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4th Sunday in Lent 2005 Ocala "With fear of God, with faith and with love draw near." Just moments ago we heard these very words, when the Priest raises the Holy Chalice inviting those who have prepared themselves to receive from the Holy Communion Cup. We have heard this invitation hundreds of times. This invitation describes the manner by which we are to approach the Holy Chalice, and thus become candidates for the Eternal life. When we hear "with fear of God," we do not mean fear in the literal sense, but rather, the most profound respect possible, with which we attempt to approach God -- with fear of God, and with faith.--Faith is self explanatory. Faith was always a pre-requisite of our Lord, when He was about to heal the many people He cured. It is faith, which worked the miracles. Faith does have the power to transform, and to work the miracle. With fear then, with faith and surely with love, let us come forth to receive. How I wish that Christians universally could possibly substitute the word "love," which in our time has been neutralized and degraded. I wish it could be substituted with the sublime Greek word "Agape," which means love in the most profound spiritual sense. For instance in English we say "God is love" which He really is; and then, when we speak of, or describe matters pertaining strictly to the flesh, we still say "love." Greek, which is the most precise and descriptive language in the world, has three definitions of the word love. The first is Agape, which sources from God, and is the epitome of love. The second is "philia," like Philadelphia, a composite Greek word, meaning brotherly love. "Philia" simply has to do with friendship and interpersonal relationships. And the third is "eros" which alludes strictly to the flesh. But in English as apposed to the three different descriptions of love, all these three Greek definitions fall under the word "love." Love, or better said agape, is the most honorable garment, with which we must clothe our soul to approach the Communion Cup. Our love should fill our soul to capacity, so that envy, hate, jealousy and comparable evils will never be able to find even a remote nook in our soul. Only two weeks separate us from that awesome and most Holy Week, during which our Lord on Holy Thursday at the Last Supper demonstrated the manner by which, He would always keep us corporally and spiritually united with Him. At the Last Supper He raised, blessed and broke the bread for distribution to His Disciples, saying: "Take, eat, this is my Body, which for you is broken for the remission of sins." And then, raising the Cup of Wine, He blessed it and said: "Drink from it ye all; this is my blood of the new covenant, which for you and for many is shed unto remission of sins." Having given this directive of testimony and verification, He concluded by saying: "Do this in my remembrance." I chose today to say a few words about the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist as it is labeled, because the Divine Liturgy is a Service of "thanks", Eucharist being the Greek word for "thanks." For almost 2000 years of her unbroken history, the Eastern Orthodox Church believes in the unshakable dogma of the transubstantiation, that is the changing, or transformation of the visible elements of bread and wine, through the invoking of the Holy Spirit, into the very Body and Blood of Christ as He originally had commanded to His Holy Apostles. One can easily understand, that living in a pluralistic society, it is easy, if one is not well based in his or her religious Faith to be influenced regarding matters of faith. I've heard Orthodox saying some unbelievable things, in which our Church supposedly believes! When the Protestant or Reformation commenced early in the 16th Century, the reformers sought to free themselves of the Sacramental life of the Roman Catholic Church. They taught their followers, that the Eucharist is not a Sacrament with specific Divine Grace, but merely a commemoration of the Last Supper. Thus, the communion is distributed in small glasses and if not totally consumed, the rest is cast down the drain, because it was only wine or grape juice. However, one of the most conservative groups of Protestantism states something like: "Well, if you believe it is the Body and Blood of Christ, then it is so; but if you don't believe it is, then it is simply a commemoration." This of course does not stand, and is converse of what the Bible teaches. The Bible is very specific and explicit regarding the Sacrament, by repeating the very words of our Lord recorded in St. John's Gospel, Chapter 6: "I am the Bread of Life; he who comes to Me will not hunger. I am the living Bread, which came down ' from Heaven, that a person can eat of it and not die! If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever; and the Bread, which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh. Truly, truly I say unto you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink of His blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh, and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at that last day. For my Flesh is food indeed, and my Blood is drink indeed." The great Apostle of Nations St. Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians poses the question to his listeners: "The Cup of blessing, which we bless, is it not a participation in the Blood of Christ? And the Bread, which we break, is it not a participation in the Body of Christ?" "Because there is one Bread, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one Bread." Then St. Paul admonishes those, who would partake in Holy Communion by saying: "For as often as you eat this Bread and drink the Cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." "Whoever therefore, eats the Bread or drinks from the Cup of the Lord unworthily, he is guilty of profaning the Body and Blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so, eat of the Bread and drink of the Cup. For anyone, who eats and drinks without discerning the Body and Blood of the Lord, eats and drinks to his own condemnation. That is why" St. Paul says: "many of you are ill, and some have even died." Since the Bible is so explicit and exact, it is so difficult to understand those who read and preach the Gospel, teaching that the Last Supper is nothing more than a re-enactment or commemoration. The verses mentioned, as well as many others, are so plain, that they do not need any simplification or explanation. They mean only one thing, and that is what the Church of the Holy Apostles and Holy Fathers has been doing for the past 2000 years. Beloved Friends: The mission of the Church, and its sole purpose is to sanctify the faithful. The Church invites us to become the children of God and to obey His Commandments. The Lord said: "Be ye perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect." The Christian must strive toward this perfection throughout his or her life! The Lord invites us to this perfection through Holy Communion, which unites the true believers with the Lord. --Unfortunately though, we really don't take the time for the things which endure and are lasting, and which uplift us in life. I've been a Priest long enough to bear witness, and for decades in the Metropolitan New York area I have seen the superficial, and I may say sinful manner by which people supposedly prepared themselves, lining up in the endless Communion line on Holy Thursday, the Day our Lord instituted the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. It appeared to be more of a routine situation for them, which they had inherited, and observed it as a tradition. Can it then be a question, as to why we don't have uplifted people in prevailing numbers? I just cannot believe how so many Christians take this most serious of all steps so very lightly. -- In days of old it bereaved me to see some come to Church at the last minute, most assuredly unprepared spiritually, and as soon as they received, instead of returning to their pew to offer the prayer of Thanksgiving from the prayer Book, they would make the 100 yard dash for the nearest coffee shop to have breakfast as if they were famished. How sad! How sad indeed! and more so, I would say sinful! Do these people have a realization, as to what is involved in approaching the Communion Cup? Surely not. And what is even more sad, is the fact that they don't take the time to learn what life and Christian living mean. I realize that we live in the midst of many diversions, which can have the power to control us, if we permit them. The true Christian is always in control, instead of being controlled. Religion is a very serious matter, and we must face it seriously. We must take time, and make time, because it concerns our life and our destiny presently, as well as the hereafter. Above all, religion will give us that, which we all seek ---- true happiness and fulfillment -- in place of the delusion that happiness comes from the externals. Beloved Friends: The Holy Periods set apart by the Church constitute reminders, and are in essence renewed invitations to transform ourselves spiritually, to ultimately save our soul. But, it is we, who must have our eyes open to see, and surely our ears open so that we may hear. |
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