Brothers
and sisters in Christ—
On the morning of the
Resurrection, the borders of Israel, God’s people, became suddenly wider and
greater, so as to include the whole world. On that morning, all the peoples of the world
attained the potential to become members of God’s new people, which He formed
under the law of the New Covenant.
We Christians are in a position
to see the beautiful cohesion, lovely order and worthy harmony of God’s whole
revelation. Some things changed in the
New Covenant, but others remained the same.
In the period of the Old Testament, Israel, God’s people, had to worship
God in the Temple at Jerusalem. There
were two reasons to go up to that Holy City: to worship God in the Temple
according to the Law of Moses, and to visit the royal palace, which was near
the Temple, in order to place a petition before the king, the son of
David. In the New Testament, the Temple
and the palace have become one, since our worship of the Father is always
through the Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is also the Son of David, and
therefore the King of Israel. The Holy
Scriptures, the writings of Moses and the Prophets, the Psalter and the other
wisdom books are our story and history, and God speaks to us in these books
both individually as well as to our community.
Each word has deep meaning. When
God speaks through His prophets about the unfaithfulness of His people, He
speaks to us, and also when He speaks about the destiny of His people in the
future life, He speaks to us. For this
reason, we have to be attentive to His words, and to ponder them with all
seriousness and devotion, so as to recognize the very precious treasure, which
we have in our Catholic faith, which accepts the entire revelation of God.
Already, before the appearance
of Our Lord Jesus Christ to them, the Holy Apostles pondered concerning the
truth of the Holy Scriptures, the words of the Lord Jesus and His miracles, on
account of the testimony of the myrrhbearing women, who came from the tomb
talking about an apparition of angels.
On this account, the Apostles began to ponder the life of Christ, which
they had experienced with Him. This
contemplation led them to the beginning of the living faith, which received its
seal with the actual appearance of the Lord.
That very same faith was tested during the week in which the Apostle
Thomas refused to believe in the Resurrection of the Lord, although the other
Apostles testified that they saw Him after His Resurrection from the dead. In the same way, although the Holy Scriptures
are our story and history, individually, and of our community (the Catholic
Church), nevertheless, we have to ponder this history in order to receive
living faith—one and the same faith that the Holy Apostles also received. The Holy Apostles pondered the Holy
Scriptures and their life with Jesus, and they experienced the Risen Lord. In the same way, if we ponder our story with
the Lord in the Liturgy and the Holy Scriptures, then we also will experience
the Risen Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist and the other Mysteries, as well
as in our prayer life. We become
intimately included in the life of the Lord through the Mysteries, just as we
become part of His Mystical Body. After
the conversion of the Apostle Thomas, the testimony of the Holy Apostles began
the conversion of the whole world.
Essentially, the faith of the Holy Apostles and our faith are one and
the same, and similarly, our experiences of that faith are one and the same,
since the Holy Apostles received the same Mysteries for their salvation, which
we also receive. In fact, we experience
the Lord in the same ways, just as we take part in the same Divine Life.
In truth, pondering Holy
Scripture is very important, but Holy Scripture only has meaning in the Church,
since only the Holy Church understands it.
Actually, in order to understand Holy Scripture and our whole history,
as well as our place in the whole Creation, we have to be faithful members of
the Church. We receive our faith from
the Holy Apostles, but do we recognize that we have a true apostle among us?
Yes, our bishop was ordained in the succession of the Holy Apostles, and we
have here a true, living connection with them.
He and the other bishops have the spirit of the Apostles—the Holy
Spirit, Who descended on them at Pentecost.
Perhaps, sometimes we think that we receive nothing of value from our
eparchy, but this is not true. We
receive something every day, which has unspeakable value. From our eparchy,
especially from our bishop, we receive the communion of the Catholic
Church. This communion is the anchor of
our faith. If, perhaps, we doubt it, we
ought to go on the internet. Look at
some articles about matters of faith, and read the comments, and you will see
the strange, nonsensical and erroneous understandings of Holy Scripture, which
many of the Protestants hold. They are
separated from the Church, and, therefore, they no longer understand the words
of the Lord. They no longer have the guidance
of the Spirit of the Apostles, Whom the Lord Jesus sent to lead us into all
truth. But, we have this treasure
through our communion with the Catholic Church.
We should not fear
that we will have less money here if we give generously to our eparchy. No, we should recognize that we cannot live
without the benefits, which the eparchy gives to us. We as a parish give generously to our eparchy on
account of our recognition of that, which we receive from her: the communion of
the Catholic Church, which gives us life and saves us from error.
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