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Transforming the World

1/3/2020

 
When Thou, O Lord, was baptized in the Jordan the worship of the Trinity was made manifest. For the voice of the Father bore witness to Thee and called Thee His beloved Son. And the Spirit, in the likeness of a dove confirmed the truthfulness of His words. Wherefore, O Christ, our God, Who has revealed Thyself and enlightened the world, glory to Thee.
(Troparion of Theophany)
As we end the Advent season the church moves directly into the preparation for and celebration of the Feast of Theophany. This great feast of the church should be a transcendent moment in the life of each and every Christian for it reveals to us the mystery of the Trinity and the nature of our salvation. It is a moment that should inform our actions and through us, as disciples of Christ, “enlighten the world.”
 
The usual name that the western Christian world gives this feast is “Epiphany.” In Greek this word means “something revealed.” However, in the Orthodox Church the proper name for the feast is “Theophany,” or the specific revelation of God. This is an important distinction for us because the event on the banks of and in the waters of the Jordan River open our minds to the work of God. Thus this is no simple revelation but God stripping away the darkness and revealing Himself.
 
This “theophanic” event brings to the world the true knowledge of God. The Father speaks from the heavens and reveals that this person, Jesus, is really His beloved Son. Then as Jesus comes out of the waters the Holy Spirit descends and settles on Him and confirms that this man speaks with the authority of the Father and glorifies that same Father. This is the first moment that the Trinity is revealed in the New Testament and that God opens the mind of believers to this knowledge, not speaking in shadows but in the fullness of truth for our salvation. This is not to say that God didn’t also reveal this mystery in the Old Testament, see Genesis 1:26. But the revelations in the Old Testament are what St. Paul speaks of when he says: “we see in a mirror dimly…” (1 Corinthians 13:12). With the Incarnation at the Nativity we now “see face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12) the means of our salvation.
 
Since God has chosen, in all humility, “Permit it to be so for now, for thus it is fitting, for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15), to take on this fragile form of ours, this act of revelation changes our lives, transfiguring them, because the Son shares our very nature. Similarly, by going into the waters of the Jordan, Christ changes the nature of the waters, from chaotic to harmonious, and since they touch all creation the nature of creation changes as well.
 
This is also why we bless homes and such with the water that is remade in the prayers of the “Great blessing of water” in this season. Just as God brought creation into existence from the abyss in the beginning (Genesis 1:1-5), so too Christ renews and remakes it through the waters of the Jordan, “He is smitten on the cheek, Who in the Jordan delivered Adam” (15th Antiphon of Holy Friday Matins). The beginning of the mystery of Pascha and our salvation is revealed in this moment and this act and the whole world is enlightened and “called out of darkness” (1 Peter 2:9) by this revelation of God.

The Entry of the Theotokos to the Temple

11/20/2019

 
Once again the Church gathers to honor a momentous occasion in the life of Mary. Just one week after beginning the Advent Fast, we celebrate the feast of her entrance to the Temple. It seems exceedingly strange that the Church should maintain a feast of Mary so close to the opening of the second longest fast of the liturgical year. Why this focus on her entrance, which as Protestants rightly point out, isn’t even in the Bible?
 
Once again the answer isn’t what we might first think. This feast isn’t just about Mary and a misguided exaltation of her. All feasts, icons, music and action within the Church occur for one, and only one purpose: to remind us of God’s work of salvation. Those who criticize our veneration of this day are right, it does not appear in the scriptures. But the reason for that is not because it is a fictitious account, or that Mary is unworthy of such respect. The story of Mary appears in a book written by James, the brother of the Lord and the first bishop of Jerusalem, called the Protoevangelion. This book tells us the names of Mary’s parents, Joachim and Anna. It also tells us that they were righteous before God. Nevertheless, Anna was barren. They prayed to God that they might know the joys of a child and they pledged to dedicate any child to the Temple. Because they were righteous God granted them the blessing of a daughter, and because they were righteous they fulfilled their vow and brought Mary to the Temple when she turned six. Because they were righteous they, like Abraham before them, offered their child in sacrifice.
 
This act, as well as all others Mary witnessed growing up in their blessed home, prepared her for the day, 10 years later, when Gabriel would appear to proclaim God’s will. Mary was sacrificed to the Temple that she might understand the sacrifice God was making in sending his Son, who would ultimately take the place of Isaac and be the true sacrifice for the sins of the people, of all people. Mary’s entrance shows the depths of faith that we must have in order to truly be called Christian.
 
The feast shows us the faith of her parents that allowed them to fulfill their pledge to God, knowing that she would leave their lives, but also knowing the great joy God had brought them through her. It teaches us the value of the blessing that a child’s life, and we are all children, brings, even when the child is only with us for a short time. It shows us the deep, abiding love that faith brings. A love that bears any burden because it is a love that endures no matter the separation of body or soul. When Mary enters the Temple on that day God’s love encompasses her and her parents, and through their righteous sacrifice we will ultimately see the depth and breadth of God’s own love for us through his express image, Jesus Christ who is incarnate through this young girl. Let us all humbly and meekly approach God that He may bless us with the joy that Joachim and Anna knew when someone enters our life. Let us also pray that we may show them the great love God has for all. Finally, let us hope that we may all enter the Temple that is in heaven and share food at the altar so that we may all make Christ incarnate in our lives.
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    A Good Word

    In the Tradition of the Orthodox Church the request to receive a "good word" is a request to both receive a blessing and to receive wisdom from a spiritual elder in our desire to follow after Christ. May these homilies and writings be to the Glory of God!

    Authors
    Fr. Joel Gillam is the Pastor of St. George Orthodox Church. He is Spiritual Advisor to the Young Adult Ministry in the Diocese, and is a graduate of St. Vladimir Seminary.

    Deacon Joseph Clark is the assistant at St. George Orthodox Church. He has a background in Criminal Justice, and currently teaches the Catechumen classes at St. George.

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...in Antioch the disciples were for the first time called Christians. (Acts 11:26)