Twenty-Fifth Sunday After Trinity
Intent: Ultimate Freedom
“But when it (the Glory of the Holy Spirit) is revealed, then the perfect light will pour upon every one. And all those who are in it will receive the chrism. Then the slaves will be free and the captives delivered and they will be at peace.”
We can compare the above reading for today drawn from the Gnostic Gospel of Phillip with that of St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:17:
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
Following in the Spirit of these teachings. Gnostics throughout the ages have agreed that man was made for freedom. Let us remember that Gnostics generally viewed the story of eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge in a positive light. Christ as the serpent gave us free will and we are called to exercise this free will to be in harmony with God’s plan. Therefore, every human being as a descendent of Adam has an inherent dignity which natural consequence is liberty.
This simple idea has taken centuries to be fulfilled in our society. Freedom has been wrestled tooth and nail from power. It has been hard fought and much blood has flowed onto the earth in the cause of this sacred liberty. Therefore, it is truly fitting that these readings come only days after Remembrance/Veterans Day. We have much to thank our ancestors for securing and protecting our freedoms.
I can think of no greater honour shown to them and their sacrifices than when we cherish and nourish to freedom of others.
But the readings for today also speak of a higher form of freedom. Each of the readings imply that it is when we lay our lower selves aside and completely embrace the presence of the Divine Spirit that we can truly be free. They are teaching us that Ultimate Freedom comes from Mystical Unity with the Divine Presence.
Let us therefore pray as One Gnostic Community and One Universal Gnostic Church that we may so cherish the freedom of others that we would be willing to defend their liberty as if it was our own; and let us pray that we may so transcend our lower selves that we can be penetrated with the Spirit of the Lord, that Light which sets us all free...ultimately. Amen.
We can compare the above reading for today drawn from the Gnostic Gospel of Phillip with that of St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:17:
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
Following in the Spirit of these teachings. Gnostics throughout the ages have agreed that man was made for freedom. Let us remember that Gnostics generally viewed the story of eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge in a positive light. Christ as the serpent gave us free will and we are called to exercise this free will to be in harmony with God’s plan. Therefore, every human being as a descendent of Adam has an inherent dignity which natural consequence is liberty.
This simple idea has taken centuries to be fulfilled in our society. Freedom has been wrestled tooth and nail from power. It has been hard fought and much blood has flowed onto the earth in the cause of this sacred liberty. Therefore, it is truly fitting that these readings come only days after Remembrance/Veterans Day. We have much to thank our ancestors for securing and protecting our freedoms.
I can think of no greater honour shown to them and their sacrifices than when we cherish and nourish to freedom of others.
But the readings for today also speak of a higher form of freedom. Each of the readings imply that it is when we lay our lower selves aside and completely embrace the presence of the Divine Spirit that we can truly be free. They are teaching us that Ultimate Freedom comes from Mystical Unity with the Divine Presence.
Let us therefore pray as One Gnostic Community and One Universal Gnostic Church that we may so cherish the freedom of others that we would be willing to defend their liberty as if it was our own; and let us pray that we may so transcend our lower selves that we can be penetrated with the Spirit of the Lord, that Light which sets us all free...ultimately. Amen.