DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Tuesday,
January 30, 2007 Three Great Hierarchs, Basil,
Gregory, & John Chrysostom
2nd
Vespers 3 Hierarchs: Deuteronomy 10:14-21
Epistle: 2 Peter 2:9-22
Gospel: St. Mark 13:14-23
In Praise of God: Deuteronomy 10:14-21 LXX,
especially vs. 21: “He
is your praise; He is your God, Who has done for you these great and terrible
things which your eyes have seen.” We Orthodox
are above all a People of praise and worship: “Let our mouths be filled with
Thy praise, O Lord, that we may sing of Thy glory....Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia.” Especially we are
indebted to the Three Holy Hierarchs, Basil, Gregory, and John, for the rich
and wondrous words they have given us to fill our mouths with the praise of
God.
The most frequent Liturgy
of the Church, which resounds in our hearts and issues forth so easily in song
on our lips, comes from the hand of St. John Chrysostom. The Liturgy of St. Basil the Great
sustains us in the struggle with our wounds and sins through days of Great
Lent, reviving us again and again with his challenge, “And who is sufficient to
speak of Thy mighty acts, to make all Thy praises to be heard, or to tell of
all Thy wonders at every season?”
And let all remember, as
we delight in the Paschal Glory, that these words are drawn from the two
Resurrection orations of St. Gregory Nazianzus: “It is the day of Resurrection,
be illumined for the Feast, and embrace one another. Let us speak brothers, even unto those who hate us, and
forgive all for the sake of the Resurrection, and so together let us cry out:
Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and upon those in
the tombs, bestowing life.”
The present reading from
Deuteronomy consists of two exhortations pronounced to the Church in the
gleaming light of the august God to Whom belongs the heavens and “the earth
with all that is in it” (vs. 14).
The entire passage is marked by contrasts as Moses proclaims the majesty
of God and urges us to “serve Him and cleave to Him,” and swear by His Name
(vs. 20)
First, the ancient Seer
orders us: “Behold, the heaven and the heaven
of heavens belong to the Lord thy God, the earth and all things that are in it” (vs.14). Who can meditate upon the immensity,
delicacy, and complexity of the universe which modern science has illumined for
us and not be moved to adoration?
We observe a cosmos that measures beyond us in light years and beneath
us down to mesons and particles and joins our lives with all other living
creatures. This is from Thy hand,
O Lord of the heavens and of the heaven of heavens! Rightly we sing, O Lord, “there are no bounds to the majesty
of Thy holiness, and just art Thou in all Thy works!”
Then, Moses heightens the
contrast: “only the
Lord chose your fathers to love them, and He chose out their seed after them,
even you beyond all nations, as at this day” (vs. 15). His words foreshadow the condescension of God the Word: “In
this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to
be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn. 4:10). The indescribably infinite God loves us with a love
ineffable and beyond imagination.
Hence, says Moses, “Therefore ye shall circumcise the
hardness of your heart, and ye shall not harden your neck” (Deut. 10:16). Submit yourselves to God; open your
hearts to Him! And thus, having
brought us to our knees before the Lord, the Prophet once again lifts our eyes to
the supreme majesty of God: “therefore ye shall circumcise the hardness of your heart, and ye
shall not harden your neck” (vs. 17). Moses
proclaims Him as the God Who executes “judgment for the stranger and orphan and widow” (vs. 18). The great Prophet uses this proclamation
to exhort us to justice and love for our fellow men who are dependent and
needy: “love the
stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt” (vs. 19).
Beloved of the Lord, the
fear of God is a holy fear that lifts us to His presence and reveals Him as our
true praise (vss. 20-21).
Blessed be the Name of
the Lord, henceforth and for ever more!
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