Becoming Orthodox is a PROCESS!

Being a Byzantine Catholic Christian, indeed any Christian of whatever Rite, tradition or Apostolic Church, is not only to be identified with Orthodoxy but also to undergo a process where one is BECOMING Orthodox day to day. Being Orthodox is also not simply upholding the True Religion or Right Belief or preserving Holy Tradition but it is Right Glory: worshiping the All-Holy Trinity aright, through the Divine Liturgy, the Casoslav or Divine Office, prayer in the Domestic Church, the Jesus Prayer, and indeed being a Temple where the Triune God worships continually through a life of holiness and constant prayer (1 Cor 6:19-10).  We were not made merely to believe in a set of Orthodox doctrines but to have the very God of Revelation indwell us and transform us into gods by Divine Grace (Rev. 3:20)--deified beings who participate through the Uncreated Divine Energies in the Mystery of the Divine Trinity, One in Essence and Undivided (1).

Becoming Orthodox is also not only the responsibility of Christians, Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, whose tradition comes from the Constantinopolitan Tradition but of all Traditions: Latin, Oriental, Maronite, Anglican Use even those Christians separated from us due to historical realities of which they had no choice such as Anglicans, Old Catholics, Protestants and onward (2). Orthodoxy as process invites all people to move toward its fullness and this fullness is found in the Catholic, Eastern and Latin, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches and by participation other Churches who share many similarities with us on the journey toward Orthodoxy.

God in a Mystery is able to assist those outside of the Church to achieve salvation and deification while the process of becoming Orthodox leads all of us to that fullness of divine Life which the Triune God gives us (3).While those who have the fullness of the Church have a responsibility to instruct the world in Her saving precepts and administer the Mysteries (Mark 16:15), it must be understood that Christianity is more then a teaching-learning experience, or a community of familiarity where worship becomes sterile over time as we lose passion for our Faith, but is a participation in divine energies in which we truly experience what is the Real, the Light of Mount Tabor and the Supernatural Deified Universe, through prayer, and we move toward Divine Union--not an Essential Union with the Trinity but Energetic.

Becoming Orthodox is becoming a god by Grace not a mere external canonical affiliation or church membership--for it is clear that the Lord and the Fathers, who transmit His teaching, instruct us that being members of the Church alone does not save for "small is the gate" and "narrow the road" and "few ever find it" (Matt 7:14).  Becoming Orthodox is the "narrow road" which through constant prayer, metanoia, sacrifice, many good works, participation in the Divine Services in the Liturgical Year, the Mysteries, and especially the Jesus Prayer one may become a deified being--the true reason Jesus became Incarnate is to make gods and not merely to wash away sins or appease the Father who was offended by sin.  We have such a glorious calling! Today, may we make the choice, seize our inheritance in Christ through Divine Grace, and BECOME ORTHODOX.

+Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me, A Sinner! Amen.!





Footnotes:

(1). cf. St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation 54:3, PG 25:192B
(2) cf. Lumen Gentium, Chapter 1, Section 14-16.
(3). cf. Unitatis Redintegratio, Paragraph #3.