The People Who Share My Name

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This past Sunday was Palm Sunday in the Orthodox Church. The homily given was fixed on the idea that as we process into the sanctuary or around the church or through town (it differs from church to church), we carry out the light of Christ with us. Every single year, on this Sunday, we are reminded that the Orthodox Church is here in part for the salvation of the world with the services of the church and our daily practice of the faith.

Christ says that as we fast, we should fast in secret as well as pray and give. It reminds me of a tree with its roots firm underground and the saying of Christ, "You will know a tree by the fruit it bears." So it would seem that the process of fruit bearing in down for the most part underground, hidden. St. Moses says, "Stay in your cell and your cell will teach you all you need to know." The cell of the monk is thought to also be the heart of every Christian. In other words, we must continually abide in Christ, in the secret place. Where is the beloved found? "“O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. (Song of Solomon 2:14)” And how much more beautiful and sweet is the fruit that we find grown in the cool of the shade?

I don't think that I should be quiet about my faith. But I do think that what we do in secret is revealed by how we are among others. This also does not necessarily mean that kind people are holy people. St. John Climacus states that he know one that served others wholeheartedly but became a monster when sick and unable to help. Why? Because the deeds were done out of vainglory and not out of love for God. The interior life and exterior must match. The fruit must look beautiful and be good to eat. Not as the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, but as the choice fruit of Christ, the true vine.

So during the duration of Holy week, I will make an attempt to be more wary of my time in solitude, that to have something to carry out into the world, the love of God. And ultimately to have awareness outside of this week, to realize the my time isn't really mine.