Seventh Sunday after Pascha. Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. The Venerable-Martyr Theodosia the Virgin (286-305)
Acts 20:16-18, 28-36; John 17:1-13
Read Acts 20:16-18, 28-36
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
It can be fun to be “a fly on the wall.” Observing people and activities can be fascinating. On top of that is the innate curiosity about what really goes on in meetings behind closed doors, especially within powerful and influential institutions.
One such institution is the Church. Whether it is an interest born of faith, a suspicion coming from critical observation or painful experience, or conspiracy theories generated by incomplete or erroneous information, the amount of speculation about the private words of Church leaders is an indication of our desire to know for ourselves what is going on and what the people involved are really like.
As with any institution, over the years there is an accretion of interests and concerns that can sometimes obscure the original mission and practice of our being church. Our reading today takes us right back to the beginning, to the final words of an apostle to the elders of a first-century church. There is no clearer and more accurate source than that. What do we see and hear?
We see a man at the very pinnacle of Church leadership and authority who is self-sacrificial, not trafficking in unfelt truth, who directs people to God’s grace to us in Christ, and who is not covetous, selflessly working and giving to others. We hear him say that the Church is not his but the Lord’s and that those whom the Holy Spirit has made guardians of the Church must be alert, not just about threats from without and within the Church but from within themselves. And then he prayed with the people.
If we want to support the best hopes we have for the Church – her leaders, her people, and her mission, let us follow this apostolic example and take these canonical words to heart.