Lent 3 March 23 2025


 



On Sunday, I was able to resume my ecumenical explorations, as I was not preaching anywhere.  I was hoping to attend an Orthodox service, and attended the Antiochian Orthodox cathedral, which is not far from where I live. I had a lot of choices: Ukrainian, Russian, Greek, Ethiopian... Just like Protestantism, the Orthodox family tree has many branches.

It was like stepping into another world. The smell of incense, the colourful icons painted on the ceiling, the sound of the cantor and choir chanting the liturgy, the robes of the leaders, the symbols carried up and down the aisle, English and Arabic woven together throughout the service. It was a service that nourished all five senses.

I had to leave before communion, but I attended once before several years ago. Only about a half of the congregation went up to receive, but the two women from my pew who went forward brought back bread to share with the rest of us (it was pre-covid!) I later learned that it is tradition to fast from sunset on Saturday until communion on Sunday, so many were unprepared. However, the tradition expects all to have a taste and, in that moment, eating bread with my pew mates felt like an expansive symbol of welcome. 

I didn't understand most of the service, though I could follow along in a service book that had English and Arabic side by side, and I recognized the Nicene Creed and the Lord's Prayer. The priest preached in English and, speaking about the veneration of the cross, said something I have been pondering this week: The cross, he said, is not the destination, but a doorway. A reminder that faith is not the end of the journey, but the beginning or the opening that shapes our choices and our direction in the world. We are not called to suffering then, but to generous self-giving love. Those are not the same, though they may overlap at times.  What does the cross mean for my choices this week? 

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