August 5, 2009 + Are we as Orthodox Christians doing our share? (Part 1)

by Fr. Theodore E. Ziton
from The Word, June 1965

The smugness with which many of us are settling down into our particular mode of living and the complacency with which we are viewing world affairs is growing alarming. Our country has produced so many new inventions to give us leisure, and such an endless variety of entertainment to save us from thinking, that we are accepting these comforts as a matter of course. Unfortunately we are adopting this same attitude toward our religious feelings for we are fast growing to where we take that for granted, it seems, also.

By reason of the nature of the rituals of the Eastern Orthodox Church many seem to think that they can sit back and be wafted along by its precepts. We attend the Divine Liturgy on Sundays and Holy Days with the same demeanor that we wash our face, comb our hair, or shave, and often in the same spirit, that it is a “must” to be performed. Many have grown to feel that merely because they sit in their seats in Church at the appointed times that their portion of the requirements have been met and it is now up to the Priest to do the rest! And that after they have complied with that ordinance, they are then free to do as they please — whether it be speeding on the highway to the detriment of human lives, or to pursue some other reckless manner of living.

Why have we reached such unpleasant conclusions? Surely our mere presence at any religious service does not proclaim us free lancers to commit anything short of murder, until the next designated Liturgy or Divine Service. Even our attendance at the Liturgy is often fraught with a sort of indifference.

The Priest offers up the Liturgy for us . . . “Thine own of thine own we offer unto thee, in behalf of all, and for all” . . . while many sit through the entire service with their mind on their golf score, or the fish they are going to catch, or the sort of dessert they will have for dinner. We appease ourselves with the fact that because we are sitting there in the pew and the Priest is praying for us, that we can lean back and relax with a “let George do it” shrug of our shoulders. We consider ourselves fixed up spiritually for the week, much as we take vitamin tablets to fix us up physically.

Perhaps some folks have even pondered over the fact that with our progress and modern embellishments, it is too bad that no one has yet invented a capsule or injection which will speed up or raise the morale of our religious life. But that is something we will have to embrace for ourselves; it can never be perpetrated through any form of mechanics regardless of the number of Divine Liturgies that may be offered up for us. Unless the prayers of the Priest strike a responsive chord within our soul, and unless we spiritually participate in the services with him, the entire drama of the Liturgy is of little avail to us merely because we are sitting there at the Service. Neither the Priest, nor anyone else, can hand us our religion on a silver platter or live it for us anymore than he can eat our meals for us.

What about the “meat of his sermons” week after week? It is up to us to appropriate that too, the Priest can not live his sermons for us. And surely we can’t expect him to expound all those great truths merely for our listening pleasure. He gives them as a recipe for better living, and if we would incorporate those suggestions into our daily routine, then the sermons prepared for our edification would not be in vain. There are three outstanding sermons which I have heard by as many Priests at our recent Archdiocesan Convention, the quintessence of which could be used to advantage right now — where we are — and would comprise a big step toward world peace.

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Holy Transfiguration - August 6

Troparion, Tone 7:

Thou wast transfigured on the mount, O Christ God, revealing Thy glory to Thy disciples as far as they could bear it. Let Thine everlasting light shine upon us sinners through the prayers of the Theotokos, O Giver of Light, glory to Thee.

Kontakion, Tone 7:

Thou wast transfigured on the mountain, O Christ our God, and Thy disciples beheld Thy glory as far as they were capable, that when they should see Thee crucified, they might know that Thy suffering was voluntary and might proclaim to the world that Thou art indeed the reflection of the Father.