Celebrate Properly

The entire Orthodox World (those on the New Calendar) celebrated yesterday. If you went to celebrate the end of the fast, you celebrated the wrong thing. We say we celebrated the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, which we did. Today is a fast day since it is Wednesday. If you awoke this morning ‘complaining’ you just finished the fast, then yesterday you celebrated the wrong thing.

As you know, fasting is a major spiritual discipline in the Orthodox Tradition. It is one that I often write about and preach about. There are multiple readings assigned for today. Among them is a lesson from 1^st Timothy, which inspired my thoughts today.

TIMOTHY, my son, those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you so that, if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth. Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of our religion: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, through the pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and enjoin abstinence from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving; for then it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

1^st Timothy 3.13-16, 4.1-5

This reading is assigned for the commemoration of the Translation of the Holy Napkin to Constantinople in the 16^th Century. You can read a brief story about the Holy Napkin here. As I read this today, it occurred to me you may be confused about fasting. ‘Some’ think fasting is wrong based upon Saint Paul’s condemnation of those who “forbid marriage and enjoin the abstinence from foods.”

Saint Paul was not speaking of fasting as we know it today. We fast not because we believe food is bad. We fast to offer ourselves to God in prayer and devotion. We fast to learn self-control. We fast to prepare for major events in our lives. Fasting is a tool, not a goal.

That brings me back to today’s fast and yesterday’s feast. The Church encouraged us to fast for two weeks in preparation for the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos. Fasting was the tool not the goal of the past two weeks.

Our celebration yesterday was about the Theotokos, not food. If today had been the Feast, we would have celebrated without meat and dairy. We would have celebrated by eating fish. That should inform us the celebration isn’t about food. Food is merely the meal in which we celebrate.

Do you attend a wedding reception for the meal or to celebrate the wedding? Graduations? Baptisms? You get the point. The ‘party’ is just a party. What matters is the reason for the celebration. Yesterday we celebrated to honor the memory of the Mother of God, OUR mother.

The Most Holy Theotokos is revered as the greatest Saint of the Church. Her love for God allowed Him to take on human flesh and save us. Her love for us allows her to watch over us and intercede for us. You may also want to know why we ‘celebrate’ her death.

That is a bit more complicated, but again the confusion has to do with food. The ‘real’ celebration yesterday was the Divine Liturgy, not the ‘party’ after. The Divine Liturgy is the ultimate expression of thanksgiving to God. It is ‘built into’ the term Eucharist.

The ‘party’ is about the Church Family gathering to honor our Mother, the Most Holy Theotokos. When any family gathers, we laugh and sometimes even dance. We do not mourn the death of the Theotokos. We honor her gift of herself to God for our salvation. Her death wasn’t an end, but a transition from earth to heaven. That is worth celebrating.

So, don’t be offended that today is a ‘fast’ day. Follow the advice of your spiritual father and fast as he teaches you to fast. Keep focused on why you are fasting, and it all begins to make sense. When you celebrate, celebrate properly.