Sermons & Homilies
There is rejoicing when the saints are praised, says the wise Solomon (Prov. 29.2), for whose spirit is not roused when they hear the exploits of the saints. Not only do their august deeds excite the soul, but their feats turn our attention towards Him for whom they labored – Christ, the pleased Master of faithful servants, the King of loyal subjects, the Bridegroom of the chaste Bride; the Judge who crowns the victors of the race.
If there is anything America, or rather the whole world desperately needs right now, it is saints. It is the saints who call down God’s mercy and grace on the world. It is the saints who keep the sun shining, the world turning. The saints truly are the salt of the earth, preserving it from rotting away.
Could it be that all of this was the result of the neglect shown to an Icon of the Mother of God? What historian could ever make such a claim and find his work published, taken seriously by the academic community. And yet it’s just such a conclusion that today’s feast invites us to draw. It forces us to look at the fate of nations not with the eyes of the historian but with the eyes of faith.
Today we commemorate the 318 Holy Fathers gathered in Nicaea in 325 AD, the 1st Ecumenical Council. They gathered to snuff out the destructive heresy of Arius who declared there was a time the Son of God did not exist and that He is not equal to the Father. The essence of the 1st Ecumenical Council is the essence of every other succeeding Council: the Person and work of Christ. Christ is the God-Man Who came to deify men.
