Page 35 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

T H E B A P T I S M A L E X P E R I E N C E O F T H E C H U R C H
sial. We are no longer defined primarily by earthly lineage, but
by our participation in a new family. As the Lord says, “Do not
call anyone on earth your father, for one is your Father, He
who is in heaven” (Mt 23:9). Baptism thus introduces us into
a new network of relationships, one that transcends nature
and is grounded in communion with God and with others.
From this new reality, the baptized person receives his or
her identity.
At this point, we must also note the liturgical unity of the
sacraments. In the Orthodox Church, Baptism, Chrismation,
and the Eucharist form a single, inseparable event. They are
not independent acts, but moments of one and the same mys-
tery of initiation into the life of the Church.
In Western practice, these sacraments are often separated,
based on the idea that one must first reach a certain level of
understanding before participating fully. But such an ap-
proach reflects an individualized and psychological under-
standing of experience. In the Orthodox tradition, what mat-
ters is not intellectual readiness, but ontological transforma-
tion. Once a person is baptized, they are immediately called
to participate fully in the life of the Church.
For this reason, baptism necessarily leads to the Eucharist.
It is not complete without it. Even when pastoral circumstanc-
es require some adaptation, the unity of these sacraments re-
mains essential. Ideally, baptism takes place within the Divine
Liturgy, so that the newly baptized may at once be received
into the eucharistic community and begin to live the life into
which they have been born.
If baptism is the birth into a new mode of existence, then
the Eucharist is its continual realization and fulfillment. For
the life that is given in baptism is not self-sustaining—it must
be nourished, sustained, and brought to its fullness. It is in the
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