Address by Metropolitan Cyprian
at the Second Recognition Dinner for the
Association of Volunteers of our Holy Metropolis
Monday, November 22, 2016 (Old Style)
Solidarity,Volunteerism, Ministry: Safeguards
My beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ; Co-ministers, Assistants, and Fellow Co-workers; Clergy and Laity:
I bow down and noetically
kiss the prints of your feet, with sincere gratitude for the divers ways
in which you cultivate your charisms, offering them to the glory of God
and for the alleviation of the pain
of our neighbor. This is our second recognition dinner honoring the
association of volunteers who, with sacrificial love and self-denial,
assist the ecclesiastical, charitable, and cultural work of our Holy
Metropolis.The Orthodox Church never separates spiritual
needs from the material needs of Her members, and of all of humankind in
general.
It would be akin to
monophysitism [from monos, “only, single” and physis, “nature”]—that is,
a heresy—were we to concern ourselves solely with that which pertains
to the soul or spirit, while disregarding all
things pertaining to the body: the social aspect of our existence, our
responsibilities to our neighbor, and our concern for the common good.
* * *
Hence, my beloved
co-ministers, assistants, and fellow workers, you are worthy of honor
and gratitude, in that you did not choose evasion and indifference in
the face of the drama of our neighbor.
The social problems and
our multifarious interventions in every aspect of it all, have always
been at the heart of the immediate interests of the Orthodox Church.
Our stance, our
sensitivity, concerning everything pertaining to the social drama
constitutes a criterion of the genuineness of our application of the
precepts of the Gospel.
We must make clear,
however, and stress that our active participation in dealing with this
multifaceted drama does not constitute an end in itself, but rather a
genuine expression of the social aspect of the
Gospel and an active love to one’s neighbor.
The Way and Truth and
Life, that is, Christ our Savior, guides us to a heroic and
self-sacrificial exodus from the prison of our own selves, in order to
encounter our brother, and, through him, our Lord and
God, in an eternal communion of love.
Ministry and the Cross are
at the heart of the Evangelical ethos; they are the quintessence of the
Gospel; they are a source of inspiration and strength; they are at the
essence of the prayer, “Thy Kingdom come.
. .on earth as it is in Heaven.”
* * *
My beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Co-ministers, and Assistants:
Our Concerted Ministry of Volunteerism constitutes an initiation into the
Mystery of Solidarity and
of Social Responsibility. Solidarity is a resolute commitment; it is an
attitude of life; it is a genuine encounter with our neighbor; it is a
sense of responsibility for our neighbor;
it is loving-kindness and tenderness in Christ for our neighbor; it is
the Crucifixional-Resurrectional experience of writing the bright side
of history, together with the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the naked,
the imprisoned, the ailing, the strangers,
and the refugees;
together with the victims
of the frightful modern-day slave trade, of the violence of fratricidal
wars, of the horror of drug addiction, and of the corruption,
perversion, and degeneration of human dignity.
This burden of social
responsibility requires constant vigilance, in prayer and repentance,
for therein lurk the dangers of adulteration: the danger of losing our
Christocentric vision, and of our ministry,
which should be in imitation of Christ, deteriorating into one of
domination: the danger that the humble spirit of washing our brother’s
feet be replaced by a love of primacy, self-admiration, self-promotion,
the appropriation for ourselves of the Work of
God, and
self-idolization.
This deadly danger arises
when we forget the Apostolic, Patristic, and Synodal Teaching of our
Holy Church: “Let the Bishop have the care of all the matters of the
Church, and let him administer them as under
the scrutiny of God” (Thirty-eighth Apostolic Canon).
●
“Let not the Presbyters [
the priests] or Deacons do anything without the sanction [blessing] of
the Bishop; for it is he who is entrusted with the people of the Lord,
and of whom will be required the account
of their souls” (Thirty-ninth Apostolic Canon).
●"DO NOTHING WITHOUT THE BISHOP",
(Epistle of St. Ignatios of Antioch to the
Philadelphians, 7:1); “Let no man do anything pertaining to the Church
without the Bishop” (Ibid., Epistle to the Smyrnaeans,8:1); “He who
honors the Bishop has been honored by God; he who does anything
without the knowledge of the Bishop, does [in reality] serve the
Devil”(Ibid., 19:1)
* * *
My beloved Brothers and
Sisters, Co-ministers, and Assistants:With profound gratitude and
affection, I embrace each one of you individually and all together, in
the
Theanthropic Embrace of
our Church. It is my wish that we continue our voluntary and
self-sacrificial offering to our neighbor, working together peacefully,
with the followingsafeguards:
1) Always serve with the knowledge, blessing, and consent of your Bishop and be in spiritual unity with him in Christ;
2) Let us always have in our mind’s eye, Christ our Savior, kneeling and washing the feet of His Disciples;
3) Let us constantly hearken to the exhortation of our Lord that we
be, by means of love and humility,
“the last,” “ministers,” and “servants”of all.
4) Love is the common
factor in all of our ministries in the Church; hence, it is not possible
for the practice of our ministries to occasion divisions, superiors and
inferiors, masters and servants, psychological
dependency, fear, and anxiety.
5) The hierarchy of ministries is a hierarchy of love,
which is crowned by the ministry of the Bishop, who should be a paradigm of love, emulating the self-emptying love of Christ our Savior.
* * *
With these humble thoughts, we humbly invoke upon all of us the
blessing of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, through the
intercessions of the All-Hymned Theotokos and of all the Saints.
May the blessing of our Elder and Father, Metropolitan Cyprian of
blessed memory, ever be for us a source of strength, guidance, and
protection.
Amen!
I thank you!
Metropolitan Cyprian of Oropos and Phyle,
November 22, 2016 (Old Style)
†
To God be
Glory and Thanksgiving!
AMEN!
