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SerbianOrthodoxChurch.net
The Theophany (January 6)
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In some periods the fables of heretics vexed the Church of God, but now she is vexed by the fables of unbelievers. By endurance in the Faith, by diligent prayer, by witness and even by martyrdom-only by these things will this new vexation be brought to naught. And the Church of God, the vessel of the truth of God, will triumph in the end, for the enemy will lose his weapons (Ps. 9:6). Blessed Clement of Alexandria says about heretics who left the Church: `He who falls into heresy wanders through a dry desert, forsaking the one, true God. Separated from God, he seeks water in the arid wastes and moves into an uninhabited and thirsty land.' The same can be said today of many who, studying hypotheses and theories, are guided by figments of their own imagination and not by the truth of God. Let me ponder on the event of the Baptism of Christ, on: 1. His humble coming to Jordan, unknown to all but John. 2. His immersion in the water, the fluttering of the dove above Him and the voice from on high. - on the mystery of the Holy Trinity. `For there are three that bear record in heaven; the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth; the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three are together' (1 Jn. 5:7-8). When we read the Holy Scriptures, we must be awake to the mean-ing of every word. In a hurried reading, for instance, the eye will not catch the distinction the Evangelist makes between the heavenly and the earthly trinity. About the heavenly Trinity he says: `and these three are one'; but about the earthly he says: 'and these three are together'. There is an enormous difference between being one and being together. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit arc one, while the spirit, the water and the blood are only together, not being one. Even enemies can be together, but not as one. All men on earth are together, but they are not one. Water and blood make up the body, but spirit is spirit. `For the flesh warreth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh' (Gal. 5:17), so they are not one, although they are together. When a man dies, this association is bro-ken and water go one way and spirit another. Meanwhile, the divine Trinity in heaven is not just together, but is one. But there is a trinity in the interior heaven of man, which must become not just an association but a unity, that he may be blessed both in this world and in that which is to come; that is the unity of mind, heart and will. While these three are only in association, man is at war with his own three parts and the heavenly Trinity. When, though, these three become united, when one is not dominant and the other subservient, then that man is filled with the peace that pas-ses all understanding (Phil. 4:7), all speech, all explanation, all fear and all sorrow. Then the small heaven within man begins to be like the great heaven of God, and the image and likeness of God then become clear within him. O Triune God, help us to catch some semblance of those who resemble Thee. To Thee be glory and praise for ever. Amen. |
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SerbianOrthodoxChurch.net * From "The Prologue from Ochrid", by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic - Lazarica Press - Birmingham 1985 Four Book Edition - Translated by Mother Maria - Dates based on old church calendar. Please see our calendar for conversion between old and new calendar dates. |