wfn.org | Orthodox Bishops issue letter for March 19 Sunday of Orthodoxy

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

MARCH 7, 2000

GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AMERICA
DEPT. OF COMMUNICATIONS
CONTACT: NIKKI STEPHANOPOULOS
TEL: (212) 5703530
E-MAIL: Communications@goarch.org
http://www.goarch.org

March 19, 2000
Sunday of Orthodoxy

The Hierarchs of the Standing Conference of
The Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas

To all the clergy and laity of the
Holy Orthodox Church throughout the Americas
Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In the reading of the Gospel on the Sunday of Orthodoxy we hear an
expression of the fundamental Orthodox approach to faith:  Come and
see! (John 1:46)   With these words, Philip invites Nathanael to
experience the presence and the power of God in the person of Jesus
Christ.  This invitation to come and see is extended as well by the
Holy Icons, which in a spiritual and symbolic language call us to
experience for ourselves the person of the God-Man Jesus Christ, who
lives and moves in His saints, both to desire and to do His good
pleasure (Phil. 2:13).

But the call to encounter the living God, this come and see, is for us
not simply an invitation.  It is also a challenge.  These words provoke
us to examine our life as a Church at this auspicious vantage-point in
human history that we mark as the year 2000 AD.  Are we as a  Church
ready to issue the summons to come and see to the world around us?  Do
we live and proclaim the ageless Orthodox Faith in a way that brings
others into our midst, that allows them to experience the presence and
the power of the living God?

What is the quality of our Orthodox worship?  Does it fulfill the
criterion of the Apostle Paul, who portrays Christian worship as an
experience in which an unbeliever or outsider, falling on his face will
worship God and declare that God is really among you (1Cor. 14:25)?
This Apostolic criterion requires us truly to commit the very best, the
first fruits of our time, talent, and treasures to the act of worship
(cf. Exodus 34:26).  When Moses called the children of the Old Covenant
to contribute to the construction of a glorious house of prayer, they
gave freewill offerings so generously that Moses had eventually to
prohibit then from contributing more.  As children of the New and
better Covenant of the precious Blood of Jesus Christ, do we show the
same zeal for the beauty of our spiritual service of Orthodox worship?
Are visitors being converted by both the form and the power of
godliness in out midst (cf. 2 Tim. 3:5)?  Indeed, are we ourselves
continually being converted to a greater love for God and a more
repentant manner of life by our participation in the Divine Liturgy?

Again, what is the quality of our Orthodox life in the community?  The
Lord, immediately before His saving passion and death, told the Twelve,
By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love
for one another (John 13:35).  In speaking about the kind of Christian
love that binds everything together in perfect harmony (Eph. 3:14), the
Apostle Paul mentions several characteristics of community life:
abundant forgiveness, peace, mutual edification, eagerness for prayer
and thanksgiving, mutual subjection of one to another, justness and
fairness to all, and graciousness in speech and behavior (cf. Eph.
3:12-4:6).  These are the elements of our collective life in Christ
that must be present if others are to come and see the presence of the
God Who is love in our communities.

Finally, what is the quality of our Orthodox witness to the truth?  The
Lord said, If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples, and
you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:32).
Are we as Orthodox Christians truly students of the Scriptures?  Do we
live and learn as people who are being set free from sin and
superstition and the deception of the evil one?  Are we always
prepared, as the Apostle Peter urges (1 Pet. 3:15), to make a defense
to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is within us?
Unless we offer an expression of our Orthodox faith that is
substantive, relevant, and full of discernment and wisdom, those who
come and see what we stand for as a Church will not be brought into the
saving and liberating knowledge of the truth.

On the Sunday of Orthodoxy we celebrate the dogma of the Incarnation of
the Son of God as it is expressed through the Holy Icons, and we thank
God for preserving His truth inviolate in every age.  At the same time,
we affirm our unity and identity with the Church of Christ through the
centuries.  But along with the blessings of this tremendous spiritual
heritage comes an equally awesome responsibility, the responsibility to
live worthily as living icons of the Son of God (cf. Rom. 8:29).  We
should not distinguish ourselves from the rest of Christendom simply
because we bear the name "Orthodox."  We should be distinguished above
all by the Christ-like manner of our life, and especially by the
highest quality of our worship, by the abundance of love in our
communities, and by our conscientious devotion to the truth.  When our
lives proclaim wordlessly the invitation Come and see to those around
us, then are we truly worthy bearers of the name "Orthodox Christians,"
worthy bearers of the image of God within ourselves.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and
the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

With paternal blessings and love in Christ,

  Archbishop DEMETRIOS, Chairman
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

  Metropolitan PHILIP, Vice Chairman
Antiochian Orthodox Christian
Archdiocese of North America

  Metropolitan JOSEPH, Secretary
Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Church

  Metropolitan NICHOLAS of Amissos,
Treasurer
Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese in the USA

  Metropolitan THEODOSIUS
Orthodox Church in America

  Archbishop VICTORIN
Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese
in America and Canada

  Metropolitan CHRISTOPHER
Serbian Orthodox Church in the USA and Canada

  Metropolitan CONSTANTINE
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA