Sunday, March 7, 2004
Lenten Fast (Tone 5)
The Sunday of Gregory Palamas
Kellia: Ezekiel 43:27-44:4 Epistle: Hebrews 1:10-2:13 Gospel: St. Mark 2:1-12
Ezekiel 43:27-44:4, especially vs. 2: "This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one
shall enter by it; for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall remain shut." The Church magnifies
the Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Lord, as "Ever-Virgin," "Aeiparthenos," upholding, thereby, the mystery of God the
Eternal Word becoming Man in the Person of Jesus our Savior. In the Nicene Creed, we say of the Lord: "Who...was
incarnate of the Holy Spirit 'and' the Virgin Mary and was made man." We emphasize the conjunction, 'and,' to draw
attention specifically to what St. Nicholas Cabasilas called "the will and the work of the Virgin." St. Nicholas reminds us
that, "Just as God became Incarnate voluntarily, so He wished that His Mother should bear Him freely and with her full
consent." The Incarnation of God the Son is fully synergistic, an entirely cooperative work of God and man. The Virgin's
assent overcomes the disobedience of Eve, the mother of us all, and Mary is revealed as the New Eve, so that "in Christ"
she becomes Mother of the Faithful.
Today's reading, which serves as the second reading at Vespers at the Feast of the Annunciation of the Theotokos, presents
the same truth in typological form. Ezekiel received a prophetic vision from the Lord revealing the ultimate Temple that
God will give on the Eighth Day (vs. 27), in the age to come of the eternal Kingdom. There, the Lord declares, "your burnt
offerings...I will accept" (vs. 27). In that Temple "only the Prince may sit in it to eat bread before the Lord" (vs. 3), and
that Temple will be filled with "the glory of the Lord" (vs. 4). By God's declaration that He will accept our "burnt
offerings" on the heavenly altar in the age to come, He also illumines the intercessory role of the Virgin.
Note: when the Virgin was faced with the choice which God placed before her by the Archangel Gabriel, she turned over to
the Lord her entire self including her will: "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word"
(Lk. 1:38).
In her "overshadowing" by the Holy Spirit (Lk. 1:35), which followed her submission, the Church recognizes that she was
cleansed of all taint of original sin because of the depth of her self-surrender and the cleansing grace of God. Thereby, she
was established as an eternal intercessor "for the sake of those who praise and worship [the Lord's] birth giving." Notice in
Ezekiel's prophecy that God promises us that our surrender, too, will be honored as an acceptable "burnt offering," as a
total self-giving - "I will accept you says the Lord God" (Ezek 43:27).
The Church, taught by the Prophet's words, hails the Virgin, "Rejoice O tabernacle and table!" She became the sanctuary
where the Bread which comes from above was set out before God and for men. The Prince who entered the world through
her may now "eat bread before the Lord" with His people in the Communion of the Divine Liturgy.
Finally, Mary was "filled with the glory of the Lord" (vs. 44:4), a glory which transformed her entire being. Hence, we are
able to greet her: "Rejoice, O uncrossed gate...and protection of those who hasten unto thee!" The Church recognizes her,
who being filled with the glory of God, became "Ever Virgin," because, in St. John of Damascus' words, "How, indeed,
would she have given birth to God and have known the miracle from the experience of subsequent events and then have
allowed intercourse with a husband? Far be it! The thinking of such things is beyond the bounds of prudent thought, let
alone the doing of them." Following this reasoning, the Fifth Ecumenical Council declared as a dogma the Lord's "being
made flesh of the holy and glorious Mary, Mother of God and always a virgin, and born of her."
O All praised one, thou hast attained maternal privilege: intercede for our salvation.
