Coffee With Sister Vassa -- THE DISOBEDIENCE OF A VIRGIN MARTYR

 

Today is the feast of the 15-year-old Virgin Martyr, St. Agatha of Catania in Sicily, one of the most venerated female saints in Christian antiquity. Martyred in AD 251 for her refusal to marry the local pagan governor, St. Agatha became the patron-saint of women who are victims of rape and other violence. She’s also the patron-saint of many others, including breast cancer patients, victims of fire, and of bell-ringers, because bells are shaped like breasts, and part of the sexual violence that St. Agatha endured was that her torturers cut off her breasts. In our day in Catania, there’s a huge Festival of Saint Agatha that lasts from January 30 to February 12 (the main three days being February 3-5), drawing hundreds of thousands every year. This festival involves processions with St. Agatha’s relics through the streets of the city, special Masses commemorating women victims of violence, the armed forces, and religious (monastic) men and women.

The story of St. Agatha, born in AD 236 to wealthy Christian parents in Catania, is one of her resistance to the advances of the powerful local governor, the pagan Quintianus, who thought he could force her to marry him. After she repeatedly rejected him, because (according to a 13th-century account of her life) she had made a vow of virginity, Quintianus had her brought before him as a Christian, as this was during the brutal persecutions of Emperor Decius. First, Quintianus tried threatening Agatha with torture for not offering incense to the gods and for the well-being of the Emperor, and flattering Agatha for her beauty, promising her more wealth and status as his wife. When none of his creepy advances worked, he had her imprisoned in a brothel kept by a woman named Aphrodisia, who, with her daughters was meant to entice Agatha to change her mind by dressing her in sexy clothing, serving her wine and praising Agatha’s beauty and the desirability of Quintianus. When all this failed, Agatha was brought back to a furious Quintianus, who had her stripped and subjected to various tortures, including the severing of her breasts, as he watched. After this, St. Agatha was thrown into a prison-cell, where she continued to pray and the Apostle Peter appeared to her, healing all her wounds. Quintianus sentenced her to be burnt at the stake, but an earthquake disrupted this and St. Agatha died in her prison-cell.

All the celebrated ‘ virgin martyrs’ of those early centuries remind us, on the one hand, of how the Church cherishes the non-conformism and disobedience to rapacious male authorities of those beautiful Christian women, who represent church-resistance to the violence against the ‘she’ that is the Church-Mother. On the other hand, we’re reminded that rich and powerful men who commit sexual crimes against women, also underaged women, are unequivocally condemned in our church-memory. One might take pause to think about this today, amidst the ongoing scandal of the Epstein-files, which some Christians are tempted to dismiss out of political loyalty to the rich and powerful men exposed in them, disregarding the vulnerable female victims trafficked to pleasure them, often from ‘Orthodox’ countries like Russia, Ukraine, and others in Eastern Europe. Also, the ongoing travesty of Putin’s rapacious destruction and torture of Ukrainians, both women and men, who resist his genocidal ‘advances,’ because they don’t want to subject themselves to his creepy authority, might remind us of St. Agatha’s refusal of Quintianus’s advances. By her prayers, Lord, help us discern right from wrong, the victims from the aggressors, and to resist rapacious authorities by Your grace.

Midweek Morning Meditation

 

Source: uncutmountainsupply.com

"Save yourself, and thousands around you will be saved.”

• St. Seraphim of Sarov

“God and the devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man.”

• Fyodor Dostoevsky

A major preoccupation for many people today are the so-called “culture wars.” Conservatives and Liberals - or religious and secular - fighting it out on both an ideological and practical level, and claiming to know the truth on issues as far-ranging as political, moral, social, ethical, and ultimately, religious. As the old group Buffalo Springfield sang: “Hurrah for my side.” There is a real shortage of humility as these positions are presented as unassailable and hardly open to “negotiation.” Over time, positions often harden, rather than soften, to a more flexible level of mutual understanding. 

I simply bring that current cultural situation to mind as we are asked to meditate on the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee, and exhorted to “flee from the pride of the Pharisee,” blinded by his self-righteousness. And that is a spiritual condition that is further aggravated by condescension, judgmentalism and hypocrisy. Hardly traits that allow for any openness to the stirrings of the Holy Spirit! Therefore, anyone fully immersed in “culture wars” is put on notice that the temptation to become like the Pharisee is ever-present. That is not to impugn the rightness of a particular position – on the moral and ethical level – we need to bear in mind. Yet, the more “right” one is – and certain of being right – the more that self-righteousness is ever-present and threatening to engulf one in the process.

There is a remarkable passage from St. Gregory the Theologian (+391) who makes this abundantly clear when speaking of his own need to pay heed to himself (as a priest) before pointing out the sinfulness of other human beings. In other words, the “spiritual warfare” of “saving oneself” by honest self-reflection, confession of one’s own sins, and a basic sense of being caught up in the same struggle as one’s ideological “enemy” is the true starting point before venturing out into the dangerous terrain of culture wars. As St. Gregory writes:

“I have not yet spoken about the war within – even within ourselves – that rages among th passions. We are engaged in war with them night and day, brough on by our “lowly body,” sometimes in secret and sometimes openly, and by the turmoil that sweeps over us like a wave from above and below, whirling through our sensations and the other delights of this life, and by the “miry clay” in which we are stuck, and the “law of sin that wars against the law of the Spirit” and is attempting to destroy the royal image in us, as we well as whatever foundations of divine self-communication has been laid in us … Before one has gained control if this, as far as he is able, and has sufficiently purified his way of thinking, and before one has surpassed the others in growing near to God, I am certain it is unsafe to receive the office of leading souls or of mediating between God and human beings … “

Oration 2, 91

Aleksander Solzhenitsyn went right to the “heart” of the matter, when after suffering for years at the hands of a godless and authoritarian regime, he realized the deeper issue before us all:

“if only it were so simply! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.”

Perhaps blogging away, and crushing the arguments of our culture opponents, is not the surest way to the Kingdom of God. If we begin with the Truth of the Gospel, and a humble acknowledgment of our own sinfulness, combined with a deep awareness of our dependency on the mercy and grace of God, then the acceptance of the “spiritual warfare” within may produce a greater fruitfulness of heart.

A follow-through commentary

Source: uncutmountainsupply.com

A fine follow-through commentary on the mediation sent our earlier this morning, from Shannon Grubb:

I may have said this before, but what has always struck me the most in reading this parable was that the Pharisee's prayer includes no petition whatever: he doesn't ask anything of God. And that, to me, shows his confidence in his Self and works. For we all need 'something' from God on a continual basis, and indeed, even when at special times we think we'll offer God a prayer of pure thanksgiving, somehow petitions always sneak in. And God does not mind those, I do not think. So for the Pharisee to stand at the temple and ask for nothing - for himself or even for his fellow man - betrays a hardened heart. 

Secondly, I'm about half way through St. Athanasius' Life of Antony (my first time!) I believe it was Antony (if so, I haven't reached that part yet, but I could be wrong) who had a vision where he saw, stretching between him and his destination (God) a field completely full of snares and traps (the Devil's), all the way to the horizon. He asked how it would be in any way possible to navigate through all of those. And the answer came back, "By humility." Also many monks since have maintained that humility is the surest way to defeat the Enemy. And I think it was the same saint who was told "you fast, but Satan does not eat. You keep vigil, but Satan never sleeps (either). However, there is one thing he cannot do: humble himself." Anyway, all good lessons on the necessity of humility. 

Shannon

The Publican and the Pharisee, and the Struggle for Humility

 

Source: uncutmountainsupply.com

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

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

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

Based on our knowledge of the role of the publican in first century Israel, we can be assured that Christ was not “justifying” the particular “life-style” that made the publicans such notorious and despised figures of that world. In fact, they were always included with “harlots” when reference was being made to the marginalized, if not ostracized, members of first-century Judaism. Rather, the publican was declared “justified” for the very fact that he recognized and was profoundly struck by just how sinful he had become in cheating and defrauding his neighbor as a hated tax-collector working for the occupying Roman authority. He had the experience of true contrition of heart; he realized that he stood self-condemned before the Lord; yet he did not despair but cried out plaintively: “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” (Lk. 18:13) 

Human persons are not saved as sinners, but as sinners who in humility repent before God and then offer the fruits of repentance.

The hymnography for the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee exhorts us to flee from pride and to embrace humility. We live in a culture obsessed with the self and thus not only susceptible, but openly promoting, both pride and vainglory. “In your face” is widely seen as a “heroic” gesture of self-defiance and legitimate self-promotion. Humility is treated as weakness and ineffectual for “getting ahead” or for fulfilling one’s desires. We hear the voice of the Lord and we hear the voice of the world. It is our choice as to which voice we will listen to. And that choice will be determined to a great extent by just what the desires that move us to action are actually for. “For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.” (Matt. 6:21)

Coffee With Sister Vassa -- WERE THE CHURCH FATHERS A SUCCESS?

 

Remember those leading you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith imitate, considering the outcome of their conduct. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them. (Hebr 13:7-9)

The quote above is from today’s Epistle-reading for the (NC) feast of the Three Holy Hierarchs, Sts. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. This tells us that the words above, initially written about the Apostles and others who spread the word of God in the Early Church, are todaybeing applied to these holy bishops from the 4th century: We are to remember them and imitate the faith they passed on to us in Jesus Christ, Who remains “ the same yesterday, today and forever,” rather than be carried to and fro by “ various and strange doctrines.” We are also to “ consider the outcome of their conduct”; the consequences of the way they lived and taught.

What was the “outcome” of the way of life and teaching of the Three Holy Hierarchs? Eventually, years after they died all three came to be venerated as great Church Fathers in both East and West. But this was not the universally-accepted opinion of them among their peers, other bishops, at the time of their deaths. St. Basil, who had battled various heresies taught by bishops who distorted the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, died in 379 at age 49, two years before these controversies were more or less resolved at the Second Ecumenical Council of 381. His friend, Gregory the Theologian (a.k.a. of Nazianzus), who did initially lead that Council as Archbishop of Constantinople, resigned from that position quite dramatically before the Council ended, frustrated by the partisan politics among his peers, which also involved opposition to him. He did resume his position as Bishop of Nazianzus for two years, during which he battled the Apollinarians, but retired for health-reasons and spent the last six years of his life on his family estate. As for St. John Chrysostom, most readers will know that he died in exile in 407, reviled at the time by all the leading bishops in the East.

So, if we “ consider the outcome of their conduct,” we can see that in the short-run, during their earthly lives, the Three Holy Hierarchs did not achieve ‘success’ within the church of their time. In the long-run, we have come to celebrate them as the winners, as those whose hearts were “established by grace,” as the author of Hebrews writes. The lesson I glean from all this is that I should take pause and abstain from judgment today, when we observe the controversies about which bishops of our Orthodox Churches are ‘canonical’ or ‘uncanonical.’ We might also take pause and relax about judging the outcomes of the battles we fight in our own personal and political lives. Considering “ the outcome of the conduct” of the great Church Fathers, largely marginalized at the end of their lives, Lord, grant us wisdom and patience, as You remain in our midst, “ the same yesterday, today and forever.”

Fragments for Friday

 

Source: antiochian.org

Last Sunday, January 25, we commemorated St. Gregory the Theologian (+391). Truly one of the most illustrious and beloved of the Church Fathers. I have been reading his biography recently, and some of his theological writings. Because his name is so linked with the role of the theologian; and because of his reputation for contributing to the Church's theological tradition with great depth and insight; someone may react and say: "He is too difficult for me to understand!" Not necessarily true. When reading a passage from St. Gregory as that below, we should simply delight in his open love for God and desire to know God. And the saint is inviting us to that same desire for communion with the living God. Theology is the pursuit of "words adequate to God," and St. Gregory, though acknowledging the impossibility of circumscribing God with our human language, expresses that with both eloquence and depth. A passage worthy to ponder!

_____


God always was and is and will be - or better, God always is. For "was" and "will be" are divisions of the time we experience, of a nature that flows away; but he is always, and gives himself this name when he identifies himself to Moses on the mountain. For he contains the whole of being in himself, without beginning or end, like an endless, boundless ocean of reality; he extends beyond all of notions of time and nature, and is skeptically grasped by the mind alone, but only very dimly and in a limited way; he is known not directly but indirectly, as one image is derived from another to form a single representation of the truth: fleeing before it is grasped, escaping before it is fully known, shining on our guiding reason - provided we have been purified - as a swift, fleeting flash of lightening shines in our eyes. And he does this, it seems to me, so that, insofar as it can be comprehended, the Divine might draw us to itself ...

From Oration 38, "On the Theophany"

_____

St. Gregory the Theologian will be commemorated this morning at the Liturgy as one of the The Three Hierarches, the other two being St. Basil the Great (+379) and St. John Chrysostom (+407). A veritable "feast of theology!"

COFFEE WITH SISTER VASSA -- “REALISM” vs. FAITH, HOPE & LOVE

But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:7-8)

There’s a lot of talk today, about the need to be ‘realistic’ and accept the world as it is and ourselves as we are, meaning we don’t have to worry our pretty little heads about the things that are wrong with ourselves and our world. But the Holy Spirit calls us and liberates us to change the things we can change, according to our various vocations, through faith, hope and love. The vision that opens up to us through faith, hope and love ‘sees’ more than ‘things as they are’; it sees things as they will be, in God, at “the end of all things” that St. Peter says “is at hand.” You could say that this vision also sees less, in the sense that “love will cover a multitude of sins”; in the sense that we let things go, because of our “fervent love for one another.”

This doesn’t actually mean ‘not seeing’ the multitude of sins in ourselves and others. St. Peter in today’s Epistle-reading calls us to be both “serious and watchful” in our prayers, like grown-ups. It means seeing ourselves and others, warts and all, through the prism of love, as God sees us, always envisioning our potential, to continue becoming who we are in His eyes, His beloved children. And this is not just an intellectual exercise, which remains in our already-mentioned pretty little heads. The more we clarify our vision, in “serious and watchful” prayer in communion with God’s Spirit, our faith, hope and love grow and liberate us to move forward and act in ways that foster in ourselves and others the change we desire; the change we believe in, the change we hope for, and the change we love, as we experience it gradually in and among ourselves. 

Let me not be a slave to “realism” this Wednesday, but let God into my heart with His undying faith, hope and love for all of us and our world. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen!

COFFEE WITH SISTER VASSA -- NOT RENDERING TO CAESAR WHAT IS GOD’S

“... Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.” So they brought it. And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Mk 12: 14b-17)

St. John Chrysostom’s commentary on this passage from today’s Gospel-reading underlines that the " image and inscription" (Caesar's) denote civil obedience (taxes), while the " things that are God's" refer to the human soul, which bears the image of God. Our ‘soul’ (that is sometimes called our ‘heart’) is that which makes us ‘tick’ and without which we would be dead. Our ‘soul’ contains our innermost allegiance, sense of belonging and purpose, and our conscience or sense of right and wrong, holy and not-holy. We are not to offer our ‘souls’ or hearts to Caesar, because we are not Caesar’s but God’s.

In our fallen state, when our heart or soul is split in its allegiances, our vision of who and whose we are becomes obscured, and we begin rendering to Caesar (or someone else) the things that are God’s, like our primary allegiance, our very conscience or even our worship. We cease to ‘see’ clearly, because of this mixed-up kind of heart, this impure heart. The Pharisees, who together with the Herodians posed the above-quoted question to Christ, were known to be hypocrites who loved “ to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others” (Mt 6:5). So, their vision was focused not on God but on ‘others’; rendering to ‘others’ the things that are God’s. In our own personal lives, we might slip into a codependency, in which we are willing to do anything for a certain someone, even if it means overstepping our own conscience. This would also be an example of rendering what is God’s to someone other than Him.

In our political lives, we might slip into accepting ‘Caesar’s’ sense of right and wrong as our own, even if it does not correspond with God’s, in which case we are rendering unto Caesar the things that are God’s. There’s a lot of that going around these days, when many Christians seek to justify the unjustifiable when it comes to politics or geopolitics, arguing from a perspective of ‘pragmatism,’ ‘Realpolitik,’ ‘ the law of the land,’ or some other phrases that are supposed to make what is clearly wrong right.

Lord, grant us wisdom and heal our hearts, so we can see more clearly, who and whose we are. “ Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Coffee With Sister Vassa -- THE SPEECHES AT DAVOS & ST. PETER

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the Dispersion/Diaspora in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia (...) They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” (1 Peter 1:1 and 2:8b-10)

This morning I’m thinking both about the above-quoted passage from today’s Epistle-reading, and about the speeches made recently by several world-leaders at Davos. Both St. Peter and the world-leaders reflected on what makes us “us,” based on each leader’s worldview, at a time when ‘we’ are confronted with ‘them’ who have quite different worldviews.

The Apostle Peter is explaining to dispersedChristians (‘ of the dispersion’ or ‘diaspora’) how and why they have now been united into “ a people,” having received a new purpose, identity and sense of belonging: You “ were once not a people,” he writes, “ but are now the people of God... (so) that you may proclaim the praises of Him...” Let’s remember that this new sense of identity led Christians to be regarded with suspicion by Roman society, because Christians did not participate in Roman rituals that involved worshipping idols, including the Emperor. St. Peter himself was executed by the authorities along with many other Christians, when Emperor Nero scapegoated them for the Great Fire of Rome.

In that light, it’s interesting that at Davos the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, noted that totalitarian systems are sustained “ not through violence alone, but through the participation of ordinary people in rituals they privately know to be false,” as he called for ‘us’ as countries and companies to stop participating in these rituals and “ not live within the lie.” Nonetheless, he also called ‘us’ to be both “ principled and pragmatic,” referring to Alexander Stubb’s (the President of Finland) “ value-based realism.” The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, also tried to balance principles & pragmatism, warning against “ adopting a purely moral posture” and calling for “ an efficient materialism” instead. But as Macron came to the end of his speech in his cool aviator sunglasses, he underlined what “we” prefer, as those who cherish the rule of law and its predictability as “a good place” to live: “ We prefer respect to bullies,” said Macron, “ science to plotisme (conspiracy theories in French), and the rule of law to brutality.”

This is no exhaustive analysis of the complicated issues at hand, dear readers. You think about all of it further. For myself, I feel challenged at this time to listen in to what the Apostle Peter and the rest of Tradition says to us about who “we” are, as Church. We have an identity and a purpose, as “ His own special people,” to “ proclaim the praises of Him,” not bow down before other gods, nor cave in to hopelessness and fear. I’m so grateful for that dignifying call we share together. I’m also grateful for the statesmen and stateswomen we have today, who are at pains to articulate a way forward. Regardless of what we tend to think about the messy business of political leadership, – someone has to do it! Let’s pray for them and one another, and Happy Friday to all of you.❤

Fragments for Friday -- Ascending with Zacchaeus

“Today salvation has come to this house.” (LK. 19:9)

According to our liturgical calendar, this coming Sunday is called “Zacchaeus Sunday.” And this particular Sunday is the first “signal” that we are approaching the beginning of Great Lent. Those with the slightest familiarity with the Church’s liturgical cycle know that we are now five Sundays and four weeks away from the Lenten season. Great Lent, therefore, will begin on Monday, February 23. With the four pre-lenten Sundays subsequent to Zacchaeus Sunday, no one can claim that Great Lent caught him/her unaware. We are given ample “warning” for what just may be a seismic shift in lifestyle once we embrace Great Lent.

Zacchaeus Sunday, of course, is based upon the appointed Gospel reading of LK. 19:1-10, and the account there of how Zacchaeus and his household were “saved” by the healing and forgiving presence of Christ. This was in response to the conversion of Zacchaeus and his repentance before the Lord. It is quite interesting that we have the name of this particular publican. Perhaps he was a known member of the earliest post-resurrection Christian community centered in Jerusalem, yet scattered throughout Israel. Be that as it may, this conversion had a strong impact on the early Church as this account was recorded by the evangelist Luke.

In a relatively short, yet very dramatic narrative, St. Luke vividly brings to life not only the encounter between Zacchaeus and Christ, but a series of profoundly interconnected themes that deserve our close attention. These four are clearly essential:

+ desire
+ repentance
+ atonement
+ salvation

Zacchaeus, as Fr. Alexander Schmemann wrote in his now classic study Great Lent, is the “man of desire.” It was his burning desire “to see who Jesus was” (19:3), that led him to “climb up into a sycamore tree to see him.” (19:4) Though despised as a publican/tax-collector who defrauded his fellow villagers in Jericho, that position gave him a certain begrudged “prominence,” so the spectacle of Zacchaeus scrambling up the sycamore tree must have exposed him to public ridicule and derision. Zacchaeus’ desire must have been strong indeed to suffer that anticipated reaction. Thus, desire to “see Jesus” can lead anyone to overcome many of his/her human frailties and limitations, as well as the fear of violating any of the accepted rules of social etiquette if necessary. Our human limitations, that sinfulness that leaves us all short of the glory of God (ROM. 3;23), is represented here by Zacchaeus being “small of stature.” Our own sinfulness “cuts us down to size” and leaves us short of the stature of Christ that we are meant to grow into. Desire to change is a first movement on to the path of this desired growth. In hearing or reading this passage, we learn to humble ourselves in the realization that the sinful publican Zacchaeus has attained a stature that we need to emulate: “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” (EPH. 4:13)

Once Zacchaeus and his household are blessed with the presence of Christ, he openly repents of having “defrauded anyone of anything.” (19:8). His heart has been “wounded” by the obvious love of Christ who, in turn, had to suffer the reproach and murmuring of the witnesses to this event for being “the guest of a man who is a sinner.” (19:7) Jesus had heard this before, but always remained untroubled or “above” such accusations in His messianic role of bringing “good news” to “prostitutes and publicans.” Zacchaeus atones for his former sinfulness by openly declaring “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” (19:8) This is not a legalistic transaction. Zacchaeus is not purchasing the favor of God. Rather, he is moved to a concrete expression of a changed life that goes far beyond mere words or internal disposition.

The unmerited gift of salvation is how Christ “seals” the initial movement of Zacchaeus toward the restoration of his full stature. Salvation – soteria – means wholeness; the wholeness of soul and body that only God can restore. Zacchaeus has received this gift of salvation because, contrary to certain elements then current within Jewish piety that would have left him marginalized as a religious and social pariah, “he also is a son of Abraham.” (19:9) The salvation of Christ is extensive and intensive: universally offered to all of people, and offered to the “worst of sinners.” This is made clear by Christ’s solemn pronouncement that closes the narrative concerning Zacchaeus: “For the Son of man came to seek and save the lost.” (19:10) All – Jew and Gentile, the righteous and the unrighteous – are lost but God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (I TIM. 2:4)

In one of the many fine paradoxes - or ironies – found in the Gospels, the despised publican Zacchaeus becomes our teacher: “So the last shall be first, and the first last.” (MATT. 20:16) When that sinks in deeply, we can begin our own ascent to God on the ladder of the virtues, as Zacchaeus ascended on his humble sycamore tree.

Coffee With Sister Vassa -- HOW CAN WE RELATE TO THE DESERT-DWELLERS?

Today, when Older Calendar people celebrate the Forefeast of the Lord’s Baptism, and NC-churches – the day of St. Anthony the Great, I’m thinking about the two desert-dwellers, John the Baptist and St. Anthony. What does the desert or ‘wilderness’ signify in their lives, and how can we relate to it?

We don’t know anything about what John did in his solitude in the wilderness, before his “voice crying out in the wilderness” started to attract crowds of city-dwellers to him. But we can presume it was something similar to what Anthony did: Anthony engaged in solitary fasting and prayer, by which he battled various temptations (like boredom, laziness, and ‘phantoms of women’) from demons. The uninhabited desert was teeming with demons, until Anthony’s persistent prayer (and abstinence from what they had on offer) cleared the place of their villainous dominion. This ‘work’ took Anthony at least fifteen years, after which he started to attract people who wanted to learn from him, and many who even wanted to live side-by-side with him, in the now-safe place he had (co-)created with the power of God. Thus, the ‘ human footprint” in the desert was a good thing, because it was a deified human footprint.

After our baptism, we all go out into our own ‘wilderness,’ which is our life, more or less teeming with demons. Even our Lord was “ led by the Spirit into the wilderness” after His baptism, “to be tempted by the devil” (Mt 4:1). We have important ‘work’ to do in our respective wildernesses, both inside and outside ourselves, so that the space we occupy in this world becomes a haven for others. We have a little seed of faith planted in us, that we are to let God grow into a beautiful, shady tree, “ so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches” (Mt 13:32), as the Lord tells us in the Parable of the Mustard Seed.

The point of solitude and ascetical discipline, which we may not think are accessible or perhaps even desirable for us, is to stop fighting or competing with fellow human beings, so we can clear our hearts to focus on the root(s) of what makes the ‘space’ inside and outside our hearts uninhabitable or unwelcoming, to God and others. We don’t have to move to the desert to find alone-time with God; there were and are those who live/d in big cities, like the fools-for-Christ, who have found creative ways to exit the rat race of competition with others, while living in their midst. Sometimes God does this for us, when we couldn’t do it for ourselves; He allows us to lose something or someone, through physical or other maladies (our own or theirs), or simply through our ageing process, which takes us out of the rat race at least to some degree. We might find ourselves alone with our ‘demons’ in new ways, at this point, not entirely unlike the challenges confronted by Anthony in his desert. These are dignifying challenges, because God is calling us to collaborate with Him in the big project of redeeming us and the world, in each of our little spaces. God, let us do our little bit today, to re-focus and re-deem (take back) our time, by the prayers of John the Baptist, St. Anthony, and all Your saints. Amen!

The Prayers of the Saints

The Saints of North America

One of our parishioners recently shared this excellent explanation of the role of the saints in the Church, especially in regard to their intercessory prayer. This can be very helpful to all of us, but especially to people with a Protestant background, and to those for whom this is such a foreign concept and experience. For the Orthodox, it is natural.

Do we pray to saints—or ask them to pray for us?

Behind this question is a deeper one: what do we really believe about the Church, the resurrection, and the communion of saints?

In the Orthodox Church, we don’t see death as a wall that severs us from those who’ve gone before us in Christ. We proclaim the life everlasting. And if Christ is risen, then the saints are not gone—they are alive in Him.

We affirm that Christ is risen. And if He is truly risen, then death is not the end. It is not separation. It is not silence. For those who have fallen asleep in the Lord, death has become the gateway to deeper life. They are not gone—they are alive in Him.

When we ask a saint to pray for us, we aren’t replacing Christ. We aren’t offering them worship. We are asking our brothers and sisters—who now behold the face of God without veil or distraction—to intercede for us in love.

We are participating in the communion of the Church, which is not divided by the grave. The saints are members of the same Body we belong to, only now they see clearly, love fully, and pray without ceasing in the presence of God.

Revelation 8:3–4 gives us a glimpse of this heavenly reality:

“And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints... and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God.”

What do we see here? The prayers of the saints—both those on earth and those in heaven—rising before God together. Offered with incense. Borne up by angelic hands. Received by the Lord.

Prayer, in the Orthodox life, is not a solitary act. It is communion. It is participation in the worship of heaven. And the saints, who now stand in the light of Christ, are not passive observers. They are active intercessors—part of the great cloud of witnesses who pray with us and for us.

The problem comes when we reduce prayer to a transaction—words sent upward, hoping for a response. But prayer, in the Orthodox life, is communion. It’s a relationship, a participation in the life of God. And because the saints are in Him, our relationship with them continues in love.

To ask for their prayers is not idolatry. It’s not superstition. It is faith in the risen Christ, who unites heaven and earth in His Body, the Church.

To ask for their prayers is to confess the Gospel: that Christ is alive, that His Church is one, and that nothing—not even death—can separate us from the love of God in Him.

So when we whisper, “Holy Theotokos, pray for us,” or “St. Nicholas, intercede for my child,” we are not breaking faith. We are confessing it.

So yes—we ask the saints to pray for us. Because we believe in the life of the world to come. Because we believe the tomb is empty. Because we believe in Christ.

Father-Don Purdum

Orthodox Priest/Pastor, Holy Trinity Orthodox Church-AOCC (Elizabethtown, PA), Historian, Theologian

Coffee With Sister Vassa -- DOES THE DEVIL RULE THE WORLD?

“Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” (Mt 4:8-10)

The Gospel-reading in some of our churches today is Mt 4:1-11, about the Lord being “ led up by the Spirit” into the wilderness for 40 days right after His baptism, “ to be tempted by the devil” three times: 1. To make bread out of stones, “ If You are the Son of God”; 2. To throw Himself down from the temple and be preserved by angels, “ If You are the Son of God”; and 3. The one quoted above, which I’m thinking aboutthis morning. Does it mean that the world and its ‘kingdoms’ belong to the devil? If not, why is the world something of a mess? Wouldn’t all of us, and our world, be ‘fixed,’ if Christ were in charge, or at least if a Christian leader were? And is this temptation only relevant to the empire-builders of our world, or can each of us relate to it, somehow?

The Lord is showing us here, actually, that He is the One to Whom belongs all ‘the kingdom, the power, and the glory.’ But howHe exercises His authority, free from the corruption of self-service, is not the way the devil or his servants would want. The devil would want Christ (and Christians) to act in self-serving ways, specifically because these lead to human enslavement (to him) and ultimately self-destruction. Christ remains free of the devil’s ambitions and sticks to the will of His Father, filled with the Holy Spirit who led Him into the wilderness for this ‘test.’ Just like He leads us out into the wilderness of our lives after our baptism.

God manifests to us in His Son the way of exercising His power, in sync with His will and His word. “ If you are the Son of God,” if you are so special, as a ‘chosen’ child of God, – the devil sometimes whispers to each of us, or sometimes to an entire church or entire nation, – then go ahead and flex your muscles, and ‘fix’ what is lacking in your life (turn stones to bread), and show everyone else how special you are (by doing something reckless, like throwing yourself off the roof of the temple or invading another nation, yet remaining unharmed), and take charge “ of all the kingdoms of the world,” because you can! But at this point, you’ll be enslaved to, nay, even worshipping, me, is what the devil is saying. Because the devil is not about freedom, the freedom that God offers via His unifying Spirit; he is about his own will, which is just one of many wills outside of God. Subjection to any will outside of God’s, including our own (if it is not in sync with God’s will), invariably leads to bondage. It’s ultimately self-destructive, because God’s grace is the source of Life and Light, without which we eventually wither and die.

So, the devil tries to offer to Christ shortcuts, suggesting He ‘fix’ certain things by asserting Himself, His own power outside His Father’s. But that’s not how our Triune God works. He works in tri- unity, based on an obedience that is based on love. Not self-serving power. In our world, that kind of freedom, which God extends to all of us, who can choose to be the good guys or the bad guys, looks like quite the mess. It doesn’t look like our ‘success’ in securing unity and harmony everywhere. Maybe some or many people in North Korea think that unity and harmony has successfully been achieved, by the subjection of everyone to one will in that country. It’s simple, and the country seems to be at peace. But I prefer the ‘mess’ we have, to that kind of ‘fix,’ is what I’m thinking this Saturday morning. Happy weekend, dear friends!

Coffee With Sister Vassa -- THE ‘SCANDAL’ OF DIFFERENT CHURCH-CALENDARS

Today the Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One, / and the earth offers a cave to the Unapproachable One! / Angels with shepherds glorify Him. / The wise men journey with a star, / since for our sake the Pre-Eternal God was born as a young Child.” (Kontakion of Nativity)

It’s ‘today’ that the Virgin gives birth, for those on the Julian Calendar, while others are going back to work or school, having more or less completed the high liturgical season of Epiphanies. In fact, it’s ‘today’ in Bethlehem, because the Patriarchate of Jerusalem celebrates Christmas according to the Older Calendar. This difference in calendars among us, as Christians, is something we tend to regard as a scandal, and a painful reality for those who have friends or family who celebrate great feasts like this one separately from us. But let’s consider the above-quoted hymn, my friends, which offers some consolation on this matter, because it unifies those who celebrate(d) the Lord’s birth in Bethlehem at different ‘times.’

While the hymn does describe an event that happened at a specific time in history, one could say it was not ‘celebrated’ at the same exact time by the Virgin, the shepherds, and the wise men. She (and Joseph) were presumably the only ones there, along with the farm-animals mentioned in Christmas carols. (The Protoevangelium of James inserts also a midwife and Salome at the scene, but our tradition usually ignores this factoid.) The shepherds arrive at the scene somewhat later, while the wise men still ‘ journey with a star.’ The wise men beheld and celebrated the ‘ young Child,’ or celebrated Christmas, days or weeks later. So, we can compare them to Older Calendar folks, if you will.

And then there is One mentioned in this hymn who transcends time altogether: He’s called in this hymn the ‘ Transcendent One,’ the ‘ Pre-Eternal God,’ accentuating His transcendence of our time. In His ‘mind,’ the mystery of His incarnation was never unknown; you could say, God always ‘celebrates’ the mystery revealed to us only at a specific time in history, under Caesar Augustus and “ while Quirinius was governor of Syria” (Lk 2:2): it’s why, when He created the human being, He recognized His own image and likeness in us.

As for the angels, I don’t think they ‘knew’ about the mystery way back then, when we were created, but at the very least Gabriel knew about it since the time of the Annunciation. I don’t know if he could keep it to himself at that point, or if he shared it with other bodiless powers, if they chat among themselves. In any event, the angels did know and celebrate the birth of Christ before the shepherds knew, so they also celebrated Christmas a bit earlier.

To conclude this long reflection, if it’s any consolation, let’s remember that the ‘today’ of the Nativity of our Lord extends beyond our specific calendars; it always extended beyond our calendars. We can always join in its celebration, as we do, actually, throughout our lives in Christ, who is One that is always ‘coming’ to us, in the flesh, in His word, and by His life-creating Spirit. And let’s join in saying Merry Christmas to our Older Calendar brothers and sisters today! Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, among people of good will!❤

Let Us Receive 'The Blessing of the Jordan'

 

Source: orthodoxroad.com

"For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men ... awaiting our blessed hope, the appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ ..."

- Titus 2:11-13

On January 6, we celebrate the Feast of Theophany. To use its full title, we celebrate THE THEOPHANY OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST, a title that we usually summarize as "Theophany" (sometimes "Epiphany"). 

The Theophany commemorated on January 6, is actually the original date on which the Lord's Nativity was observed, together with the Visitation of the Magi, and the Baptism of Christ. This nexus of events are distinct "theophanies," or "manifestations of God" to the world, each of which reveals the presence of Christ as a light illuminating the world, as well as being the long-awaited Messiah and Savior. In fact, Theophany is sometimes called "The Feast of Lights." It was in the 4th c. that our current Christmas day of December 25 was established slowly throughout the Christian world. The Nativity of Christ was a more hidden theophany; while the Baptism was more open in nature.

From the appointed Epistle reading of the Feast, TIT. 2:11-14, 3:4-7, we learn of the two "appearances" (the Gk. word is epiphania) of Christ: basically His Incarnation as Jesus of Nazareth, and His Parousia, or Second Coming, as the Lord of Glory. Thus, the first appearance was in the past; while the second will be in the future. The first appearance was in humility; the second will be in glory. We live in the present, between these two appearances. We commemorate the one, and await the other. And our mode of life should reflect the fact that we have been baptized "into Christ."

In his Epistle to Titus, the Apostle Paul refers to this baptism as "the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit"(3:5). The purpose of this baptism was "so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life"(3:7). The appearance/epiphany of the grace of God and the grace that we receive in Baptism is "training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world" (2:12). Baptism essentially allows us - by the grace of God - to transcend our biological mode of existence; so that we are now open-ended beings capable of transformation by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. Although subject to our biological condition, we are not enslaved to it, with "no exit" in sight. That is a potential gift unique to human beings.

At the Third Royal Hour for Theophany, we heard a beautiful passage from the Prophet Isaiah, who anticipated the transforming power of Baptism and the mode of life that would accompany it: 

Thus says the Lord: "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before My eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless; plead for the widow. Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."

The Baptism of the Lord is directly related to our own personal baptism. This was prophetically delivered to Israel; anticipated by John's baptism in the River Jordan for the "remission of sins;" and now actualized in the Church each and every time that a person - infant, child, adolescent, adult - "puts on Christ" in the sanctified waters of the baptismal font. If, as the Apostle Paul declares, we have "put on Christ," then we need to manifest a Christ-like life to the world to the extent that we are able. The Feast of Theophany brings that to life for us as we now, as then, receive the "blessing of the Jordan."

When we "bless" the waters, we are basically acknowledging the initial "very good" with which God blessed the created world "in the beginning" (GEN. 1:31). We do not disparage the created world, but rather rejoice in it. We are definitely not dualists! However, that initial state of pristine purity was lost through the subsequent presence of sin within the world, to such an extent "that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now" (ROM. 8:22). Therefore, the entire cosmos has been awaiting the redemption that only the Son of God could bestow through His Incarnation, Death and Resurrection. In this way, "the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God" (ROM. 8:21). By blessing the material world — probably best exemplified through the blessing of that most primal and foundational of all earthly elements, water — we anticipate that eschatological liberation here and now within the grace-filled life of the Church. To summarize this ecclesial recognition of the goodness and sanctification of the world around us, we can turn to the explanation offered by Archbishop Kallistos Ware, from the Festal Mention:

The fall of the angelic orders, and after it the fall of man, involved the whole universe. All God's creation was thereby warped and disfigured: to use the symbolism of the liturgical texts, the waters were made a "lair of dragons.'

Christ came on earth to redeem not only man, but - through man - the entire material creation. When He entered the water, besides effecting by anticipation or rebirth in the font, he likewise effected the cleansing of the waters, their transfiguration into an organ of healing and grace.

Further, in discussing our traditions of taking some of the blessed water home with us, Archbishop Kallistos writes the following:

...Orthodox are encouraged to drink from the water that has been blessed at Epiphany and to sprinkle themselves with it; they take it also to their homes, and keep it there to use from time to time. In all this they are not guilty of superstition. If they act so, it is because they are convinced that in virtue of Christ's Incarnation, of His Baptism and Transfiguration, all material things can be made holy and 'spirit bearing." ( The Festal Menaion, p. 58-59.

The Leavetaking of Theophany is not until January 14. That means that we will continue to celebrate the Feast on Sunday at the Liturgy. During this time of the Afterfeast, a good practice is to incorporate the troparion of the Feast into our daily prayer life: both in our personal prayer and as a family. Before blessing our family meals together, we could sing or chant the troparion of the feast, so that we are doing at home, what would be done in church - extend the celebration of the Feast and thus be more attentive to the liturgical rhythms of the Church calendar. 

Coffee with Sister Vassa -- THE SYMBOLISM of the RIVER JORDAN

Coming up soon (NC) is the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. So, I’d like to share some lesser-known fun facts about the symbolism of the Jordan River, in which He was baptised.

The name of the River ‘Jordan’ (Nehar ha-‘Yarden’ in Hebrew, from the Hebrew word ‘yarden’ or ‘ to flow down, descend’), means The Flowing Down or Descending One. The river begins from several sources at Mount Hermon in the north of the Holy Land, anddescendsfrom there southwards, through the Sea of Galilee and further down through Israel, until it terminates in the Dead Sea. This ‘descending’ aspect of the river is seen to symbolize Christ Himself, as the One who ‘ comes down’ from heaven, to ‘flow’ through Israel, spreading the Good News of grace and truth and life (symbolized by water). And the river’s starting-points at Mount ‘Hermon’ (meaning ‘sacred’), which is a mountain-cluster with threedistinct summits, seen to symbolize the Holy Trinity, is like ‘heaven’ or God’s dwelling-place, from where the Son of God ‘descends’ to us. The ultimate place of the Jordan, the Dead Sea, called in Hebrew ‘ The Sea of Salt’ (Yām HamMelaḥ) and/or ‘The Sea of the Pledge’ (Yām Ha'Ărāvâ, from the Hebrew word ‘eravon’ that means ‘pledge’ or ‘guarantee’ that an obligation will be fulfilled), symbolizes several things: 1. The death of Christ, in which He remains uncorrupted (and salt symbolizes incorruption); 2. The “ Holy Spirit of promise, Who is the guarantee(arrabon in Greek) of our inheritance...” (Eph 1:13-14); and 3. Because the waters stop in the Dead Sea and don’t flow further, but evaporate up into the air, it also symbolizes the resurrection and ascension.

Does any of this apply to our baptism? Yes, even though we are not baptized by the baptism of John, and most of us were not baptised in the Jordan. But we are, indeed, baptised in(to) the death and resurrection of Christ. One could say, we are baptised into the ‘flow’ of our Lord’s movement, ‘descending’ down into His (and our) vocation of service to others in word and deed, even unto death and resurrection in His Spirit. In early Christianity, being baptised into His ‘flow’ was accentuated, when the preferred way of celebrating baptisms was in ‘ living water,’ meaning in rivers, in flowing water. But even if we are not baptised in a river, we remember that Christ’s ‘baptism’ or ‘immersion’ (which is what ‘baptism’ means) into the waters of the Jordan sanctifies all the ‘waters’ of our world, including whatever waters in which we were baptised. Just like the other classical elements, like earth, air/wind and fire are sanctified: earth, (previously cursed in Gen 3:17) – by His burial in the ground; air/wind – by His ascension and by the ‘ rushing mighty wind’ of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:2); and fire – by the ‘ tongues, as of fire’ that rested on the Church on that same occasion (Acts 2:3), and that invisibly rests upon us in every sacrament, in which we are baptised/immersed “ in the Holy Spirit and fir” (Mt 3:11). Glory be to Him.❤🔥