REV. FR. MARK SIETSEMA
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church
Lansing, MI
What is the language of heaven?
Ancient scribes said Hebrew. Some today might say Latin, language of the Eternal City; others might say Greek, language of the Gospels. On the Second Sunday of Great Lent, we commemorate a person who knew the real answer.
Saint Gregory Palamas taught that silence is the language of God’s Kingdom. He and his monks practiced the Prayer of the Heart, a mindful repetition of the words “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.” Spoken at first with the lips, these words over time enter the heart and become a second heartbeat that continues even in silence.
As the monks quieted their minds and bodies through fasting and prayer, they began to perceive the light of God’s glory, a divine energy that pervades Creation. Beholding this uncreated Light, they became true theologians, knowing God—not so much intellectually as experientially and personally. They were like the disciples on Mount Tabor, witnessing Christ’s Transfiguration.
“Listen to my Beloved Son,” said the voice of the Father to those disciples. In silence and in worship, know God and heed His will. Talk less, heed more.
True theology is not expressed in a multitude of words, but in quiet and prayerful obedience to the revelation of Jesus Christ. Through IOCC, we can all speak the love language of kind deeds with a silent voice that goes out “into all the earth” (Psalm 19:4). God bless our Lenten journey with quietude and light!
“The light of the Lord’s transfiguration
does not come into being or cease to be, nor is
it circumscribed or perceptible to the senses,
even though for a short time on the narrow
mountain top it was seen by human eyes.”
Homily on the Holy Transfiguration
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