Assumption of the Virgin Mary - Pawtucket, RI : 2026-11-08 Bulletin

Fr. George Parsenios (HCHC ’96)

This Sunday’s Epistle reading opens by referring to the “message declared by angels,” and it is chosen to honor the Archangels Michael and Gabriel and the other heavenly ranks of angels whose feast we celebrate today. The term “angel” in Greek literally means “messenger,” and the angels of God declare many important messages to human beings. The Archangel Gabriel, for instance, visits the parents of John the Baptist and later the Virgin Mary in order to announce the births of John and Jesus in Luke 1. An angel visits Joseph in turn in order to convey the same information. Later, after Jesus is crucified and buried, and the disciples arrive at the empty tomb, an angel explains that Christ is risen from the dead. In these ways and more, angels are messengers who reveal God’s will to human beings. But today’s Epistle reading does not refer to angelic messages in general: it has in mind a particular message. Which one? A tradition had become well-established by the time of Jesus that God did not place the Law directly into the hands of Moses on Mt. Sinai. Rather, God used angels as messengers to deliver the Law to Moses. The Book of Acts (7:53) and the Letter to the Galatians (3:19) both say that the Law was delivered to Moses by angelic mediators. Now, that angelic message—the Law of Moses—was important and it carried grave penalties if it was not followed. Christians, however, did not receive a message that was delivered by angels. Our message was delivered by Christ himself. We did not hear from the King’s messenger. We heard directly from the King. This message, therefore, is even more important and must be taken even more seriously and followed more carefully than the message declared by angels.

Fr. George Parsenios is Professor of New Testament at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. www.hchc.edu

Fr. George Parsenios (HCHC ’96)

The English word “Docetism” comes from the Greek verb dokein, which means “seem” or “appear.” Docetism is a blanket term that covers a group of heresies that taught that Jesus did not actually become a human being, but only seemed (dokein) to become human. Docetism has two presuppositions. First, it insists that Jesus is truly and fully divine. Second, it denies that divine nature and human nature could ever be united in a single entity. Docetism took many different forms in the ancient Church. Some Gnostics, for instance, claimed that Jesus did not leave human footprints when he walked. More sophisticated heretics (like the Apollinarians) said that Jesus had a human body but not a human mind. Several New Testament texts teach directly against Docetism (especially 1 John and 2 John), but the richest defense of Christ’s full humanity comes from St. Gregory the Theologian, who says in the 4th century, “That which he has not assumed he has not redeemed, but what he has taken up is healed” (Epistle 101). St. Gregory means here that Christ healed every element of human nature, because he assumed every part of that nature—except sin.

Fr. George Parsenios is Professor of New Testament at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. www.hchc.edu