The last week, Indian Orthodox Christians world wide would have been
exposed to different symbols,different colors, different highs,
different emotions: from the triumphant Entry of a King, to the hideous
plotting of His death, to the depressing sight of a gruesome murder, the
fleeing of His close friends, to a
royal burial, to His amazing proclamation in Hades, and finally to the
ecstacy of experiencing the greatest miracle - that He is risen! indeed!
All through the week there were prostrations, processions, proclamations, responses, all wound together finely into very visible and conspicuous rituals. What do these rituals do?
Something happened 2000 years ago which changed the course of human destiny. That changed our whole understanding about death. That changed death from being a finale to become a mere milestone in an onward journey of spiritual renewal; death no more held its terror, it was no more an end in itself. That change gives hope for a better tomorrow, for a life beyond. What happened 2000 years ago brought about salvation for all humanity, salvation from death, and into life eternal.
What happened exactly, how it saves Creation, we don't know. What Christ did, why it was necessary, we will probably never fully understand. Through the various rituals in the Church, we try to identify with what happened, to relate to how it transforms us, and to put it all in a human understandable pattern. Thus the rituals are attempts to explain the inexplicable,to describe the undescribable, to try and make a little bit sense of the unfathomable mysteries.
So when we look at these rituals from the outside, they may seem very ordinary, very empty - for example - the procession of the priest and acolytes on Good Friday at the time of the burial service - and they would have remained so, had there been nothing else to it. But because these are glimpses into the majestic work of the Holy Spirit in the Church, that is mostly unseen, unheard,unrevealed and un understood by human thinking; because these are attempts to make sense of the continuous work of the Creator who fashioned the world, saved it and continues fulfilling its redemption, because these are but miniscule and imperfect shadows of a greater and excellent glory that is useen, the rituals in the Church come alive and become meaningful tools to experience the salvation that God has granted to His Creation. Here we are becoming co participants with Nicodemos and Joseph in the burial service, in an event that transcends time and space. When seen in this light, they no longer remain empty rituals but become the channels for the transfer of grace from the Divine Presence into the world through the Church.
Christ is Risen! Indeed He is risen!
(April 2013)
All through the week there were prostrations, processions, proclamations, responses, all wound together finely into very visible and conspicuous rituals. What do these rituals do?
Something happened 2000 years ago which changed the course of human destiny. That changed our whole understanding about death. That changed death from being a finale to become a mere milestone in an onward journey of spiritual renewal; death no more held its terror, it was no more an end in itself. That change gives hope for a better tomorrow, for a life beyond. What happened 2000 years ago brought about salvation for all humanity, salvation from death, and into life eternal.
What happened exactly, how it saves Creation, we don't know. What Christ did, why it was necessary, we will probably never fully understand. Through the various rituals in the Church, we try to identify with what happened, to relate to how it transforms us, and to put it all in a human understandable pattern. Thus the rituals are attempts to explain the inexplicable,to describe the undescribable, to try and make a little bit sense of the unfathomable mysteries.
So when we look at these rituals from the outside, they may seem very ordinary, very empty - for example - the procession of the priest and acolytes on Good Friday at the time of the burial service - and they would have remained so, had there been nothing else to it. But because these are glimpses into the majestic work of the Holy Spirit in the Church, that is mostly unseen, unheard,unrevealed and un understood by human thinking; because these are attempts to make sense of the continuous work of the Creator who fashioned the world, saved it and continues fulfilling its redemption, because these are but miniscule and imperfect shadows of a greater and excellent glory that is useen, the rituals in the Church come alive and become meaningful tools to experience the salvation that God has granted to His Creation. Here we are becoming co participants with Nicodemos and Joseph in the burial service, in an event that transcends time and space. When seen in this light, they no longer remain empty rituals but become the channels for the transfer of grace from the Divine Presence into the world through the Church.
Christ is Risen! Indeed He is risen!
(April 2013)
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