In the Eastern Church’s experience, a sacrament (more appropriately called Mystery) is primarily a revelation of the sacramentality of creation itself, for the world was created and given to man for conversion of creaturely life into participation in divine life. If in baptism water can become a laver of regeneration, if our earthly food (i.e., bread and wine) can be transformed into partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ, if with oil we are granted the anointment of the Holy Spirit, if, to put it briefly, everything in the world can be identified, manifested and understood as a gift of God and participation in the new life, it is because all of creation was originally summoned and destined for the fulfillment of the divine economy – ”then God will be all in all.”

This sacramental understanding of the world – all creation – is the gift God has given us in the Person of Jesus. It is the light that permeates the entire life of our Church – our entire liturgical and spiritual tradition. Sin itself is perceived as a falling away of man, and in him of all creation, from this sacramentality by choosing the paradise of delight – by choosing to no longer live according to God’s plan but according to one’s own plan which is corrupt and mortal. If this is so, then Christ accomplishes the salvation of the world by renewing the world and life itself as a sacrament – a union of all creation with its Creator. For a Mystery (sacrament) refers to God’s world as He first created it and to its fulfillment in the kingdom of God. It has a cosmic dimension, one that truly embraces all of creation and   returns it to God as God’s own and by this, it manifests the victory of Christ. It is not just by chance that our seven Mysteries (sacraments) deal with the seven most basic mysteries of human life. Think about it. Life, Love, Forgiveness, Commitment to the Service of God, Sickness and our human, spiritual dimension are all truly mysteries. The Church, by having us celebrate them, helps us to more fully understand them.

I know that this might sound quite esoteric. We humans tend to think in concrete ideas. It says that God       created all things and then put man in charge so that he might, by voluntarily responding to God’s help, support all creation in being transformed into a clearer reflection of God.