Sunday of Orthodoxy 2016 Fr. Michael Margitich

Glory be to Jesus Christ. I want to begin the

homily by quoting from the 14th chapter of John's

Gospel. This particular passage is most relevant.

And speaks to the festival. Which we celebrate

today. And I quote. Philip said. Jesus. Show

us the father. And it is sufficient for us. And

Jesus said to him. Philip. Have I been with you

so long. And yet. You have not known me. He who

has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you

say, show us the Father? It's a text that is

relevant to the understanding of the feast day.

which we celebrate today. On this first Sunday

of Orthodoxy, Christians throughout the world

are celebrating and commemorating in various

ways the event which is called the Sunday of

the Triumph of Orthodoxy. This day marks the

day on which the ancient tradition of venerating

the icons was reinstated. Historically speaking,

this event was first celebrated in Constantinople

in the year 843 and had been And has been celebrated

continuously up to this very day. It is only

however after serious controversy. Which shook

the very foundation of the church. Very serious

persecutions. And the martyrdom of thousands

of Christians. That eventually the truth prevailed.

As it always will. By God's will. The practice

of venerating icons. Was not something. That.

came about in a way which many today consider

simply adornments of the church. And there is

another aspect to this celebration. that should

be thoroughly emphasized. It was not simply a

matter of different approaches to religious paintings

that caused this serious disruption in the church.

The iconoclasts, that is those who violently

opposed the veneration of the icons, were eventually

considered heretics. Because they were destroying

the very essence, the very foundation, the very

core of Christianity. That is to say, God, In

becoming man. Assume the material nature. And

that's why I refer to. Even today. There are

many. Churches. Non -orthodox of course. That

have removed every vestige. Of iconography. But

it was the fathers of the 7th century. The Seventh

Ecumenical Council that reaffirmed and decreed

that icon veneration has not only a scriptural

basis, but in fact has a profound devotional,

spiritual, educational value and significance.

Icons, my dear people, are important because

they witness and authenticate to what the Bible

clearly teaches. And as we as Orthodox Christians

have been celebrating throughout the centuries,

icons have something to do. and witness to God,

the nature of Christ, the world, and our salvation

has something to do with St. Paul referred to

as the countless witnesses, the cloud of witnesses

of saints, and even relics. So one thing that

I want to strongly emphasize is that they are

not religious paintings, adornments, and decorative

items. Rather, they speak clearly, distinctly

beyond the categories of yesterday and today.

Because they are revelations of truth. They are

a visual gospel which reflect the saving grace

and transformation of the material world. You

could say they are non -verbal expressions of

theology. in form and color. They are positive

and spiritual means of teaching, explaining,

preserving and promoting the good news of our

salvation. What God became, when God became man,

he assumed our nature. He stepped into the stream

of our time, of our history, and he came to offer

not a moral code which you hear from the televangelists.

He came to save us, to reclaim us, to renew us,

to sanctify life, both the soul and the body,

both the spiritual and physical world. St. Paul

teaches in Christ, all things have become new.

Thus the person we see in some of the icons are

not physically represented. They are represented

in spiritual and transfigured terms. Because

Christ came to establish the world as a sacrament.

And each Sunday when I come, I make particular

attention to that icon of St. John of Damascus

who said that I worship the God of matter who

became matter. That is to say, who took on human

flesh to work out my salvation. Through matter.

Icons even speak. Directly and indirectly. To

ecology. Because we are not. To destroy. God's

beauty. They speak and reflect. Not this world.

Hence the difference in the presentation of icons.

Because this world is alienated from God. It

is a broken and sinful world. And so the icon

then is a transfigured and redeemed, renewed

aspect of life. Teaching. And revealing the death

and resurrection of Christ and the renewal of

life. Again, St. Paul says, Christ is the image

of the invisible God. Who, by him all things

were created that are in heaven. And there are

on earth. They are united in one aspect. All

of the icons. Because they are unique meeting

place. And can become the divine encounter between

believers. and the heavenly realm. Some time

ago I gave an illustration of why icons do relate

to us in a very intense way. And I want to again

quote that illustration because it serves as

a medium for our understanding of why the icons

place in our life a redeemed possibility. This

event that I want to speak of took place in Vietnam

during the Tet Offensive. No mail was coming

in or going out because of the situation. There

was a young lieutenant, non -orthodox, who loved

to come to the liturgy. And he sang beautifully.

I never opposed him singing. But I noticed after

the liturgy, he never venerated any icons, nor

the cross, nor any of the saints. It was on a

Sunday afternoon when they announced that we

could go to the post office and pick up our mail.

And the lieutenant said, Father, can I go with

you? I said, yeah, you sure could, because I

can drive the jeep anyway. So we went, and my

box was above his, a couple inches above his.

I took out my mail, and I saw what he did. The

first thing he did was kiss the mail he received

from his wife. And he began to shed tears. He

said, how foolish. How foolish of me, Father.

This is a piece of dirty mail. And yet, the first

thing I did was to kiss it. Because the kiss

I gave was the one I gave to my wife. When we

come to church, we venerate the icon. Not the

wood or the paint, but that, the one who is represented.

And in that act of devotion and worship, we acknowledge

that God has worked through that particular saint

and has redeemed him. And that's why they are

signs and presence of the beauty and holiness

of God. They are, in a sense, books of piety.

Visual aids. A scriptural commentary. Expressing

the unchanging truth. In the Bible. That the

church. In a language. And in a form. Speaks

to everyone. At every age. Notice. And they often

do. Little children come up. They can't reach

the icon. What will they do? They'll cross themselves.

And kiss the icon. And kiss the cross. What a

beautiful act. Of devotion. You know our patron

saint. The blessed wonder worker seraphim. Once

said. indicated here on the icon. The purpose

of Christian life is to acquire the Holy Spirit.

Now ask, and I ask you, what does this mean to

acquire the image and likeness of God? That image

and likeness of God which was marred and disfigured

by sin. Our destiny, my dear people. As icons.

We are icons of the living God. The image is

like this. And that is why the celebrant always

senses you. Recognizing you as a redeemed person.

An icon. Representing God's choices. creation.

We are, as the New Testament teaches, partakers

of divinity. Each one of us is called to be a

saint. If this Sunday of the celebration of Orthodoxy

has something to say to us, it is this. It's

a joyful event. More than an annual ceremony.

Because today, individually and collectively,

we reaffirm and proclaim our oneness in Christ.

We recognize and confess That one and that each

of us, each of us is an icon redeemed by the

grace of God. We acknowledge that our rich heritage

and diverse heritage is not a burden to be carried.

but rather a blessing to be shared. In the year

430, St. Nihilus the Sinait wrote, Let the hand

of the iconographer fill the church with icons

from the Old and New Testament, which we are

doing. Let the hand of the iconographer Teach

us, or those who cannot read, teach us about

the Bible. By looking at the icons, bring to

our, not only our minds, but our hearts, the

good deeds of those who have served and loved

the Lord with reference. And we are called to

do the same. And to him, our gracious and loving

God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we honor and

worship.