THE VISION OF GOD

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

THE VISION OF GOD

In our Holy Orthodox Tradition the celebration of major revelations in the life of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ have a specific significance and purpose. For the genuine Orthodox Christian it is more than remembrance of what took place thousands of years ago. It is more than a historical event. It is more than the annual religious observance and rite. For the practicing Orthodox Christian, every action of Christ God on earth is a personal living experience. It transcends time and becomes truly a theophany for him or her as though he or she truly witnessed personally all that Our Lord did and taught. It is no different than what transpires at every Divine Liturgy. The Mystical Supper conducted at every Orthodox church throughout the world is not simply a reenactment of what happened over 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem. Christ is present indeed and He is the One Who "Offers and is offered." He is the One Who says to us, "Take, eat this is My Body, which is broken for you, for the remission of sins." Likewise after the Supper, He took the cup, saying, "Drink of it all of you, this is My Blood of the New Covenant, Which is shed for you and for many, for the remission of sins." It is He Who sends down Thy Holy Spirit upon us and upon the Gifts to Consecrate them "and make this bread, His Precious Body, and that which which is in this Chalice, His Precious Blood, Changing them by Thy Holy Spirit, AMEN, AMEN, AMEN.

Every Divine Liturgy is truly a Theophany for those who believe and NOT just a reenactment and an imitation of what transpired many centuries ago. What are constantly reminded of His Presence at the Divine Liturgy when the officiating priest says inaudibly: "Look down, O Lord Jesus Christ Our God, from Thy Holy Dwelling Place, and from the Throne of Glory of Thy Kingdom, and come to sanctify us, Thou Who sittest on High with the Father, AND ART HERE INVISIBLY PRESENT WITH US. AND DO THOU DEIGN BY THY MIGHTY HAND TO GIVE TO US OF THY IMMACULATE BODY AND OF THY PRECIOUS BLOOD, AND THROUGH US TO ALL THE PEOPLE." Therefore, it is indeed an Epiphany for all the faithful present whose spiritual eyes are opened. It is a most serious error to treat the Divine Liturgy as "a ritual" or "a liturgical act." Christ must NOT be lost in the process of conducting the Divine Liturgy. The officiating hierarch or priest conducting the Divine Liturgy is serving the Master Who IS PRESENT and NEVER ABSENT OR REPLACED. At the Cherubic hymn the priest offers this prayer: "…enable me by the the power of Thy Holy Spirit, Who has invested me with the Grace of the Priesthood, to stand at this Thy Holy Table and to CONSECRATE Thy Holy and Immaculate Body and Thy Precious Blood. For to Thee I come near, bowing down and to Thee I pray turn not Thy face from me, neither cast me out from among Thy children, but make me, Thy sinful and unworthy servant, worthy to offer these Gifts to Thee. FOR THOU ART THE Offerer and the Offered, the Receiver and the Received, O Christ Our God, and unto Thee, we ascribe glory, together with Thy Eternal Father, and Thy Most Holy, Good, and Life-Giving Spirit, now and forever, and from all ages to all ages. Amen.“

The Divine Liturgy is not theater! It is NOT a performance! The Officiating priest is NOT an actor or a performer! It is not about the voice, the colorful vestments, or how accurate is the execution of the liturgical act. IT IS ALL ABOUT THE PRESENCE OF OUR LORD, GOD, AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST! IT IS ALL ABOUT HIS THEOPHANY! The faithful attend the Divine Liturgy to be in Christ’s presence and to receive His Precious Body and Precious Blood and to become ONE WITH HIM AND WITH ONE ANOTHER! No true Orthodox Christian treats the Divine Liturgy with disrespect and would never marginalize it. The authentic Orthodox Christian is an eye witness at every Divine Liturgy of a Great Miracle taking place by the Lord Himself Who changes the elements of bread and wine to His very Body and Blood before us. What does this mean for him or her? "REMISSION OF SINS, THE FORGIVENESS OF TRANSGRESSIONS, COMMUNION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE INHERITANCE OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, BOLDNESS TO APPROACH HIM…" (Divine Liturgy). This is why IT IS NECESSARY TO BE PRESENT AT EVERY DIVINE LITURGY! IT IS ALL ABOUT OUR SALVATION!

Our Lord DESCENDS to meet us! Should we not be willing to ascend to meet Him? In the lives of the Saints we find experiences of vision of the Glory of the Holy Trinity in the Person of Jesus Christ. Saint John the Baptist and Forerunner was granted by God to hear THE VOICE OF FATHER, to see the Logos/Word of God, and the Spirit of God. But this VISION of God WAS NOT A SENSORY VISION. To be sure, man sees also with the eyes of his body, but THEY HAVE BEEN TRANSFORMED BEFOREHAND IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO BEAR THE SIGHT OF GOD. The SUPRANATURAL REVELATION and MANIFESTATION of the Holy Trinity is shown by the phrases used by the Evangelists in presenting this event. The Evangelist Matthew says: "and behold, the heavens were opened to him" [Matthew 3:16] and the Evangelist Mark "he saw the heavens parting" [Mark 1:10]. Thus the heavens opened and parted…

"That the heavens "were opened"means that through Adam’s DISOBEDIENCE THE HEAVENS WERE CLOSED AND MAN LOST HIS COMMUNION WITH GOD. Now with THE COMPLETE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST, WHO IS THE NEW ADAM, THE HEAVENS ARE OPEN AGAIN AND MAN CAN ATTAIN COMMUNION WITH GOD. Thus Christ IS THE NEW FOUNDER OF THE HUMAN RACE. In the flesh we are descended from Adam, BUT SPIRITUALLY WE ARE DESCENDED FROM THE NEW ADAM, CHRIST. [Metropolitan Hierotheos]

In the book about the life in Christ Saint Nicholas Kavasilas regards baptism as a birth, and the movement is followed by Chrismation and by Holy Communion. The end of Baptism and of all the Mysteria (Sacraments) is the Divine Eucharist. Thus we are baptized and chrismated in order to be able, AS MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH, to partake of the Body and Blood of Christ.

FAITH IS CLOSELY LINKED WITH BAPTISM. According to Saint Basil the Great, Faith and Baptism are two INSEPARABLE AND NATURAL WAYS OF SALVATION. FAITH is completed by Baptism and Baptism is grounded by faith. ONe is fulfilled and completed by the other. Just as we believe in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, so we baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is PRECEDED BY CONFESSION which leads the way to salvation, Baptism follows, corroborating our own consent." [Metropolitan Hierotheos]

According to Saint John of Damascus FORGIVENESS OF SINS IS GIVEN ALIKE TO ALL WHO ARE BAPTIZED, but the Grace of the Holy Spirit is given IN PROPORTION TO FAITH AND PREVIOUS PURIFICATION. Through Holy Baptism WE RECEIVE THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF HE HOLY SPIRIT, AND REBIRTH IS A BEGINNING OF A DIFFERENT LIFE AND A SEAL AND PROTECTION AND ILLUMINATION.

The baptism of Christ in the River Jordan and our own baptism are an extraordinary flood, much higher and more beautiful than Noah’s flood, as Patriarch Proklos of Constantinople says. Then the water PUT HUMAN NATURE TO DEATH, but now THE WATER OF BAPTISM THROUGH THE BAPTIZED CHRIST GIVES LIFE TO THOSE DYING OF SIN. Thus Noah constructed an ark of undecayed wood, while now THE INTELLIGIBLE NOAH, CHRIST, HAS CONSTRUCTED THE ARK OF THE BODY FROM THE INCORRUPT MARY. Then the dove which held an olive branch brought news of the fragrance of Christ the Lord, now THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHICH CAME AS A DOVE, POINTED TO THE MERCIFUL LORD. All that happened at Christ’s Baptism in the River Jordan is repeated in our life through the Mysterion (Sacrament) of Holy Baptism. [Metropolitan Hierotheos]

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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George