... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QoVUDx55hY

From the Sticheron for the Vespers of Orthodox Sunday: "Thou who art uncircumscribed, O Master, in thy Divine Nature, was pleased in the last times to take flesh and be circumscribed. In assuming flesh, thou hast taken on thyself all its distinctive properties; therefore, we depict the likeness of thy outward form, venerating it with an honor that is relative." Today is the Feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, also known as the Sunday of Orthodoxy or Orthodox Sunday, celebrating the final restoration of icons to the churches in 843 after decades of oppression from heretical emperors and Church authorities. The veneration of icons teaches us two important things about Jesus and our faith — that God who is infinite took on our finite human nature; and that in doing so, he made it possible for us to be like Him. By the *fact* of the Incarnation, Jesus took on a human body from the Virgin Theotokos and became visible. The stycheron quoted above states that he took on all our distinctive properties, in all respects like us, save sin, according to St. Paul. Icons are a celebration of, and a statement of, the physical reality of God among us. We can picture him because he became picture-able. But the fact of the Incarnation leads us into an even greater and more compelling truth — that like the icons of the ancient Church, our human nature has been restored by Christ. This reality makes it possible for us to do what before was impossible; to be like God, to perfect that icon of God planted in our souls from the moment our creation. The lives of the saints testify to the possibility that we can become radically better, radically closer to God. If we can, why don't we? What reason do we have for not even trying? From the Kontakion for the Vespers of Orthodox Sunday: "The uncircumscribed word of the father became circumscribed, taking on flesh from thee, O Theotokos, and he has restored the sullied image to its ancient glory, filling it with divine beauty. This is our salvation we confess in deed and word, and we depict it with the holy icons." Fr. Seraphim Holland speaks to us from St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in McKinney, Texas. Visit us online at orthodox.net. This video is also on FB on our Church Web page (@orthodoxnet) https://www.facebook.com/orthodoxnet/videos/1927705570673670/ ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuE7Z0vM7v0