The sense of divine mystery, especially in Orthodox liturgical worship, constitutes the sine qua non of ritual ἱεροτελεστεία (priestly function) and λειτουργία (liturgy). And this has, through the centuries and right up until today, fortified the vertical connection the Church, in particular, and humanity, in general, have with the transcendent yet embraceable God.
But I fear that this same sense of divine mystery has all but been lost on the horizontal plane, in our relations with the rest of humanity, especially among those who have more in common than differences between them. Through reactionary comments devoid of the very mystery of truth and love, overrated and asinine clichés, and venomous narratives seeking to recreate God after man’s own fallen image and likeness, we have lost the joy and love (and thus, the truth) of the Gospel. We have forced Christ’s hand to be perceived as one with Satan’s, as in the case, for example, of a church serving as an ideological arm of an authoritarian regime. The generous use of snide comments by many, who have neither the theological acumen nor human heart to express a wholesome, constructive opinion adequately, is often a stark attestation of an interior world that is either hurting or dark or simply incomplete … or all three. Οὐ μὴ γένοιτο!
From the exalted vision of the divine mystery, humanity has regressed to the human state of mysteriousness, peculiarly comfortable in chasing one’s own tail without any desire to break out of the vicious circle of self-induced misery, egotism, and demonic hatred.
Let us continue to pray that the divine mystery celebrated at every Christian altar of sacrifice (Catholic and Orthodox), which mediates the very presence of God within worship and makes the Church truly THE Church, be continued upon the altar of every human heart that suffers and hopes in redemption. Being the Church at only one altar (i.e., within the church building) is a failure of our baptismal calling. Period.
Continued prayers for our Church leaders, that God’s will for unity be achieved and that the mystery of divine love be realized on both bars of the Cross–the one leading to heaven and the one leading to our neighbor.