The Bishop

The unity and continuity of the Church

is to be found in Her bishops

Gathering together for the celebration of the Church’s Divine Services is that great moment in the life of the People of God that brings together both heaven and earth. In these services we are mystically transported to a place where time and space cease to exist as we know it, and we are transported into the Heavenly Realm. In these services we are mystically standing with the saints and all the Heavenly Powers before the Throne of God.

These services bring us all together, from the smallest chapel, to the largest cathedral. Patriarchs, metropolitans, archbishops, bishops, and clergy of every rank, stand as one before the Noetic Altar, worshiping the Holy Trinity.

The Unity of the Church is nowhere more defined than during her services, and the unity of the people of God around their bishop is clearly that defining moment. Whether the Divine Services are celebrated in a tiny monastic cave chapel of a hermit, or in the bishop’s own cathedral, all are united together as if in one liturgical celebration.

It is important to note that in Orthodoxy, Christ is the only priest, pastor, and teacher. Christ is the living Head of His Church, and alone guides and rules his people. He alone offers communion with God, His Father. He, alone, forgives sins. Christ remains with His Church as its living and unique Head, and is present and active in the Church through the Holy Spirit.

The Mystery of Holy Orders is the sacrament by which the bishop brings order to the Church, guaranteeing  the continuity and unity of the Church from age to age and from place to place. It is the bishop who keeps the continuity of worship and doctrine, from the time of Christ and the Apostles until the establishment of God’s Kingdom in eternity.

Bishops receive the gift of the Holy Spirit to manifest Christ in the Holy Spirit to men and women everywhere. Bishops are neither vicars, substitutes, nor representatives of Christ. It is Christ, through his chosen ministers, who acts as teacher, good shepherd, forgiver, and healer. It is Christ remitting sins, and curing the physical, mental, and spiritual ills of humanity. There is reluctance to try to explain it in Orthodoxy, for it remains a great mystery of the Church.

According to Saint John of Kronstadt, the bishop is the source of sanctification for all the Christians of his flock, after God and the Holy Virgin. Thus, the great esteem and love shown to the bishop reflects in the faithful the view that the bishop is, by his office, the most perfect celebrant of the Holy Mysteries. Every priest, regardless of rank, shares in his bishop’s priesthood, and represents his bishop among the people.

The bishop, as the Father of the Diocese, is father to all of us. We must therefore include our bishop in our daily prayers, and show him the respect and love that is due his office. The unity and well being of the diocese requires that we never judge our bishop, but only love and respect him. He is the icon of Christ in our midst, is pivotal to the whole of our Orthodox Faith, and is central to what it means to be an Orthodox Christian. Without the office of bishop, the Catholic and Apostolic Church would cease to exist.

Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Photo: Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco and Western America, standing in Holy Virgin “Joy of All Who Sorrow” Russian Orthodox Cathedral.

Friday February 5, 2021 / January 23, 2021
35th Week after Pentecost. Tone one.
Fast. Fish Allowed
Hieromartyr Clement, bishop of Ancyra, and Martyr Agathangelus (296).
New Hieromartyr Seraphim, Virgin-martyrs Evdokia and Ecaterine. Virgin-martyr Militsa (1938).
Venerable Gennadius of Kostroma, monk (1565).
Synaxis of All Saints of Kostroma.
Translation of the relics (1786) of St. Theoctistus, archbishop of Novgorod (1310).
Venerable Mausimas the Syrian, monk (4th c.).
Venerable Salamanes the Silent of the Euphrates, monk (ca. 400).
St. Paulinus the Merciful, bishop of Nola (431).
Commemoration of the Sixth Ecumenical Council (680-681).
St. Eusebius, recluse of Mt. Coryphe near Antioch (5th c.) (Greek).
Venerable Dionysius of Olympus and Mt. Athos (1541) (Greek).

The Scripture Readings

James 2:1-13

Beware of Personal Favoritism

2 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. 2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” 4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? 7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?

8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Mark 10:23-32

With God All Things Are Possible

23 Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

26 And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?”

27 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”

28 Then Peter began to say to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You.”

29 So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, 30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Jesus a Third Time Predicts His Death and Resurrection

32 Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him: