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Sunday of Orthodoxy Ocala 2/24/07. Today is the glorious day of Orthodoxy, the first Sunday in Lent. This great Holiday reminds us of the great dangers, and many battles, which the Faithful sustained in many centuries past, but no less the fact that the Faith always emerged triumphantly. In today's Epistle reading, taken from the 1 11th chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, we get a reflection of what our Forefathers of centuries ago suffered, to preserve the pure Faith, as taught by our Lord Jesus, and bequeathed to us through His Holy Apostles. Just listen to some of this description. St. Paul says: "I speak of the Prophets, who by faith conquered Kingdoms; wrought justice; obtained promises; stopped the mouths of lions; quenched the violence of fire; escaped the edge of the sword; recovered strength from weakness; became valiant in battle; put to flight armies of aliens. They were stoned; they were sawn asunder; they were tempted; they were put to death by the sword." (Hebrews, chapter 11) When I read such historical passages, I try to envision the forces that had to be overcome, so that Christianity could root. Many times I try to imagine, if we can compare, even in a miniscule way with our glorious forefathers! Try, if at all possible, to envision their meager existence, not only in need of the very basic necessities, but also facing death at anytime at the hands of those, who fanatically persecuted the Church. However, the Church, not only survived, but always emerged triumphantly after untold trials.. Yes, without question, the Church has had a multi-centuries history of struggles, all of which were sealed with glorious victories.I love the way the great Luminary of Orthodoxy, the Patriarch of Constantinople, late in the 0 Century, who also gave us our Divine Liturgy, St. John the Chrysostom, or Golden-mouthed, described the life and power of the Church. He states unequivocally: "When the Church is attacked, She conquers. When She is scoffed and abused, She emerges even brighter! She is tossed about by the waves but never sinks. Regardless of how stormy the tempest, it cannot sink the Ship of Jesus; for nothing is more powerful than the Church, which the Lord Himself founded! No other Church can compare with the glorious history of Orthodox Christianity. No other Church has struggled as Orthodoxy has. No other Church has preserved the purity of the Faith, as outlined and specified in the 7 Ecumenical Councils, all held in and around the Queen City of Constantinople. No other Church has the unity of the Faith of the Orthodox, which today has 15 Autocephalous branches, but has only One Altar, dedicated to the Lord and His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Faith, and where only the Canonically ordained Clergy, may celebrate the awesome Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Thus, in describing the Eastern Orthodox Church, I always state, that we have complete unity in diversity. While we do welcome visitors in our Orthodox Churches, the Sacraments are dispensed only to the Baptized and Chrismated Christians. It could be said that Orthodoxy is a closed Communion. Today, the Sunday of Orthodoxy is celebrated by the 250,000,000 Eastern Orthodox throughout the world! It is the day specifically set aside, to extol the triumph of the Church. It was the year 787A.D. that the Holy Icons were restored in the Orthodox Churches. The bitter struggle with the Iconoclasts who would destroy all the Icons, resulted in victory for the Iconophiles. The Iconoclasts did not prevail, even though they had disrupted the Byzantine Empire for almost 100 years. Through an edict of the 7th Ecumenical Council, it was decreed that the Icons are not objects we should worship, but rather revere, because they portray the heroes of the Christian Church, whose life we should seek to emulate. That iswhy, in imitation of the glorious pageantry in Constantinople with the triumph of the Iconophiles, we hold the procession with the Holy Icons to bring to life the glory of our Church in the centuries of the 7 Ecumenical Councils, which transmitted the true and pure faith to all of us. Today, we, who are the direct descendants of those heroes of the Church, are not called upon to sacrifice, nor to be sacrificed, as were our Forefathers. Rather, we are privileged to enjoy with freedom to the fullest, the rich harvest of their sacrifices. Does this not bring to mind, the obligation we have to keep the Church vibrant? Each one must ask himself of herself, if he of she is carrying their share of the burden to keep our Church vibrant. The Lord gave us all talents, which we have a solemn obligation to increase and at least to double our given talents, because the day will come, when we shall come before the judgment Throne, and we'll be asked for our accountability, hoping we will not be caught short bring to you another classic example of a most brilliant mind, who was a most faithful shepherd of our Church; St. Basil the Great, about whom we spoke the last week in January during the "Week of Greek Letters." As Archbishop of Caesarea in the depths of Asia Minor, his instituting of a whole city of philanthropic endeavors, literally overshadowed the throne of the Roman Governor Modestos. Modestos sent his ambassador to threaten St. Basil. The dialogue went as follows: "I have orders from the Governor to confiscate all your personal possessions." To this St. Basil answered: "You will not be shouldered with that burden, because all my possessions are in the hands of the poor, and all that I personally own, are a couple of used garments and my books." The Ambassador added: "Then you will be exiled!" St. Basil retorts with a phrase from the Old Testament: "The Earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; Wherever I am to be exiled, it still will be God's land." By this time the enraged Ambassador, who must have marveled at St. Basil's courage, said in exasperation: "Then, you will be put to death." Very calmly, the Saint replies. "This indeed would obligate me, because I will be with my Lord that much sooner!" This is type of faith that overcomes the world and conquers! St. Basil's indomitable courage and boldness had many imitators down through the ages; and it is this type of living spirit, and profound faith, which has made the foundations of our Holy Church very firm and unshakable. Indeed we are living in trying times from every angle. But we view the struggles of the world from our comfortable armchair, trulyempathizing with peoples suffering we see over TV, and which to a great extent is inconceivable to many. There is so much need in the world and indeed here in our Land of plenty. We cannot do very much, unless as the Lord said we are like the house built upon a rock. Perhaps I'm reading some thoughts, which must run something like; "well, I'm only one person, what can I possibly do? To this I would answer that which I believe: "Whether we believe it or not, there is more power lying within us, and waiting to be expressed than we can ever imagine. Therefore we can, and must gird our faith as did our Forefathers, who made the Church great. We can, and should be worthy of their sacrifices, by being firm and unshakable in our convictions. We can and must give priority to God, over all other things in this life. It is within our power to do these things, and emerge victorious in life's struggles. Then, and only then, will we truly and deeply sense the words mentioned in St. John's Epistle: "This is the victory that has won over the world --- our faith!"+George Papadeas
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