Saturday, March 13, 2004
Lenten Fast
Consecration of Raphael of Brooklyn
Kellia: Isaiah 43:9-14 Epistle: Hebrews 10:32-38 Gospel: St. Mark 2:14-17
Isaiah 43:9-14 LXX, especially vs. 9: "All the nations are gathered together, and princes shall be gathered
out of them; who will declare these things? or who will declare to you things from the beginning? let them bring forth
their witnesses, and be justified; and let them hear, and declare the truth." Theodoret of Cyrus understood that this
prophecy of Isaiah applies to the Church and speaks to her mission and destiny within the economy of God: "all the
Gentiles have recognized their true God, one Church has gathered all the nations together...." Hereby, we perceive the
miracle of the Church brought about in the Mystery of Christ. Our God and Savior came into a world that is held in the
grip of dark principalities, powers, sin, and death. Now He is breaking down the barriers which these spiritual tyrants
constantly erect between men and nations, divisions which potently separate peoples and even families. In foreseeing the
Mystery of Christ, Isaiah also saw our fragmentation reversed: "the nations are gathered together" (vs. 9).
All that which defeats mankind's efforts to achieve unity is shown as overcome in God's vision to Isaiah. While
negotiations, warfare, alliances, weapon systems, technology, and ideologies fail, God is bringing together a great
gathering. Consider the scope and realization of this wondrous promise. And, we have, in the Church, both a foretaste of
this miracle and the sure and certain hope of it. Let us raise our eyes and look again at the Mystery of Christ in Whom we
"are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit" (Eph. 2:21).
Through Isaiah, God teaches us to be confident of the fulfillment of the vision despite any apparent reverses we may
encounter and notwithstanding our puny capacity to realize what God reveals to us. The Prophet asserts that the Lord is the
Author of all wonders that will be. Hence the vision will succeed. Isaiah asks, Who has been here, "from the beginning"
of history (Is. 43:9 LXX)? What man can declare these things (vs. 9)? The Prophet's questions penetrate us: the peoples
of the earth have no witnesses who can assure outcomes except in the Church: "Ye are My witnesses and I Am the Lord
God" (vs. 12). It is God Who promises, "that you may know and believe and understand" (vs. 10). Thus, the Church may
confirm Isaiah's vision and draw the defeated peoples of this benighted planet into herself to "hear, and declare the truth"
(vs. 9).
Over and over God reiterates His personal determination to see this promise through to conclusion: "'I, I Am the Lord, and
beside Me there is no Savior. I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are
my witnesses,' says the Lord. 'I Am God, and also henceforth I Am He; there is none who can deliver from My hand; I
work and who can hinder it?'" (vss. 11-13). God is our great Source of confidence.
Therefore, God calls all members of the Church to testify to the truth of the vision, to declare it, to live for it, to labor for it,
and even to die for it - if need be. For God's sake, let us not look to created beings nor to man-made things to save us from
division and barriers, for our "Redeemer [is] the Holy One of Israel" (vs. 14). We are not in the Church at this moment in
history, because we chose our Faith or because it is nice to be a Christian. Isaiah's vision puts us under obligation to
witness confidently to the Lord and to speak up boldly in support of what He is accomplishing. He expects our
cooperation in His world-wide project, "and who can hinder it?" (vs. 13). As the Lord Jesus said, "You did not choose Me,
but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain" (Jn. 15:16).
Let us therefore take up the Lord's task with gladness. For our sake, He will send to the Babylons of this world "and break
down all the bars" (vs. 14), for we shall be one in Christ Jesus.
Be mindful of Thy Orthodox Catholic Church, O Lord, and preserve it unconquerable.
