The Fishermen are Most Wise

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,


The Troparion of Pentecost is as follows:

Blessed art Thou, O Christ our God,
who has revealed the fishermen as most wise
  by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit;
through them Thou didst draw the world
  into Thy net.
O Lover of Man, Glory to Thee!

It is rather incredible when you think hard on it, that it was essentially a group of former fishermen who traversed the Greco-Roman world and beyond with the Gospel proclamation of the Crucified and Risen Messiah and Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth. That they were successful is nothing short of miraculous. 

Of course, the Apostle Paul is a major exception to this, as he was a highly-educated Jew who knew Greek thought and rhetoric very well, and employed both in proclaiming the Gospel. But the Twelve Apostles, on the whole, had a rudimentary education and they hardly were that aware of the greater world around them.  

They were fishermen.  Their initial concern in life was all that goes into making their fishing trade successful. They had to worry about their nets, that they would not break, and then mend them when they did. They worked hard to put their "daily bread" on the table. They had to worry about feeding their families. A "bad night" out on the lake would cost them dearly. And then they were "called" by Jesus, who told them somewhat enigmatically, that they would now become "fishers of men" (MATT, 4:19).  So they dropped their nets and followed Jesus. As disciples during Christ's earthly ministry, they did not quite "get it." They were often obtuse and slow to understand. And they would even betray their Master.

But following the Day of Pentecost, their "nets" would now be filled with men and women "caught" by the compelling and wonderful message of the Gospel, that salvation from sin and death has come in the human form of the incarnate Son of God who, though a crucified Jew, was raised from the dead and glorified at the right hand of God. 

The apostles did not invent this or think it up. They knew this was true by direct experience. They had seen the Risen Lord and they had witnessed His glorious ascension into heaven. 

The fishermen turned disciples, turned apostles, were not philosophers or trained rhetoricians. They were not wise according to the wisdom of this world. They were filled with the Holy Spirit (ACTS 2:4) and this made them "most wise;" but with a wisdom that may have appeared foolish to the "wise men" and "debaters of this age," but was nevertheless a wisdom directly from God (cf. I COR. 1:18-31).  

Once inspired from on high, they would fulfill the Lord's commission to go into the world and "make disciples of all nations" (MATT. 28:16-20).  The apostles knew that their success in drawing the world into their nets was the result of the mysterious activity of the Holy Spirit working through them as they witnessed to Christ in word and deed. They would never attribute any success in proclaiming the Gospel to their own human efforts.

All of this points to the truly miraculous nature of the emergence and spread of the Christian Faith. Considering the lowly origins of the apostles - and that of their Master -  this is unprecedented in human history. 

In purely human terms it could not have succeeded. Not with a dead Messiah and a group of insignificant fishermen promoting their teacher. Only a divine origin can account for the "word of the Cross" penetrating a world that is so often swayed by power and pride - "the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life" (I JN. 2:16). 

The Christian Faith burst forth from the empty tomb that revealed the victory of Christ over death. This new life could not remain hidden. It was meant for the entire world. Hence, the Lord "revealed the fishermen as most wise by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit." 

If you are reading this as a Christian, then you have been drawn into the net of the Lord. You have committed yourself to following the commandments of Christ and to seek first the Kingdom of God. 

This has nothing to do with your level of formal education or your socio-economic status. These may prove to be irrelevant categories when it comes to being filled with the Holy Spirit. The many saints of the Church coming from humble and lowly origins bear this out. What is essential is faith and a readiness to serve Christ and to put Christ first in your life.  

For those in the Church, whatever our background, "with one voice, we glorify the all-Holy Spirit!" (Kontakion of Pentecost)

Saturday Evening Vespers and Christian Martyria

Dear Parish Faithful,


CHRIST IS RISEN!
INDEED HE IS RISEN!

"O Gladsome Light of the holy glory..."

Continuing a series of short meditations based upon Bp. Paul's talk on the content and shape of a contemporary Christian martyria (meaning witness), I would like to apply it to the Saturday evening service of Great Vespers.

Actually, the first topic that Bp. Paul addressed to those of us present last Saturday evening following the service, was the missionary content of the Great Vespers service, a real point of contact and a potential source of  appeal to an inquirer or non-Orthodox visitor to the church. 

In fact, His Grace shared his opinion that Great Vespers is the best introductory service to such an inquirer/visitor.  Its compactness has something to do with this, but he stressed primarily the content of the service.  This service proclaims the Gospel - it is "evangelical" - because it proclaims the Crucified and Risen Lord. This could be an element of strong appeal to a visitor hungering for the truth of the Gospel.

However, first and foremost, the service of Great Vespers on Saturday evening is for the members of the Church!  

Saturday evening Great Vespers is a splendid proclamation of the Death and Resurrection of Christ at the heart of the service.  Meaning that in addition to the basic structure of the service which remains the same, the hymnography (called stichera and aposticha) is devoted to glorifying the Crucified and Risen Lord.

Great Vespers not only prepares us for the Lord's Day on Sunday - the Day of Resurrection in our weekly liturgical cycle - but we actually enter into the Lord's Day at the service on Saturday evening. As it is written in the Scriptures:  "And there was evening and there was morning, a second day" (GEN. 1:8).  Liturgically, therefore, Sunday begins during the service on Saturday evening, following the biblical reckoning of time. Returning to the theme of the Death and Resurrection of Christ, a random selection from the eight tones will eloquently make the point:

We stand before Thy life-bearing tomb unworthily, O Christ God,
Offering glory to Thine unspeakable tenderness of heart.
Thou hast accepted the cross and death, O sinless One,
To grant resurrection to the world, as the Lover of man.   

—Saturday Vespers, Stichera, Tone 1

Descending from heaven to ascend  the cross,
The eternal Life has come for death -
To raise those who have fallen;
To enlighten those in darkness!
O Jesus, our Savior and Illuminator, glory to Thee!

—Saturday Vespers, Aposticha, Tone 8

As one of the expressions of an Orthodox Christian martyria in the contemporary world mentioned by Bp. Paul, we can leave the cares and attractions surrounding us, enter into the prayerful atmosphere of the church, and praise the Crucified and Risen Lord on Saturday evening as we prepare for the Lord's Day. At least, with some kind of pattern or regularity. This is our witness that the life of the Church comes first in our lives.

Certainly this is a "little cross!"  And it should be a "joyous cross" that we assume lightly and gladly.  We are, after all, according to St. John the Evangelist, "children of God!" 

I am not trying to twist anyone's arm, and I do not work through "guilting" anyone into anything.  I am simply trying to raise parish awareness of an integral part of our parish life and the liturgical cycle at the heart of our communal worship. And I have been doing this for years. In this way, we can grow beyond the usual (and to this day relatively small) "Vespers crowd" as our personal and communal martyria to the secular world's indifference toward Christ.  My appeal is to make the martyria concrete and practical in its effect. I believe this was Bp. Paul's point.

The Great Feast of Pentecost is approaching. Plan to be present at the Great Vespers of that Feast and celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit - the "Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, Who is everywhere and fillest all things."  This is "the last day of the feast, the great day" (JN. 7:37), meaning the fulfillment of the paschal mystery.

Let that be a beginning, a starting point for expanding your participation in the liturgical life of the Church by integrating the Lord's Day cycle into your life as an event to be anticipated and embraced with regularity.  Allow the Bible Study, the great Feasts and Saturday evening Great Vespers to assume a place in your lives that manifests the modest Christian martyria that nevertheless reveals a great deal about our life in the Church.