Lives Worth Judging

 

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

As we draw closer to the beginning of Great Lent – at least for Orthodox Christians – we are able to set our Lenten efforts against the background of the Last Judgment, thus giving us the “big picture” within which we live our lives and determine our personal destinies. 

The Gospel read at the Eucharistic Liturgy just this last Sunday was that of the Discourse on the Last Judgment (MATT. 25:31-46). Therefore, the second Sunday before Great Lent is also called the Sunday of the Last Judgment. In highly symbolic form and with awesome imagery, the Lord speaks of His own Parousia as the glorified Son of man at the end of time and reveals to us that this will be a time of judgment. And this judgment will lead to separation.

The “sheep” (the saved) will be placed on the right hand, and the “goats” (the lost) on the left hand of the eternal Throne of God. This, in turn, will reveal the “quality” of our lives, though not in the way in which we today use the term “quality of life.” We will be confronted with the question as to how well we served the Lord by how well we served the “least” of His brethren: “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these brethren, you did it to me” (MATT. 25:40).

These least are the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the prisoner. How many of us have to admit that these are precisely the people that we neglect? The fact that society removes such people from our sight does not offer a very reassuring excuse for our neglect. It simply make it more convenient and less troubling for our consciences. Sadly, this may point to one of the most glaring of “disconnects” between the Gospel and our Christian lives, expressed in the following hymn:

Why do you not think of the fearful hour of death? Why do you not tremble at the dread judgment seat of the Savior? What defense then will you make, or what will you answer? Your works will be there to accuse you; your actions will reproach you and condemn you. O my soul, the time is near at hand; make haste before it is too late, and cry aloud in faith: 'I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned against you; but I know your love for humanity and Your compassion. O good Shepherd deprive me not of a place at Your right hand in Your great glory'. (Vespers, Sunday of the Last Judgment)

I, for one, am not ready to dismiss this hymn as excessively rhetorical, overly pessimistic, or unfairly harsh in its outlook. It is rather a sober and honest plea calling us to repentance and the re-direction of our lives. It further reminds us that it is never too late. And that the Good Shepherd will place us upon His shoulders to the accompaniment of rejoicing angels in heaven over our repentance.

“God is love” (I JN. 4:8). And yet God is demanding. If God “so loved the world that He gave His only Son” to die on the Cross for our redemption, then God expects us to approach and treat others with the same love. This is a love expressed in action and in giving, and is not to be confused with emotions or feelings.

We are all outcasts and alienated from God based upon the primordial sin of Adam, and yet God did not forget us or abandon us. “You were bought with a price” (I COR. 6:20). If we are indeed to “imitate the divine nature” as St. Gregory of Nyssa taught, then we could convincingly say that God expects us to “perform” according to the full capacity of our human nature made in the “image and likeness of God.” All the more plausible and possible because our fallen human nature has been renewed in and through the Death and Resurrection of Christ. Our rescue from a condition of “ontological poverty” is meant to arouse in us a desire to rescue “the least of these” from the impoverishing conditions of a fallen world.

Simultaneously with the external history of our lives there is occurring the internal history of our hearts. The outer life is more readily open to being accurately recorded, from the date of our birth to the date of our death and the significant events in between that make up our personal histories. What is happening within our hearts is far more difficult to record, because the human heart is deep and mysterious.

Yet the prophecy of the Last Judgment, testing the direction of our hearts, raises some very real questions: On what we call the “spiritual level,” is our heart expanding or contracting? Is it growing larger or smaller? Is it becoming more generous or more grasping? Is it letting the neighbor in, or keeping the neighbor out? Is it, as the years move inexorably forward, embracing God and neighbor, or is it shrinking in self-protection? These are questions to explore as we move into the Lenten season.

If our lives are worth living, then they are worthy of being judged. Our deeds, words and thoughts are significant because we must answer for them before a God who is love. Since God loves us and saves us, God will also judge us, though our judgment is actually self-inflicted and not imposed on us as a punishment. In a wonderful article entitled “On Preaching Judgment,” Fr. John Breck put it this way:

Judgment is indeed self-inflicted. God offers us life, and we choose death. He opens us the way into the Kingdom of Heaven, and we continue down our own pathway, which leads to destruction. Yet like the father of the prodigal son, God pursues us along that pathway, desiring only that we repent and return home. It is our decision to do so or not. (God With Us, p. 230)

In a bleak and cold universe absent of the presence of God and governed by immutable “laws of nature,” there is no judgment. But what does that say about the significance of our lives?

Enter not into judgment with me, bringing before me the things I should have done, examining my words and correcting my impulses. But in your mercy overlook my sins and save me, O Lord almighty.(Matins Canon of the Sunday of the Last Judgment, Canticle One)

 

Fasting for Great Lent in the Orthodox Tradition

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

I get my fair share of questions each year about the precise nature of the prescribed fasting for Great Lent – especially from new members to the Church, catechumens, inquirers, etc. I also assume that there is a certain amount of confusion over this, because we pick things up from other church traditions that did not quite fit into our own Orthodox Tradition.   With Great Lent beginning on Monday, March 7, I wanted to pass on the fasting guidelines of the Church in plenty of time as you make your plans. I found a very clear article about this entitled, "Our Fasting During Great Lent," by Fr. John Hopko. It is attached to a book published by SVS Press - When You Fast - Recipes for Lenten Seasons.  Fr. John's article is to the point, and it also has some sound pastoral considerations added, so I will simply pass on the relevant paragraph or two for your reading and reference: _____ We should begin by reminding ourselves of the basics of the Church's traditional discipline of fasting. During Great Lent, the strictest levels of fasting are prescribed, with certain exceptions allowed for weekends and feast days. The traditional norm, as developed and followed over many centuries in the Orthodox Church, is that we would abstain from the following items (listed here in order, beginning with those items that are eliminated first and then on down to those items that may be permissible at some times):  meat and meat products (must be restricted) milk and egg products (often referred to as "dairy." These items are perhaps permissible for some, for example, young children) fish (permissible on certain feasts during Great Lent) olive oil (permissible on weekends and certain feasts during Great Lent) wine (this means all alcoholic beverages; ;they are permissible on weekends, and certain feast days during Great Lent) So then, generally speaking, during Great Lent we are to make do with the following types of food: shellfish (shrimp, clams, etc.) vegetables vegetable products legumes fruit, grains (breads, pasta, rice, etc.), nuts, etc. nonalcoholic, dairy-free beverages Having laid out the traditional guidelines for fasting, certain points must be made in reference to them. First of all, each of us must make an honest, prayerful assessment of how well we can maintain the fasting discipline. If we are unable - due to age, illness, or some other weakness - to follow the traditional order of fasting completely, we must then make a decision about what we are going to do. Being overly scrupulous in this regard will not save us but neither will any rationalizing away of the need to fast. Each and every person, usually together with the other members of his or her family and, if necessary in consultation with his or her parish priest, needs to make an honest and prayerful decision about how he or she is going to keep the fast. (pp. 247-248). ____ A clear and pastorally-balanced approach in my estimation from Fr. John. (That is not a mistake, for this is Fr. Thomas Hopko’s son). The book from which this article is taken, by the way, is filled with hundreds of lenten recipes, from "main dishes" to "cookies and desserts." It is out of stock from SVS Press, but Amazon may have some used copies. As to the fasting, there is no doubt that it is both a disciplined and a healthier way of eating and drinking. Each and every family needs to work out its own “domestic strategy” striving for the “royal road” between the extremes of legalism and laxity. Fasting is only effective when linked to prayer and almsgiving. (MATT. 6) As Fr. John noted, it is sound advice to speak with your parish priest about these issues and how they may be integrated into family life. Please contact me if you so desire.

Great Lent - 'What is this struggle?'

 

Dear Parish Faithful, As Great Lent approaches, here is a remarkable text by a medieval Byzantine saint. Although known for his austerity and "strictness" as the abbot of the Studite monastery in Constantinople, I find this text one of the finest succinct summaries of the meaning of Great Lent. We may indeed follow the "letter" of the Great Fast, but here we find the all-important "spirit" of the season related with deep pastoral  care.   A Word About the Great Fast St. Theodore the Studite What is this struggle? Not to walk according to one’s own will. This is better than the other works of zeal and is a crown of martyrdom; expect that for you there is also a change of diet, multiplication of prostrations and increase of psalmody all in accord with the established tradition from of old.  And so I ask, let us welcome gladly the gift of the fast, not making ourselves miserable, as we are taught, but let us advance with cheerfulness of heart, innocent, not slandering, not angry, not evil, not envying; rather peaceable toward each other, and loving, fair, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits; breathing in seasonable stillness, since hubbub is damaging in a community; speaking suitable words, since too unreasonable stillness is profitless; yet above all vigilantly keeping watch over our thoughts, not opening the door to the passions, not giving place to the devil. We are lords of ourselves; let us not open our door to the devil; rather let us keep guard over our soul as a bride of Christ, unwounded by the arrows of the thoughts; for thus we are able to become a dwelling of God in Spirit.  Thus we may be made worthy to hear, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Quite simply, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is just, whatever pure, whatever lovely, whatever of good report, if there is anything virtuous, if there is anything praiseworthy, to speak like the Apostle, do it; and the God of peace will be with you all.

The 'Spiritual Damage' of War

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

"Put not your trust in princes, nor in sons of men, in whom there is no salvation." (Psalm 145:3 LXX)

"For the peace of the whole world ... " (Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom)

"Nothing is more contrary to God's will for creatures fashioned in his image and likeness than violence one against another, and nothing more sacrilegious than the organized practice of mass killing. All human violence is in some sense a rebellion against God and the divinely created order." (For the Life of the World - Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church)

The anticipated invasion of Ukraine - a sovereign country - by overwhelmingly superior Russian forces - is now underway. This invasion has nothing resembling a justifiable cause. Yet, leaving "politics" aside for the moment, we must acknowledge the grave "spiritual damage" this war will extract from its participants and for the entire world. 

 

 

I am shaken by the spectacle of Orthodox Christians slaughtering one another. In fact, the strong historical, cultural and religious bonds of both countries has recently been stressed by the aggressors. As is well-known, Russia and Ukraine are both primarily Orthodox Christian countries. I am sure that the vast majority of the Russian armed forces - both men and women - are Orthodox Christians. Ukraine has a much larger Roman Catholic population than Russia, but Ukraine remains a predominantly Orthodox country (67% according to a recent survey). These soldiers will probably be "blessed" by a bishop or priest, together with their weapons, with Holy Water and then begin the carnage of killing one another. In fact, they may "prepare" for their war effort by first going to Confession and then receiving Communion. So, after being united in the common chalice as "brothers and sisters" in Christ, they will then go about the business of killing these very "brothers and sisters." And then there could be a horrific death toll among the innocent civilian population of Ukraine. 

What a sad and tragic reality! The sheer madness of it is staggering: Praying to the "same God" for protection and victory in battle as Christians and then killing each other with impunity. I am certainly not implying that it is less sinful or spiritually devastating to kill non-Orthodox Christians or non-Christian peoples! But I am speaking as a member within the Orthodox Church and stressing the total incompatibility of the vision of life within the Church and its perversion in "real time." 

We can only pray to God for peace and that the human suffering and death will be limited.

 

'Can't Find My Way Home' - Lessons from the Prodigal Son

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

"And He said, 'There was a man who had two sons'..."

 

This is how Christ begins what is perhaps the greatest of his parables, the one we know as the Parable of the Prodigal Son, but which could easily be titled the "Parable of the Two Sons" or the "Parable of the Compassionate Father." With this parable, which we heard at the Divine Liturgy on Sunday, we are invited to prepare to enter the "school of repentance" -- Great Lent -- and sit at the feet of the Master, so that we can hear the words of eternal life and "keep them."

After receiving his portion of the inheritance, even before his father had died, the younger of the two sons "gathered all that he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living" [Luke 15:13]. This one sober understatement does not demand a great deal of imagination to yield its meaning. We know that loose living refers to a web of wrong choices, bad company, unrestrained satisfaction of "the passions," and forgetfulness of God. This spiritually suicidal combination leads to bankruptcy on a further series of interrelated levels: the material, moral/ethical and spiritual. In no time, the prodigal son is forced to feed "on the pods that the swine ate" [Luke 15:16].

Before succumbing to the temptation of trying my hand at an updated melodramatic script that would luridly describe the sins of the wayward young man of the parable -- replete with money, sex and drugs -- together with all of the didactic apparatus meant to strengthen our resolve to protect our children (since we are now too old for all of that), I would rather more modestly pause at the words about a journey "into a far country." 

The far country of the parable is geographical, for the young man of the parable ventured far from his home. Yet, a "far country" can also refer to a hidden place in our interior landscape; a "place" in which we can distance ourselves from God and right living to a frightening degree, even if slowly and unintentionally. At first, that interior far country can prove to be appealing. It can appease our vanity, protect our pride and/or feed "the passions" that we can nurture with pleasure, even if hidden from the view and censure of others. This is initially stimulating and seems to promise endless delight -- perhaps like the endless freedom that an unsupervised dorm may offer to an innocent college student away from the sheltering, but seemingly restrictive, atmosphere of home.

When the emptiness of such a landscape becomes evident, we too can desperately desire to "feed on the pods that the swine ate." The self-serving (or "self-help!") philosophies on which we squandered our "inheritance" from God will no longer satisfy us, but in a restless and hungry search for something else to replace these, we can even fall to the level of "swinish delights" -- anything to relieve our boredom or frustrations. Without moving anywhere, and without changing the patterns of our lifestyle, we can still withdraw to a "far country" in that interior landscape that can prove to be as treacherous as any unknown environment of the exterior world.

It is said of the prodigal son of the parable, that when at "rock bottom," he "came to himself" [Luke 15:17]. This is certainly one of the key expressions found in this endlessly rich parable. The young man found his right mind, his sanity was restored, and basically he "got a grip on reality" — an undramatic, but meaningful, way to describe "conversion," or the process of turning back toward God and the warm embrace of our heavenly Father.

In effect, the prodigal son repented. This major character of the parable did exactly what Christ taught as the beginning of His public ministry: "Repent, and believe in the Gospel." [Mk. 1:15] This call to repentance will allow me to again quote what I consider to be one of the best descriptions of repentance, at least among contemporary Orthodox writers, and that is from Archbishop Kallistos Ware's book The Orthodox Way:

Repentance marks the starting-point of our journey. The Greek term metanoia, as we have noted, signifies primarily a "change of mind." 

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 Holy 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.

To repent 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 (p.113-114).

 

A certain clarity of thought is needed to find our way home when we drift off toward a far country. The short-lived rock band of the late 1960s, Blind Faith, had an intriguing song entitled "Can't Find My Way Home." Perhaps that was an honest and clear-sighted assessment of the band's state of mind at that time (money, sex and drugs?) and a poignant recognition of being in a "far country." Two other songs on the album, however -- "In the Presence of the Lord" and "Sea of Joy" -- may have pointed to more promising discoveries.

Every year, through the lectionary of the Church, especially in this pre-lenten season of preparation, we are powerfully reminded of just how far away from "home" we may actually be in mind and heart. If we have been equally prodigal with the gifts bestowed upon us by God, then we can equally "come to ourselves" and return home to the embrace of our compassionate Father. Great Lent will once again present us with that possibility. 

More Lessons from the Publican and the Pharisee

 

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

Reproaching the Pharisee ~ St Cyril of Alexandria

 

Here is some more on the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee, from “our Father among the saints,” St. Cyril of Alexandria (+444). St. Cyril, with great rhetorical skill, reproaches the Pharisee for praising himself while pointing out the infirmities of the conscience-stricken publican:

What profit is there in fasting twice in the week if it serves only as a pretext for ignorance and vanity and makes one proud, haughty and selfish? You tithe your possessions and boast about it. 

In another way, you provoke God’s anger by condemning and accusing other people of this. You are puffed up, although not crowned by the divine decree for righteousness. On the contrary, you heap praise on yourself. He says, “I am not as the rest of humankind.” Moderate yourself, O Pharisee. Put a door and lock on your tongue. (PS. 141:3) 

You speak to God who knows all things. Wait for the decree of the judge. No one who is skilled in wrestling ever crowns himself. No one also receives the crown from himself but waits for the summons of the referee…. 

Lower your pride because arrogance is accursed and hated by God. It is foreign to the mind that fears God. Christ even said, “Do not judge and you shall not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned.” (LK. 6:37) 

One of his disciples also said, “There is one lawgiver and judge. Why then do you judge your neighbor?” (JM. 4:12) No one who is in good health ridicules one who is sick or being laid up and bedridden. He is rather afraid, for perhaps he may become the victim of similar sufferings. A person in battle, because another has fallen, does not praise himself for having escaped from misfortune. The weakness of others is not a suitable subject for praise for those who are in health. 

Commentary on Luke, Homily 120.

 
 

A Reversal of Fortune

 

From a contemporary biblical scholars, we read the following on how the parable turns upside down some of our own perceptions of relationships with God and neighbor:

The parable perfectly illustrates Luke's theme of reversal (v. 14b). God will one day move to align the human situation with the nature of God as God truly is - not as persons like the Pharisee perceives God to be. That reversal will take place in the full realization of the kingdom (6:20-26 [the Beatitudes and Woes]). The task of Jesus is to summon human beings to align themselves with that new perspective so that when the reversal comes they will be in the right position to benefit from it. The parable, then, offers more than a simple instruction of prayer. It belongs to the preaching of the kingdom. 

It could also offer comfort to many people today who find themselves or their loved ones (for example, their children) caught in situations judged objectively sinful on more traditional thinking - whether in the area of sexuality, or marital involvement or professional occupation. In a complex world, loyalties often run in several directions, excluding simple application of rules and norms to the patterns of individual lives. The parable suggests that God may be able to cope with "disorder" in terms of objective morality or church discipline far better than those who guard the tradition sometimes imagine. 

Prayer, as the Pharisee failed to see, consists not in our telling God how things are but in allowing God to communicate to us the divine vision of life and reality. Two people came up to God's house to pray. Only one really found the hospitality that was there. As so often in Luke's Gospel we are left with the challenge: which one are you going to be? 

From The Hospitality of God - A Reading of Luke's Gospel by Brendan Byrne, p. 144-145

The Publican and the Pharisee, and the Struggle for Humility

 

The Publican and the Pharisee, 14th c., Serbian (Legacy Icons)

 

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

 

The parable of the Publican and the Pharisee confronts us with a stark contrast between religious pride and self-righteousness, on the one hand; and heartfelt humility and repentance on the other hand. The Pharisee, of course, is the one who manifests the pride, and it is the publican who manifests the humility. The Lord closes this short parable by declaring the Pharisee “condemned” and the publican “justified.” This is a genuine “reversal of fortune” upending our preconceived notions of piety and righteousness, as forcefully as this must have struck those who initially heard the parable as delivered by Christ. Yet, that reversal of fortune should not obscure other notable factors that are also working within this parable.

For Christ is not condemning the actions of the Pharisee. The Lord is not telling us through this parable that the Pharisee – or anyone else, and that includes us – is wasting both time and energy by going up to the temple to pray, by fasting and by tithing. These are not being condemned as empty practices, thus consigning all such practitioners to the barren realm of hypocrisy and religious formalism. We, as contemporary Christians, are encouraged to enter the church with regularity and offer our prayer to God; to practice the self-restraint and discipline of fasting; and to share our financial resources with the generosity implied by the biblical tithe. We could add other practices to that. In fact, we would do well to imitate the outward actions of the Pharisee in practicing our Faith! 

Yet, on a deeper and far more significant level, the Pharisee got it all wrong. He was consumed by a self-satisfied and self-righteous interior attitude that left no room for God to transform him by divine grace. The Pharisee’s prayer was seemingly directed to God, but in reality it was an exercise in self-congratulations (for not being like other sinful men). Here was a man who did not suffer over low self-esteem! The Pharisee was self-centered, but not God-centered. Something went wrong, and the self replaced God as the center of his energy and passion. The exterior forms of piety that he practiced were disconnected from the interior realm of the heart, where God is meant to dwell and, again, transform the human person from within, so that each person becomes less self-centered and more God-centered with time and patience.

Based on our knowledge of the role of the publican in first century Israel, we can be assured that Christ was not “justifying” the particular “life-style” that made the publicans such notorious and despised figures of that world. In fact, they were always included with “harlots” when reference was being made to the marginalized, if not ostracized, members of first-century Judaism. Rather, the publican was declared “justified” for the very fact that he recognized and was profoundly struck by just how sinful he had become in cheating and defrauding his neighbor as a hated tax-collector working for the occupying Roman authority. He had the experience of true contrition of heart; he realized that he stood self-condemned before the Lord; yet he did not despair but cried out plaintively: “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” Human persons are not saved as sinners, but as sinners who in humility repent before God and then offer the fruits of repentance.

The hymnography for the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee exhorts us to flee from pride and to embrace humility. We live in a culture obsessed with the self and thus not only susceptible, but openly promoting, both pride and vainglory. “In your face” is widely seen as a “heroic” gesture of self-defiance and legitimate self-promotion. Humility is treated as weakness and ineffectual for “getting ahead” or for fulfilling one’s desires. We hear the voice of the Lord and we hear the voice of the world. It is our choice as to which voice we will listen to. And that choice will be determined to a great extent by just what the desires that move us to action are actually for. “For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”

A Zacchaeus Moment - Is there a sycamore tree to climb?

Dear Fathers, Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." (LK. 19:10)

 

 

At the Reader Service yesterday, we heard the story of the "towering figure" of Zacchaeus the publican (LK. 19:1-10).

This is one of the many wonderful paradoxes of the spiritual life that characterize the Holy Scriptures. The paradox is found in the fact that the "towering figure" of Zacchaeus was actually "small of stature." (v. 3) And if indeed he had defrauded his neighbors as he alluded to (v. 8), then he was "small" in even more essential matters. 

Through repentance, conversion, and right action Zacchaeus grew in stature right before the eyes of those who with faith could "see" this transformation. Zacchaeus personifies the type of change that is possible through hearing the Good News and embracing it in thought, word and deed. 

This passage, unique to the Gospel According to St. Luke, is thus perfectly placed as the first announcement of the approach of Great Lent. For in the Orthodox Church, this is always the prescribed Gospel reading for the fifth Sunday before the start of Great Lent. The four pre-lenten Gospel readings to follow will then guide us to Monday, March 7, the first day of the lenten journey that will lead us to Holy Week and then Pascha on April 24. (The Western Easter this year will fall on April 17).

Returning to the Gospel passage, we find the story of Zacchaeus evenly divided into two parts - an outdoor scene (v. 1-5) and an indoor scene (v. 6-10). Outdoors, and in full view of the gathered inhabitants of ancient Jericho, the despised "chief tax collector," the rich Zacchaeus, risks the humiliation of being laughed at because he makes the socially unconventional choice of climbing up into a "sycamore tree" in order "see who Jesus was." 

What may have been acceptable behavior among children, would only have drawn the surprised and scornful stares of Zacchaeus' over-taxed neighbors. I always remember that in a meditation on Zacchaeus, the late Metropolitan Anthony Bloom wrote that the equivalent act today would be that of a renowned corporate executive scrambling up a light pole in a downtown area in order to see someone passing by. (For those with a "boss" that you may not be too fond of, perhaps there may be minor consolation in fantasizing such a scenario and its reaction in your own mind).

There then occurs that life-changing encounter between Zacchaeus and Jesus. For Jesus looks up at the strange figure of this man "small of stature" eagerly looking down upon Him, and says to him in response: "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today." (v. 5)

The transition to the indoor setting is now made when Zacchaeus "made haste and came down, and received him joyfully." (v. 6) Yet one can sense the oriental custom of a crowd hovering at the entrance or even coming and going with a certain freedom. The raised eyebrows and clucking tongues of an undescribed "they" who look on and articulate their stern disapproval - "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner" (v. 7) - is a reaction encountered elsewhere in the Gospels when Jesus freely chose to sit at table with sinners and tax collectors (cf. MK. 3:15-17). 

This disapprobation on the part of the scribes and Pharisees then evoked his memorable (and ironic?) saying: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." (MK. 3:17) 

The Messiah is not bound by religiously sanctioned social convention that divides people into the convenient categories of the "righteous" and "sinners," "saved" and "lost," the "pure" and "impure." Or rather, by making clear that He has come to bring salvation to everyone, beginning with the marginalized and distressed members of His own society, Jesus reveals the inclusive love of God that tears down all such former barriers. Zacchaeus is a striking and personalized example of this inclusive love of God for "the lost."

Never a distributor of "cheap grace" though, Jesus demands repentance and conversion. And this comes dramatically from Zacchaeus when he publicly declares: "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold." (v. 8) In this, Zacchaeus goes beyond what the Law required for such an act of restitution. (EX. 21:37; NM. 5:5-7) 

The Lord then signifies or "seals" the truth of this conversion when He solemnly pronounces the joyful declaration: "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." (v. 9-10)

It is interesting to note that the blessing of Jesus is given to the entire household. The household of Zacchaeus, in turn, becomes a microcosm of the entire design of salvation: The Son of Man came to seek and save the entire cosmos groaning inwardly and subject to futility as it awaits redemption (cf. ROM. 8:19-23) In this, we and our households resemble that of Zacchaeus, regardless of how "righteous" we may consider ourselves (to be dealt with next Sunday in the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee!).

We can never afford to allow our supposed familiarity with a Gospel passage to blunt its sharp edge. It is that sharp edge that cuts through our many defensive layers of evasions and self-deception. Otherwise, the passage "softens" into a didactic story about a bad man changing his life and becoming "nice." 

However, I believe that no matter how well we know the story about Zacchaeus, the only familiarity that we could claim with him is the familiarity of having an equally profound "Zacchaeus moment" in our own lives.

Such a "moment" would initially be characterized by an equal desire to "see Jesus" - above all else. Than we would need to be willing to overcome our own "smallness of stature" by perhaps first overcoming the tyranny of social convention and respectability before we get to our actual sinfulness. This may mean going beyond our own conventional patterns of church going and the "safety" of keeping the demanding call of Christ at a safe distance so that it cannot overly impinge upon our lives.

There may yet be a sycamore tree that we need to climb.

Learning from the Three Holy Hierarchs

Dear Parish Faithful,

"The human person is an animal with the command to become like God."  

- St. Basil the Great

As stated in the Monday Morning Meditation, this last Sunday, January 30, we commemorated The Three Hierarchs - Sts. Basil the Great (+379), Gregory of Nazianzus (+390), and John Chrysostom (+407). Outside of the Scriptures, these 4th c. theologians/pastors are three of the great Founding Fathers of our Orthodox Christian theological legacy. They truly shaped it in a way that remains normative to this day. The link immediately below is to a short summary of how this feast developed in the late 11th - early 12th century. 

https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2021/01/30/100350-synaxis-of-the-ecumenical-teachers-and-hierarchs-basil-the-great

In addition, I would like to encourage everyone to read one or more of their works. Their style is quite accessible. They are free of all academic jargon for the simple reason that they were not academics holding a chair in this or that university. They were bishops/pastors guiding their respective flocks in the late 4th and early 5th century Christian world. I have therefore put together a series of links to SVS Press and its editions from the Popular Patristic Series of some of the most prominent of the written works of these Fathers. (And they are relatively inexpensive). Some are treatises, others are collections of their homilies that spanned their lifetimes. All of it is very good.

As we are getting close to the pre-lenten season, perhaps here is a good book or two for Great Lent. As we put aside our iPhones and TV sets during Great Lent to some extent, at least, here is a good way to "redeem the time" in reading solid Orthodox literature.  

If anyone is actually interested, and would like a recommendation or guide in choosing one or more of these titles, please contact me.

St. Basil the Great - 

On Social Justice - Social justice with a clear and definite Gospel foundation.

On the Human Condition - Great essays on what it means to be human from a theological perspective.

On Fasting and Feasts - Wonderful homilies on a variety of themes that still engage us within the Church today.

On The Holy Spirit - An absolute classic that ranks with On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius. Biblical interpretation (exegesis) at its dazzling best.

On Christian Ethics - A great antidote to humanistic, autonomous ethics.

On Christian Doctrine and Practice - A series of treatises covering a wide-range of theological and practical concerns.

St. Gregory the Theologian

On God and Christ, The Five Theological Orations and Two Letters to Cledonius - Again, absolute classics that defend and describe the Holy Trinity. Unmatched.

On God and Man: The Theological Poetry of St. Gregory of Nazianzus - Poetic theology that is free of sentimentalism.

Festal Orations - Another great collection of homilies from one of the greatest Christian rhetoricians off all time.

St. John Chrysostom 

On Wealth and Poverty (2nd Ed.) - A "must-read" collection of six homilies on the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man. Opens the mind and heart to Christian charity.

The Cult of the Saints - Great homilies on a theme that still perplexes some Christians.

On Marriage and Family Life - Although written in the 4th c., this still contains some real gems of insight to married Christians raising families.

- Fr. Steven