HONORING THE LIVING ICON

HONORING THE LIVING ICON

Fr Luke A Veronis

A couple of years ago in my preaching class, something happened that no one in the room expected. One of the students stood up to begin his sermon. He said a few words… and then, right in front of everyone, he took a paper icon and set it on fire.

You can imagine what happened next. Some students were visibly shocked. Others were deeply upset. The room filled with tension and discomfort. In fact, the reaction was so strong that a couple of hours after class, I received a phone call from the president of our school asking me what on earth had taken place.

Now, the student was not mocking the faith. He was not promoting iconoclasm. He was trying—perhaps in a dramatic way—to make a spiritual point. His message was this: We become scandalized when someone burns a paper icon… but are we just as scandalized when we mistreat the living icons we encounter every day?

That question stayed with me. And it brings us directly into the heart of what the Sunday of Orthodoxy is really about. Today the Church shines with special joy. We celebrate the triumph of the holy icons after more than a century of bitter conflict. There was a time when many Christians did not understand nor honor icons. They feared idolatry. They destroyed sacred images. They rejected what the Church had long practiced.

But guided by the Holy Spirit, the Church spoke clearly through the Seventh Ecumenical Council. Icons are not idols. Icons proclaim the Incarnation. Because something utterly new had happened in history: The invisible God became visible. The uncircumscribed One took flesh. The Word became human.

As the Fathers taught: “I do not worship matter, but I worship the Creator of matter who became matter for my sake.” Because Christ truly became material—truly became human—we can depict Him. Matter itself has been sanctified. The icon is a confession that God entered our physical world.

This is why we process with icons. This is why we kiss them. This is why we venerate them with love. But here is where the student’s shocking lesson confronts us. The struggle over icons did not end in the 9th century. It continues today. Only now, the battleground has shifted.

Scripture tells us in the very first chapter of Genesis that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God. Every person you meet—

every stranger,every family member,

every political opponent,

every poor person on the street—

is an icon of Christ.

Not poetically. Not symbolically. Theologically. St. Basil the Great teaches that the honor given to the image passes to the prototype. That is exactly why we venerate icons. When we kiss an icon of Christ, our veneration passes to Christ Himself.

But listen carefully to what this means. If honor passes through the icon to Christ… then dishonor shown to the human person also reaches Christ. This is precisely what our Lord teaches when he say, “As you did it to the least of these, you did it to Me.” Christ does not say, “It is like you did it to Me.” He says, “You did it to Me!”

The human person is a living icon.

If we are honest, we must admit something uncomfortable. We live in a new age of iconoclasm. Not the smashing of painted boards but the neglect of human dignity. We see it everywhere:

• in the way our society discards and disrespects the elderly
• in the way the unborn are treated as disposable
• in the way the poor are ignored
• in the way strangers and immigrants are dehumanized
• in the cruelty of online speech
• in the contempt we sometimes carry in our own hearts
• We have become very good at kissing icons in church while wounding the living icons outside the church. We cannot fully honor Christ in the icon if we refuse to honor Christ in our neighbor.

The Sunday of Orthodoxy is ultimately about learning to see correctly. The icon teaches us how to see the world. When you stand before an icon, you do not see mere paint and wood. You see a human person transfigured by divine grace. You see what humanity is meant to become.

And then you walk out of church and the real test begins.

Do you see the cashier as an icon?

Do you see the homeless man as an icon?

Do you see the person who hurt you as an icon?

Do you see your spouse as an icon?

Do you see your political opponent as an icon?

Orthodoxy is not only right belief. It is about right vision. So today, on this Sunday of Orthodoxy, the Church gives us a holy challenge.

Yes—venerate the icons.

Yes—process with them.

Yes—defend the theology of the Incarnation.

But do not stop there.

This week, practice a deeper Orthodoxy.

Before speaking harshly to someone, pause. Look into their face. Silently say in your heart: “This person is an icon of Christ.” And treat them accordingly.

If we did this consistently, our families would change. Our parishes would change. Our society would change.

The triumph of Orthodoxy isn’t about icons returning to the churches in the year 843. The true triumph of Orthodoxy happens whenever

• a Christian sees Christ in another person
• a heart softens instead of hardens
• mercy triumphs over judgment
• love overcomes indifference

So, let us leave this church today not only as defenders of painted icons but as reverent servants of the living icons of Christ all around us.

Then—and only then—will the world truly see the beauty of Orthodox