Nativity Meditation from SVOTS -- The Holy and All-praised Apostle Andrew the First-called

Come and see! You will witness the mystery of Christ’s birth from the Virgin, His manifestation at the Jordan in His Baptism by John, His victory over the devil in the desert, His proclamation of good news to the poor, His announcement of liberty to the oppressed, His declaration of the acceptable year of the Lord’s grace. …

You will see what “many prophets and righteous men longed to see … and did not see it, and to hear … and did not hear it” (Mt. 13.17). And ultimately you will see the Son of God Himself being lifted upon the Cross in order to give His broken Body as food for His people, and His shed Blood as their drink, that their hunger and thirst for peace and joy and righteousness, and indeed for life itself, might be forever satisfied.

+ Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko: The Winter Pascha

Nativity Meditation from SVOTS

The time had now come for the shadow to draw to an end, and for the truth, so to speak, to shine forth; even the lovely beauty of Christian conduct, and the glories of the blameless life, and the sweet rational savor of the worship in spirit and truth.

For this reason very justly did the Truth—Christ, as One who with His Father was honored in their temple—command that those things that were by the law should be carried away, such as the materials for sacrifices and burning on incense, and that the temple should manifestly be a house of prayer.

For His rebuking the dealers and driving them from the sacred courts when they were selling what was wanted for sacrifice, certainly means this, as I suppose, and this alone.

+ St. Cyril of Alexandria: Commentary on St. Luke

Nativity Meditation from SVOTS

Learn from a little child: when he is attacked by someone in the presence of his parents, he does not return the attack but runs to his parents and bursts into tears. He knows that his parents will protect him. How do you not know that which a little child knows? …

Therefore, do not be vengeful. Do not return evil for evil, but look to your Father and cry to Him. Only in this way will you guarantee victory for yourself in the clash with evil men.

+ Bishop Nikolai Velimirović: Prologue

Thursday's Theological Thoughts (on Black Friday) -- 'Metaphysically Unsettling' - A Brief Reflection on Black Friday

Source: pixabay.com

There is something almost "metaphysically unsettling" about "Black Friday." Not sure of the status of Black Friday this year, but I will assume that it has many a consumer excited and raring to go. Since there is "nothing new under the sun" in our fallen world, here is an older reflection on this cultural/social phenomenon.

The very name of this day has an ominous ring to it. It may just be the sheer "nakedness" of the open, unapologetic, unflinching - and idolatrous? - materialism that pervades the day. (The data reveals that a staggering multi-billion dollars are usually spent in less than twenty-four hours). 

Or, is it the sight of the steely determination of compulsive consumers camping out overnight before the store of their choice that offers that ever-enticing single word: Sale?

Perhaps it is the frantic mayhem of the rush to the doors once they swing open like insatiable jaws leading into a modern-day Moloch awaiting to swallow its victims.

Could it be the unneighborly pushing and shoving for a product on the shelves or a place in the check-out line? How about an uneasy sense of potential violence hovering in the atmosphere if competitive tempers and nerves begin to fray?

Perhaps it is more the rapid devolution, in a veritable "twinkling of an eye," from a day of peaceful thanksgiving, into a day of rampant consumerism that is nothing short of unnerving in its effect. (Once upon a time, this Friday after Thanksgiving was a day of rest and relaxation.) As if it is now that Thanksgiving Thursday has become a mere prelude to the Black Friday to follow. 

Or is it, finally, the disheartening havoc wrecked upon any vestigial remainder of "Christmas" that has miraculously continued to linger within our secular culture two millennia after our Savior's nativity in the flesh? We seem to be witnessing a juggernaut that continues to pick up speed and strength as it careens into an unrestricted future with no end in sight.

There is "Great and Holy Friday" and now there is ... "Black Friday." 

Am I exaggerating? Please let me know. Of course, one can show the virtue of patience and simply wait until "Cyber Monday" in the quiet of one's own domicile. Not very certain that it will be spiritually healthier ... but it will be far less chaotic and perhaps even safer!

If only we loved God with the type of fervor displayed by our neighbors and co-citizens on Black Friday and rushed to the Church with such energy for the peaceful and prayerful services of this sacred Season!

What a witness to a spiritually-starving world we could make! But, alas, just when will that happen? Then again, with God all things are possible!

Nativity Meditation from SVOTS

We are all made to be living temples of God. We are all created to be dwelling places of His glory. We are all fashioned in His image and likeness to be abodes of His presence.

The first Christian martyr, the protodeacon Stephen whose memory is celebrated on the third day of Christmas, was killed for proclaiming this marvel when he bore witness that “the Most High does not dwell in houses made with hands.”

For this, like Jesus Himself, he was accused of planning the destruction of the earthly temple at Jerusalem (Acts 7.48; 6.14). The apostle Paul proclaims this same doctrine clearly and without equivocation when he writes to the Corinthians and to us that “we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Cor. 3.9).

+Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko: The Winter Pascha

An Update on an Avoidable Tragedy

Source: uncutmountainsupply.com

This last June, I wrote a reflection on the defunding of USAID (the work of DOGE), a program established by former President George Bush that provided life-saving medicine and food for literally millions of men, women and children, primarily in Africa: 

https://orthodoxmeditations.blogspot.com/search?q=Doge

As this tragedy continues to unfold, reliable sources have reported that up to 600,000 people have died because of this ruthless defunding, and of that total as many as 400,000 are children. Truly an avoidable tragedy of "biblical proportions." I recently heard Nicholas Kristof, a prominent journalist (and a Roman Catholic) who is "on the ground" in Africa, deliver this tragic news in an update on the human toll of this defunding, much of which is painful to listen to, partly because it was all so avoidable. 

He also shared a link to a site that he has established that will allow for donations that will go toward alleviating some of this suffering: kristofimpact.org. On a recent visit to the hospital, a woman from out-of-state gave me some money and directed me to use it for the poor. I will send it to this charity and believe that it will be well-directed.

In Christ,

Fr. Steven

Thanksgiving Day Meditation -- Indulging not in food, but in giving thanks to the Lord!

Source: pixabay.com

A few years ago I ran across an op-ed piece in our local newspaper titled "A Moveable Fast" by Elyssa East. Such a title in a well-known urban secular publication was a bit intriguing, especially since the article's concluding paragraph can be read in an "Orthodox manner" without a great deal of manipulation: 

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

In other words, the uneasy alliance that has formed over the years between Thanksgiving and indulgence does not properly capture the meaning of this national holiday. For Thanksgiving to be properly "observed," a "gathering together in thanks and praise" is the most appropriate response. 

This is a good, albeit brief, definition of what we do in the Divine Liturgy. The Eucharist is about our thanksgiving to God not only for what we may have, but for who we actually are: The People of God in the process of growing in His likeness, in our life in Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit. We celebrate that service of thanksgiving — the Eucharist — so that we may realize our vocation as "eucharistic beings," and not as mere "consumers." For those who like theological jargon, our anthropology is maximalist, not minimalist. So, just as we engage in the festal Thanksgiving Day table in our homes, we continually make the effort to receive the eucharistic food from the altar table in a spirit of praise and thanksgiving. And we do so joyfully and eagerly.

Elyssa East's op-ed article includes a fascinating historical sketch of the mind and practices of the early Puritans in 17th century New England. Fasting and feasting were part of their way of life. Admittedly, I would acknowledge that the "Orthodox ethos" and the "Puritan ethos" are as far apart as one could imagine. There is the saying that a Puritan is a person who is afraid that someone, somewhere, and for some reason is actually enjoying himself! The Calvinist conception of an angry God Who needs to be appeased before He acts swiftly through punishment does not resonate for Orthodox Christians. And we thank our merciful God for that!

Perhaps the harsh environment and struggle for survival experienced by these early Puritans further influenced some of their bleak theological conclusions. However, some of our practices may coincide. The author relates that the Puritans' fear of "excessive rains from the bottles of heaven," in addition to "epidemics, crop infestations, the Indian wars and other hardships," led them to call for community-wide days of fasting or a "day of public humiliation and prayer." She further writes:

According to the 19th-century historian William DeLove, the New England colonies celebrated as many as nine such 'special public days' a year from 1620-1700. And as the Puritans were masters of self-denial, days of abstention outnumbered thanksgivings two to one. Fasting, Cotton Mather wrote, 'kept the wheel of prayer in continual motion'.

Our fasting as Orthodox Christians, however, is not based on a fearful notion of appeasing God; rather, it is a freely-chosen ascetical effort of self-discipline so as to actualize the words of the Lord when He fasted in the desert: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" [Matthew 4:4]. The rhythm of fasting and feasting is directed by our liturgical calendar, as we are now fasting in preparation for the Feast of the Nativity. We are, however, granted a hierarchical "dispensation" on Thanksgiving Day to "break the fast" in order to celebrate this national holiday as Americans. 

Actually, the Orthodox can hold their own with any other religiously-based culture when it comes to feasting. We have a great deal to feast about when we reflect upon the "divine economy!" Yet even feasting is not about "gross overconsumption" and mere indulgence.

A few more of Elyssa East's paragraphs help us understand the historical, cultural and religious background of our Thanksgiving Day celebration. "It was in the late 1660s that the New England colonies began holding an 'Annual Provincial Thanksgiving,'" she writes.

The holiday we celebrate today is a remnant of this harvest feast, which was theologically counterbalanced by an annual spring fast around the time of planting to ask God's good favor for the year. Yet fasting and praying also immediately preceded the harvest Thanksgiving.

In 1690, in Massachusetts the feast itself was postponed, though not the fasting, out of extraordinary concern that the meal would inspire too much 'carnal confidence.' As life in the New World wilderness got easier, the New England colonies gradually began holding only their annual spring fast and fall harvest feast.

Even after Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a national holiday in 1863, Massachusetts continued to celebrate its spring day of abstention for 31 more years.

As "right believing" Christians, we know to Whom we offer our thanksgiving and why — not only on Thanksgiving Day, but at every Eucharistic Divine Liturgy. As the "royal priesthood" of believers, it is our responsibility to hold up the world in prayer before God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If this national holiday is now characterized by "gross overconsumption," that does not mean that we need to follow such a pattern when we have the opportunity to thank and praise God before we share our domestic meals together. Perhaps a properly understood "fear of God" can be spiritually healthy when we contemplate our choices.

We have a wonderful opportunity to begin our Day of Thanksgiving by first attending the Divine Liturgy on Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m.

Nativity Meditation from SVOTS -- Leavetaking of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple

It will be given to him who already has and he shall abound, for everyone who has the gift of charity receives other gifts besides. But he who has not the gift of charity will lose even those gifts that he seemed to have.

So it is necessary, brethren, that charity should be the motive of all your actions. … No idler is completely deprived of talent. … One receives the gift of intelligence. … Another receives worldly wealth … another … the craft with which he learns his livelihood … a fourth friendship of a rich man.

+St. Gregory the Great: Parables of the Gospel

MARIAM - The Mother of the Lord and Mother of Our Life

Source: legacyicons.com

Today is the Leavetaking of the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos Into the Temple. I would like to share a wonderful passage from the book by Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou, MARIAM - The Mother of the Lord and Mother of Our Life. It is a fitting passage, indeed, as we continue our movement toward the Feast of the Incarnation of the Word of God:

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The fall of our forefather did not bring to nought God's will for the creation of His reasonable creature. For centuries God looked down from heaven to see if there was one person who would 'do righteousness' and cooperate with Him as His minister in the great work of the salvation of mankind. He needed someone whose spiritual state corresponded as closely as possible to the divine state, which is the prerequisite for grace to dwell in the heart of man. Such was the state of the Mother of God. Her utter purity and selfless love for God was commensurate with the unfathomable measure of grace that would come to dwell within her. When God perceived the supernatural humility and purity in the godly child Mariam, 'He bowed the heavens and came down.'

Monday Morning Meditation -- On Death and Our Daily Lives

Source: uncutmountainsupply.com

In the Orthodox Prayer Book under the heading "Before Sleep," we find the following: "A Prayer of St. John of Damascus, said pointing at the bed." This particular prayer begins in the following manner:

O Master Who lovest mankind, is this bed to be my coffin? Or wilt Thou enlighten my wretched soul with another day?

As St. John was a monk we could, of course, dismiss or ignore such a prayer as "monastic excess" or even as a morbid and medieval fixation on death. (It seems that whenever our contemporary ears encounter anything strange, unfamiliar or jarring from the past the label of "medieval" allows us to disengage from any thoughtful consideration of what is being said). If we are sleepy, but essentially healthy, as we prepare for bed on any given evening, then it seems quite unlikely - thank God! - that our bed will serve as our coffin as we prepare to enter into it. The inevitable seems safely postponed for the moment and we feel confident that we will rise with the sun the following morning. And yet a moment of serious reflection on our common destiny - that great equalizer that we call death - should alert those who are spiritually vigilant, that such a prayer cannot simply be dismissed as either monastic excess or morbid. Understood in the over-all context of how and for what we may pray before sleep according to the Prayer Book and our personal prayers, it is an open-eyed, and hence realistic, reminder that "you are dust, and to dust you shall return." (GEN. 3:19) Perhaps a bit more poignant for those of us who are working on a second half-century that will most assuredly not be completed.

This theme comes to mind on this Monday morning because of yesterday's Gospel reading at the Liturgy: the short parable of the "rich fool" as found uniquely in LK. 12:16-21. Short but devastating. The foolish landowner is far-reaching in his plans for the future. He will tear down his old barns, now inadequate to store his abundant crops, and build "larger ones." Anticipating the enjoyment of a life of ease based upon his accumulated wealth, he says:

I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry." (LK. 12:19)

However alluring, this was not to be. For the very next thing we hear in this parable are these frightening words:

But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (LK. 12:20-21)

Such planning is mere foolishness in the eyes of God. (As Tevye the dairyman said: "The more man plans, the harder God laughs"). The brevity of life and the uncertainty of our end has - although containing a timeless and universal truth - often been reduced to the level of a pious cliché or religious platitude, by reason of sheer repetition. For that reason, spiritual vigilance is essential. In the Church's spiritual tradition we are exhorted to cultivate the "remembrance of death." And yet our highly-secularized society convinces us to practice the "forgetfulness of death." Which is more realistic? Or true to life? Try as we might, we cannot forget death, of course. So, as living human beings "go for it" in terms of life in this world the unwanted "remembrance of death" is there to trouble the mind. In his book, God With Us, Fr. John Breck, in a chapter entitled "The Thought of Death" captures this underlying and unresolved tension:

A great many people actually do chastise their soul with the thought of death. They suffer acute anxiety at the thought that their life will come to and end, that they will die and be buried in the earth. They fear death because of the unknown. What lies beyond the threshold behind that veil? Heaven? Hell? Nothing? The dread of death, which provokes questions like this, can, with tragic irony, push a person over the brink and into suicide. (p. 101)

The "remembrance of death" taken in isolation, especially among those who "have no hope" (I THESS. 4:13), can have a horrible effect upon the soul. It only makes sense to forget about it! The Christian practice of the "remembrance of death" needs to be the result of a lively faith in Christ, the Vanquisher of death, for it to be the spiritually positive practice it is meant to be. St. Paul has said it with an unmatched clarity and eloquence from the very dawn of Christianity:

If Christ is not raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. (I COR. 15: 17-22)

From an intolerable reality that leaves us as creatures to be pitied, death itself becomes a passage to life in the risen Lord. St. John Chrysostom could therefore write: "what was the greatest of evils, the chief point of our unhappiness, what the devil had introduced into the world, in a word death, God has turned into our glory and honor." With the powerful words of both the Apostle Paul and St. John in mind, we can fully understand what Fr. John Breck further relates in his chapter about the thought of death:

Our physical death remains before us, certainly and inevitably. But is has been emptied of its power. For those who are "in Christ," true death occurs at baptism, when we go down into the baptismal waters, then rise up from them, in a mimesis, or reactualization, of Christ's own death and resurrection. Baptism effects a "new birth," but only because it signifies the death of the "old Adam," or former being. (p. 101)

The daily practice of the "remembrance of death" is a Christian practice that - besides its realism as mentioned above - allows us to further meditate upon the overflowing love of God that has been poured out for our salvation in Christ, the "Coming One" whose death has overcome death, fully revealed in His glorious resurrection. It may not be the most timely subject for dinnertime conversation or the banter of the workplace; but it has a crucial and time-honored place in our prayer life and in our "search" for those essential truths that we meditate on throughout the course of our lives. Imbued with a Christian realism that we embrace with open eyes and the virtue of hope that leaves the future open-ended, we can consciously avoid the foolishness of the rich man of the parable, but rather heed the teaching of St. James:

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain; whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall do this or that." (Jas. 4:13-15)

There is a healthy realism in all of this!

Nativity Meditation from SVOTS

Not only, he says, are you the causes of life to us, but also of much joy, and so much that we cannot worthily give thanks to God. Your good behavior, he continues, we consider to be a gift of God. Such kindness have you shown to us, that we think it to be of God; rather, it is God.

For such a disposition of mind comes not of a human soul or carefulness. “Night and day,” he says, “praying exceedingly.” This too is a sign of joy.

+St. John Chrysostom: Homily IV on I Thessalonians III

A Thoughtful Response

 

Source: wikipedia.org

Some more thoughtful responses to the NYT's article about the recent conversions to Orthodox Christianity.

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Good morning, Father!

Reflecting on the line "The Church becomes monstrous when it worships itself and reduces its identity to lists of moral principles or a retro historical ideal." Two weeks after I became a Catechumen back in 2023, I visited St Gregory Palamas for the first time with a group of guys. After Liturgy, Abbot Josef was kind enough to visit with us in the guest house. Mark Phillips asked Abbot Josef if he had any pieces of advice for inquirers or catechumens, and his response was "Learn to love Christ more than you love Orthodoxy." That has stuck with me as a way to remain grounded and focused, not overemphasizing the form of Orthodoxy or entering into a "Orthodoxy vs the world" mindset, but simply to focus on Christ through the Church. I think it can be easy as a convert to see the Church as something primarily negative, as something that stands opposed to whatever ideology we disapprove of (political, religious, modernity, etc). The Abbot's reminder was that the Church belongs to Christ and points directly at Him; becoming united to the Body for any other reason than Christ is superfluous. 

Just a thought I wanted to share. I agree with you in all of this, finding the article to be dissapointing in its caricature of the Church, though unintentionally. I think it is also a reminder that to begin to understand Orthodoxy, you really have to engage in the rhythm of Orthodox life; a cursory outside look can render these flat renditions of something that is quite beautiful.

In Christ, 

Ben Linnabary

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The Church is the Body of Christ, it is about acquiring the Spirit of Christ, of overcoming prejudice and fear; to believe that love and forgiveness is the ultimate Christian message - the Gospel message, and it should not promote any ideological agenda. There is a lot of chaos on the internet and in Orthodox parishes,  as well as to unfortunately include clergy and monastics, that is, in my opinion, in direct opposition to the Gospel. 

With respect,

Presvytera Deborah

Nativity Meditation from SVOTS - Forefeast of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos

Source: legacyicons.com

So by His true and praiseworthy repentance the Lord showed us that even after negligence He accepts those who desire to amend… 

Just as the Fathers lay down that perfect love knows no sin, so I for my part declare that a perfect sense of death is free from fear…

The remembrance of death, like all other blessings, is a gift of God… 

He who has died to all things remembers death…

+St. John Climacus: Ladder of Divine Ascent

Response to an Article

 

Source: wikipedia.org

The NYT published an article the other day, entitled "Orthodox Pews are Overflowing With Converts," by Ruth Graham. I was pretty disappointed with the overall tenor of the article. It focused, if not exclusively, then primarily, on young men who are now attracted to the Orthodox Church, with the implication that it is in the Church that they can encounter a "manosphere" to their liking. In the words of the article:

"Across the country, the ancient tradition of Orthodox Christianity is attracting energetic new adherents, especially among conservative young men. They are drawn to what they describe as a more demanding, even difficult, practice of Christianity. Echoing some of the rhetoric of the so-called manosphere, new waves of young converts say Orthodoxy offers them hard truths and affirms their masculinity."

This is very misleading because of the fact that there are so many women, from many and varies backgrounds, also attracted to the Church - as in our own parish!  Be that as it may, the Orthodox scholar, Fr. Nicholas Denysenko, wrote a very thoughtful and balanced response to the NYT's article, which I am sharing here:

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Today's NYT article on converts to Orthodoxy elicited lively discussion. Some rejoiced. Others criticized the journalist for the limited scope of her presentation. One friend commented that she ignored mainstream Orthodoxy and misrepresented the Church.Peeling back the layers of the gravitation of young American men to Orthodoxy is a story that will draw readers, no matter how much of the larger picture is left out. I'm not making excuses for the journalist. I'm mentioning this because I remember what it was like to have one of the least substantive lines from a long interview used for a story. Some of those unhappy with today's story feel like most of the substance of Orthodoxy was excluded.

I don't know what is going to come of people who come to Church because they feel like it validates their political views. The people they meet in the Church might disappoint them. Maybe they'll become digital creators and use social media platforms to make their case. There are many potential pitfalls.

The one I fear the most is that the people will try to recreate the Church in the image, the name, the metanarrative that comes from some ideological platform, and not from God.The Church becomes monstrous when it worships itself and reduces its identity to lists of moral principles or a retro historical ideal. The Church betrays the tradition she has received when it delights and indulges in confessional polemics, ever seeking to mock and humiliate people who belong to other churches and religious communities. It is as if we try to unlearn the ascetical tradition the Church has us rehearse on a daily basis.

I hope that the people coming to Church will allow their ears to be opened to hear the word of God and to meet him. I hope they will stay the course and learn early on that the gifts of the Spirit received in becoming and being Christian did not include a big, red easy button.I hope that the pastors receiving new people will see the image of God in them and invite them to join a communion of saints in a civilization of priests, prophets, and kings who fail frequently but have the courage to try again the next day.

Those of us committed to the ministries to which we have been appointed are overwhelmed by this moment and many of us are learning on the job, as we go. We need a lot of grace to be the body of Christ in this moment. And maybe that acknowledgement is what can open our eyes to the reality that we are called to be gracious to the seekers and inquirers God sends us.

_____

This is a very exciting time for us as members of the Orthodox Church, a so many "inquirers" are finding the Church.  It demands both openness and pastoral discernment as we  encounter and greet spiritually-thirsting human beings - women and men - who are seeking entrance into the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. We greet them with the love of Christ, for it is Christ - incarnate, crucified and risen - who is the ultimate goal of that spiritual thirst.

Nativity Fast Meditation from SVOTS

 

Now these things said by us are not merely words but have the witness of their truth from experience itself. Let him who wishes come up and behold the proof of virtue in the virgins of Christ and in the youth who live a pure life in chastity, and the belief in immortality in so great a company of martyrs.

And let him come who wishes to put to test what has been said, and in front of the illusions of the demons and the deceit of the oracles, and the wonders of magic, let him use the sign of the cross, which is mocked by them, merely naming Christ, and he will see how by it demons are put to flight, oracles cease, and all magic and witchcraft are brought to naught.

Who, then, and how great is this Christ, who by His naming and presence overshadows and brings to naught everything everywhere, and who is alone powerful over all, and has filled the whole inhabited world with His teaching?

+St. Athanasius: On the Incarnation

Nativity Fast Meditation from SVOTS

Did God make all men? It is surely plain to every man. How then are not all equal with respect to virtue and vice? Whence are the good and gentle and meek? Whence are the worthless and evil? For if these things do not require any purpose, but are of nature, how are they made different from each other? For if by nature all were bad, it would not be possible for any one to be good, but if good by nature, then no one would be bad.

… But if we should say that by nature the one is good, the other bad, which would not be reasonable, these things must be unchangeable, for the things of nature are unchangeable. No, listen. All mortals are also liable to suffering; and no one is free from suffering, even though he should strive without end. … But why did He make worthless men at all, when He might have made all men good? Whence then are the evil things? he says.

Ask yourself; for it is my part to show they are not of nature, nor from God … but from willing and not willing. … It is from ourselves … for evil is nothing else than disobedience to God …

+St. John Chrysostom: Homily LIX on Matthew XVIII

Nativity Fast Meditation from SVOTS

For He who gives riches becomes poor, for He assumes the poverty of my flesh that I may assume the riches of His divinity. He that is full empties himself, for He empties himself of His glory for a short while that I may have a share in His fullness. 

What are the riches of His goodness! What is this mystery that is around me! I had a share in the Image but I did not keep it. He now partakes of my flesh that He might both save the image and make flesh immortal.

+Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko: The Winter Pascha 

An Orthodox Understanding of Acts of Mercy

Source: uncutmountainsupply.com

An excellent piece that reminds us of one of the most important components of our Christian lives, perhaps even more so during a fasting season as the one we just embarked on. This piece by Fr. Thomas Hopko came readily to mind as we just heard the Parable of the Good Samaritan during the Liturgy yesterday morning.

Fr. Steven
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AN ORTHODOX UNDERSTANDING
OF ACTS OF MERCY 
Fr. Thomas Hopko


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

These are the hardest questions for Christians to answer.

_____

*Fr. Thomas Hopko was the Dean Emeritus of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary and  served for many years at the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, before his repose in 2015. 

Nativity Meditation from SVOTS

What was it that You found in me, my Lord? What use, what interest, what good did You behold in me that You came to seek me? And it was the King of heaven and earth Himself who came, not His ambassadors. God Himself came to find and to ransom His servant, not with gold and silver but with His precious Blood. Nothing indeed did You find but corruption, weakness, misery, disobedience, and enmity toward Yourself.

+St. Tikhon of Zadonsk: Confessions and Thanksgiving

To add to this: The Fathers understood the Good Samaritan as an image of the Son of God descending, seeking, finding and healing a beaten and half-dead humanity.

Meditation for the Nativity Fast

St. Vladimir's Seminary is offering daily meditations throughout the 40 days of the Nativity Fast. I will be sure to pass on a good many to the parish.

November 15, 2025

We hear from Ezekiel, teaching as it were in the name of the Lord, when he says, “If the righteous turns away and commits iniquity, I will not remember the righteousness which he committed before; in his sin he shall die” (Ezek. 18.24) …What availed all Solomon’s vast wisdom? … Not even the blessed David was blameless …One example …the fall from the better to the worse of Judas …Learn then, brother, that it is not approved in God’s sight …Do not straightaway attempt extreme discipline; above all things beware of confidence in yourself, lest you fall.

+St. Basil the Great: Letter to Chilo, His Disciple 

Midweek Morning Meditation - Forty Shopping (and Fasting) Days Until Christmas

 

Source: uncutmountainsupply.com

Here is a meditation from a few years back that I do not overly hesitate to send yet again, because the issues presented here for us to think hard about ("meditate" on), are certainly with us today and are far from being resolved: "There is nothing new under the sun." I hope everyone is prepared to make a real effort to embrace the forty-day Nativity Fast on a level that works for you and your family and that commits us to the life of the Church in a meaningful manner. If we are not prepared, perhaps what you read here will alert you to the Season we are now about to enter. 

~ Fr. Steven
______________

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

Forty Shopping (and Fasting) Days Until Christmas

On Saturday, November 15, we will observe the first day of the 40-day Nativity/Advent Fast, meant to prepare us for the advent of the Son of God in the flesh, celebrated on December 25. (The Western observance is from the four Advent Sundays before Christmas). For some/many of us this might very well catch us unaware and unprepared. However, as the saying goes, “it is what it is,” and so the church calendar directs us to enter into this sacred season in just a few days. This indicates an intensification of the perennial “battle of the calendars” that every Orthodox Christian is engaged in consciously or unconsciously. The two calendars – the ecclesial and the secular – represent the Church and “the world” respectively. Often, there is an underlying tension between these two spheres.

Because of that tension between the two, I believe that we find ourselves in the rather peculiar situation of being ascetical and consumerist simultaneously. To fast, pray and be charitable is to lead a simplified life that is based around restraint, a certain discipline and a primary choice to live according to the principles of the Gospel in a highly secularized and increasingly hedonistic world. That is what it means to be ascetical. And to be an ascetic is not to be a fanatic, but to follow the words of Christ who taught us to practice "self-denial" (MK. 8:34). It further means to focus upon Christ amidst an ever-increasing amount of distractions and diversions. Even with the best of intentions and a firm resolve that is not easy! From our historical perspective of being alive in the twenty-first century, and leading the “good life” where everything is readily available, practicing any form of voluntary self-restraint is tantamount to bearing a cross. Perhaps fulfilling some modest goals based on the Gospel in today’s world, such as it is, amounts to a Christian witness, unspectacular as those goals may be. 

Yet, as our society counts down the remaining shopping days until Christmas; and as our spending is seen as almost a patriotic act of contributing to the build-up of our failing economy; and as we want to “fit in” – especially for the sake of our children – we also are prone (or just waiting) to unleashing the “consumer within” always alert to the joys of shopping, spending and accumulating. When you add in the unending “entertainment” that is designed to create a holiday season atmosphere, it can all get rather overwhelming. Certainly, these are some of the joys of family life, and we feel a deep satisfaction when we surround our children with the warmth and security that the sharing of gifts brings to our domestic lives. Perhaps, though, we can be vigilant about knowing when “enough is enough;” or even better that “enough is a feast.” An awareness – combined with sharing - of those who have next to nothing is also a way of overcoming our own self-absorption and expanding our notion of the “neighbor.”

Therefore, to be both an ascetic and a consumer is indicative of the challenges facing us as Christians in a world that clearly favors and “caters” to our consumerist tendencies. To speak honestly, this is a difficult and uneasy balance to maintain. How can it possibly be otherwise, when to live ascetically is to restrain those very consumerist tendencies? I believe that what we are essentially trying to maintain is our identity as Orthodox Christians within the confines of a culture either indifferent or hostile to Christianity. 

If the Church remains an essential part of the build-up toward Christmas, then we can go a long way in maintaining that balance. Although I do not particularly like putting it this way, I would contend that if the church is a place of choice that at least “competes” with the mall, then that again may be one of the modest victories in the underlying battle for our ultimate loyalty that a consumerist Christmas season awakens us to. The Church directs us to fast before we feast. Does that make any sense? Do we understand the theological/spiritual principles that is behind such an approach? Can we develop some domestic strategies that will give us the opportunity to put that into practice to at least some extent? Do we care enough?

The final question always returns us to the question that Jesus asked of his initial disciples:  “Who do you say that I am?” If we confess together with St. Peter that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, then we know where we stand as the “battle of the calendars” intensifies for the next forty days. In such a way, these forty days will result in a meaningful journey toward the mystery of the Incarnation rather than in an exhaustive excursion toward a vapid winter holiday. The choice is ours to make.

Things to do: 

+ Embrace fasting, prayers and almsgiving with consistency. 

+ Read the Scriptures with regularity. Be sure to read the Nativity narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Also the Prologue of in St. John's Gospel. Share this reading with the family, bringing the children into the conversation about the birth of Christ.

+ Choose a good book of Orthodox literature to read during this Season.

+ Be aware and attentive to the liturgical services during the upcoming forty days. Make a point of being at some of the pre-Nativity services from December 20 - 24.

+ Prepare to confess your sins in the Sacrament of Confession.

Monday Morning Meditation - The Woman with the Issue of Blood

 

Source: wikipedia.com

At the Liturgy on Sunday, we heard the Gospel narrative of a miracle within another miracle.(Or two works of "power" - Gk. dynameis). The raising of the daughter of Jairus, the synagogue ruler, is momentarily interrupted when Jesus encounters the woman with an issue of blood (Lk. 8:41-56). After Jesus heals her, and in the process praises her faith: "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace," he will go to the home of Jairus and bring his daughter back from the realm of the dead by and restoring her to her family, once "her spirit returned." Certainly two amazing and dramatic events. Studying this event through a contemporary biblical commentary, I always recall a statement by Brendan Byrne, a New Testament scholar who wrote a memorable sentence in his fine book, The Hospitality of God - A Reading of St. Luke's Gospel. In speaking of this woman's lack of place in the world of her day, Byrne wrote tellingly: "She is in many ways one of the most marginalized figures in the Gospel." Considering the level of human misery and suffering encountered in the Gospel, that is saying a great deal! And Byrne makes the case in the following succinct paragraph:

"In contrast to the influential ruler of the synagogue, how different the situation of this nameless woman (v. 43-48). As far as the community is concerned, she is as good as dead; according to Lev. 15:25-31, her condition renders her permanently unclean, and she in turn renders unclean any person or objects she touches. It is scarcely possible to grasp the loneliness and isolation of her situation - accentuated now by poverty, since she has spent all she had on physicians (v. 43)."

Loneliness and isolation are two conditions corrosive of a healthy personality. One can sink ever deeper into a debilitating depression. Are loneliness and isolation self-inflicted; or are they inflicted from without, from the icy disregard of a closed social order? The presence of the woman with an issue of blood, as we just read, was unwelcome, and thus she remained marginalized by the prejudice of her society, even if we acknowledge that isolation driven by adherence to the Law. We like to think that our social world is more tolerant today, and perhaps that is true. But perhaps the same kind of prejudice and marginalization is equally present today as then. We certainly have countless people in our midst today who are actually pushed off to the margins as human beings unwanted and uncared for. 

It is often the "other," the person we cannot relate to in his/her full and distinct humanity. The "other" is a person who embraces a life-style we consider sinful or aberrant; or someone who looks or speaks differently; or a "displaced person" entering into our world from outside (which is why Flannery O'Connor wrote that Jesus was just another DP). We are to assist persons to move in from the margins, not to stay out there in isolation. Jesus restored this woman to fellowship with her fellow countrymen. It is a noble task, worthy of the Gospel, to embrace, not to exclude. May the Lord give us the strength and vision to fulfill that ministry as we claim to serve and belong to Him.

Funding the Poor

Source: uncutmountainsupply.com

"Remember, O Lord ... those who remember the poor ..."

Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom

The headline on Friday's Cincinnati Enquirer was the following: "Families, groups brace for end of SNAP benefits."

And the first line of the article reads as follows: "In November, 96,609 people in Hamilton County could lose money they count on to feed their families every month." That is a large body of local citizens who face the crippling loss of essential resources that would result if their SNAP benefits will be cut off. Thus, a personal disaster for many struggling families that could have been avoided. Primarily due to the fact that there is $5.25 billion in a contingency fund that has been allocated by Congress, and which could go a long way toward the $8 billion allotment that is needed. And, indeed, on Friday a federal judge in Rhode Island ruled that the these funds need to be distributed "as soon as possible." We are hoping to hear of the fulfillment of that court order. 

We all know that this crisis is tied in to the present government shutdown, which has no end in sight. A costly battle of political wills! Yet, what is a political issue is also a profound moral and ethical issue; the two cannot be easily separated. As a "Christian nation," will we assist or ignore so many millions of struggling Americans? This question is intensified for Orthodox Christians by the fact that we so recently heard the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man in church! For this reason, in the parish we continue to receive everyone's donation as the parish faithful pass by the "Lazarus basket" by the Cross at the end of the Liturgy. These donations may take on an even greater importance for some of our local neighbors this year, so our generosity also takes on a greater importance.

I would like to share the following letter (anonymously) that I recently received from one of our parish families. You will read of this family's readiness to offer financial assistance to "bridge the gap" for others who may be struggling. And I will raise the issue with the Parish Council, so that we as a community can also respond with our own resources designated for that purpose. 

Fr. Steven,

I'm reaching out after talking with _____ about the government shutdown and its potential effects on families in the parish. I know there are avenues to assist those in need through the council, food pantry, or perhaps the Lazarus offerings. However, if there are special circumstances of food insecurity or other needs due to the shutdown, we would be willing to assist financially to 'bridge the gap' so to speak. Of course we would treat anything confidentially and with discretion however you would suggest.

If you become aware of any needs - we are willing and able to help.