Small talk on Judgment Day (Sunday)

Today is “Meat-Fare” Sunday, also known as “Judgment Day” Sunday in the Orthodox Church. The readings are Matthew 25:31-46 for the gospel and 1 Corinthians 8:8-13, 9:1-2 for the epistle. I referred to this Sunday in my previous post, But Lord, when did we see you like that? — And now it's here. Its icon is usually ‘the Day of Judgment’ which you'll see if you click on the link for the gospel reading above. Another icon that’s rarely shown but which I like better, is one shown in my previous post, Love Sets No Limits. Rather than showing Christ at His glorious coming, with all humanity standing judgment before Him, the other icon shows what the Lord was getting at when He revealed the criteria for eternal life versus eternal punishment for those who call Him, ‘Lord’. By the way, the reason this day is called “Meat-Fare” Sunday is because it’s the last day to eat flesh meat until Pascha (the Lord's Passover, Easter).

After chanting both the epistles in Greek and English, and the gospel in Greek, thankfully the deacon read the gospel. The reason for chanting is that before the days of PA systems, chanting carried farther than speaking could. Now, in this modern time, when people listen to music for the melody and often tune out the words, it’s not a good idea to chant the scripture readings, because I notice that the people around me are either straining to make out the words or else, having given up, just waiting patiently for the sermon. Hopefully the sermon will touch on and explain the scriptures.

The sermon, hmm, well, yes, the sermon…
When the preacher came down into center aisle and started his talk with something about ‘carrots and sticks’ I stuck my right thumb into my working ear, unzipped my bible case and opened my Jerusalem Bible at random, and started reading, hoping to find something to take away with me that I could feed on. It was difficult, because his talk was very loud and animated and it got through even my hearing-impaired left ear. On and off his words mixed with my bible reading. Finally, I just gave up, and decided to attend.

It was just then, that the preacher said some words worth remembering. He told an anecdote about Bishop Anthony of San Francisco, our previous chief shepherd, who reposed on Christmas Day, 2005. (See my previous post, Worlds in Collision, for more about this great man of God.) This is the gist of what he said…

When he was working in the diocesan offices, at lunch time he would grab a small brown sack with his lunch and head for the kitchen to eat it, alone.
But when Bishop Anthony ate lunch at the office, he always went into the kitchen and made lunch for everyone who was working that day, and they all ate together.
Bishop Anthony said, “In my village on Crete, we have a saying, ‘It is a curse to eat alone,’ and so I try never to eat alone.” This made me remember something I wrote in my post, Thinking of Communion last August, “the sharing is better food than the eating.”

Hearing this story brought many things to mind, but especially the times I was blessed to sit with bishop Anthony at table, during one of his many visits to Holy Trinity in Portland. He didn’t surround himself only with ‘clergy’, but often escaped them to break bread with the rough and tumble of his flock.

By the way, yes, that's bishop Anthony in the photos scattered about. May his memory be eternal.