Clergy Reflection: Sunday Of The First Week

Sunday of the First Week, the Sunday of Orthodoxy

The first Sunday of the Great Lent is known to many as the Triumph of Orthodoxy! This is celebrated with our processing inside the church following the Divine Liturgy while holding an icon. While we process and we proclaim our faith by saying the words of the Nicene Creed, we hear those powerful words "this is the faith of the Apostles.. the Fathers...the Orthodox" and it makes me wonder...are we processing with the icons or are they leading us? Are we holding them for all to see the True Faith or are they being held to give us the opportunity to join them? We have such a rich blessing to be a part of a faith that asks us not to try but to DO! We are to live our faith each and everyday with the same zeal and love of the Saints of the church "who in every gen- eration have pleased God" (from Liturgy of St. Basil). Yet, do we look or act like the image of those who lived a Saintly life? Try and see after these 40 days if you have im- proved in your calling to be Christ like.. and maybe, if you continue to grow in His Likeness and strive for His Image, maybe one day someone will be carrying an icon of you!

Fr. Demetri Costarakis