We
look at the universe and we marvel at its vastness. From the earliest
times man tried to tame his amazement by carefully observing and
studying the universe. Its grandeur never ceased to awe man, and every
new observation had a major impact on people. Human pride as expressed
by the Catholic Church during the middle ages was dealt a serious blow
when it was discovered by the astronomer Galileo Galilei that the earth
was not the centre of the universe after all. The humiliation to the
human pride was too much to bear, that the then Pope Urban forced
Galileo to recant his correct observation, that the sun was the centre
of our planetary system.
With the advent of high technology human
knowledge of the universe exploded many fold. Even then our knowledge
is still in its infancy. We now know that our planetary system, also
known as the solar system, is part of the Milky Way Galaxy which
stretches some 100,000 light years, is some 1,000 light years thick and
contains some 200 billion stars. Yet the universe consists of billions
of such galaxies. Can the human mind comprehend such vastness?
How could God who created such vastness be
interested in man who is but a grain of sand in all the earth's sand?
Why would He die for us the inconsequential nothings and call us His
children?
When God created man He created Him in His image
and likeness. God is a trinity, namely three hypostases in one, the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So when He created man, He made
him of three hypostases in one, namely, He gave man a spirit, a soul
and a body. Even though each has its own function, yet they are one and
the same man. For example God gave man a spirit to have his own will, a
soul to express and direct according to his will, and a body to
implement it. This is not unlike God's image where the Father's Will is expressed and directed by the
Son, Jesus Christ (the Word), and implemented by the Holy Spirit (the
Helper).
When man was created all three hypostases worked
in unison, as one. Man was in harmony with his Creator. Unfortunately,
after his fall the union of these three hypostases was broken. No more
the soul of man expressed and directed according to the will of his
spirit nor his body worked in unison with the soul's direction. Man
ceased to be the creature that God had created. The result was that man
was no more in the image and likeness of God. He had drifted so much
from His Creator, that he lost touch with Light and Truth of God. His
spirit which is the breath of God fell asleep. His soul descended to
Hades and his body was buried in the bowels of the earth to rot. Man
suffered the death that God forewarned him previous to his downfall.
Still the love of God did not abandon man. Even
though man suffered spiritual death, God sent him His prophets and
leaders to prepare the way for man to receive His plan of salvation.
According to His plan, Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, came down to earth willingly and in accordance with the Will of
His Father, to show us the true path to the Promised Land, the Kingdom
of God, on man's second exodus from the evil empire of the "Pharaoh".
Jesus Christ having shown to man the true Way, He passed on His
authority, to the Holy Apostles and subsequently to His Holy Order of
Priesthood to shepherd His flock with the help of the Holy Spirit and
according to God's Will. Knowing that such a trek home would be
impossible by man alone, He sent the Holy Spirit from the Father to
help and protect man. The Church of God, the ark of the new covenant
was thus instituted.
Unfortunately during the long trek to the promised land
many lost hope and left the Church while others believing that they
knew a better way, decided to change direction and follow their own
path, having forgotten or ignored what Jesus Christ clearly stated that
"I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father
but by me" (John 14:6). That is why it is of greatest importance not to
be swayed by those who believe that all the ways eventually lead to the
Kingdom Of God. It makes no sense when the Orthodox Church goes into
dialogues with the Catholics and other so called Churches to form a
Universal Christian Church. To do so the Orthodox Church must negotiate
a different direction that is a result of a negotiated universally
agreed direction. If it were not so, why then negotiate? How could man
change the direction given by Jesus Christ, God Himself? How could man
change something that does not belong to him but is God's, so placing
himself above His Will, above God? Is there much difference between
Lucifer, who tried to outdo God by believing that he could be as high,
or even higher than God and man who has already re-written the gospel
by voiding the route that Jesus Christ Himself gave? Man created his
own route believing that his is better, easier and quicker, thus
implying that Jesus was lying when He said, " I am the way, the truth
and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me" (John 14:6).
Hasn't Jesus Christ Himself given us the true Faith, the
true path, through the Holy Apostles and Holy Church Fathers, His true
mouthpieces, and sealed it with the Holy Canons? Then why negotiate or
have dialogues with those that have already challenged God, not unlike
Lucifer?
It is evident that such dialogues are due to
worldly agendas, be they worldly friendship and support, or
economic/political reasons or even worse, plain hegemony. When the
present Pope Benedict ascended to the pontifical throne, he made it
clear by publically pronouncing that his greatest mission goal is the
union of the Christian Churches. Of course what he did not say but
which is to be taken for granted, is that he will always be the
undisputed leader, being the vicar of Christ on earth, and possessing
the keys to the Kingdom Of God. Since the Catholic faith is based on
the dogma of the infallibility and supremacy of the Pope, it should
leave no doubt as to whom we shall be worshiping.
Church history from its infancy to the present,
has clearly demonstrated that the Church always flourished in
adversity, just like resurrection was born out torture, crucifixion
and death of her leader, Jesus Christ, and her foundations firmly
anchored upon persecution and martyrdom. Why is the Orthodox Church so
eager to trade her genuine jewels with the fake ones of the other so
called Churches? Let the Churches that claim to possess true jewels of
equal or better value, present them under the Divine Light. Of course
they do not dare to do so, for their fakeness will be exposed. For how
could the Catholics compare their "saints" when they spend years trying
to find three "miracles" that could be attributed to their saint in
order to canonize him, when an Orthodox saint emanates grace, fragrance
and holiness and is attributed with countless obvious and visible
miracles not only after his death but even while living?
When
God created Adam, he placed him in the Garden of Eden to look after it.
So too we are placed in the new garden of Eden, the Orthodox Church and
we are asked to look after it. We are instructed how to plant God's
good seeds, to tend the soil, remove the tares, water them and let the
grace of God shine upon them and bring forth a rich harvest. But where
is this Garden of Eden? It is in our heart, within us. It is the
Orthodox Church, the body of Christ which is within us. For Christ said
"The Kingdom of Heaven is within us". From the Orthodox Church we
obtain the good seeds which we plant in our fertile soil given to us at
our baptism and tend them according to her perfect instructions. What
are these good seeds? The seeds are divers, such as love,
longsuffering, mercy, forgiveness, compassion, humility, obedience and
the tending are the prayers, fasting, service to the needy, partaking
of the holy mysteries of confession and communion, church attendance,
removal of the tares by refusing to partake in gossip, criticism and
judgment of our neighbor.
We
shall then harvest according to the fruit of our labours and upon it we
shall be judged. For those who had given up tending their field will
reap nothing but tares while those who labored diligently until harvest
time shall reap a great harvest and their reward shall be great.
Man in this life is nothing but a grain of sand,
yet on resurrection day if he is deemed worthy to receive the gift of
salvation will be restored to the true image and likeness of God, when
the universe will be but a grain of sand to him, for God will live with
man in the new Jerusalem unto eternity. Amen.
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