Sermons & Homilies
“The Mystery from the ages is revealed today… God becomes man, so that He might make Adam a god.”
My brothers and sisters, these words from the Praises of the Forefeast express a great and holy truth. Even more, these words express the greatest truth of our lives. It truly is “the Mystery from the ages.” It is not a fairy tale. Nor is it simply a dull formula dredged out of some lifeless textbook of theology. It is reality, though a reality far beyond the wildest dreams even of St. Peter when he said to the Lord: “to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” When holy Chief of the Apostles spoke this, he did not yet have but the barest inkling of the life that the Son of God came to us to bring. As St. Paul later wrote: “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” And even more, in the words of the Apostle John the Theologian: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
Today all over the world, Orthodox Christians in every nation gather in their churches to celebrate the Precious Cross of Our Saviour Jesus Christ. In every Orthodox Church the Cross is lovingly decorated with flowers and greenery and then solemnly carried through the church with incense and candles as the faithful sing hymns about the Glorious Cross. The pious devoutly bow down before the Precious Cross and venerate it.
Today is the first Sunday of Great Lent on which is celebrated two events. The first is the victory of those who venerate images of Christ, His Mother and the Saints (i.e., iconophiles) over those who were suspicious of any Christian art and, therefore, tried to destroy them (i.e., iconoclasts). The second event is the triumph of orthodoxy (i.e., the true, correct faith and the true glorification of God) over heresy.
Today we enter into the period of the Lenten Triodion, which includes the three weeks before Lent begins and continues up to Holy and Great Saturday. The purpose of everything that takes place during this period is to “recollect the entire work of God’s benevolence towards us.”[1] These first three weeks instruct us and prepare us spiritually for the time of the Fast. On each of the Sundays before Lent begins, we are taught about a certain aspect of the spiritual life. Today we learn about humility and repentance. Starting today, until the fifth week of Lent after the hymn, “Having beheld the Resurrection of Christ…”, penitential troparia are sung to instruct us about humility which is the beginning of the Christian life and also, the beginning of Lent.[2] Repentance is the doorway to the Fast and humility is the foundation on which repentance is built. As Abba Dorotheos teaches us, we need humility more than anything else; no other virtue can be achieved without humility.[3] This is demonstrated through the services as we prepare ourselves for the Fast by looking to the Publican as an example of how we are to advance.
Today’s feast has many meanings, many aspects, and even many names. It is sometimes called the Meeting of the Lord, sometimes the Purification of the Virgin, sometimes the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, and finally, especially in the West, it is known as Candlemas – the Feast of the Light that shown upon St. Symeon and which we remember by blessing candles on this day. This multiplicity of names and meanings is an indication that today’s feast is situated at a crossroads: between the Law and the Prophets, between the infancy and the adulthood of Christ, between the Old and the New Covenant. Today, for the first time in history, God Himself enters bodily into the Temple which was made for Him, carried in the arms of Her who is Herself the true Holy of Holies, the Tabernacle more spacious than the heavens. He enters not in a cloud of glory, but in humble poverty, in meekness fulfilling the Law which He Himself gave. And She enters to be purified, She who alone is spotless and undefiled. Here the Righteous Symeon prophecies over Him who is the fulfillment of all the Prophets.
