Jn 21:1-14 (Matins)
Acts 20:16-18, 28-36
Jn 17:1-13

Where Sheep May Safely Graze

Nearly six years have passed since a letter arrived at our remote Hermitage from a stranger. We did not know who he was. Yet he knew a great deal about us. He knew that we were clergy and vowed religious who had become refugees within the Roman Catholic Church. He knew that our hearts ached over the grievous reports we continued to read of reptilian men praying upon children all over the world. Soon it would be revealed that 333,000 children were molested by our clergy and religious in the country of France alone (NPR, October 5, 2021). Who could doubt that the number worldwide exceeds one million? I myself saw it first hand as an insider at several dioceses and had ministered to priests in other countries. They had been asked to review cases whose totals ran to the thousands. These good, realiable men were crushed by these sickening stories.

On other fronts, as a theology professor, I knew very well how far Western theology had veered from the Lord, the Apostles, and the Fathers. And every day I faced woefully lax and palpably unholy and half-hearted liturgies, no longer worthy to be called "sacred."

Yes, our little community was on a road of flight — both literally, as our work in Haiti had come to an end after decades, and spiritually, as we found our new diocese to be no different from its counterparts on the Mainland.

We briefly sought refuge as a Franciscan hermitage under the wing of a much-beloved Anglo-Catholic bishop (who shall always be a hero in my heart), who was himself episcopal visitor to a large Franciscan religious order.

This bishop whose Apostolic line descended from the Apostles John, Peter, and James, was kindly, understanding, and welcoming. In the course of my journey through three great communions of Christianity, I have never met a man who more clearly evinced the Patristic principle, articulated by St. Ignatius of Antioch, "Where the Bishop is, there is the Church." And the Church we knew under his protection brought to mind Bach's aria, "Where Sheep May Safely Graze." This was a golden time for us in the space of our private lives. I am not speaking ecclesiologically. I am not speaking theologically. I am simply saying that during this golden time we knew a life filled with fervent prayer, faithful labors in the Lord's Name in His Vineyard, and the love of a virtuous bishop — no longer persecuted, no longer friendless, no longer alone.

The Anglo-Catholic movement within the Anglican Communion was once a storied, even glorious, vision of erudite and holy priests and bishops. Its clergy and vowed religious were faithful to the ancient Catholic teachings grounded in the Greek Fathers. Its bishops had unbroken Apostolic descent through both Anglican and Roman episcopal lines. But sadly even as we were granted refuge there, this centuries-old movement had balkanized, had been fatally fractured, and was reaching its final phase and collapse. Our own bishop had retired as a diocesan. And his successor took our diocese in a decidedly Protestant direction, even antagonistic to Anglo-Catholics.

The stranger writing us knew all of these things. He knew our past. He knew our present dilemma. Yet, on reflection, I realized that his knowledge was not so uncanny. After all, was not our dilemma the dilemma of all faithful Christians in the Western Catholic tradition? All were, and are, spiritual refugees — some of them too terrified to depart from their toxic world, not knowing what to do. And yet they continue to cooperate with evil — a gravely sinful choice. In their hearts, all of them are looking for a place of safety: sound theology grounded in the Lord, His Apostles, and the Fathers; warm-hearted priests knowing certain truths, pursuing virtue and personal sanctity; holy worship where one might draw near to the gate of Heaven, taking their children with him .... confidently. And without a single doubt or fear. The beauty of holiness, the sanctity of the undoubted sacraments, and the path to Heaven's kingdom vigorously guarded by good and faithful bishops — these are the things for which our hearts ached .... and for which hearts continue to ache all throughout the Christian world.

The stranger asked, why don't we join him in the Western Rite of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad? We would be welcomed with open arms, he said, and we would never regret it. I read these words with a sense of electric anticipation as I would a Divine appointment. I myself had long been grounded in the Greek Fathers. As a priest in the Roman Catholic Church I aligned myself with the Communio school of Cardinal Henri de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, all of whom saw the Greek Fathers as the theological salvation of the Roman Church.

Today, six years later, three things stand out. Most assuredly, we were welcomed (we continue to be valued); we have never regretted it (indeed, these past six years have been a time of wonderful growth and excitment); and most important, we have entered into pastures of safety. I have no doubt that the last Church on earth that will bow before the idols of our Western culture — the homosexual lifestyle, the transsexual brainwashing of our children, the rejection of traditional morality — will be our Church: the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (also called the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia). They will never "go along" in the slightest degree in the face of this onslaught against God and His Church.

For our Bishops (as the Vicar General of the Western Rite phrased in a conversation yesterday) are "superheroes." To the man, each one of them will never fail to protect the Christian faith. All who graze within their pastures may do so safely and without fear .... even as ravening wolves devour the whole world outside of this blessed valley.

In this personal anecdote, we have come to the essence of the First Ecumenical Council, which forever shall stand as a holy monument upon the bedrock of the Apostolic Fathers: "Where the Bishop is, there is the Church." It follows that the Bishops must be united, and they are, united in the teachings of the Ecumenical Councils: one sure stone of faultless teaching placed perfectly upon another.

Today, the Orthodox Catholic Church celebrates the assurance of truth. For in 325, bishops from all over the world were summoned by the Emperor of the Roman Empire to a conclave at Nicaea. This truly Catholic assembly of the Apostles-among-us, guided by the Holy Spirit, remembered Jesus' word on Pilate's pavement: "Every one who is of the truth hears my voice."

Yet is the Church through the ages always threatened by the counterfeit, the false, and the fragmentary. And deception is as simple as wolves posing not only as sheep, but also as shepherds. The slightest adjustment of doctrine can be fatal.

The Edict of Milan (313) marked the Church's acceptance in the Roman Empire. Indeed, the Emperor Constantine and the Empress Helena were themselves devout Christians. Yet even at this moment, a ruinous controversy had already begun. Powerful men were altering a most potent word, Homoousios being changed to Homooisios:

One letter was all that was needed to plunge the Church into crisis. St. Athanasius the Great was driven from His see. The majority of bishops and priests fell into heresy. And the Son of God, once thought fully Divine, even equal to God the Father, was "gotten rid of," reduced to, perhaps a very special man, but a man, nonetheless.

You see, a charming and clever priest, Arius, described Jesus as being finite, a human creature having a human will. This priest, we would say today, was a "rock star." He had groupies following him everywhere he went. He was much quoted at symposia (cocktail- and dinner parties). (Does this not sound like our culture today doting on the utterances of Hollywood stars?) He told everyone that Jesus was a human, a special human, but a human, nonetheless, who could be contradicted. Thus would the table be set for all ages to advance the principle that everyone might have their own truth.

What led the benighted church back into the light? What saved Orthodox Christianity from extinction only three centuries after our Lord's death on a Cross? Its bishops. In 325 Constantine I convened the First Ecumenical Council. It was held at Nicaea. In this place, and for all time, the Bishops of this First Council would enshrine our Trinitarian belief in a universal Creed, which was to become the lifeline of our faith forever and ever unto the ages of ages.

The Nicene Fathers set a precedent such that Seven Councils in all would protect our Orthodox faith defined in an Undivided Church — united, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and empowered to discern the great truths of our faith.

Was that First Council really and truly led by the Holy Spirit? And is not this the pivotal question? For if it were not, then how could be make such claims? You may be shocked to hear that we can answer this question with certitude. On May 7, 351, a Cross ascended over Jerusalem so radiantly brilliant and so large as to span the distance from the Mount of Olives to Golgotha (five and a half miles). It stood in the sky day and night for for a whole week, and the Patriarch of Jerusalem, St. Cyril, wrote a letter to the Emperor Constantius I, who had fallen back into Arianism, admonishing him to fear God. Have you no fear of God?! Is Jesus not the Son of God?! Is He not of the same substance with the Father?! Does He not possess the same dignity as God?! O man of earth, behold the Cross on which God was hung, and fall to your knees!

Today, the Orthodox Catholic Church is the final bulwark against the ruin of civilization. Not long after we were received into the Church, Our Russian Orthodox Cathdral in Washington D.C. posted these paragraphs:

"The Church is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15), founded upon the teachings of Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). She is not swayed by the winds of contemporary social and political philosophies, but continues to offer the path to the healing of the human person and the restoration of fallen human nature. Among the virtues, a chaste life remains the aim of every faithful Christian.

Is this not interesting that sexual purity should rank so high? The Western philosopher-theologian Erasmus wrote that sexual lust drags more souls off to Hell than all other sins combined. Did we not already know this?

Unnatural acts are proscribed because they are destructive of soul and body.

Did we not already know this? Our society suffers from incurable plague after plague all due to illicit sex. The aisles in our drug stores begin to fill with supplies coping with the sequelae to sexual excesses and perversions.

With respect to marriage, the Church understands it as an institution established by God before the Fall, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (Gen. 2:24), and later blessed by our Lord Jesus Christ with His first miracle at Cana of Galilee (Jn 2:1-11). This understanding has not, and will not, change.

"The Church is a spiritual hospital for fallen mankind. In the Fall, man became subject to a multitude of infirmities of body and soul, which can find healing only through the fullness of spiritual life within the Church, which leads to union with God in Christ. The Church welcomes sinners and strugglers with every passion and offers a path of healing and restoration to all.

"Christians in the United States should be prepared to live in a cultural environment increasingly hostile to traditional morality in general, and to Christianity in particular. To create such an environment of hostility, and ultimately to bring the Church under active persecution, has always been the aim of our invisible enemies, who indeed have had their role in bringing about these societal changes. Given the steep trajectory of change in societal attitudes on this issue, increasing persecution of the Church and discrimination against Her faithful members is likely.

"In the face of such hostility and ostracism, we must respond with both truth and love. We must live up to our highest aspirations, making clear the other-worldly dimension of Christianity. Our forbearers emerged into the world of late-classical antiquity with a radical, life-transforming alternative to the worldview of pagan society; increasingly, this will be our position in our secularist society. The days of "fitting in" will come to an end. Under persecution, we will either become more Christian or less; there will be no middle ground.

"We should not be daunted by these things, remembering the words of our Lord and Savior, In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (Jn 16:33). The Church has experienced many periods of persecution in Her history, and has only added to Her choir of saints. May we be accounted worthy of them. Amen."

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.