Ecclesiasticus I: Introducing Eastern Orthodoxy
Ecclesiasticus II: Orthodox Icons, Saints, Feasts and Prayer
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Our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world
to save sinners. In His person He reconciled man to the Creator of all.
So great was His love for those whom He fashioned in His image that He
Who is God, “made himself of no reputation, and was made in the likeness
of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8). In
the history of the world no greater act of love has ever been performed.
Christ Who is both perfect God and perfect
Man, being an actual historical figure, was the only One in the history
of the world who ever revealed the truth about God and human existence,
and who could testify how it is that man is to relate to his Maker and
to his fellow man. Jesus Christ is the only means whereby God and the
meaning of life may be fully known, not merely one of many means. Thus,
for Christians our Lord is the key to salvation. “And this is life eternal,
that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou
has sent.” (John 17:3) Christ is the Source of this saving knowledge of
the One, Truly existing God.
All that our Lord accomplished during
His earthly life was for the salvation of the world, and that because
of God’s boundless love for man. Jesus taught that God is love and that
man, being created in His image, should reflect that divine love. The
central theme of all of Jesus’ preaching was love.
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the
first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself.” (22: 37-39)
“A new commandment I give unto you, That
ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”
“Love your enemies, bless them that curse
you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully
use you and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father
which is in heaven...” (Matthew 5: 44-45)
And then, St. Paul, who was chosen as
the Apostle to convey our Lord’s teachings to the whole world, who understood
so deeply the importance of Christ’s Advent, says in his first Epistle
to the Corinthians, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,
and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries,
and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove
mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my
goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have
not love, it profiteth me nothing..........And now abideth faith, hope,
love, these three, but the greatest of these is love.” (13: 1-3, 13)
The message is clear enough. Though we
have faith and hope, if we have not love, we are nothing. Or to put it
in personal terms, related to daily responsibilities: even if we have
“our Church” and faithfully perform all that is required of us by the
local community; even if we serve long vigils and pray day and night;
even if we develop worthwhile ministries and projects within parishes
and dioceses; even if we keep all of the fasts and observe every Church
holiday; if we do not have love, but rather, are filled with hatred, resentment,
pride or arrogance, our efforts are for nothing. We may even profess to
have the True Faith, but if love is lacking our efforts to propagate that
faith sound like the ravings of fanatics, to those both within and outside
the Church.
Love is not only that which saves us
and the content of the Christian life, but inasmuch as it is that it also
constitutes the basis of all Christian endeavor including missionary activity.
“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love
one to another” (John 13:35). In recent years the Orthodox Churches in
America have seen the publication and production of thousands of Orthodox
books, audio tapes and the like, in English. Resources that our forefathers
in Christ could only dream of are at our fingertips. Computers and the
Internet have opened up even further possibilities. As a result the faithful
have become more aware of their own faith and of their responsibility
to share it with others. Coinciding with this progress has been the (re)introduction
into daily vocabulary of terms such as: “outreach,” “church growth,” “evangelism,”
“catechumens,” “church planting,” and the like.
These changes reflect an incredibly positive
turn of events. The tools necessary to accomplish our various tasks as
Orthodox are at our disposal. But how shall we use them? Again, Christ
provides the key. All is given out of love so that it may be distributed
freely out of love. Our work as missionaries ultimately must have no other
goal but the salvation of the neighbor, sought after out of love. Numerical
increases in our census reports, apparent successes of various Church
programs are important, and can be indicative of real spiritual advancement
within the Body. One should continually be mindful, however, that
these “measurable” signs of growth mean little, if anything, when love
is absent. For we strive to bring people into a fellowship of love, reflective
of the perfect divine love and unity existing between the Father, Son
and Holy Spirit. When the call to “love as I have loved you” becomes firmly
ingrained in our minds, when we begin to comprehend by God’s grace, the
depth of those words, then not only will our missionary efforts be successful,
but the term “efforts” will seem, in a sense, a misnomer. Joy, radiating
from genuine love for those around us, will be at the heart of our missionary
endeavors and will make light the burden of our efforts.
From The Dawn
Newspaper of the Diocese of the South
Orthodox Church in America
July 1999
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