The first weekend of the Great Fast challenges us with two very interesting readings. The first is from Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews and the second is from John’s Gospel about the calling of both Philip and Nathanael. In the Eastern Church this first weekend of the Fast is also known as the triumph of orthodoxy – it commemorates the victory over Iconoclasm and the restoration of the veneration of icons in Constantinople in 843 CE. The connection of this celebration with Lent is purely historical – this event took place on the first weekend of the Great Fast in the ninth century. I truly do believe, however, that we can connect this with the common message from our readings.
The common message in the readings is that our FAITH tells us that God is truly involved in our lives. He is not distant and unconnected. Faith can make a difference. Faith can help us to come to a true understanding of the meaning and purpose of our lives. We are called by God to be people of FAITH. It is the one force that can sustain us on life’s journey.
This same message is conveyed through the Gospel story of Jesus meeting Nathanael. In the story Jesus tells Nathanael that He saw Him sitting under a fig tree before He actually met him. This clearly reinforces the thought that God is very aware of our lives and all of our struggles and successes and is with us, if we only believe. We see this in Nathanael’s response: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel”. God, through His Son Jesus, knows all about us and cares for us, if only we believe. Jesus says to Nathanael, “Do you just believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see much greater things than that!”
How do we connect the message of these readings with the triumph of orthodoxy? When we are people of true FAITH, we become living “icons” of God. We reflect to our world a God Who is with us, loving us and supporting us on the journey of earthly life.
We must always remember that we have FAITH in a Person, namely our Triune God. While we hold sacred various truths about our God, our FAITH is placed in Him. It is critical that we understand that we believe, first of all, in God. Hopefully His Church supports us in our striving to believe and hope in Him and Him alone! We strive to become “living icons” of our God.