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
_________



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.