Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

With hot summer days having arrived, the heavy layers of winter clothes that were at the forefront for so long are now at the back of the closet. But beware as this time of year some men and women over-expose themselves and often cross the limits of decency and propriety. Summer can still be enjoyed without going over-the-board.

All degrees of nudity (both partial and complete) are inappropriate. In Luke 8:24 we read that Satan was making possessed Gadarenes undress. Let us not resemble them. Even partial nudity can make people fall into carnal sin as the soul and body gets inflamed with passion.

His Eminence Kosmas, Metropolitan of Aitolia and Akarnania in Greece, writes that Christians, especially young men and women, get drawn by the provocation that exposed bodies create and consequently, lose their purity. Families are dissolved, people are led to their fall, souls are lost. As a bishop and spiritual father he wishes for our salvation and prays for it, and begs us to be afraid of God and refrain from nudity. He asks that we free ourselves from this material world, and that we detach our existence from the goddess of fashion. He cautions us to dress with modesty and humility and to maintain our body as a temple of the Holy Spirit, as it is meant to be (A’ Corinthians 6:19). We should not demote it to be an object of hedonism. Rather, we should honour it.

His Eminence further says that we should respect holy temples. We may not enter our churches and monasteries wearing indecent and provocative clothing. Similarly, we should not make our churches centers of sexual provocation during baptism and wedding ceremonies. Let us not forget the responsibility we bear, should we be the cause of anyone’s temptation. Likewise, women should never enter church or monasteries wearing pants as this is an abomination in the eyes of God.

Finally, fellow Christians, let us not forget that we will all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ so that everyone may receive a judgment in accordance to what he/she has done whether this is good or bad (A’ Corinthians 5:10).

OTHODOX VOICE  

MONTREAL-CANADA