DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Colossians 3:17-4:1 (11/4) Epistle for Wed. of
the Twenty-second Week after Pentecost
Live Eucharistically: Colossians 3:17-4:1, especially
vs. 17: “And whatever you do
in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the
Father through Him.” In the Epistle for today, the Apostle
Paul admonishes the Faithful in Colosse to give thanks to God in all
things. He establishes both the
action and the precondition: let all be done in the Lord’s
Name with eucharist - accompanied
by praise and thanksgiving. This
initial charge is followed immediately by a series of directives concerning
everyday relationships.
Effectively
In the decades before his repose, Father Alexander
Schmemann echoed this same thought: “When man stands before the throne of
God, when he has fulfilled all that God has given him to fulfill, when all sins
are forgiven, all joy restored, then there is nothing else for him to do but to
give thanks. Eucharist
(thanksgiving) is the state of perfect man. Eucharist is the life of paradise. Eucharist is the only full and real
response of man to God’s creation, redemption, and gift of
heaven.” Let us affirm with
Father Schmemann that indeed eucharist is life in
Christ, for we respond to the
When wives and husbands perceive each other as God’s
creation and gift, the natural response is to give thanks to the Lord and to
shape all actions toward one another in His Name. In eucharist,
marriage partners discover the key to submitting their lives to each other
“...as to the Lord...” (vs. 23). To partners who give praise and
thanksgiving to the Lord Jesus, He reveals Himself in and through their
spouses. This is true because eucharist reverses the alienating process described by
The Orthodox practice of baptizing children in infancy
enables families to raise children under the umbrella of eucharist,
both at home and, above, all in the eucharistic assemblies of the Divine
Liturgy. Theophan the Recluse
points out that “The most effective means for the education of true taste
in the heart is a church-centered life, in which all children in their
upbringing must be unfailingly kept.
Sympathy for everything sacred, pleasure in remaining in its midst for
the sake of quietness and warmth...cannot better be imprinted in the heart than
by a church-centered life.”
This is true, of course, because praise and thanksgiving are the
God-given norm and constant of life.
Parents never will discourage or provoke their children (vs. 21) when
truly “...giving thanks to God the Father through...” our Lord
Jesus Christ in all things (vs. 17).
Whenever both employers and employees approach work
eucharistically, the workplace is transformed. The management concept of TQM, Total
Quality Management, relies upon the idea of ownership in a final
product. Thus, as work is performed
eucharistically, “...as to the Lord and not to men” (vs. 23),
ownership is vested in Christ and achievement becomes the cause for
thanksgiving and praise to God - for what He achieves.
Let us commend ourselves, and each other, and all our life
unto Christ our God.
Return to the November Calendar