MARY - Woman and Mother

Image source: legacyicons.com

Dear Parish Faithful,

Here are a couple of insightful paragraphs on the role of the Virgin Mary in the divine oikonomia. These passages also offer good insight into the ever-perplexing genealogy found in St. Matthew's Gospel, and the undeniably major role assumed by women in that genealogy:

"Mary is presented as the final and perfect instrument in God's providential history. She brings to fruition a long history of courageous women and mothers, as she gives birth to the Messianic son of David, son of Abraham (Matt. 1:1). Matthew indicates that Israel's sacred history has been marked, from its very beginning, by women open to God's action in their lives, cost them what it may. The presence of the feminine through the religious history of Israel, incarnated in the women mentioned explicitly by Matthew, and culminated in Mary of Nazareth, shows that, despite all the judgments of society, religion and culture, they were the ones who were open to the initiative of God working in them. Thus, one of them became the mother of the Messiah."

"The earliest Church immediately saw Mary as a woman and a mother. These themes are repeated in Matthew, but now we see Mary understood and presented as the perfection of all the women who have played a decisive role in the gradual unfolding of God's salvation history to become the mother of Jesus Christ. Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba are not only women of great significance in critical moments of God's unfolding plan for his people. There is more to their role: they are included in the genealogy, written in a way which indicated that it is God-directed, because of their husbands and the sons they bore to them. They are both women and mothers."

MARY - Woman and Mother, by Francis J. Moloney

 

Coffee With Sister Vassa: Celebrating Our Jewish "Root"

 

CELEBRATING OUR JEWISH “ROOT”

“By faith You justified the Forefathers, when through them You betrothed Yourself beforehand to the Church of the Gentiles. The saints boast in glory, that from their seed there is a glorious fruit: she who bore You without seed. By their prayers, O Christ God, save our souls.” (Troparion, Sunday of the Forefathers)

On the second-to-last Sunday before Christmas, our church celebrates the Jewish “forefathers” of the Theotokos, who rightfully “boast in glory” that she came “from their seed.” But this makes me think about Romans 11, where St. Paul talks about a wrong kind of boasting on the part of some Gentile Christians, who boasted “against” the non-believing Jews in their midst. 

St. Paul warns the Gentile Christians not to boast or feel superior to those Jewish people who rejected Christ, because the latter remain the “root” and the original “branches” that support the new Tree of Life, the incarnate Son of God, while Gentiles were “grafted in” from the “wild” later, after the “Tree” had been well-established: “And if some of the branches were broken off,” St. Paul writes to these Gentiles, “and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.” (Rom 11: 17-18) In this chapter, St. Paul also expresses his faith that “all Israel will be saved” in the end, because “they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.” (Rom 11: 26,28)

As we pray for the intercessions of the Jewish ancestors of our Jewish Lord this season, I take pause and say, “Thank you, Jewish people!” for being our root. It’s not an easy thing to be, as we can see throughout history and today, when many of us continue somehow to resent you for it. Holy Forefathers, pray to God for the Jewish people and for all of us this season, that we remember we are all “beloved”!

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I very much appreciate Sister Vassa's recognition of the "Jewish people" and our thankfulness to them for being the root of our Christian Faith. As the Lord declared: "Salvation is from the Jews." (Jn. 4:22) Perhaps we may understand the anguish of the Apostle Paul who so hoped and prayed for the conversion of Israel in his profound conviction that Jesus, indeed, is the Messiah of Israel. But that has nothing to do with the irrationality of "Christian" antisemitism - possibly the greatest historical sin of Christianity through the centuries. As profound as our disagreement may be about the "identity" of Jesus of Nazareth with our Jewish friends, that disagreement must remain within the bounds of sharing a common root and of respect and care for the "other," especially of those who have born the burden of persecution for their faith. 

As the Roman Catholic thinker Leon Bloy expressed it: "Antisemitism ... is the most horrible slap in the face suffered in the ever continuing Passion of our Lord. It is the most stinging and most unpardonable because He suffers it on His Mother's Face and at the hands of Christians."

Coffee With Sister Vassa: Faith in the Human Being

 

FAITH IN THE HUMAN BEING

"We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar." (1 Jn 4:19-20)

Our human (self-)loathing is a kind of denial of God’s undying love for us and faith in us. It’s a sign that on some level we don’t believe in the God in Whom St. John the Evangelist believes, Who, through us sent His Son into our world. As St. John says in this same chapter, “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world…”

Christianity proclaims a radical faith in humanity; God’s undying faith in humanity, which is more honorable and honored than the Cherubim, and more glorious and glorified beyond compare than the Seraphim. We are also entrusted with God’s revelation of Himself to us; with receiving it and passing it on, from generation to generation, based on human testimony and language, and other messy and fallible human capacities. 

May I believe in us today, and embrace the hope, love and patience with ustoday, that God unchangeably has and extends to each of us daily. I can do that, by opening up to Him in prayer, and letting His divine energies, His faith and His love for all of us, break into my broken and contrite heart. God is the Lord and has appeared unto us! Let me let that sink in, as we proceed on our journey to Bethlehem, preparing our little gifts for one another, as little testimonies of our love for Him.

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In a time of dehumanization through either ugly rhetoric or violent actions, this is a wonderful "reminder" of the goodness of humanity and of our responsibility as Christians to clarify our vision whenever it becomes obscured by the disparaging nature of sinful words and actions. May Christ strengthen us in that worthy endeavor! 

Coffee With Sister Vassa: Illumined, But Not Consumed

 

ILLUMINED, BUT NOT CONSUMED

“Standing in a furnace of flaming fire as though in dew, 
the Holy Youths mystically prefigured Your coming from a Virgin, 
by which we are illumined, but not consumed…” 

(Hymn at Vespers, Sunday of the Forefathers) 

On the Sundays before Christmas, in our church-services we will hear references to the story of the Three Holy Youths in the fiery furnace, as told in Chapter 3 of the Book of Daniel. This incident “mystically prefigured” Christ’s“coming from a Virgin, by which we are illumined but not consumed,” as explained in the above-quoted hymn. Just as the Theotokos was not consumed by the living God in her womb, neither are we consumed by receiving His Body and Blood in ours. “We are illumined, but not consumed.”

Why does it need to be said, that the true God does not come into our lives to consume or harm us, like fire? Because, before His coming, most of humanity believed in gods that were not good and loving. We believed they needed to be kept at bay, by offering them all sorts of sacrifices, so that they would not harm us. We might still tend to suspect that God somehow needs to be satisfied by our good works, otherwise He will turn against us. But this is a pagan notion, as I’m reminded by the story of the Three Holy Youths, who did not succumb to the fears of the pagans who threw them into the furnace. 

Let me continue this journey of the Nativity Fast in the light and lightness of the Cross, not with anxiety. It’s a journey by which we are meant to be illumined, one day at a time, but not consumed. By the prayers of the Theotokos, Savior, save us!

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Here is a touch of "good news" for those of you who read Sister Vassa's wonderful and succinct reflections as they come out periodically: She is scheduled to visit our church on Wednesday, March 19, 2025 and give a talk to the parish entitled: "Great Lent as a Great Catechism." More details to follow.

"Let Us Give Thanks to the Lord"

Image source: uocofusa.org

 

'Let us give thanks unto the Lord!'

"Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?" (LK. 17:17)

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

The cleansing of the ten lepers (LK. 17:11-19) is clearly a remarkable story that reveals the exousia, or authority, of Christ over sickness. Yet, in addition, it is a healing story that is just as much about the need to offer thanksgiving to God whenever we are a recipient of His abundant mercy.

As the story opens, we first hear the plaintive and pathetic cry from these lepers: "And as he entered the village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said, 'Jesus, Master, have pity on us'." (v.12-13) Did these lepers truly believe that Jesus could do something for them that no one else could possibly do?

In response to whatever level of faith they may have had, Jesus cleansed the ten lepers simply by His word:  "When he saw them he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to priests." And as they went they were cleansed." (v. 14).

Lepers, of course, were not allowed to be near the other members of their community, for they were declared to be unclean and therefore, ritually impure (LEV. 13:45-46; NUM. 5:2-3). Their cleansing not only freed them from a debilitating illness that left its victims visibly disfigured; but it also restored them to fellowship in their community. Their ostracism was now over. 

According to the Law, the priests that Jesus sent them to would declare their healing and make that restoration to society a possibility. Yet, considering the enormous generosity of Christ in being the source of both their cleansing and restoration, we read with great surprise that only one of them returned to Jesus in order to thank Him:

Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell at his feet, giving him thanks. (v. 15-16)

What adds to our surprise is that this newly-cleansed leper "was a Samaritan." (v. 16) We know that Jews and Samaritans were hostile to each other and that "Jews have no dealings with Samaritans."(JN. 4:9) In the light of that reality, it is all the more significant that there was a Samaritan among the ten lepers. Perhaps, as lepers, they were forced to keep company; but could it be possible that in their misery they understood that they shared a common humanity that transcended their ethnic/cultural/religious barriers? So, perhaps in their collective misery, these lepers overcame their mutual hostility as they remained together on the outskirts of the village. 

Be that as it may, Jesus wanted to point out the incongruity of a Samaritan returning to offer thanks to God, while His fellow Jews failed to do so. And then Jesus asks what is a very convicting question that goes to the very heart of the matter:  "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner"?" (v. 17-18) Even Jesus calls the Samaritan a "foreigner!" (It is of note that it was a foreigner - Naaman - who returned to Elisha after being healed of leprosy (II KINGS 5:15, LK. 4:27). But, nevertheless, the question "cuts deep," we can say. 

Christ does not "need" to be thanked. Jesus is not petulant; and He is not offended by the cleansed lepers who failed to return as did the Samaritan. It was the lepers who needed to offer thanksgiving or praise to God for what had been done for them. That was the point that Christ drew attention to through His publicly-stated question. Significantly, Jesus tells the Samaritan:  "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well." (v. 17) Did the cleansed and thankful leper receive more than the others had done?

St. Athanasius the Great implies this in his comments on this passage:

"They thought more highly of their cure from leprosy than of him who who had healed them.... Actually, this one was given much more than the rest. Besides being healed of his leprosy, he was told by the Lord, "Stand up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you." You see, those who give thanks and those who glorify have the same kind of feelings. They bless their helper for the benefits they have received. That is why Paul urged everybody to 'glorify God with your body.' Isaiah also commanded, 'Give glory to God'." — Festal Letter 6

The leprosy that was treated with fear and great caution in the Scriptures can serve as a vivid metaphor for human sin. In the Orthodox Tradition, we treat sin more as a sickness than as the breaking of a commandment. Sin is more of a "condition" than a "crime." It is, actually, the "human condition" into which we are born when we enter this world. Thus, "Since all are sinners and fall short of the glory of God" (ROM. 3:23), we all need to be healed by God. And we all have been: through the redemptive death of Christ on the Cross and His Resurrection from the dead. And then through our personal death to sin and resurrection to life with Christ through the mystery of Baptism. (ROM. 6:3-11) 

For this we give thanks to God from a heart overflowing with gratitude, thanksgiving and love because we are overwhelmed by what God has done for us in and through our Savior Jesus Christ. We may have been healed through Baptism, but without the response of thanksgiving, this healing remains incomplete, and it will not bear much fruit. 

On the Lord's Day we come to the Eucharistic service of the Church - the Liturgy - which is the Service of Thanksgiving, we could say. Our presence signifies our own "return" to the Lord in response to His healing presence in our lives. (For the baptized who do not return to thus give thanks, we find a resemblance to the healed lepers who failed to return in order to praise God). And it is then that we offer thanksgiving to God as we offer ourselves up to God through the sacrifice of Christ actualized in the Liturgy. And then we receive the Eucharist - the "thanksgiving food" - to nourish us in this movement of growing love toward the most Holy Trinity:

"Eucharistisomen to Kyrio!" - "Let us give thanks unto the Lord!"