Ecclesiasticus I: Introducing Eastern Orthodoxy
Ecclesiasticus II: Orthodox Icons, Saints, Feasts and Prayer
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Ninth Biennial Clergy Symposium
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
July 15-19, 1996
Fraternal Charity among the Clergy
As
we begin our deliberations and discussions on this year’s topic of “Orthodox
Spirituality in Parish Administration, it seems to me that we ought to
take a moment to look at our relationships amongst one another. There
is an old adage, that “we cannot give to others what we do not ourselves
possess.” Specifically, I am referring to fraternal charity among the
clergy of our God-protected Archdiocese. What I am about to say to you
is based on twenty years of experience as a parish priest and one and
a half as a bishop. It is not theory but rather practical advice. Those
of you who know me well know that if I am anything it is practical.
We read and hear so many things, that unfortunately we often times
“tune out” the things we need to listen to and consider more deeply than
others. Our familiarity with the scriptures too often leads us to patiently
wait as they are read, while at that same time not really pay attention.
That is why I asked Fr.Chad to begin this evening’s meditation with the
reading from St. Paul’s famous pericope on “love.” It forms the basis
of my talk, and I ask that all of you take out your bibles, which I am
everyone brought with them, and read it again before you retire for the
evening. Indeed I would ask that you it keep it very much in your minds
throughout this week. As you see one another in chapel, in meetings, in
recreation, think of how you can apply the message of St. Paul to your
own dealings with one another.
We live in a world that expects, if not demands, excellence from
us. We also live in a society that is richly blessed with the resources
to make such excellence possible. For example, could we have imagined
fifteen years ago the huge impact that personal computers would have on
each one us, individually and as pastors? Very few of our parishes are
not computerized. In addition, fax machines, E-mail, and cellular phones
have made it possible for us to be efficient beyond our wildest dreams.
In a matter of minutes we are able to accomplish what used to take hours
and days. But we have to ask ourselves, are we as efficient, in our dealings
with one another? As our efficiency in administration has improved has
our love for one another increased as well, or have we sacrificed Christian
love on the altar of administrative efficiency?
There is nothing wrong with being administratively efficient, per
se. But we who preach the Gospel, must always live by the same Gospel
we preach, and so the question becomes “Are we reflecting and exhibiting
the love that St. Paul admonishes us to have, while at the same time working
so hard to be good administrators?”
Honestly fathers, I mean deep down in our hearts where we often
fear to go, aren’t we all, bishops, priests and deacons, guilty of being
uncharitable to one another? It is so easy to find fault and criticize
others, to poke fun at someone, to belittle a brother for something that
is not ours to criticize. We proclaim and preach on the gospel message
“do not judge others, lest you be judged” but we do it anywise, don’t
we? And when we do, we are so gifted at finding reasons for doing so.
We forget again and again the very message we have been commanded to preach,
“do not judge others, lest you be judged!”
Let us take a look at St. Paul’s message, and with the hope of
understanding it better, substitute contemporary examples:
“Though I speak many languages, each with a perfect accent and
am able to sing troparia in any of these languages, with a voice that
is like one of the angels, but look around at my brothers and say within
my heart, ‘This one is so ignorant because he speaks only one language’
and ‘this one hasn’t learned how to speak without an accent yet’ and ‘that
one couldn’t chant a hymn correctly or beautifully if he spent an entire
year practicing’ then I have become obnoxious to my brothers, I have become
like a piercing police siren or the annoying shriek of electronic feedback.
“And though I have the gift of excellent preaching, able to explain
all sorts of difficult scriptural passages and complex theological ideas,
considered by all who know me as a truly learned and wise man, and though
I am able to celebrate any liturgical service observing all the rubrics
and displaying the height of grace and poise so that even the most hardened
of hearts are moved to compunction and repentance and thereby return to
God, but have no love or compassion for my brothers who are not as gifted
or filled with grace and poise, I am nothing. I am like the scent of flowers,
something experienced, but lacking real substance.
“And though I am able to organize my day such that I am able to
account for every minute, accomplishing a great number of tasks so that
I am able to do much more than others, gaining for myself the reputation
of a great worker capable of squeezing more out of an hour than anyone
else, yet cannot find time for my brother who needs my help and my encouragement,
and if I do have time to help my brothers but do so with an air of arrogance
thinking in my heart that if it were not for me my brothers would look
foolish and stupid and that I am the reason they get anything done, but
have no love for my brothers, I am nothing and I have done nothing. I
am like a mime who cuts the air and slices the wind with his hands and
arms, but at the end of the day, has nothing to show for all his efforts.
If I love my brothers, that love must be a patient love for I must
“be patient with all” (1 Thess 5:14) and it must kind for we are told
to “be kind to one another” ( Ephesians 4:32). When I see my brother succeeding
in his ministry and being recognized for his accomplishments, even if
he has failed in the past many times, I must love him and manifest that
love by refusing to be envious for we are told “Let not your heart envy
sinners” (Proverbs 23:17). Perhaps if we were to have not only the recognition
but also the problems and the burden of past failures we would not be
so envious. In my love for my brothers I must be on guard not to let that
love be shown in a flashy or obvious manner, as if the fact that I am
loving my brother is more important than the fact of my brother being
love at all. In loving, who is being loved is of greater importance than
who is loving. My love must not put itself on display screaming out to
the whole world “look at me and at what I am doing” for we are told “He
must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30), and again “If anyone
thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he has deceived himself.”
(Galatians 6:3)
When I love my brother I must do so humbly, quietly, with a spirit
of genuine love and concern, not brashly, or rudely, or worse with a mean
spirit that insults rather and than comforts. We are warned not to be
“rash with your mouth” (Eccles 5:2). How often have we spoken too soon,
said the wrong thing, or left too many things unsaid, things that would
have brought comfort, solace and peace to our brothers. Instead in our
path we have left bitterness and hearts broken by our words. And I must
avoid seeking my own way, being pushy with my love, for we are directed
to “let no one seek his own, but each one the others well-being.” (1 Cor.
10:24). When I love am I seeking to truly love another, with no thought
to my own needs or comfort or satisfaction for having loved, or am I instead
thinking only of the need of my brother, rejoicing in the opportunity
to give to him what he needs and what only I can give him, knowing that
in doing so he will gain everything and I will gain nothing. If I do this
I must be prepared to fight the temptation to be angry for “Good sense
makes a man slow to anger” (Proverbs 19:11)
If I love my brother, and he does something happens that upsets
or hurts me, I need to overlook. The worse thing I can do both for myself
and my brother is to keep score of wrongs as they occur. Better that I
should forgive every offense no matter what it is or how big or small
it is, and do so immediately. This is the way our Father in heaven deals
with us, for He said through Jeremiah the prophet “I will forgive their
iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Do we honestly believe
we can do less to one another, than God Himself does to us?
Neither should we rejoice when a brother falls into sin, but should
we should run in charity to cover it over as with a cloak, wanting to
hide the sins of our brothers rather than point them out. Remember the
example of Christ “when he had looked around at them with anger, being
grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to man, “Stretch out
your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole
as the other.” (Mark 3:5) What we give to others will be given to us,
and what we withhold from others will be withheld from us.
In the same vein, we should rejoice in the truth, seeking to point
out in one another what is truly good, beautiful, honorable and worthy
of emulation, and avoid looking for what is not good, ugly, dishonorable
and scandalous. How often have we been tempted to bend the truth, to lessen
it or cover it up altogether with our bitter jealousies? Did not St. John
write “I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking
in truth, as we received commandment from the Father.” Nowhere does God
tell us to deal with falsehood, neither does he tell us to spread it or
increase it
Is
one of our brothers a burden, to himself, to some of us, to all of us?
Then the love we profess to have for God demands that we “bear one another’s
burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. And in doing so we ought to
“believe all things”, that is to say we must “Trust in the Lord with all
your heart and do not rely on your own insight.” To rely on our own insight
is to presume that we know all things, see all things or at least will
be able to do so at some point. In our hearts we know that this is not
the case and that it never will be.
Even when we see a blatant fault in one of our brothers, and we
have gently, lovingly, compassionately pointed this out to him, asking
his forgiveness for our boldness, wanting only what is best for him, we
must not lose hope, for love “hopes all things” — it keeps looking up,
it maintains a positive outlook for a positive result, it does not despair,
it keeps on going “forgetting those things which are behind and reaching
forward to those things which are ahead” (Phil 3:13).
Our love for one another, our patient endurance of each others
faults, our constant support of one another’s efforts to learn, to grow,
to become better, to move on, all of this must endure all things without
exception, without reservation and without compromise. If God is love
and God is eternal then His love is eternal. And that means that if God
loves us and we must love Him by loving one another in return for His
love, then our love for one another must likewise be eternal. At no point
can we allow our love to wear out, grow dim or become short in supply.
“Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap
if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do
good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Gal.
6:9-10). God’s love cannot fail, and neither must our love for all of
God’s children but especially for our brothers in the service of God,
for they “are of the household of faith.” Love, if it truly Christian,
does not fail. And therefore in everything regarding one another, we must
begin and end with love. As St. Paul advised the Corinthians “Let all
that you do be done with love.” (1 Cor. 16:14)
Fathers, I fear that we may have hurt our own efforts at ministering
to the faithful, and brought upon ourselves much misery. Too often, far
too often I have noticed many of the things which I have just spoken about.
I have watched priests make fun of other priests, I have heard priests
criticizing one another, not for the sake of helping their brothers but
to inflict injury and pain, and sad to say they have succeeded. It makes
me sick of heart both to have seen this and to tell you about it. But
I cannot turn my back on my responsibility. I tell you this not to hurt
you or to make you angry, but because this problem has gone far beyond
the confines of our noble calling and our special brotherhood. Those whom
we serve, the faithful of this archdiocese have begun to notice this lack
of charity among the priests for one another. And make no mistake it exists
on all levels of the clergy! Many of have spoken to me about it, asking
me to “please do something about this Sayidna.” All of us, I am sure,
have been hurt by unkind remarks from our parishioners, or attitudes which
when experienced by us leave us confused, angry and frustrated. It is
bad enough when these things come from the faithful because of a serious
lack on their part. But it seems that many are watching us deal with one
another in these ways, and have concluded that if the clergy can be so
disrespectful of one another, then so can we. Do you see how our lack
of love, of charity, of compassion, of understanding and of sympathy for
one another, has like a deadly snake slithered off to bite others, who
in turn inflict more pain and hurt on us? In this respect we are guilty
not only of being a bad example to our spiritual children, but of being
a burden to one another.
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