Awake you who
sleep
It is inappropriate to attempt to measure the level of
another person's faith. This would be tantamount to judging
others. How are we to know what lies in the hearts of
others? What could possibly allow us to feel so self-assured
that we would begin? to look beyond our own weakness of
faith?
It is necessary to be reminded of this boundary and to
keep our own faith in check lest we begin to be pre-occupied
with the faults and weaknesses of others. But what is
apparent and disturbing of late is the growing number of
people who appear to have no foundation in the faith and an
absence of the fundamental principles of the practice of the
faith. This new low level of faith is apparent to me when
officiating in the Sacraments of Baptism and Chrismation.
There are two give away signs for the lack of faith in our
community as revealed in the Sacrament of Baptism. The first
is that the Orthodox person who has been chosen by the
family as the godfather or godmother often displays no
familiarity with performing the sign of the Cross - a
fundamental sign of the faith and of our salvation.
When asked to do the sign of the Cross the hand often
goes to the wrong side, or all fingers are extended and
there is no idea about where to start and end the sign of
the Cross. Through hesitation it is obvious that the sign of
the Cross is rarely practiced by this person who now
presents himself or herself to take on the awesome
responsibility as the spiritual guide of the infant or adult
being Baptised. The kindness and patience of the Priest
however gently holds the hand of the person correcting their
hand to form the threesome of the thumb, index finger and
second finger representing the Holy Trinity of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The remaining two fingers
rest on the hand to represent Christ's two natures combined,
human and divine, with the words being uttered, "In the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit".
"For every high priest taken from among men is
appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he
may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can have
compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray,
since he himself is also subject to weakness" (Hebrews
5:1-2).
The second prominent give away sign in relation to the
lack of apparent faith is when the godfather or godmother is
asked to read the Nicene Creed - the statement of our
Orthodox faith. It is clear from their reading that many are
reading the Creed as if for the first time as they appear
unfamiliar with it. This indicates non-attendance at Church
services by the lack of familiarity and understanding of the
things that constitute the Orthodox faith. In such ignorance
Christ is unknown, a relationship with God rarely
contemplated, yet the Sacrament of Baptism unites us with
Him.
This also indicates that whilst godparents present
themselves for the Baptism of the infant, their own Baptism
lies dormant. How can it be then that a person presenting
themselves as a spiritual godparent can fulfil their role as
the spiritual guide for the child or adult being Baptised?
For they themselves are not awake, but asleep. Again we
therefore must pray, "Lord have Mercy on us and them"
for "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our
weakness. For we do not know what we should pray for as
we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us
with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans
8:26).
Furthermore, it is often misunderstood even among those
godparents who consider their relationship with the Church
to be reasonably close that their obligation becomes a
cultural obligation rather than a spiritual one. There are
so many people who think that their spiritual obligation
ends when they escort the infant for Holy Communion at least
three times after the Baptism. But it is not the number that
is important in order to acquit ourselves of our
responsibility but that we develop a long lasting
relationship with the child through the life of the Church,
which is ongoing. There is the tendency to accept this
ongoing role as more familial and cultural rather than
spiritual through the sacramental life of the Church. The
godparent therefore has to be acutely aware of their own
responsibility to practice the faith if they themselves are
to embark on the role as a godparent.
In these circumstances the Priest's thoughts may turn to
the passage from Isaiah recorded by St Paul in his letter to
the Ephesians, "Awake you who sleep, arise from the dead,
and Christ will give you light" (Ephesians 5:14).
It is a reminder to us of what St Paul wrote in his
second letter to the Thessalonians, "Therefore let us not
sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be
sober" (1 Thessalonians 5:6).
We are spiritually awake if we live by the charge given
to us at the time of our Baptism to maintain the purity of
our spiritual garment throughout our life. We can do this by
keeping our life in the light by faith, love and hope and
practiced through the Holy Sacraments of the Church.
Fr Emmanuel Stamatiou,
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
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