Saturday, October 12, 2024

Homily for the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of Seventh Ecumenical Council & Fourth Sunday of Luke with Commemoration of the Hieromartyr Jacob of Hamatoura in the Orthodox Church

 


Titus 3:8-15; Luke 8:5-15

     Many are strongly tempted today to allow the problems facing our culture and world to distract us from growing to maturity in the Christian life and bearing good fruit for the Kingdom of God.  That is perfectly understandable in light of our constant access to global media and the gravity of current events.  All Christians should mourn the ongoing slaughter in the Holy Land, which has now engulfed Lebanon, a traditional heartland of our Antiochian Orthodox Church.  Our father in Christ, His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch, has joined with other Orthodox leaders there to call for an end to “the on-going killing that has claimed the lives of thousands of innocent civilians” and displaced over a million people.”[1]  We are all aware of the invasion by Russia of Ukraine, where bloodshed continues between historically Orthodox nations and some have threatened even to use nuclear weapons.  There is no telling how much further these conflicts will spread.  Regardless of our particular political opinions, many Americans today are deeply worried about the future of our nation.  In ways that transcend conventional politics, so much of what we had taken for granted about our culture is being called into question.  And on matters including our health, our finances, and our families, most of us know the temptations of worry and fear all too well.  It can be very difficult, then, to “lay aside all earthly cares” in order to focus on “the one thing needful” of hearing and obeying the Word of God. 

 

That is why we all need to concentrate our attention today on commemorating the 367 Holy Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council, which met in Nicaea in 787.  The council rejected the false teaching that to honor icons is to commit idolatry, for it distinguished between the worship that is due to God alone and the veneration that is appropriate for images of Christ, the Theotokos, and the Saints.  The council’s teaching highlighted the importance of the Savior’s incarnation, for only a truly human Savior with a physical body could restore us to the dignity and beauty of the living icons of God in every dimension of our existence.

 

The 7th Ecumenical Council addressed matters that strike at the very heart of how we embrace our fundamental vocation to become like God in holiness in a world that so desperately needs the peace of Christ.  Too often, however, we think that iconography simply has to do with wood and paint, and is unrelated to the question of whether we are becoming more like Christ and gaining the strength to seek first His Kingdom.  The icons are not merely religious art, but reminders that to become a truly human person is to become like Jesus Christ, who, according to St. Paul, “is our peace… and has broken down the middle wall of separation” so that “He might reconcile…both [Jew and Gentile] to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.” (Eph. 2:14-16) The more that we become like our Lord, Who worked this reconciliation, the less we will see anyone through the darkened lenses of those who place their hopes in earthly kingdoms of whatever kind.   

 

Today’s gospel reading addresses these same questions with different imagery.  Christ used the parable of the sower to call His disciples to become like plants that grew from the seed that “fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold.”  He wanted them to become “those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.”  Not all who hear the Word of God will do so, even as not all seeds will grow to fruition.   Some never even believe, while others make a good start and then fall away due to temptation or “are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.” 

 

This parable warns us about what happens when we fail to fulfill our potential as those who bear the image of God.  Our vocation is to become more beautiful living icons of the Savior, but we diminish and distort ourselves when we refuse to become who God created us to be.  Plants must grow and flourish as the kinds of plants that they are in order to become healthy and bear fruit.  Farmers must care for them accordingly.  The sun, soil, moisture, and nutrients must be appropriate for that particular type of plant in order for them to flourish.  In order for us to bear good fruit for the Kingdom, we must attend to the health of our souls with the conscientiousness of a careful farmer or gardener.  We must do so in order to become more fully who we are as living icons of Christ.  If, to the contrary, we become obsessed with worry and fear about earthly cares of whatever kind, we will never gain the strength to bear good fruit for the Kingdom.   

 

In today’s epistle lesson, St. Paul urged St. Titus to tell the people to focus on doing good deeds and helping others in great need.  He wanted them to avoid foolish arguments and divisions, “for they are unprofitable and vain.”  St. Paul did not want the people to waste their time and energy on matters that would simply inflame their passions and hinder them from attaining spiritual health and maturity.  He called them to care for their spiritual wellbeing with the conscientiousness of farmers who are single-mindedly dedicated to bringing in a bumper crop.  If they let down their guard to the point of being so consumed by pointless controversies that they ignored basic disciplines like loving and serving their neighbors, they would risk dying spiritually like a neglected plant overtaken by weeds. 

 

If we are to become “those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience,” we must refuse to allow the passions of worry and fear to take root in our hearts and minds, regardless of what is happening in our world, our nation, or our families.  We must do the hard, daily work of learning to trust and hope in the Lord as we mindfully turn away from fueling our passions and instead invest ourselves in serving the living icons of Christ who are our neighbors. In order to bear good fruit for the Kingdom, we must refuse to focus on anything that will distract us from sharing more fully in His blessed, eternal life.  Unless we struggle mindfully against this temptation, it can easily choke the life out of our souls. Because our risen Lord has conquered even the grave through His glorious resurrection on the third day, we must refuse to become enslaved to the fear of death and instead focus on becoming more beautiful icons of Christ.  That is the only way to know true peace in this world.

 

The example of St. Jacob of Hamatoura should inspire us in this regard.  After a year of torture, he was beheaded for Christ in the fifteenth century in Lebanon. Centuries later, monks returned to restore the ancient monastery on the mountain of Hamatoura. The monastics and pilgrims then began to encounter the saint through visions and miracles, but his name was not known until the discovery of a manuscript in 2002, after which his relics were discovered also.  St. Jacob is a shining example of how even the very worst that the corrupt powers of this world can do can never separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 8:39) Our Risen Lord has liberated us from slavery to the fear of death, which is at the root of all our  anxiety and despair.  So the next time that you find yourself worried and afraid about anything, mindfully commend that concern to Christ and invest yourself in prayer, fasting, and generosity with your time and resources to help the neighbor right next to you.  That is how we may become “those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.”   There is no other path for entering into the joy of the Lord.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



[1] https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/2205

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