Monday Morning Meditation

Source: uncutmountainsupply.com

 Dear Parish Faithful,

At the Liturgy on Sunday, we heard what must be the shorter epistle reading on our lectionary - I Tim. 1:15-17. Here is that text:

"The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the foremost of sinners; but I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ may display his perfect patience for an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever and ever. Amen."

We know part of this text very well, of course, as we recite it together as a kind of communal pre-Communion pray as we prepare to receive the Eucharist at the Divine Liturgy. The question is then raised: How can each and every one of us be "the foremost of sinners?" I would like to again share a key passage in Peter Bouteneff's book How To Be a Sinner, as an insightful and deeply challenging response to that very natural question:

"I am the foremost of sinners." How can I make sense of this statement as I strive to make it my own? ...

For one, to the best of my knowledge, it is actually true. I can't fully know the misdeeds, circumstances, external strictures, inner struggles, or repentance of other people. It is not mine to analyze other people's shortcomings or their motivations. Doing so will not benefit me. Plus, their failings are fully known only to God. I have access to and control over only myself. I can bring only myself before God's judgment. And I will tell you that the picture is not very pretty. Given the circumstances in which I was raised, my education and life in the Church, what I have seen and what I know, for me to harbor the kind of thoughts that I have, to speak the words that I say, and do the deeds I do is utterly inexcusable. As for the state of my repentance? The quality of my prayer? Forget it. I can't say how it goes for anyone else. I honestly have no idea. But there's a real good chance they are doing this all better than I do, thanks be to God. (p. 56-57)

_____

Very honest and, in my estimation, very true for each and every one of us.

Fragments for Friday

 

Source: blessedmart.com

Dear Parish Faithful, The years of our life are threescore and ten, or even by reason of strength fourscore; yet their span is but toil and trouble;  they are soon gone, and we fly away. (Psalm 89/90) I just read an essay entitled, "The Longevity Revolution," by Jonathan Rauch. Actually it is an extended book review of two books: Golden Years: How Americans Invented and Reinvented Old Age, by James Chappel; and The Longevity Imperative: How to Build a Healthier and More Productive Society to Support Our Longer Lives, by Andrew Scott. (Rather cumbersome titles!). These books are raising the issue of just how inadequate our current system is for dealing with aging Americans who are living longer and healthier lives. I am not going into those details. If anyone would like a copy of this essay, please let me know, and I will provide one. My interest at the moment is more focused. At the end of this detailed review, Rauch reminds that we have created "the big conceptual categories of childhood, adolescence, middle age, and old age;" and that these categories are "too deeply rooted to toss aside." He then argues: "We could use a new category, one reflecting the fact that longevity is inserting one, two, or even three decades between middle age and old age." And he offered the following new category: "late adulthood," an already existing category associated with prominent sociologists and psychologists working in this field. He summarizes this expertise, by the following description: " ... the notion of late adulthood captures the reality of a new stage of life, in which people are neither fully retired nor conventionally employed - a phase when people can seek new pursuits, take "not so hard" jobs, and give back to their communities, their families, and their God." Well, now it gets interesting, for Rauch will offer his quite positive estimation/description of this "late adulthood." I will let you make your own assessment of "late adulthood," especially for those who are over the age of 50, for Rauch claims that "most of what people think they know about life after 50 is wrong." He then goes on to correct this perceived wrong notion, by saying: "Aging, per se (as distinct from sickness and frailty) is not a process of uniform decline. It brings gains, too: greater equanimity, more emotional resilience ... and a heightened appreciation of life's blessings. Partly for that reason, the late decades of life are, on average, not the saddest, but the happiest. Contrary to popular belief, aging does not bring mental stagnation. Older people can learn and create, although their style of learning and creativity are different than in younger years. Emotional development and maturation continue right through the end of life. And aging can bring wisdom - the ability to rise above self-centered viewpoints, master turbulent emotions, and solve life's problems - a boon not only to the wise but to everyone around them." "Late adulthood ... is a time of reorientation and relaunch, a time when zero-sum goals such as social competition and personal ambition yield to positive-sum pursuits such as building community and nurturing relationships." This is all well and good for those not troubled by "sickness and frailty." Perhaps we are living within the tension between the sober words of the psalmist concerning our life-span's "toil and trouble; they are soon gone and we fly away," and the positive note struck in the above concerning the "gains" of late adulthood.

A Reflection Concerning Mercy

Source: blessedmart.com

 Is An Apology Necessary?

Dear Parish Faithful,

"Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice'." Matt. 9:13

"To be united in a country with so many riches of diversity, we need mercy. We need compassion. We need empathy. And rather than list that as a broad category, as you heard me say, I decided to make an appeal to the president." 

Those are the words of Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde in response to president Trump insisting that she apologize to him for publicly pleading with him to show mercy to various marginalized Americans and non-documented immigrants. Now, as Orthodox, we do not accept women serving as bishops, but that is the reality in the Episcopal Church in America. And we may disagree on theological/religious grounds on the sexual choices and lifestyles of certain fellow citizens. But a clear plea for mercy rings absolutely true with the teaching of Christ and the entire Gospel message. 

I saw and heard the portion of her sermon when she made this appeal: "Millions have put their trust in you. And as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now." It is difficult to live in fear - or even uncertainty - for your future. Hence, the plea for mercy towards the "other." We have to admit that Budde was quite bold in speaking straight to the president sitting right in front of her in the Washington National Cathedral. It seems as if that is the right "place" to basically quote Jesus and raise the issue of mercy and compassion. The tone was not at all "nasty" as president Trump claimed. It was bold, but the tone was also rather humble, as in an appeal not an aggressive demand. 

Be that as it may, I also agree with her assessment of non-documented immigrants in America. There is no evidence whatsoever, that there are "millions and millions" (how many millions?) of undocumented immigrants who are criminals, unleashed upon America from asylums and prisons. There is no data to support that claim. Rather, in her words: "The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in poultry farms and meat packing plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals, they - they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation. But the vast majority are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors." There is really nothing to apologize for in those words in defense of "millions and millions"(?) of hard-working people trying to make a good life for themselves and their families.

Regardless of where one may stand on the issues raised in this now controversial sermon I, for one, admire the courage of Bishop Butte to preach the Gospel of mercy and compassion to those at the highest level of power. I wish that other bishops would join her in reminding our nation that mercy and compassion remain meaningful virtues that, if embraced, would lift us up on the moral and ethical level. At our best, that is the American way. Why must one apologize for that?

Fr. Steven

The Leave-taking of Theophany

Source: orthodoxroad.com

 Dear Parish Faithful,

Today, January 14, is the Leave-taking of Theophany. We celebrated Great Vespers yesterday evening to commemorate our "farewell" to this glorious Feast. As a complement to the fulsome and festal Liturgy on Sunday, the service yesterday evening was almost kenotic in its simplicity. I would to simply add a short reflection on one of the main themes of the Feast. In the Troparion, sung many times over the course of the last few days, we sing and hear: "When Thou, O Lord, was baptized in the Jordan, the worship of the Trinity was made manifest ..." This is implicit in the Gospel narratives of the Lord's Baptism, and the Troparion reviews those narratives to make clear what the Gospels are implicitly revealing:

"For the Voice of the Father bear witness to Thee, and called Thee His beloved Son; and the Spirit, in the form of a dove, confirmed the truthfulness of His words ... "

The God that we believe in and worship is the one living God Who is the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is the faith of the Orthodox Church, and the faith that through the Church is revealed to the world. To live and abide in the Orthodox Church is to live and abide in the presence of the Holy Trinity. And, we hope, in eternity! We express this faith every time that we recite the Nicene Creed, either in our liturgical assemblies, or in our personal prayers. (One of the reasons, that we begin our personal prayer with the Trisagion: "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal ... O, most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us ...").

In America, in the latest Gallop Poll of 2022, when asked the straightforward question: "Do you believe in God," 81% of Americans professed believe in the existence of God (an all-time low by the way). Upon further questioning, it seems as if part of that group of positive respondents are somewhat agnostic. Be that as it may, my own question that I would put to that 81% is: Do you believe in the Holy Trinity? I would be very curious to hear the response to this particular question. Speculating, I would not count on 81%! To answer, "Yes, I believe in God" can, upon further inspection or elaboration, yield all kinds of ideas about God that could very well sound rather vague and unclear. 

That is far different than acknowledging that God is unknowable in His essence, and that God "dwells in light unapproachable" (I Tim. 6:16). God's trinitarian inner being is unknown to us - "For thou art God ineffable, inconceivable, incomprehensible, ever-existing and eternally the same ..." (From the Holy Anaphora in the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom) - and we affirm this glorious mysterion  with a  sense of humility and wonder. Yet, to acknowledge the ultimate mystery of God, is not to succumb to any kind of vagueness or agnosticism about who God is. It is God who has revealed His eternal trinitarian nature to us, and as St. John of Damascus has said: God has revealed to us exactly what we need to know about God. And that is that God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as revealed at the Baptism of the Lord. Theophany means the "manifestation/revelation of God." 

My point is not at all to be critical at the possible vague theism of others, but to keep us aware of the revelation of God that we enjoy and respond to with faith within the grace-filled life of the Church. I would like to think that in my personal confession of faith, I can also clearly affirm the words of St. Gregory the Theologian: "When I say God, I mean the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

O, most Holy Trinity, glory to Thee!

Coffee With Sister Vassa: 'Man-Made' & Not 'Man-Made' Disasters

 

‘MAN-MADE’ & NOT ‘MAN-MADE’ DISASTERS

“There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Lk 13:1-5)

I’m thinking of this Gospel-passage today, which deals with one man-made (or man-intended) and another, not man-made or man-intended disaster, which brought sudden death onto the victims. The first was Pilate’s massacre of people on the temple mount, and the second was the collapse of a tower in Siloam, which killed 18 people. It reminds me of two current disasters, also bringing sudden death to their victims, – the man-made and man-intended war against Ukraine and the wildfires in Los Angeles County. The latter are perhaps partly man-made, but certainly not man-intended. Just like the tower in Siloam was man-made, but certainly not with the intention of it collapsing and killing people. 

Our Lord makes two points here. First, He warns against assuming that the victims of these sudden and senseless tragedies had been judged for their sins. We are all sinners, and to assume that victims of such tragedies are somehow worse than the rest of us and hence deserved to die, is wrong. His second point is that all of us need to repent, meaning, change our focus, because we don’t know exactly when or how we will die. If we are not mindful of this fact and not attentive to our own “repentance,” preferring to judge others instead (as do those who thought that the victims of Pilate or of the collapse of the tower), we will “likewise perish,” says the Lord, – in the sense that our death will catch us unprepared for it. But if we are always in repentance-mode; always focusing and re-focusing on our path of salvation and our journey to new life in God’s kingdom, death will not find us unprepared, however or whenever it happens. 

It is natural, when tragedy strikes, to ask why. And when it is both man-made and man-intended, when it is a crime, it is important to bring to justice the criminal(s) responsible. But it is not our place or our right to blame the victims, or to usurp God’s judgment over them, because He alone is the Judge of our sins. So, let me read the headlines about sudden deaths as a warning to repent, as a call to self-examination, rather than as an occasion to judge the victims. All our lives are essentially a house of cards, which can collapse at any moment, for man-made or not man-made reasons. Help us, save us, have mercy on us, and keep us, O God, by Your grace.

_____

One of themes raised yesterday in the homily was precisely that of repentance: "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." (Matt. 4:17) The need for repentance pervades the Gospels within a seemingly endless amount of situations. As Christians, we are called to endlessly seek that "change of mind" that brings us closer to Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven. I just the passage that Sister Vassa brings to our attention the other day. I believe that her distinction between "man made" disasters and not "man made" disasters is very helpful.

"God is Wonderful in His Saints!"

Source: www.standrewsgreekorthodoxcathedral.co.uk

 Dear Parish Faithful,

"God is wonderful in His saints, the God of Israel!"

Ps. 68:36

I hope that everyone - or nearly everyone - has picked up the new ecclessiastical/church calendar for 2025. If not, there are about 20 copies left in the church hall. Remember to pick one up on Sunday! Such a calendar, in contrast to our "secular" calendar, is probably something new for our inquirers, catechumens and neophytes. My intention is still to spend some time describing the structure of the calendar in an upcoming post-Liturgy discussion. 

For the moment, I can say that the church calendar gives us the opportunity to structure our own domestic lives around the rhythms of the Church - scriptural readings, festal commemorations, fasting days, etc. And this is clearly a different rythym, with even a different perception of time, that allows for the sanctification of time and not simply its fleeting character, as day after day fades into oblivion. Time is Kingdom-directed, which is why we begin every celebration of the Divine Liturgy with this wonderful exclamation: "Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!" Perhaps the church calendar grants us some perception of our Kingdom-directed lives.

For the moment, as I look over the calendar, what immediately strikes me about January is the endless flow of days on which we commemorate some of the great and most well-known saints of the Church. We have already commemorated St. Basil the Great (1/1); St. Seraphim of Sarov (1/2); Ven. Genevieve of Paris (1/3; and Amma Syncletica (1/5); all as a kind of build-up to the Great Feast of Theophany (1/6). And to follow, allow me to mention a few more of the most notable holy men and women of the Church commemorated in January: St. Gregory of Nyssa (1/10); St. Nina of Georgia, Equal-to-the-Apostles (1/14); Ven. Godbearing Anthony the Great (1/17); St. Maximus the Confessor (1/21); St. Gregory the Theologian (1/25); and Ven. Ephraim and Isaac of Syria (1/28). Quite an impressive month of "holy" (the actual word behind our word "saint") men and women who chose the Kingdom of God over any other possible choice. Time itself allows us the opportunity to become aware of and connected with these great figures - our friends from the past who are now present to us an intercessors.

All of the saints, therefore, intercede before the throne of God on our behalf. They are with us and not cut off from us by death. Rather, they are now more alive than ever and being “in Christ” are present wherever Christ is present. The earthly lives of the saints become sources of inspiration and models of emulation for us, teaching by examples of faith, hope and love; of long-suffering, perseverance and patience; of lives steeped in prayer, almsgiving and fasting. They do not discourage us because they attained what may seem unattainable to us; but rather they encourage us to struggle to overcome our weaknesses as men and women who did precisely that in their own lives. They were not born saints or privileged from birth. They became saints by co-operating with the grace of God. We, in turn, simply need to become what we already are: saints of God through Baptism and Chrismation and membership in the Church!

Coffee With Sister Vassa: Water Bursts Forth in the Desert

 

WATER BURSTS FORTH IN THE DESERT

“Be glad, thirsty desert: let the wilderness exult, and flower as the lily. And the desert places of Jordan shall blossom and rejoice; the glory of Libanus has been given to it, and the honour of Carmel; and my people shall see the glory of the Lord, and the majesty of God. Be strong, weakened hands and feeble knees. Comfort one another, fainthearted ones; be strong, fear not; behold, our God renders judgment, and he will render it; he will come and save us. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear. Then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the stammerers shall speak plainly; for water has burst forth in the desert, and a channel of water in a thirsty land.” (Is 35: 1-6, Septuagint-translation)

This is one of the prophecies read during the services of “Theophany,” (i.e., the “appearance/revelation of God”), when our Lord showed up at the River Jordan at thirty years of age and subjected Himself to John’s baptism, inaugurating His public ministry for all of us. The eve of Theophany is celebrated today by NC-people, while those of us on the Older Calendar approach the celebration of another theophany, the Lord’s birth in Bethlehem. Both theophanies or “appearances” of the God-Man in our midst, His birth of a Virgin in a lonely cave in Bethlehem and His immersion into the “waters” of our material world, as well as His continuous, sanctifying presence in our lives, bring new life and productivity to our “weakened hands” and our “feeble knees,”as Isaiah prophesies. 

Today let me re-connect with Him, once again, and join the creative flow of God’s unifying, life-bringing presence in our “thirsty desert.”Thank You, Lord, for showing up in our lives, again and again, to open our eyes when we’re blind to what we should be seeing; and to hlp us hear when we’re deaf to what we should be learning. “God is the Lord and has revealed himself to us!” Happy feasts, dear friends! (Ps 117: 27a)

Fr. Thomas Hopko on the Blessing of the Waters

Source: oca.org

 

Dear Parish Faithful, I believe that yesterday - January 6 - was the first time in my priesthood that I was unable to serve the Liturgy for Theophany. No sense trying to fight the elements! That means that we have yet to bless the waters for this year. Since Theophany is such a great Feast, that means that the Afterfeast extends until January 14. Therefore, since next Sunday falls within the Afterfeast, we will serve the Great Blessing of the Waters at the close of the Liturgy. In preparation, here is an excellent explanation of that "ancient rite" from Fr. Thomas Hopko.  Hope you are enjoying being snowbound! The Blessing of the Waters Fr. Thomas Hopko Sometimes people think that the blessing of water and the practice of drinking it and sprinkling it over everyone and everything is a “paganism” which has falsely entered the Christian Church. We know, however, that this ritual was practiced by the People of God in the Old Testament, and that in the Christian Church it has a very special and important significance. It is the faith of Christians that since the Son of God has taken human flesh and has been immersed in the streams of the Jordan, all matter is sanctified and made pure in Him, purged of its death-dealing qualities inherited from the devil and the wickedness of men. In the Lord’s epiphany all creation becomes good again, indeed “very good,” the way that God Himself made it and proclaimed it to be in the beginning when “the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters” (Gen 1.2) and when the “Breath of Life” was breathing in man and in everything that God made (Gen 1.30; 2.7). The world and everything in it is indeed “very good” (Gen 1.31) and when it becomes polluted, corrupted and dead, God saves it once more by effecting the “new creation” in Christ, his divine Son and our Lord by the grace of the Holy Spirit (Gal 6.15). This is what is celebrated on Epiphany, particularly in the Great Blessing of Water. The consecration of the waters on this feast places the entire world—through its “prime element” of watering the perspective of the cosmic creation, sanctification, and glorification of the Kingdom of God in Christ arid the Spirit. It tells us that man and the world were indeed created and saved in order to be “filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph 3.19), the “fullness of him who fills all in all” (Eph 1.22). It tells us that Christ, in Who in “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,” is and shall be truly “all, and in all” (Col 2.9, 3.11). It tells us as well that the “new heavens and the new earth” which God has promised through His prophets and apostles (Is 66.2; 2 Peter 3.13; Rev 21.1) are truly “with us” already now in the mystery of Christ and His Church. Thus, the sanctification and sprinkling of the Epiphany water is no pagan ritual. It is the expression of the most central fact of the Christian vision of man, his life and his world. It is the liturgical testimony that the vocation and destiny of creation is to be “filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph 3.19). --Fr Thomas Hopko

Coffee with Sister Vassa

 

THE LIGHT OF HUMAN BEINGS

There’s so much to write about today: It’s New Year’s Day; it’s also the NC (meaning New Calendar and not North Carolina, just so you know)-feasts of The Circumcision of the Lord and St. Basil the Great; it’s the OC day before the Forefeast of Nativity and Holy Martyr Bonifatius; and it’s a Wednesday. All faith-invigorating topics, particularly on New Year’s Day. But I’ll reflect just on the faith-inspiring coincidence that we are beginning this year on a Wednesday, called “the fourth day” in Hebrew and Greek, which signifies the Fourth Day of creation, when God created and put into motion the planets and the stars. He thus formed and put into motion what is known as “time.” And “God saw that it was good.” 

The forward motion of time, which we celebrate on New Year’s, was “good” in God’s eyes from the beginning. His only-begotten Son reaffirmed this goodness of our time, by stepping into it; by becoming One of us via a Virgin Birth, and walking through it His way, the Way of the Cross. We celebrate both these central mysteries of Christianity every Wednesday, which in our Byzantine liturgical tradition is the day of the Cross and of the Theotokos, with the liturgical hymns thematizing specifically the “stavro-theotokial” topic of her standing next to the Cross. We thus celebrate every Wednesday the “goodness” of God-given time in light of the Cross, and in light of the reality of all of us, as the Mother-Church (signified by the Mother of God), standing near the Cross and participating in her lament. It is a lament that is always leading us to the joy of new life, as the Cross leads to Resurrection. Christ Himself consoles us from His Cross, as in the hymn we chant on Holy Saturday: “Do not lament me, O Mother…, for I shall rise…” I’m reminded also of Bob Dylan’s prophetic song, “It’s alright, Ma, I’m only dying…”

We’re not closing our eyes to the dark reality of Christ being crucified in our world, also in our time, as we stay close by the side of His Cross. But “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it,” (Jn 1:5) is the Great Fact in this human-divine drama, in which we are called to be receiving and emanating this invincible Light. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of human beings.” (Jn 1:4) Let me not miss out on shining the Light onto the darkness today, is my New Years Day resolution (because New Year’s resolutions for the whole year don’t work for me). Thank You, God. Let there be light!

Happy New Year, dear Friends!