Homily on Bright Saturday, Before the Distribution of Artos
By Saint Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson and Tauride
By Saint Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson and Tauride
Christ is Risen!
Having nourished us abundantly during the present week with the immaterial bread of the word of God and sweet hymns, the Holy Church, out of condescension to our weakness, has gathered us now for the breaking of material bread for us. But just as the world is accustomed to degrade the most spiritual things to flesh and blood, so the Church elevates the most sensual to the spirit. It is not in vain that images of sacred objects are seen on the broken bread: this indicates to the most short-sighted in spiritual understanding its spiritual significance and importance.
Why is it broken now? The breaking of the holy bread, according to the clear indication of the Church itself in the prayer read at its consecration, is now performed in memory of the Resurrection of Christ. Why the concept of bread was connected with the memory of the Resurrection, when at the Resurrection itself there was not and could not be any bread, there are many reasons for this. Firstly, the Old Testament Jewish Passover, instituted at the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, and which served as a transformation of our Passover, was connected with the seven-day eating of a special, sacred bread, called unleavened bread. It was necessary to remind Christians, in the midst of Passover, of this eating, which among the Israelites contained much that was instructive. Bread is now especially blessed in memory of the Resurrection of Christ because in the stories of the Evangelists we more than once see the Risen Lord either eating or blessing the eating. Thus, on the evening of that very day on which He arose, He breaks bread in Emmaus, and is recognized in this breaking by two of His disciples, who did not recognize Him during the entire journey with Him. On the evening of that same day, in Jerusalem, among His disciples, the Lord Himself deigns to eat fish and honey as proof that they see before them not a ghost, but their true Teacher, truly risen from the dead. Then in Galilee, by the Sea of Tiberias, the Risen Lord miraculously prepares a whole meal for His disciples, exhausted by the all-night vigil, vainly fishing for fish, and at this meal He three times amicably torments Peter's love with the question: "Do you love Me?"
So many events are recalled by the holy bread, now broken. There are many mysteries in it! Many prayers have been performed over it! Many blessings are contained in it!
So, Christian, when you eat this bread, remember, first, the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, and look where you are yourself, are you still in Egypt, do you not serve Pharaoh, the god of this age? “Only where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is true “freedom” (2 Cor. 3:17). If you do not have this Spirit, then you are a slave to passions. If the Son of God does not free you from the slavery of sin, then you will forever remain a slave. Turn to Him with the desire to do His will. Begin to strike, with God’s help, the enemies of your salvation, as with ten plagues, by fulfilling the ten commandments. When the last of them: "You shall not covet" (Ex. 20:16, 17), strikes the very firstborn of Egypt, namely impure thoughts and desires: then the bonds of sin that oppress you will be released by themselves, and you will go out into the freedom of the Spirit. But having entered the desert of self-denial, do not turn your face towards Egypt; suppress, even if the desire for the fleshly pleasures of Egyptian meats arises, the craving for sinful delights. Enough for you is the angelic bread, the heavenly manna – those spiritual joys with which the Lord nourishes His faithful servants. Otherwise, even on the borders of heavenly Canaan, "graves of craving" may be raised – for the "quail" (Ex. 16:13, Num. 11:33-34) – of earthly and sinful pleasures.
From the Jewish Passover, Christian, turn your thoughts, when you eat bread today, to the Christian Passover - think about why and how you ate or blessed the bread by the Risen Lord, and learn to eat it yourself in this way.
Two of the disciples of Jesus do not recognize their Lord throughout their entire journey with Him. Is not the same the case, beloved listener, with us on the path of our life? It is impossible that Jesus should not be with each of us on this path; for He promised to abide with those who believe in Him always. But has He been recognized by each of us as we should? Have we recognized Him as our Savior and Lord? Are we fully convinced that there is no “other name” either on earth or in heaven by which one can be saved, except the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12)? That without Him, every person is an enemy of God, a dead branch, fit only for burning? And your day of life, beloved brethren, has either already bowed down or will soon bow down: it will be difficult to reach the west of life without the heavenly Companion; it is dreadful to pass through the shadow of death alone without the Savior! Hasten to know Him, even in the breaking of bread, by those tangible signs in which He has deigned to manifest His presence in His Church; strive to partake more often of the Lord's table, which is offered to all believers: the abundance of Christ's love, revealed in it, will warm your cold heart, and you will begin little by little, tasting, to know how "the Lord is good" (Ps. 33:9), and how close He is "to all who call upon Him in truth" (Ps. 144:18).
In Jerusalem, the Lord eats food before His disciples to prove that they see before them not a phantom, but the real body of their Teacher. Behold, beloved, you, too, whether your whole faith is not a phantom, whether it does not consist of idle notions alone, having no influence on your life; whether you do not limit yourself to one form of piety, not caring about its power, about not only seeming honest before people, but also being in fact so before God, in your conscience? The sign and proof of true Christianity is not contemplation and an abundance of knowledge, not verbosity and questioning, not the cleansing of external glasses and dishes, but the putting off of the old man with his passions and lusts, rebirth in the spirit, walking in the image of Christ and the inner cross. If you have all of this, then Christ has truly risen in you, and you can indulge in all the joy of His Resurrection: otherwise, you still need Peter’s tears and the publican’s contrition.
There is also something to learn from the supper that took place on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias. The foremost of the apostles labored all night without success in catching fish, until the Savior Himself, suddenly appearing, commanded them to cast their nets again. Do not think, whoever you are, that you will succeed in the work of spiritual perfection without God's blessing. You can acquire all the blessings of the world, but without Him you cannot acquire that precious "pearl" (Matt. 13:46), which is more precious than the whole world. You can adorn yourself with a few virtues, with which many of the pagans were adorned, but you cannot, you cannot in any way change your evil heart, or pluck out the root of sin from it. This is beyond your powers, beyond the powers of all the Angels; this is His work, His alone. Turn to Him for this, pray to Him for this. When He closes in you the "fountains of the deep" (Gen. 8:2), the floodgates of natural evil, then nothing will open them. When He opens in you the source of goodness - love for God and neighbor, then no power of hell will shut it in: it will flow into eternal life.
But do you hear, beloved brethren, what question is asked at the divinely instituted supper of Tiberias? “Do you love Me? Do you love Me?” says the Lord. If Peter, who once betrayed Him, heard this question three times, then how many times should he proclaim it to our ears? Let us not, however, hasten to answer it with the tongue of Peter; let us first have the heart of Peter: not words, but deeds are required. “If anyone loves Me,” says the Questioner Himself, “he will keep My word” (John 14:23). Here is a sign of love! Do you have it? It is good for you if you have it: for in this case you can, even before death, see the Lord and dine with Him. “If anyone loves Me,” He says, “he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him and make Our abode with him” (John 14:23).
Remembering thus, in this present partaking of the holy bread, all these Gospel suppers, can we, brethren, finally forget that blessed supper which, although it was not instituted by the Risen Savior, since it could not have been instituted on earth, was nevertheless promised by Him to all His followers in the Kingdom of Heaven? (Matt. 26:29). And remembering the supper that awaits us in this Kingdom, can we not also recall that wedding garment which will be required of everyone there? Terrible is the fate of the slave, cast out, because of the lack of this garment, into outer darkness! Let us hasten, brethren, to acquire beforehand the precious garment of good deeds, and to cover and adorn it beforehand with the merits of Christ, so that, at the first call, we may be ready for the marriage of the Lamb. Let us hasten: for as on earth, so in heaven, the royal doors are not always open; the time will come when they will be shut forever, and those who knock at them will be told: “I do not know you”! (Matthew 25:12). Amen.
Source: From the book Discourses for Bright Week, Discourse Ten. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
