'Think About These Things'

 

Icon of the Indiction

 

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

As we are about to embark on yet another Church New Year on September 1, this wonderful passage from The Epistle to the Philippians comes to mind (4:8-9):

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

The Apostle exhorts us to “think about these things.” That may actually take some effort on our part. For without having the time to pause and “think about these things,” we may have lost the inclination to do so. It would be spiritually hazardous to think that such virtues as enumerated here somehow come to us automatically, simply because we are “church-going” Christians. I therefore believe that it is imperative that we listen to the Apostle Paul and “think about these things” and in so doing give ourselves the opportunity to search out all that is wholesome in life. 

In this passage, St. Paul has essentially borrowed a list of virtues that were common within various Greek philosophical schools current in his lifetime. The pursuit of such virtues would lead to the “good life,” for only a life dedicated to such a pursuit would be considered worthy of living. St. Paul apparently continued to respect this centuries-old tradition. We should bear this in mind whenever confronted with other religious beliefs or serious philosophical schools of thought. As much as we may disagree with them about some fundamental issues from our Christian perspective, there is also much to be found that is honorable, just, pure, lovely, gracious, excellent, and worthy of praise that are taught and promoted by these other religions and philosophies. To think otherwise would be to succumb to the temptations of a sectarian mind. A sect is a group that cannot find anything of value outside of its narrowly-defined borders. This eventually breeds some form of obscurantism and narrow-mindedness, if not eventually fanaticism. A “catholic” mind as understood by the great Church Fathers can rejoice in whatever is true even if found outside of the Church.

I recall a time when I was a seminarian, and the above theme entered into the ensuing conversation around us. Fr. John Meyendorff, the great patristic scholar, was present, and he was prompted to say: "I like to believe that Mozart will be in the Kingdom because of the beauty of the music that he created." 

At the same time, the Apostle has included this exhortation in an epistle that is thoroughly and consistently Christocentric. The living reality of Christ permeates all of St. Paul’s thoughts and actions. There is nothing that is worthy of pursuit that is outside of Christ. For the Apostle Paul nothing will be able to compare with the knowledge of Christ. And this “knowledge” is not intellectual but deeply experiential. In one of his most famous passages in Philippians (3:7-8) he writes:

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse(Gk. skivala = rubbish, dung, excrement,) in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him …”

 

Anything that is of the truth somehow belongs to Christ and comes from Christ – even if not acknowledged. So the virtues that St. Paul exhorts the Philippians to pursue are found in Christ in a most preeminent form. Those virtues – though taught and found elsewhere - will find their most perfect manifestation in Christ. Yet the point remains that we can rejoice in all that is good wherever we encounter it. The Apostle assures us that with such an approach to life, the “God of peace” will be with us.

With the end of August, we have arrived at the end of the Church Year and prepare for the next. We have had every opportunity to deepen our relationship with Christ through the ongoing rhythm of fasting and feasting according to the Church liturgical calendar and, of course, in the Eucharist, the "sacrament of sacraments." The feasts of the Church and the Liturgy have actualized the presence of Christ and the Theotokos in the midst of the grace-filled life of the Church - the "sanctification of time as it has been called" - and within the depths of our minds and hearts. We have been further nurtured by the Word of God as proclaimed in the Holy Scriptures in our liturgical assemblies and in the quiet of our rooms with the door shut. As we live our lives in the surrounding world, perhaps we have been deeply and positively impacted through our human relationships, the beauty of the natural world, or an enduring work of art. 

These God-given encounters reveal to us all that is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, gracious, excellent and worthy of praise. In other words, we have had every opportunity to simply become more human - and, in becoming more human, we simultaneously draw closer to God. Further, the richness of life presupposes our ever-vigilant struggle against sin and our ongoing repentance. The Prayer of the Hours reveals to us the fruits of repentance: to "sanctify our souls, purify our bodies, correct our minds, cleanse our thoughts; and deliver us from all tribulation, evil and distress." That is indeed a great endeavor, "but with God all things are possible." (Mt. 19:27)

May the Church New Year be a blessing for everyone and for our parish community!

 

The Baptist, The Forerunner, The Friend of the Bridegroom

 

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

Today, August 29, we commemorate the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. The scriptural text read at the Liturgy is MK. 6:14-29; and we also find the gruesome narrative in MT. 14:1-12. The evangelists relate the story in a way that sharply contrasts the righteousness of St. John and the utter decadence of Herod Antipas' court, beginning, of course, with his wife Herodias and her daughter Salome. St. John, the ascetic, prophet and voice "crying in the wilderness" was raised up by God to announce the coming of the Messiah, but also to denounce any unrighteousness that arrogantly ignored the Law of God. Herod Antipas was an example of that unrighteousness, unlawfully married to his brother's wife, and surrounded by a sycophantic court. Beyond that, the image of the young "dancing girl" receiving St. John's severed head on a platter and then presenting it as a "gift" to her mother, must remain one of the Bible's most brutal images of total moral depravity. Created in the "image and likeness of God," human beings, both male and female, are capable of sinking deep into the abyss of unrestrained evil. Here is a striking reminder that the gift and responsibility of human freedom can degenerate into subhuman license, wherein "everything is permitted."

Yet, perhaps it will prove to be more fruitful to turn our attention elsewhere. We call St. John "the Baptist" and "the Forerunner." These titles are meant to identify his unique and important ministry in relation to Jesus, "the Coming One." At a time when prophets and prophecy had seemed a thing of the past in Israel, God sent forth St. John to preach a baptism of repentance that would prepare the people of Israel for the advent of the Messiah, who would be Jesus of Nazareth. St. John cast his prophetic teaching in the fiery and apocalyptic language that has created an enduring image of him as the stern prophet of the impending judgement of God:

"You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits that befit repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." (LK. 3:7-9)

In addition to this, though, St. John anticipated the ethical ideals of Jesus about how we need to treat our neighbors with equity and compassion ("Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"):

" He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise." Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do? And he said to them, "Collect no more than is appointed you." Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Rob no one by violence or by false accusation, and be content with your wages." (LK. 3:11-14)

Eventually, then, in fulfillment of his role as Forerunner and Baptist, St. John recognized the Lord when Jesus approached the Jordan River and "allowed" Himself to be baptized by St. John. Once he identified Jesus as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (JN. 1:29), St. John began to "decrease" so that the Lord may "increase." This attests to the great humility of St. John. This is his "kenotic moment." And this kenosis ("self-emptying") will culminate in his beheading; as Christ's kenosis will culminate on the Cross. We have St. John's own witness to this in the words recorded by St. John the Evangelist:

"He who has the bride is the bridegroom; the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice; therefore this joy of mine is now full. He must increase but I must decrease." (JN. 4:29-30)

Although we have given St. John the appropriate titles of "Baptist" and "Forerunner," he refers to himself as the "friend of the Bridegroom." At a wedding, all attention must fall upon the Bridegroom and the Bride. A true friend will never usurp that attention, but will carefully act in such a way as to ensure it. Only a false friend will act otherwise. Christ is the Bridegroom and Israel, the Church or the human soul is the Bride. As a "friend of the Bridegroom," St. John is loyal, trustworthy, and ever-ready to serve. As a true friend, he will accept a position of vulnerability for the sake of that friendship if need be. He rejoices simply to stand near Christ and hear His voice. In fact, as a friend his joy is "full." What a blessing it is to arrive at the fullness of life and joy in one's vocation, even in the awareness of the great "price" one must pay for that fulfillment! Indeed, St. John the Baptist and Forerunner of the Lord paid the full price for being a friend of the Bridegroom.

As "friends" of Christ - "You are my friends if you do what I command you" (JN. 15:14) - how wonderful to be able to "rejoice greatly at the bridegroom's voice" as did St. John. When we serve in a parish, as a priest, a member of the parish council, a church school teacher, or in any of the various ministries of the parish; it is essential that our role is to serve the Bridegroom as a true "friend," always perfectly willing to "decrease" so that all attention is given to the Bridegroom - Christ - so that He may "increase" in the minds and hearts of the parish faithful. There is no room for egosim and unhealthy vanity. In the presence of the Bridegroom it would be unseemly to draw attention to ourselves at the expense of His saving, healing and transforming presence. All of that is indicative of a shallowness and "self-love" that has no place in the presence of Christ. If "among those born of women, none is greater than he" (LK.. 7:28), then St. John remains the truest image of faithfulness to God, genuine humility and of that friendship that Christ offers to all of us.

St. John, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord, pray to God for us!

Fr. Steven

Coffee With Sister Vassa: OPENING UP TO 'MYSTERY' AS WE AGE

Coffee With Sister Vassa

OPENING UP TO “MYSTERY” AS WE AGE 

 

“However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature (ἐν τοῖς τελείοις), yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God, in mystery, and (which was) hidden, and which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (1 Cor 2: 6-8)

The “wisdom of God,” spoken by the Apostles and their successors “in mystery,” was indeed once “hidden” from all, “before the ages.” But it is not un-knowable, nor does it remain “hidden,” having been revealed (and continuing to be revealed) in the Person of Jesus Christ, to the “mature” or the τελείοις, which can also be translated as “full grown” or “finished.” I like the last translation, because as we age and are broken in a way, by our personal and communal tragedies, we tend to become “finished” with playing the power-games of our earlier years and to open up more to the power of God.  

When we talk about “mystery” in our Tradition, we do not mean, contrary to a popular misconception, something un-knowable to us. Mystery is something that is meant to entice us to discover its meaning; to receive the revelation of Truth and Light that is “hidden” in Jesus Christ, insofar as one doesn’t have the eyes to “see” Him for Who He is. Mystery, in our Tradition, also requires “mystagogy” (“μυσταγωγία” in Greek, or “introduction/initiation into the mystery”), which means that we need others to “introduce” us to, or lead us into, the knowledge of God’s wisdom, revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ. That is why, traditionally, the explanations of the “mystery” of the Eucharist, (like the one written by St. Maximus the Confessor in the 7th c.), are called “mystagogical.” And that is why our joys and sorrows on the cross-carrying journey, as we follow our vocation, can also be called “mystagogical,” because through them we “mature” in the deifying knowledge of our Lord and the Mystery of His death-trampling Way.

Let me be enticed by that which is concealed, “in mystery,” that I allow myself to be “led into” it, by the grace-filled “mystagogy” of living Tradition. Lord, I want to know more, not of the “wisdom” of “the rulers of this age,” who keep changing each election-cycle, but of Your unchanging wisdom. Help me be teachable today, and open to learning Your mysteries.

Coffee With Sister Vassa: SPREADING THE GOOD NEWS, NOT THE BAD NEWS

Coffee With Sister Vassa

SPREADING THE GOOD NEWS, NOT THE BAD NEWS

 

“Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” (1 Cor 15: 12-14)

We might not walk around saying that there is “no resurrection of the dead,” but at the same time, we might live as if we didn’t believe in it, really. How is it that we believe in the resurrection of the dead? We “look for” it in every situation, “expect” it, or “yearn” for it, as we say in the Creed: Προσδοκῶ ἀνάστασιν νεκρῶν / exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum / чаю воскресения мертвых. As Christians, we are called always to be looking forward, toward this “happy end,” rather than dreading doom-and-gloom, as if that’s what is awaiting us just around the corner. What awaits us, and what we await, is a good thing, not a bad thing. 

We do not need to take each bad thing we experience or hear in the news and make it even worse, by seeing in it some kind of sign that we’re all doomed. Bad things are a challenge to be met and overcome through the goodness and hope of our Lord, which we are meant to convey into our world, rather than doom and gloom. If we’re living in fear or dread, then “our preaching is in vain,” as St. Paul says, and our “faith is in vain.”

This morning let me see any negative thought-processes, especially those involving fear and anger, as opportunities. These are taps on the shoulder that it’s time to turn things around and re-embrace the new life that is always on offer, in our ever-present Lord. His new life breaks into my world already here, time and again, whenever I get up from the small deaths of fear-based thinking and let myself be present to Him. This does not mean sticking my head in the sand or seeing the world through rose-tinted glasses. It means, in practical terms, taking a bit of time for heartfelt prayer and gratitude; taking down a notch my (over)sharing of bad news either online or offline; and seeing how I can do my part today, to spread light and not darkness. Lord, let me be a vessel of Your peace and Your hope today. Amen!

_____

Sister Vassa begins her reflection with a sobering thought: We may claim to believe one thing, but live as if we do not really believe it. One of the best "candidates" for that dubious distinction may just be the claim that "I look for the resurrection of the dead." Whenever we are present in the Liturgy - on the Lord's Day, a Feast Day, or on a "simple" weekday  - that is the resounding final statement (together with "and the life of the world to come") that we make as a gathered body. That is the basis of her reflection, so I am simply saying that perhaps we need to be more attentive and conscious to what we are publicly confessing to believe. There is great joy in that!

Coffee with Sister Vassa: THE MOTHER OF LIFE

COFFEE WITH SISTER VASSA THE MOTHER OF LIFE   “Neither the tomb, nor death could hold the Theotokos, / Who is constant in prayer and our firm hope in her intercessions. / For being the Mother of Life, / She was translated to life by the One who dwelt in her ever-virginal womb.” (Kontakion-hymn of the Dormition of the Theotokos) Just as St. Peter said about the Source of Life, our risen Lord, that it was impossible that He should be “held” by death (Acts 2: 24), we sing in the above-quoted hymn that death “could not hold” the Mother of Life. As one with a unique role in Salvation History, the Mother of God also has a unique, personal “salvation history”: She experienced Pentecost before anyone else, at the Annunciation (cf. Lk 1: 35, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you…”), and she received the grace of bodily resurrection before the completion of time, being“translated to life” shortly after her repose “by the One who dwelt in her ever-virginal womb.”  In the one “Full of Grace,” the Mother of God, the usual “laws of nature are vanquished” (νενίκηνται τῆς φύσεως οἱ ὅροι / побеждаются естества уставы), as we chant in Ode 9 of the Canon of Dormition. Because grace turns things around, making the seemingly-impossible possible; making us strong in our weaknesses; and even making the “tomb” of the virginal womb a source of life. Today, as those of us on the New Calendar celebrate the Dormition of the Theotokos, and those of us on the Older Calendar enter the second day of Dormition Fast, I say thank you to the Blessed Among Women. Thank you for not abandoning us at your Dormition, at which even a death, your death, is a celebration of Life. Thank you, our one-and-only Mother of Life, for showing us this radical, transfigurative power of God’s grace, which springs life even from our potentially death-bringing places. Help me to turn things around today, as I choose to rely not on my own “power,” but on the transfigurative power of God, in Whom all things are possible. “By your prayers you deliver our souls from death.” (Troparion-hymn of Dormition)

'Beyond Death and Judgment' - The Dormition of the Theotokos

 

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,   The Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos has come to be experienced as something of a "summer pascha," and as such has steadily become an integral event of our parish life. And this is "meet and right." American Christianity has been shaped by the Protestant ethos, and that basically means that there is no real place for the veneration of the Mother of God. This was primarily based upon a reaction against the perceived excesses of the medieval West's Marian piety by the early Protestant reformers. In a short time, this reaction became a thorough rejection - at times quite vehement - in many Protestant circles. So the Virgin Mary pretty much disappeared from Protestant worship and piety. Perhaps the classic example within Church history of "throwing out the baby with the bath water." Orthodox Christians cannot succumb to any such truncated form of the Church's living Tradition. (However, there have been clear signs recently of a "recovery" of the role of the Virgin Mary in some Evangelical circles). One of my beloved professors from seminary always used to say that a sign of a spiritually strong parish is that parish's devotion to the Mother of God. For she is the personal image of the Church - warm, embracing, nurturing, protecting. Since the Dormition has no biblical source, this feast slowly developed over the course of the first five centuries of the Church's history on the basis of a wide variety of sources - primarily narratives, rhetorical homilies and theological poetry/hymnography. (Much of this material now exists in English translation). There is no one authoritative text or document. However, though details may differ, a tradition emerged that tells of how the apostles were miraculously brought back to Jerusalem in order to surround the bedside of the Virgin Mary as she lay dying. Upon commending her holy soul to her Son and Savior, she peacefully "fell asleep" in death (the meaning of the word dormition) in the presence of the apostles who stood weeping and grief-stricken by her bedside. With great solemnity they buried her pure body which had itself been the "tabernacle" of the King. The traditional place of her burial is a tomb close to Gethsemane. When the tomb was opened on the third day so that the Apostle Thomas, who arrived late, could venerate the body of the Theotokos, it was found to be empty. The "Mother of Life" was thus "translated to life!" Archbishop Kallistos Ware summarizes the Church's understanding of this tradition in the following manner: Without insisting on the literal truth of every element in this account, Orthodox tradition is clear and unwavering in regard to the central point: the Holy Virgin underwent, as did her Son, a physical death, but her body - like His - was afterwards raised from the dead and she was taken up into heaven, in her body as well as in her soul. She has passed beyond death and judgement, and lives wholly in the Age to Come.  The Resurrection of the Body, which all Christians await, has in her case been anticipated and is already an accomplished fact. That does not mean, however, that she is dissociated from the rest of humanity and placed in a wholly different category: for we all hope to share one day in that same glory of the Resurrection of the Body which she enjoys even now. ( The Festal Menaion, p. 64) Fr. Thomas Hopko further elaborates on the meaning of this beautiful Feast and how it "relates" to every generation of Christians: Thus, the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos is the celebration of the fact that all men are "highly exalted" in the blessedness of the victorious Christ, and that this high exaltation has already been accomplished in Mary the Theotokos.  The feast of the Dormition is the sign, the guarantee, and the celebration that Mary's fate is the destiny of all those of "low estate" whose souls magnify the Lord, whose spirits rejoice in God the Savior, whose lives are totally dedicated to hearing and keeping the Word of God which is given to men in Mary's child, the Savior and Redeemer of the world. Dormition, of course, means "falling asleep," the Christian term par excellence for how we approach the mystery of death. And here we further approach the paradox, from a Christian perspective, of death itself - the "last enemy" that causes great anguish and grief; but yet which now serves as a passage to life everlasting, and thus a cause for festal celebration in the death of the Mother of God. For the Virgin Mary truly died, as is the fate of all human beings; and yet "neither the tomb nor death could hold the Theotokos" who has been "translated to life by the One who dwelt in her virginal womb!" Without for a moment losing sight of the reality of death (notice the weeping apostles around the body of the Theotokos on the Dormition icon), from within the Church we can actually celebrate death during this "summer pascha" because of the Resurrection of Christ. Thus, the Feast of the Dormition clearly raises the issue of death and dying, and what we mean by a “Christian ending to our life.” For the moment, though, here is a challenging paragraph from Fr. Thomas Hopko about some of our own misconceptions – basically our fears – that often find us wandering far from an Orthodox approach to death and dying: I believe that the issue of death and dying is in need of serious attention in contemporary Orthodoxy, especially in the West, where most members of the Church seem to be “pagan” before people die and “Platonists” afterwards. By this I mean that they beg the Church to keep people alive, healthy, and happy as long as possible, and then demand that the Church assure them after people die that their immortal souls are “in a better place, basking in heavenly bliss” no matter what they may have done in their earthly lives. To add a bit more to this, here is a passage from Bp. Ilarion Alfeyev, that reinforces the Christian understanding – and hope – that accompanies us at the moment of death: For the non-believing person, death is a catastrophe and a tragedy, a rupture and a break. For the Christian, though, death is neither a catastrophe nor something evil. Death is a “falling asleep,” a temporary condition of separation from the body until the final unification with it. As Isaac the Syrian emphasizes, the sleep of death is short in comparison with the expectant eternity of a person. — FromOrthodox Christianity, Vol. 2, p. 496. St. Gregory of Nyssa states this Christian hope with clarity: By the divine Providence death has been introduced as a dispensation into the nature of man, so that, sin having flowed away at the dissolution of the union of soul and body, man, through the resurrection, might be refashioned, sound, passionless, stainless, and removed from any touch of evil. – Great Catechetical Oration, 35. This is precisely why we can call the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, “pascha in the summer!” The Virgin Mary and Theotokos died a “deathless death.” Now we have the opportunity to participate in this mystery in the celebration of this event as nothing less than a Feast. The Leave-taking of the Feast is on August 23. That means that we continue to sing and chant the troparion and kontakion of the Feast in our liturgical services until then, in addition to other hymnography of the Feast. I would strongly urge everyone to incorporate these hymns into your daily rule of prayer, including their use when you bless your meals as a family, replacing the Lord's Prayer up until the Leave-taking. If you can't sing these hymns, you can certainly recite them! The troparia and kontakia or the major Feasts are included in many Orthodox Prayer Books, but if you do not have the texts available at home, I am including them here: Troparion of the Dormition  In giving birth, you preserved your virginity!  In falling asleep you did not  forsake the world, O Theotokos!  You were translated to life, O Mother of Life,  and by your prayers you deliver our souls from death!  Kontakion of the Dormition  Neither the tomb, nor death, could hold the Theotokos,  who is constant in prayer and our firm hope in her intercessions.  For being the Mother of Life, she was translated to life  by the One who dwelt in her virginal womb! The decorated tomb of the Theotokos, containing an icon of her sacred body in blessed repose, will be in the center of the church this evening for the Vesperal Liturgy; and then back in its usual place and open for our veneration whenever we enter the church until the Leave-taking.. The great Feasts extend in time, giving us the opportunity of integrating them into our lives in a meaningful way.

Coffee with Sister Vassa: HOW DOES THE THEOTOKOS “SAVE” US?

Coffee with Sister Vassa

HOW DOES THE THEOTOKOS “SAVE” US?

 

“The laws of nature are overcome (Νενίκηνται τῆς φύσεως οἱ ὅροι / Побеждаются естества уставы) in you, O Pure Virgin: for birthgiving remains virginal, and life is united to death; a virgin after childbearing and alive after death, you ever save your inheritance, O Theotokos.” (Canon of Dormition, Ode 9)

On the eve of the great feast (or fast, if we’re on the Older Calendar) of the Dormition of the Theotokos, I’m reflecting on how the above-quoted hymn helps us better understand its final words: “you ever save your inheritance (i.e., all of us), O Theotokos.” 

Let’s first note that we do not confuse the Theotokos with our one-and-only Savior. What we are doing, when we affirm that the Theotokos “saves” us, is professing the indispensable role that she played, as Theo-tokos, in His incarnation, without which we would not have salvation. 

What is “salvation”? It means “a return to wholeness” from previous fragmentation or separation from that wholeness through all the contradictions of our being. Salvation is accomplished by the “Theo(s)”-part of the “Theo-tokos,” by God, but not without her part, the “tokos” or “birth giving” part. Our incarnate Lord integrates and overcomes our contradictions, like life and death, birth giving and virginity, fruitfulness and barrenness, victory and defeat, divinity and humanity, heaven and earth, spirit and body, by becoming one of us, in the flesh, through one of us – the Theotokos. The Mother of God exemplifies, par excellence, the whole Mother-Church that participates in this integration of the contradictions, in this return to wholeness that is “salvation,” in communion with Christ. The above-quoted hymn celebrates the salvific overcoming or integration of the contradictions in and through our “Theo-tokos.” That is to say, through the synergy of God and the human being that is manifested in her unique vocation, which continues to “save” us on a daily basis.

This is why we say, “Most Holy Theotokos, save us!” – and not, “Mary, save us!”because we are professing our faith in the vital, indispensable part of our salvation that is the incarnation. And this is why traditionally we do not depict the Theotokos alone on icons, but always together with the Lord. It’s not just about her, nor just about God. It’s about both her, – a human being just as human as the rest of us, and God, Who invites all of us to participate in the synergy she exemplifies. We’re all invited to be “blessed” by receiving the Word of God (inside us, in our “wombs”) and then to “keep it” by giving it away; by giving birth to it in our world and sharing it in our own context. As Christ said to the woman who cried out from the crowd and blessed His mother (Lk 11:27): “Moreover, blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it!”

_____

A timely reflection from Sister Vassa as we approach the eve of the Feast of the Dormition. In addition to offering us some very good over-all theological insights into what is a somewhat controversial liturgical text - "Most holy Theotokos, save us!" - when heard in isolation and not placed in a wider context; she also may provide some further insights that we can convey to our Protestant friends (many of whom accept the title Theotokos, or at least in terms of what it reveals about the identity of the Son of God, Jesus Christ). 

Coffee With Sister Vassa: BLINDED BY SECONDARY ISSUES

Coffee With Sister Vassa

BLINDED BY SECONDARY ISSUES

 

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!” (Mt 23: 23-24)

Here the Lord is warning me about focusing on secondary issues, while losing sight of the whole point of God’s law, or “the weightier matters” that are“justice and mercy and faith.” 

It’s easy to slip into neglecting “justice and mercy and faith,” while being very meticulous about some aspect of living our tradition. For example, I might be a member of the church choir, attending and singing all the church-services with zealous attention to every detail of the Typikon, while being complacent about, say, an outstanding resentment I am harboring against a certain someone. Perhaps the mere mention of them irritates or angers me, which should signalize to me that I’ve neglected “justice and mercy” (both of which are restored, when I responsibly make amends), but this fact doesn’t burden me nearly as much as those times when I skipped a church-service, for whatever reason. Or maybe I support the right causes and charities, while on a daily basis I am crippled, in my heart, by merely-human fears, say, of financial insecurity or of human opinion, rather than taking pause to fortify my faith; to let God be really present in my life.

Instead of continuously swallowing these “camels” and schlepping them around, today let me take pause to look at these ugly “camels,” and let God cast them out by the grace of His “justice and mercy and faith” in me. Lord, open my eyes to the “camels” I may have been ignoring, while focusing on what comes more easily to me, or the “gnats.”

_____

A very fair and honest point is being made here by Sister Vassa. As we strive to fulfill the words of the Apostle Paul: "but all things should be done decently and in order" (I Cor. 14:40); we can indeed neglect what Christ taught us about "justice and mercy." It is very important in parish life that we indeed do things decently and in order - think of the chaos caused by indecency and disorder! - yet, the core of the Gospel is revealed in the challenge to seek first "justice and mercy." When we blind ourselves to that, we have recourse to the Sacrament of Confession within which, by repenting of our sinful inclinations, we indeed restore "decency and order" to our interior lives and so recover our lost sense of "justice and mercy."

 

Coffee With Sister Vassa: TRANSFIGURATION

Coffee With Sister Vassa

TRANSFIGURATION

 

“You were transfigured on the mountain, O Christ God, and Your disciples beheld Your glory as far as they were able, so that when they would behold You crucified, they would understand that You did suffer of Your own will, and would proclaim to the world that You are truly the brightness of the Father.” (Kontakion of Transfiguration)

This hymn explains to us the reasons that our Lord let the disciples (Peter, James and John) witness His glorious Transfiguration on the mountain, to the extent that “they were able”: It was so that they would not lose faith in Him, when He was crucified, and would proceed to proclaim to the world that He, truly, is “the brightness of the Father.” 

How is this relevant to our lives? We also have our moments “on the mountain,” that is, when we witness God’s goodness or grace, “as far as we are able.” These “high” moments are meant to strengthen our faith at those “low” moments of our cross-carrying journey, when we might feel God has abandoned us.  

And this is how the hymn that immediately follows the above-quoted Kontakion, called the “Ikos,” urges us to turn our thoughts around, at those low moments: “Awake, you sluggards, and lie not forever on the ground, you thoughts that draw my soul to the earth! Arise and go up to the high mountain of the divine ascent! Let us run to join Peter and the sons of Zebedee, and go with them to Mount Tabor, that with them we may see the glory of our God and hear the voice they heard from heaven, and with them proclaim that this is the brightness of the Father.” Let’s look up today, my friends, if we are feeling down, because our Lord’s “brightness” sustains our world and transfigures us, even when we might not see it because of the clouds.

A Feast of Theology: The Transfiguration, the Heart of the Orthodox Faith

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

On August 6 we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The Leave-taking of the Feast is on August 13. A time to think deeply on this wonderful and unique event from Lord's earthly ministry.

This feast is thus embedded in the time of the Dormition Fast, but still retains all of its festal splendor. What a truly blessed Feast! 

The Transfiguration is particularly rich in essential theological themes that reveal the very heart of our Orthodox Christian Faith. These dogmatic/doctrinal themes are expressed poetically throughout the services - Vespers, Matins, Liturgy - of the Feast in an abundant variety of hymnographical forms. The troparion and kontakion of any given Feast offer a "summary" of the Feast's over-all meaning and place in God's oikonomia (divine dispensation):

Thou wast transfigured on the Mount, O Christ God, revealing Thy glory to Thy disciples as far as they could bear it. LetThine everlasting light shine upon us sinners! Through the prayers of the Theotokos, O Giver of Light, glory to Thee! (Troparion) 

On the mountain wast Thou transfigured, O Christ God, and Thy disciples beheld Thy glory as far as they could see it; so that when they would behold Thee crucified, they would understand that Thy suffering was voluntary, and would proclaim to the world that Thou art truly the Radiance of the Father! (Kontakion)

Over the years and through repeated use, many of the faithful know these hymns by heart. If we listen carefully, or even study it outside of the services, the hymnography reveals very profound truths in the realm of Christology (the Person of Christ, both God and man); anthropology (the human person created in the image and likeness of God); triadology (the dogma of the Trinity); and eschatology (the Kingdom of God coming in power at the end of time).

Christology

On Mt. Tabor, when transfigured before His disciples, our Lord reveals to His disciples - and to all of us - His divine nature "hidden" in humility beneath the human nature of His flesh:

Enlightening the disciples that were with Thee, O Christ our Benefactor, Thou hast shown them upon the holy mountain the hidden and blinding light of Thy nature and of Thy divine beauty beneath the flesh. 

The nature that knows no change, being mingled with the mortal nature, shone forth ineffably, unveiling in some small measure to the apostles the light of the immaterial Godhead. (First Canon of Matins, Canticle Five)

As St. John of Damascus has written: 

"He was transfigured, then: not taking on what he was not, nor being changed to what he was not, but making what he was visible to his own disciples, opening their eyes and enabling them, who had been blind, to see. This is what the phrase means, "He was transfigured before their faces" (Matt 17:2); he remained exactly the same as he was, but appeared in a way beyond the way he had appeared before, and in that appearance seemed different to his disciples." (Oration on the Transfiguration)

Anthropology

Christ is fully and truly human. He is without sin. Thus, He is the "perfect" human being, by revealing to us the glory of human nature when fully united to God - something that we lost in the Fall. To be filled with the glory of God in communion with God is the true destiny of human beings and thus the true revelation of our human nature. By assuming our human nature, Christ has restored that relationship:

For having gone up, O Christ, with Thy disciples into Mount Tabor, Thou wast transfigured, and hast made the nature that had grown dark in Adam to shine again as lightning, transforming it into the glory and splendor of Thine own divinity. (Aposticha, Great Vespers) 

Thou hast put Adam on entire, O Christ, and changing the nature grown dark in past times, Thou hast filled it with glory and made it godlike by the alteration of Thy form. (First Canon of Matins, Canticle Three)

In the words of Archbishop Kallistos Ware:  

"In the light of Christ's face that was so strangely and so strikingly altered upon the mountaintop, in his garments that became dazzling white, all human faces have acquired a new brightness, all common things have been transformed. For those who believe in Christ's Transfiguration, no one is despicable, nothing is trivial or mean."

Triadology

The Three Persons of the Holy Trinity were revealed on Mount Tabor, as they were revealed in the Jordan at the time of the Lord's Baptism. On Tabor it is again the voice of the Father, and the Spirit now appears in the form of a luminous cloud. Every revelation and action of God's is trinitarian, for the Father, Son/Word and Holy Spirit act in perfect harmony revealing thus the unity of the one divine nature:

Today on Tabor in the manifestation of Thy Light, O Word, Thou unaltered Light from the Light of the unbegotten Father, we have seen the Father as Light and the Spirit as Light, guiding with light the whole creation. (Exapostilarion, Matins)

Again, in the words of St. John of Damascus: 

"For God is recognized as one, in three hypostases(Persons). There is one substance of Godhead: the Father who bears witness, and the Son to whom he witnesses, and the Spirit who overshadows him." (Oration on the Transfiguration)

Eschatology

The Lord reveals by anticipation in His transfiguration on Mount Tabor, both his approaching Resurrection and the glorious appearance that we await at His Second Coming. He also reveals the transfiguration of our own lowly human nature in the Kingdom of God, where the righteous will shine like the stars of heaven. Thus, this is a Feast of Hope, as well as a Feast of Divine Beauty, as we anticipate His eternal and unfading presence and our transformation in Him, also eternal and unending:

Thou wast transfigured upon Mount Tabor, showing the exchange mortal men will make with Thy glory at Thy second and fearful coming, O Savior. (Sessional Hymn, Matins) 

To show plainly how, at Thy mysterious second coming, Thou wilt appear as the Most High God standing in the midst of gods, on Mount Tabor Thou hast shone in fashion past words upon the apostles and upon Moses and Elijah. (Second Canon of Matins, Canticle Nine)

We bless fruit on this Feast because all of creation awaits transfiguration at the end of time. Even the garments of Christ were shining forth with a radiance brighter than the sun. The blessed fruit represents this awaited transfiguration when the creation will be freed from bondage. In earlier times, the grapes themselves would be used for the eucharistic offering of wine.

The importance of the Transfiguration is shown by the fact that it is recorded in three of the Gospels: MATT. 17:1-13; MK. 9:2-8; LK. 28-36. It is also clearly alluded to in II PET. 1:16-18.

To appeal one final time to St. John of Damascus:

"Let us observe these divine commandments with total concentration, so that we too may feast upon his divine beauty; and be filled with the taste of his sweetness: now, insofar as this is attainable for those weighed down by this earthly tent of the body; but in the next life more clearly and purely, when the 'just shall shine like the sun,' when they shall be released from the body's necessities, and shall be imperishable, like angels with the Lord, at the time of the great and radiant appearance of our Lord and God and Savior from heaven, Jesus Christ: with whom may glory be given to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, now and to the endless ages of ages. Amen." (Oration on the Transfiguration)

Sister Vassa: 'What are you looking for?'

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?

 

“The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples; and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say (this), and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, ‘What are you looking for (Τί ζητεῖτε)?’ And they said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.” (Jn 1: 35-40)

Andrew already had a great teacher, St. John the Baptist. But still, he hadn’t found what he was looking for. And John the Baptist does what great teachers do, not clinging to “his” disciples but pointing them in the right direction, to find their true vocation.

Christ greets them with an important question: “What are you looking for?” – to which they have no real response, but another question, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” Some commentators suggest that this response meant that they only wanted to know where to find Him in the future, (similar to our custom of asking for someone’s business card), but did not expect to stick around more, at this point. But Christ invites them to come right over; to “come and see” more.

As we prepare to celebrate the great feast of the Transfiguration tomorrow (NC), I’m thinking that the feast itself is an invitation to come over to His place, and “see.” In preparation for this feast, I think it’s helpful to hear the Lord ask us, once again, “What are you looking for?” (I’ll add inappropriately that this makes me think of the Lionel Richie song, “Hello, is it me you’re looking for?”) Let me come over to “His place,” once again, – whether I’m able to be in church for the upcoming feast or not, and let me visit with Him in some heartfelt prayer, that I may not wander about on my own, but see the things God has to show me today. Thank You, Lord, for calling us, again and again, to “come and see.”