
justice and love over social status.We celebrate his memory on
October 26th and let me tell
you, what a life it is.
The
only child of devout parents, St.
Demetrius, was born in a privileged
environment and very well educated.Following his father’s
footsteps, he became the military
commander of Thessaloniki, appointed by
the Emperor Maximian himself.According to society’s
standards then and now, he was
definitely a success.However, in the eyes of the
Church, he was successful for another
reason.The Emperor told Demetrios to
persecute and kill the Christians in
Thessaloniki.Well aware of the consequences,
Demetrios refused to listen to the
Emperor, and actually proclaimed Christ
to the people of the city, which led to
his imprisonment.Realizing that death was near, he
gave all his goods to the poor.While in prison, he befriended
and aided a fellow prisoner and
Christian, Nestor.For entertainment, the Emperor
held wrestling-to-the-death matches
between a giant named Lyaeus and
Christians.Nestor was forced to face this
giant.With the prayers and support of
Demetrios, Nestor shocked the crowd and
the Emperor by defeating Lyaeus.As a result, the Emperor ordered
soldiers to kill Demetrios and Nestor
with spears.
We
as Orthodox Christians are defined not
by our social status, but by how we
treat others.This is the defining and
quintessential mark of a follower of
Christ, for our Lord Himself told us,
“By this all will know that you are My
disciples—if you have love for one
another” (Jn. 13: 35).We are often tempted to make fun
of people, gossip about them, and
exclude them in our group activities in
order to maintain or improve our social
status.St. Demetrios reminds us that we as Orthodox are called to
stand up against injustice and
mistreatment.We are called to be there for,
pray for and support those who are
facing struggles in life, just like
Demetrios helped Nestor.This saint could have kept his
social status as a military commander
and everything that came with it:
respect, financial security, popularity
but he didn’t because it was more
important to love God and others.Let us all pray to St. Demetrios
for the courage and strength to put love
for neighbor above love for our social
status at school.Living according to our
principles is difficult, but let us find
comfort in Christ’s words when he
says, “Blessed are those who are
persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”
(Mt. 5:10).
