Jesus taught us today that we need to become true witnesses and witnesses that are faithful and obsessed with the truth, just as He is truthful, the perfect witness with God the Father, who brought witness to the truth He taught while He was in this world, dispelling lies and all the evils that had ravaged our world since the beginning of time.

It is not easy to remain truthful, since our world itself is full of lies and deceit that is of the devil. He spreads lies and falsehoods so that we will be divided among ourselves, among fellow brothers and sisters in faith. This will weaken us in our struggle to fight against evil, and also reduce our resolve to life this life as God wants us, that is a life filled with love, truth, and faith in Christ.

Instead, indeed, many of us succumbed to the temptations of the world, and temporal pleasures, especially that of the flesh. This was what had happened to the two elders appointed over the people of Israel, given authority and responsibility, but failed in their given ministry, all due to the failure to restrain themselves and let themselves to be taken in by worldly temptation. Indeed, as we can see what unfolds for them in the end, they had given up the true happiness in heaven, as righteous and just servants of the Lord, for moments of temporary and unguarded lust, to seek the faithful wife, Susanna.

They have abandoned their duty and their ministry in search of what the devil offers for them, through lust and disobedience, they almost brought an innocent soul in the eyes of God, into condemnation to death. This is because they acted not as a witness based on love for justice and for the truth of God, but they acted as witness out of lies, and human selfishness, of self preservation and of greed and lust.

Because they wanted to gain the noble woman, which they failed, and in their minds, their lust turned into hatred and deceitful plot to destroy that woman before it can destroy them. It is as if they want to approach sinful actions, but they never realised the effects of those acts until they had already committed the acts.

Instead of humbling themselves before God and asking for forgiveness, they instead misused their power and the authority given to them as witnesses to persecute the weak and attempted to remove evidences against them. This is what the Lord wants us to avoid, so that we will not be witnesses of falsehoods and lies, but rather follow in the example of Christ, who taught the truth to the people of Israel, with God as His witness.

Today, we also celebrate the feast of a great saint of the early Church, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, who was a distinguished theologian of the early Church, and he was very pious and zealous in defending the truth on his ministry, which his opponents constantly attacked with falsehoods in order to remove him from his position as Bishop of Jerusalem. He defended the faithful as a strong witness for the truth that Christ had brought into this world, and stood firm against false teachings of the heretics at that time, Arians, Monophysites, and many other false witnesses of the Lord.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, have we done our part in proclaiming the Gospel of our Lord? To be His witnesses in this world? That no one can say like the Pharisees did, that asking and questioning the Lord’s power through need of witness, which they themselves, blinded by those same human weaknesses and faults that had blinded the two elders at the judgment of Susanna.

Let us strive to love one another, and to be truthful and honest in all dealings that we make, so that we reflect the truth of our God, Jesus Christ, who came to bring the true witness of the love of God, as we have read in the Gospels. That we may also be able to follow the examples of St. Cyril of Jerusalem in being true witness of the truth, and stood firm against any form of falsehoods and lies about the Lord and our faith. May God bless us all. Amen.