Dormition Fast Meditation -- Procession of the Honorable Wood of the Lifegiving Cross of the Lord

Source: antiochpatriarchate.org

Longsuffering is a marvelous thing. It places the soul as in a quiet harbor, freeing it from tossings and evil spirits. And this is everywhere Christ has taught us, but especially now, when He is judged and dragged, and led about … But why was it that Pilate did not make the inquiry in their presence, but apart, having gone into the judgment hall? He suspected something great respecting Him. …

Concerning that of which Pilate must have desired to hear, namely, His Kingdom, He answered, saying, “My kingdom is not of this world.” That is, “I am indeed a King, yet not such an one as you suspect, but far more glorious” … But they cried out, “We have no king but Caesar.”

Of their own will they subjected themselves to punishment. Therefore also God gave them up, because they were the first to cast themselves out from His providence and superintendence … And why did they strive to kill Him in this manner? It was a shameful death.

Fearing therefore lest there should afterward be any remembrance of Him, they desired to bring Him to the accursed punishment, not knowing that truth is exalted by hindrances.

—St. John Chrysostom, Homilies LXXXV, 1, 2, 3, on John XIX

Apostles Fast Meditation

Source: legacyicons.com

When we let the flesh have its own will in everything, and it exceeds its proper bounds and rises up against the soul, then it destroys and corrupts everything. This is not owing to its own nature, but because it is out of proportion … And what hope of salvation is there left, if it is impossible for one who is bad to become good? This is not what he says.

How else would Paul have become such as he was? How would the penitent thief, or Manasses, or the Ninevites—or how would David, after falling, have recovered himself? How would Peter after the denial have raised himself up? (1 Cor. 5:5). How could the man who had lived in fornication have been enlisted among Christ’s fold? (2 Cor. 2:6–11). How could the Galatians who had “fallen from grace” (Gal. 5:4) have regained their former dignity?

What he says, then, is not that it is impossible for a man who is wicked to become good, but that it is impossible for one who continues wicked to be subject to God. Yet for a man to be changed, and so become good, and subject to Him, is easy … It cannot but be that where the Spirit is, there Christ is also. For wheresoever one Person of the Trinity is, there the whole Trinity is present. For it is undivided in Itself, and has a most entire Oneness.

—St. John Chrysostom, Homily XIII on Romans VII

Great & Holy Friday Meditation

Source: legacyicons.com

Today our Lord Jesus Christ is on the cross, and we celebrate the festival, so that you may learn that the cross is a festival and a spiritual celebration. For previously the cross was a name of condemnation, but now it has become a thing of honor; previously a sign of sentencing, but now the basis of salvation. …

Not from the cross alone, but also from the very sayings on the cross can one see His unspeakable love of humanity. For even while He was nailed, made into a joke, and ridiculed, at the time He said: Father, forgive them the sin, for they do not know what they are doing. Even while being crucified He prays for those who crucified. … 

Hence, so that we also may enjoy His love of humanity, let us not be ashamed to confess our own sins fully. … For behold this person also confessed fully, and he found paradise opened. 

Whence, tell me, O bandit, were you reminded of a kingdom? … Nails and cross are visible, and accusations of jests and insults. “Yes,” he says, “for the cross itself seems to me to be a sign of a kingdom. For this reason I call Him king, because I see Him crucified. For it belongs to a king to die on behalf of those ruled. … Therefore, because He has laid down His soul, for this reason I call Him king: Remember me, Lord, when You come into Your kingdom.”

—St. John Chrysostom, On the Cross and the Bandit, as found in Behold the Thief with the Eyes of Faith

Nativity Meditation from SVOTS

 

What does “in season, out of season” mean? That is, have no limited season: let it always be your season, not only in peace and in security, and when sitting in church.

Whether you are in danger, in prison, in chains, or going to your death, at that very time reprove. Do not withhold rebuke, for reproof is then most seasonable when your rebuke will be most successful, when the reality is proved.

+ St. John Chrysostom: Homily IX on II Timothy III

Nativity Meditation from SVOTS

That worldly gain is nothing is manifest, because it is left behind and does not attend us or go along with us at our departure. How is this plain? Because we had nothing when we came into this world, therefore, we will have nothing when we depart from it …Therefore, we want no superfluities.

+ St. John Chrysostom: Homilies XVI and XVII on I Timothy VI

Nativity Meditation from SVOTS

 

Observe, the hospitality here spoken of is not merely a friendly reception, but one given with zeal and alacrity, with readiness, and going about it, as if one were receiving Christ himself …If you receive the stranger as Christ, do not be ashamed, but rather glory: but if you do not receive him as Christ, do not receive him at all. “He who receives you,” he says, “received me” (Mt. 10.40).

+ St. John Chrysostom: Homilies XIII and XIV on I Timothy V

Nativity Meditation from SVOTS

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

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

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

Nativity Fast Meditation from SVOTS

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

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

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

+St. John Chrysostom: Homily LIX on Matthew XVIII

Lazarus and the Rich Man

Source: orthodoxchristiansupply.com

In this excerpt from one of St. John Chrysostom's homilies on the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man, he does what we customarily often does in his preaching: go off the immediate theme in order to develop a moral, ethical or spiritual theme only loosely related to the parable. In analyzing the rich man's practice to "feast sumptuously" at his table, St. John launches into a general lesson on how we should approach the daily need to eat and drink. Here he delivers his famous aphorism on how to approach eating and drinking, which you will encounter below in italics. St. John never missed an opportunity to probe into all aspects of a Christian "lifestyle" - both what we usually term the "spiritual" and the "material."

_____ 

Christ has made it very clear that after taking nourishment at table we ought to receive not sleep in bed but prayer and reading of the divine Scriptures. When he had fed the great multitude in the wilderness, He did not send them to bed and to sleep, but summoned them to hear divine sayings. He had not filled their stomachs to bursting, nor abandoned them to drunkenness; but when he had satisfied their need, He led them to spiritual nourishment. Let us do the same; and let us accustom ourselves to eat only enough to live, not enough to be distracted and weighed down. For we were not born, we do not live, in order to eat and drink; but we eat in order to live. At the beginning life was not made for eating, but eating for life. But we, as if we had come into the world for this purpose, spend everything for eating.

Lazarus and the Rich Man

Source: stjohndc.org

St. John Chrysostom poses the question: How do we evaluate real wealth and real poverty? His answer, as indicated in one of his homilies on the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man, will sound jarring to us if we evaluate wealth and poverty by the standards of "this world" alone. Yet, St. John always begins with the Gospel revelation centered in Christ's teaching. The "reversal of fortune" found in the parable extends far beyond the story in the Gospel, and into our own perceptions and priorities:
_____

Let us learn from this man not to call the rich lucky nor the poor unfortunate. Rather, if we are to tell the truth, the rich man is not the one who has collected many possessions but the one who needs few possessions; and the poor man is not the one who has no possessions but the one who has many desires. We ought to consider this the definition of poverty and wealth. So if you see someone greedy for many things, you should consider him the poorest of all, even if he has acquired everyone's money. If, on the other hand, you see someone with few needs, you should count him the richest of all, even if he has acquired nothing.

Lazarus and the Rich Man

Source: store.ancientfaith.com

In yesterday's Monday Morning Meditation, I quoted a passage from St. John Chrysostom's series of homilies on the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man. I would like to share a few more as the week unfolds. With his typical wide-ranging depth of interpretation, St. John uncovered many themes in this multi-layered parable. In this passage, he speaks of the various roles human beings assume in life. But these very roles will eventually be stripped away in death, and then the true identity of a person will be revealed in the light of God's judgement:

_____

Just as in the theatre, when evening falls and the audience departs, and the kings and generals go outside to remove the costumes of their roles, they are revealed to everyone thereafter appearing to be exactly what they are; so also now when death arrives and the theatre is dissolved, everyone puts off the masks of wealth or poverty and departs to the other world. When all are judged by their deed alone, some are revealed truly wealthy, others poor, some of high class, others of no account.

Monday Morning Meditation: A Radical Critique of Selfishness - Lazarus and the Rich Man

 

Source: sthermansoca.org

“And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.” (LK. 8:14)

There is an interior connection between the Parable of the Sower and the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (LK. 16:19-31), heard yesterday at the Divine Liturgy. For the “rich man” of the parable is the embodiment of a person who has been “choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life,” as described in the Parable of the Sower. Brushing aside the teaching of the Torah, and the Jewish emphasis on charity as one of the great acts of true piety, the rich man remained coldly indifferent to poor Lazarus who was clearly visible at his very gate. Preoccupied with fine linen and sumptuous feasting (v. 19), the rich man was scarcely prepared in his heart to alleviate the sufferings of Lazarus, sufferings that were exemplified by the dogs that licked his sores (v. 20). Such indifference is frightening when seen in the light of the many scriptural admonitions that either chastise the neglect of the poor: “He who closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself cry out and not be heard;”or encourage his care: “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.” (PROV. 21:13; 19:17)

And the severity of the consequences of such neglect of the poor is vividly described in the parable’s “reversal of fortune,” with the rich man languishing in hades, unable to be relieved of his torment there. The contrast of his fate and that of Lazarus being carried into the “bosom of Abraham” by a heavenly escort is striking. (v. 22-23) 

The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man was delivered with the Pharisees in mind, for right before Jesus proclaimed the parable, we hear this unflattering description of the Pharisees: “The Pharisees who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they scoffed at him. But he said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts; for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God’.” (LK. 16:14-15) Whatever or whoever may have prompted the words of the Lord during his ministry, our concern now is with our own attitude and treatment of the poor. To think or believe otherwise is to fail to “hear” the parable as it is proclaimed today for our chastisement or encouragement. 

The words of the Lord – the “Gospel truth” – cannot be properly assessed within the narrow limits of any political allegiances – Democrat or Republican; nor even of a wider-scoped ideology – liberal or conservative. The Gospel transcends these categories as something far greater and infinitely more demanding of our allegiance. Through this parable, the Lord exhorts us to minister to the "demographically vulnerable" members of our society. In fact, the moral and ethical integrity of any society is revealed to a great degree as to how that society will treat and care for precisely those who are "demographically vulnerable."

At a time when neither political parties nor even political ideologies existed or had any real impact on the prevailing cultural or social assumptions of the time, St. John Chrysostom (+407) delivered a series of brilliant homilies on the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man. (These seven homilies now exist in English translation under the title on Wealth and Poverty). With his impressive knowledge of the Scriptures; his unmatched rhetorical skills; but most importantly his profound zeal for the moral and ethical teaching of the Gospel; St. John offered a radical critique of selfishness and a radical exhortation to overcome such selfishness for the sake of the poor. Challenging conventional notions of what theft is, he famously expanded its definition by meditating deeply on the parable at hand:

I shall bring you testimony from the divine Scriptures, saying that not only the theft of others’ goods but also the failure to share one’s own goods with others is theft and swindle and defraudation. What is this testimony? Accusing the Jews by the prophet, God says, ‘The earth has brought forth her increase, and you have not brought forth your tithes; but the theft of the poor is in your houses.’ (MAL. 3:8-10) Since you have not given the accustomed offering, He says, you have stolen the goods of the poor. He says this to show the rich that they hold the goods of the poor even if they have inherited them from their fathers or no matter how they have gathered their wealth. And elsewhere the Scripture says, ‘Deprive not the poor of his living.’ (SIR. 4:1) To deprive is to take what belongs to another; for it is called deprivation when we take and keep what belongs to others. By this we are taught that when we do not show mercy, we will be punished just like those who steal. For our money is the Lord’s, however we may have gathered it. If we provide for those in need, we shall obtain great plenty. This is why God has allowed you to have more; not for you to waste on prostitutes, drink, food, expensive clothes, and all the other kinds of indulgence, but for you to distribute to those in need … If you are affluent, but spend more than you need, you will give an account of the funds which were entrusted to you … For you have obtained more than others have, and you have received it, not to spend it for yourself, but to become a good steward for others as well.(On Wealth and Poverty, homily two)

This is a radical teaching, though again not based on any particular social or political philosophy. For St. John the “true philosophy” was adherence to the Gospel. St. John is primarily concerned with uncovering the meaning and implications of what we discover in the Scriptures. If that is challenging to the point of seeming “impossible’” or of least taking us way out of our “comfort zones,” then rather than “soft-pedaling” the Gospel message, St. John would continue in the hope of inspiring us to strengthen our efforts and to put on “the mind of Christ.”

Meditation for Apostles Fast - June 24, 2025

Source: uncutmountainsupply.com

 Nativity of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist, John

John also not merely bears witness, but when men were bringing the glory to him, he declined it: for it is one thing not to affect an honor which nobody thinks of offering, and another, to reject it when all men are ready to give it, and not only to reject it, but to do so with such humility.

—St. John Chrysostom, Homily XXIX on Acts XIII

Just Who is the Real Rich Man?

 

 

 Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

"If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead." (LK. 16:31)

 

The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man is the only parable that has a named character, and the only parable in which Jesus describes the "afterlife." In these two instances it remains unique among the Lord's parables. It is a parable extremely rich in content, with a rather complex structure based upon a "reversal of fortune,"and filled with multiple themes. 

Yet, certainly one of those many themes is quite apparent and revealed with a stark directness: the consequence of ignoring the poor and needy, embodied in Lazarus, the poor man at the gate. (Is he given a name to emphasize this point in a personal and less-forgettable manner, so that his character takes us beyond an anonymous example of the poor?). The rich man in hades (the biblical realm of the dead) bears the consequence of his indifference to Lazarus and his unwillingness to share. 

St. John Chrysostom explored this theme of wealth and poverty with unrivaled insight and depth in his famous series of homilies on this parable (a collection of homilies that now exists in English - On Wealth and Poverty - and which every member of the Church should read). St. John would always challenge the conventional wisdom of his own age, by interpreting the Scriptures in such a way that would turn our accepted values upside down so that we would be able to look at things in a new and startling light. In a famous passage from his homilies, he challenges our conventional notions of what true wealth and true poverty actually are. He does this by asking just who is the real rich man and who is the real poor man:

Let us learn from this man not to call the rich lucky nor the poor unfortunate. Rather, if we are to tell the truth, the rich man is not the one who has collected many possessions but the one who needs few possessions; and the poor man is not the one who has no possessions but the one who has many desires. We ought to consider this the definition of poverty and wealth. So if you see someone greedy for many things, you should consider him the poorest of all, even if he has acquired everyone's money. If, on the other hand, you see someone with few needs, you should count him the richest of all, even if he has acquired nothing.

 

I rather doubt that this will change the minds of very many of us about the true nature of wealth and poverty. Conventional wisdom - combined with observation and life experience - does tell us that wealth has to do with money, possessions, status and power; and that poverty has to do with lacking any and all of these things. Many of us "deep down" crave to be wealthy, and we certainly fear the specter of poverty. 

Yet, St. John was neither a simpleton nor a naïve dreamer. He knows of the corrosive effect on the wealthy of a life primarily dedicated to more and more acquisition and how this becomes obsessive and compulsive; and he knew many Christians personally that sought a life of simplicity and through that pursuit discovered a different type of wealth that had the presence of God as its source. St. John was also aware of the judgment of God which differs radically from our own limited understanding of the "bigger picture." 

Many people are forced to struggle to makes ends meet - and perhaps dream of hitting the lottery - and can only watch with envy the lifestyles of "the rich and famous" that entice such dreams. Perhaps, then, St. John makes some sense about the obsessive "collection of many possessions," the fulfillment of "many desires" and the effect of being "greedy for many things," and how a "successful" pursuit of this captivating dream can be more impoverishing than enriching. And then St. John got the point of the parable: in some cases it can be too late to change.
 

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In case you may be further interested, below are a series of links to other meditations that I have written throughout the years on the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man. There is, admittedly, a great deal of overlap and I depend on St. John Chrysostom's remarkable set of homilies on the parable throughout these meditations. But, again, in case you may be interested to read further:

"Encountering Lazarus" - https://orthodoxmeditations.blogspot.com/2022/10/encountering-lazarus.html

"A Radical Critique of Selfishness - Lazarus and the Rich Man" - https://orthodoxmeditations.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-radical-critique-of-selfishness.html

"Alleviating the Plight of the Poor" - https://orthodoxmeditations.blogspot.com/2015/10/alleviating-plight-of-poor.html

"St. John Chrysostom on Wealth and Poverty" - https://orthodoxmeditations.blogspot.com/2014/10/st-john-chrysostom-on-wealth-and-poverty.html

The Three Great Torchbearers of the Triune Godhead

 

Dear Parish Faithful and Friends in Christ,

Yesterday, January 30, we commemorated the Three holy Hierarchs and Universal Teachers – Sts. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom – in order to honor and glorify these three great pastors and theologians as they stand before the undivided and consubstantial Trinity and thus enjoy the glory of God in equal measure. 

A pious tradition relates that there had been a dispute as to who was the “greatest” of the three, with each of these saints being championed by his respective followers: Basilians, Gregorians, and Johanites. However, a certain 11th c. bishop in a city of Asia Minor – John Mauropos - was granted a vision of the three hierarchs who made it clear to him that the glory that they experienced in the presence of God was equal. A feast day in honor of all three hierarchs was meant to make this clear, as well as provide the opportunity to glorify them with equal honor. In the wonderful service composed in honor of the Three Hierarchs, we extol their collective virtue in the following manner:

Let us who love their words come together with hymns
and honor the three great torch-bearers of the triune Godhead:
Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom.
These men have enlightened the world with the rays of their divine doctrines.
They are flowing rivers of wisdom
and they have filled all creation with springs of heavenly knowledge.
They ceaselessly intercede for us before the Holy Trinity.

Perhaps a good way to begin our Monday morning and its routines, would be to read and meditate on a “gem” of wisdom from each of these great universal teachers.

St. Basil defended the divinity of the Holy Spirit in his now classical work, On the Holy Spirit. Since it is our goal as Christians to acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit, and to walk in the newness of life granted by the Holy Spirit, this eloquent passage from St, Basil may further awaken our minds to the divine activity of the Spirit in our lives:

“He is simple in being; His powers are manifold: they are wholly present everywhere and in everything. He is distributed but does not change. He is shared yet remains whole. Consider the analogy of the sunbeam: each person upon whom its kindly light falls rejoices as if the sun existed for him alone, yet it illumines land and sea, and is master of the atmosphere. In the same way, the Spirit is given to each one who receives Him as if He were the possession of that person alone, yet He sends forth sufficient grace to fill all the universe. Everything that partakes of His grace is filled with joy according to its capacity – the capacity of its nature, not of His power…” 

“When a sunbeam falls on a transparent substance, the substance itself becomes brilliant, and radiates light from itself. So too Spirit-bearing souls, illumined by Him, finally become spiritual themselves, and their grace is sent forth to others.” 

On the Holy Spirit, ch. 22 & 23

In a famous passage from his great Theological Orations, (the composition and deliverance of which attained for St. Gregory his title “the Theologian”), he reminds us that we should not casually speak about God in a light-minded and frivolous manner. To speak about God is a serious matter and only helpful at appropriate times:

“Not to everyone, my friends, does it belong to philosophize about God; not to everyone – the subject is not so cheap and low – and, I will add, not before every audience, not at all times, nor on all points; but on certain occasions, and before certain persons, and within certain limits. 

Not to all persons, because it is permitted only to those who have been examined, and are past masters in meditation, and who have been previously purified in soul and body, or at the very least are being purified. For the impure to touch the pure is, we may safely say, not safe, just as it is unsafe to fix weak eyes upon the sun’s rays… And who are the permitted persons? They to whom the subject is of real concern, and not they who make it a matter of pleasant gossip, like any other thing, after the races, or the theatre, or a concert, or a dinner,o r still the lower employments.” 

Theological Oration 1,3.

St. John the “Golden-Mouthed” always exhorted his flock to the imitation of Christ; and always sought to lift up our minds to God in praise and thanksgiving. St. John’s theology was “practical” but also fiery and uplifting:

“Let us depart from the Divine Liturgy like lions who are producing fire, having become fearsome even to the devil, because the Holy Blood of the Lord that we commune waters our souls and gives us great strength. When we commune of it worthily, it chases the demons far away and brings the angels and the Lord near us…” 

“Teach whoever doesn’t attend church that you chanted with the Seraphim, that you belong to the heavenly lifestyle, that you met with Christ and spoke with Him. If we live the Divine Liturgy thus, we will not have to say anything to those who were absent. But seeing our benefit, they will feel their own harm and quickly run to church to enjoy the same goods, with the grace and philanthropy or our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, belong eternal glory. Amen.”

 

And we can add our own “Amen!” to the lives and teaching of the Three Hierarchs who to this day fill “all creation with springs of heavenly knowledge!”

 

Learning from the Three Holy Hierarchs

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

"The human person is an animal with the command to become like God." - St. Basil the Great

This last Saturday, January 30, we commemorated The Three Hierarchs - Sts. Basil the Great (+379), Gregory of Nazianzus (+390), and John Chrysostom (+407). Outside of the Scriptures, these 4th c. theologians/pastors are three of the great Founding Fathers of our Orthodox Christian theological legacy. They truly shaped it in a way that remains normative to this day. The link immediately below is to a short summary of how this feast developed in the late 11th - early 12th century.

https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2021/01/30/100350-synaxis-of-the-ecumenical-teachers-and-hierarchs-basil-the-great

In addition, I would like to encourage everyone to read one or more of their works. Their style is quite accessible. They are free of all academic jargon for the simple reason that they were not academics holding a chair in this or that university. They were bishops/pastors guiding their respective flocks in the late 4th and early 5th century Christian world. I have therefore put together a series of links to SVS Press and its editions from the Popular Patristic Series of some of the most prominent of the written works of these Fathers. (And they are relatively inexpensive). Some are treatises, others are collections of their homilies that spanned their lifetimes. All of it is very good.

As we are getting close to the pre-lenten season, perhaps here is a good book or two for Great Lent. As put aside our iPhones and TV sets during Great Lent to some extent, at least, here is a good way to "redeem the time" in reading solid Orthodox literature.

If anyone is actually interested, and would like a recommendation or guide in choosing one or more of these titles, please contact me.

St. Basil the Great - 

On Social Justice - Social justice with a clear and definite Gospel foundation.

On the Human Condition - Great essays on what it means to be human from a theological perspective.

On Fasting and Feasts -  Wonderful homilies on a variety of themes that still engage us within the Church today.

On The Holy Spirit -  An absolute classic that ranks with On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius. Biblical interpretation (exegesis) at its dazzling best.

On Christian Doctrine and Practice - A series of treatises covering a wide-range of theological and practical concerns.

On Christian Ethics - A great antidote to humanistic, autonomous ethics.

St. Gregory the Theologian

On God and Christ, The Five Theological Orations and Two Letters to Cledonius - Again, absolute classics that defend and describe the Holy Trinity. Unmatched.

On God and Man: The Theological Poetry of St. Gregory of Nazianzus - Poetic theology that is free of sentimentalism.

Festal Orations - Another great collection of homilies from one of the greatest Christian rhetoricians off all time.

 

St. John Chrysostom

On Wealth and Poverty (2nd Ed.) - A "must-read" collection of six homilies on the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man. Opens the mind and heart to Christian charity.

The Cult of the Saints - Great homilies on a theme that still perplexes some Christians.

On Marriage and Family Life - Although written in the 4th c., this still contains some real gems of insight to married Christians raising families.

- Fr. Steven

On St John Chrysostom and St Olympia

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

Throughout the Fall, I have been interspersing some homilies on the great Church Fathers into the Sunday Liturgy in a conscious campaign to "inspire" everyone to read at least one of their works before the end of the year. Thus, yesterday's homily was devoted to St. John Chrysostom (+407, commemorated on November 13) and his spiritual daughter/friend/confidant, St. Olympia (+408, commemorated on July 25). 

We know a great deal about one of the most beloved of all saints, St. John "the Golden Mouthed" (the meaning of Chrysostom), but many of the faithful are hardly aware of this extraordinary woman, St. Olympia. I would like to again share a passage from her anonymously written Life that I read in the church yesterday. It is a splendid passage of praise that enumerates the saint's tireless "active love" on behalf of others that serves as an outline of genuine Christian virtue:

She lived faultlessly (anendeos) in unmeasured tears day and night "submitting to every ordinance of man for the sake of the Lord" (I Pet. 2:13), full of every reverence, bowing before the saints, venerating the bishops, honoring the presbyters, respecting the priests, welcoming the ascetics, being anxious for the virgins, supplying the widows, raising the orphans, shielding the elderly, looking after the weak, having compassion on sinners, guiding the lost, having pity on all, attending with all her heart to the poor, catechizing many unbelieving women and making provision for all their material necessities of life.

Thus, she left a reputation for goodness throughout her whole life which is ever to be remembered. Having called from slavery to freedom her myriad household servants, she proclaimed them to be of equal honor (isotimon) as her own nobility.

The Life of Olympia, 15

In other words, a life very much worth living! St. Olympia was born around the year 362 into a very noble and wealthy pagan family, but with her eventual conversion to Christianity she was closely connected to many of the most distinguished bishops of her era, including St. Basil the Great and his younger brother, St. Gregory of Nyssa, In fact, St. Gregory dedicated his famous Commentary on The Song of Songs to her. 

In a letter to St. Olympia, in which St. Gregory accepted her prompting to write his commentary, he wrote the following:

I do not offer you anything that would benefit your conduct, for I am persuaded that your soul's eye is pure from every passionate, unclean thought, and that it looks without hindrance at God's grace by means of these divine words of the Song.

We also know that St. Olympia was ordained a deaconess by St. Nektarios, Archbishop of Constantinople. The deaconess had a prominent role in the fourth century Church, as summarized by the scholar Chyrsostomus Bauer:

For the service of women, ecclesiastical deaconesses were assigned. These were widows, or older single women, who were consecrated by the bishop, in a special ceremony involving the laying on of hands, and the donation of a stole or chalice for the liturgical service of the Church. It was their special duty to keep order among the women at divine service [i.e., at the Divine Liturgy]; they gave them the kiss of peace, and also had to admonish women who did not live as they should. They helped with the training of the women catechumens, anointed them at baptism, and also had the duty of bringing Holy Communion to sick women.

John Chrysostom and His Time, Vol. I, 155.

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St. Olympia remained fiercely loyal to St. John following his two exiles from the capital of Constantinople, once St. John ran foul of the Empress Eudoxia. As I mentioned and even read from yesterday, St. John composed seventeen letters to St. Olympia from various places of his exile. These are now collected and translated afresh in a fairly new publication Letters to St. Olympia (SVS Press, 2016). 

These letters are wonderful compositions of a saintly pastor continuing to minister to his spiritual daughter while he is suffering the physical and psychological hardships of exile. The letters are also filled with some profound scriptural commentary by St. John as he reflects upon divine providence. Overall, they offer an intimate portrait of a saint who bore his cross with courage and integrity, awaiting his heavenly reward from the divine Bridegroom of the Church. The Introduction to the Letters, by Dr. David Ford (also the translator of the Letters), offers an excellent summary of the relevant background that helps bring the letters to life for the reader. The passages above can be found in this Introduction with a great deal more.

Highly recommended!

An Orthodox Understanding of Acts of Mercy

Dear Parish Faithful,

On Sunday, the homily will focus on St. John Chrysostom (+407; commemorated on November 13), and his close friend, the Deaconess Olympia (+408). Therefore, this year I will not preach on the Parable of the Good Samaritan. I am thus sharing this wonderful reflection of Fr. Thomas Hopko of Christian charity, as that is at the heart of the great parable recorded by St. Luke (10:25-37).

Fr. Steven

_________

AN ORTHODOX UNDERSTANDING

OF ACTS OF MERCY

Fr. Thomas Hopko

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

These are the hardest questions for Christians to answer.

 

 

 

A Radical Critique of Selfishness

Lazarus and the Rich Man

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

“And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.”  (LK. 8:14)

There is an interior connection between the Parable of the Sower and the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (LK. 16:19-31), heard on Sunday at the Divine Liturgy.  For the “rich man” of the parable is the embodiment of a person who has been “choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life,” as described in the Parable of the Sower.  

 

Brushing aside the teaching of the Torah, and the Jewish emphasis on charity as one of the great acts of true piety, the rich man remained coldly indifferent to poor Lazarus who was clearly visible at his very gate.  Preoccupied with fine linen and sumptuous feasting (v. 19), the rich man was scarcely prepared in his heart to alleviate the sufferings of Lazarus, sufferings that were exemplified by the dogs that licked his sores (v. 20).  

 

Such indifference is frightening when seen in the light of the many scriptural admonitions that chastise the neglect of the poor: “He who closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself cry out and not be heard;” or encourage his care: “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.” (PROV. 21:13; 19:17)  And the severity of the consequences of such neglect of the poor is vividly described in the parable’s “reversal of fortune,” with the rich man languishing in Hades, unable to be relieved of his torment there. The contrast of his fate and that of Lazarus being carried into the “bosom of Abraham” by a heavenly escort is striking. (v. 22-23)

The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man was delivered with the Pharisees in mind, for right before Jesus proclaimed the parable, we hear this unflattering description of the Pharisees:  “The Pharisees who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they scoffed at him.  But he said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts; for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God’.” (LK. 16:14-15)  

 

Whatever or whoever may have prompted the words of the Lord during his ministry, our concern now is with our own attitude and treatment of the poor.  To think or believe otherwise is to fail to “hear” the parable as it is proclaimed today for our chastisement or encouragement. The words of the Lord – the “Gospel truth” – cannot be properly assessed within the narrow limits of any political allegiances – Democrat or Republican; nor even of a wider-scoped ideology – liberal or conservative.  The Gospel transcends these categories as something far greater and infinitely more demanding of our allegiance.  

 

At a time when neither political parties nor even political ideologies existed or had any real impact on the prevailing cultural or social assumptions of the time, St. John Chrysostom (+407) delivered a series of brilliant homilies on the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man.  (These seven homilies now exist in English translation under the title on Wealth and Poverty).  With his impressive knowledge of the Scriptures; his unmatched rhetorical skills; but most importantly his profound zeal for the moral and ethical teaching of the Gospel; St. John offered a radical critique of selfishness and a radical exhortation to overcome such selfishness for the sake of the poor.  Challenging conventional notions of what theft is, he famously expanded its definition by meditating deeply on the parable at hand:

I shall bring you testimony from the divine Scriptures, saying that not only the theft of others’ goods but also the failure to share one’s own goods with others is theft and swindle and defraudation.  What is this testimony?  Accusing the  Jews by the prophet, God says, ‘The earth has brought forth her increase, and you have not brought forth your tithes; but the theft of the poor is in your houses.’ (MAL. 3:8-10)  Since you have not given the accustomed offering, He says, you have stolen the goods of the poor. 

He says this to show the rich that they hold the goods of the poor even if they have inherited them from their fathers or no matter how they have gathered their wealth.  And elsewhere the Scripture says, ‘Deprive not the poor of his living.’ (SIR. 4:1)  To deprive is to take what belongs to another; for it is called deprivation when we take and keep what belongs to others.  

By this we are taught that when we do not show mercy, we will be punished just like those who steal.  For our money is the Lord’s, however we may have gathered it.  If we provide for those in need, we shall obtain great plenty.  This is why God has allowed you to have more; not for you to waste on prostitutes, drink, food, expensive clothes, and all the other kinds of indulgence, but for you to distribute to those in need … 

If you are affluent, but spend more than you need, you will give an account of the funds which were entrusted to you … For you have obtained more than others have, and you have received it, not to spend it for yourself, but to become a good steward for others as well.   

(On Wealth and Poverty, homily two)

This is a radical teaching, though again not based on any particular social or political philosophy.  For St. John the “true philosophy” was adherence to the Gospel.  St. John is primarily concerned with uncovering the meaning and implications of what we discover in the Scriptures.  If that is challenging to the point of seeming “impossible’” or of least taking us way out of our “comfort zones,” then rather than “soft-pedaling” the Gospel message, St. John would continue in the hope of inspiring us to strengthen our efforts and to put on “the mind of Christ.”