(From Jerusalem)
At midnight last night, I was blessed to celebrate the Resurrectional Divine Liturgy at the site of the Resurrection, the Holy Sepulcher. The experience was overwhelming in the same direction and way that every Paschal service is overwhelming.
When it comes to “Sunday Best”, there are three things from this experience that come to mind:
1. All of the pilgrims (hundreds!!!) came to the service with their best. They had prayed, they had soaked in the love of God, the precense of His earthly ministry, and had allowed their gratitude to fill them to overflowing. This type of preparation is easy in the Holy Land – there are reminders everywhere. But this is the same preparation we should put into our journey to the Paschal celebration every Sunday. There are plenty of reminders in our daily life – let those who have eyes see them!
2. I came with a favorite set of embroidered vestments that I had borrowed from the seminary. They are beauiful and of a fabric that travels well. But when I got there, I found out that receiving a vestment from the vestry of the Sepulcher was a sign that the priest had been vetted and had the Patriarch of Jerusalem’s blessing to serve. No matter how well we do with number one (preparation), it is only by God’s grace that we are able to be clothed in righteousness (or the new man, or the baptismal garment, or the wedding garment – pick your scriptural metaphor). Clinging too hard to our own righteousness – no matter how beautiful or well intentioned – may well get one booted out of the celebration.
3. The desire to offer up ourselves in our very best is a natural instinct for the mature Christian… but it goes against the grain of the “mature” man of the world. He expects God to accept Him as he is. Of course, you can take this too far. We do not want to be “white-washed tombs”! But the desire to dress (and prepare) well for the Sunday service is one that should be fostered and nurtured (patiently and over time!) by parents and the entire parish community. It is one of the rituals of Christian life that allow Orthodoxy to shape our entire person into saints.
May God’s will be done in all!
