March 20, 2024 Daily Dose of Discernment

What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” (Mark 10:9)

At a consecration rite the other day, the Patriarch of our church clarified in his homily that we do not elect men to the episcopate; God does. He knows all things and what is best for the community He gave His life for. Leaders only acknowledge His choice. He marries a bishop to His church. That's why the clerical office is called Holy Orders because it is divinely ordained.

What Jesus said about the inviolability and indissolubility of marriage applies to ordinations as well because they are essentially the same as marriage. Therefore, let no man (any member or the bishop himself) separate the church and its bishop. But let everyone respect God's appointments.