Monday Morning Meditation

Source: uncutmountainsupply.com

 At the Liturgy yesterday, the homily focused on the Nicene Creed (1700th anniversary this year, 325-2025) and our belief in "One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church." So I am now  sharing two very different types of approaches to the Church, one by a distinguished contemporary biblical scholar and the second by a very prominent Orthodox theologian who died in a Soviet prison camp. The first is more-or-less a short definition by the Australian biblical scholar, Brendan Byrne. I hope that it doesn't sound a bit too "textbook" in style, but it gives us an overall - though very concise - explanation of the very term used for the Church, primarily as encountered in the Apostle Paul:

"Church - In secular Greek usage the term ekklesia refers to an assembly of citizens "called out" from their homes (ek-kalein) by the civic herald to gather in the assembly to hear a solemn proclamation from the ruler or to make decisions. The early believers saw themselves as called out from the darkness of unbelief to hear in community the Good New of their risen Lord. In each separate locality they constitute "the assembly [ekklesia] of God." Paul usually employs the term with reference to the local communities but this does not mean that he lacks a sense of a total ekklesia, a renewed people of God, made up, on the analogy of Israel, from the spread (diaspora) of communities in each place (cf. I Cor. 1:1-2)"

Then, there is this from the early 20th theologian Fr. Pavel Florensky, whose words reflect more the mystery of the Church as a reality that is experienced more than it is described:

"There is no concept of ecclesiality, but ecclesiality itself is, and for every living member of the Church, the life of the Church is the most definite and tangible thing that he knows. But the life of the Church is assimilated and known only through life - not in the abstract, not in a rational way. If one must nevertheless apply concepts to the life of the Church, the most appropriate concepts would be not juridical and archaeological, but ones that are biological and aesthetic ones."

Fr. Thomas Hopko: 'Christ & His Church'

 

Christ & His Church

by Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko

A] Jesus Christ is the God-man, the “Second Person” of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God become fully human, “for us men, and for our salvation.” This is the essence of the Christian worldview, the essential truth to which all witness must be born and all service rendered. Christians know this and bear witness to it, to Christ as being “all in all,” because they experience Him in the Church – His living Body. They experience Him, here and now, in the life of his church, as He is in all the fullness of His divine humanity.

B] Christ is with us now: this is the Christian encounter and witness. God is with us in Him. Others may have seen and heard and touched Him as He was in the days of his flesh, but we know Him as He is now in the fullness of His glory. The days of His flesh show over and gone. We have no need to strive and revive, retrieve or relive them, certainly not by scholarly, psychological, or even by meditative means. Jesus Christ is no longer as He was in his days on earth - in the form of a slave. He is present now in and with His people, and with God, His Father, by the power of God, the Holy Spirit and "the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who feels all in all" (Eph. 1:23).

C] For this reason, Orthodox Christians have nothing to offer people and the world but Christ and His Church. It is our conviction that there is nothing else to be offered and nothing else that is necessary. Our witness to this conviction, to this end. In our time, however, there are specific human needs, and desires, which cry out for fulfillment, specific cries, which arise in the hearts of men which reach our ears, clamoring for concern and attention. If we say that Christ and His Church are the answer to these needs, we must be aware of what they are and be prepared to demonstrate how their ultimate satisfaction can be attained only by Christ and through His Church. We must be ready to make every effort to verify our claims by our actions, witnessing and serving with the love "not in words and speech, but indeed, and in truth." (1 John 3:18).

D] Jesus was not a relativist. Neither was He a sectarian. Whatever someone happens to believe about His person and nature, one should see that he was not a "peddler" of some religious doctrine or a "Crusader" for some religious sect. He was a man – the man Who was also the incarnation of the Son of God – Who witnessed to the unity of mankind in freedom, in Spirit and in truth. He spoke not about ethereal "spiritualities" or about the need for "religion," but about goodness, truth, virtue, light and life itself. He was not a "tyrant" of any sort. He exercised no power or force of any kind – political, social, economic, psychological, or religious. He wrote no books. He left no earthly monuments as a record to His many miracles and accomplishments. But He believed that people could know the truth and do good, and so be free. 

Pentecostal Renewal or the Summertime Blues?

 

 

Icon of All Saints

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

This last Sunday was the First Sunday After Pentecost. All of the subsequent Sundays of the liturgical year until the pre-lenten Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee sometime next year will be so numbered. We have thus completed the long and integrated cycle of the pre-lenten Sundays, Great Lent, Pascha and Pentecost for this year. This was a full nineteen weeks during which the Church drew on both The Triodion and The Pentecostarion. This coming Sunday will be the Second Sunday After Pentecost. This is not intended to help us count better. 

The purpose is to keep before our spiritual sight the overwhelming significance of Pentecost in the divine economy. 

The New Testament era of the Church began its existence on the Day of Pentecost with the Spirit’s descent as a mighty rushing wind that took on the form of fiery tongues alighting upon the heads of the future apostles (ACTS 2:1-13). The Church has always existed, but the Church as a remnant of Israel that would flourish and grow with the addition of the Gentiles began its final phase of existence with the Death, Resurrection and Ascension of God’s Messiah, Jesus Christ, Who, seated at the right hand of the Father, would send the Holy Spirit into the world and upon “all flesh” on the Day of Pentecost. As St. Epiphanius of Cyprus wrote in the fourth century: 

“The Catholic Church, which exists from the ages, is revealed most clearly in the incarnate advent of Christ.”

 

The simple calendar rubric of numbering the Sundays after Pentecost is one way of reminding us of this essential truth of the Christian Faith. The Church is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and in and through the sacramental life of the Church we experience something like a permanent pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It is this outpouring of the Spirit "on all flesh" that offers the possibility and the promise of human holiness. The fact that so many men, women and children throughout the centuries of the Church's existence received this gift with joy and gladness is revealed to us in the lives of the saints. It is these "holy persons" that we commemorated this last Sunday on the Sunday of All Saints.

However, as we embark upon the Sundays of Pentecost we immediately encounter a prevailing tension between the "rhythm" of the Church and the "rhythm" of our personal lives. We begin these Pentecostal Sundays just when summer is also beginning - and our summer schedules often minimize our participation in the Church. 

So, as we receive the Spirit of renewal and re-commitment to the Church as the source of authentic life; as we pray to the Heavenly King and Spirit of Truth to "come and abide in us;" we more-or-less settle into our church summer schedules that have something of a lazy-hazy approach to the Church. There seems to exist an Orthodox version of "the summertime blues!" 

This can especially afflict Orthodox parents who equate "summer vacation" from school and summer vacation from church school. The notion of "we're off until the Fall!" can translate into sporadic attendance at the Lord's Day Liturgy, let alone any other services or events in the church. Fortunately for us, God's providential care for us is not seasonal.

Thus, the tension between Pentecostal renewal and the beginning of summer. If anyone gets the urge to just stay home on Sunday for leisure purposes or for no particular reason at all, my pastoral response is: that is a temptation that must be resisted. It was recorded that St. Seraphim of Sarov (+1833) once said that if were too ill or infirm to walk to the Liturgy, then he would crawl there on his hands and knees!

Be present in the church as often as possible: "The Church is the presence of the Most Trinity in the midst of us and in us. It is the action of the Life-giving Trinity in his creatures." (Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh).

The Lord's Day cycle for the Second Sunday of Pentecost - when we commemorate the Saints of North America - begins with Great Vespers on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. and culminates with the Hours and Liturgy on Sunday morning at 9:10 and 9:30 a.m. respectively. 

Pentecostal renewal or the summertime blues?

Leavetaking of Pascha: 'Did our hearts burn within us?'

The Risen Christ and the Meal at Emmaus

Dear Parish Faithful,

Christ is Risen, and Happy Leavetaking of Pascha today

Today is the Leavetaking of Pascha as we draw near to the Feast of the Ascension. According to the Acts of the Apostles: "To them he presented himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God." (1:3) Of course, the apostles had the distinct advantage of actually seeing and touching the Risen Lord over these forty days whenever he appeared to them. As their certainty was built up and their faith strengthened as men who "built their house upon a rock" (Matt. 7:24), this was all meant to prepare them for their arduous mission to the world to proclaim the Gospel of the crucified and risen Lord. When the rain, and flood and winds of persecution threatened the very foundation of their lives and faith (cf. Matt. 7:25), they remained steadfast, "even unto death." Their "houses" were not shaken.

We have just had forty days to strengthen our faith in the risen Lord. At every liturgical service we sang: "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death." We proclaim at every Liturgy that we have "beheld the resurrection of Christ." And even though we did not have that privileged direct presence of the Lord as did the apostles, the Lord, when speaking to Thomas, according to St. John's Gospel, not only reminded us, but once-and-for-all assured us that we have lost nothing because of this: "Jesus said to him, 'Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe'." (Jn. 20:29) We are all part of the endless generations of believers who "have not seen but believe."

At this point, perhaps we can ask ourselves about the extent of our effort to "see" the risen Lord during these sacred forty days which are now ending. Was the Lord uppermost in our minds and hearts? Did our hearts "burn within us" when we thought of Christ risen from the dead? (Lk. 24:32) Did we probe the Scriptures as Christ invited the apostles to do, so that they/we would find him there: "These are my words which I have spoken to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to the Scriptures ..." (Lk. 24:44-45) The opportunities to see the risen Lord have surely been many and varied. 

Hopefully, we have not followed the surrounding social and cultural environment in which any significant event or celebration is reduced to "one and done," as the demands of life - but also the daily enticements and distractions - press upon us for our attention. Whatever the case may be, we now arrive at the Feast of Ascension and the glorification of the Risen Lord and our human nature "in him." The opportunities to draw nearer to Christ and to strengthen our faith in him, never really cease in the grace-filled life of the Church.

The Saints: Examples of Holiness

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

We recently celebrated the Great Feast of Pentecost on June 4. Therefore the following Sunday is called, simply enough, The First Sunday After Pentecost. All of the subsequent Sundays of the liturgical year, until the lenten Sundays of  next year, will be so numbered, challenging us to keep our spiritual sight on the overwhelming significance of Pentecost in the divine economy. 

The New Testament era of the Church began its existence on the Day of Pentecost with the Spirit’s descent as a mighty rushing wind that took on the form of fiery tongues alighting upon the heads of the future apostles [Acts 2:1-13]. The Church has always existed, but the Church as a remnant of Israel that would flourish and grow with the addition of the Gentiles began its final phase of existence with the death, resurrection and ascension of God’s Messiah, Jesus Christ Who, seated at the right hand of the Father, would send the Holy Spirit into the world and upon “all flesh” on the day of Pentecost. 

As Saint Epiphanius of Cyprus wrote in the fourth century, “The Catholic Church, which exists from the ages, is revealed most clearly in the incarnate advent of Christ.”

The simple calendar rubric of numbering the Sundays after Pentecost is one way of reminding us of this essential truth of the Christian Faith. The Church is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and in and through the sacramental life of the Church we experience something like a permanent pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
The first two Sundays after Pentecost are dedicated to the saints -- the first, to All Saints, and the second, to local Saints, in our case, the Saints that have shown forth in North America. We commemorate all of the saints of the Church – men, women and children -- from her beginning to the present day, including "ancestors, fathers, mothers, patriarchs, matriarchs, prophets, apostles, preachers, evangelists, martyrs, confessors, ascetics and every righteous spirit made perfect in faith.” That is, the entire “cloud of witnesses” that surround us and pray for us while serving as models for our own faith. 

God has revealed to the Church His innumerable saints, and we rejoice in their continuous presence, made possible by the ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit. The divine and co-eternal Spirit, holy by nature, makes human beings holy by grace. That is why these particular Sundays fall so naturally after the Sunday of Pentecost.

The word we use for "saint" is the Greek word for “holy” – agios. In a real sense, we are celebrating the presence of holiness in the world, incarnate in actual flesh and blood human beings. The descent of the Holy Spirit makes it possible for human beings to become and remain holy. Without the Holy Spirit, human beings can be nice, pleasant and even good – but not holy. And it is the holiness of the saints that is their one common characteristic, expressed in an endless diversity of vocations. 

Every baptized and chrismated member of the Church is already a saint – a person sanctified and set apart as a member of the People of God – and every such member has the vocation to become a saint. The phrase often used to capture this paradox of the Christian life is “become what you already are.” This phrase expresses an entire lifetime of striving and struggle to attain, by God’s grace, the highest of vocations – the holiness of a genuine child of God, “born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” [John 1:13]. 

Of this we are reminded in the Gospel reading for the Sunday of All Saints: 

“So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father Who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father Who is in heaven...

"He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” [Matthew 10:32-33, 37-38].

 

We probably have a difficult time relating to such a passage, since we expend an enormous amount of energy – time, talent and treasure -- in order to guarantee for ourselves a comfortable life and the closest of possible family relationships. God and Church may be a part of that choice, but perhaps only as one compartment of life among many. At times, the greatest of our goals may be to create a certain form of “domestic bliss,” to the extent that this is humanly attainable. Nothing else can seem greater or more desirable.

Jesus, however, makes other claims on us. And the first of those radical claims is that we must love Him above all else – including father and mother, son and daughter. This is a “hard teaching.” 

Perhaps it is here that we discover the greatest “achievement” of the saints, and the reason behind the sanctity that they often so clearly manifest. They simply loved Christ before all else. And there is nothing that can deflect them from that love. 

But in no way does this diminish our love for our loved ones. I believe that if we love Christ before all else, then we would have a greater love for those around us, including our very family members. Of course, when a choice must be made between Christ and family, it must be Christ, whatever the "cost" of that choice may be. To love Christ above all else is to expand our very notion and experience of love. If we live “in Christ,” we can then love “in Christ.” Elsewhere, Jesus would claim that this would include our enemies! This is a love that will not disappoint.

With any other deeper love, there is always the lurking temptation of succumbing to one form of idolatry or another. Jesus even says that if we love anyone else more than Him, we are not “worthy” of Him! Clearly, there is nothing easy about bearing the name of Christ and calling oneself a Christian. Is all of this impossible? Jesus teaches that “with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”[Matthew 19:26].

We share the most difficult of vocations – to live up to our high calling in Christ Jesus. This is not something that we achieve on our own, but a process that includes the grace of God and our own self-determination, what we call our freedom of choice or “free will.” There are obstacles that begin with the genetic and the environmental. There are distractions and temptations too numerous to keep track of. There is the unbelief of the world around us. Yet, if we approach this “day by day,” we soon realize that we are simply trying to become genuine human beings, for the glory of God is a human being fully alive, to paraphrase Saint Irenaeus of Lyons. 

As disciples of Christ, we have the “inside track” to allow us to “run with perseverance the race that is before us” [Hebrews 12:1]. So, we thank God for the multitude of the saints who not only set an example for us, but who also pray for us unceasingly in the Kingdom of God.

 

Way beyond 'attending church...'

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

The Eucharistic Assembly -  

"With good reason, then, are we accustomed to have sacred meetings in churches on the eighth day. And, to adopt the language of allegory, as the idea necessarily demands, we indeed close the doors (St. Cyril is referring to the ancient church practice of closing the doors of the church at the time of the eucharist), but Christ still visits us and appears to us all, both invisibly as God and visibly in the body. He allows us to touch his holy flesh and give it to us. For through the grace of God we are admitted to partake of the blessed Eucharist, receiving Christ into our hands, to the intent that we may firmly believe that he did in truth raise up the temple of his body. ... Participation in the divine mysteries, in addition to filling us with divine blessedness, is a true confession and memorial of Christ's dying and rising again for us and for our sake. Let us, therefore, after touching Christ's body, avoid all unbelief in him as utter ruin and rather be found well grounded in the full assurance of faith."

- St. Cyril of Alexandria
_____

This is from St. Cyril's exegetical commentary on Jn. 20. For though "the doors were shut," the Risen Lord appeared among his disciples and granted them the peace of the Kingdom of God. This was in the evening of the first day of the week, or the first day of Christ's resurrection. The disciple Thomas was not there, so the Lord appeared again "eight days later." Hence, the Lord'd Day - the Day of Resurrection - is both the first and eighth day of the week. This "eighth day" of liturgical time, actually lifts us outside of time, as the eighth day is the day of the eschaton, beyond the seven days that signify the fulness of time "in this world." This takes us way beyond "attending church" on Sunday morning!

Pascha: The Supreme Reality

Dear Parish Faithful,

CHRIST IS RISEN! 

INDEED HE IS RISEN!

"Pascha is the sacrament expressly bestowed upon the Church by the Holy Spirit in order that it knows the risen Lord: "Having beheld the resurrection of Christ, let us worship the holy Lord Jesus." Pascha is joy about the Church. By the power of Pascha we find ourselves in the Church, in the one life of the one body, the body of Christ. What usually remains only a summons and a promise is now present before us as the supreme reality. Churchly joy allows us to see one another in God and to delight thereby in our neighbor, as it is proper for a lover to delight in the beloved."

- Fr. Sergius Bulgakov
_____

The "supreme reality." That very well summarizes the paschal mystery as the very heart of the Church. For, with no resurrection, there simply would be no Church. Sharing in the supreme reality, we unite as brothers and sisters in Christ - people of the Resurrection.

 

Encountering Christ through the depths of Holy Week

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

HOLY WEEK

Christ, the Bridegroom

We have reached the saving passion of Christ our God.
Let us, the faithful, glorify His ineffable forbearance,
that in His compassion He may raise us up who were dead in sin,
for He is good and loves mankind.
(Matins of Holy Monday)

As Orthodox, we "live" for Holy Week and realize that it is the key week of our liturgical year, as it will culminate in the Lord's Death and Resurrection - the great paschal mystery. As Fr. Sergius Bulgakov once wrote:

"Holy Week sweeps the Orthodox believer along as if on a mystic torrent."

Our problem may just be observing Holy Week with focused attention and prayerful participation, as other demands of life impinge upon us in a never-ending flow of responsibilities - and distractions.

Therefore, I would simply like to provide a few pastoral suggestions that everyone can think about and perhaps incorporate into your daily lives as Holy Week unfolds:

• One must first make a commitment to Holy Week and make it the priority for your respective households, regardless of how often you actually make it to the services. This is a week of strict fasting, and no other activities should impinge upon that. Your commitment to making Holy Week the center of your lives is synonymous with your commitment to Christ.
  

• Try and arrange your schedules so that you are able to attend the services as well as possible. However, if you are not able to attend the services, it must not be because of something of "entertainment value;" or some other distraction that can wait for a more appropriate time. Be especially aware of Great and Holy Friday and Saturday. These are the days of the Lord's Death and Sabbath rest in the tomb. These are days of fasting, silence and sobriety. Respect that fact that you are participating in a great mystery - the mystery of redemption and salvation.
  

• Parents, you may think of taking your children out of school on Holy Friday and attending the Vespers service in the afternoon. Other children have their "holy days" on which they may miss school; and we, as Orthodox Christians, have our own.
  

• Reduce or eliminate TV and other viewings for the week. Keep off the internet except for essential matters. Struggle against smart phone distraction/app obsessions.
  

• Be regular in your prayers.
  

• Try not to gossip or speak poorly of other persons.
  

• Choose at least one of the Passion Narratives from the four Gospels — MK. 14-15; MATT. 26-27; LK. 22-23; JN. 18-19 — and read it carefully through the week. There is also other good literature about Holy Week and Pascha that could be read. Actually, this is an incredibly rich resource page from our own parish website that offers extensive and intensive insights into the meaning of Holy Week.
  

• If you have access to any of the Holy Week service booklets, read and study the services carefully before coming to church. This will deepen your understanding of that particular service's emphasis as Holy Week unfolds.
  

• If you come to the midnight Paschal Liturgy, do your best to stay for the entire service, prepared to receive the Eucharist. It does not make a great deal of sense to leave the Liturgy before Holy Communion.

 

Our goal, I believe, is to make of Holy Week and Pascha something a great deal more than a colorful/cultural event that is fleeting in nature and quickly forgotten. To encounter this "more" requires our own human effort working together with the grace of God so that the heart is enlarged with the presence of the crucified and risen Christ.

__________

At the last of our Presanctified Liturgies for this year, we heard the following hymn:

I am rich in passions, I am wrapped in the false robe of hypocrisy. Lacking self-restraint I delight in self-indulgence. I show a boundless lack of love. I see my mind cast down before the gates of repentance, starved of true goodness and sick with inattention. But make me like Lazarus, who was poor in sin, lest I receive no answer when I pray, no finger dipped in water to relieve my burning tongue; and make me dwell in Abraham's bosom in Your love for mankind.

 

Does this possibly sound familiar to anyone? Do you know of anyone that this hymn may be describing? Is this person well-known to you? If so, you may want to keep this person in your prayers so that he or she may one day - by the grace of God - be freed of these spiritually-harmful traits.

But our primary aim is to focus on the beauty and depth of Holy Week; a beauty and depth that flows naturally from Jesus Christ our Savior.

Come, O Gathering of Those who Love the Feasts

 

Dear Parish Faithful, 

This year, August 14 & 15 - the eve of the Dormition and the actual Feast day itself – fall on a Sunday evening and Monday. This means that many parishioners will face a challenge (of sorts) to participate in this “summer Pascha.” 

The Great Vespers on the eve of the Feast has been developed in our parish over the years, and parish participation has grown accordingly. In fact, over the last five years or so, this festal service has become one of the most well-attended in our Feast Day cycle. We now decorate the “tomb” (epitaphios) of the Theotokos as well as place the icon of her blessed repose within it and place the tomb in the center of the church to allow for our veneration of the Dormition/Falling Asleep of the Mother of God. This is clearly an echo of Great and Holy Friday. (Even though we do not use them, a series of “lamentations” have been composed, again after the pattern of the Lamentations before the tomb of Christ during the Holy Saturday Matins). Yet, returning to church on Sunday evening is not a very promising prospect according to the history of our parish. I am quite realistic about this, having eliminated certain services over the years (Sunday evening Lenten services) for that very reason. However, the Church calendar is what it is, and this year the Feast falls on these particular days. The Church calendar always poses a challenge in our contemporary setting! 

However, it certainly is not “impossible” to return to church on a Sunday evening. Here is one possible way of approaching that near “impossible” endeavor: Every Feast is the actualization of the event being commemorated; its “re-presenting.” This is the mystery and glory of “liturgical time” within the Church. We become participants and not mere observers. That is what is behind the use of the word “today” when we commemorate an event in the life of Christ or the Mother of God: 

Come, O gathering of those who love to keep the feasts, come and let us for a choir … For today is heaven opened wide as it receives the Mother of Him who cannot be contained. (Litiya of the Feast of Dormition)

Now, as Christ is the New Adam, the Theotokos is the New Eve. As the first Eve became the “mother of all living,” the Theotokos is now the Mother of all of those “alive” in Christ and in the Church and essentially of all humankind as the intercessor of those both aware or unaware of her universal motherhood. This motherhood to all believers was clearly manifested at the Cross, when the Lord, from the Cross, declared to the beloved disciple: “Behold, your mother!” This came right after Jesus told His Mother concerning the beloved disciple: “Woman, behold, your son!” (JN. 19:26-27) The beloved disciple (John) represents all true disciples and believers in Christ. Thus, all disciples have been placed within the maternal embrace of the New Eve, The Ever-Virgin Mary and the Mother of the living. Again, she is our common mother. So, in addition, to our actual (biological) mothers whom we love, we love the Mother of God and seek her maternal embrace. We highly venerate her as the Mother of God and the Mother of the living. How sad for those Christians who do not openly venerate the Theotokos! 

If the Feast of the Dormition commemorates – and thus actualizes – the falling asleep in death of the Theotokos, then we “re-present” her funeral in our liturgical services dedicated to this event. Being present at this Feast is like being present at the funeral service of our own mother! Of course, we declare that “neither the tomb nor death could hold the Theotokos” and that “she was translated to life by the One who dwelt in her virginal womb.” (Kontakion of the Feast) Because of her Son – our Lord Jesus Christ – she died a “deathless death.” The Theotokos has actualized our common hope and destiny in Christ, Who has “trampled down death by death.” In commemorating her blessed repose, we commemorate/celebrate her “translation” into the presence of God in the Kingdom of Heaven. This is why the Dormition is in reality a Feast. We should be able to draw out the implications of these glorious and marvelous truths in how we then approach this Feast. 

The full liturgical cycle that we serve for the Dormition is a wonderful opportunity to express our love and respect for the Theotokos. I encourage those who are able to be present for the full cycle to do so. But often enough, our responsibilities – like going to work! – make that unrealistic. Yet, if work precludes the possibility of our presence for the Liturgy on Monday morning, then we are blessed with the Great Vespers on Sunday evening. I believe that it is always very important to be serious about our claims. If we claim that the Virgin Mary is the Mother of God and the Mother of the living, our response to that claim takes on an added depth and urgency. Presence and participation is always a good way to begin. 

The Dormition of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary: 

Great Vespers with Litiya and Blessing of Loaves – Sunday at 6:00 p.m. 
Divine Liturgy – Monday at 9:30 a.m.

 

July: A 'month-long spiritual desert'

 

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

Unless we find ourselves on an exciting vacation somewhere far from home, it seems that nothing can conceivably be more uneventful than a Monday morning in mid-July. The only “variety” offered seems to be found in the weather. Will it rain or will the sun shine? Will the blistering heat continue, or will we feel some relief?

At this point in the summer, we may have already been on vacation – which means that there isn’t much to look forward to—or we are awaiting an upcoming trip that at least fills us with some sense of anticipation and “escape.” Which poses a further question: are those carefully-planned vacations into which we invest so much time, energy, money – and even hope – always as rewarding, relaxing and renewing as anticipated? I suppose that can only be assessed once we have returned – hopefully as intact as when we departed!

Whatever the case may be, the following passage from the Scriptures may just inspire us to see beyond the tedium that leads to the forgetfulness of God: 

“Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather healed” (Heb 12:12-13).

 

Adding to our spiritual ennui is, admittedly, the fact that July is the most uneventful month of the year liturgically: no major fasts or feasts occur during this month. Basically, there is “only” the Liturgy on Sundays and the commemoration of a few well-known saints throughout the month. With vacationing parishioners, there can be a noticeable drop in church attendance. There may also be certain signs of “spiritual laziness” setting in (induced, perhaps, in part by the haziness of the weather) leading to that condition of spiritual torpor known in our spiritual literature as akedia. 

July, therefore, is something of a month-long stretch of desert, for we celebrated the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul at the end of June and await the major Feasts of the Transfiguration and Dormition in August within the context of the two-week fast from August 1-14.

Of course, we never want to find ourselves saying that there is “only” the Liturgy on Sunday mornings. The word “only” is hopelessly inadequate when applied to the Lord’s Day celebration of the Eucharist! 

“Only” implies “uneventful.” Yet, every Liturgy is the actualization of the Paschal Mystery of the Death and Resurrection of Christ, and our participation in that mystery. And every Liturgy is simultaneously the actualization of the Pentecostal mystery of the sanctifying presence of the Holy Spirit: "Send down Thy Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts here offered." 

At every Liturgy we proclaim and bless the presence and power of the Kingdom of Heaven. We are praying to and praising the Holy Trinity together with the angels and the saints. We are in direct communion with God and one another in the Liturgy. This means that every Liturgy is “eventful” in a manner that we can barely comprehend!

If, indeed, the summer proves to be something of a spiritual drought, then we can only thank God for the weekly liturgical cycle that begins and culminates with the Divine Liturgy on the Lord’s Day so that we can recover and renew our genuine humanity that has been created, redeemed and transformed “in Christ.” 

To speak of our life “in Christ” on the communal level we believe that at every Liturgy, we anticipate the messianic banquet where and when “many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11). The heavenly manna, or the “Bread from heaven” that we receive by the grace of God, strengthens us in the somewhat outward and inward “desert-like” conditions of the world around or within us.

On a more interior level, we may one day make the wonderful discovery that we need not travel far away geographically in order to embark upon a life-transforming journey. In the Prologue to his book The Orthodox Way, Metropolitan Kallistos Ware relates the following anecdote.

“One of the best known of the Desert Fathers of the fourth-century Egypt, Saint Sarapion the Sidonite, traveled once on pilgrimage to Rome. Here he was told of a celebrated recluse, a woman who lives always in one small room, never going out. Skeptical about her way of life – for he was himself a great wanderer – Sarapion called on her and asked: ‘Why are you sitting here?’ To this she replied: ‘I am not sitting, I am on a journey'.”

Admittedly, this will not work well with the children. But at one point in our lives, we need desperately to make that discovery of our interior depths wherein we find a point of stillness that will further still our excessive restlessness that endlessly pushes us “outward” rather than “inward.” In one of my favorite sentences in The Orthodox Way, Metropolitan Kallistos puts it this way:  

“We are on a journey through the inward space of the heart, a journey not measured by the hours of our watch or the days of the calendar, for it is a journey out of time into eternity.”

“Vacations” are one thing, and “journeys” (or pilgrimages) another. The packaging and planning of the former make them much more predictable that the limitless possibilities of the latter. So, as we plan our outward vacations by plane or car, we need make provisions for the interior journeys into the greater space of our hearts through “faith, hope and love,” as well as through the practices of prayer and fasting, so as to remain attentive to the “still voice of God” that gives direction and meaning to our lives. Be that as it may, we pray that God will bless us on both forms of travel!

The Apostles Peter & Paul - The Greatest and Most Righteous Pillars of the Church

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

“During their earthly lives, all the saints are an incentive to virtue for those who hear and see them with understanding, for they are human icons of excellence, animated pillars of goodness, and living books, which teach us the way to better things.” (Homily on Saints Peter and Paul by St. Gregory Palamas)

 

Today we celebrate and commemorate the two great Apostles Peter and Paul. Their martyrdom in Rome is a very well-attested historical event, happening probably between the years 64-68 A.D. under the Roman emperor Nero. This is considered within the Church to be such a great Feast that it is preceded by a prescribed time of fasting, a practice only reserved otherwise for the great Feasts of the Lord (Nativity and Pascha) and the Mother of God (Dormition). This both stresses the historical greatness of these two apostles, the accomplishments of their respective ministries, their martyric ends, and the very ministry and role of an apostle in proclaiming the Gospel to the world in fulfillment of the Lord’s command to preach the Good News to “all nations.” (MATT. 28:16-20) Indeed, St. Clement of Rome in his First Epistle, referred to Sts. Peter and Paul as “the greatest and most righteous pillars [of the church].” On careful reflection, it is not simply pious rhetoric that informs some of the hymns chanted in their honor during this Feast:

What spiritual songs shall we sing for Peter and Paul? They have silenced the sharp tongues of the godless. They are awesome swords of the Spirit. They are the adornment of Rome; They have nourished the whole world with the Word of God. They are the living tablets of the New Testament written by the hand of God; Christ who has great mercy, has exalted them in Zion.(Great Vespers)

In the New Testament, fourteen of the Epistles are traditionally attributed to St. Paul and two are attributed to St. Peter. While the entire Acts of the Apostles is basically devoted to recording some of the major events in the history of these two apostles “in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.” (ACTS. 1:8) It may not be wholly accurate to refer to Sts. Peter and Paul as the apostles, respectively, “to the circumcised” (the Jews) and the “uncircumcised” (the Gentiles) – for St. Peter preached to the Gentiles and St. Paul to the Jews) – but this is a way of capturing the fullness of their combined ministries so that Jews and Gentiles would be united in the one Body of Christ in fulfillment of God’s design.

At Great Vespers of this Feast, three New Testament readings are prescribed, all from St. Peter’s first Epistle. We hear from the magnificent opening of I Peter, and this passage profoundly presents the essence of the Gospel as proclaimed in the apostolic age of the Church’s foundation, by the “prince of the apostles.” For those who have not heard or read this passage recently, a good portion of it deserves to be recorded here so as “to make your day:”

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious that gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. As the outcome of your faith you obtain the salvation of your souls.(I PET. 1:3-9)

In this passage, St. Peter reminds us that from the beginning the Gospel bestowed upon on Christians a “living hope” that was based on the fact of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. All New Testament writers establish Christian hope on the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead. (In his first Epistle to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul did not want his early converts to be “without hope” like their pagan neighbors, thus attesting to how important hope is for the believing Christian). The Apostle Peter was not offering yet another philosophy, but proclaiming the activity of God – “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” – within the realm of human history; that is that God has acted decisively on our behalf by overcoming death itself through the resurrection of Jesus. He then describes our “inheritance” in heaven in strikingly powerful images, emphasizing the eternal and unassailable reality of heaven – “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.” This is in sharp contrast to life as we now know it in this world, for all created things are perishable, subject to defilement and destined to fade away. The Apostle Paul confirms this also by saying that “the form of this world is fading away.” (I COR. 7:31) “Guarded by faith,” we await a salvation that will be “revealed in the last time,” meaning the Parousia and end of time.

Yet, the apostle knows that this gift cannot be lightly received and treated. It will only come after “various trials” that are inevitable in a fallen world. In this instance, St. Peter was most likely referring to persecution as this had already broken out against the earliest Christians. However, suffering comes in other forms. These trials will test the “genuineness”of our faith, purifying it if we emerge from these tribulations purged like gold “tested by fire.” All of this is true even though we have not seen nor “see” Jesus even now. This is true of all of Christ’s disciples through the ages, called by Jesus Himself “blessed” by believing though not actually having seen Him (JN. 20:29).

The strength of this experience is beautifully expressed by St. Peter when he confidently states that we “rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy.” This is almost embarrassing when we admit dragging ourselves to church or praying as if constrained under a heavy obligation or a “religious duty” that takes us away from more “interesting” activities! A joyless Christianity is completely foreign to the New Testament. As is a “second place” (or “third” or fourth,” etc.) Christianity in the priorities of our lives. The intended “outcome” of all this is “the salvation of your souls.” Is this why every liturgical service that begins with the Great Litany has us praying to the Lord in the first full petition, for the “peace from above and for the salvation of our souls?” There is nothing “selfish” in seeking or accepting the “salvation of our souls.” This is the gift of God that is intended for all. In the assurance of this gift, we can work more steadfastly on behalf of others, and share what God has done on our behalf.

The Apostles Peter and Paul are truly “Rivers of wisdom and upholders of the Cross!” They exemplified the later teaching of St. Ignatius of Antioch of the mystery of Christ that conveys “life in death.” For they died as martyrs but are eternally alive in Christ. We can now read their epistles and their lives as “living books which teach us the way to better things” as St. Gregory Palamas said of them. We seek their prayers as we strive to be worthy of the title of “Christian.”

The Sundays of Pentecost

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

The Sundays following the Feast of Pentecost are numbered as “after Pentecost.” This is a liturgical reminder of the Holy Spirit’s ever-abiding presence within the Church; and that everything we do within the Church – especially the celebration of the Sacraments – is sealed by the Gift of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, there are no “ordinary” Sundays – including those in the summer months! 

Our entire lives as Orthodox Christians – from cradle to grave – are an unceasing rhythm of progressing from one Lord’s Day celebration to the next. Our hope is that our earthly Liturgies will prepare us for our “passage” into eternal Liturgy of the Kingdom of God. There is no “summer vacation.” And that includes families with small children who are on “vacation” from Church School. 

It is a good thing if your children truly miss the Church School; but that is no reason to miss church and the Liturgy during the summer months. That may be the best “lesson” that you teach your children. I just received a very encouraging letter from a mother who shared with me that over time, and with patience and perseverance, her children are now much more focused on the Liturgy; and that they now always say the “Amen” when we consecrate our gifts of bread and wine as the Body and Blood of Christ, including the final triple “Amen” when we call down the Holy Spirit to seal, complete and perfect the consecration. That is the result of “sticking with it” Sunday after Sunday. 

Once again, if you are traveling, there is no reason why provisions to attend a local Orthodox parish cannot be made. Try and work your schedule around the Lord’s Day. If we want God to be with us on our vacations, then perhaps we should make the effort to be with God whenever possible. 

- Fr. Steven

 

Life In The Church - In Season and Out of Season

 

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

St. John Chrysostom writes: "The Church is the foundation of virtue and the school of spiritual life. Just cross its threshold at any time, and immediately you forget daily cares. Pass inside, and a spiritual ray will surround your soul. This stillness causes awe and teaches the Christian life. It raises up your train of thought and doesn't allow you to remember present things. It transports you from earth to Heaven. And if the gain is so great when a worship service is not even taking place, just think, when the Liturgy is performed - and the prophets teach, the Apostles preach the Gospel, Christ is among the believers, God the Father accepts the performed sacrifice, and the Holy Spirit grants His own rejoicing - what great benefit floods those who have attended church as they leave the church."

With his wonderful gift of rhetoric, St. John conveys his passion for life in the Church and the actual attendance of church as an ongoing experience of spiritual renewal and refreshment. As we approach the summer months, these are words to bear in mind with the hopeful result that they will continue to inspire us to be present in church with regularity for the Lord's Day Liturgy, whether we are home or away. (A little bit of careful planning should be able to get most everyone to another church on a given Sunday when away from our parish). To continue using an old expression, there is no such thing as "summer vacation" away from church - at least not for Orthodox Christians! The Lord's Day begins with the Liturgy - rain or shine - and then departing with the peace of Christ in our minds and hearts, we can disperse to whatever activities we may have planned for the day - realizing, of course, that it is all "downhill" from that point on!

Everyone may also want to think about - and plan appropriately - about making it to church "on time." We always begin with a small group for the beginning of the Liturgy at 9:30 a.m. on Sundays. All things considered, much too small. There may be in some instances good reasons for this, but there is always the ever-present temptation of carelessness and negligence. Habits are habits, and they are always difficult to change. Once a routine has been in place for a long time, it is hard to break even when domestic circumstances themselves change. Please bear in mind a long-standing pastoral directive: If you arrive in church after the Gospel (and that is late!), you are not prepared to approach the Chalice for Holy Communion.

One advantage of the summer months is that things may actually "slow down" a bit. Here is a good time to spend further time learning the Faith. We would not want said of us, what St. John said of his own urban-centered parishioners:

"If you ask them who Amos or Obadiah is, or how many prophets or apostles there are, they can't even open their mouths. Yet they can tell you every detail about the horses, the singers and the actors. What kind of state is this?"

At Christ the Savior/Holy Spirit we will continue to preach the Gospel "in season and out or season." Our goal is then to live it as well as possible.

I am attaching a short list below of items to bear in mind as the summer months approach. Hopefully you will find some things that will prove helpful in maintaining your spiritual vigilance in the approaching months.


Fr. Steven

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Things to Remember for the Summer

There is hardly a good reason to be less “Church-centered” in the summer than during the other seasons of the year. There is nothing “seasonal” about God: If God withdrew His presence but for a moment, we would simply cease to exist! Here are some suggestions meant to maintain our vigilance with the approach of the summer months:


+ Inform Fr. Steven if you are traveling, so that we can pray for your safety and well-being in the Liturgy.

+ Make a point of trying to be near an Orthodox parish on a Sunday for the Liturgy when you are out of town. (Use Orthodoxy in America to locate parishes when traveling.)

+ Think of making a pilgrimage to an Orthodox monastery. If you are “on the road” there is the possibility that a monastery may be in “striking distance” at least for a brief visit.  (Use Orthodoxy in America to locate monasteries when traveling.)

+ Remain vigilant in preparing for Holy Communion: respect and keep the weekly fast days of Wednesday and Friday; keep a total fast (no food or drink) from at least midnight on the eve of the next day’s Liturgy; periodically confess your sins, etc. Make your evening before next day’s Liturgy be peaceful. Come to Vespers!

+ Be aware of, and keep the Dormition Fast in August (1-14). There is also the beautiful Feast of the Transfiguration and the blessing of fruit on August 6. This year we will continue to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the glorification/canonization of St. Herman of Alaska.

+ Participate in the Summer Bible Study, preceded by Vespers. An excellent opportunity to meet and get to know either longstanding or relatively new parishioners on a much closer basis. It is about fellowship as much as it is about learning the Scriptures.

+ Choose another quality book related to the Faith for summer reading. We now have a very good parish library with Orthodox literature at many levels.

+ Do not let your daily rule of prayer lapse during the summer months. Perseverance, according to the saints, is one of the keys to an effective prayer life. 

“The joy of anyone who rejoices is preserved in the Church.” St. John Chrysostom