March 14, 2006
The scandal of alleged mismanagement
of the finances of our Church has brought to light more than the distasteful
mess of internal strife, politics, and mutual grievances. It has exposed the fundamental
uncertainty of our self-identification as an autocephalous Orthodox Church in
America. It is not just the disgraceful conduct of certain dignitaries and
hierarchs. It is not just the calls of ÒescapingÓ into the embrace of another
Orthodox jurisdiction(s). It is the apparent lack of awareness of our
ecclesiastical identity that fills the air.
Let us try to look beyond the
politics, the personalities, and the emotions. The fact that the Church whose
mission in this world is to stand up to none less than its prince and to
proclaim the Truth of the Gospel, is permeated with fear and governed by the
"sweeping-under-the-carpet" policies, should feel to all of us as
nothing short of devastating.
We gather around the chalice to
partake of the body and blood of our Savior who died for us, and yet we are
afraid to publicly ask for even the most mundane truth. How did this happen?
Why do we allow this to continue?
In the eyes of the world, since this
scandal has already gained public exposure, how can we - collectively - claim
to be witnesses to the Truth? What do we do every Sunday of every week if we
– collectively if we accept the authority of the Holy Synod – are
unwilling to witness to the truth in the matters that are miniscule in comparison
to the issues that our Fathers, beginning with Christ Himself and the Apostles,
had to witness to?
How perverted has our understanding
of the truth become if the few servants of this Church who attempted to call
attention to the necessity of putting our house in order are vilified and
called the most terrible names - the servants of the devil – in the name
of what? Unity? What kind of unity?
We should have learned from the
painful example of our Roman brothers – have we?
Have we idolized Òthe ChurchÓ beyond
the Truth? Is our belief "in one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church"
that we proclaim in the Creed equated or based on the belief in the
"holiness" of personalities or an institution? Are we thus violating
the Commandments? Is Òthe communion of the Holy MysteriesÓ therefore Òfor our
judgment and condemnationÓ?
The Scripture has been quoted
liberally on this website, and yet I will permit myself yet another quote. It
is not an obscure quote – we all know this text by heart:
ÒThe light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness did not overcome it.Ó
And again:
ÒIf you continue in my word, you are
truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you
free.Ó
What are we afraid of, then? It is often that we in
America hear that we are a Òsmall churchÓ, and somehow this has instilled in
many of us a complex of insignificance. Yet how could we let that happen to us?
Our Church has started with twelve and then seventy. In the time of St.
Athanasius the Great, the Church was at one moment a single man – St.
Athanasius. Yet if we do not forget that it is the Holy Spirit that works in
our Church, then our strength is not in numbers. Our strength is in our
devotion to the Truth with is Jesus Christ Himself. Our desire should be for
this truth only, in great things and in small. And we should have no fear
because death is no more.