Glory be to Jesus Christ!
The Way of the Cross – March 14, 2010
Just a few things:
1. Great Vespers are at St. Nicholas OCA, (5635 Henderson Hwy), 4:00 p.m.
2. Divine Liturgy: Hearing of confessions and reading of the Hours at 9:30 p.m.
3. Passia Service: St. Michael’s, 6:00 p.m.
4. Get your perogie orders in. March 15 is the last day for perogie orders.
5. This Sunday is the Sunday of St. John Climacus, or St. John of the Ladder. St. John wrote a book called the “Ladder of Divine Ascent”. In it he talks about 30 rungs of a spiritual ladder that stretches from earth to heaven that one must climb in hopes of attaining the Heavenly Kingdom. I am not going to go through all 30 rungs. I will do that this Sunday at liturgy. So if you are free, please join us for our 7 hour divine liturgy. (I am just kidding. I can just picture my wonderful parishoners who read this saying, “Can’t he just talk about strudel instead?”)
I just wanted to make mention about one of the rungs. I would just like to talk about obedience. This is the fourth rung on the ladder. St. John describes obedience as “a total renunciation of our own life, and it shows up clearly in the way we act. Obedience is the burial place of the will…”
The reality is that unless we learn to be obedient, heaven is unattainable for us. But what we have to remember is that obedience is not about fulfilling external rules in hopes of obtaining God’s favor and love. The reality is that while obedience is good and is encouraged, obedience does not earn us salvation. We are called to come to church, come to the sacraments, pray, fast, give, but there are many that do that only because it is something “they are supposed to do”. They are obedient to the external rules because someone told them to be.
True obedience changes us and if we understand the true nature and purpose of obedience we don’t chafe under it, we don’t resist, we don’t revolt. Obedience makes us ready to receive the love which God has already given to humanity in the His beloved Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Disobedience placed us in the state we are in. Only obedience will regain what was lost.
Why is obedience so important? Because, as Fr. John Mack states, “Obedience is necessary because to obey is to cut off our self-will and pride. To obey is to learn not to judge. To obey is to practice patience.” Humanity fell due to self-will and pride. Pride destroys us spiritually and the only cure for that is obedience because out of obedience comes humility.
It is okay to be humble. It is okay to be obedient. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” James 4:10 We are called during this time to fast, to pray, to give of alms. But without humility, without obedience all of these actions will be empty. That is why in the Sundays before Great Lent we hear the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. At the heart of all of our spiritual actions must, I repeat, must be humility. If not, we stand before God exhalted only in our own minds.
Answer to last week’s question:
Complete the fourth beatitude, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…” “…for they will be filled.” (Congratulations to Alexis and Georgina for answering correctly)
This week’s question:
True or false? In Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John, Jesus is depicted as the water of life.
See you in church!
In Christ,
Fr. Evan
