Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity:
Intent: Virtue
Today the Gnostic Church celebrates the Thirteenth Day after Trinity. The readings today are about Virtue. But not the kind of Virtue externally imposed on us by the rules and morality of society, nor by God as a Severe Legislator and Punisher, but rather that inner knowing of justice, the presence of the Light within us which expresses itself as Virtue in our actions. It is that sense of natural justice which comes from contact with the Divine inside of us. As the collect reads today: “Now go aboard the ship of light and receive thy garland of glory (Virtue) and return to thy kingdom and rejoice with all Aeons.”
The Gospel Reading is from Phillip and also reminds us that we will naturally find Virtue if we are connected to that indwelling Chirstic Spirit: “If thou become Spirit, the Spirit will be joined to thee. If thou become Logos, it is the Logos which will mix with thee.”
We are also reminded that the Gnostics of the 1st and 2nd century had in large part abandoned the social norms of their society as corrupt and not flowing from the One Spirit. Large segments of the population were enslaved by the supposedly divine laws of their time, including labourers the poor and women. Sadly, this kind of outward and hypocritical moral righteousness and the artificial hierarchical structures it supports continue to enslave millions.
In response, Gnostics propose a new and radical sense of Virtue, a Truer Virtue based on the freedom to explore the Indwelling Divine and what it tells us about what is right or wrong. Let us remember that the Serpent of Eden is viewed as a good figure in Gnosticism and is identified with Christ himself. Let us remember also that it is the power of reasoning which the Serpent represents which made of humanity real grown up Children of God and gave them the ability to discern for themselves the right and wrong of their actions.
Therefore, let us Gnostics pray today with one voice that our society may be reordered on the basis of that Inner Virtue of the Spirit and its Divine Justice which is ageless, compassionate, loving and fair and may those that suffer from the oppression of fake morality be freed from their physical and psychological servitude. Amen.
The Gospel Reading is from Phillip and also reminds us that we will naturally find Virtue if we are connected to that indwelling Chirstic Spirit: “If thou become Spirit, the Spirit will be joined to thee. If thou become Logos, it is the Logos which will mix with thee.”
We are also reminded that the Gnostics of the 1st and 2nd century had in large part abandoned the social norms of their society as corrupt and not flowing from the One Spirit. Large segments of the population were enslaved by the supposedly divine laws of their time, including labourers the poor and women. Sadly, this kind of outward and hypocritical moral righteousness and the artificial hierarchical structures it supports continue to enslave millions.
In response, Gnostics propose a new and radical sense of Virtue, a Truer Virtue based on the freedom to explore the Indwelling Divine and what it tells us about what is right or wrong. Let us remember that the Serpent of Eden is viewed as a good figure in Gnosticism and is identified with Christ himself. Let us remember also that it is the power of reasoning which the Serpent represents which made of humanity real grown up Children of God and gave them the ability to discern for themselves the right and wrong of their actions.
Therefore, let us Gnostics pray today with one voice that our society may be reordered on the basis of that Inner Virtue of the Spirit and its Divine Justice which is ageless, compassionate, loving and fair and may those that suffer from the oppression of fake morality be freed from their physical and psychological servitude. Amen.