Homily on the the day of The Ascension of our Lord and Saviour
Acts 1:1-12 and Luke 24: 36-53.
Today we celebrate the feast of the Lord’s Ascension into Heaven. From the start one gets a sense of how disheartened the Holy Apostles must have felt at knowing that our Lord and Saviour had to ascend into Heaven. However, it is clear that Christ had to go as he states in John 16:7:
“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you.”
What this passage leads us to is the Holy day of Pentecost when the All Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles. By this promise Christ assures the Holy Church that She will always be guided by the All Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is important that we the Church always acknowledge the important role that the All Holy Spirit plays in guiding the Church. For instance, whenever a group of bishops and clergy gather (for the purpose of a synod or council) it is guaranteed that the All Holy Spirit will guide them so that they make good decisions geared towards helping the Church fulfil Her salvific mission. This is why this coming Sunday we will commemorate the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council. In one way this commemoration commemorates the triumph of Orthodoxy over the Arian Heresy. However, this commemoration is also a reminder to us that in times of trouble the All Holy Trinity will guide the Church. Councils have always been convened when the Church needs the guidance of the All Holy Spirit and true to Christ’s promise - the All Holy Spirit has guided the Church through many difficult ages.
One accusation that one will hear time and time again, is that certain Churches are not canonical – meaning, in some way they do not conform to some or all of the cannons handed down to us from our fathers in faith (a canon is an ecclesiastical law or regulation established by a church council). However, what needs to be considered here is what are the accusers real motivations. For instance, one has the rather sad case of the Kiev Patriarchate (who are currently being persecuted by the Russian Orthodox Church). What is sad here is that the ROC has deemed the Kiev Patriarchate to be uncanonical - solely for the reason that the ROC believes it has a claim over all episcopal sees (dioceses) in Ukraine. Furthermore, one also has the case of the Macedonian Orthodox Church which has been deemed uncanonical due to the fact that they desired to be independent of the Serbian Orthodox Church. What is telling in both of these instances is that both the ROC and the Serbian Orthodox Church have declared these Churches to be uncanonical solely for political and monetary reasons. Also, note none of the other New Calendar Orthodox Churches have spoken up in support of these two suffering Churches! This is not a good situation - Christ was adamant in Mark 12:17 that the Church should not be concerned with monetary/political things - as Saint Mark states:
“Jesus said unto them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
This is also a terrible situation as Christ was clear that the Church is not to be of this world - did not Christ throw the money changers out of the Jewish Temple (Matthew 21:12)? Therefore, for Bishops to declare valid and grace filled Churches uncanonical solely for their own political and financial gain smells very much like uncanonicity to me – meaning that it is the accusers who are the uncanonical ones. How is it Christ like or even canonical that a group of Holy monks on Mount Athos (Esfigmenou) are being persecuted by the New Calendar state financed Greek Orthodox Church? How can Churches that hunger for wealth and power truly represent Christ (this hunger for money and power is also present in some of the Old Calendar jurisdictions as well -so we must be careful not to hunger after money and power)? Our Lord and Saviour is clear in Matthew 6:24 when he states:
“No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.”
Also, Saint Paul in Acts 20: 33-34 makes it clear that:
“I have coveted no one’s silver or gold apparel. Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me.”
All clergy would do well to follow the example of our Father among the Saints Saint Paul - although he was a priest he did not focus on the finer material things in life! Rather, he supported himself and his companions with the labour of his own hands (a noble pursuit as by so doing he put no one under pressure to support his needs). All to often one sees the ‘clerical type’ prancing around in their finest clerical garb whilst arrogantly acting as if they are some exalted class of person. This most certainly does not send the right message to the faithful as it serves to isolate the clergy from being with their people. Remember, Christ in his earthly ministry was always amongst those he sought to save and in a like manner he still is - in that he is truly present in the Holy Mystery (sacrament) of Holy Communion! Furthermore, often these ‘clerical types’ will use money donated by the faithful to buy the finest cloths and personal goods – resulting in the faithful becoming disillusioned with the Church and scandalised! This very thing happened in Russia in the Russian Revolution (1917 A.D.); many people turned against the Church because some clergy were seen to be acting as if they were kings walking around with the finest cloths and jewellery whist people in the streets were starving.
This is not to say that clergy should not at least get some small remuneration for their services rendered to the faithful. Rather, it is to say, that we clergy must lead by example - for if the faithful see that most of our financial support comes from our own labours; then they will most certainly feel that our true focus is on their spiritual needs and subsequently not on how big their bank accounts are! I have heard many stories from people about clergy who would do anything for their wealthier parishioner’s this often to the neglect of their poorer ones! This cannot be so, as all clergy must tend to the needs of all their parishioners - no matter how much money they have! In many ways, this is why I support the bi-vocational priest movement in the Orthodox Church (bi-vocational simply meaning that a priest or deacon, as well as serving as a priest or deacon, has some other form of secular employment to support them financially). This also has the positive effect of giving clergy a better understanding of what life must be like for their parishioner’s - a bi-vocational cleric knows full well the pressures of work and bills; meaning that they can better relate to their parishioner’s daily challenges!
Moreover, it is truly sad at how divided we Orthodox Churches have become - we seem to have forgotten Christ’s prayer to the Father that all Churches may be one as Jesus prays in John 17:21:
“That they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in me, and I in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent me.”
How can we the true Church correct this sad situation? Well firstly we must pray to the All Holy Trinity for guidance and ask that we may all be open to forgiving past wrongs as well as being open to apologising for wrongs that we as a Church have done! Remember, our Lord and Saviour is clear that before one even thinks of approaching His altar it is expedient that one asks for forgiveness from those whom one may have wronged - as He states in Matthew 5:24:
“Leave your gift before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Secondly, it is important that we the Body of Christ have a spirit of humility and recognise that we individually are sinful at times, and therefore before correcting a brother let us (paraphrasing the words of our Saviour in Matthew 7:5):
“…first take out the log in our own eyes so as to be able to see more clearly, so as to be able to take out the speck in our brother’s eye.”
This is to say that if correcting a brother let us do it in a way that is gentle, filled with love, and concern for the person standing before us!
Finally, let us pray to the Lord that all may be one, that in so being that the barriers to unity, that have plagued Orthodoxy, may be lifted so that all may see that Christ is truly God. Prayer is a great and powerful tool in the arsenal of a Christian as it unites one to God in that it allows one to express to the All Holy Trinity one’s cares, concerns and gratitude. If we Pray to the All Holy Trinity and the Saints, then surely the All Holy Spirit will help the Orthodox Church heal all breaks and wounds. Remember, our faith is a faith of hope and joy, in that, it is clear that the All Holy Trinity will not leave us as orphans – rather, the All Holy Trinity will help and guide us to be able to do that what is needed so that all may come together as one in Christ’s Body the Church.
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