Church – The Tao of Holy Orthodoxy

March 19, 2018

53. Holy Mysteries & Unity of the Church

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When you are brought into union with Christ and into communion with His Church, you will enter into a kind of spiritual marriage. You will be integrated into His faithful Bride, the Church. As physical marital union between a husband and wife is only permissible, pure, and blessed between two who have united together through marriage, sharing in the Holy Mysteries is only permitted, pure, and blessed by those who have entered into union with the Holy Orthodox Church.

In right order, a marriage between a man and woman should be established first, then the benefits of marriage, including physical marital union and having children, are enjoyed. To use the image of the Hospital again, only individuals who first have been admitted to the Hospital under the care of the Physician receive the benefits of being patients, that is, receiving the full medical treatment, including the prescribed Medicines. Therefore, those outside of the Orthodox Church are forbidden from receiving the Holy Mysteries of the Church. They are neither the Bride nor patients in the Hospital. They are not yet ready to enjoy the benefits of the spiritual marriage nor the benefits of a patient by receiving the Medicine. As Adam and Eve, those separated from the Holy Orthodox Church are not yet ready to partake of the fruit of the Tree.

Likewise, Orthodox Christians refuse to participate in the rituals or sacraments of heterodox (non-Orthodox) religious groups that are separated from the Orthodox Church. As a pure Bride, always reject spiritual adultery, instead remaining faithful to Christ and in unity with His Holy Church. The Mystery of the Church holds everything you need for your salvation.

January 3, 2018March 15, 2018

47. In Good Order: Servants & Leaders

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A good father and mother love their children more than themselves and provide all the necessary nurturing care necessary for their children to grow physically, mentally, and spiritually. Good children love and obey their parents. A proper order exists. The parents are not obedient to their children, but the other way around. Everyone loves one another. This is a healthy hierarchy, an order not based on power over others, but a balanced family relationship rooted in self-giving love. Within the Church, some have received greater authority and higher positions than others. The Church is a well-ordered, hierarchical family.

Within a marriage, the husband is the head, that is, the head servant responsible for loving his wife, living for his wife’s benefit, and, if necessary, dying for his wife’s sake. If you are in authority over others, you must be a servant, too. This is what being the chief means: Working as the chief servant. Our Master, Jesus Christ, taught the nature of spiritual leadership when He washed His own Disciples’ feet and dried them with a towel. For this reason, a simple towel serves as a powerful symbol of family hierarchy, humble leadership, and obedient servanthood within the Church. A leader in the Church is one who serves, being an icon of humility and an example of obedience.

A Bishop, even one holding the high office of Patriarch, must be humbly obedient to the decisions of His brother Bishops who together form the Synod. Everyone over whom the Bishop is a spiritual Shepherd is called to be obedient to the Bishop and to the Priests, who are given authority to serve as spiritual fathers, pastors, and ministers. Again, this is not a hierarchy of power, but a balanced family structure rooted in love.

Consider the Deacon with regard to proper, reverent obedience. The Deacon does not put on his vestments until the Priest blesses him to do so. Before he leads the people in a prayerful litany, the Deacon receives the blessing of the Priest. Before he census with the censor, the Deacon asks the Priest to bless the incense. The Deacon does not presume to lift up the Gospel Book from the Holy Altar, but instead receives it from the hand of the Priest as he kisses the Priest’s hand. Before he reads the Holy Gospel, the Deacon asks the Priest to bless him. The Deacons is an icon of humility and obedience.

When the Bishop visits an Orthodox community, much of what the Priest usually does is performed by the Bishop, who is superior in office and authority to the Priest. The Priest does not bless the Deacon, the people, or the incense when the Bishop is there because the Bishop offers the blessings. The Priest does not presume to put on his vestments when the Bishop is visiting until he receives a blessing from the Bishop. When he offers prayers during the services, the Priest and Deacon often bow to the Bishop in reverence and recognition of His authority.

The spiritual life flourishes in the community characterized by good order, loyal obedience, and mutual love. Love and respect those who have been set in authority over you for the benefit of your salvation and endeavor to love and serve others. Strive to be a leader within the Church by being a faithful servant of Jesus Christ. If you live this Way, you will contribute to the harmony within your spiritual family and also nurture peace and harmony within yourself. Remember, this is part of your spiritual therapy for the healing of your soul and the fulfillment of your potential and purpose.

Read: Matthew 20:20-28; Matthew 25.14-30; John 13:1-17; 21.1-25; Acts 6.1-8; 20.28; 2 Corinthians 11.22-33; Ephesians 5.1-33; Hebrews 13.7, 17; 1 Peter 5.1-4

November 6, 2017February 9, 2021

32. The Eight Parables

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Living the Way of Christ means possessing a good, healthful disposition of heart that produces good, virtuous action. Read these five parables carefully, learn their meaning for your life, and strive to put them into practice:

1) The Parable of the Publican and Pharisee (Luke 18.9-14)

What does this parable teach you about pride and judgment as well as humility and repentance? What does it teach you about God, prayer, and mercy?

2) The Parable of the Sower (Luke 8.4-15)

Are you eagerly receptive to the Truth and humbly teachable or hard-hearted and unteachable, unable to grow to maturity? You choose the kind of soil your heart shall be. Which kind of soil describes the disposition of your heart? What does this parable teach you with regard to how the condition of your heart affects both the health of your soul inwardly and also your outward actions?

3) The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15.11-32)

What does this story teach you about God and His love for us? (The Father did not love the son only when he returned, but the Father always loved the son.) What does the story teach you about sin and the effects of your sin? (Who created the distance between the Father and his son?) What does this teach you about the steps of repentance toward restoration? How does the reaction of the other brother also offer you a lesson?

4) Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)

What does this teach you about true love? Why must you love God first and best above all others? (If you do not love God wholly and above all, you cannot love all others fully.) Remember that this parable is also an image of the Church. What does this teach you about the benefit of the Church for you and everyone else?

5) The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders (Matthew 7.21-27)

What does this teach you about the the necessity of obedience?

6) The Parable of the Two Sons (Matthew 21.28-32)

What does this teach you about repentance with regard to obedience and disobedience?

(7 & 8) The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearls (Matthew 13.44-46)

Where does this teach you place of the Way of Christ in your life, considering all your competing priorities and distractions?

October 31, 2017March 13, 2018

28. The Holy Tradition

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We call the Way of Holy Orthodoxy by another name: Holy Tradition. The Tradition is Holy because it has been revealed to the Church through the Holy Spirit. We also call this Apostolic Tradition because it has been passed down to us through history from the Apostles, whom the Holy Spirit led into all Truth. The Orthodox bishops and priests, having Apostolic succession, are particularly responsible for guarding the Holy Tradition. The Tradition is not just a list of dogmas or doctrines, but our entire Way of Life, the Way that has been preserved, passed down, received, and lived in every generation for nearly two millennia, whole and undefiled.

Holy Tradition includes what the Apostles’ preached and taught after Holy Pentecost. The Old Testament, received by the Church, and the New Testament, written within the Church by members of the Church, is part of the Tradition. Within Holy Tradition, both the Scripture and the correct interpretation of Scripture are held together. Holy Tradition encompasses what we believe, the way we pray and worship, how we express the Faith through our sacred writings, music, and art (iconography), and how we live the Faith in the world. Holy Tradition, then, is opposed to the traditions of men, that is, religious traditions invented by human beings that contradict what God revealed and the Apostles’ taught.

Consider what would happen if a terrible plague swept across the world and you were entrusted with an ancient box, passed down for millennia, containing detailed instructions and all the components necessary to prepare an antidote capable of curing anyone willing to take the medicine. Would you not be careful to preserve and keep safe the whole contents of the box in its entirety? Would you also not make sure that this life-saving gift is used to cure people? This box should not be kept on a shelf like a museum piece because of its outward beauty. It was given to you freely so that you may liberally use its contents to save and protect people in need.

This box is an image of Holy Tradition. Holy Tradition is given to us whole and complete, containing everything necessary for our salvation. The Tradition holds our panacea, the medicine that completely cures the illness of the soul and, ultimately, even death of the body. Within the Church, this box has been passed down to us and received by our generation so that we will use it for the benefit of the world. We bear the noble responsibility to live Holy Tradition faithfully every day and the responsibility (and the honored privilege) to pass it on to others whole and unaltered as we have received it.

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Holy Tradition is also like a mountain. It stands high, strong, firm, heavy, and immovable. Yet, Holy Tradition is also like a river that flows from the mountain, nourishing everything drawing its water. If you were to stand in one place on the banks and look at a single point in the river, the light would glimmer on the surface. It is not static, by dynamic. The river flows under, over, and around the rocks and fallen trees effortlessly. It fills wide spaces and narrow passes, shifting shape without altering what it is – its essence. The river moves straight and winds, flowing calmly in silence, rippling gently and quietly, then rushing with a roar.

Holy Tradition is unchanging because it is founded upon the immoveable Truth, which remains constant in all times and in all places. At the same time, Holy Tradition is a living Tradition embodied by Orthodox Christians in the real world. Without changing what it is, Holy Tradition is expressed differently in various times and places. Although the Tradition is immovable and unchanging with regard to Truth, the expression of the Tradition is fluid. Observe the tremendously diverse variety of liturgies, music, art, practices, and cultural traditions within the Church, all embraced by Holy Tradition. While the expressions of Holy Tradition show development and diversity throughout history and across cultures, the variety remains in symphonic harmony with the mind (phronema), ethos, and vision of the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit. Wherever Holy Tradition goes, it fits the culture without compromise. Tradition can fit into a new society where Holy Orthodoxy takes root like water fills a glass, taking its shape to reflect the people who live in that particular place at that particular time. What is good within the society is affirmed and what is not good is either purified or removed.

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Holy Tradition is also like perfectly cut and beautifully clear diamond. The diamond is strong and whole. When light shines on the stone, its interior glows with white-light brilliance. On the surface of the diamond, the light is dispersed, projecting a rainbow of the various colors that together comprise the white light. As the diamond is turned, the light reveals the various angles cut into the singular diamond. Holy Tradition is simple and complex. If you wish to see the beauty of the Holy Tradition, see it in the Light.

Read: Mark 7.7-9; John 16.13; Matthew 28.19-20; Acts 2.42; 2 Thessalonians 2.15; Jude 1.3; Galatians 1.6-24; 2 Timothy 4.1-4

October 31, 2017

27. Behold the Mystery

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On a clear night, look up at the starlit sky. Standing here on Earth, with your eyes looking out into the darkness of space, you could try to count the stars, one by one, but there are too many. You can’t count the stars any more than you can count the grains of sand on the beach, the drops of water in the ocean, or blades of grass in a broad field. The universe is so unimaginably vast, yet here you are, so small. (This planet alone seems incredibly huge when you are standing on such a little piece of it.) You could try to reach up to the stars, but that wouldn’t get you much closer.

The starry sky serve as an icon, a visual image that points us toward Mystery. The creation points toward the uncreated Creator. Your own human vision cannot penetrate into the depths of space from where you stand. When you encounter the Church and its Way, you encounter Mystery far beyond human reach and capacity to rationally understand. You cannot wrap your human mind around the Mystery. Wonder at the Mystery in silence. Bow before the Mystery in reverence. Keep in mind that whatever you see and you understand, there is far more that is unseen and transcends understanding. If you remember this truth, it will nurture humility in your soul.