In these times, it is possible to know much about everything, but in reality know little or nothing. Through books, television, radio, social media, via iPads, laptops, etc., we can give opinions on a range of topics. We can tell each other huge amounts of information about people, places, and events without ever meeting them or being present. Of places, we can travel electronically, seeing and describing foreign places and cultures. Of people, such as famous personages, whether they be rock stars, sports stars, or royalty, we can describe and criticise them without ever having obtained a glimpse of them in everyday three-dimensional space and one-dimensional time.

However, when one meets the person face to face, person to person, things become different. We might then say, “We have met them.” One can see many examples of people who meet their heroes of all types and become tongue-tied. It can be amusing to see even famous people of an extroverted nature being embarrassed to meet their favourite “idol,” as it were.

It does, however, take time to really get to know a person over a period of time, and even then it is still possible to find out, many years later, much that was previously unknown.

In our Christian life, our vocation is not merely to know about God but to have a close and intimate, loving relationship with Him.
Having met Jesus Christ, we may decide that we will follow Him, be baptised, chrismated, and receive Holy Communion. Likewise, we may meet someone, fall in love, and get married. However, important as the Sacrament of Marriage is, it is only by living together that we truly begin to understand the meaning of marriage. The Christian life of discipleship, like marriage, has to be lived in real time.

In a good marriage, and also in a good friendship, we move forward by conversation, which is a two-way process. We listen and we speak. As the saying goes, we have two ears but only one mouth. The more we listen to the other, the more we will understand and, of course, know how to act and do what is expected.

With a good friend we may speak openly, but even here there will naturally be certain boundaries for a number of reasons. With the Lord our God, we need no such caution.

Francis Fénelon, a French Roman Catholic bishop of the seventeenth century, wrote:

“Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one’s heart, its pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles that He may comfort you; tell Him your longings that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes that He may help you conquer them; tell Him your temptations that He may shield you from them; show Him the wounds of your soul that He may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved taste for evil, your instability. Tell Him how self-love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride hides you from yourself and from others. If you thus pour out all your weaknesses, needs, and troubles, there will be no lack of what to say. You will never exhaust the subject, for it is continually being renewed. People who have no secrets from each other never want for subjects of conversation. They do not weigh their words, for there is nothing to be held back. Neither do they seek for something to say. They talk out of the abundance of their heart. Without consideration, they simply say just what they think. When they ask, they ask in faith, confident that they will be heard. Blessed are those who attain such familiar, unreserved communication with God.”

This personal and intimate relationship is what God desires for each one of us.

Father Alexander Schmemann wrote:

“Faith, in its very nature and essence, is something deeply personal, and therefore it is only really alive when seen in the context of personal experience. Only when a particular teaching of the Church becomes my faith and my experience, and therefore the main content of my life, does this faith come alive. If one reflects on faith and thinks about how it passes from one person to another, it becomes obvious that what really convinces, inspires, and converts is personal experience. This is especially important in Christianity because, in its essence, Christian faith is a personal encounter with Christ, an acceptance not merely of this or that teaching or dogma about Christ, but of Christ Himself. In other terms, Christianity is extremely personal. This in no way implies that it is individualistic, for all believers encounter, recognise, and love exactly one and the same Christ. But Christ addresses Himself to each person, so that each faith is, at the same time, unique.”

The Lord desires this personal and intimate relationship.

Not that He needs us, but He knows what is best for us.

He wishes to give us His wonderful steadfast and loving kindness.

And yet we so often reject Him. We too often go our own way, not realising the precious gifts of God and, more importantly, the gift of His very presence in the depths of our hearts. We run after created things that ultimately will fail us and dissatisfy us.

Saint Augustine, in his Confessions (IV.12.18), wrote:

“Let us love Him,
For He made these things and He is not far off,
For He did not make them and then go away:
They are from Him but also in Him.
You know where He is,
Because you know where truth tastes sweet.
He is most intimately present to the human heart,
But the heart has strayed from Him.
Return to your heart, then, you wrongdoers,
And hold fast to Him who made you.
Stand with Him and you will stand firm;
Rest in Him and you will find peace.
Where are you going along your rough paths?
Tell me, where are you going?
The good which you love derives from Him,
And insofar as it is referred to Him, it is truly good and sweet.
But anything that comes from Him will justly turn bitter
If it is unjustly loved by people who forsake Him.
Why persist in walking difficult and toilsome paths?
You are seeking a happy life in the realm of death,
And it will not be found there.
How could life be happy
Where there is no life at all?”

The Lord gives us His presence. We have received redemption, forgiveness, reconciliation, guidance, and much more.

He reveals to us His steadfast, merciful, loving kindness and embraces us, calling us into His presence. Just as the Holy Trinity is one, yet

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:3–6

Saint Seraphim, whom we commemorate today, spent many years in absolute silence, praying to the Lord Jesus, our wonderful Saviour. At the end of his life, he listened to and counselled many thousands of people. His asceticism of silence prepared him for this work. He knew and loved the Lord Jesus intimately. Through this communion with the Holy Spirit and, of course, our beloved Heavenly Father, he recognised all believers as brethren and even had friendship with non-human creatures, such as bears, rabbits, wolves, and foxes, which came to his cell.

By this wonderful, loving union with God, he wrote:

“Finally, treat others with kindness and not with judgement. You can never be too gentle or too kind with others. Never treat others in a harsh manner. Allow radiant joy to shine forth from you, and as you radiate joy you will kindle joy in the other. All condemnation is from the devil. Don’t even condemn those whom you catch committing an evil deed. We condemn others only because we don’t know ourselves. When we gaze at our own failings, we see such a morass of filth that nothing in another can equal it. That is why we mistakenly make much of the faults of others. Instead of condemning others, pray for them and strive to maintain inner peace. Keep silent and refrain from any judgement. This will raise you above the deadly arrows of evil that the devil shoots at you.”

So, it is one thing to have met someone famous. It is another thing if we have become personal friends, indeed, even to say that they know us. It is another thing to have been welcomed into their family.

But the Lord has blessed us, and we have become part of God’s family, where we can call Him Abba, Father. May we find great blessing, comfort, and joy in this extraordinary reality.

AMEN    

Given by Fr. Seraphim