Orthodox Christian Meditations

Zacchaeus, and the Temptation of Comparison

2012-01-31T05:44:00.000-08:00

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

I noticed and then read the two fine short homilies posted on our parish website concerning the story of the publican Zacchaeus and his conversion to following Christ. One was written by Fr. Thomas Hopko; and the other by Fr. Ambrose Young (in which he extensively quotes Metropolitan Anthony Bloom). These two homilies offer a great deal of insight into the character of Zacchaeus and the nature of his repentance, and I would highly recommend that you take the time to read them. I see no reason to write a further meditation that would cover the same ground. However, there is a point that I would like to add as a general comment on reading and reflecting on the Scriptures, and their “application” to our own lives. Or, rather, I would like to add a word of caution in the face of what I would call “the temptation of comparison.”

By this I mean that when we read the Scriptures and encounter a character such as Zacchaeus – or other unnamed publicans – as well as the prodigal son, and other “great sinners;” we may well console ourselves with this consciously or unconsciously formulated train of thought: “Well, I am not quite so bad as these sinners. I am basically a good person who has not fallen to the depths of sin that these figures found in the Gospels have. They are there precisely to show us that even great sinners can be forgiven by God in His mercy. And I appreciate the dramatic effect of such a lesson. I certainly need to improve myself; and I certainly need to work on my relationship with God. But I have not defrauded others as Zacchaeus did, and I have not wasted my life in loose living as did the prodigal son. Most people like and respect me. Of course I, too, am sinful, but in comparison to the sinners mentioned in the Gospels, it would be false humility on my part to admit to an equally sinful life. In other words, I may be a sinner, but I am not such a great sinner.” Even if “objectively” true – and we can never claim absolute certainty about that - such a line of reasoning would basically waste the entire meaning of the passage on us, and perhaps further mean that we would have been better off not even listening to or reading the given passage! Such self-righteousness is considered to be a great sin in the Gospels. If, in comparison to Zacchaeus and the prodigal son, we are not as bad of sinners, does that mean that we are not as equally in need of the mercy, forgiveness, compassion, and love of God?

We seem to be drawn to such comparisons because we always come out looking good, or at least better than the other, when making these comparisons. One further and fascinating attribute of “human nature.” This, in turn, appeals to our vanity and self-regard. We are very much preoccupied with how others perceive us; our self-image as projected outwardly is of great concern to us. We would be mortified – and then either angered or depressed - if we thought that others thought poorly of us. We have a deeply-felt need to be able “to hold our head high” when compared to our neighbor. If only we were as concerned about how God may see us!

There may be another revealing side to the “temptation of comparison:” How does our repentance “compare” with that of Zacchaeus or the prodigal son, or other great sinners encountered in the Gospels? When the Lord came to his home, Zacchaeus was moved to give one-half of his possessions to the poor, and he agreed to restore fourfold what we had stolen from others. Do our fruits of repentance even begin to match that of Zacchaeus? And who compares well with the prodigal son throwing himself on the mercy of his father with no expectations in return? Have any of us been so overwhelmed by the saving presence of Christ and the sheer graciousness of the Gospel to react in such a manner? Perhaps it is this comparison that can teach us some humility.

Before approaching the Chalice in order to receive the Eucharist, each one of us makes the same confession as we collectively share the same preparatory prayer: “I believe, O Lord, and I confess that Thou art truly the Christ, the Son of the living God Who came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am first.” The very point of this public confession is that we are not comparing ourselves with others, but confessing to our own sinfulness before God. If analyzed comparatively, such a prayer would be reduced to a kind of empty rhetoric. Compared to the great villains of history and the great sinners that fill our news stories, we again come off as good, decent human beings. But that does not mean that we are in less need of the saving grace of the Gospel. Do I need “less grace” than the great sinners of history and contemporary life because I am comparatively not as bad? Hopefully, the absurdity of such a question is more than immediate. The only way that we can effectively prepare for the approaching Lenten season is to open our minds and hearts to the Gospel lessons of humility, repentance, conversion, the fruits of repentance and a renewed love of God and neighbor. We do this by listening to each Gospel passage as a direct call from Christ: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!”

Memorial Customs and Prayers

2012-01-20T08:52:00.000-08:00

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

This past Monday, when I went to the gravesite of my brother together with presvytera Deborah and other members of my extended family; in addition to the traditional text of our memorial service, I took along with me a prayer that Mother Paula shared with me in the past. This prayer, I further discovered from Mother Paula, was written by St. Nikolai (Velimirovich) of Zicha, a twentieth c. saint known for his prolific writings, many of which are in the form of meditations, reflections, and actual prayers. I thought to incorporate this prayer into the service, for it teaches and reveals, as well as it speaks directly to God, a great deal about the meaning of death, and of our ultimate hope in God’s mercy, care and love. This could be of great benefit to those participating in the service through their presence. At funeral and memorial services, the prayers that we offer to God speak on behalf of the departed; but they also speak to the living so that at moments of crisis and grief we can hear about the consolation of Christ, and be reminded about our faith in the saving presence of Christ; a faith that not even death itself – the “last enemy” - can frustrate. This, then, is the prayer written by St. Nikolai:

O Lord, we pray for our departed __________. We believe, Lord, that whoever believes in you shall never die. Our loved ones are now with You in a special place You have prepared for them. We thank You for the years they were with us. Now, they cannot come to us, but we will go to them. The separation is only temporary. We look forward to the day when we shall be reunited in your Kingdom. We loved them, but you love them infinitely more. We relinquish them to your greater love and care. May they rest safe in your gentle bosom, safe in Your gentle arms. Grant us, the survivors, the strength each day to endure and overcome the pain of grief. It is a pain we cannot escape but with your help we shall pass through it and come away with greater empathy, understanding and sympathy. Amen.

I find this prayer to be reassuring, but not sentimental; consoling but not cloying; filled with a certain pathos, but not bathos. It acknowledges our grief, but also our faith that God is stronger that death: “For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (ROM. 8:38-39).

In addition, to the prayer above, Mother Paula also sent me this concise explanation of one particular practice surrounding our memorial services for the departed, under the title A Meaningful Custom:

It is customary among Orthodox Christians to bring a tray of boiled wheat kernels to church for the memorial service. The wheat kernels express belief in everlasting life. Jesus said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (JN. 12:24). Just as new life rises from the buried kernel of wheat, so we believe the one buried will rise one day to a new life with God. The wheat kernels are covered with sugar and raisins to express the bliss of eternal life with God in heaven. St. Paul writes: “So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body” (I COR. 15:42-44).

Memorial prayer services which affirm the reality of physical death and also the reality of resurrection into life eternal play a vital role in the healing of grief for the Orthodox Christian.

Actually, various “customs” exist among Orthodox Christians when it comes to death, burial and memorial services. Dostoevsky records the Russian custom of serving pancakes following a funeral, in his last great novel, The Brothers Karamazov. The novel ends with the death and funeral service of a twelve-year old boy named Ilyusha (sometimes the more endearing Ilyushechka). The youngest of the Karamazov brothers, Alyosha, has gathered together the friends of the young boy and is trying to console them in their grief, and plant the seeds of faith in their young and impressionable hearts. The final dialogue of the novel between Alyosha Karamazov and a precocious boy, Kolya, closes the novel on an ecstatic note concerning resurrection and eternal life. This is profoundly meaningful, for The Brothers Karamazov is filled with tormented characters who have lost their faith in God and thus who exist in a kind of restless agony. Here is the closing dialogue –with even a mention of the pancakes of the memorial meal!

“Karamazov!” cried Kolya, “can it really be true as religion says, that we shall rise from the dead, and come to life, and see one another again, and everyone, and Ilyushechka?”

“Certainly we shall rise, certainly we shall see and gladly, joyfully tell one another all that has been,” Alyosha replied, half laughing, half in ecstasy.

“Ah, how good that will be,” burst from Kolya.

“Well, and now let’s end our speeches and go to his memorial dinner. Don’t be disturbed that we’ll be eating pancakes. It’s an ancient, eternal thing, and there’s good in that, too,” laughed Alyosha. “Well, let’s go! And we go like this now, hand in hand.”

“And eternally so, all our lives hand in hand! Hurrah for Karamazov!” Kolya cried once more ecstatically, and once more all the boys joined in his exclamation.

“Memory eternal” to all of our departed loved ones!

Where Your Treaure Is

2012-01-14T11:05:00.000-08:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

The last few meditations or reflections that I have shared with the parish have been concerned with Baptism, as we are celebrating the Lord’s baptism in the Jordan. We need to be mindful that in and through Baptism we become members of the Church – the Body of Christ. This is a gift, and an unmerited privilege; and that means that it also entails a great responsibility for each of us. That responsibility can be summarized by the biblical term stewardship. The Lord has given us the responsibility to take care of and nurture His Church. The Church is protected and preserved by God until the end of time. The “gates of hell” will not prevail against the Church. We believe this “promise” from Christ Himself. And yet there is a human – even institutional dimension – to the Church that we must care for. There exists a concrete, practical side to the Church that cannot be ignored. Beyond that, we bring the Gospel to the world in and through our stewardship of that gift. And we do this on a local, parish level. Here is where our stewardship “kicks in” and in the process we reveal just how much we do care about the well-being of the local parish that we attend, worship in, are educated in, and raise our children and grandchildren in; by the extent to which we are willing to assume our share in supporting the parish financially.

As we continue to explore the many dimensions of Christian stewardship this year, I came across two very challenging paragraphs written by Fr. Anthony Scott, found in a book entitled Good and Faithful Servant – Stewardship in the Orthodox Church. Fr. Anthony has spent years trying to develop an Orthodox approach to stewardship, so that the faithful of the Church will begin to practice stewardship with an enlightened mind and a generous heart. These two paragraphs are taken from his essay “Orthodox America: Philanthropy and Stewardship.” As I said, these paragraphs are challenging – even blunt – in how they impel us to think of our priorites and the “important things” in our lives:

Stewardship is not about raising money. Stewardship is a powerful tool to engender personal spiritual development. Similarly, capital campaigns are not about constructing a hall or new church or establishing an endowment; capital campaigns are really about community spiritual development. People care about what they give to. When people give meaningfully, they care meaningfully. Conversely, when people do not give at all or when they give minimally, they do not care at all or care minimally.

The Lord understood human nature so very well when he taught: “Where your treasure is; there is your heart” (MT. 6:21). Jesus did not reverse this and say, “Where your heart is, there is your treasure.” Who, having purchased stock in a company, bought a home, or acquired a car, does not monitor the stock regularly, attend to repairs in the home, or take the car in for regular maintenance? After a person had made a meaningful charitable investment in the life and mission of the parish, that church suddenly becomes my church. Those who have made personally significant gifts to the church tend to read the bulletin more assiduously, visit their investment more frequently, and listen more attentively when people talk about the church. Interestingly, most will tolerate no unjustified criticism of the church, because, after all, it has now become their church.

Good and Faithful Servant – Stewardship in the Orthodox Church, p. 203.

Again, something to think about.

St Gregory of Nyssa On Baptism: 'Make It Clear Who Your Father Is!'

2012-01-13T05:06:00.000-08:00

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

We are drawing near to the Leavetaking of Theophany on Saturday. While we remain in this festal season, perhaps we can “meditate” on the meaning and purpose of our own baptism – regardless of when that occurred – through the challenging insights of one of the great Church Fathers, St. Gregory of Nyssa (+395). St. Gregory wrote the most comprehensive theological work of the fourth century, entitled The Great Catechism. Within this work, St. Gregory discusses baptism and how baptism is meant to be a an act of true regeneration in which our lives are changed to reflect and manifest this “new birth” from above. Yet, St. Gregory makes it perfectly clear that the sacramental life of the Church is not a kind of sanctified magic. The baptized person needs to co-operate with God by consciously struggling to lead a God-pleasing life that is only possible through the grace received in the baptismal font. When that conscious struggle is abandoned, the spiritual consequences are costly indeed.

In the words of St. Gregory, extracted from The Great Catechism:

Baptism is a spiritual birth, but he who is born by spiritual birth must recognize by whom he is born and what kind of creature he must become. In physical birth, those who are born owe their life and existence to the impulse of their parents, but the spiritual birth is in control of the one who is being born. It is the only birth where we can choose and determine what kind of beings we are to become.

Now it is evident to everyone that we must receive the saving birth of baptism for the purpose of growth and renewal and changing in our nature …

If the essential faculties of our nature are not changed, what then is the change that the grace of baptism must bring about? It is clear that the sinful characteristics of our nature must be changed, and the evil in our life done away with. Undergoing the washing of baptism, we must become purified in our wills and wash away the iniquities of our souls. We must be changed for the better and become different.

If, however, the baptism has only washed the body, and the life after initiation is identical with that life before, then despite the boldness of my assertion, I will say without shrinking that the baptismal water is merely water, and the gift of the Spirit in nowhere in action. This is true not only when anger and hatred deforms and dishonors the image of God in us, but also when covetousness, passion, greed, evil thoughts, pride, envy, jealousy, injustice, lusts of the flesh and adultery continue to operate in us.

If this sort of sinful life characterizes a man’s life as much after baptism as before, then I cannot see that he has undergone any change in accordance with God’s nature, and he is really of the same corrupt nature as before. Such a man then, who does not change and yet prattles about birth and resurrection … is deceiving himself. He is not what he has not become!

Now the physically born child shares his parents’ nature. If you have been born of God and have become his child, then let your way of life testify to the presence of God within you. Make it clear who your Father is! For the very attributes by which we recognize God are the very marks by which a child of His must reveal his relationship with God. ‘God is goodness and there is no unrighteousness in Him.’ ‘The Lord is gracious to all … He loves His enemies.’ ‘He is merciful and forgives transgressions.’ These and many other characteristics revealed by the Scripture are what make a Godly life.

If you are like this and you embody the Spirit of God, then you have genuinely become a child of God, but if you persist in displaying evil, then it is useless to prattle to yourself and to others about your birth from above. You are still merely a son of man, not a son of the Most High God! You love lies and vanity, and you are still immersed in the corruptible things of this world. Don’t you know in what way a man becomes a child of God? Why in no other way than by becoming holy!

The Baptism of Christ: 'He was cleansed for all men's sins'

2012-01-06T16:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

Today is the Feast of the Holy Theophany of Our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ – or simply, Theophany. We celebrated the feast yesterday evening with a Vesperal Liturgy that was pretty well-attended. Those present were able to take some of the blessed water home following the service of the Great Blessing of Water. We will repeat that service on Sunday following the Liturgy, for the Afterfeast continues until January 14.

Theophany – or Epiphany as it is sometimes called – has many profound themes that reveal a great deal about the ministry of Christ, as well as many theological insights into cosmology (the cosmos and world around us), anthropology (the meaning of the human person), soteriology (the meaning of salvation), etc. Here, through the words of Archbishop Kallistos Ware, we can examine a far-from-simple question: Just why was Christ – the sinless Son of God – baptized, if baptism is for “the forgiveness of sin?” Allowing the text for the service of Theophany to answer the question, Archbishop Ware summarizes as follows:

Why was Christ baptized? We are baptized because we are sinful: we go down dirty into the water, and we emerge cleansed. But what need had Christ, who is sinless, to undergo baptism in the Jordan? To this, the liturgical texts answer: "Though as God He needs not cleansing, yet for the sake of fallen man He is cleansed in the Jordan" (Matins of the feast, First Canon, Canticle Five); "As man He is cleansed that I may be made clean" (Compline on January 5, Canon, Canticle One). "For the sake of sinful man": in reality it is not He who is cleansed in the Jordan but we ourselves. In taking manhood upon Him at His Incarnation; Our Lord assumed a representative role: He became a New Adam, summing up the whole human race in Himself, just as the first Adam summed up and contained all mankind in himself at the Fall. On the Cross, although sinless, Jesus Christ suffered and died for the sins of all humanity; and in the same way at His baptism, although sinless, He was cleansed for all men’s sins. When He went down into the Jordan, as the New Adam He carried us sinful men down with Him: and there in the waters He cleansed us, bearing each of us up once more out of the river as a new creature, regenerate and reconciled.
(Festal Menaion, Background and Meaning of the Feasts, p. 57-58)

Once again, this Feast is endlessly rich in themes essential to our lives as Orthodox Christians, and we will try and explore more of them in the days to come.

Fr. Steven

Resolutions or Repentance?

2012-01-03T05:20:00.000-08:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

Resolutions or Repentance?

According to the civil calendar, we began the year of our Lord (Anno Domini) 2012, on January 1. This date is based upon the calculations of a medieval monk who, in attempting to ascertain the exact date of the birth of Christ, missed the year 0 by only a few years. According to contemporary scholars, Jesus was actually born between what we consider to be 6 – 4 B. C. These were the last years of Herod the Great, for according to the Gospel of St. Matthew, Jesus was born toward the very end of Herod’s long reign (37 – 4 B.C.). Christians therefore divide the linear stretch of historical time between the era before the Incarnation; and the era after the Incarnation and the advent of the Son of God into our space-time world. In other words, the years before the Incarnation are treated as something of a “countdown” to the time-altering event of the Incarnation; and the years since are counted forward as we move toward the end of history and the coming Kingdom of God. By entering the world, Christ has transformed the meaning and goal of historical time.

Recently, there has been a scholarly shift away from this openly Christian approach to history, as the more traditional designations of B.C. and A.D. have been replaced by the more neutral and “ecumenically sensitive” designations of B.C.E. (Before the Common Era), and C.E. (Common Era). Understanding and interpreting history from a decidedly Christian perspective, I would still argue in favor of the more traditional B.C. and A.D.

Although an issue of more than passing interest, that discussion may appear somewhat academic in comparison to the pressing issues of our daily lives as they continue to unfold now in 2012. We have exchanged our conventional greetings of “Happy New Year” probably more than once in the last few days. Under closer inspection, there remains something vague about that expression, and perhaps that is for the better. Do we wish for the other person – as well as for ourselves – that nothing will go (terribly) wrong in the unknown future of the new year? More positively, do we wish that all of our desires and wishes for our lives will be fulfilled in this new year? Or, are we wishing a successful year of the perpetual pursuit of “happiness” (whatever that means) for ourselves and for our friends? At that point we just may be reaching beyond the restrictive boundaries of reality. As Tevye the Dairyman once said: “The more man plans, the harder God laughs.” Perhaps the more realistic approach would be to give and receive our “Happy New Year” greetings as neighborly acknowledgement that we are “all in this together,” and that we need to mutually encourage and support one another.

We also approach the New Year as a time to commit ourselves to those annual “resolutions” that we realize will make our lives more wholesome, safe, sound, or even sane - if only we can sustain them. A resolution is to dig deep inside and find the resolve necessary to break through those (bad) habits or patterns of living that undermine either our effectiveness in daily life; jeopardize our relationships with our loved ones, our friends and our neighbors; or seriously threaten to make us less human than we can and should be. We know that we should eat less, swear less, lust less, get angry less, surf the computer less, play on our iPhones less, watch TV less and so on. We further know that we need more patience, more self-discipline, more graceful language, more attention to the needs of others, more “quality time” with our families and friends, more forgiving, more loving and so on. We know, therefore, that we need to change, and we intuitively realize how difficult this is. Bad habits are hard to break. Therefore, we need this annual opportunity of a new beginning and our New Year resolutions to give us a “fighting chance” to actually change. We may joke about how quickly we break our resolutions, but beneath the surface of that joking (which covers up our disappointments and rationalizations) we are acknowledging, once again, the struggle of moving beyond and replacing our vices with virtues.

I believe that we can profoundly deepen our experience of the above. For, as a“holiday” is a more-or-less secular and watered-down version of a “holy day;” so a resolution is a more-or-less secular and watered-down version of personal repentance. To repent (Gk. metanoia) is to have a “change of mind,” together with a corresponding change in the manner of our living and a re-direction of our lives toward God. The New Year’s resolution of our secularized culture may be a persistent reminder – or the remainder of - a lost Christian worldview that realized the importance of repentance. “There is something rotten in Denmark,” and an entire industry of self-help and self-reliance therapies – totally divorced from a theistic context - is an open acknowledgement of that reality regardless of how distant it may now be from its religious expression. As members of the Body of Christ living within the grace-filled atmosphere of the Church, we can, in turn, incorporate our resolutions within the ongoing process of repentance, which is nothing less than our vocation as human beings: “God requires us to go on repenting until our last breath” (St. Isaias of Sketis). Or, as St. Isaac of Syria teaches: “This life has been given you for repentance. Do not waste it on other things.”

Summarizing and synthesizing the Church’s traditional teaching about repentance, Archbishop Kallistos Ware has formulated a wonderfully open-ended expression of repentance that is both helpful and hopeful:

Correctly understood, repentance is not negative but positive. It means not self-pity or remorse but conversion, the re-centering of our whole life upon the Trinity. It is to look not backward with regret but forward with hope – not downwards at our own shortcomings but upward at God’s love. It is to see, not what we have failed to be, but what by divine grace we can now become; and it is to act upon what we see. In this sense, repentance is not just a single act, an initial step, but a continuing state, an attitude of heart and will that needs to be ceaselessly renewed up to the end of life.
(The Orthodox Way, p. 113-114)

Hard not be inspired and encouraged by such an expressive passage!

At Great Vespers this last Saturday evening (December 31), we incorporated into the litanies of the service some of the petitions used from a Service for the New Year. Thus, in the language of the Church, these petitions served as an ecclesial form of the resolutions we make to break through some of our dehumanizing behavior; as well as a plea to God to strengthen our better inclinations:

That He will drive away from us all soul-corrupting passions and corrupting habits, and that He will plant in our hearts His divine fear, unto the fulfillment of His statutes, let us pray to the Lord.

That He will renew a right spirit within us, and strengthen us in the Orthodox Faith, and cause us to make haste in the performance of good deeds and the Fulfillment of all His statutes, let us pray to the Lord.

That He will bless the beginning and continuance of this year with the grace of His of His love for mankind, and will grant unto us peaceful times, favorable weather and a sinless life in health and abundance, let us pray to the Lord.

If you resolve to seek and to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind … and your neighbor as yourself” (MATT. 22:37-38), then I believe that this new year may not be perpetually “happy,” but that it will truly blessed.

Revisiting 'A Christmas Carol'

2011-12-29T04:56:00.000-08:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

Christ is Born!

I briefly mentioned Dickens’ A Christmas Carol the other day, and the inner goodness of the Cratchet family in contrast to our self-indulgent and narcissistic culture. Here is an interesting piece that again brings up A Christmas Carol from another perspective that one of our parishioners shared with me, and which you may find of interest during this Nativity Season.

Fr. Steven

"Last weekend, my family, some friends and I attended a performance of A Christmas Carol at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, VA.
It was superb. The kids particularly enjoyed it and were surprised to learn that the author - Charles Dickens - is the man most responsible for the modern celebration of the season. This is a story that deserves to be more widely known...
Dickens is one of the greatest writers in the English language. He published twenty novels in his lifetime. None has ever gone out of print.
Yet in 1843, Dickens' popularity was at a low, his critical reputation in tatters, his bank account overdrawn. Facing bankruptcy, he considered giving up writing fiction altogether.
In a feverish six-week period before Christmas, however, he wrote a small book he hoped would keep his creditors at bay. His publishers turned it down. So using his meager savings, Dickens put it out himself. It was an exercise in vanity publishing - and the author told friends it might be the end of his career as a novelist.
Yet the publication of A Christmas Carol caused an immediate sensation, selling out the first printing - several thousand copies -in four days. A second printing sold out before the New Year, and then a third. Widespread theatrical adaptations spread the story to an exponentially larger audience still.
And it wasn't just a commercial success. Even Dickens' chief rival and foremost critic, William Makepeace Thackery, bowed his head before the power of the book: "The last two people I heard speak of it were women; neither knew the other, or the author, and both said, by way of criticism, 'God bless him!' What a feeling this is for a writer to be able to inspire, and what a reward to reap!"
Today we all know the tale of tight-fisted Scrooge - "Bah! Humbug!" - and his dramatic change of heart after being visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.
But A Christmas Carol didn't just restore Dickens' reputation and financial health. It also breathed new life into what was then a second-tier holiday that had fallen into disfavor.
As Les Standiford notes, in early 19th century England, the Christmas holiday "was a relatively minor affair that ranked far below Easter, causing little more stir than Memorial Day or St. George's Day today. In the eyes of the relatively enlightened Anglican Church, moreover, the entire enterprise smacked vaguely of paganism, and were there Puritans still around, acknowledging the holiday might have landed one in the stocks."
The date of Christmas itself is an arbitrary one, of course. There is no reference in the gospels to the birth of Jesus taking place on December 25th, or in any specific month. When Luke says, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior," there isn't the slightest indication when that was.
And while the day was marked on Christian calendars, celebrations were muted. That changed when A Christmas Carol became an instant smash, stirring English men and women to both celebrate the holiday and remember the plight of the less fortunate. This was exactly the author's intent.
Dickens grew up in poverty and was forced into child labor. (His father, a naval pay clerk who struggled to meet his obligations, was thrown into debtor's prison.) Yet despite these handicaps, Dickens educated himself, worked diligently, and rose to international prominence as a master writer and storyteller.
He was a great believer in self-determination and, in particular, the transformative power of education. With learning, he said, a man "acquires for himself that property of soul which has in all times upheld struggling men of every degree."
Yet in the London of Dickens' day, only one child in three attended school. Some worked in shops, others in factories. Still others resorted to theft or prostitution to live. Dickens was determined to expose their plight. A Christmas Carol, in particular, is a bald-faced parable, something few novelists attempt... and even fewer successfully execute.
Dickens said his novels were for the edification of his audience. His goal was not just to entertain but to enlighten. And A Christmas Carol was designed to deliver "a sledge-hammer blow" on behalf of the poor and less fortunate.
It worked. Scrooge - a character as well known as any in fiction - is now synonymous with "miser." Yet through his remarkable transformation, the author reminds us that it is never too late to change, to free ourselves from selfish preoccupations.
Dickens' biographer Peter Ackyroyd and other commentators have credited the novelist with single-handedly creating the modern Christmas holiday. No, not the contemporary orgy of shopping, spending and ostentatious display. In A Christmas Carol, there are no Christmas trees, gaudy decorations or - apart from "the big, prize turkey" at the end - any presents at all. The only gifts exchanged are love, friendship and goodwill.
In one small book, Dickens changed the culture, inspired his contemporaries, and helped restore a holiday they were eager to revive.
More than a century and half later, A Christmas Carol is still a tonic for our spirits - and an annual reminder of the benefits of friendship, charity and celebration.

The Church or the Mall?, and other Brief Meditations

2011-12-20T05:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

The Church or the Mall?

We begin our final movement toward the Feast of the Lord’s Nativity with the first of four consecutive prefestal Vespers that begin each evening – Monday-Thursday – at 7:00 p.m. These are “low-key” services, basically daily Vespers with the prefestal Nativity hymnography, together with the hymnography for the saint of the day. In addition to hearing the various themes surrounding the Advent of the Lord in the flesh, these services embrace us with the warm, quiet, calm, and prayerful atmosphere of the church. The setting, thus, is peaceful, and perhaps a much-needed contrast to the hectic, loud and brazenly commercial atmosphere of the shopping malls. Instead of a generic version of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” as background noise to a sea of humanity flowing aimlessly from store to store, one can listen to “O,Gladsome Light” in the stillness of a candle-lit church. Instead of “Deck the Halls” mingled with the sound of computerized cash registers feasting on plastic or real money as the biblically-condemned pagan deity Moloch feasted on his sacrificial victims; one can listen to the soulful and plaintive cry of “Lord, I Call Upon Thee” wafting toward the heavens as fragrant incense rises to carry our prayers. It makes life much simpler when some choices are easy and obvious. So, if we have paid our tribute to mammon for one more Christmas, now is the time to be mindful of the Lord with the opportunity to do so.

Monday – Thursday: Prefestal daily Vespers at 7:00 p.m.

Readers are Needed

We need four readers for the Royal Hours this coming Friday. The First Hour is at 9:00 a.m.; the Third Hour is at 10:00 a.m.; the Sixth Hour is at 11:00 a.m.; and the Ninth Hour is at Noon. The reading includes psalmody, an Old Testament prophecy and an Epistle. Each service is about twenty-five minutes long and thus there is about a half-hour between each Royal Hour. You can come for the entire set of Royal Hours or “drop in” for one that most suits your schedule. As I said yesterday in the homily, it is unfortunate that these biblically-rich services are chanted in a near-empty church. Our parish is too large for that now. Please contact me if you would like to read.

A Brief Meditation: Why Did He Come?

Christmas means that there are two births of Christ: one into the world at Bethlehem; the other into the soul when it is spiritually reborn. Through the Holy Mysteries of Baptism and the Eucharist, Christ is born in the second Bethlehem, i.e. or hearts and minds, our souls and bodies. He that is the pre-eternal God becomes a newborn babe that we might be converted and become babes in Christ. The Only-begotten Word of God, One of the Trinity becomes man, that man might become a “communicant of the Divine Nature” through theosis. The dark cave of dumb beasts in Bethlehem becomes heaven and is filled with the unwaning, uncreated light of Divinity. Christ is born that our dark souls may be filled with light; for do we not invite the Divine Son of God to come and dwell in us when we pray in the Pre-Communion prayers: “And even as Thou didst deign to lie in a cave and in a manger of irrational beasts, so also deign to lie in the manger of my irrational soul and to enter my defiled body.” If He was born in the first Bethlehem, it was only that He might come and be born in the second Bethlehem – your soul and mine!

- Anonymous (sent to me by Mother Paula)

Bumper Sticker Existentialism

A recently-read bumper sticker said the following: “I used up all of my sick days, so I called in dead.”

And another: “Of the things I have lost, the one I miss the most is my mind.”

Questionable Theology

On her final, one of my students wrote: “The resurrection of Christ occurred from the ground up.”

I am still working on that one … Feel perfectly free to enlighten me if you are so moved.

Special Guest Meditation by Fr Thomas Hopko: 'The Blessed Exchange'

2011-12-16T07:08:00.000-08:00

The Blessed Exchange
Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko
Christmas & Epiphany, 2011-2012

Orthodox Christian Scriptures proclaim -- and the Liturgy celebrates, the Sacraments realize, the Icons depict, the Canons protect, the Martyrs witness, the Fathers explain, and the Saints live --the Blessed Exchange that God accomplished in the incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection and glorification of His Son Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit’s power, for the salvation of humanity and the whole of creation:

God became human to make humans divine.
God became visible to allow humans to see Him.
God became touchable to allow humans to touch Him.
God spoke in human words to allow humans to hear Him.
God entered earthly time to make humans eternal.
God took flesh to make human bodies His dwelling.
God lived as a creature on earth to recreate the whole of creation.

He was a human being so that by His humanity we could become gods by grace.
He was small so that by His smallness we could become divinely great.
He was poor that so by His poverty we could become divinely rich.
He was weak so that by His weakness we could attain God’s power.
He was a fool in this world so that we could attain God’s wisdom.
He emptied Himself so that by His emptiness we could be filled with all the fullness of God.
He became the servant of all so that by his servitude we could all reign with Him.
He became nothing so that through His nothingness we could become everything.

He was homeless that by being a stranger He could take us home with himself to God.
He was naked that by His nakedness He could clothe us with himself.
He was wounded that by His wounds we could be healed.
He was without comeliness or form that we could be splendidly beautiful.
He was arrested that by being imprisoned we could be liberated.
He hungered that by his hunger He could be the Bread of Life for all who eat Him.
He thirsted that He could give us the Living Water that we would never thirst again.
His Body was broken that we who eat Him could be made whole.
His Blood was shed that we who drink Him could never die.

He became Sin that in Him we might become the Righteousness of God.
He became a Curse that in Him we might become the Blessedness of God .
He became a Corpse that in Him we might be forever Alive.

He suffered to free us from our sufferings.
He endured the Passion to free us from our passions.
He was tempted, tested and tried, just as we are, so that we could be victorious in Him.
He died the most vile death that a man, especially a Jew, could possibly die that we could live as God intended us to live, both now in this world and in the age to come.

To Him be glory, honor, worship, dominion, praise and thanksgiving, with God His Father and His all holy, good and life-creating Spirit, now and forever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

+++

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through Him, and without Him nothing came to be that came to be; in Him was life and the life was the light of men… and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld His glory, glory of the only-begotten Son from the Father…and from His fullness have we all received, grace upon grace. (Jn 1:1-16)

In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by a Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the ages. He is the radiance of the Father’s glory, the exact image of the Father’s person, upholding the universe by the word of His power….who for a little while was made lower than the angels, crowned in glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone….since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy Him who has the power of death, and deliver all those who through the fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage…therefore He had to become like His brethren in every respect.…for because He Himself has suffered and been tempted, He is able to help those who are tempted…. (Heb 1:1-3. 2:9, 14-18)

Though He was in the form of God (He) did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but He emptied Himself, taking the form of a bonded slave, being born in the likeness of man, and being found in human form, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:5-11)

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have touched with our hands, concerning the Word of life – the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and bear witness to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us – that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have communion with us, and our communion is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing this to you that our joy may be full. (1Jn 1:1-4)

The Great Banquet

2011-12-14T10:48:00.000-08:00

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

The Parable of the Great Banquet (LK. 14:16-24) is always read on the Second Sunday Before Nativity, also designated as Sunday of the Holy Ancestors of Christ. Thus, at last Sunday’s Liturgy, we heard this parable as we continue to draw closer to the Feast of the Nativity of Christ. In this parable, Christ employs the biblical image of a great banquet as an image of the Kingdom of God. This is a very biblical image that the Lord draws on. To give just two examples: this image can be found in the Prophet Isaiah (25:6-9) and the Book of Revelation (19:9). This is the eschatological messianic banquet that God will bless His people with, signifying fellowship, joy and communion with God and in God’s presence. The Eucharistic banquet that we celebrate within the life of the Church is the foretaste and anticipation of this “banquet” without end in the Kingdom of God. Yet, in the parable as told by the Lord, we discover that the very people invited find excuses for their unwillingness to accept the master’s invitation to attend. (In fact, in the Orthodox Study Bible, this parable is given the subtitle “Wordly Entanglements, Poor Excuses”). These are, of course, very 1^st c. Palestinian excuses: “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them; please have me excused.” These excuses sound legitimate enough in their practicality. However, these very practical excuses do not impress the master, for the parable tells us that they “angered” him. This was not an invitation to treat lightly. The master then sent his servant out on a further mission as we hear in the parable: to invite those who are on the margins of society – “the poor, and maimed and blind and lame;” and those basically outside of that society – “Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in.”

In its original setting and intention, the parable is a clear rebuke to the Lord’s fellow Jews for rejecting His invitation to enter the messianic banquet that the “master” (His heavenly Father) has prepared through His own ministry as the (Suffering) Servant of God. To replace those whose lame excuses prevent them from entering into this great banquet, both those marginalized by restrictions of the Law and the Gentile unbelievers will be invited in to the feast. And this may come as a shock to those initially invited. Those who were initially invited must suffer the consequences of the master’s final pronouncement: “For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my banquet.” We, in turn, must look beyond the original intention of the parable so that we do not succumb to that moralizing complacency that allows us to judge others of the very sin we may be committing. We must leave to God whatever judgments that God may determine for unbelief and the rejection of the messianic ministry of Jesus; a ministry fulfilled in the Death and Resurrection of God’s Messiah and the establishment of the messianic banquet in the Age to Come and anticipated today in the Eucharistic Liturgy.

Perhaps there are some contemporary members of the Church who excuse themselves for rejecting the “invitation” to the Liturgy celebrated on the Lord’s Day – perhaps only from “time to time,” or perhaps with some regularity. As said above, since the Liturgy is the foretaste of the great and heavenly banquet of the Age to Come, we also may incur the displeasure of the Master by our own excuses, though they may sound as legitimate and practical as those recorded in the parable. In our contemporary society there are many seemingly innocuous reasons (excuses?) for not participating in the Liturgy on the Lord’s Day with faithful regularity. And these reasons are only going to multiply over time. Sunday mornings are no longer that nice wide-open space on our pocket planners or refrigerator calendars that are unquestioningly left open for God and the Liturgy. The society we live in continues to encroach upon that empty space and is threatening to squeeze it out of existence. The parable of the Great Banquet has something to say about that. Thus, we have the opportunity to think long and hard over our choices.

Yet beyond that issue, we must seriously listen to this parable and discover how it is actualized in our many decisions on a daily basis. We may have the “Liturgy issue” under perfect control in that we are unfailingly faithful to our commitment to be present at the messianic banquet table of the Lord from which we partake of the Bread from Heaven. (Hopefully that is reason for rejoicing and not simply an act of obligation). However, we may have our own litany of excuses as to why we fail to work on our ongoing relationship with God, thus extending the application of this parable to embrace all aspects of that relationship. If we fail to pray with regularity, or read the Scriptures, or confess our sins, we have an excuse. If we fail to fast, or to be charitable, we have an excuse. If we fail to support the Church – and its local manifestation in the parish - with our time, talent or treasure beyond the minimal, we have an excuse. If we are less than a neighbor to those in need, or neglect the marginalized of society, we have an excuse. The human mind is a veritable factory of creative excuse-making when we need to rationalize or justify a certain behavior or lack of behavior. (see GEN. 3) Perhaps a sign of Christian maturity is when we no longer come up with excuses, but simply admit to our shortcomings and lack of focus.

To offer a generalization, it seems that the excuses given in the parable seem to fall under the rubric of “being busy.” Or, rather, that we are simply “too busy” to do what is needed, and/or even to concentrate on the “one thing needful.” Perhaps we can avoid sin, but we cannot avoid our busy schedules. We are too busy to even sin – at least “big time!” This is the human condition as lived by contemporary human beings. And there is no easy solution.

Perhaps it is only our vision of life that can begin to help us move beyond this impasse: “Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (COL. 3:1). A vision of life nourished by an abiding faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that believing we have life in His Name (JN. 20:31). Yet, also further nourished by the Great Banquet of the Eucharistic Liturgy that we are invited to every Sunday, which is therefore the Day that first and foremost belongs to the Lord before and beyond anything else. This vision of life would also be future-oriented so as to embrace the “life of the world to come” – described for us as a Great Banquet in which we will experience the indescribable joy of fellowship and communion with the Holy Trinity, the saints and with each other. By participating in the Liturgy we prepare ourselves for that life with God, because the Liturgy is probably the most perfect expression of what we anticipate and look forward to in God’s heavenly Kingdom – fellowship, joy, communion and love inexpressible. If we can only hold that vision of life up to our gaze, then we can “make time” so as to hold God at the center of our lives. I suggest that a modest start is stop making excuses, and make an honest assessment of what we need to repent of and confess to. Then, we have always at least the potential for a new beginning.

Exploring the Incarnation IV - The Radicalness of the Incarnation

2011-12-07T05:08:00.000-08:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

Today, December 6, we celebrate St. Nicholas of Myra in Lycia, the Wonderworker. Considering the deluge that we endured yesterday, we had a larged-sized body of the faithful at the Vesperal Liturgy yesterday evening. It was a wonderful service, and it was good to witness the enduring veneration of the real St. Nicholas as it continues down the centuries, regardless of the geographical or cultural setting. Together with the many texts praising St. Nicholas in the service, were included those that continue to prepare us for the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, and the mystery of the Incarnation.

To remain focused on the Incarnation, here is the third and final passage from Archbishop Ware’s book The Orthodox Way, under the section heading “Salvation as Sharing.” Archbishop Ware goes far in reflecting on the utter radicalness of the Incarnation: here we encounter the suffering God who entered into the fallen conditions of our world and voluntarily embraced them in order to save us from these very conditions that undermine our very humanity and our relationship with God:

Secondly, this notion of salvation as sharing implies – although many have been reluctant to say this openly – that Christ assumed not just unfallen but fallen human nature. As the Epistle to the Hebrews insists (and in the New Testament there is no Christological text more important than this): “We do not have a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but he was in all points tempted exactly as we are, yet without sinning” (4:15). Christ lives out his life on earth under the conditions of the fall. He is not himself a sinful person, but in his solidarity with fallen man he accepts to the full the consequences of Adam’s sin. He accepts to the full not only the physical consequences, such as weariness, bodily pain, and eventually the separation of body and soul in death. He accepts also the moral consequences, the loneliness, the alienation, the inward conflict. It may seem a bold thing to ascribe all this to the living God, but a consistent doctrine of the Incarnation requires nothing less. If Christ has merely assumed unfallen human nature, living out his earthly life in the situation of Adam in Paradise, then he would not have been touched with the feeling of our infirmities, nor would he have been tempted in everything exactly as we are. And in that case he would not be our Savior.

St. Paul goes so far as to write, “God has made him who knew no sin to be sin for our sake” (II COR. 5:21). We are not to think here solely in terms of some juridical transaction, whereby Christ, himself, guiltless, somehow has our guilt “imputed” to him in an exterior manner. Much more is involved than that. Christ saves us by experiencing from within, as one of us, all that we suffer inwardly through living in a sinful world.

The Orthodox Way, p. 75-76.

Exploring the Incarnation III - The Full Humanity of Christ

2011-12-02T15:21:00.000-08:00

Dear Parish Faithful and Friends in Christ,

Today’s addition to our selection of key passages illuminating the Incarnation for our spiritual enlightenment is a continuation of yesterday’s passage from The Orthodox Way by Archbishop Kallistos Ware. If you recall, the section of his book from which these passages are taken is entitled “Salvation as Sharing.” The very possibility of God “sharing” His life with us, is already a profoundly moving concept. How much more overwhelming is the very reality of this sharing! For we firmly believe that this is precisely what God has done in Christ – given to us a share in His divine uncreated grace and glory through the Incarnation of the eternal Word become man as Jesus of Nazareth. In this passage, you will be impressed by how strongly Archbishop Kallistos stresses the point of the full humanity of Christ. Christ did not only seem to be human, He was and is, in fact, fully human, because the Word became flesh! The sharing and exchange in the Incarnation between God and humankind is thus fully reciprocal and total. Archbishop Kallistos writes the following:

This notion of salvation as sharing implies two things in particular about the Incarnation. First, it implies that Christ took not only a human body like ours but also a human spirit, mind and soul like ours. Sin, as we saw has its source not from below but from above; it is not physical in its origin but spiritual. The aspect of man, then, that requires to be redeemed is not primarily his body but his will and his centre of moral choice. If Christ did not have a human mind, then this would fatally undermine the second principle of salvation, that divine salvation must reach the point of human need.

The importance of this principle was re-emphasized during the second half of the fourth century, when Appolinarius advanced the theory – for which he was quickly condemned as a heretic – that at the Incarnation Christ took only a human body, but no human intellect or rational soul. To this St. Gregory the Theologian replied, “The unassumed is unhealed.” Christ, that is to say, saves us by becoming what we are; he heals us by taking our broken humanity into himself, by “assuming” it as his own, by entering into our human experience and by knowing it from the inside, as being himself one of us. But had his sharing of our humanity been in some way incomplete, then man’s salvation would be likewise incomplete. If we believe that Christ has brought us a total salvation, then it follows that he has assumed everything.
The Orthodox Way, p. 74-75

To be continued …

Exploring the Incarnation II - Salvation as Sharing

2011-12-01T09:30:00.000-08:00

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

I am sure that many of you have read – and perhaps reread - Archbishop Kallistos Ware’s The Orthodox Way. Since its original publication in 1979, this book has gone through a revision any many reprintings. In just a relatively short time, this book has become a “classic” of contemporary Orthodox theology and spirituality. I believe that The Orthodox Way is one of those “top ten” books that belong in the library of every literate, interested and engaged Orthodox Christian (with the intention that it will eventually be read!).

Be that as it may, to continue our series of passages that open up the Incarnation for us to deeper levels of understanding, I would like to draw from this wonderful book. Those who have already read these passages will have their memories refreshed; and those reading these passages for the first time will experience the joy of encountering a living response to the age-old mystery of the Incarnation and some of its profound implications for our understanding of Christ and of our own lives in Christ. There will undoubtedly be some new insights here that may strike you for the first time. In the chapter entitled “God as Man,” there is a sub-section further that bears the heading “Salvation as Sharing.” The first part of this section develops this theme in the following manner:

The Christian message of salvation can best be summed up in terms of sharing, of solidarity and identification. The notion of sharing is a key alike to the doctrine of God in Trinity and to the doctrine of God made man. The doctrine of the Trinity affirms that, just as man is authentically personal only when he shares with others, so God is not a single person dwelling alone, but three persons who share each other’s life in perfect love. The Incarnation equally is a doctrine of sharing or participation. Christ shares to the full in what we are, and so he makes it possible for us to share in what he is, in his divine life and glory. He became what we are, so as to make us what he is.

St. Paul expresses this metaphorically in terms of wealth and poverty: “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that through his poverty you might become rich” (II COR. 8:9). Christ’s riches are his eternal glory; Christ’s poverty is his complete self-identification with our fallen human condition . In the words of an Orthodox Christmas hymn, “Sharing wholly in our poverty, thou hast made divine our earthly nature through thy union with it and participation in it.” Christ shares in our death, and we share in his life; he “empties himself” and we are “exalted” (PHIL. 2:5-9). God’s descent makes possible man’s ascent. St. Maximus the Confessor writes: “Ineffably the infinite limits itself, while the finite is expanded to the measure of the infinite.”

As Christ said at the Last Supper: “The glory which thou hast given to me I have given to them, that they may be one, as we are one: I in them and thou in me, may they be perfectly united in one” (JN. 17:22-23). Christ enables us to share in the Father’s divine glory. He is the bond and meeting-point: because he is man, he is one with us; because he is God, he is one with the Father. So, through and in him we are one with God, and the Father’s glory becomes our glory. God’s Incarnation opens the way to man’s deification. To be deified is, more specifically, to be “christified”: the divine likeness that we are called to attain is the likeness of Christ. It is through Jesus the God-man that we men are “ingodded,” “divinized,” made “sharers of the divine nature” (II PET. 1:4). By assuming our humanity, Christ who is Son of God by nature has made us sons of God by grace. In him we are “adopted” by God the Father, becoming sons-in-the-Son.

The Orthodox Way, p. 73-74

To be continued …

Exploring the Incarnation - The Jesus Prayer as Perfect Profession of Faith

2011-12-01T09:17:00.000-08:00

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

It is less than four weeks until the glorious Feast of our Lord’s Nativity in the flesh. Christmas is actually the feast of the Incarnation of Christ – the enfleshment of the Son of God as Jesus of Nazareth. It is always “meet and right” that we reflect and meditate upon this awesome mystery of the advent of the pre-eternal God into our midst as a little Child. We would never want to approach the Incarnation in a casual manner, reducing it to an abstract doctrine that only demands our intellectual assent. Rather, I would hope that we always approach the Incarnation prayerfully and with a sense of gratitude, joy and awe before this sublime mystery that occurred within “the fullness of time” and “for our salvation.”

The Incarnation of Christ is a dogma of the Church. This does not mean that it is an arid concept that demands blind adherence. That would be true of a totalitarian ideology. A dogma is the revelation of divine Truth; a description of reality at its most deepest level; and an invitation to assimilate that Truth to our own lives in a transformative manner. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. This implies and combines orthodoxy (right belief) and orthopraxis (right practice/living). A dogma is meant to “count” in our lives, so that our lives reflect a living faith in the truth of what a particular dogma expresses. Our faith in the Incarnation should have a daily impact on our lives: God became man so that man could become like God! (Or God was humanized so that humans could be divinized). The New Adam has come to restore our fellowship with God.

Perhaps a good way to maintain such a focus during this Advent season is to be supplied with a series of well-written passages from Orthodox theologians – both ancient and contemporary - that uncover for us some of the depth and profundity of the Incarnation. From now and until Nativity, I will hopefully send out a fair amount of such wonderful texts that show the consistency of Orthodox belief in the Incarnation “from generation to generation,” together with the endlessly creative and insightful ways that the truth of the Incarnation can be expressed. What does it actually mean to say that God became man? Can God actually be born? If so, what does that say of His mother? If Jesus is God how can He also be human? How do we understand the union of the divine and the human natures in the Person of Jesus Christ? Reading some of these texts carefully, and then meditating on what we read will help us with dealing with such perplexing questions and in our search to further understand the mystery of the Incarnation “in an Orthodox manner.”

We will begin with a passage from Metropolitan Anthony Bloom that our Fall Adult Education class read and discussed together the other evening. This passage is taken from Met. Anthony’s discussion of the practice of the Jesus Prayer. What are we saying when we address Christ in prayer as the Lord Jesus Christ? The metropolitan writes the following as a kind of profession of faith:

To see in the man of Galilee, in the prophet of truth, the incarnate Word of God, God become man, we must be guided by the Spirit, because it is the Spirit of God who reveals to us both the Incarnation and the lordship of Christ. We call him Christ, and we affirm thereby that in him were fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament. To affirm that Jesus is the Christ implies that the whole history of the Old Testament is ours, that we accept it as the truth of God. We call him Son of God, because we know that the Messiah expected by the Jews, the man who was called “son of David” by Bartimaeus, is the incarnate Son of God. These words sum up all we know, all we believe about Jesus Christ, from the Old Testament through the ages. In these few words we make a complete and perfect profession of faith.

Metropolitan Anthony of Sorouzh – Selected Writings, p. 135

Restoring a Proper Thanksgiving Balance

2011-11-28T12:30:00.000-08:00

Dear Parish Faithful Friends in Christ,

In an article entitled “A Moveable Fast,” the scholar Elyssa East summarized the history of our American Thanksgiving, and the intentions and practices of the early New England colonists toward this national feast. Initially, she writes,Thanksgiving was built around the Christian rhythm of fasting and feasting. Bearing that in mind, she also offered her own commentary on how this national celebration has changed over the years:

In the nearly 400 years since the first Thanksgiving, the holiday has come to mirror our transformation into a nation of gross overconsumption, but the New England colonists never intended for Thanksgiving to be a day of gluttony. They dished up restraint along with gratitude as a shared main course. What mattered most was not the feast itself, but the gathering together in thanks and praise for life’s most humble gifts. Perhaps this holiday season we could benefit from restoring a proper Thanksgiving balance between forbearance and indulgence.

This sounds like a fair commentary on how the past Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend is now approached and practiced by contemporary Americans. What adds further to this confusion is not simply the matter of anticipating a good feast on Thanksgiving Day and enjoying the guilty pleasure of over-eating together with family and friends; but the fact that “overconsumption” and “indulgence” are hardly limited to one day’s big meal. Those terms are now more appropriately directed toward “Black Friday” (not sure what the term means) and today’s “Cyber Monday.” There seems to be a perceptible shift away from the food feast toward the frenzy of shopping and spending with a zeal that would possibly be admirable if it was only directed toward something not so openly and unabashedly self-indulgent. The only restraint is in the size of one’s pocketbook; but if that empties out there is always the credit card! We may soon reach the point when our neighbor will no longer greet us with the conventional “have a happy Thanksgiving.” Rather, it may become “have a successful Black Friday!” Clearly, a sense of balance and proportion has disappeared from the lives of many Americans, as consumerism displaces a sense of thanksgiving.

Over the last four days what predominated in your lives as Orthodox Christians? Did you fail to come to church for one of the Thanksgiving Day services but somehow manage to be “out and about” at the stores for Black Friday? If so, how did that happen? How does such a choice hold up to your theoretical priorities? Are we better described as Eucharistic beings or as consumers? When presented with a choice, will it be for the Church and what the Church represents; or will it be “the world” and what the world represents?

I realize that it is easy to be critical of our consumer-driven society. And perhaps priests and pastors “over-indulge” in just such a predictable routine. My intention, at least, is not to moralize or chastise. After all, I am also a consumer! Rather, I am more-or-less thinking out loud, and sharing the questions raised by such thinking. Now that the holiday weekend is behind us, can we “pick up where we left off?” That further question only makes sense if indeed we had begun to observe the Nativity Fast in anticipation and preparation for the Feast on December 25, and then postponed that effort for the weekend that we just enjoyed. Now that we are returning to the normal routines of our daily lives, do we have the strength and commitment to embrace “the Orthodox Way” of life that understands only too well the pitfalls and temptations of overconsumption and indulgence?

The “battle of the calendars” is perhaps never so fierce as during these last few weeks before Christmas. We can do the “jingle-bell rock,” or we can curb our passions. When we were baptized – no matter how many years ago - we prayed that God would strengthen us as “invincible warriors of Christ our God;” and that we would “keep the Orthodox Faith.” That vocation is tested on a daily basis – including this particular day.

An Inconvenient Feast?

2011-11-17T08:52:00.000-08:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

According to the liturgical calendar for this year, the next of the Twelve Major Feast Days is Monday, November 21 – the Entrance of the Theotokos Into the Temple. This means that the festal Great Vespers with the blessing of the loaves and anointment with oil will be served this coming Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m. The Liturgy will then be served on Monday morning at 9:30 a.m. Certain Feast Days are called immovable, for they occur on the same date every year – Nativity on December 25; Theophany on January 6 – as is the case with the upcoming Entrance of the Theotokos. Yet, occurring on the same date every year means that these Feasts will be celebrated on a different day of the week every year in a cyclical fashion. The moveable Feasts are those that are determined by the annual changing date of Pascha – Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday; Ascension and Pentecost. These Feast occur on the same day every year, but on a different date. So the over-all festal life of the Church – comprised of Feasts honoring the Lord and the Thetokos – is something of a rhythm between moveable and immovable dates, lending to this cycle a rather dynamic quality. Yet, this poses challenges for us living out our Faith in a contemporary setting.

For parish life, the most challenging day and time of the week to have a service is on Sunday evening. For what I would assume are a variety of reasons, parishioners simply do not return to church for a service on Sunday evening. For many or most it is probably not even on one’s ecclesial radar screen. Yet the church calendar is what it is, and this year the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos Into the Temple will be celebrated on Sunday evening/Monday morning. With our pattern of poor attendance for Sunday evening services, and a work schedule beginning on Monday morning, the prospects for a “festal” Feast Day are rather bleak. In the ongoing “battle of the calendars” – ecclesial and secular - that we may be aware of or not, this one looks like a definite setback. Work is work on Monday morning, but is it really the case that Sunday evening has to remain a “black hole” of sorts in our over-all parish life? Is it really well-nigh “impossible” to return to church for a festal service honoring the Theotokos on Sunday evening? Are these even meaningful questions in today’s world? Or are these those types of esoteric and arcane questions that the caste of Orthodox priests are prone to indulge in?

Preparing for the service on Sunday evening, I know ahead of time that the church will be near-empty for the service. After many years, I am quite accustomed to that, but it still remains a less than exciting prospect. However, that is not the point, because it not about me and whatever interior attitude I may bring to the service. It is not about whatever “disappointments” a parish priest may experience. In every parish there are parishioners who are justifiably disappointed with the priest. After awhile, such concerns can become rather fruitless. Actually, it is about all of us as an Orthodox Christian community. And my pastoral goal is to try and invigorate everyone in the parish with a sense of commitment to the Church’s celebration of the festal cycle; a cycle of services that gives us the opportunity to re-live and actualize the saving events of God’s dispensation for our salvation. And this may mean making adjustments in our lives that will make that possible. On November 21, we are able to celebrate, together with the Virgin Mary, her entrance into the Temple of the Lord as one of the first acts of her preparation to be the Theotokos. Bearing this in mind, everyone will have to (re-)examine his/her stewardship of time and energy and determine whether or not you on a personal level, or all on a communal level, can commit on a deeper level to be aware of that festal cycle and to participate when we are able even if and when that commitment proves to be challenging or “inconvenient.” Where is our treasure? Where are our priorites? What really motivates us? These are the general question below the surface.

Yet, perhaps I can pose a more direct question: Just how challenging or inconvenient will it be on this coming Sunday evening to return to church for the festal Great Vespers? (Or, if possible, for the Liturgy on Monday morning?) Each person or household will have to answer that question on their own. The answers, of course, will be multiple and quite varied. But I again repeat that I hope that that is at least a meaningful question that everyone will think over. To repeat: The calendar is what it is for this year, and we will have some choices to make on Sunday – consciously or not. If it gets down to socializing; going to see a film; or watching one more football game; what does such a choice say about your response to the previously-mentioned commitment to the life of the Church? Is it possible to tear yourselves away from those choices and choose the Church instead? Of course, anyone can rationalize and say: “I have already been to church once today, and that is enough!” Yet again, thinking outside of the box, or moving outside of your comfort zones, you may just decide: let’s go to church and honor the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple!

Perhaps this may seem like making a bit too much over one service. I acknowledge that. But I began to think about this earlier in the week as I looked ahead to our liturgical cycle and then decided to write about it, treating this service as something of a microcosm that encompasses other pressing questions of our Church life. In addition, this does offer me the pastoral possibility of periodically raising those types of questions that you may gloss over or ignore. We tend to settle into routines that are hard to break, and the routine of “only once on Sunday” is particularly entrenched.

The Feasts of the Church are wonderful. They are deeply expressive of what we believe and even of who we are. They connect us to Christ in a mystical manner. They allow us to continually praise and venerate the Virgin Mary as the Theotokos. Most Christians today have no awareness of them. We want to remain the Church that not only has a festal cycle “on paper,” but one that brings us together in faith and love as a community committed to Christ and His Body the Church. We will have that opportunity this coming Sunday evening and/or Monday morning with the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos Into the Temple.

Great Vespers on Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m.
Divine Liturgy on Monday morning at 9:30 a.m.
Resources for the Feast

Preparing for Christmas ~ Embracing the Orthodox Way

2011-11-14T18:57:00.000-08:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

As mentioned last Friday, the Nativity Fast will begin tomorrow, November 15. Commit yourselves individually and as a family to embrace the “Orthodox Way” of preparing for Christmas. The “world” has really little to offer or add to our understanding of Christ’s nativity in the flesh. Rather, it’s the same old tired package of distractions that leave you “hungering and thirsting” for the very thing you may have neglected in frantically and frenetically trying to have a “merry Christmas.” We are again presented with a gift of forty days than can “profit our souls.” Fast now to feast then, rather than feast now to fizzle out then. Let your church calendar guide you into the Scripture readings, saintly commemorations and fasting discipline that lead us to the Winter Pascha of spiritual renewal.

Fr Steven

The Depth of our Faith and the Experience of God

2011-11-10T10:43:00.001-08:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

The book we are currently reading in our Adult Education Class, Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh - Essential Writings, was edited by Gillian Crow, who also wrote an excellent introduction about the metropolitan’s life and spiritual development. She was his diocesan secretary for the last ten years of Metropolitan Anthony’s life. She has also written a full-scale biography of the metropolitan, entitled This Holy Man, published by St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press in 2005. As the book of his Essential Writings was compiled for both Orthodox and non-Orthodox Christians, she has included some passages that provide some good background into the Orthodox ethos. Here are three such paragraphs from her Introduction that may say something that we already know, but in a manner that neatly and clearly summarizes the living faith and practice of the Church. Such reminders are good for those of us who are Orthodox, so that we do not lose sight of the depth of our Faith and the experience of God in the routine of conventional church-going:

In fact, the timelessness of Orthodoxy refers to the Kingdom of God, a realm outside time, a realm where earthly considerations – whether those of the fourth or twenty-first centuries – do not hold sway. When we partake of one of our services we are in the eternal “now,” we share in an experience, however veiled, of heaven on earth. At the Incarnation God became man; he came down to us and to our level – in order to draw us up to him; and our faith, our worship, our Christian life, are a participation in God’s eternal life, in the wondrous “now” of the Kingdom, rather than in the world and its secular culture.

Thus the incense, the myriads of candles, the singing, the colorful icons and frescoes are not optional ornamentation. They are ways of using all our human senses to glorify God and to become aware that we are in his presence. Our worship exemplifies a sense of wholeness that runs through Orthodoxy. We do not like dividing worship from belief, body from soul, prayer from fasting, faith from works. Indeed, the word “Orthodoxy” is often described as meaning right faith and worship – not one or the other but both together. Our worship expresses our faith.

We experience how the lightness of fasting is an aid to prayer (conversely everyone knows the sluggishness produced by overeating). We understand how the body as well as the soul responds to God and will share in the Resurrection. We do not see the body as a temporary suit of clothes, defiled by sin, that becomes redundant at death. We remember that we are unique creatures of body and soul together, both destined for Eternity, and that Christ cared for the whole human person, and healed bodies as well as souls. We are vividly aware that all our sins are committed with our bodies, but are moved by the desires of the soul; so they cannot be separated. Similarly, Orthodoxy has never been faced with the opposition of faith to works that caused such division in Western Christianity. We see faith and works as two sides of the same coin that cannot be separated.”

From Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh – Essential Writings, Introduction, p. 20-21.

The True Nature of The Bodiless Hosts

2011-11-10T05:18:00.000-08:00

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

A few brave souls – four to be exact – were in church early Tuesday morning for the Akathist Hymn to the Archangel Michael and the Bodiless Hosts that we commemorate on that day, November 8. Following the service, I was speaking with one of our Church School teachers about the nature of angels and how we convey this to our children. One of our first tasks, I believe, is to overcome the caricature that has developed over the centuries over the appearance and role of angels. (Do adults also need to be liberated from this same caricature?)

That caricature imagines angels to be puffy and fluffy “cherubs” that are basically rosy-cheeked floating babies; Cupid-like, they carry bows and arrows that appear harmless enough; they are often naked, but at times their “private parts” are covered in what can only be described as a celestial diaper. How these Hallmark card fantasies - based on Renaissance-era deviations from the sacred and profound iconography of the earlier centuries, both West and East - can be associated with the “Lord of Sabaoth” and the celestial hierarchy of angels that surround the throne of God with their unceasing chant of “Holy, Holy, Holy!” is something of an unfortunate mystery.

The Scriptures and the Holy Fathers only describe powerful celestial beings that serve God and fulfill His will for the well-being of the human race and our salvation. Angels are not eternal or immortal by nature. They are creatures, coming forth from the creative Word of God perfected by His Spirit. St. Basil the Great teaches that angels were created before the visible world, based on JOB 38:7 – “When the Stars were made, all my angels praised me with a loud voice.” These gender-less being are described by St. Gregory the Theologian as “a second light, an effusion or participation in God, in the primal light.” And whenever a human being is visited by an angel and receives this heavenly messenger’s revelation, his/her first impulse is to bow down and worship this celestial visitor as a divine being! Warm and fuzzy feelings with any impulse toward cuddling and kissing are hardly implied in the biblical texts. Actually, our use of the term “angel” – based on the Gk. angelos or “messenger” - is a generic term used to describe all of the many kinds of heavenly hosts that we find described and named in the Scriptures. In fact, this celestial hierarchy, according to St. Dionysios the Areopagite, is comprised of a triad of ranks, three angelic orders in each rank. The names are scriptural, but the triads have been conceived of by St. Dionysios:

First Rank: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones
Second Rank: Authorities, Dominions, Powers
Third Rank: Principalities, Angels, Archangels

This structuring of the celestial hierarchy has had an enormous influence on the angelology of the Church.

Actually, St. John Chrysostom tells us that even these names and “classes” do not exhaust the heavenly ranks of angelic beings:

… but there are innumerable other kinds and an unimaginable multitude of classes, which no words can be adequate to express…. From this we see that there are certain names which will be known then, but are now unknown.

With his great ability to summarize and synthesize the Church’s living Tradition, St. John of Damascus (+749), gives us this description of what an angel actually is in his Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith:

An angel, then, is a noetical essence, perpetually in motion, with a free will, incorporeal, subject to God, having obtained by grace an immortal nature. The Creator alone knows the form and limitation of its essence.

I hope that even this very brief description of the true nature of the bodiless hosts of heaven – based on the Scriptures and the Fathers – will restore a genuine sense of awe and veneration before these incredible beings that only further amaze us with the creative power, energy and will of God.

The Gadarene Demoniac and 'the Evil One'

2011-10-28T16:14:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

At Sunday’s liturgy, the Gospel reading will be St. Luke’s account of the Gadarene demoniac. (LK. 8:26-39) This event is both powerful and puzzling. For a man is healed of demonic possession so as to be found “clothed and in his right mind,” and a herd of swine are destroyed in a frenzied and demon-driven act of self-destruction. Not exactly the “stuff” of our everyday lives. This passage, then, records an exorcism. Yet, an “exorcism” seems to belong to a worldview that can only be conceived of as belonging to the past. It is clear, however, that there were many exorcisms attributed to Jesus according to the Gospels. This is because Jesus clearly took the existence of the “evil one” seriously. For the Lord’s Prayer has a concluding petition that implores our heavenly Father to “deliver us from the evil one.” Most New Testament scholars will argue in favor of translating the Gk. poneros as the “evil one” and not simply “evil.” This presents a more concrete, and less abstract, sense of evil in the world.

Our spiritual tradition – especially as recorded in the Lives of the Saints (hagiography) – consistently portrays a crucial part of the “spiritual warfare” of the great saints as a more-or-less open confrontation with the “evil one” or with demons. Allowing for a stereotypical use of this genre, it remains true that within the Church’s living Tradition, we have always interpreted these descriptions with a realism that does not explain away the presence of the “evil one.” And Orthodox Christians do not consider themselves as simplistic and lacking in sophistication for this unapologetic acceptance of the existence of the “evil one” as revealed throughout the New Testament.

As our contemporary world continues to retreat from describing certain events and persons as “evil,” I see no reason that we must join in that retreat. Of course, there are so many factors at work in any given event – from the environmental to the psychological – but the sheer irrationality and mystery behind so many horrific events could rather point to the evil one/evil as “alive and well.”

Back in April 2007, I wrote an article on the Virginia Tech massacres during which thirty-two students were killed and twenty-five wounded. As we know, the killer took his own life. This excruciatingly painful event led me to reflect on the presence of the evil one and the destructive power of evil choices within the world. Below are the links to this two part article in case you may want to read it again – or perhaps for the first time - as we approach these themes on Sunday, however different the historical and cultural contexts between the world of the Gospels and our contemporary world may be.

Meditation - Virginia Tech Tragedy, Pt 1
Meditation - Virginia Tech Tragedy, Pt 2

Please feel free to share any further comments with me.

Fr Steven

Testimonials to Christian Education

2011-10-26T08:18:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

As previously announced, we will begin our Fall Adult Education Class on Monday evening, November 7. We will read Metropolitan Anthony – Essential Writings. Please follow the provided link for further information about this book and its author, Metropolitan Anthony Bloom.

As is the case with many parish events/programs, we have developed a core group of parishioners who attend this class consistently from year to year. Wanting to understand their motivation – and hoping to recruit new members for future classes, including this year’s – I asked some of our participating parishioners to “testify” to their ongoing interest in the class. I have included three such testimonies here so as to share them with the parish:

Parishioner #1

I highly recommend the Fall Adult Education Class. The amount of reading material is just right and it is a good opportunity to interact with parishioners you may not see on a regular basis. We are fortunate to have Father Steven to lead the discussion and to share his deep knowledge of our Orthodox Faith. Simply put, it is a pleasant way to spend a Fall evening and to nourish your soul.

Parishioner #2

1) I find the reading interesting. It always introduces me to new ideas and sometimes to authors that are new to me.
2) I enjoy the discussion that we have. Different people have different perspectives on the material, and I learn a lot from what they say in class.
3) I enjoy the opportunity to get to know my fellow parishioners better.

Parishioner #3

Our Fall Adult Education Classes have been a very important part of my “continuing” theological and spiritual education here at Christ the Savior. The books used most recently have been some of the most important books I have ever read. I am indebted to Fr. Steven for the time he takes to read and prepare for this class and for fellowship with those who attend. I strongly urge everyone who is able to participate. I cannot think of a better way to spend a Monday evening.

One continuous thread that I read in these three testimonies – in addition to the quality of the reading material – is the stress placed on fellowship with other parishioners. It is a different setting from the “coffee hour” with a different set of priorities and goals. Reading, discussing, and sharing our thoughts about God, Christ, faith and doubt, the actualization of the Gospel in our daily life, etc., is a non-quantifiable – but highly qualitative – component of our six sessions. Mutual encouragement develops out of such sharing. Everyone who attends our classes realizes this.

I know that anyone can sit in front of the computer for hours on end reading excellent Orthodox material from a seemingly endless variety of sources. I certainly do this often. But the fact is, you are sitting in front of and facing a screen, not the human face of a fellow-parishioner, with his/her unique voice and perspective.

So, if possible, please think about “making this happen.” You will read a book by a very deep thinking Christian who offers an endless stream of deep insights into the Christian Faith and Christian living. The commitment of time and the effort needed to read, prepare and attend the sessions will undoubtedly expand your mind and heart in a potentially profound manner.

I hope to see you then!

Fr. Steven

On Tipping and Tithing

2011-10-24T09:02:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP
“Tipping and Tithing”

(Image Panel: Lazarus and the Rich Man)

The Pledge Forms for 2012 have been distributed both in church and via email in the last two weeks. As we are carefully – and prayerfully – considering our financial commitment for the upcoming year toward building up our parish as the local Body of Christ here in Cincinnati, I would like to share this rather cleverly-composed anecdote. Using a pseudo-biblical rhetoric to both humorous and challenging effect, the anonymous author of this short piece touches upon the issue of our priorities or, in more biblical language, the issue of where our “treasure” is, for that is where our heart will be also, according to the teaching of Christ:

Now it came to pass on a day at noon that the writer was a guest of a certain rich man. And the lunch was enjoyed at a popular restaurant. And the waiters were very efficient. And the food was good. Now when the end of the meal was at hand, the waiter brought unto the host the check. And the host examined it, frowned a bit, but made no comment. But as he arose to depart, I observed that he laid some coins under the edge of his plate. I know not what denomination the coins were, howbeit, the waiter who stood nearby smiled happily, which, being interpreted, means that the tip was satisfactory. Now this parable entereth not into the merits or demerits of tipping. But as I mentioned on the coins that become tips throughout our nation, I began to think of tips and tithing. For the proverbial tip should be at least a tenth, however the prescribed gratuity (tip) is fifteen percent of the bill, lest the waiter turn against you. And as I continued to think on these things, it came unto me that few people who go to church treat their God as well as they honor the waiter. For they give unto the waiter a tithe, but unto God they give whatsoever they think will get them by. Verily, doth man fear the waiter more that he feareth God? And doth he love God less than he loveth the waiter? Or doth the waiter do more for him than his God? Truly, a man and his money are past understanding!

- A twentieth century Christian

St. John Chrysostom delivered a series of homilies based on the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (LK. 16:19-31). It was this parable that we heard yesterday morning during the Divine Liturgy. This complex parable is a fearful reminder of the “cost” of being uncharitable, self-indulgent, and indifferent to the sufferings of the poor. To put this in somewhat more contemporary terms: The “gains” of an ever-expanding portfolio can easily lead to a shrinking and loveless heart that renders itself unfit for the Kingdom of Heaven as revealed in the parable, when, in a reversal of fortune, the poor Lazarus finds consolation in the bosom of Abraham, while the rich man suffers the torments of hades. This leads St. John Chrysostom to comment on the nature of theft. With his typical insight, St. John expands the notion of theft to include not only the stealing of another’s possessions, but also the withholding of one’s goods that could be shared with the poor. As St. John expresses it:

I shall bring you the testimony from the divine Scriptures, saying that not only the theft of others’ goods but also the failure to share one’s own goods with others is theft and swindle and defraudation. What is this testimony? Accusing the Jews by the prophet, God says, ‘The earth has brought forth her increase, and you have not brought forth your tithes; but the theft of the poor is in your houses.’ (cf. MAL. 3:8-10) Since you have not given the accustomed offering, He says, you have stolen the goods of the poor. He says this to show the rich that they hold the goods of the poor even if they have inherited them from their fathers or no matter how they have gathered their wealth. And elsewhere the Scripture says, ‘Deprive not the poor of his living.’ (SIR. 4:1) To deprive is to take what belongs to another; for it is called deprivation when we take what belongs to others. By this we are taught that when we do not show mercy, we will be punished just like those who steal. For our money is the Lord’s, however we may have gathered it. If we provide for those in need, we shall obtain great plenty. This is why God has allowed you to have more: not for you to waste on drink, fancy food, expensive clothes, and all the other kinds of indulgence, but for you to distribute to those in need … If you are affluent, but spend more than you need, you will give account of the funds which were entrusted to you … For you have obtained more than others, and you have received it, not to spend it for yourself, but to become a good steward for others as well.

St. John Chrysostom, Homiles on the Rich Man and Lazarus

Overcoming the Conflict between Science and Religion

2011-10-13T08:46:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful Friends in Christ,

Yesterday evening, we were treated to a very stimulating lecture/power point presentation by Dr. Dan Buxhoeveden from the University of South Carolina. This event was well-attended, for there were over forty participants, and with only a few guests, this means that our parish was well-represented for a weeknight event. I hope that everyone found it as enjoyable as I did. Though the title of the lecture was “Science and Christianity in Dialogue,” Dr. Buxhoeveden expanded his presentation so that it included a quick overview of how science and religion have related – or have uneasily related – over the centuries; together with what I thought was an insightful critique of what he termed “scientific imperialism.” In his estimation this is the position that science can essentially explain all of reality, and ultimately make pronouncements on the existence or non-existence of God. This unwarranted venture into the realms of philosophy and metaphysics only results in the false religion of scientism. Elsewhere, he has written that this scientism is “a vacuum cleaner that desires to swallow all knowledge into the confines of its bag of dust.” I thought that the lecture effectively undermined such claims, while remaining respectful and appreciative for what science has contributed over the centuries to our understanding of the natural world on both the macro- and micro-cosmic levels of reality. In other words, science can explain a great deal about reality, but cannot claim a competency to explain all of Reality. The sum total of scientific truths do not equal the Truth. If I recall correctly, I believe that Dr. Buxhoeveden asked the question: How can science explain everything when we do not know what this Everything is?

I especially appreciated how he questioned the claims of science to a form of pure objectivity. There still remains at least a popular notion that it is science alone that can offer to us an “objective” description of reality, free of any prejudice or preconceived notions. We now know that this is impossible to achieve, for there is always a subjective position from which any discipline begins. To quote from his article “Limitations of Human Knowledge and Its Consequences,” Dr. Buxhoeveden poses this dilemma for such claims to absolute objectivity:

There is the problem of whether we can ever attain ‘non-local’ objectivity since what we are describing is the brain studying the brain, nature studying nature, the same studying the same. Within the model of the matrix, objectivity is only objective within the system. What is meant by empirical knowledge within the matrix really refers to the shared sense experiences of things out there by virtue of the design of a common nervous system. Were it constructed differently, the things perceived ‘out there’ (and the interpretation of them) would be different as well. If we had ways to perceive Z and W rather than A and M, our information and therefore definition of ‘Reality’ would be fundamentally altered. The first implication is that it serves to demonstrate our captivity, not our freedom. It highlights our limitations, not our universality. At best it says we are capable of knowing the matrix of materiality as it is given to us to know.

It is doubtful that Western science was ever designed to go beyond the matrix. It was created within the matrix and for the matrix, and there it remains and so long as it does so, there can never be an essential conflict with Christianity.

If I understood what he was saying, another fallacy of so-called pure objectivity would mean that there is nothing more to discover, or that all scientific discoveries to date have reached a level of perfection. Yet, as Dr. Buxhoeveden pointed out, scientific “facts” are actually correctible, contingent and historical.

Needless to say, Dr. Buxhoeveden did not present this critique from a fundamentalist or obscurantist position. This was not an impassioned polemic “against” science, but the voice of reason from a professor with impressive credentials within the scientific community (he has a Phd in biological anthropology and specializes in the evolution of the human brain). This was not a “cultural warrior” flailing away with the cudgel of religion, but a scientist manifesting a certain humility before the mystery of existence. Realizing the necessity of dialogue between the disciplines of science and theology, Dr. Buxhoeveden has a particular interest in how Orthodox theology is potentially open to any and all scientific truths that expand our understanding of the reality of the natural world in which we live. And theology has nothing to fear in the process. Within a holistic Orthodox understanding of reality, the created world can lead us to the uncreated Creator. We are, after all, logical beings because God created human beings in and through the Logos. We therefore have an open-ended capacity to continually discover the truths of the natural world that yield themselves to honest and humble probing. This, in turn, leads us to a sense of wonder, and insight shared by the earliest Greek philosophers. Dr. Buxhoeveden presented numerous quotations from Orthodox theologians, elders and writers that clearly demonstrate this. In his view, Orthodoxy is more than well-equipped to assimilate, incorporate, and interpret the world of scientific discovery within an all-embracing worldview that embraced the Uncreated and the created. This can be very exciting on both the intellectual and spiritual levels our common God-given human existence.

In a more speculative portion of his talk, he spoke of some new insights or ideas into “left brain” and “right brain” ways of cognition and the perception of reality. This was done based upon a new book by an Oxford scholar entitled, if I recall correctly, The Master and His Emissary.
Over-simplifying, this new book raises the point – supposedly marshalling an incredible amount of data in the process - that the preponderance of “left brain” thinking is responsible for a very “western” approach to reality that is overly rationalistic at the expense of empathetic and intuitive ways of perception. In other words, there are other ways of experiencing the reality of the world around than the scientific western model, successful though it has been in the realm of discovery and technology. I could sense that this intrigued many of us who were there for the talk yesterday evening – (am I “left-brain” or “right brain?”) - but, to use the cliché, this probably raised many more questions than it provided answers.

To just touch on another theme that Dr. Buxhoeveden raised in an interesting manner: what kind of conclusions can science come to when considering such phenomena as love and creativity? At what point are we merely extracting information about something, while losing sight of its meaning and purpose? Here is an example of what we heard, though drawn from the article referred to above:

True facts can become distortions when they are not assimilated in a greater context. It is analogous to someone who sees a painting as a material object within the confines of chemistry and physics while remaining oblivious to art, and therefore claims that the painting is the chemistry. How do you argue against such a stance when all the physical evidence supports the chemical model? You attain the eye of an artist. If we existed in a world where no one had the eye of an artist then the scientific analysis of a Van Gogh painting would be the hard and indisputable interpretation. Similarly, we are told in the New Testament that the pure in heart shall see God. In Orthodox Christianity one is told to purify the heart, to acquire illumination, to see God through the eye of the heart, so as to allow the Holy Spirit to enter into us. Without this the spirit of God, like the painting is not perceived correctly.

What the paint and canvas is to art, the matrix is to life. It is the medium of expression in which we live and breathe and have our being. The tension and the challenge has always been how to understand it, how to place it within the context of ultimate things, and how to situate all forms of knowledge, awareness, and experience, that humans derive from within it.

Of course, this analogy can be applied to the “God question.” Do we want to see only the parts or the whole?

Dr. Buxhoeveden was not in the least bit defensive of religion or God. He was not speaking from the position of an embattled believer that was frightened by the encroachments of science upon religion. He was not advocating the digging in and entrenchment of religious belief against the powerful assaults of an enemy whose victory seems inevitable. For science and religion are not enemies. This is an artificial conflict that can be overcome precisely through open and honest dialogue:

This dialogue of science and religion requires that we keep open channels of discovery and questioning that are not normally part of any single discipline. It is a challenge to all parties and because of that offers an opportunity for breakthroughs and understandings that cannot be had by remaining in our sand boxes.

It was encouraging to see many in the parish – and some of my students from the university! – make the effort and come out for the type of discussion that stimulates our thinking beyond the immediate problems and cares of everyday existence. Thank God for that!

As a special note, for articles and video talks by Dr Buxhoeveden and others on Science and Christianity, please visit the special page on our parish website, which has numerous links for further study on this stimulating topic.

Fr Steven

What Jesus Was Like

2011-10-08T05:48:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

As remarked last Sunday at the Liturgy, regardless of how well anyone may know the Gospels, it is challenging to form a clear image of “what Jesus was like.” This is not in reference to His deeds and words, for these are amply recorded in the four canonical Gospels. I am referring more to what we would today designate as someone’s “personality.” Are we able to get behind the personality of Jesus? Are we able to describe or analyze His personality with certainty, or at least with a measure of confidence? Some would formulate the question differently and ask if we are able to penetrate or understand the “self-consciousness” of Jesus. New Testament scholars, beginning in the nineteenth century and through to the present day, are often preoccupied with questions concerning the “messianic consciousness” of Jesus. Did Jesus know He was the Messiah, and if so, when did this messianic consciousness dawn upon Him? Yet, we may ask, besides a genuine and justifiable curiosity, is it that important for us to probe either the personality or self-consciousness of Jesus? Is it even possible? The Gospels are decidedly not preoccupied with these questions, for the Gospels do not consciously offer a “personality sketch” of Jesus, as they neither attempt to analyze the psychology of Jesus. The Gospels proclaim Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God through His deeds and words. Therefore, whatever insights that we are given into “what Jesus was like” are revealed precisely through His actions and His words – not through a psychological sketch or analysis. In a very insightful article entitled “Quite Beyond Us,” Fr. Patrick Reardon writes the following about what he calls the “unfathomable self-consciousness of Jesus:”

The identity of the man Jesus is rooted in this eternal relationship of the Son to the Father. Self-awareness in Jesus is indivisible at every point from the consciousness of his eternal relationship to the Father. He has no personal identity apart from that relationship.

Now I submit that there is nothing else in any human soul even remotely analogous, and this is the reason why psychological analysis … is an inadequate and even misleading path to the interpretation of Jesus. Jesus, while possessing a human psyche, transcends psychology for the same reason that he, partaking fully in created being, transcends metaphysics.

The “subject,” the self, of Jesus’ consciousness is not a human being who is personally distinct from the consubstantial Son. We have not the foggiest idea how this self-awareness of Jesus took form in his soul, and speculation on the matter is an exercise in either futility or heresy. (October 2007 issue of Touchstone, p. 13)

Fr. Patrick’s words will resonate strongly for any believing Christian that believes and confesses what is declared in the Nicene Creed about Jesus Christ in an orthodox manner: “Who for us men and for our salvation was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man.” Without that belief and confession, the psychology of the man Jesus would be fair game for many different and contradictory interpretations.

Bearing in mind the wise words of Fr. Patrick, which I would further claim are supported by our Orthodox understanding of the Person of Jesus Christ; I still believe that we can say a good deal about “what Jesus was like” that neither betrays the Gospel image of Christ, nor our Christological confession of faith in Him as God and Man. To do this, I would like to turn to a work by Denise and John Carmody. Respectfully and soberly, and with an excellent command of the Gospel narratives, they take on the task of summarizing what they believe is a genuine portrait of “what Jesus was like.” Now they do this in a book entitled in the Path of the Masters, in which Christ is discussed together with the Buddha, Confucius and Muhammad. Each figure is treated sympathetically and respectfully. Their goal is to be descriptive and informative, with no polemical edge. Of course, for many Orthodox Christians this would prove to be a questionable, ambiguous - or perhaps blasphemous endeavor! We do not consider Jesus as a “great religious figure” to be compared with others; but again, as the Son and Word of God incarnate. And, together with the Evangelist Luke, we also claim: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (ACTS 4:12) Nevertheless, the Carmodys, Christian thinkers themselves, have offered a finely-written and deeply reflective passage on some of the main characteristics of what they term Jesus’ “personality.” They have obviously meditated on this deeply, and I would like to share some of their insights.

Reading this section in their book, I can compile the following descriptive list about Jesus, though it may not be exhaustive. For them, Jesus is:

both fiery and gentle, both sociable and solitary
full of energy and subject to fatigue
both conservative and a revolutionary
eloquent and compassionate
having a heart open to the poor, the sick and children
making friends and winning the allegiance of women, a very rare quality in His time
celibate and unmarried
wandering from village to village and living simply
courageous in standing up those who opposed Him
quick-witted in debate
committed to the spirit above the letter of the Law
filled with love
seeking and responding with appreciation to genuine faith
seeking only His heavenly Father’s will and glory
consoled by the Spirit of God
never sinning and without moral faults
not drawn to wealth and power
never succumbing to flattery or threats
a sense of humor “now and then”
often ironic according to St. John
loved His friends deeply
forgiving
realistic about human weakness

As thorough – and convincing - as this may sound, the Carmody’s also acknowledge the “unfathomable self-consciousness of Jesus:”

Still, Jesus remains a mysterious figure, a personality that we cannot fathom, not only because all human beings finally escape our judgment … but even more because the depths of his personality lie in the undecipherable relationship he had with his Father. For Jesus to be was to be God’s Son. This is now orthodox Christian theology, expressing the Christian conviction that the godhead is a Trinity of divine “persons” among whom Jesus is the second, the Son and Word of God become flesh … On the human level, Jesus seems filled with concern for the needs of the poor people whom he encountered. On the more mysterious, divine level, his sole concern seems to be to glorify his heavenly Father.

I very much appreciated these words of caution on their part. Yet, as a kind of final assessment, I will admit that this particular sentence resonates deeply with me when meditating on “what Jesus was like:”

But his over-all disposition seems serious, sad, absorbed in a mighty struggle. (p. 107)

And I also found their concluding paragraph on this subject compelling and profoundly challenging about our own relationship to Christ:

There must have been something compelling about the personality bearing all these traits. By the time of Jesus’ “ascension to heaven” … he had stamped many lives indelibly. Simon Peter and Mary Magdalene, the beloved disciples John and James – all his intimates felt that he had become the substance of their lives, the only treasure they cared about. The report of later Christian saints has been similar. The most intense Christians have felt that Jesus was their reason to be. (p. 107)

For a moment, just imagine Jesus as the “substance” of your life, its true “treasure” and the “reason” to be!

Orthodox Q&A Forum Relaunched

2011-10-04T09:16:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful an Friends in Christ,

Our parish webservant has posted a new announcement on our parish website: Orthodox Q & A Forum Returns. Once you click on the link, a form is provided through which you may ask your question. As you will read there, you may remain anonymous or not - that will be your decision. I would like to share the answers with the entire parish, so the answers will be posted on the website, as well as on our reactivated Orthodox Q&A Forum Blog. I may use some of these questions for future post-Liturgy discussions. It may take some time in getting to any questions, or perhaps some research may need to be done. Please be patient for an answer. Again, questions should be related to issues within the over-all life of the Church; from the theological to the practical. No question is “too simple,” for any question leads us back to the Gospel and the worldview that we embrace as Orthodox Christians.

In preparing for my class at Xavier, I came across these words of a nineteenth c. Russian Orthodox bishop. This is Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow (+1867), who was eventually canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. In speaking of the importance of theological education, he said the following:

“In Christianity, nobody is allowed to remain completely unlearned and ignorant. Did not the Lord himself call himself teacher and his followers disciples? Before Christians began to be called Christians, all of them without exception were called disciples. And why did the Lord send the apostles into the world? First and foremost in order to teach all the peoples: ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.’ If you do not wish to teach and enlighten yourself in Christianity, you are not a disciple and follower of Christ.”

Commenting on the this approach of Met. Philaret, Fr. George Florovsky wrote the following:

“Philaret was not afraid of stimulating thought, although he was aware of the temptations this could cause. This was because he believed that these temptations could be overcome and vanquished only through creative activity … Philaret always underscored the necessity of theologizing as the sole irreplaceable foundation of an integral spiritual life.”

I invite you to submit your questions, and follow along with our relaunched Q&A Blog as we follow this healthy approach of St Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow!

Fr. Steven

The Place of the Cross ~ in the Church, and in our Lives

2011-09-20T09:02:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

The current Feast of the Elevation/Exaltation of the Cross allows us go a long way in dispelling a stereotype that has developed concerning the Orthodox Church. This stereotype claims that the Orthodox Church is the Church of the Resurrection and/or Transfiguration of Christ at the expense of the Cross. Upon a closer and more balanced examination, this claim loses credibility. The Cross has a central and abiding place within the Orthodox Tradition - theological, spiritual, liturgical, iconographic, and more. For the sake of brevity, the terse expression of St. Gregory Palamas (+1359), synthesizes more than a millennium of the patristic tradition of the Christian East, when he declared in one of his homilies: “The Lord’s Cross discloses the entire dispensation of His coming in the flesh, and contains within it the whole mystery of this dispensation.”

Liturgically, the focus on the Cross can hardly be described as minimal. Great and Holy Friday is at the very heart of the Church’s liturgical tradition, when concentration of the Savior’s death on the Cross is treated with the greatest of solemnity and pathos. The crucified, dead and buried Master is surrounded by the faithful in a series of services that are emotionally intense and theologically rich in expression. This day serves as the prototype of every Friday (and actually every Wednesday ) within the Church’s liturgical tradition when the Cross is the “theme” of those days, reflected in the hymnography of the day. That connection is strengthened accordingly by designating Wednesdays and Fridays as “fasting days.” The Cross and fasting have been linked together from the very earliest days of the Church’s history. To this day, practicing Orthodox Christians are expected to fast on those days as an expression of honoring and calling to remembrance the Cross of the Lord.

The current Feast of the Cross – one of the Twelve major fixed Feasts of the liturgical year - is one among others that again will focus our attention on the Cross throughout the year. The mid-point of Great Lent, the third Sunday, is called the Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross. As on this current Feast, the Cross is decorated with flowers, brought into the center of the church by means of a solemn procession, and then venerated with the same hymn – “Before Thy Cross, we bow down and worship, O Master; and Thy holy Resurrection, we glorify” - accompanied by prostrations. At the end of the service the faithful approach and kiss the ‘life-giving wood” of the Tree of the Cross. Another feast on August 1, though not as observed, is called the “Procession of the Cross.” Neglected or not, the same rite of procession and veneration is prescribed for this feast as for the other two we are describing here.

Another practice, which comes to the Orthodox so naturally, but may strike the outside observer as strange, is that at the end of the Divine Liturgy all of the faithful approach the bishop or priest, and reverently kiss the hand-held Cross that is presented to them. (I am unaware of this practice outside of the Orthodox Tradition, but I could simply be ignorant about this). Each person then receives a piece of “blessed bread” – the antidoron in the Gk. – before leaving the church. Again, for someone raised from childhood in the Orthodox Church this is so natural that it remains indelible in the minds of those who grew up Orthodox even if they leave the Church at some point in time. The point here is that it is one more clear expression of the over-all role of the Cross within the life of the Church. Our last gesture before departing from the Church back to our daily lives is venerating the Cross and committing ourselves in the process of remaining loyal to Christ crucified.

Of course, “making” the sign of the Cross over oneself is another perfectly natural practice for Orthodox Christians – and shared by other Christian traditions, as this is one more practice that can traced back into Christian antiquity. In fact, it is about as natural as breathing! The reason behind this practice and clear yet profound. As I have written elsewhere: The Church and our personal lives are placed under the sign of the Cross, both as an emblem of victory and of our willingness to bear our personal crosses in our daily struggles against sin, temptation, the devil, and all manner of evil. Throughout the entire Liturgy, whenever we glorify God, we make the sign of the Cross over ourselves, revealing our faith in Christ, the “Lord of Glory” (I COR. 2:8) crucified for our sakes according to the will of the Father and “through the eternal Spirit.” (HEB. 9:14)

Non-Orthodox Christians who visit an Orthodox Church, and who may be aware of this practice, will still comment on the frequency with which Orthodox believers will make the sign of the Cross over themselves during the services. Of course, the naturalness of this act should never take away from the concentration and care that needs to accompany this outward sign if it is to have any meaning.

Perhaps we should finally mention the fact that most Orthodox Christians wear a cross. This is not meant to be one more piece of “matching jewelry” or displayed in an ostentatious fashion. Rather it is a humble practice of again recognizing the place of the Cross in the divine dispensation and in our personal salvation. It also implies the “self-denial” that we need to practice as true disciples of Christ. (The next meditation will explore this theme in more detail).

Reflecting upon this summary of the place of the Cross in the life of the Church and in our personal lives, one may not only come to the conclusion that the Orthodox do not neglect the Cross, but that their devotion to the Cross may be a bit excessive! But that is hardly the case. What needs to be remembered is that a holistic approach to the Christian Faith combines the “outward” and the “inward.” Feast Days, processions, prostrations, veneration, signings, etc. are the outward manifestations of the Church’s inner vision of the literally cosmic and then deeply personal dimensions of the Cross. This vision based on faith, is then proclaimed to the world in a variety of ways, each of which tries to capture something of the greatness of God’s love revealed in the Cross. For the Cross is the “mystery” of God’s will for the world and its salvation. (cf. EPH. 1:3-10) For the Cross is believed to be “breadth and length and height and depth” of “the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (EPH. 3:18-19)

God's Love - Shown Through the Cross

2011-09-13T07:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

In preparation for the upcoming Feast of the Elevation/Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross on September 14, the Sunday preceding the Feast is designated simply as the “Sunday before the Cross.” This anticipatory focus on the Feast of the Cross alerts us to its importance in the consciousness of the Church. If we have the “mind of the Church,” then our own minds and hearts can be elevated and exalted upward toward the Son of Man who will be “lifted up” on the Cross for our salvation. This is precisely where the Church directs our attention with the upcoming Feast in mind. For in addition to the appointed Gospel reading at yesterday’s Liturgy, this second reading was taken from the Gospel According to St. John:

No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. (JN. 3:13-17)

It is this passage, of course, that contains the well-known and magnificent text referred to simply as “John 3:16.” (Even those who never read the Gospels have either heard this verse somewhere or seen it displayed on a billboard, on a side of a barn along the highway, or even overhead on the tail of a helicopter as I once saw it at a baseball game). God (the Father) will “send” His Son – clearly the pre-existent Son – into the world (kosmos in the Gk.) that God loved into existence, and continued to love even though the world had fallen from its initial purpose and destiny. That “fall,” however conceived, meant that all was perishing. For human beings created for a relationship with God, this resulted not only in a death attended by guilt, regret, anxiety and fear; but also in the loss of life’s meaning and purpose. The biblical concept and reality of sheol/hades was no real consolation. A good deal of idolatry – the worship of “false gods” - is generated by a desperate search for some meaning in life; for something to attach to that will lift us up beyond the mundane and material aspects of existence. To believe in nothing is to be predisposed to believe in anything.

The expression that God “gave” us His Son is to point to the ultimate purpose of the Incarnation, which is the Cross, where again, the Son of man will be “lifted up.” And it is Jesus who is the Son of man. Behind the historical commemoration of this Feast, which is the discovery of the “true Cross” in the fourth c., we discover the Cross as the “place” where God wiped away our sin in and through the death of the Crucified Lord. In this way the “world” is “saved” through Christ, and we need no longer “perish” if we believe in Him. The “eternal life” of this salvation process is not an endless extension of time, nor is it the extension of biological existence (bios in Gk.) but something all together qualitatively different, as in true or abundant life with and in God beyond the vicissitudes of time (zoe in Gk.).

“Money makes the world go ‘round” is a cliché that many think and believe is true. Perhaps it seems most true to the very rich or the very poor. (As Hazel Motes of Flannery O’Connor’s novel Wise Blood said: A man with a new car don’t need redemption). The very rich may believe that they have discovered the secret to life’s meaning in the accumulation of great wealth; and the very poor may be convinced that a good life has been denied to them because they have been left out of the distribution of the world’s wealth One attitude can easily lead to arrogance, and the other to despair. But anyone struggling with economic distress, financial instability or making ends meet, will either willingly or reluctantly ascribe – to one degree or another – to the cliché that money is the energy and power that drives life and the “world.”

However, if we ascribe to the Gospel as revealing not only relative truths, but Truth itself in all of its majesty and glory; then we will realize that it is ultimately love that makes the world go ‘round. This is not a sentimental counter-cliché. It is the love of God that is the “energy” that created the cosmos “in the beginning.” This love is the pouring forth of the eternal love that dwells within the Trinity and which as an “uncreated energy” gives, sustains, and redeems human life made “in the image and likeness of God.” Because of God’s steadfast love, the world which was created is now also saved by that same love. For God does want to condemn the world but precisely to save it.

When we “bow down” before the decorated Cross during the Feast of the Elevation/Exaltation of the Cross, it is this Truth that we acknowledge and rejoice in.

Glory to You, for every step of my life

2011-09-01T20:48:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

Glory to You, for our tireless thirst for You …

Glory to You, Who have inspired in us dissatisfaction with earthly things …

Glory to You, Who clearly abide where there is kindness and generosity of heart …

Glory to You, Who send failures and sorrows to us so that we might be sensitive to the sufferings of others …

Glory to You, Who have raised love higher than anything on earth or in heaven …

Glory to You, Who destroy our useless plans…

Glory to You, Who humble pride of heart to save us …

Glory to You, Who have raised up Your Church as a refuge of peace for an exhausted world …

Glory to You, all Holy Father, Who have willed us Your Kingdom,
Glory to You, all Holy Son, the Way, the Truth, and the Life,
Glory to You, all Holy Spirit and life-giving sun of the future age,
Glory to You for everything, O Divine Trinity, all bountiful,
Glory to You, O God, unto ages of ages.

From the Akathist Hymn “Glory to God for All Things!”

A small group of the parish faithful were able to hear, absorb and perhaps assimilate these wonderful praises of God – and the entire akathist hymn – that we sang and chanted yesterday evening in the church. To glorify God is the best way to greet the Church New Year and begin our own spiritual renewal. I was recently informed that the actual author of the hymn was a Bishop Trifon Turkestanov, who perished during the Red Terror unleashed by Stalin in the 1930’s. What a gift he has left the Church! For the bishop to articulate his indomitable faith through a kind of lyrical and poetic theology seems to be a certain sign of the grace of the Holy Spirit working in him amidst his sufferings. The height, the depth, the breadth and the width of his glorification of God is overwhelming in its all-inclusiveness. The few who made the effort yesterday evening were richly rewarded.

Although hardly acknowledged in our fast-paced contemporary world, I hope that the Church New Year will bear fruit for each and all on a personal and parish level. Our “resolutions” from the secular new year last January are probably long broken if not totally forgotten. Perhaps, then, we can practice the “self-examination” that the Apostle Paul speaks of, and commit ourselves to follow Christ – not according to our selective and subjective “likes” and “dislikes”of what we find in the Gospel and in the Church – but in a spirit of obedience to the One who is the crucified and risen Lord of the Church, the world, the historical process and the cosmos:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.
(MATT. 22:37-40)

Our discussion of the Church New Year raises the issue of time and our stewardship of the time that God has allotted to us. We all know that we have a finite and not infinite amount of time in that allotment. Aware of our finite nature, and the fact that we do not have an endless amount of time ahead of us, the Apostle Paul exhorts us to “redeem the time.” He is basically saying that Christ must be at the center of our endeavors and desires to properly benefit from the time given to us as a gift from God. We may plead that we are “too busy” to place God first in our lives. I cannot resist to respond by saying that if you are “too busy” for God, then you are simply “too busy!” This implies making the changes necessary to leave room and time for God. What will you have to “sacrifice” in the process? Probably not a whole lot when you recall the words of Christ: "For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” (MK. 8:36) It may be as “simple” as replacing certain ingrained patterns of living with others that at least potentially draw you closer to God.

What can we do on a practical level that would deepen our experience of God and bring us deeper into the life of the Church? We exist as Christians on the personal and parish levels. In both areas there is room to expand our hearts as we expand the amount of time necessary to fulfill the words of Christ to make God and neighbor our first priority. At home, we can:

+ Be regular in daily prayer by devising and adhering to a “Rule of Prayer.” This means that everyone needs a good Orthodox Prayer Book. This Rule needs to be practiced with consistency and attention – in both the morning and the evening. The Prayer of the Hours could punctuate your days with the remembrance of God while at work or home. (I can provide you with that prayer if you do not have it). The Jesus Prayer can be on your lips at any time during the day.

+ Read the Scriptures with some consistency. Becoming “scripturally literate” is essential for a Christian.

+ Make a point of even a short prayer or blessing before sitting down to a meal – alone or with the family. All that you have is ultimately from God. We need to recognize this in a concrete manner.

+ Honor and observe the fasting days of the liturgical year.

+ Offer the Prayers of Preparation for Communion before the Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning. These are found in any good Orthodox Prayer Book.

+ Respond to those in need of your help and assistance when the opportunity arises.

On the parish level, here are some items to consider:

+ Become more than a “Sunday morning only” participant in worship. Incorporate the Saturday evening Great Vespers into your life with some kind of pattern: once-a-month, for example. Honor the Feast Days by making room on your personal calendars so as to be present.

+ Become more aware of being a steward of your time, talent and treasure. Is there a parish ministry that you feel drawn toward? Please speak with me if that is the case. Be responsible in the ministry that you are already committed to. Be a “cheerful giver” of your treasure for the upbuilding of the church. Trusting in God’s love, overcome any reluctance to share of your material and financial blessings by pledging generously to the church.

+ Become more aware of the diversity of persons that you worship together with. Everyone who walks through the door is your neighbor. We are members of the Body of Christ, not mere “individuals” who accidentally worship in the same church. Meet those that you do not know. Avoid judging others by appearance. No one is “better” than the next person, regardless of social status or other worldly considerations. We are all sinners seeking salvation from the “Physician of our souls and bodies.”

Rejoice in being an Orthodox Christian! Rejoice in being able to come to church and worship the living God! Rejoice in the people that you have providentially met in the Church! Rejoice in Christ our Savior!

Glory to You, for every sigh of my sadness,
Glory to You, for every step of my life, for every moment of joy,
Glory to You, O God, unto ages of ages.

To Begin That Interior Renewal

2011-08-31T07:35:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

A reminder, that in preparation and recognition of the Church New Year that begins on Thursday, September 1; we will serve the beautiful akathist hymn “Glory to God for All Things” at 7:00 p.m. The title of this hymn is taken from the last known words of St. John Chrysostom before he died in exile in a remote part of Asia Minor. This brings to mind the words of the Apostle Paul from his Epistle to the Romans:

For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (ROM. 8:38-39)

Although uncertainty remains, many attribute this hymn to the Archpriest Grigory Petrov (+1942), while he was a prisoner in a Soviet labor camp. There are allusions to life in the camp within the hymn. The possibility of such a magnificent glorification of God emerging from terrible suffering once again attests to the power of St. Paul’s words above; the resilience and perseverance of a person who entrusts his life to Christ; and the power of Christian hope recognizing that God is the ultimate reality and Lord of the living and the dead. This akathist hymn, with its particular structure of thirteen kontakia and twelve ikoi, is amazing in its comprehensive praise of God for “all things” both temporal and eternal: the cosmic and natural realms in all of their vastness to the smallest of fragrant flowers that bring delight to our senses. God is glorified for the range of human experience that embraces everything between life and death: our capacity to love, to create, to feel awe and beauty in the presence of the created world, and even to endure suffering in the hope we have through Christ when we must. And God is glorified for the presence of His “two hands” – the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. We hear praise for the gifts of the human mind and spirit, including poetry and scientific discovery.

This akathist hymn in which God is glorified for “all things” can serve to offer some much-needed context to, and even comfort for, the “trials and tribulations” of our own lives which can overwhelm us at times, leaving us physically exhausted and spiritually drained. There is always that nagging question -“What’s it all about?” - that can intrude upon our many efforts to avoid such questions with the busyness of everyday life, or the restless efforts to distract ourselves and entertain ourselves into a stupor of insensitivity to life’s deeper questions. This hymn is a wonderful antidote to such myopic efforts toward self-gratification, as well as a genuine inspiration to look at our lives with the renewed vision of faith that detects the presence of God in the world around us and within us.

If life allows you to be present so as to glorify the living God that we claim to collectively believe in as a parish of Orthodox Christians, then here is a wonderful opportunity to begin that interior process of renewal as we begin the Church New Year. In the final analysis, it is all “about God” when we ask the essential questions about life and death. And we need to thank and glorify God whenever the opportunity to do so presents itself.

Fr. Steven

Celebrating the Afterfeast of the Dormition

2011-08-17T04:26:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

“Mary can only be properly understood, her mystery can only be faithfully celebrated, insofar as she is revealed by the person and saving work of her Son. But the converse is true as well. The mystery of Christ’s redemptive suffering, the secret of his saving work hidden from the Prince of this age, is only fully revealed to eyes of faith through the person of his Holy Mother.” (Mary in the New Testament, Fr. John Breck).

We have been blessed with a wonderful celebration of the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God. The service of Great Vespers yesterday evening and the Divine Liturgy this morning were very well-attended, with just about forty parishioners at each service, I believe. Considering the one service was on Sunday evening and the other on a workday morning, that was excellent participation. Such an open veneration of the Theotokos within our parish community is deeply encouraging. I regret the fact that others were not able to attend the services, but I wish one and all a joyous feast as we commemorate the mysterious “translation” of the Mother of God into the Kingdom of God following her holy Dormition. Breaking the fast is no little contribution to the over-all joyousness of the day either!

The Feast of the Dormition has the full octave of afterfeast observance, meaning that we continue to honor the Mother of God’s falling asleep and passage into the realm of divine glory for eight days. The Leavetaking is thus on August 23. Practically, that means we should continue to add the troparion and kontakion of the Feast to our daily prayers; as well as using them as a means of blessing before our meals. The respective texts are readily available on our parish website or perhaps in your Orthodox Prayer Book. I would also suggest taking advantage of all of the excellent material on our website under the Dormition. There are some remarkable sermons and summaries of the meaning of the Feast also available there.

Next Sunday’s Liturgy falls within the Afterfeast, meaning we continue to sing and chant the appointed festal material. As yesterday’s homily was devoted to our over-all veneration and its meaning – both theological/spiritual and practical - of the Virgin Mary; then next Sunday’s homily will concentrate more specifically on the Feast of the Dormition itself.

The decorated tomb with the icon of the Theotokos in blessed repose will also remain an open place for our veneration until the Leavetaking.

In Christ,

Fr. Steven

Come, O Gathering of Those who Love the Feasts

2011-08-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

This year, August 14 & 15 - the eve of the Dormition and the actual Feast day itself – fall on a Sunday evening and Monday. This means that many parishioners will face a challenge (of sorts) to participate in this “summer Pascha.” The Great Vespers on the eve of the Feast has been developed in our parish over the years, and parish participation has grown accordingly. In fact, over the last five years or so, this festal service has become one of the most well-attended in our Feast Day cycle. We now decorate the “tomb” (epitaphios) of the Theotokos as well as place the icon of her blessed repose within it and place the tomb in the center of the church to allow for our veneration of the Dormition/Falling Asleep of the Mother of God . This is clearly an echo of Great and Holy Friday. (Even though we do not use them, a series of “lamentations” have been composed, again after the pattern of the Lamentations before the tomb of Christ during the Holy Saturday Matins). Yet, returning to church on Sunday evening is not a very promising prospect according to the history of our parish. I am quite realistic about this, having eliminated certain services over the years (Sunday evening Lenten services) for that very reason. However, the Church calendar is what it is, and this year the Feast falls on these particular days. The Church calendar always poses a challenge in our contemporary setting!

However, it certainly is not “impossible” to return to church on a Sunday evening. Here is one possible way of approaching that near “impossible” endeavor: Every Feast is the actualization of the event being commemorated; its “re-presenting.” This is the mystery and glory of “liturgical time” within the Church. We become participants and not mere observers. That is what is behind the use of the word “today” when we commemorate an event in the life of Christ or the Mother of God:

Come, O gathering of those who love to keep the feasts, come and let us for a choir … For today is heaven opened wide as it receives the Mother of Him who cannot be contained. (Litiya of the Feast of Dormition)

Now, as Christ is the New Adam, the Theotokos is the New Eve. As the first Eve became the “mother of all living,” the Theotokos is now the Mother of all of those “alive” in Christ and in the Church and essentially of all humankind as the intercessor of those both aware or unaware of her universal motherhood. This motherhood to all believers was clearly manifested at the Cross, when the Lord, from the Cross, declared to the beloved disciple: “Behold, your mother!” This came right after Jesus told His Mother concerning the beloved disciple: “Woman, behold, your son!” (JN. 19:26-27) The beloved disciple (John) represents all true disciples and believers in Christ. Thus, all disciples have been placed within the maternal embrace of the New Eve, The Ever-Virgin Mary and the Mother of the living. Again, she is our common mother. So, in addition, to our actual (biological) mothers whom we love, we love the Mother of God and seek her maternal embrace. We highly venerate her as the Mother of God and the Mother of the living. How sad for those Christians who do not openly venerate the Theotokos!

If the Feast of the Dormition commemorates – and thus actualizes – the falling asleep in death of the Theotokos, then we “re-present” her funeral in our liturgical services dedicated to this event. Being present at this Feast is like being present at the funeral service of our own mother! Of course, we declare that “neither the tomb nor death could hold the Theotokos” and that “she was translated to life by the One who dwelt in her virginal womb.” (Kontakion of the Feast) Because of her Son – our Lord Jesus Christ – she died a “deathless death.” The Theotokos has actualized our common hope and destiny in Christ, Who has “trampled down death by death.” In commemorating her blessed repose, we commemorate/celebrate her “translation” into the presence of God in the Kingdom of Heaven. This is why the Dormition is in reality a Feast. We should be able to draw out the implications of these glorious and marvelous truths in how we then approach this Feast.

The full liturgical cycle that we serve for the Dormition is a wonderful opportunity to express our love and respect for the Theotokos. I encourage those who are able to be present for the full cycle to do so. But often enough, our responsibilities – like going to work! – make that unrealistic. Yet, if work precludes the possibility of our presence for the Liturgy on Monday morning, then we are blessed with the Great Vespers on Sunday evening. I believe that it is always very important to be serious about our claims. If we claim that the Virgin Mary is the Mother of God and the Mother of the living, our response to that claim takes on an added depth and urgency. Presence and participation is always a good way to begin.

The Dormition of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary:

Great Vespers with Litiya and Blessing of Loaves – Sunday at 6:00 p.m.
Divine Liturgy – Monday at 9:30 a.m.

The Awesome God and the Transfigured Life

2011-08-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

“Look down from heaven, O Master, upon those who have bowed their heads unto Thee, the awesome God.” (From the Divine Liturgy)

The Afterfeast of the Transfiguration of Christ will continue until the Leavetaking of the Feast on August 13. Having ascended Mt. Tabor with the disciples of the Lord, we will then descend back into the world in order to hopefully witness to the glorious vision that has been vouchsafed to us of Christ shining resplendently in His divine glory (MK. 9:1-8; MATT. 17:1-13; LK. 9:28-36). Biblically, the “glory of God,” refers to a palpable “shining forth” of the presence of God that overwhelms the recipient of such a vision. With their spiritual senses purified by the grace of the Holy Spirit, the disciples were able to “see” the glory of God revealed in Christ on Mt. Tabor, and they, too, were overwhelmed. Truly, therefore, the Transfiguration is an “awesome” Feast!

Yet, today, everything is described as “awesome:” the loud, the superficial, the mundane. Are we witnessing a kind of experiential egalitarianism, where nothing is allowed to stand apart from or above anything else? Is even the awesomeness of God succumbing to this leveling effect? How discouraging that would be, for we refer to God liturgically as “the awesome Judge,” the “awesome God;” and the Eucharist as the “Awesome Mysteries of Christ.” This is as it should be, for the word awesome is based on the noun “awe” which remains defined today as “an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred or sublime.” It is God Who is truly awesome! Anything else that can be genuinely described as awesome derives that quality from God.

More specifically, is the awesomeness of the Transfiguration somehow reduced to just one more passing “church event” that comes and goes with an alarmingly insignificant amount of impact on our Christian minds and hearts? Can the awesome Feast of the Transfiguration even “compete” any longer with a new blockbuster film for our attention and capacity as human beings to be “awed” by the sacred and sublime? I am convinced that when everything is “awesome,” then nothing is really awesome. Inevitably, we will find ourselves calling the most boring of occurrences “awesome,” but with no real enthusiasm or conviction. (Perhaps we can excuse our younger children who are now using the term “awesome,” for the “little things” in life can still fill them with a sense of wonder that we adults have lost).

Be that as it may, the disciples were awed by Christ on Mt. Tabor when “He was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became white as light” (MATT. 17:2). This metamorphosis – the Greek word behind our transfiguration - was a direct revelation of Christ’s divine nature or, more precisely, of the uncreated energies of His divinity which now shone through the flesh He assumed in the Incarnation. Jesus did not become something He previously was not, but revealed His true identity as both God and man. To the glory of God, Jesus Christ is a human being fully alive. Such a revelation is unique to the Gospels and clearly prefigures the Lord’s resurrection and the glory of the Age to Come. Moses and Elijah appeared flanking the Lord, “talking with Him” (v. 3). Peter wanted to build three booths: one for Christ, one for Moses and one for Elijah. In other words Peter wanted to prolong the vision and the experience. But this was not to be. Interestingly enough, in an apocryphal account of the transfiguration, Peter is openly rebuked for his mistaken desire. Peter and other disciples – James and John – must come down from the mount and witness to Christ through the remainder of their lives and through their deaths ultimately.

The same is true of us. If we have not lost our capacity to be awed in the presence of God, perhaps primarily in the Liturgy, but also when reading the Scriptures, praying alone, looking into the face of another and seeing the “image and likeness of God;” then we must take that awesome experience with us into the everyday flow of events and encounters that mark our lives. We must come down from those metaphorical mountains that we climb, seeing only Jesus after the vision vouchsafed to us by God; and bear witness to that presence and experience by the quality of our Christian lives:

O Christ our God, who was transfigured in glory on Mount Tabor showing to Thy disciples the splendor of Thy Godhead, do Thou enlighten us also with the light of Thy knowledge and guide us in the path of Thy commandments, for Thou alone art good and lovest mankind. (Litiya verse of the Feast)

The fact that it is in the Orthodox Church that the Transfiguration is considered a great Feast is meaningless if the experience of the Feast does not have an impact on us. The goodness, truth and beauty that shine forth from Christ are the uncreated energies that free us from apathy and cynicism; and free us further to pursue the virtue of Christ that “has covered the heavens.” (Liturgy of Preparation)

Fr Steven

Life Transfigured through the Festal Experience

2011-08-05T04:49:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

Here is a timely passage from the small journal published quarterly by the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City, PA. The journal is appropriately called “LIFE TRANSFIGURED.” (That already says a great deal about an Orthodox worldview!) In one of the journal’s anonymously written articles by one of the nuns, entitled “The Festal Experience,” we read of the central place of the major Feast Days in the life of the Church – and hopefully within our own lives:

Why is it that on a feast day the whole of nature mysteriously smiles? Why is it that then a heavenly gladness fills our hearts: a gladness far beyond that of earth and the very air in church and in the altar becomes luminous? It is the breath of Thy gracious love (from the Akathist, “Glory to God for all Things”). Feast days are an important part of our life as Orthodox Christians. Many of us have experienced the heavenly gladness that fills our hearts on Pascha, the anticipation, the excitement, and the joy. Pascha is a celebration that just needs to be experienced – reading a book is no substitute for participating in the services. In addition to Pascha, the Church gives us many other feasts throughout the year, each with its own unique grace.

The feast days of the Church are important because they set the cycle for the entire year and help us grow from one year to the next. Many of us learned about these feasts in Sunday school or catechism classes or through personal reading. But as we know from Pascha, our Orthodox understanding of the feasts as well as our life in Christ is built on liturgical experience. It is not enough for us to simply learn about these events and their theological significance. We must celebrate them within the liturgical cycle of the church. It is through these special days that the Church brings us the very voice of God. We respond to this voice of His grace and love by letting ourselves be led into the fullness of each service, allowing the words spoken through the Church by that Voice to form us more clearly into His image.

Two of those great feast days fall within the month of August – Transfiguration and Dormition. These two feasts reveal to us our destiny as human persons created “in the image and likeness of God” – to be transfigured by the uncreated energy of God – the gift of the Holy Spirit; and to fall asleep in the Lord awaiting our “translation” to heaven, already anticipated in the falling asleep of the Mother of God. As the unknown monastic author of our article reminds us, this is a gift to be experienced in the liturgical assembly of the Church and not simply something to be read about in a book. Thank God we do not have “worship by committee” in the Orthodox Church, where services and celebrations are more-or-less made up as we go along, artificially striving for “creativity” and the illusion of “relevance” (with irrelevance victimizing every new “gimmick” almost before it is enacted). We are blessed with an authentic and ageless liturgical Tradition that initiates us into the “mystery of Christ” that organically combines holiness, majesty, spiritual sobriety and aesthetic beauty in the experience of worshipping the one living God – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Fr Steven

Choosing the Kingdom

2011-08-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

“A lack of veneration of the Mother of God does not necessarily imply a denial of faith in the Kingdom of God. But to venerate her and to glorify her as the true Theotokos, as the Church does, this is to confess the coming of the Kingdom of God in power.” (Archpriest Alexis Kniazeff)

As we embark upon the two-week fast that leads us to the “summer pascha” of the Dormition of the Theotkos on August 15, I would like to outline the various services and feasts that we will encounter, plan to participate in as fully as possible, and hopefully experience as “the coming of the Kingdom of God in power.” This is a wonderful opportunity to once more make the Church the main focus of our lives, as we make a conscious choice to “not be conformed to this world.” (ROM. 12:2) With children or without, through a “renewal of our minds,” we strengthen our relationship with God in and through the Church and establish our commitment to Christ and the Church as the major priority of our lives. The schedule through which we accomplish this is the following:

Friday, August 5: Vesperal Liturgy for the Feast of the Transfiguration at 6:00 p.m.
This major Feast Day will include the blessing of the fruit baskets that we bring with us to church that evening.

Monday, August 8: Vesperal Liturgy for the Feast of the Glorification of St. Herman of Alaska at 6:00 p.m.
One of most beloved “patron saints” of North America, we commemorate the date on which he was liturgically and canonically ranked among the known saints of the Church – August 9, 1970.

Sunday, August 14: Great Vespers for the Feast of Dormition at 6:00 p.m.
The beautiful service in which the decorated tomb is in the center of the church on which is the icon of the Theotokos in blessed repose for our heartfelt veneration.

Monday, August 15: Divine Liturgy for Dormition at 9:30 a.m.
The culmination of the two-week Fast in which we commemorate the falling asleep and “translation to Heaven” of the Theotokos.

The Vesperal Liturgy has become, over the years, a pastoral response to the “working communities” which our parishes now are. In other words, the vast majority of parishioners of any given parish today cannot attend the morning Liturgy, so the Vesperal Liturgy allows more of the faithful to receive the Eucharist for the Feast. In a sense, this is patterned after the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts that we serve during Great Lent. That service is actually an extended Vespers with the reception of Holy Communion attached to it. It is not a full Liturgy because we do not use the Eucharistic canon and consecrate the Gifts; but it allows for the reception of the Eucharist on a weekday of Lent through the Gifts that were “presanctified” the Sunday before. The Vesperal Liturgy combines a part of the festal Vespers with the Liturgy (which we enter at a certain point) and the full Eucharistic canon and consecration of the Gifts that we then receive as on a given Sunday Liturgy. This allows for a full participation in the Feast, as the Eucharist is the culmination of the Feast in all of its fullness. But again, here we are stressing its pastoral purpose for allowing as much participation as possible. With Dormition on a Monday this year, however, we cannot celebrate the Feast with the Vesperal Liturgy, and so follow the traditional pattern of Great Vespers on the eve and the Liturgy in the morning.

“Real life” has its endless daily challenges that can often enough interrupt the most well-intentioned of plans; a common occurrence with young children, of course. “Daily turbulence” or “daily fatigue” is not something that is easily anticipated. Planning ahead – together with a sense of commitment - can help. Yet, often we speak of prior “commitments” that do not allow us to attend the many services on our liturgical calendars. Yet, how do those “commitments” compare to our commitment to faith in Christ? Are these “commitments” that can be postponed to a day other than one which calls us to the worship of God in the Church? Can we move things around on our calendars? Whose “invitation” should hold a priority for us – one from our social calendars, or the one from Christ? Can any serious Orthodox Christian actually choose entertainment, a social event, or a shopping excursion at the local mall when the Feast is being celebrated in the Church??? I believe that such a choice should be brought to Confession and repented of. At least let your conscience be clear for an absence for a cause “worthy of a blessing” if that is how things work out. This is not about a “guilt trip,” but about our choices. You are probably better off not coming to church if you think you are being “guilted” into doing so.

If a local non-denominational “mega-church” can fill up on a weekday for a power-point presentation on a giant screen or some “Jesus entertainment” (they may mean well, but probably don’t know any better); than certainly the parishes of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church can fill up as well (at least proportionately) for the Feast Days that signify the “coming of the Kingdom of God in power.” The choice is ours.

Fr. Steven

The Cost of Conforming

2011-07-31T15:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

At the beginning of his “pastoral” teaching in ch. 12 of his Epistle to the Romans, the Apostle Paul delivers an admonition that is timeless in its challenge for serious-minded Christians:

Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
(ROM. 12:2)

Loosely defined, to conform is to “take on the form,” or “to be like” someone or something; or to “fit in” in a manner that does not draw any attention to oneself. It seems as if most of us – Christians and non-Christians - are conformists by nature. We feel uneasy about standing out, or doing things that would be considered too “different.” Since the Church is not a “cult,” Christians are not expected to practice a kind of non-conformity in the everyday aspects of life that would make them seem eccentric or socially disengaged. We find this expressed as early as the 2nd century in the document known as The Epistle to Diognetus. This rather charming work, anonymously written, contains a passage that addresses some issues tied to the theme of conformity (and Christian non-conformity). In reading this passage, one is reminded of the general principle of being in but not of the world:

For the distinction between Christians and other men, is neither in country nor language nor customs ... Yet while living in Greek and barbarian cities, according as each obtained by his lot, and following local customs, both in clothing and food and in the rest of life, they show forth the wonderful and confessedly strange character of the constitution of their own citizenship. They dwell in their own fatherlands, but as if sojourners in them; they share all things as citizens, and suffer all things as strangers. Every foreign country is their fatherland, and every fatherland is a foreign country. they marry as all men, they bear children, but they do not expose their offspring. They offer hospitality, but guard their purity. Their lot is cast “in the flesh,” but they do not live “after the flesh.” They pass their time upon the earth, but they have their citizenship in heaven. (Epistle to Diognetus, v.)

In other words, the early Christians were quite willing to share the same “lifestyles” as their pagan neighbors, at least on the surface level of day-to-day existence. However, when faced with some contemporary practices that may have been legal and acceptable, but unacceptable from the vision of life in the Church, for the most part the early Christians chose the “higher law” of the Gospel. This prevented our spiritual ancestors from being too far drawn into a morally and ethically compromised way of life.

Yet what happens when our innocent conformity lacks a sense of balance? Or when we become excessive or even obsessive in our desire toward “conforming to this world?” What does it mean if our wardrobes keep expanding; our cars choices are more status-driven than ever; our houses keep getting bigger and more expensive to maintain; and our over-all consumerism leaves us spiritually exhausted in pursuit of the “American dream?” That sounds like “conforming to this world” in disregard of the Apostle Paul’s admonition. This can further spill into areas of a moral and ethical concern; as when we defend an ideology or political party that is contrary to the Gospel that respects human life, gender distinctions, the poor and needy, and peacemakers instead of warmongers.

How much time, talent or treasure remains in order to practice Christian stewardship when so much is poured into this world beyond our basic needs? In satisfying our desire to conform to this world, are we left with offering our “leftovers” to the Church, treating the Church in the process as a marginal attraction in comparison with the world?

It is hard to reign all of that in once it has taken on a life of its own and we are (hopelessly) caught up into it. If we can practice a form of “critical conformity” in which we carefully assess and discern our cumulative choices, then we can truly be in the world, but free of the world to a meaningful degree. This becomes possible when we “renew our minds” by “conforming” them to the image of Christ. To conform to the “mind of Christ” is to avoid conforming to “this world” in a conscious and deliberate manner. An internal non-conformity slowly develops that sharpens our vision concerning the relationship between the Church and the fallen world.

The Apostle Paul knew the cost of “conforming to this world” to the formation of a Christian conscience and a position of freedom in regards to the fallen world. His admonition remains timeless as we struggle with our choices.

Fr Steven

The Pastoral Theology of the Apostle Paul

2011-07-26T13:18:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

Introduction

Based on the circumstances of his apostolic ministry, St. Paul created and developed a pastoral theology which has hardly been rivaled in the entire history of the Church. The Apostle Paul’s epistles can never be reduced to theological treatises that reveal timeless truths unrelated to the circumstances, issues, and pastoral concerns that prompted the writing of any given epistle in the first place. A true pastor must guide, protect, teach, encourage and admonish his flock when necessary, and St. Paul was very conscious of this. In his epistles he was always responding to situations that demanded an application of the theological truths so forcefully and profoundly revealed in his writings. Thus, in addition to his divinely-appointed role as an apostle, St. Paul was also a pastor – or director of souls; and a theologian – one who discovered words “appropriate to God,” so as to reveal something meaningful concerning God and God’s dispensation toward the world. In fact, we would claim that he was “inspired” by the Holy Spirit to do this. Hence, his epistles are now an integral part of the inspired New Testament canon of sacred Scripture.

Even though doctrinal and pastoral concerns are often intertwined in his epistles, we do find a pattern that he follows by giving pastoral guidance and/or catechetical instruction following the early theological sections of his epistles. His First Epistle to the Thessalonians is a good example, for it is in chs. 4-5 that we find his exhortations after a more opening doctrinal section. This is true about the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Romans even though he was not responsible for establishing the local church in the imperial capital. After the theological or doctrinal section of this great epistle in ch. 1-11, the Apostle adds further chapters of pastoral direction that render that very theology accessible and applicable to “real-life” situations, or at least to the Christian life conceived in its over-all realization in the world. As a little-known text put it simply in the patristic era: “Up to this point Paul has expounded doctrine. Now he goes on to teach morals.” As an example: When the Apostle overwhelms us with a revealed truth such as this – “But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (ROM. 5:8, a verse we can describe as his version of JN. 3:16) - we can be assured that he will eventually point out to us just how profound of a meaning this truth will have in our lives as Christians. Perhaps this following passage reveals how that truth about God can be embodied in a way of life that would mark a genuine Christian who is a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ:

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality (ROM 12:9-13).

It is fascinating just how closely these words of the Apostle reflect the teachings of Christ which he has so admirably absorbed and assumed, though not having seen or heard Christ in His earthly ministry.

Another “meditation” later in the week will continue to draw on the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, especially from ch. 12, and his creative use of a pastoral theology. I will focus initially on St. Paul’s well-known admonition: “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind …” (ROM. 12:2)

Fr Steven.

To Believe and Confess

2011-07-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

“For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved.” (ROM. 10:10)

“And grant that with one mouth and one heart we may praise Thine all-honorable and majestic name …” (Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom)

According to our liturgical calendar, this year we read from the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Romans on all of the Sundays of July. Last Sunday, the designated passage was ROM. 10:1-10. This passage is found at the heart of the Apostle’s impassioned historical/theological reflections on the mystery of Israel’s unbelief in Jesus as the Messiah, and how this makes sense in God’s over-all design for both Jews and Gentiles (ROM. 9-11). St. Paul’s “heart’s desire and prayer to God for them (the Jews) is that they may be saved” (v. 1). However, my goal is much more modest than entering into that complex theme at the moment. I am simply concentrating on the Apostle’s understanding of how we express and maintain our faith in Christ. For in this passage, St. Paul is speaking about salvation in Christ - a salvation that is both expressed with the lips while also being embedded deep in the heart: “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach)” (v. 8). The Apostle then follows with a verse that could very well echo an early baptismal confession of faith on the part of the neophyte: “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (v. 9). The candidate for baptism would publicly and openly confess, “Jesus is Lord;” and this would assume that in the heart of the candidate is the saving faith that God raised Jesus from the dead. Only such a confession of faith and heartfelt belief makes baptism meaningful. It is this confession of a faith that exists in the heart that now allows both Jews and Gentiles to receive the righteousness, and hence salvation, that comes from God: “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon him” (ROM. 10:13).

From the very beginning of Christianity, there has always been a “creedal” dimension to faith in Christ. This began during the earthly ministry of Christ when both St. Peter and St. Martha essentially made the same confession that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God. (MATT. 16:16; JN. 11:27) This reaches its climax in the post-resurrectional confession of faith made by the disciple Thomas: “My Lord and my God!” (JN. 20:28) All of the Church’s creeds – local or ecumenical – are basically expansions and elaborations of that basic Truth of the Gospel. And the early creeds of the Church were used initially during the baptisms of new believers, before they entered into the Liturgy. Even the Nicene Creed was based on an earlier baptismal creed that was enlarged so as to become the Church’s most succinct expression of faith in the Holy Trinity and the Person of Christ. And, of course, we openly recite the Creed as a body following this liturgical “directive” from the priest: “Let us love one another, that with one mind we may confess.” This “confession” is an open and public vocalization of the full text of the Creed; this, in turn, being the content of what we claim to “believe.” It should be hard to imagine “saying” the Nicene Creed on a weekly basis without believing in the heart that what is being confessed is the Truth about God.

The “lips” and the “heart” represent the “outer” and “inner” and aspects of the human person in his or her totality. There exists a wholeness and over-all integrity to the Christian believer that maintains a balance between the two. Only such a person could say with the same conviction as the psalmist: “O Lord, open Thou my lips, and my mouth will show forth Thy praise.” If the lips express what is in the heart then the sincerity, conviction and commitment implicit in such a confession of Christian faith may serve to convince – even convict? – others who hear it. And this may begin within an existing Christian community. Today, we use rather bland terms such as “a person of faith,” when we could be describing a dynamic, deeply committed and passionate human “incarnation” of “the faith once and for all delivered to the saints” (JUDE 3). Such a “person of faith” can move others within a community to either question or seek to strengthen their own faith. Whether this serves to “inspire” or “convict,” such a presence will ultimately serve to build up the local community.

The unattractive and/or unexamined alternative of lacking an inner connection between the outward confession of faith and belief in the heart can result in a kind of “spiritual schizophrenia” that can seriously undermine or perhaps destroy a faith that once existed in a person. This is much more serious than the common notions of hypocrisy and (mindless) conformity. “Do I actually believe what I confess to in church?” may be the type of question that we need to periodically ask ourselves in the spirit of “self-examination” that the Apostle Paul refers to elsewhere in his epistles. More specifically: Do I believe in my heart that “Jesus is Lord,” as I confess that with my lips? Or again: Do I believe “that God raised him from the dead” as I confess that with my lips? We should not fear that such questions allow “doubt” to creep in. Rather, avoidance of such questions may very well indicate the presence of doubt already acting in a corrosive manner. When we pray in faith we ask God to further strengthen our faith, thus acknowledging the many temptations that assail our faith and our own weaknesses that threaten our faith. Yet, the faith that we pray for in humility can “overcome the world!”

It is a joy to be able to openly confess our faith within our liturgical assemblies. This is a natural expression of the belief/faith that is welling up in the hearts. We have the assurance of the Apostle Paul: “The Scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame’ " (ROM. 10:11; IS. 28:16). And further the Apostle cites the prophet Joel who declared: “Every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (ROM. 10:13; JOEL 2:32) . These are powerful words when spoken and assimilated with faith in our hearts.

Fr. Steven

To Get Roused and Warmed

2011-07-07T06:49:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

Our parish is currently preoccupied with the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, and this is for two basic reasons: 1) On the Church’s liturgical lectionary it is the Epistle appointed to be read during the month of July; and 2) we are reading and studying this Epistle together in our Summer Bible Study. Of course, you can be preoccupied with anything but the Epistle to the Romans, but that choice would only further intensify the spiritual drought that threatens to keep us “thirsty” through the summer months of the liturgical year. The many distractions that we turn to for amusement cannot fill the deeper vacuum that ever-widens when not being “filled” by God. Those distractions seem to be an odd choice – and a poor set of substitutes - when the Church delivers the Epistle to us and only asks for our attention.

At the beginning of his series of great homilies on Romans, St. John Chrysostom said the following:

As I keep hearing the Epistles of the blessed Paul read, and that twice every week, and often three or four times … gladly do I enjoy the spiritual trumpet, and get roused and warmed with desire at recognizing the voice so dear to me, and seem to fancy him all but present to my sight, and behold him conversing with me…

Is it possible for a contemporary Orthodox Christian to “get roused and warmed” by hearing or reading the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Romans as did the great St. John? Certainly! For it is the same Gospel we hear today as was preached to the recipients of the Epistle in Rome centuries ago. And that Gospel remains “the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith …” (ROM. 1:16). The question is rather: How can an Orthodox Christian not “get roused and warmed” when hearing the Apostle Paul declare:

"While we were yet helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man – though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved to his life. Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received our reconciliation" (ROM. 5:6-11).

What has happened to the Orthodox Christian over time who can hear that text and remain indifferent, unmoved, or who restlessly seeks his/her relief from the burdens of life elsewhere and essentially outside of the Gospel? Is that who St. John is forced to address when he continues in his introductory homily on Romans?:

But I grieve and am pained, that all people do not know this man, as much as they ought to know him; but some are so far ignorant of him, as not even to know for certainty the number of his Epistles. And this comes not from incapacity, but of there not having the wish to be continually conversing with this blessed man. For it is not through any natural readiness and sharpness of wit that even I am acquainted with as much as I do know, if I do know anything, but owing to a continual cleaving to the man, and an earnest affection towards him.

After lamenting the fact that many of his flock were ignorant of the Apostle Paul, St. John goes on to speak more generally of the manifold dangers that ignorance of the Scriptures can lead to:

For from this it is that our countless evils have arisen – from ignorance of the Scriptures; from this that the plague of heresies has broken out; from this that there are negligent lives; from this labors without advantage.

To do his pastoral best to familiarize his flock with “this man” – the Apostle Paul – St. John Chrysostom would bring his flock together during the week in order to teach them the Scriptures, through his homilies and catechetical instruction. For St. John was a tireless and relentless advocate of the Scriptures, that no amount of “busyness” should keep us from reading and studying with care. Keeping things simple and to the point, St. John said that it was a matter of “interest.” He was always encouraged by, and had much praise for, the many who responded with interest and attended these gatherings.

Following in the footsteps of St. John Chrysostom, we have our own parish Bible Study in which we are reading and studying the Epistle to the Romans. We will meet this evening at 7:30 p.m. in the church library. All who are “interested” are encouraged to participate.

Fr Steven

Guest Op-Ed: 160 Million and Counting

2011-06-30T08:06:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

Here is a chilling Op-Ed by Ross Douthat, that further expands the moral quagmire that state-sponsored and promoted abortion leads to. A tragically ironic commentary on the growth of “women’s rights” in different parts of the world.

Fr. Steven

OP-ED COLUMNIST
160 Million and Counting
By ROSS DOUTHAT
Published: June 26, 2011

In 1990, the economist Amartya Sen published an essay in The New York Review of Books with a bombshell title: “More Than 100 Million Women Are Missing.” His subject was the wildly off-kilter sex ratios in India, China and elsewhere in the developing world. To explain the numbers, Sen invoked the “neglect” of third-world women, citing disparities in health care, nutrition and education. He also noted that under China’s one-child policy, “some evidence exists of female infanticide.”

The essay did not mention abortion.

Twenty years later, the number of “missing” women has risen to more than 160 million, and a journalist named Mara Hvistendahl has given us a much more complete picture of what’s happened. Her book is called “Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men.” As the title suggests, Hvistendahl argues that most of the missing females weren’t victims of neglect. They were selected out of existence, by ultrasound technology and second-trimester abortion.

The spread of sex-selective abortion is often framed as a simple case of modern science being abused by patriarchal, misogynistic cultures. Patriarchy is certainly part of the story, but as Hvistendahl points out, the reality is more complicated — and more depressing.

Thus far, female empowerment often seems to have led to more sex selection, not less. In many communities, she writes, “women use their increased autonomy to select for sons,” because male offspring bring higher social status. In countries like India, sex selection began in “the urban, well-educated stratum of society,” before spreading down the income ladder.

Moreover, Western governments and philanthropic institutions have their fingerprints all over the story of the world’s missing women.

From the 1950s onward, Asian countries that legalized and then promoted abortion did so with vocal, deep-pocketed American support. Digging into the archives of groups like the Rockefeller Foundation and the International Planned Parenthood Federation, Hvistendahl depicts an unlikely alliance between Republican cold warriors worried that population growth would fuel the spread of Communism and left-wing scientists and activists who believed that abortion was necessary for both “the needs of women” and “the future prosperity — or maybe survival — of mankind,” as the Planned Parenthood federation’s medical director put it in 1976.

For many of these antipopulation campaigners, sex selection was a feature rather than a bug, since a society with fewer girls was guaranteed to reproduce itself at lower rates.

Hvistendahl’s book is filled with unsettling scenes, from abandoned female fetuses littering an Indian hospital to the signs in Chinese villages at the height of the one-child policy’s enforcement. (“You can beat it out! You can make it fall out! You can abort it! But you cannot give birth to it!”) The most disturbing passages, though, are the ones that depict self-consciously progressive Westerners persuading themselves that fewer girls might be exactly what the teeming societies of the third world needed.

Over all, “Unnatural Selection” reads like a great historical detective story, and it’s written with the sense of moral urgency that usually accompanies the revelation of some enormous crime.

But what kind of crime? This is the question that haunts Hvistendahl’s book, and the broader debate over the vanished 160 million.

The scale of that number evokes the genocidal horrors of the 20th century. But notwithstanding the depredations of the Chinese politburo, most of the abortions were (and continue to be) uncoerced. The American establishment helped create the problem, but now it’s metastasizing on its own: the population-control movement is a shadow of its former self, yet sex selection has spread inexorably with access to abortion, and sex ratios are out of balance from Central Asia to the Balkans to Asian-American communities in the United States.

This places many Western liberals, Hvistendahl included, in a distinctly uncomfortable position. Their own premises insist that the unborn aren’t human beings yet, and that the right to an abortion is nearly absolute. A self-proclaimed agnostic about when life begins, Hvistendahl insists that she hasn’t written “a book about death and killing.” But this leaves her struggling to define a victim for the crime that she’s uncovered.

It’s society at large, she argues, citing evidence that gender-imbalanced countries tend to be violent and unstable. It’s the women in those countries, she adds, pointing out that skewed sex ratios are associated with increased prostitution and sex trafficking.

These are important points. But the sense of outrage that pervades her story seems to have been inspired by the missing girls themselves, not the consequences of their absence.

Here the anti-abortion side has it easier. We can say outright what’s implied on every page of “Unnatural Selection,” even if the author can’t quite bring herself around.

The tragedy of the world’s 160 million missing girls isn’t that they’re “missing.” The tragedy is that they’re dead.

The Greatest and Most Righteous Pillars of the Church

2011-06-30T05:05:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

“During their earthly lives, all the saints are an incentive to virtue for those who hear and see them with understanding, for they are human icons of excellence, animated pillars of goodness, and living books, which teach us the way to better things.” (Homily on Saints Peter and Paul by St. Gregory Palamas).

Today we celebrate and commemorate the two great Apostles Peter and Paul. Their martyrdom in Rome is a very well-attested historical event, happening probably between the years 64-68 A.D. under the Roman emperor Nero. This is considered within the Church to be such a great Feast that it is preceded by a prescribed time of fasting, a practice only reserved otherwise for the great Feasts of the Lord (Nativity and Pascha) and the Mother of God (Dormition). This both stresses the historical greatness of these two apostles, the accomplishments of their respective ministries, their martyric ends, and the very ministry and role of an apostle in proclaiming the Gospel to the world in fulfillment of the Lord’s command to preach the Good News to “all nations.” (MATT. 28:16-20) Indeed, St. Clement of Rome in his First Epistle, referred to Sts. Peter and Paul as “the greatest and most righteous pillars [of the church].” On careful reflection, it is not simply pious rhetoric that informs some of the hymns chanted in their honor during this Feast:

What spiritual songs shall we sing for Peter and Paul? They have silenced the sharp tongues of the godless. They are awesome swords of the Spirit. They are the adornment of Rome; They have nourished the whole world with the Word of God. They are the living tablets of the New Testament written by the hand of God; Christ who has great mercy, has exalted them in Zion. (Great Vespers)

In the New Testament, fourteen of the Epistles are traditionally attributed to St. Paul and two are attributed to St. Peter. While the entire Acts of the Apostles is basically devoted to recording some of the major events in the history of these two apostles “in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.” (ACTS. 1:8) It may not be wholly accurate to refer to Sts. Peter and Paul as the apostles, respectively, “to the circumcised” (the Jews) and the “uncircumcised” (the Gentiles) – for St. Peter preached to the Gentiles and St. Paul to the Jews) – but this is a way of capturing the fullness of their combined ministries so that Jews and Gentiles would be united in the one Body of Christ in fulfillment of God’s design.

At Great Vespers of this Feast, three New Testament readings are prescribed, all from St. Peter’s first Epistle. We hear from the magnificent opening of I Peter, and this passage profoundly presents the essence of the Gospel as proclaimed in the apostolic age of the Church’s foundation, by the “prince of the apostles.” For those who have not heard or read this passage recently, a good portion of it deserves to be recorded here so as “to make your day:”

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious that gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. As the outcome of your faith you obtain the salvation of your souls. (I PET. 1:3-9)

In this passage, St. Peter reminds us that from the beginning the Gospel bestowed upon on Christians a “living hope” that was based on the fact of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. All New Testament writers establish Christian hope on the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead. (In his first Epistle to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul did not want his early converts to be “without hope” like their pagan neighbors, thus attesting to how important hope is for the believing Christian). The Apostle Peter was not offering yet another philosophy, but proclaiming the activity of God – “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” – within the realm of human history; that is that God has acted decisively on our behalf by overcoming death itself through the resurrection of Jesus. He then describes our “inheritance” in heaven in strikingly powerful images, emphasizing the eternal and unassailable reality of heaven – “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.” This is in sharp contrast to life as we now know it in this world, for all created things are perishable, subject to defilement and destined to fade away. The Apostle Paul confirms this also by saying that “the form of this world is fading away.” (I COR. 7:31) “Guarded by faith,” we await a salvation that will be “revealed in the last time,” meaning the Parousia and end of time.

Yet, the apostle knows that this gift cannot be lightly received and treated. It will only come after “various trials” that are inevitable in a fallen world. In this instance, St. Peter was most likely referring to persecution as this had already broken out against the earliest Christians. However, suffering comes in other forms. These trials will test the “genuineness”of our faith, purifying it if we emerge from these tribulations purged like gold “tested by fire.” All of this is true even though we have not seen nor “see” Jesus even now. This is true of all of Christ’s disciples through the ages, called by Jesus Himself “blessed” by believing though not actually having seen Him. (JN. 20:29)

The strength of this experience is beautifully expressed by St. Peter when he confidently states that we “rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy.” This is almost embarrassing when we admit dragging ourselves to church or praying as if constrained under a heavy obligation or a “religious duty” that takes us away from more “interesting” activities! A joyless Christianity is completely foreign to the New Testament. As is a “second place” (or “third” or fourth,” etc.) Christianity in the priorities of our lives. The intended “outcome” of all this is “the salvation of your souls.” Is this why every liturgical service that begins with the Great Litany has us praying to the Lord in the first full petition, for the “peace from above and for the salvation of our souls?” There is nothing “selfish” in seeking or accepting the “salvation of our souls.” This is the gift of God that is intended for all. In the assurance of this gift, we can work more steadfastly on behalf of others, and share what God has done on our behalf.

The Apostles Peter and Paul are truly “Rivers of wisdom and upholders of the Cross!” They exemplified the later teaching of St. Ignatius of Antioch of the mystery of Christ that conveys “life in death.” For they died as martyrs but are eternally alive in Christ. We can now read their epistles and their lives as “living books which teach us the way to better things” as St. Gregory Palamas said of them. We seek their prayers as we strive to be worthy of the title of “Christian.”

Fr Steven

Live Dangerously! Come to the Bible Study!

2011-06-25T07:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

Due to the importance I ascribe to our annual Summer Bible Study – one reason being that the Bible comes from and belongs to the Orthodox Church - I always begin with a letter of exhortation to try and “recruit” new participants before we begin each year. Whether or not that exhortation falls on deaf ears or not, is beside the point. My pastoral conscience impels me to make the effort, and every year it seems as if we have some new members that join our circle. So, if you belong to the species of homo sapien, and if you are simultaneously a member of our parish, then this letter is meant for you.

Just a generation ago, many Orthodox parishes may not have had a Bible Study. Under those circumstances, parishioners justifiably hungry for the spiritual nourishment that comes from the living Word of God may even have participated in a local non-Orthodox Bible Study in order to satisfy that hunger. The inherent danger in this is confusing an Orthodox and heterodox interpretation of the Scripture, and thus relativizing the Truth as we understand it, proclaim it, and live it within the Church. Fortunately, what may have been true a generation ago, is no longer the case, as most Orthodox parishes today do provide a setting for reading and studying the Bible together. Our parish clergy today are much more thoroughly educated in the Scriptures from seminary and beyond, and are quite capable of offering quality classes. Therefore, the only further “ingredient” needed is parishioners who desire to learn and who make the commitment to do so.

We now have a complete Orthodox Study Bible, providing us with excellent commentaries that inform us of the Church’s interpretation, as well as providing great quotes from the Church Fathers, such as St. John Chrysostom. I understand that there are also Orthodox “online” studies that you could turn to. With such access, why even “bother” to have a parish Bible Study? Why not stay home, find some free time, and study alone or perhaps even with the family? (This is something like the “Netflix approach” applied to the Bible). Certainly things that I would encourage. But these are the obvious things to do if you cannot attend your own parish Bible Study for “reasons worthy of a blessing.” What I have learned over the years, is that it is the fellowship of coming together that is a key component to the parish Bible Study.

The parish Bible Study builds a sense of community and an awareness that there are others in the parish who also “hunger and thirst” to go as deep as possible into the source of our Orthodox Faith – the Holy Scriptures as the living Word of God. Learning something new, discussion, sharing, listening to the insights of others, building closer relationships, meeting other parishioners beyond the surface greetings of the “coffee hour;” all these components make the parish Bible Study a key event in the ongoing life of the parish. It is making a conscious commitment to set aside that most valuable of commodities – time itself – for the “things of God.” And to choose a “churchly activity” over a “worldly activity.” To set aside “worldly cares” for the sake of the “world to come” – revealed in the Scriptures and discussed together as a Body which is an extension of the Liturgy.

When I was young, I did not like to experiment with new foods. My mother would say: “Try it, you’ll like it.” Could we apply that to the Bible Study: “Try it, you’ll like it.” Especially those of you who have never tried it. “Live dangerously” – come to the Bible Study! (The “danger,” of course, is learning the hard reality that each one of us has a long way to go in being an authentic Christian – a genuine follower of Christ).

We will begin next Wednesday, June 29, at 7:45 p.m., appropriately the Feast of the Synaxis of the Apostles (following the Vespers) since we will be reading from perhaps the greatest of the Apostle Paul’s epistles: Romans. We will begin at ch. 12.

Fr Steven

Guest Op-Ed: The Saga of Sister Kiki

2011-06-25T07:06:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

I found this Op-Ed by David Brooks, to be an “object lesson” in the multiple dangers posed by an uncritical and unsupervised use of the internet (for children and young adults, at least). It also probes our current obsessions with celebrity, appearance, and the lurid side of sexual fantasies. Lately, we have been reading about the “dark side”of facebook and twittering/tweeting. This may be a spectacular – and exaggerated - example of what can go bad, but it remains cautionary, nevertheless. Why does “virtue” sound so archaic and reactionary today? It is up against some real stiff competition!

To re-formulate an old question: Do you know what your child is doing on the internet or on his/her cell-phone?

Fr. Steven

OP-ED COLUMNIST
The Saga of Sister Kiki
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: June 23, 2011

In 1900, Theodore Dreiser wrote “Sister Carrie,” about a young woman who left the farm and got mauled by the crushing forces of industrial America: the loneliness of urban life, the squalid conditions of the factory, the easy allure of the theater, the materialism of the new consumer culture.

If Dreiser were around today, he might write about Kiki Ostrenga. Kiki, who was the subject of a haunting profile by Sabrina Rubin Erdely in the April issue of Rolling Stone, was a young teenager who got mauled by the some of the worst forces of the information age.

Lonely at school, she took refuge by creating an online persona, Kiki Kannibal, posting photos of herself with various hairstyles and looks — goth one day; sexually charged, Lady Gaga-style temptress the next.

Though 13, Ostrenga was a phenomenally good shape-shifter. The photos often show her in her underwear or short skirts, with lurid make-up, edgy poses and pouty come-hither expressions. In them, you see the child’s ability to mimic the looks and attitudes of what she admires — in this case the cult of high-fashion celebrity as glamorized in Vogue or Cosmopolitan, on E!, TMZ, “Real World” and a thousand other outlets.

In sports, speed and strength are king. In music, talent and application are king. But online, eyeballs and page-views are king. Achievement is redefined as the ability to attract attention. And, with today’s technology, this sort of celebrity is not just a dream. Young people can create it for themselves.

Continue reading . . .

Hogar Mission Trip, Pt 2

2011-06-25T05:05:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

Di Carter was kind enough to provide a written summary of her visit to the Hogar last week. I very much enjoyed reading her insights about the Hogar and hope that you will too. Please see the attachment.

It appears that we arrived just in time to spend some time with Francesca, for as I mentioned the possibility upon returning last week, she has already been transferred to another orphanage together with her older brother, Hugo. A rather sad development. Please continue to pray for her. Our parish sponsorship is being transferred to another young girl, an eleven yr. old named Gabriela. She, too, is a lovely girl, with a very friendly and kind spirit. I will try and send a photo soon.

Fr. Steven

Impressions of My First Visit To the Hogar San Rafael Ayau Orphanage
By Di Carter

As it was my first visit to the Hogar I did not know what to expect but I did anticipate feeling very sad at the sight of so many children who had been abused and abandoned. But the Hogar is not an unhappy place and I was soon caught up in its lively atomosphere. The children really do have fun and seem to enjoy life.

There were nine people on our team and we were soon put to work. Our tasks included making and planting a new garden bed, painting the side of the church and the bell tower, clearing French drains and doing the mowing. In the afternoons we spent time with the children doing crafts, swimming, going on outings and generally making friends.

Soon after we arrived, Mother Ivonne spent some time telling us about the Hogar and the children and as she spoke I realized that she sounded exactly the same as any of us relating the joys and frustrations of being a parent. She really is their mother. It is an enormous task and it is made more difficult by the conditions in Guatamala. It is not only dangerous, but the government continually tries to create obstacles for the orphanage. There is to be an election later this year and all three of the nuns will be watching the results of that closely as it will impact the orphanage directly.

On Saturday night we all watched the Guatamala soccer team play Jamaica on the television. Everyone, including Mother Ivonne, is obsessed with the game! One of our mission team, a young man called Matthew who has been down to the Hogar on a number of occasions, had bought soccer shirts for every member of the orphanage including Mother Ivonne and he handed them out during half-time. Mother Ivonne immediately put hers on as did the children. As we sat watching the game eating popcorn and candy I realized again that the Hogar is not an institution but rather it is a family. How the nuns have managed to create this is in itself a miracle. The wonderful thing is that the children have come to regard the missionaries (for that is what we are called!) as part of their extended family and they are happy to welcome us as such.

On Sunday we all went out to the monastery in a bus to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. This was probably the highlight of the trip for me. The monastery is situated beside a huge lake with mountains surrounding it including a volcano. The church is perched high on the hill and can be seen from the air as the plane comes in to land in Guatamala City. It is very beautiful, covered with frescoes and yet light and airy. Father Steven and Father Antonio, who is the priest at the monastery, served the Divine Liturgy and the children sang. They had no service books, nothing to refer to and yet they knew every word. Their voices rose up into the dome and they sounded like angels! After the service everyone had lunch under the trees overlooking the lake and a double rainbow appeared in the sky. We then toured the new building which will house the children when it is finished and then back to the church for the Kneeling Vespers service. On the way home in the bus the children sang, mostly the songs from church but they did get on to “Doe a Deer”! It was a perfect day.

I was very impressed by the children. They all have their chores to do around the orphanage and they do them seemingly without complaint. When it is time to tidy up and go to church it is done in record time without argument. If Mother Ivonne cannot be at Matins or Vespers they just carry on without her, chanting all the relevant Stikeras for the day and even the small children read some of the service. I found myself wondering why my children had never been so responsible and well-behaved! Of course the children do have enormous problems and one wonders how they will transition out of this safe place into the world. Mother Ivonne asks for our prayers and as a parish I hope we can commit ourselves to that.

The Death of 'Doctor Death'

2011-06-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

(Originally sent to the parish June 6, 2011)

Dear Parish Faithful,

As you may have heard, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a.k.a. “Doctor Death,” died of natural causes last week. To put it mildly, he was a very controversial figure. I am forwarding a non-emotional and, I believe, rational and well-argued piece by Ross Douthat concerning the open and hidden fallacies and dangers of “physician- assisted suicides. Please feel to comment further if you so choose.

Fr. Steven

OP-ED COLUMNIST
Dr. Kevorkian’s Victims
By ROSS DOUTHAT
Published: June 5, 2011

The case for assisted suicide seems to depend on human sympathy — on the impulse toward mercy, the desire to ease what seems like pointless pain and suffering. Why shouldn’t the terminally ill meet death on their own terms, rather than at the end of prolonged agonies? Why shouldn’t the dying depart this earth with dignity, instead of enduring the inexorable stripping away of their physical and mental faculties?

Such are the sentiments that made Jack Kevorkian, who died last week of natural causes, a hero to many millions of Americans. Though he was tried repeatedly and finally convicted of second-degree murder, the former pathologist’s career as “Dr. Death” (he said he assisted at more than 130 suicides) was widely regarded as a form of humanitarianism rather than a criminal enterprise.

But if such sentiments are understandable, they are morally perilous as well. We do not generally praise doctors who help dispatch their terminally ill patients, as Kevorkian repeatedly and unashamedly did. Even when death is inevitable and inevitably painful, it is not considered merciful to prescribe an overdose to a cancer victim against her will, or to gently smother a sleeping Alzheimer’s patient.

The difference, of course, is that Kevorkian’s clients asked for it. That free choice is what separates assisted suicide from murder, his defenders would insist.

But this means that the moral case for assisted suicide depends much more on our respect for people’s own desire to die than on our sympathy for their devastating medical conditions. If participating in a suicide is legally and ethically acceptable, in other words, it can’t just be because cancer is brutal and dementia is dehumanizing. It can only be because there’s a right to suicide.

And once we allow that such a right exists, the arguments for confining it to the dying seem arbitrary at best. We are all dying, day by day: do the terminally ill really occupy a completely different moral category from the rest? A cancer patient’s suffering isn’t necessarily more unbearable than the more indefinite agony of someone living with multiple sclerosis or quadriplegia or manic depression. And not every unbearable agony is medical: if a man losing a battle with Parkinson’s disease can claim the relief of physician-assisted suicide, then why not a devastated widower, or a parent who has lost her only child?

This isn’t a hypothetical slippery slope. Jack Kevorkian spent his career putting this dark, expansive logic into practice. He didn’t just provide death to the dying; he helped anyone whose suffering seemed sufficient to warrant his deadly assistance. When The Detroit Free Press investigated his “practice” in 1997, it found that 60 percent of those he assisted weren’t actually terminally ill. In several cases, autopsies revealed “no anatomical evidence of disease.”

Continue reading...

Metropolitan Anthony Bloom on Suffering

2011-06-20T07:44:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

Below you will find in three parts an extraordinary talk by the late Met. Anthony Bloom on the meaning of suffering. These were discovered and sent to me by Marty Davis. Thank God these talks were actually videoed. They probably go back to the 70’s, for I remember seeing Met. Anthony on this program. I would suggest playing them when you some time to listen carefully and absorb his keen insights into the meaning and mystery of suffering.

Fr. Steven

Hogar Mission Trip, Pt 1

2011-06-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

Buenos Dias!

Di Carter and I returned yesterday evening from our Mission Team trip to the Hogar in Guatemala. We were the two members representing our parish on what proved to be a nine-member Team, and I was also the “spiritual leader” of our Team. We both thank God for a wonderful week at the Hogar and the accumulated encounters and experiences that made our trip memorable. After two long flights and a week together in close quarters, we still remain, not only on speaking terms, but very close friends! Di agreed to write a summary of her first visit to the Hogar – complete with a description of an extraordinary Pentecost Liturgy at the monastery cathedral of the Holy Trinity that overlooks Lake Atatlitlan and is itself overlooked by a row of stunning volcanoes. We will look forward to Di’s account.

For the moment, I would like to focus on our own Francesca, the little girl we have been sponsoring for the last two years. I have both “good news” and - if not necessarily “bad” - then certainly “sad news” to share with you. The good news is that Francesca could not have been more “sweet” and adorable. We made a point of spending a good deal of time with her, as we took her to Antigua with us, and I also spent a day with her at the zoo. She knows of our relationship with her, and she was as respectful, friendly, warm and loving as possible. It was a joy to be with her. She thanks all of our Church School children for her birthday gift (coming up on July 8, when she will turn nine); and we were able to purchase a new cross for her that she chose while in Antigua.

Yet saying good-bye to Francesca was not easy. For due to a combination of complicated reasons, she and her two brothers will most probably be transferred to another orphanage in the near future. Since she and her brothers are very much at home at the Hogar; and since it is only at the Hogar that she is being nourished by the sacramental life of the Church on a daily basis; this is indeed sad news for her (although she is not yet aware of it). I asked Madre Ivonne if she could do her best to help us maintain some contact with her. Such a story is part of the fabric of life at the Hogar. Yet, as life goes on, I have already spoken with Madre Ivonne of transferring our sponsorship to another child and I will keep everyone informed if and when that will occur. So please continue keep Francesca and her two brothers – Hugo and Alejandro – in your prayers.

For the moment I would like to share an anecdote that is both amusing but impressive and indicative of how the children are being raised at the Hogar. While at the zoo on Wednesday, we stopped for lunch at Polla Comparo – the Guatemalan equivalent of Kentucky Fried Chicken (which, by the looks of it , is just as bad and unhealthy as KFC). For the children, though, this is a real treat. Be that as it may, I asked one of the teachers if we should first bless the food. After answering, “Si, padre,” she informed the children that we would now have the blessing. Without any prompting at all, and as if spontaneously with one collective movement, all twenty-six children stood up and began to sing the troparion for Pentecost as loudly as possible right in the restaurant! Their total freedom from any self-consciousness or awkwardness was absolutely refreshing. One could only smile in admiration. The workers stopped and the other customers expressed surprise, amusement, and … respect. As a pastor I could not help but reflect: Are we – including or children – even able to make the sign of the Cross over ourselves before eating in a public setting; or are we restrained by that very self-consciousness mentioned above? It was good to see the children take the Church with them out into the world.

I look forward to this weekend’s celebration of All Saints. Great Vespers will begin at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday; and the Divine Liturgy at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday morning.

Dios los bendigas!

En Cristo,

Padre Steven

The Ascension ~ The Meaning and the Fullness of Christ's Resurrection

2011-06-02T08:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

I ascend unto My Father, and your Father,
and to my God, and Your God.” (JN. 20:17)

Today is the fortieth day after the glorious Resurrection of Christ, and that is, of course, Ascension Thursday. We celebrated the Feast with the Vesperal Liturgy yesterday evening, and we had a good representative body of parishioners present for the Feast, including some of our children. I hope that one and all have a joyous and blessed feast day. The Risen Lord is also the Ascended Lord and, therefore, in the words of Fr. Georges Florovsky: “In the Ascension resides the meaning and the fullness of Christ’s Resurrection.” I would refer everyone to the complete article by Fr. Florovsky, a brilliant reflection on the theological and spiritual meaning of the Lord’s Ascension. This article is accessed from our parish website together with a series of other articles that explore the richness of the Ascension. In addition to Fr. Florovsky’s article, I would especially recommend The Ascension as Prophecy. With so many fine articles on the Ascension within everyone’s reach, I will not offer up yet another one, but I would like to make a few brief comments:

Though the visible presence of the Risen Lord ended forty days after His Resurrection, that did not mean that His actual presence was withdrawn. For Christ solemnly taught His disciples – and us through them – “Behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (MATT. 28:20) The risen, ascended and glorified Lord is the Head of His body, the Church. The Lord remains present in the Mysteries/Sacraments of the Church. This reinforces our need to participate in the sacramental life of the Church, especially the Eucharist, through which we receive the deified flesh and blood of the Son of God, “unto life everlasting.”

Christ ascended to be seated at “the right hand of the Father” in glory, thus lifting up the humanity He assumed in the Incarnation into the very inner life of God. For all eternity, Christ is God and man. The deified humanity of the Lord is the sign of our future destiny “in Christ.” For this reason, the Apostle Paul could write: “your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (COL. 3:3)

The words of the “two men … in white robes,” (clearly angels) who stood by the disciples as they gazed at Christ being “lifted up,” and recorded by St. Luke (ACTS. 1:11), point toward something very clear and essential for us to grasp as members of the Church that exists within the historical time of the world: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” The disciples will remain in the world, and must fulfill their vocation as the chosen apostles who will proclaim the Word of God to the world of the crucified and risen Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. They cannot spend their time gazing into heaven awaiting the return of the Lord. That hour has not been revealed: “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.” (1:7) The “work” of the Church is the task set before them, and they must do this until their very last breath. They will carry out this work once they receive the power of the Holy Spirit – the “promise of my Father” - as Christ said to them. (LK. 24:49) Whatever our vocation may be, we too witness to Christ and the work of the Church as we await the fullness of God’s Kingdom according to the times or seasons of the Father.

In our daily Prayer Rule we continue to refrain from using “O Heavenly King” until the Day of Pentecost. We no longer use the paschal troparion, “Christ is Risen from the dead …” but replace it from Ascension to Pentecost with the troparion of the Ascension:

Thou hast ascended in glory,
O Christ our God,
granting joy to Thy disciples by the promise of the Holy Spirit;
Through the Blessing they were assured
that Thou art the Son of God,
the Redeemer of the world.

Fr. Steven

The Rapture, Part 3: 'Beam Me Up' Theology

2011-05-26T13:01:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

Christ is Risen!

“It is much better to think that our death will come before the end of the world rather than the end of the world before our death.” ~ St. Nikolai Velimirovich
More from St Nikolai...

One last return to the subject of the “rapture” as I continue to think and read about it based upon some of the many responses I have received subsequent to my article of Tuesday. Perhaps I “struck a nerve” with my article, because I am receiving letters and responses from all over and from people I have never corresponded with before. I am hearing many stories – a couple of which I have already shared with you – about how belief in the rapture has shaped the faith and practice of many, though in ways that strike me as spiritually unhealthy. Fear and anxiety over not being “raptured” but “left behind” is a consistent theme in what I am hearing. Is that “Good News?” Some form of “rapture theology” is probably much more prevalent within American Protestantism than I have realized. Just by being “out there,” as it were. And it may have insinuated itself into the minds of many, even within churches that do not teach it. Has that happened to anyone in our own parish community? If you have believed in, accepted, or been influenced by some variation or other of the teaching on the rapture emanating from certain fundamentalist Protestant groups, I encourage you to confidentially share that with me, so that we can discuss it together. I am not heresy-hunting. I am trying to be pastoral and helpful. I am convinced, together with our entire theological Tradition, that this is a very false and dangerous teaching, precisely because of its inaccuracy and the false promises that it is using to gain adherents, often by fear.

Do not confuse the rapture with a belief in the Parousia (Second Coming of Christ), something we do believe in and confess in the Creed. To summarize again: The rapture is about Christians being taken up in the air to meet Christ who will come to gather up all true Christians, who will then return to heaven together with Christ so as to be kept safe from the seven-year tribulation that will engulf and basically destroy the earth as we know it. Only then will Christ return with finality (seven years later) in order “to establish a Jerusalem-based kingdom on earth.” This is all based on a hopelessly artificial reading of DAN. 9:25-27. As I wrote earlier, one can be “raptured” out of one’s car; from one’s work desk; from out of the shower (I would assume); and with no forewarning. In her book The Rapture Exposed, Barbara R. Rossing calls this “beam me up” theology. In her book, she further distinguishes the scriptural references to resurrection and the Parousia (Second Coming of Christ) from the non-scriptural term “rapture” :

The majority of New Testament passages on which dispensationalists base the notion of Rapture concern either resurrection or Jesus’ second coming – neither of which is the same as the Rapture, despite dispensationalists’ claims.

Resurrection is the foundational event for Christian faith. Ancient Christian creeds proclaim that God raised Jesus from the dead and declare that “We believe in the resurrection of the dead,” a belief shared by all Christian traditions today. But this is certainly not the same as saying that believers will be “Raptured” up from the earth to heaven. (The Rapture Exposed, p. 31)

This belief in the rapture is only about 170 years old. It was invented by the British Evangelical preacher John Nelson Darby, supposedly inspired by a vision that a fifteen year old Scottish girl by the name of Margaret MacDonald had in 1830. According to the historian Martin Marty, this teaching was then “shipped to America, and exported to the world.” As I study this recent phenomenon of Protestant dispensationalism with its attendant belief in the Rapture, I am discovering some of the pitfalls inherent in a rigidly “literal” interpretation of the Scripture. If everything written in the Bible has to have happened or be fulfilled “to the letter,” than account must be made for “unfulfilled prophecy” (supposedly the case in DAN. 9:25-27). This is when highly speculative interpretations that violate other scriptural teachings are made, none of which are spelled out in a literal manner. As I wrote earlier, the word “rapture” is not found in the Scriptures! The Bible is not so simplistic, and it cannot be subjected to a pseudo-scientifically determined timeline in which a series of divine “dispensations” are discerned concerning the end of the world. As the biblical scholar Craig Hill pointedly writes:

“Ironically, in their effort to interpret the Bible literally and consistently, proponents of the Rapture have mangled the biblical witness almost beyond comprehension. It is the Bible itself, this wonderfully diverse and complex witness to God and Christ, that has been left behind.” (Quoted in The Rapture Exposed, p. 42)

When Jesus spoke of the end of history – in what I would consider to be “symbolic” language – He emphasized that “that hour” is known is meant to remain unknown:

But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son but only the Father. (MK. 13:32)

In place of obsession, fear and calculation, Christ taught about vigilance and preparedness:

Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. watch therefore – for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning – lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. (MK. 13:33-37)

I strongly believe that we should carefully heed the words of St. Nikolai Velimirovich, found as a heading to this meditation, that each one of us should prepare for our own personal death – and our subsequent judgment – as an event that will occur before the end of the world. Preparation means a life of faith in Christ strengthened by prayer, almsgiving and fasting. If, by the “dispensation” of God, the order was to be reversed, then we will be prepared for the glorious future prepared for those who love God wholly and unconditionally.

Fr. Steven

The Rapture, Part 2: Failure to Launch

2011-05-26T12:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

Christ is Risen!

I received some interesting letters made in response to my article on “The Heresy of the Rapture” from yesterday. So, I would like to make a few short comments and then share a text from a good biblical scholar that summarizes the incoherent and non-biblical claims of “rapture theology.” I read a more detailed account of this false prophet’s “recalculation” that now points to an October date for the supposed rapture. He sounded blissfully unapologetic for misleading so many people this past weekend, and perhaps ruining their lives in the process. As often happens in the case of unfulfilled prophecy, a kind of “theological spin” is employed to demonstrate that the prophecy was not really that inaccurate, but needs to be carefully re-interpreted so as to salvage something of the prophet’s reputation and the future of the “movement.” (This is precisely what Jehovah’s Witnesses did after their failed prophecy of the end of the world in 1914). So, we are hearing that some kind of “spiritual judgment” occurred on Saturday, as a preliminary for the rapture that will now occur in October. Basically, we are being told, no further preaching has to be done, for it is now too late for repentance, because the soon-to-be raptured elect and the unfortunate “left-behinds” have already been determined. Whatever the case may be, there is no real purpose on spending any more time on such sheer nonsense.

I did, however, want to share a closing section of a very well-written book by Barbara R. Rossing, entitled The Rapture Exposed – The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation. The author is a professor of New Testament studies at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Her book is a careful study of the New Testament texts that are incorrectly interpreted by rapture theologians, and a an over-all study of biblical prophecy and apocalypticism. Her Epilogue contains the following, under a sub-section entitled “Wrestling With the Bible: A Prophetic Clothesline or a Blessing?”

The Bible is difficult to understand, and apocalyptic passages such as the book of Revelation and Matthew 24-25 are some of the hardest. The temptation is to make up a system to give answers – to create a “prophetic clothesline” and then hang biblical passages on it. But the Bible gives us neither a clothesline nor a timeline nor a system – it gives us a relationship with God! To read the Bible’s hardest passages is like wrestling with God, much like Jacob who wrestled through the night at the river Jabbok. You grapple to make sense of the words, you hold on, you struggle for clarity, you seek to wrest answers for all your questions. What God gives you instead of a system of answers is a blessing, a new name – a living relationship. You are forever changed by the encounter. You have seen the face of God.

We could examine each of the many biblical passages that dispensationalists love to cite. The fact is that not one single biblical passage lays out the dispensationalists’ overarching chronology of Rapture followed by seven years of tribulation followed by Jesus’ return to earth (emphasis added). They have to piece this grand narrative together like stringing clothes on a clothesline. There is no two-stage return of Christ in the Bible, no escapist Rapture from earth for born-again Christians.

Jesus will return – once. Until then, we are always with Jesus and he is with us – Emmanuel. Our life is held in God’s time. And we are called to live in wakefulness, to pray as the final verses of Revelation do, “Amen, come Lord Jesus.”

The Rapture Exposed, p. 186

The Heresy of the Rapture

2011-05-24T18:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

Christ is Risen!

I was barely aware of the story over the weekend concerning a small(?) group of Fundamentalist Christians who were awaiting the “rapture” that would anticipate and prepare the world for its demise and the final judgment. I must have lagged behind in keeping up with the news – or at least certain newsworthy stories. Yesterday, however, I read a lead article about the self-appointed “preacher” who found himself “flabbergasted” that his calculation of May 21, 2011, as the day of the “rapture” did not actually materialize. I believe that he is now in hiding, though he did boldly predict that he now believes that a date in October of this year will be the actual day of the “rapture.” His poor followers are left to pick up the pieces of their shattered dream and return to the endless challenges of the “daily crosses” we often must bear in the quotidian reality of “this world.”

As an Orthodox Christian I am perfectly indifferent to any and all dates that may be calculated concerning the so-called “rapture,” for the simple but important reason that we do not believe that there will be a rapture as envisioned by various Protestant sectarians since the 19th c. This is a teaching – or belief – that has never been part of the Church’s Tradition and which we can probably label a “heresy” with some legitimacy. We believe that this is a false teaching that is contrary to the Scriptures and the ongoing Tradition of the Church. As I just mentioned, the origin of the rapture teaching is as recent as the 19th c. And I believe that the teaching is credited to a certain John Darby. This is a part of what is further termed Protestant “dispensationalism.” However, the twelve(!) volumes of the fictional Left Behind series by Tim LeHaye and Jerry Jenkins have recently popularized “rapture theology” with probably disastrous results for many Christians who were taken in by this bogus and fear-creating theology. And this “theology” is painfully superficial and artificial, based upon a misreading of a few biblical texts (I THESS. 4:13-18; MATT. 24:39-42; JN. 14:1-2) These authors – regardless of their sincerity – ironically became multi-millionaires as they wrote about the end of the world and the last judgment, in a series of best-sellers. Might as well enjoy yourselves and come to terms with “mammon” while waiting for Jesus to take you out of the this world of tribulation and sorrow! There is also a strong militarist “right-wing” component to the Left Behind series that has political implications for American foreign policy in the Middle East. Fortunately, it does seem as though a good deal of this has died down in recent years as this series of books has lost some of its momentum. I never felt the slightest temptation to read any of this literature, not even for the sake of maintaining an awareness of what was attracting so much attention.

Another irony is that many biblical literalists cannot support their claims from the Scriptures. For example: The word “rapture” does not appear in the Bible! It is an artificial construction, based upon cutting and pasting together the biblical passages that are mentioned above. For those who are blissfully ignorant of rapture theology, perhaps a short description may be helpful. The “rapture” claims that Jesus will descend from heaven and take up true believing Christians into the air with Him – hence the “rapture” (from the Latin raptio, “to snatch”); and hence all of those unanticipated driver-less cars that will be careening around our streets and freeways as so many weapons that God can further use to punish the non-believers. Christ will then essentially “turn around” and “return” to heaven with these true believers who will be spared the seven years of horrible tribulation unleashed upon the earth before He returns again in a definitive manner to inaugurate the end of the world and the last judgment. We are now presented with a two-part Second Coming of Christ that again has no biblical or creedal support. This scenario offers the false comfort to Christians that they will not have to share the sufferings of the world with their fellow human beings, legitimately prophesied in the Scriptures for the “end of the world” This is also blatantly in contradiction to the Scriptures (see MATT. 24:21-22).

As Orthodox Christians, we believe in the Second Coming of Christ, as stated in the Nicene Creed, when “He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead.” But Orthodox theologians do not spend/waste their time calculating the time of the Parousia, nor do they attempt to describe what is essentially indescribable. Vigilance and preparedness are essential virtues according to the teaching of Christ. Our own deaths will come soon enough, and these will serve as our “personal judgments” before the Final Judgment for which we pray to have a “good defense.” There is more than enough there to occupy us in the interval. As a Serbian proverb says: Work as if you will live to be a hundred; and pray as if you will die tomorrow.

Another dreary effect of these stories is that the media and non-believers can mock Christians or Christianity for these supposedly non-fulfilled prophecies. I understand there were entire websites devoted to ridiculing this latest group and their vigilance in waiting to be raptured up on May 21. There were even “rapture parties.” The gleeful chatter and cynicism of the unbelieving world was very much a part of this sad story. Christianity remains in some minds to this day to be preoccupied with “Judgment Day” and the fear of God – together with God’s wrath toward sin and disbelief. Deservedly so one could argue, but it keeps the Gospel on the defensive and again sends very confusing signals as to what various Christians believe. Concentration is taken away from the love of God expressed so powerfully in the Incarnation, Death and Resurrection of Christ; of the sacramental life of the Church; of a life of serious prayer; and of the joy in the hearts of believers who trust in the further fulfillment of the promises of God.

Finally, there are the deeply disappointed, disenchanted, confused, and bewildered Christians who actually believed this “prophet.” Many of them distributed their assets and could be facing a bleak future of readjustment to life in the world. Now what do they do? Who now to listen to? How many will abandon their faith in Christ as they will feel as if Christ “let them down?” I feel very sorry for these people and hope that they can put their lives back together again on a solid footing with their basic Christian faith intact, though with a greater capacity for true discernment and a better knowledge of the Scriptures.

Just a few thoughts on yet another failed prophecy on the end of the world. Apparently, it’s back to work for everyone.

Fr. Steven

Of Gods and Men, A Movie Review

2011-05-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

Christ is Risen!

The following is something of a review of a current film entitled “Of Gods and Men.” I disclose the ending of the film in the review, so if you have any previous desire to see this film, be forewarned that this review contains a “spoiler.”

Earlier in the week, presvytera Deborah and I went to see a film that did not have “entertainment” as its primary purpose. The result was that one’s attention span and intelligence were treated respectfully by both the film’s form and content. The further result was to have seen a film that leaves a deep impression that makes the viewer feel and think in a serious manner far beyond the rolling of the last credits and the ride home from the theatre. Such a “cinematic experience” reminds one of the potential of films to engage the mind and heart and not simply our immediate sensory impressions. The film is entitled “Of Gods and Men,” and it is directed by Xavier Beauvois. This is a French production (yes, you have to read the subtitles) that is based on the tragic incident of eight Roman Catholic Trappist monks who were killed by Muslim extremists in Algeria in 1996. At the end of the film and the dramatic events recounted with a riveting intensity, we learn that the exact circumstances of the monks’ deaths, and the exact identity of the extremists remain mysteriously hidden to this day. Yet the fact of their death at the hands of an extremist Muslim group active in Algeria at the time is an established fact.

The story that unfolds is paced in such a manner that the daily – and unexciting - rhythm of the monks living in community is realistically recreated. As Trappist monks, these men lived a very austere life that was consciously reduced to the essentials of work, study and prayer. Simplicity, modeled on the Gospel, is the ideal. Scenes of the monks at prayer pervade the film and remind the outside world of the seriousness of the monastic vocation. However, this very quotidian life that concentrates on interior perfection is penetrated by the growing menace outside the gates of the monastery; and the threat of violence hangs over the monastery in a palpable manner as reports of other deadly terrorist attacks on civilians become known to the monks. This film is thus serious, tense and openly “religious” for its honesty in exploring deep questions of faith and trust in God among a humble group of men under intense pressure and even the awareness of the very real possibility of a violent death.

Another strength of the film is that it is free of a didactic element that “preaches” about the glory of a life of renunciation; and it is also free of the pietistic effect of transforming these Trappist monks into bold and brave martyrs. Yet, there are sections, especially toward the end of the film, in which the audience is confronted with some intense and impressive Christocentric reflections, such that the more secular viewers may find this intimidating, challenging, puzzling or the cause of some uneasiness at hearing the unapologetic meditations of men fully devoted to Christ. However, outside of the scenes of worship, accompanying by the plain chant of the monks, the film, in fact, concentrates on their inner struggle and resistance to the notion of a martyric death. The monks are shown repeatedly in dialogue with each other precisely about remaining in the monastery or returning to the safety and serenity of their French homeland. One monk passes through what is clearly a crisis of faith. He wonders aloud what conceivable purpose his death at the hands of militant terrorists would achieve. Why not choose to live, deepen one’s relationship with God and offer service to the world in an open-ended future? Without glorifying these monks, what emerges is their slow and steady commitment to their monastic vocations as they make their final decision in the end; and their additional commitment to their peaceful Muslim neighbors.

For though their monastery is the result of the earlier French colonization of Algeria, the monks have a good relationship with the poor neighbors in their rather remote rural location. One of the monks runs a health clinic for the local inhabitants which is flooded on a daily basis primarily with many Muslim women and their children. They depend upon his services and respect his humanitarian aid. The abbot of the monastery – wonderfully portrayed as an intellectual and somewhat austere figure – has mastered the Koran in the original Arabic and thus understands the religious sensibilities of the local population. He is shown in friendly dialogue with some of the leading men of the Muslim community. Obviously, there is no intention of proselytizing the Muslims on the part of these Roman Catholic monks. Peaceful co-habitation and mutual respect appears to be their main objective. (I recall in a documentary about Mt. Sinai, that the Orthodox monks of the ancient monastery of St. Katherine’s, also cultivated a friendly relationship with the native Bedouin tribesmen, even blessing their lambs and passing out Easter eggs on the day of Pascha). In today’s world those relationships both appear as idyllic and non-realistic.

The performance are uniformly excellent, without any pretense or artificiality. In fact, there is almost the feel of an intimate “docu-drama” to the film. But that may be just as much a result of the “artfulness” of the director. I am unaware of the location of the shooting of the film, but the cinematography of what is supposed to be rural Algeria with both its rolling hills and vineyards together with the rugged terrain of its barely accessible roads, is beautifully conceived and presented. The camera at times moves languidly over the landscape. Even if one knows the outcome ahead of time, the film remains tense from an early part until the end, gripping one’s attention in the presence of a human drama that embraces life and death and ultimate questions of how to discern the will of God in a situation filled with danger and tension.

If you are seeking some relief from the formulaic world of Hollywood film-making, I would highly recommend this film. “Of Gods and Men” will also perhaps make any Christian viewer (re)-think his or her own Christian faith and our own commitment to both a Christian worldview and lifestyle; and the depths of our commitment to Christ in a perilous and dangerous world.

Fr Steven

Do We Want to be Healed?

2011-05-17T05:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

Christ is Risen!

On the Fourth Sunday of Pascha, we heard the account of Jesus going up to Jerusalem for a “feast of the Jews,” and there healing the paralytic (as we refer to him in our liturgical tradition) “by the Sheep Gate” and a pool “in Hebrew called Bethesda (also called Bethzatha or Bethsaida).” (JN. 5:1-2) Interestingly, twentieth century archaeological discoveries have revealed the accuracy of the evangelist’s description, including the existence of the “five porticoes” mentioned in the Gospel. (v. 2) This man had been ill for “thirty-eight years.” (v. 5) In popular piety, this pool had healing properties, but this apparently older and unaided man had learned to accept his condition without much hope for any future recovery or restoration of his health. Yet, following a short dialogue between Jesus and the paralytic, we are amazed to be informed that “at once the man was healed, and he took up his pallet and walked.” (v. 9)

A very significant question is recorded in the Gospel as being at the heart of that short dialogue between Jesus and the paralytic. For Jesus asked him directly and poignantly: “Do you want to be healed?” (v. 6) As much as we may anticipate a heartfelt and resounding “Yes!” from the paralytic, what we actually hear is his excuse for why he has not been able to avail himself of the curative properties of the pool up to that point in time: “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is troubled, and while I am going another steps down before me.” (v. 7) The paralytic had been taught by hard experience that any misplaced enthusiasm at the prospect of being healed would only end up in further disappointment. Thus, his evasive response is both explanatory and defensive. Yet, here is an instance, not usually encountered in the healing done by Jesus of physical sickness in the Gospels, of a healing that is not in response to faith; for Jesus says to the man after hearing his uncommitted answer: “Rise, take up your pallet, and walk.” (v. 8) The effect, however, is identical to the healing of another paralytic (who did display faith in Jesus) as recorded in the Gospel According to St. Mark: “And he rose, and immediately took up the pallet and went before them all.” (MK. 2:12)

I believe that it is worth the effort to explore the question that Jesus posed to the paralytic with what may prove to be an unsettling directness: “Do you want to be healed?” Our immediate reaction is that we, of course, want to be healed of whatever sickness we may have. It would appear as if we had completely lost our senses to answer otherwise. If our body is broken, there would be nothing more that we could possibly desire. In fact, as Christians, we may agonize when our prayer for such healing remains seemingly unanswered. Yet, we all claim that the waters of the baptismal font have healed us from both the ultimate effects of sin and death. We believe “in one baptism for the remission of sins” (Nicene Creed); and we further confess to believe that: “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (ROM. 6:4) This is why we further confess in the Creed: “I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life in the world to come.” All Christians are persons who claim to have been healed by Jesus in what is literally a life-changing manner. We can even live, to one degree or another, free of the fear of death!

And yet, that question – “Do you want to be healed?” - stubbornly persists as if awaiting a thoroughly thought-out response that recognizes all of the implications of an affirmative answer. Because if we really want to be healed by Jesus in a holistic manner, then we must change the way that we lead our lives. We must commit to an endless warfare against the passions; to struggling daily with temptations; and to further struggle against what is often an open and unapologetic self-centeredness and crass selfishness. We must make every effort to shift our self-love to a love of God and neighbor. To accept the healing presence of Christ is to overcome, through humility and prayer, all of our resentment and anger; to forgive others – even our enemies – of the myriad offenses that we are convinced we have suffered from their hands. Further, our lives cannot be dedicated to the pursuit of status, money, the acquisition of material wealth and power in our inter-human relationships. We cannot judge or condemn others, and always place ourselves in a brilliant light totally blinded to our own defects and sins. And when we fall victim to all of these sins due to our weaknesses and lack of vigilance, we must be prepared to repent of our sins and sincerely confess them, begging Christ for His forgiveness; and with the resolve to try and sin no more. What we must do, in short, is accept the dynamic implications of being created in the “image” of God with the universal vocation of growing in the “likeness” of God. Difficult as it may sound, all of this is “Good News” because it comes from God, in and through Christ and the power and grace of the Holy Spirit.

If there is any accuracy to the description above of what being healed by Jesus implies for our lives, then are we convinced that we are ready to give a resounding and unhesitant “Yes!” to the question of Christ: “Do you want to be healed?” Are we convinced that we would not deflect the question in another direction or provide the rationalizations or excuses that would prove to be as evasive as those of the paralytic? As with the paralytic, perhaps we have grown quite accustomed and “comfortable” with our ailments and the thought of such radical change may prove to be too challenging. Why change if the life we are presently leading is satisfying enough? Yet, if I have any insight whatsoever into how we understand the Gospel, I believe that that troubling question, formulated by Jesus during His ministry by the pool of Bethesda, is being posed to us on a daily basis whether we acknowledge it or not. If, indeed, “Christ is in our midst,” then He is so present with the healing power and authority which is His as the crucified and glorified Son of Man.

We inevitably learn that we cannot just “take” from Jesus, but that we must “give” back in return. This giving in return, however, is not “payment” for “services rendered.” It is the free, humble and heartfelt thanksgiving that overwhelms the mind and heart of a person who truly believes that he or she has been saved and redeemed – truly “bought with a price” – by Jesus the Messiah and Son of God. This resembles the one leper in ten who returned to Jesus to thank Him after being healed: “and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks.” (LK. 17:11-17) Or the Gadarene demoniac who “went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.” (LK. 8:39) Like the paralytic, the leper, and even the demoniac, we have also been healed and therefore only one response is possible: to joyfully embrace the change of life implied by answering “Yes” to the question that Jesus asks, “Do you want to be healed?”

Fr. Steven

The Risen Lord

2011-05-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful and Friends in Christ,

Instead of a meditation this morning, I have attached a lengthier article that I prepared last year about the Resurrection of Christ. Most of you have probably already read it; but perhaps others have not. It has been somewhat revised and expanded. It is a more systematic presentation of the material that I presented in the homily yesterday on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearing Women: the interweaving of the three essential aspects of the Resurrection of Christ -

1) the empty tomb;
2) appearances of the Risen Lord to His disciples; and
3) the transformation of the disciples into bold apostles.

I always like to use this particular Sunday to remind ourselves of the historical dimension of the Lord’s Resurrection as presented in the four canonical Gospels.

Read The Risen Lord (PDF format, suitable for printing).

in Christ,
Fr Steven

Break On Through (To The Other Side)

2011-05-06T09:18:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

Christ is Risen!
Indeed He is Risen!

The Orthodox Church’s claim that Pascha is “the Feast of Feasts” is far more than poetic rhetoric. On the most basic level, it reminds us that the very existence of the Church is dependent upon the reality of Christ’s bodily resurrection “from the dead.” The Feast of Pascha makes that abundantly clear with an intensity that can be overwhelming. This, in turn, reinforces the blunt apostolic insight from the St. Paul: “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (I COR. 15:14). No amount of modern “reinterpretation” of the Lord’s resurrection to the contrary can effectively silence or refute what the Apostle wrote. The Christian Faith – and the Church – stands or falls on the truthfulness of the bodily resurrection of Christ. The Apostle Paul further warns us that a non-resurrected Christ has even worse consequences for those who would mistakenly proclaim a resurrection that never actually occured: “We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God the he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true the dead are not raised” (v. 15). Finally, and with a brutal honesty that reveals the Apostle’s clarity of thought, he does not shrink from exposing the futility of purpose that a non-resurrected Christ would collapse into: “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied” (v. 19). That assessment sounds just about right to me.

Yet after decisively dealing with such theoretical scenarios, St. Paul confidently proclaims the Gospel that he had himself received (literally that which was “handed over” or “traditioned” to him): “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (I COR. 15:20). Therefore, when someone dies, we do not have to “grieve as others do who have no hope” (I THESS. 5:13). Christian hope is directed to the future and the eschatological fulfillment of God’s providential care for, and direction of, our common human destiny, culminating in a transfigured cosmos and “the redemption of our bodies” (ROM. 8:23). This is only possible if the “last enemy” – death itself – has been overcome from within, revealed to the world in and through the Risen Lord. Little surprise, then, that Pascha is the “Feast of Feasts” and “Holy day of Holy Days” if all of the above is what we indeed celebrate! Pascha has inaugurated the current paschal season of forty days – culminating in the Ascension - during which we intensify our focus on the Lord’s triumph over the sting of death. We, too, with the Apostle Paul exclaim with glad hearts: “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I COR. 15:57).

The natural cycle of life and death can weary the human heart with the inescapability of its endlessly reoccurring patterns: “Vanity of vanities! … All is vanity…. A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever” (ECCLES. 1:2,4). “And therefore,” according to Fr. Georges Florovsky, “the burden of time, this rotation of beginnings and ends, is meaningless and tiresome.” Our dissatisfaction with this closed cycle undermines the very claim that it is all “natural,” and therefore acceptable to the human spirit. On the contrary, human beings are always seeking an escape into whatever “reality” will allow us at least some temporary relief from the oppressiveness of a closed universe forever marred by corruption and death. If not Stoic resignation – “the impassibility or even indifference of the sage” (Fr. Florovsky) - then perhaps a desire to transcend the limitations imposed upon us by “nature,” will lead to a desperate search for an ecstatic experience – the dionysian impulse.

If I may indulge in a pop culture reference from the heady rock music of the past (about forty years ago now!), there exists a song that more-or-less captures this inchoate desire for liberation: “Break on Through (to the Other Side).” For the moment forgiving the fatal excesses and self-indulgent pretensions of the singer-songwriter of this popular song; we can hear in its strained lyrics the human need to pass over (“break on through”) into a realm (“the other side”) that promises a heightened experience of reality that our mundane world cannot deliver. Of course, this can begin with “religion” or what we call “mysticism” (often a dangerous combination of mist + schism as I have heard it described). On a more secular level, the search for transcendence can be attempted through science or art. Within the context of the song we are now discussing, however, this possibly/probably refers to the rebellion associated with transgressing moral and ethical norms that seem to be restrictive and not liberating. This would be the dead world of bourgeois middle-class values supported by an insufferably bland moralistic Christianity. In other words, to all that the word “suburbia” implied in the 60’s. This is justified by the individual desire for self-autonomy, “freedom,” or a stance against hypocrisy. Only God knows how much of this was only a self-justification for indulging the passions and acting irresponsibly. In other words, the quest for freedom can easily degenerate into “license.” When the imagination fails, there is always the more prosaic and ever-popular “eat, drink and make merry, for tomorrow we die.” When practiced with serious abandon, though, this leads to a “breakdown” rather than a “breakthrough.” (Alas, this was the fate of our singer-songwriter).

All of these attempts to “break on through to the other side” can be both exhilarating and dangerous; heroic or pathetic; inspiring or disgusting. When pursued with a seriousness that reveals the human spirit’s refusal to submit, not only to mediocrity, but to the laws that eternally legislate the “house of the dead” that our world has become through human sinfulness, then such attempts at self-transcendence can earn our respect. Yet, an air of futility permeates all such autonomous attempts at self-liberation, for the human person has no such inherent capabilities apart from the power of God. A wholly different issue is raised by promethean pride that resists any “authority” greater than the self – including God. (It was the anarchist Bakunin who said: “If God exists, then I am a slave”). Here we cross over into the world of “mystical insolence” and demonic rebellion.

Yet, it is only Christ who has truly “broken through” to the “other side.” Again, this claim can only be made based upon the “fact” of the bodily resurrection of Christ. Death itself – the fear of which subjects us to “lifelong bondage” - has been transcended in the voluntary death of Christ; a “resurrecting death” that was revealed to the Lord’s astonished disciples when He appeared among them following His burial and said: “Peace be with you.” (JN. 20:19) This was not a case of resuscitation and the resumption of natural life within the time and space of this world. For the Apostle Paul writes: "For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never did again; death no longer has dominion over him” (ROM. 6:9). The human spirit’s “natural” desire for self-transcendence is no longer wasted on rebelliousness, utopian dreams, or nihilistic despair. Now it is Truth itself which has set us free. And this Truth is Christ. It is actually the will of a merciful and loving God that desires this for us; and God has acted to make this possible by raising Christ from the dead, the “first fruits” of a general resurrection that we await in patient expectation of God fulfilling the promises made to us “according to the Scriptures.”

We can close these “fragments” with again turning to Fr. Georges Florovsky who, employing some of the remarkable liturgical hymns that illuminate our celebration of Pascha, describes the one meaningful “breakthrough - our liberation from death - in the following manner:

Amidst the darkness of pale death shines the unquenchable light of Life, the Life Divine. This destroys Hell and destroys mortality. “Thou didst descend into the tomb, O Immortal, Thou didst destroy the power of death” (kontakion). In this sense Hell has been simply abolished, “and there is not one dead in the grave.” For “he received earth, and yet met heaven.” Death is overcome by Life. “When Thou didst descend into death, O Life Eternal, then Thou didst slay Hell by the flash of Thy Divinity” (Vespers of Great and Holy Friday).

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

Conflicted Thoughts on the Killing of Osama bin Laden

2011-05-03T05:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

Christ is Risen!

You either heard the news late last night, or woke up this morning to the announcement that Bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaida, had been killed by an American operative strike. I was informed last night, so we turned on the television and, after a great deal of analysis, we heard President Obama make the official announcement of Bin Laden’s death. The speech was concise and very rhetorical in reminding us of just how Bin Laden has been perceived in the minds of the American public since 09/11/01: as a cold-hearted terrorist and mass murderer who was the mastermind behind the death of almost three thousand Americans on the infamous day. This allowed the president to make the statement that most Americans – including many Christians – would agree upon: justice was served in the intense manhunt and killing of Bin Laden. This, in turn, serves as a full vindication and justification of the operation itself.

Yet, I received two emails this morning that were both negative reactions to the images of people openly celebrating the death of Bin Laden. Is such a reaction even Christian was the basic question that was posed; and that is a good and legitimate question. In trying to think through a reaction and response, I then received a third email from Andrew Hill, one of our parishioners. Andrew’s reaction was a fine articulation (Andrew teaches philosophy at Xavier University) of some of the moral and ethical issues raised by the manner in which Bin Laden was killed; the celebratory atmosphere mentioned above that has clearly troubled some; and the Christian response to his death. Especially helpful were his comments of the balance of mercy and justice that we find in God’s activity toward the world – a perennial theological dilemma that is difficult to resolve. And, of course, Andrew mentions that most difficult of all Christian virtues: love of the enemy. Instead of writing up a commentary of my own, I am content with allowing Andrew’s “conflicting thoughts” and his balanced response serve as a good guide for trying to formulate a Christian reaction to the news of Bin Laden’s death. Please read what he has to say.

I would be willing to share any further comments about the issues outlined above, but I would like to avoid an exchange of more-or-less political comments/commentary on Bin Laden’s death (we will be able to hear and read endless analysis on that front for days to come).

In Christ,
Fr. Steven

From: Andrew Hill
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 11:46 AM
To: Fr. Steven Kostoff
Subject: Conflicted Thoughts

Good morning Father,

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

I've had a lot of conflicting thoughts this morning about the death of bin Laden. If you've got a few minutes, I'd like to vent them to you.

It seems terribly inappropriate for a Christian to delight in death, especially during this Paschal season, when we celebrate the victory of life over death. But it also seems that a Christian ought to love justice, and that rejoicing in justice is an entirely Christian reaction. So it seems that a Christian ought to be able to rejoice in the justice of this day, while at the same time mourning the tragedy that justice required death.

And it seems that for Christians, mercy must always be loved more than justice. And it would be terribly hypocritical for me to want mercy for myself, but justice for others. But it also seems that God primarily (though not exclusively) extends His mercy where there is repentance, and justice everywhere else. So if a Christian thinks that bin Laden should have been spared justice, then it seems that he is trying arrogantly to set a "higher" moral standard for men than the one we find in God Himself.

And, as Christians, we are commanded to love our enemies. Christ died for bin Laden, and every Christian should love bin Laden and pray for his salvation. But I can't help but think that he has a better chance of working out his salvation in death than he did in life.

On a normal day, I find it very difficult to take on the mind of Christ. But on days like this, I really worry about whether I even have the slightest idea of what it means to follow Christ.

-Andrew

No One is to Go Away Hungry

2011-04-20T15:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

Our parish website – www.christthesavioroca.org - has a plethora of excellent resources about Holy Week that would make any further commentary from me rather superfluous. These resources explain Holy Week and Pascha from various inter-related perspectives: liturgical, scriptural, theological, spiritual, etc. I highly encourage everyone to carefully read through some of this wonderful material so as to deepen your own personal experience of the beauty and depth of Great and Holy Week. This may be especially true for those who are new to the Orthodox Church. This Week of the Lord’s Passion can get rather overwhelming, so perhaps a prior insightful explanation of the various services can prove to be more than a little helpful.

What I did want to comment on is a very problematic practice that has become a (dubious) “tradition” among many of the Orthodox faithful: to leave the midnight Paschal service before it is completed - or even before the reception of Holy Communion. There is the initial exodus of some following the paschal procession itself and the announcement of the Resurrection. After hearing “Christ is Risen!” preferably in a language other than English, some of these faithful disappear into the night, more intent on eating lamb than partaking of the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. It is as if the “drama”of experiencing the transformation of the church from darkness to light is satisfying enough; or perhaps everything to follow is simply too anti-climatic and thus unable to further hold the attention of these annual visitors to the church. My mother’s friend once referred to this group as Easter Orthodox Christians. Others “enjoy” the paschal Matins and its wonderful hymnography and the well-known melodies developed within traditionally Orthodox countries. This group will melt away as the paschal Matins draws to an end. The “usual” Divine Liturgy to follow does not hold the promise of the same delights as the annual uplift of the Paschal canon sung in a memorable style that provokes the nostalgic memories of childhood experiences. Or, to complete the picture, others will stay through a portion of the Liturgy, but not prepared or intent on receiving Holy Communion, they too will depart into the night for whatever further celebratory observances are planned.

I recall a striking example of this from my past. When serving a mission parish in London, Ontario, there was another large Orthodox parish in the city that was quite “ethnic” in its over-all composition. This parish, which regularly saw about two-three hundred worshippers at a given Sunday Liturgy would have to rent a large hall in order to accommodate the huge crowd that would appear for the midnight pascha service. The priest told me that there would be from two-three thousand Orthodox faithful at the beginning of the paschal procession at midnight. (Where had they been “hiding” all year?). He further told me that about one-half of that large crowd would leave after the initial “Christ is Risen,” not even re-entering the hall/church; and that by the time of Holy Communion in the Liturgy, only about three-four hundred remained. This was a routine occurrence year after year. This is Orthodoxy as a cultural phenomenon, but not as a living Faith that can transform one’s life.

Now, the midnight Paschal services, culminating with the Divine Liturgy, is the culmination and climax of a long and exhausting week that demands a certain stamina. I cannot speak for anyone else, but I am tired near the end of the week. “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,” and it is possible that our bodies will get the better of us as the services unfold. One can get to feel poorly, or light-headed, and reluctantly be forced to leave early. This can happen. For those with children, even with the best of intentions, you may have a “meltdown” on your hands half-way through the services, rather than that sleeping child blissfully stretched out on a pew as was the initial “strategy” for making it through the long night. Such a “family drama” may preclude the possibility of staying for the duration of the services. Obviously, I am not alluding to these very real scenarios. I am addressing the issue of … just leaving for no particularly pressing reason. Somehow, this has become an Orthodox “tradition” – dubious as it is.

When we encounter the exodus of Easter Orthodox Christians out of the church on Pascha – the “night brighter than the day” – we are encountering the reduction of Pascha to the level of custom, “tradition,” cultural and/or ethnic phenomenon that has more of an “Easter holiday” atmosphere, than the celebration of the paschal mystery of the “death of death” in and through the crucified and risen Lord, Jesus Christ. In this approach, Easter is a one day event culminating in a special family meal with other family traditions. But the paschal mystery is an all-together different reality that begins on the night of Pascha, culminating in the Divine Liturgy and the reception of the Eucharist. This is the one Divine Liturgy of the Church’s annual cycle in which all Orthodox Christians need to receive Holy Communion – even if it means “hanging on” just a little bit longer. That is the whole meaning of the Paschal homily of St. John Chrysostom read near the conclusion of Matins. Prepared or unprepared, the Master is inviting us to the table that is laden with Christ, our paschal Lamb. How can we ignore that invitation? To leave the Liturgy before this blessed communion with Christ at the paschal Liturgy is to somehow deeply misunderstand the deeper meaning of Pascha, the Liturgy and the Eucharist.

Remaining for the blessing of the paschal baskets is enjoyable and good fellowship, but insignificant in comparison to receiving the “food” of the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of the Risen Christ. As the Paschal Service book states it:

The altar table is fully laden with the divine food: the Body and Blood of the risen and glorified Christ. No one is to go away hungry. The service books are very specific in saying that only he who partakes of the Body and Blood of Christ eats the true Pascha.

Even though this may not be an issue for our local parish, this is just a reminder of the riches in store for the faithful on the brilliant night of Pascha. We greet all of our visitors on that night with a spirit of hospitality – and wish that many of them would stay a bit longer. And we hope and pray that no circumstances take that possibility away from us.

Fr. Steven

The Very Path of Glory

2011-04-19T07:53:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

Here is another excerpt from the remarkable essay, “Redemption,” from the great Orthodox theologian, Fr. Georges Florovsky (+1979), as we prepare again to stand at the foot of the Cross as we move through Great and Holy Week:

_____

Whatever may be our interpretation of the Agony in the Garden, one point is perfectly clear. Christ was not a passive victim, but the Conqueror, even in His uttermost humiliation. He knew that this humiliation was no mere endurance or obedience, but the very path of Glory and of the ultimate victory. Nor does the idea of Divine justice alone, justitia vindicativa, reveal the ultimate meaning of the sacrifice of the Cross. The mystery of the Cross cannot be adequately presented in terms of the transaction, the requital, or the ransom. If the value of the death of Christ was infinitely enhanced by His Divine Personality, the same also applies to the whole of His life. All His deeds have an infinite value and significance as the deeds of the Incarnate Word of God. And they cover indeed superabundantly both all misdeeds and sinful shortcomings of the fallen human race. Finally, there could hardly be any retributive justice in the Passion and death of the Lord, which might possibly have been in the death of a mere man, graciously supported by the Divine help because of his faithfulness and endurance. This death was the suffering of the Incarnate Son of God Himself, the suffering of unstained human nature already deified by its assumption into the hypostasis (i.e. Person) of the Word. Nor is this to be explained by the idea of a substitutional satisfaction, the satisfactio vicaria of the scholastics. Not because substitution is not possible. Christ did indeed take upon himself the sin of the world. But because God does not seek the sufferings of anyone, He grieves over them. How could the penal death of the Incarnate, most pure and undefiled, be the abolition of sin, if death itself is the wages of sin, and if death exists only in the sinful world? Does Justice really restrain Love and Mercy, and was the crucifixion needed to disclose the pardoning love of God, otherwise precluded from manifesting itself by the restraint of vindicatory justice? If there was any restraint at all, it was rather a restraint of love.

From Vol. Three of The Collected Works of Fr. Georges Florovsky, p. 101-102.
________

Also, a recent meditation of mine has been posted on the site Orthodoxy Today. If you have yet to read it, and as it concerns the Cross, you may want to take a look at it in this Holy Week leading up to the Cross. ~ Fr. Steven

One Must Stand by the Cross with Sober Vigilance

Avoiding Death - Modern Culture's Pathology and the Defeat of Shame

2011-04-19T05:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

This well-written letter from our catechumen, Nicole Lyons, deserves not only a careful reading, but some real “meditative” thought. The lecture she is summarizing reveals some frightening things about our culture – beginning with the trivialization of “ the mystery of death” itself. A secular culture has no “answer” for death, and thus flees from its presence. Even Christian churches are turning funerals into “celebrations” of the life that is over, rather than addressing the reality of death (and the victory over death by Christ’s Resurrection). And, frankly, it can get rather superficial. God forbid that you mention the “forgiveness of sins” within these services of celebration! Such churches are capitulating to the prevailing “death-denying” atmosphere of a spiritually-lost culture. This week we are the midst of contemplating the Gospel which offers the only acceptable “answer:” the death of death in and through the resurrecting death of Christ.

=========

Fr Steven

Yesterday I listened to a podcast called "Modern Death, Millennial Mourning: The Challenge of Twenty-first Century Grief," by Sandra Gilbert, former president of the Modern Language Association (MLA). I think her main field is English and Literature.

Anyway, the lecture was basically about how our culture avoids talking about / thinking about death to a pathological degree. Instead of having funerals, people now can gather at a country club without the body even present, to "celebrate" the life of the departed. Instead of interring the body, you can now pay companies to make diamonds or windchimes out of the dearly departed's ashes--or pencils, for that matter (about 250 pencils can be made from each body, which can be handed out at the funeral, or "celebration," as the case may be).(It's entirely possible that balloons could also be procured.) She mentions a few factors for this, one of them is the fact that we've lost a cultural vocabulary with which to comfort each other meaningfully (e.g. why offer to pray for/ with someone when no one believes in God anymore?) But she also discusses the rhetoric of Freud, when he discussed grief and bereavement, who likened those emotional processes to a sickness that must be cured, and that out of that thinking came things like the 7 Stages of Grief. So that when people talk about grief, it is in the concept of "getting better" as soon as possible rather than really recognizing that grief stays and lingers unlike a curable disease.

Anyway I thought of you because of some things you've said in the past regarding orthodox views of mortality, death, body and soul. Also, how in your homily yesterday you reminded us that death was not part of God's plan, and how there is somehow a connection between sin and death. Gilbert I think is really trying to grapple with what grief even is, in a culture that--in most realms of life, not just grief--incessantly admonishes us to be happy, be better, forget the past, move on (ASAP), be productive, etc. She also points out the degree of shame that a widow feels when her spouse dies--not necessarily guilt that the death could have been avoided, but just a pervading and inexplicable sense of shame that death touched their lives. She notes that this is something she's never seen addressed by popular psychology, yet it shows up in many grief narratives; shame is something you can't talk yourself out of, unlike guilt. I don't think Gilbert is a Christian--a theist, perhaps--but this was a very poignant observation on her part. When we think about the connection between death and sin, and the shame that Adam and Eve felt over their sin when they used fig leaves to cover themselves, it makes me wonder if all of our cultural pathology is not just an inability to face the fear of death in a secular worldview, but also the fact that without turning to the Christian God, we also have no means to deal with the shame of death. I think, because Christ trampled down death by death, He also reckoned with the shame of death, and our own shame in the face of death.

Anyway--sorry for the long email. After listening to it yesterday afternoon, I'm clearly still thinking about it. Plus I wasn't sure if you would actually get a chance to listen to it, b/c I don't know if you use podcasts. Just in case, here is the address: http://www.bath.ac.uk/podcast/
You have to scroll down to find the 07. April 2008 lecture.

cole

The 'Must' of Divine Love

2011-04-19T05:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

The following is an excerpt (with a few more to come) from a brilliant essay by Fr. George Florovsky (+1979) entitled, simply “Redemption:”

"The mystery of the Cross is beyond our rational comprehension. This “terrible sight” seems strange and startling. The whole life of our Blessed Lord was one great act of forbearance, mercy and love. And the whole of it is illuminated by the eternal radiance of Divinity, though that radiance is invisible to the world of flesh and sin….

"Christ came not only that He might teach with authority and tell people the name of the Father, not only that He might accomplish works of mercy. He came to suffer and to die, and to rise again. He Himself more than once witnessed to this before the perplexed and startled disciples. He not only prophesied the coming Passion and death, but plainly stated that He must, that He had to, suffer and be killed. He plainly said that “must” not simply “was about to.” … “Must” [Gk. dei] not just according to the law of this world, in which good and truth is persecuted and rejected, not just according to the law of hatred and evil. The death of Our Lord was in full freedom. No one takes His life away. He Himself offers His soul by His own supreme will and authority. “I have authority” (JN. 10:18). He suffered and died, “not because He could not escape suffering, but because He chose to suffer,” as it is stated in the Russian Catechism. Chose, not merely in the sense of voluntary resistance, not merely in the sense that He permitted the rage of sin and unrighteousness to be vented on Himself. He not only permitted but willed it. He must have died according to the law of truth and love. In no way was the Crucifixion a passive suicide or simply murder. It was a Sacrifice and an oblation. This was the necessity of divine Love."

From Volume Three of the Collected Works of Georges Florovsky, p. 99-100.

Enable Us to See the Holy Week of Thy Passion

2011-04-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

We have completed the forty days which profit our souls.
Now let us beg the lover of man; enable us to see the Holy Week
of Thy Passion,
That we may glorify Thy mighty work,
Thy wonderful plan for our salvation,
Singing with one heart and voice,
O Lord, glory to Thee! (Great Vespers of Lazarus Saturday)

Today is the fortieth and final day of Great Lent. We are now preparing for the twin feasts of Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday. The Church exults in proclaiming Christ the “Vanquisher of Death” and He that comes “in the Name of the Lord,” as a prelude to the sobriety and solemnity of Holy Week.

I am trying something a bit different today: I am simply re-sending the meditation I wrote on the first day of Great Lent, March 7. I can understand those who may not feel the need or have the desire of re-reading it. However, I thought that perhaps it could serve the purpose of allowing us to assess or evaluate the past forty days and the goals that we set ourselves for this Lenten season. As I wrote and asked forty days ago: Will we persevere or will we … wimp out?! And, as I wrote just last week, I believe: Have we finished with a “kick” or are we limping over the finish line? Of course, such assessments and evaluations can be spiritually dangerous: a “good Lent” can lead to self-righteousness or pride But I trust that if that is happily the case, everyone has enough humility and maturity not to indulge in such foolish fantasies; rather any Orthodox Christian will thank God for His gracious presence in accompanying us through the course of the Fast.

Yet, regardless of how we assess the last forty days, we are now preparing to “go up to Jerusalem” and to accompany our Lord to the Cross and then stand in awe by the empty tomb. There is nothing quite like Holy Week, and it demands as much attention and focus as we are capable of giving it. If the Cross and Resurrection together reveal the love of God at its most intense; if, finally, what we claim through our worship and faith is actually true then it can be no other way. The liturgical services will take us on that journey. Even when we are not able to be present, it is not because “worldly pursuits” have enticed us away. May our homes truly become “little churches” during the course of Holy Week.

For whatever it is worth, here is the meditation from forty days ago:

~~~~~~~~

Dear Parish Faithful,

Let us joyfully begin the all-hallowed season of abstinence; and let us shine with the bright radiance of the holy commandments of Christ our God, with the brightness of love and the splendor of prayer, with the purity of holiness and the strength of good courage. So, clothed in raiment of light, let us hasten to the Holy Resurrection on the third day, that shines upon the world with the glory of eternal life. (Matins of Monday in the First Week of the Fast).

I would like to wish one and all a blessed Lenten journey as we embark on the course of the fast on this “Clean Monday,” the first day of Great Lent. We are well aware of the challenges ahead of us, but these challenges and our resolve to meet them with humility, but also with firmness of faith, only reinforces how essential it is to live according to the Orthodox Way as the surest preparation for the paschal mystery. We have two basic choices to make: to respond with perseverance as we “gird our loins” to cross over the desert of the fast en route to the “Land of the Living” where we encounter the Risen Lord; or … we can wimp out! I trust that only the former choice is uppermost in your minds and hearts.

We are given the tools of the ascetical life by Christ Himself: prayer, almsgiving and fasting. At our most basic biological level we need to eat and drink to sustain our lives. Yet our passions transform that need into its opposite: to live in order to eat. As Christ teaches us: “Man does not live by bread alone.” That is the truth we would like to “taste” as we are tested by fasting.

In addition, we have the following tools to strengthen us in our Lenten efforts:

+ the many liturgical services unique to Great Lent;
+ the reading of the Scriptures;
+ faithfulness in prayer;
+ the confession of our sins in the Mystery of Repentance;
+ the love of our neighbor through almsgiving.

As I said yesterday in the homily: come up with a “domestic strategy” which allows you to integrate the season of Great Lent into your lives; rather than reduce it to some symbolic gestures. Be balanced, but be serious.

I hope to see many of you this evening as we chant the first part of the compunctionate Canon of Repentance by St. Andrew of Crete.

Fr. Steven

An Orthodox Understanding of Acts of Mercy

2011-04-14T14:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

An excellent piece that reminds us of one of the most important components of our Lenten efforts.

Fr. Steven
_________

AN ORTHODOX UNDERSTANDING
OF ACTS OF MERCY
Fr. Thomas Hopko

Christ commanded his disciples to give alms. To "give alms" means literally "to do" or "to make merciful deeds" or "acts of mercy." According to the Scriptures the Lord is compassionate and merciful, longsuffering, full of mercy, faithful and true. He is the one who does merciful deeds (see Psalm 103).

Acts of mercy are an "imitation of God" who ceaselessly executes mercy for all, without exception, condition or qualification. He is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.

To "do mercy" means to do good to others in concrete acts of charity. It does not mean, in the first instance, to forgive, or to "let off sinners." A merciful person is one who is kind, gracious, generous and giving; a helper and servant of the poor and needy. For example, St. John the Merciful of Alexandria was a bishop who helped the poor and needy; he was not a judge who let off criminals.

Mercy is a sign of love. God is Love. A deed of merciful love is the most Godlike act a human being can do. "Being perfect" in Matthew's Gospel corresponds to "being merciful" in Luke's Gospel. "Perfection" and "being merciful" are the same thing.

To love as Christ loves, with the love of God who is Love, is the chief commandment for human beings according to Christianity. It can only be accomplished by God's grace, by faith. It is not humanly possible. It is done by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. One can prove one's love for God only by love for one's neighbors, including one's worst enemies, without exception, qualification or condition. There is no other way.

To love God "with all one's strength" which is part of "the first and great commandment" means to love God with all one's money, resources, properties, possessions and powers.

Acts of mercy must be concrete, physical actions. They cannot be "in word and speech, but in deed and truth" (First letter of John and letter of James).

Jesus lists the acts of mercy on which human beings will be judged at the final judgment (Parable of the Last Judgment in Matthew 25). Acts of mercy are acts done to Christ himself who was hungry, thirsty, naked, homeless, in prison and "sick" i.e. wounded for our transgressions on the Christ, taking up of our wounds, and dying our death.

Christian acts of mercy must be done silently, humbly, secretly, not for vanity or praise, not to be seen by men, "not letting the right hand know what the left hand is doing", etc.

Christian acts of mercy must be sacrificial. By this, we understand that we must not simply give to others what is left over. We have to be sharing our possessions with others in ways that limit ourselves in some way (The Widow's Mite).

Acts of mercy should be done without qualification or condition to everyone, no matter who, what or how they are (Parable of the Good Samaritan).

Christians, when possible, should do acts of mercy in an organized manner, through organizations and communities formed to do merciful deeds. Throughout its history the Christian people have had many forms of eleemosynary institutions and activities.

Being the poor Christians are not only to help the poor; they are themselves to be the poor, in and with Jesus Christ their Lord. Christians are to have no more than they actually need for themselves, their children and their dependents.

How much is enough? How much is necessary? What do we really need? How may we use our money and possessions for ourselves, our families, our children and our churches?

These are the hardest questions for Christians to answer.

*Fr. Thomas Hopko is Dean Emeritus of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary and currently serves at the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania.

Source

Inapproprite Material for Church?

2011-04-12T05:17:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful,

I have an amusing anecdote to share with everyone from yesterday (some would even say “cute,” but as you may have surmised by now, such a description is not quite my style). Be that as it may, it was related to me yesterday that following the homily on St. Mary of Egypt – some of which touched on her struggles with the passion of lust – one of our church school age students was heard to say: “That was inappropriate!” Well, glad to hear that someone was listening. My aim, however, was “realism” and finally edification; to deal with the story of St. Mary’s life as it presented itself in its pre-conversion and post-conversion aspects. However, once you start talking about sex in Church …

What is quite amazing, is the level of “inappropriate” discourse in the actual narrative of The Life of St. Mary of Egypt, written by St. Sophronios, Patriarch of Jerusalem. When the monk Zosimas begs St. Mary to openly reveal to him her life as it has unfolded – including its sinful beginning, we hear the following confession from the saint:

Already during the lifetime of my parents, when I was twelve years old, I renounced their love and went to Alexandria. I am ashamed to recall, how, while there, I at first ruined by maidenhood and then unrestrainedly and insatiably gave myself up to sensuality. It is more becoming to speak of this briefly, so that you may just know my passion and my lechery; for about seventeen years, forgive me, I lived like that. I was like a fire of public debauch. And it was not for the sake of gain – here I speak the pure truth. Often when they wished to pay me, I refused the money. I acted in this way so as to make as many men as possible to try to obtain me, doing free of charge what gave me pleasure. Do not think that I was rich and that was the reason why I did not take money. I lived by begging, often by spinning flax, but I had an insatiable desire and an irrepressible passion for lying in filth. This was life to me. Every kind of abuse of nature I regarded as life.

After boarding a ship that was sailing to Jerusalem, carrying on board some pilgrims going to the holy city for the Feast of the Elevation of the Cross (one of many fascinating pieces of liturgical history embedded in the Life), St. Mary continues her dreary history of a “life of a great sinner,” further embellished by some fine rhetorical flourishes:

How shall I relate to you what happened after this? Whose tongue can tell, whose ear can take in all that took place on the boat during that voyage? And to all this I frequently forced those miserable youths even against their own will. There is no mentionable or unmentionable depravity of which I was not their teacher. I am amazed, Abba, how the sea stood our licentiousness, how the earth did not open its jaws, and how it was that hell did not swallow me alive, when I had entangled in my net so many souls. But I think God was seeking my repentance. For He does not desire the death of a sinner but magnanimously awaits His return to Him. … I was not content with the youths I had seduced at sea and who had helped me get to Jerusalem; many others – citizens of the town and foreigners – I also seduced.

Considering that this Life is prescribed to be read aloud in its entirety in church on the fifth Thursday in Great Lent, this is fairly “racy” material! Perhaps an eyebrow was raised when we read this last week in church, especially for those who may have heard the actual text for the first time. Obviously, the listener is to be struck by the self-destructiveness of such behavior, rather than allowing his or her imagination to run wild with “filling in the details.”

However, if you want to avoid “inappropriate” material for the future, then you have to stop reading … the Bible! Or, at least certain episodes, which would include, but not be limited to: Ham “seeing the nakedness” of his father (Noah), an expression that some biblical scholars understand as a euphemism for copulation or possibly castration; Sodom and Gomorrah (GEN. 18); and David and Bathsheba (II SAM. 11). Yet, these unseemly episodes are so woven into the fabric of certain stories; or flesh out the full character of key biblical figures, that ignoring “sexually explicit material” only serves in truncating the text and losing its all-too-human quality, including the human propensity to sin.

Life can get messy and murky. Often enough, that murkiness is never better expressed than through human sexuality and its misuse and/or abuse. The Bible respects this aspect of human life, and thus it remains realistic, rather than project the unreality of a perfectly-formed philosophical system or structure onto life’s inherent messiness in a fallen world. Then, “we call it as we see it,” and hope that the ending is as powerful and inspiring as the repentance of St. Mary of Egypt, whose great sin was covered by a great repentance; one that to this day deeply moves our minds and hearts when we hear it yet again.

For the future, I am going to try and stick with more appropriate material!

Fr. Steven

How Much of This Has Been Made Ours?

2011-04-09T05:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

St. Andrew of Crete’s Canon of Repentance is chanted on the first four evenings of Great Lent. That is the “perfect” beginning, in that Great Lent is a “school of repentance.” But the Canon is prescribed to be chanted in its entirety on the Thursday of the fifth week of Great Lent – almost at the very end. What is the purpose of repeating the Canon well into the Lenten season? An excellent answer is provided by Fr. Alexander Schmemann in his celebrated book Great Lent:

If at the beginning of Lent this Canon was like a door leading us into repentance, now at the end of Lent it sounds like a “summary” of repentance and its fulfillment. If at the beginning we merely listened to it, now hopefully its words have become our words, our lamentation, our hope and repentance, and also an evaluation of our Lenten effort: how much of all this has truly been made ours? How far have we come along the path of repentance? (Great Lent, p. 78)

Great Lent has a way of “getting away from us,” as the season wears on. Often, our well-intentioned good beginning – together with all of the goals we set for ourselves during these “all-revered days” - are undermined for a variety of reasons, including the “fatigue factor” (see the Monday Morning Meditation from earlier in the week). This is clearly behind Fr. Alexander’s analysis. Perhaps the re-intensification of that initial zeal for Great Lent as we draw near to its completion; and then its carry-over into Great and Holy Week will be the “reward” for those who were present at the service yesterday evening (more, by the way, then we have had in the past for this particular service).

In addition to St. Andrew’s Canon of Repentance (which, if done in its entirety, would include about one hundred eighty troparia with the attendant bows!), the Life of St. Mary of Egypt, written by St. Sophronios Patriarch of Jerusalem, is also prescribed to be read in its entirety together with the Canon at the same service. This we did yesterday evening. As Archbishop Kallistos comments about the place of St. Mary of Egypt in the life of the Church:

Just as the fourth Sunday is dedicated to St. John Climacus, the model of ascetics, so the fifth celebrates St. Mary of Egypt, the model of penitents. Her life … sets before us a true verbal icon of the essence of repentance. (The Lenten Triodion, p. 56)

Concerning the reading of this Life within the context of a liturgical service of the Church, Panayiotis Nellas writes the following:

Furthermore, St. Mary of Egypt is likewise present. The reading of her life does not have as its aim simply to move the faithful. It plays in the service an organic part which is at once deeper and more real. The Orthodox faithful know very well that the feast day of a saint is not a simple honoring of a holy person or a recollection of her life for didactic reasons. Rather, it is a real participation in her life, her struggles, her victory and her glory. The reading of her place takes place in order to bring the saint amongst us in a true and real manner with her whole life and all her struggles.

… Thus the liturgical reading of the life of St. Mary makes the saint present in the assembly of the faithful in a sacramental manner, so that she can accompany them and struggle with them in the contest of repentance and prayer. For this reason, at the end of each ode of the Great Canon there are two troparia in which the faithful address themselves to her:

"God Whom you loved and for Whom you longed, Whose path you Followed, O Mother, found you and granted you repentance in His Compassion. Pray, therefore, that we may be freed from sin and Adversity." (Ode Seven)

As the Canon exhorts us to repentance, the Life of St. Mary of Egypt places before our gaze a spectacular instance of repentance as embodied in one of the great saints of the Church. In an historical person of flesh and blood, we encounter the real fruits of repentance. And we discover the great “cost” of repentance, that only through “blood, sweat and tears” is the movement back toward God even possible. St. Mary of Egypt’s life can prove to be very jarring – perhaps even offensive – to our middle-class standards of Christian behavior and moral rectitude; but it is precisely in the radicalness of her repentance that we can witness the depths of the Gospel promise of salvation for any and all sinners who sincerely repent. No sin is too great for the mercy of God; for it was St. Gregory the Theologian who said somewhere that our sins are like drops of water in the ocean of the divine mercy. Hers was the life of a great sinner, and it resulted in a great repentance. We are convinced that we are not great sinners, but what is the corresponding depth of our repentance?

In a further note by Archbishop Kallistos, this may prove to be of some interest to those familiar with St. Mary’s extraordinary life, and the seemingly impossible nature of her life in the desert:

Some modern writers have questioned the historical accuracy of St. Sophronios’ narrative, but there is in itself nothing impossible about such a story. In the year 1890 the Greek priest Joachim Spetsieris found a woman hermit in the desert beyond the Jordan, living almost exactly as St. Mary must have done. (The Lenten Triodion, p. 56)

We will again turn our attention to St. Mary of Egypt as we commemorate her on the upcoming Fifth Sunday of Great Lent. That commemoration will begin on Saturday evening and the celebration of Great Vespers, the service that inaugurates a new liturgical day. Many of the stichera of that service are in honor of St. Mary of Egypt.

This evening we will chant the Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God in its entirety, a long structured hymn called “one of the great marvels of Greek religious poetry” by Archbishop Ware.

Fr Steven

Limping Down the Stretch? Or Finishing with a Kick?

2011-04-04T21:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

The grace of abstinence, radiant with the light of God, shines this day upon us more brightly than the sun; illumining our souls, it drives away the clouds of sinful passions. Embracing it with joy, let us all run with good courage, and finish its course rejoicing; and filled with gladness let us cry to Christ: Sanctify those who complete the Fast with faith, O loving Lord. (Monday Vespers in the Fifth Week).

Leaving aside Holy Week for a moment, we now have less than two weeks remaining in Great Lent. That means that we are two-thirds of the way through the Lenten season. These last two weeks, therefore, can be likened to something of a “stretch run” leading us to the “finish line.” In a race, the good runner will never be content with merely finishing, especially if that means limping over the finish line and collapsing in a state of total exhaustion. The good runner will finish with a “kick” that brings him to the finish line with a final burst of energy that will arise out of a mysterious inner reserve that will surprise his opponents and perhaps even himself. This would be a medal or a crown fully deserved.

We could apply such an image to ourselves as we struggle to “complete the course of the Fast” (Prayer before the Ambo in the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts). We too struggle to complete the “stretch run” of the last third of Great Lent, strengthened by a sense of perseverance and commitment to the Lord and His Church that draws upon a mysterious inner reserve that is, in turn, nourished by the grace of God, and not only the strength of our autonomous selves. I am sure that no one wants to crawl toward the end of Great Lent, or turn Great Lent into an endurance test that we force ourselves to complete with a grim smile and clenched teeth. We further hope to experience a sense of gladness rather than the expected exhaustion, or at least the mingling of the two. This image of the race has its scriptural foundations: “let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.” And, as in the arena, we too are surrounded by a large throng, but in this case it is a “great cloud of witnesses.” As runners, of course, will not compete burdened by any weight, so we too are exhorted to “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely.” (For the entire passage, see HEB. 12:1-2)

The Apostle Paul transforms the “games” of the ancient world, with some of its events into a further image of perseverance and ascetical effort, so as to encourage all Christians to “fight the good fight:”

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Well, I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air; but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (I COR. 9:25-27)

We have other images taken from the world in order to describe what we like to call today – somewhat artificially - our “spiritual lives:”

Take your share of suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier on service gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to satisfy the one who enlists him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to take the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will grant you understanding in everything. (II TIM. 2:3-7)

Why do athletes, or soldiers, or farmers – as in the images employed by the Apostle Paul from his immediate environment – work so much harder and with such great dedication for their goals; while Christians are often lukewarm, indifferent, or only mildly interested in the pursuit of their goal which is communion and fellowship with God?! Is it because the goal seems less immediate or, to state that question another way, more abstract? Is it because we believe that God “loves” us whether we are committed to the Christian life or not?

Those types of questions are never easy to answer. However, what we can do is expend the effort needed to be genuine “co-workers” with God in the pursuit of “taking Lent seriously” (Fr. Alexander Schmemann’s phrase) as we enter its “stretch run” and try and live up to that exalted title of “Orthodox Christian.”

The Place and Necessity of the Cross

2011-03-31T09:05:00.000-07:00

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

Having come to the middle point of the path of the Fast that leads to Thy precious Cross, grant that we may see Thy day that Abraham saw and rejoiced, when on the mountain he received Isaac back alive as from the tomb. Delivered from the enemy by faith, may we share Thy mystical supper, calling upon Thee in peace: Our light and our Savior, glory to Thee!
(Matins of Wednesday in the Fourth Week)

There may still persist the misunderstanding that the Orthodox Church downplays the significance of the Cross because it so intensely concentrates on the Resurrection, or on other such themes as transfiguration, deification, mystical encounter with God, and so forth. This is an implicit criticism that there is some deficiency in the Orthodox Christian presentation of the place of the Cross in the divine dispensation “for us and for our salvation.” Such criticism may not hold up under further reflection and inspection, for the Orthodox would say that based upon the divine economy of our salvation, resurrection – and any “mystical encounter” with God – is only possible through the Cross. As this was “the purpose of his will” and “the mystery of his will” (EPH. 1:5,9), our salvation could not have been accomplished in any other way. The “Lord of Glory” was crucified (I COR. 2:8) and then raised from the dead. Elsewhere, the Apostle Paul writes that “Jesus our Lord” was “put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” (ROM. 4:25) The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews writes of “Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (HEB. 12:2) A text such as this could be behind the hymn we sing at every liturgy after receiving the Eucharist: “For through the Cross, joy has come into the world.” Jesus himself said “that the Son of Man must suffer many things … and be killed and after three days rise again.” (MK. 8:31) Of the Gk. word translated as “must” from these words of Christ, Archbishop Demitrios Trakatellis wrote:

This expresses the necessity (dei) of the Messiah’s terrible affliction. Judging from the meaning of the verb (dei) in Mark, this necessity touches upon God’s great plan for the salvation of the world. (Authority and Passion, p. 51-52)

Many such texts can be multiplied, but the point is clear: The Cross and the empty tomb – redemption and resurrection – are inseparably united in the one paschal mystery that is nothing less than “Good News.” Like Mary Magdalene before us, one must first stand by the Cross in sober vigilance before gazing with wonder into the empty tomb and then encountering the Risen Lord. (JN. 20:11-18)

As something of an aside, part of this misunderstanding of the Orthodox Church’s supposed neglect of the Cross in the drama of human redemption could stem from a one-sided emphasis on the Cross in other churches at the expense of the Resurrection. The redemptive significance of the Cross somehow overwhelms the Resurrection so that it is strangely reduced to something of a glorified appendix to the salvific meaning of the Cross. As Vladimir Lossky wrote: “This redemptionist theology, placing all the emphasis on the passion, seems to take no interest in the triumph of Christ over death.” Since the “triumph of Christ over death” is so integral to the very existence of the Church; and since it is the ultimate paschal proclamation, as in “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death!;” then the Orthodox Church will never concentrate on a “theology of the Cross” at the expense of the Resurrection. Rather, the one paschal mystery will always embrace both Cross and Resurrection in a balanced manner. Within the Church during this week of the Cross, we sing and prostrate ourselves before the Cross while chanting this hymn:

Before Thy Cross, we bow down in worship, O Master, and Thy holy Resurrection we glorify!

In addition, and perhaps more tellingly, the growth, development and continuing existence of certain theories of atonement that have proven to be problematic today, but not shared by the Orthodox Church, have had an impact on evaluating the Orthodox Church’s understanding of the Cross on the whole. These theories of atonement will portray God as being primarily characterized by a wrath that demands appeasement, or “propitiation,” something only the death of His Son on the Cross can “satisfy.” These theories would stress the “juridical” and “penal” side of redemption in a one-sided manner. They may also bind God to act within certain “laws” of eternal necessity that would impose such categories as (vindictive?) justice on God in a way that may obscure God’s overwhelming mercy and love. Not sharing such theories of atonement as developed in the “West,” the Orthodox Church may face criticism for lacking a fully-developed “theology of the Cross.” However, such “satisfaction” theories of atonement are proving to be quite unsatisfactory in much of contemporary theological assessments of the meaning and significance of the Cross in relation to our salvation “in Christ.” The Orthodox can make a huge contribution toward a more holistic and integrated understanding of the role of both Cross and Resurrection, so that the full integrity of the paschal mystery is joyfully proclaimed to the world. From the patristic tradition of the Church, the voice of St. Athanasius the Great can speak to us today of this holistic approach (using some “juridical” language!):

Here, then is the … reason why the Word dwelt among us, namely that having proved His Godhead by His works, He might offer the sacrifice on behalf of all, surrendering His own temple to death in place of all, to settle man’s account with death and free him from the primal transgression. In the same act also He showed Himself mightier than death, displaying His own body incorruptible as the first-fruits of the resurrection. (On the Incarnation, 20)

In soberly assessing too great of a dependency on juridical language when speaking of redemption, and anticipating some later theories that would narrowly focus on the language of “payment” and “ransom” in relation to the sacrifice of Christ; St. Gregory the Theologian argued that a “price” or “ransom” was not “paid” to the Father or to Satan, as if either would demand, need or expect such a price as the “precious and glorious blood of God.” St. Gregory says, rather, the following:

Is it not evident that the Father accepts the sacrifice not because He demanded it or had any need for it but by His dispensation? It was necessary that man should be sanctified by the humanity of God; it was necessary that He Himself should free us, triumphing over the tyrant by His own strength, and that He should recall us to Himself by His Son who is the Mediator, who does all for the honor of the Father, to whom he is obedient in all things … Let the rest of the mystery be venerated silently. (Oration 45, 22)

However, getting it right in terms of a sound doctrine of atonement is one thing – essential as it is – but assimilating the necessity of the Cross in and to our personal understanding and the conditions of our life is another. In fact, it is quite a struggle and our resistance can be fierce! If this is difficult to understand, assimilate and then live by, the initial disciples of the Lord suffered through the same profound lack of comprehension. Their (mis)understanding of Jesus as the Messiah was one-sidedly fixated on images of glory, both for Israel and for themselves. A crucified Messiah was simply too much for the disciples to grasp, even though Jesus spoke of this in words that were not that enigmatic. When Peter refused to accept his Master’s words of His impending passion and death in Jerusalem, after just confessing His messianic stature and being blessed for it; he is forced to receive what is perhaps the most stinging rebuke found in the Gospels when Jesus turns to him and says: “Get behind me Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men.” (MK. 8:33) It was Satan who did not want Jesus to fulfill His vocation by voluntarily dying on the Cross, so Peter’s refusal to accept Christ’s words was his way of aligning himself with Satan.

The disciples were not enlightened until after the resurrection of their Lord and Master. We are raised in the Church so that we already know of Christ’s triumph over death through the Cross. Our resistance is not based on a lack of knowledge, but of a real human dread of pain and suffering. It may be difficult for us to “see” the joy that comes through the Cross until we find ourselves “on the other side.” “For now we see in a glass darkly, but then face to face.” (I COR. 13:12) It is our hope and the “certainty” of our faith that Christ has indeed triumphed over death, “even death on a Cross.” (PHIL. 2:8) God has blessed us with yet another Great Lent and upcoming Holy Week and Pascha in order to share in that experience of His glorious triumph that begins with the life-giving wood of the Tree of the Cross.

Fr. Steven