What the Patriarch preached

Fr. Z notes the Ecumenical Patriarch's homily yesterday and annotates it.

The homily was on liturgy - its definition and power.  The homily, whether purposefully or not, highlights a division between Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy less frequently noted than issues of papal authority and other questions of ecclesiology and theology.

Many folks, with only a superficial understanding of either or both churches, sees relatively formal liturgies, the importance of Eucharist and male priests and thinks, "So? What's the big difference?" A lot, particularly since the Second Vatican Council. The salient question is...why would the Orthodox want to "reunite" (whatever that would mean), or more dramatically, be in any sense under the authority of a structure in which the theology of liturgy, as it's been lived out on the ground, has turned into a free-for-all?

(And I don't mean just moments of silliness here and there. I mean the unofficial theology of liturgy that has come to pervade the practice, as in: liturgy is essentially a palette on which to paint whatever picture of the perceived needs of the local community that I believe my (as presider or liturgical planner) gifts and talents call me to create.)

The text of the homily at Zenit

With the grace of God, Your Holiness, we have been blessed to enter the joy of the Kingdom, to "see the true light and receive the heavenly Spirit." Every celebration of the Divine Liturgy is a powerful and inspiring con-celebration of heaven and of history. Every Divine Liturgy is both an anamnesis of the past and an anticipation of the Kingdom. We are convinced that during this Divine Liturgy, we have once again been transferred spiritually in three directions: toward the kingdom of heaven where the angels celebrate; toward the celebration of the liturgy through the centuries; and toward the heavenly kingdom to come.

This overwhelming continuity with heaven as well as with history means that the Orthodox liturgy is the mystical experience and profound conviction that "Christ is and ever shall be in our midst!" For in Christ, there is a deep connection between past, present, and future. In this way, the liturgy is more than merely the recollection of Christ's words and acts. It is the realization of the very presence of Christ Himself, who has promised to be wherever two or three are gathered in His name.

At the same time, we recognize that the rule of prayer is the rule of faith ("lex orandi lex credendi"), that the doctrines of the Person of Christ and of the Holy Trinity have left an indelible mark on the liturgy, which comprises one of the undefined doctrines, "revealed to us in mystery," of which St. Basil the Great so eloquently spoke. This is why, in liturgy, we are reminded of the need to reach unity in faith as well as in prayer. Therefore, we kneel in humility and repentance before the living God and our Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious Name we bear and yet at the same time whose seamless garment we have divided. We confess in sorrow that we are not yet able to celebrate the holy sacraments in unity. And we pray that the day may come when this sacramental unity will be realized in its fullness.

And yet, Your Holiness and beloved brother in Christ, this con-celebration of heaven and earth, of history and time, brings us closer to each other today through the blessing of the presence, together with all the saints, of the predecessors of our Modesty, namely St. Gregory the Theologian and St. John Chrysostom. We are honored to venerate the relics of these two spiritual giants after the solemn restoration of their sacred relics in this holy church two years ago when they were graciously returned to us by the venerable Pope John Paul II. Just as, at that time, during our Thronal Feast, we welcomed and placed their saintly relics on the Patriarchal Throne, chanting "Behold your throne!", so today we gather in their living presence and eternal memory as we celebrate the Liturgy named in honor of St. John Chrysostom.

Thus our worship coincides with the same joyous worship in heaven and throughout history. Indeed, as St. John Chrysostom himself affirms: "Those in heaven and those on earth form a single festival, a shared thanksgiving, one choir" (PG 56.97). Heaven and earth offer one prayer, one feast, one doxology. The Divine Liturgy is at once the heavenly kingdom and our home, "a new heaven and a new earth" (Rev. 21.1), the ground and center where all things find their true meaning. The Liturgy teaches us to broaden our horizon and vision, to speak the language of love and communion, but also to learn that we must be with one another in spite of our differences and even divisions. In its spacious embrace, it includes the whole world, the communion of saints, and all of God's creation. The entire universe becomes "a cosmic liturgy", to recall the teaching of St. Maximus the Confessor. This kind of Liturgy can never grow old or outdated.

(Note that I'm not arguing for anything in particular except a re-examination of our assumptions about liturgy here on the ground. We don't need to be externally like the Orthodox. The Orthodox are the Orthodox, the Eastern Rite Church are what they are. We have traditions, they have traditions.  But the issue is our stance - what is the liturgy for? In our vigor to remind ourselves of the presence of God in the uniqueness of the present moment and allow ourselves to awakened to that, much else seems to have been lost.)