1st Sunday of Lent: Sunday of Orthodoxy

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, This Sunday, March 21st, is the Sunday of Orthodoxy.  This is the day we remember when the heresy of iconoclasm was defeated by the Orthodox Faith and Tradition, particularly through the zeal of St. Theodora the Empress.  For over 100 years icons were destroyed and the faithful Orthodox who promoted them were often persecuted; some were even killed.  After the 7th Ecumenical Council, convened by Empress Irene in 787 A.D., which affirmed the faith of Orthodoxy against the heresy of iconoclasm, the adherents to iconoclasm still were able to promulgate their ideas until St. Theodora finally put an end to iconoclasm in 843 A.D.  To this day we remember the triumph of Orthodox over heresy by processing with icons on the first Sunday of Great Lent.

This year, however, we should keep something in mind: every human being is created in the image and likeness of God.  All of us, Orthodox and non-Orthodox, are the living icons of the Creator.  As much as we honor and respect the icons we possess, so should we honor and respect the people around us, simply by virtue of the hands that created them!

I do not like comparing and contrasting different eras of human existence with each other.  Each have their own challenges, failures, and triumphs.  Furthermore, I will only have personal experience with a precious two or three eras.  One thing is undeniable in this era: it is the first era of mass digital technology.  With it comes tremendous benefits, numerous challenges, and certainly, failures.  One of the biggest challenges I see in this age of digital technology is the denigration of the human person through social media.

Until just a few years ago, relationships were cultivated, or destroyed, by personal interaction, face to face.  Whether it was for good or bad, in most cases (certainly not all), expressions of love and hatred were offered directly from one person in front of another.  There is a certain intimacy, proximity, courage, and responsibility that is associated face-to-face interaction.  If we express hate and great anger in this way, we are really pushing aside the commandments of the Lord in a visceral way.  Likewise, if we express love in this way, an intimate reality of the personhood, the humanity linked to Christ, of the person before us is expressed.

In our new medium of social media, though it has useful purposes, because of ease and anonymity, vile and hateful statements, videos, and messages can be posted for the entire world to see.  Courage needed for a face-to-face encounter is eliminated.  The intimacy gained by looking deeply into the face and eyes of someone in front of us is lost.  And a fiber-optic group-think mentality (mob mentality in my mind) inhibits the Christian conscience from exercising restraint, patience, and discernment.

We cannot stop the tides that sweep across the shores of society, especially not in this completely secular world in which we live.  But we do not need to anyway.  As Christians, it is our first and foremost imperative to recognize the face of Christ in every person around us.  It matters not what anyone else thinks.  What matters is what Jesus wants for us and our relationships with others.

My brothers and sisters, as we remember the restoration of icons in our Holy Greek Orthodox Church this Sunday, the greater lesson to be gained by an open heart is to restore in our own minds, the icons of Christ we see in the faces of those around us.  As precious as our icons are to us, the humanity of those around us needs to be viewed with such worth.  In fact, the humanity of those around us must be seen by the Christian heart as priceless.  After all, it was Christ Himself Who paid the price as a ransom for our souls.  Everlasting life for the person next to us was bought at the same price it was bought for us.

Abstain from meaningless interaction on social media.  Stop hurtful posts.  Express love to those afflicted by social media tormentors.  Take a break from social media generally!

Instead, look someone in the eye, and with Christian fervor, express your love for the image of Christ before you.

With Love in Christ,
Fr. Nick