An Orthodox Understanding of Acts of Mercy

Source: uncutmountainsupply.com

An excellent piece that reminds us of one of the most important components of our Christian lives, perhaps even more so during a fasting season as the one we just embarked on. This piece by Fr. Thomas Hopko came readily to mind as we just heard the Parable of the Good Samaritan during the Liturgy yesterday morning.

Fr. Steven
_________



AN ORTHODOX UNDERSTANDING
OF ACTS OF MERCY 
Fr. Thomas Hopko


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

These are the hardest questions for Christians to answer.

_____

*Fr. Thomas Hopko was the Dean Emeritus of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary and  served for many years at the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, before his repose in 2015. 

The Compassion of the Lord

Source: uncutmountainsupply.com

"The Lord is compassionate and merciful, long-suffering and of great goodness." (Psalm. 103:8)

"And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep"." (Lk. 7:13)

Compassion \kem-'pa-shan\: "Sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it." 

Merriam Webster Dictionary

The appointed Gospel that we heard at the Liturgy this last Sunday was Lk. 7:11-16, the extraordinary account of the raising from death of the son of the widow of Nain. This account is unique to the Gospel According to St. Luke. And it is one of the three accounts in the Gospels in which Christ restores a human person to life following death (Jairus's daughter and Lazarus of Bethany being the other two). Although only the Lord Jesus Christ has been resurrected unto eternal life - "For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him" (Rom. 6:9) - those three who were resuscitated to life again were seen as pledges or prefigurations of the resurrection of the dead awaited for at the end of time, as affirmed each and every time that we recite the Nicene Creed in our communal and personal prayer. For this reason, the crowd that accompanied the widow of Nain in the funeral procession of her son glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has risen among us!" and "God has visited his people!" (7:16) In this account, Jesus appears as another Elijah who raised the son of the widow of Zarephath (I Kg. 17:17-24). 

However, this raising of the young man is not the only remarkable event of note in this dramatic account. For the mother of the young man was a widow and this was her only son (Lk. 7:12). When the Lord had authoritatively brought the funeral procession to a halt, St. Luke informs us: "And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, Do not weep"." (Lk. 7:13) Compassion always characterized Jesus in his interactions with those who were suffering some form of distress, mental or physical. Jesus understood the distress of this poor widow, who would now be on her own without her husband or son. By restoring the young man to life, he also restores new life to the grief-stricken and lonely widow. In fact, the way that St. Luke conveys this story seems as if that was his main concern in immortalizing it in his Gospel. 

Many will claim that St. Luke stresses the compassion of the Lord the most among the evangelists. Compassion goes beyond mere kindness or helpfulness. It wells up from the heart and it seeks to alleviate the distress of the other. Even the dry definition that is so often characteristic of the dictionary - as cited above - captures this deeper meaning of compassion as an interior sympathy seeking to manifest itself in an exterior action.

Looking inwardly at the "household of faith," which is the Church, the followers of Christ need also to be persons filled with compassion for the other who may be suffering. Compassion takes us far beyond outward forms of piety. Actually, without compassion those forms of piety can dry up and manifest the religious hypocrisy so strongly criticized by the Lord. The world can be a very cold place filled with marginalized and lonely people. We also see that people are often manipulated and abused due to their powerlessness. 

Thus, if a given society is drained of compassion because of a certain ideological orientation or political goals, that society has surrendered its basic humanitarian impulses contrary to the natural goodness of human nature as created by God "in the beginning." The neoconservative social commentator, David Brooks, claims that we are living in "the era of dark passions." He comments on the following: anger, hatred, resentment, fear and the desire to dominate. These are the antitheses of compassion and mercy. And that means that they are contrary to the blessed principles manifested in Christ and meant to be manifested by His followers. In other words, a "Christian" is meant to be "Christ-like."

"Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful." (Lk. 6:36)

A Sacrificial Act of Love

Source: iconsandechoes.com

This past Monday, on the Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos, our friend and SUPRASL 2025 speaker Ewa Natalia Moroz-Keczyńska was found not guilty in a Polish court. In 2022, Ewa and four others were arrested for providing food, water, and shelter to two refugee families from Egypt and Iraq who had been forced to cross the Polish-Belarussian border. They faced up to eight years in prison.

While the ongoing tragedy at that border is a complex issue, and well documented elsewhere, my purpose today is simpler: to share Ewa’s story as a powerful, clear and courageous example of what it means to live out the teachings of Christ in real time.

The situation of refugees and migrants — whether in Europe or across the world—is undeniably complex, entangled in politics, national security, competing humanitarian concerns where the lives of human beings are often exploited to push competing narratives.

I understand the fears many people carry. If my own country faced a sudden influx of refugees, I too might be afraid— of losing security, of strained resources, or of cultural change. These are real, deeply human concerns that should not be dismissed.

Yet as Christians, we are called to view these realities through the lens of the Gospel. We cannot expect governments to always do the right, or the Christian, thing. And likewise we should when its seems that our political leaders or governments seem to be promoting Chrisitan values we should take care to inquire into their true intentions. That being said, while courts are not arbiters of the Gospel, the “not guilty” verdict in Ewa’s case resonates strikingly with Christ’s teaching. We can take strength not because the court validated Jesus’s teachings, but because we see that the Lord has heard our prayers; He has seen the good and justified deeds of His people.

The verdict in Ewa’s case came on the feast day of the Nativity of the Mother of God (new style). The Gospel reading for the feast gives us a clear lens for Ewa’s story. In Luke’s Gospel a woman calls out to Christ, blessing His mother: “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!” And Christ replies: “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” Luke 11:27-28. In this short response, as Christ is often want to do - keep it simple - all of His teaching is summed up. Keep the word of God. Keep His commandments. This is an astounding response from our Lord, for in it he places greater honor not on proximity to Him, not even on being the Theotokos, but on the simple and radical act of living His word.

And we know well from the parable of the Good Samaritan, which immediately precedes the reading for the feast, what that word, what that commandment is: to “love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, and our neighbor as ourselves.” Luke 10:27. And Christ leaves no doubt about who our neighbor is: “The one who showed mercy” (Luke 10:37).

Ewa and her companions know this message intimately. They did not act for personal gain, for performance, or even as political protest. They acted as neighbors, performing a sacrificial act of love, fully aware that it could cost them their own freedom. The court’s ruling offers a rare glimpse of light in our polarized world, concluding that “helping people in desperate need, without seeking personal benefit, cannot be criminalized. To suggest otherwise would mean punishing every act of compassion.” The court went even further suggesting that, “Disagreement with an unjust status quo is often the spark that drives necessary change.”

War, injustice, poverty, and climate change force millions to flee their homes. Here lies our tension: the fears of host nations are real, but so too is the suffering of those who arrive. The Christian call does not dismiss those fears—but it also does not allow us to harden our hearts.

St. Maria of Paris, reflecting on John 3:16, wrote: “There is no following in the steps of Christ without sharing, however small, in this sacrificial act of love.”

Today, there are 122.6 million refugees worldwide. Each one is a human being created by God. To each, we are called to be a neighbor.

May we have the courage not only to hear the word of God but, like Ewa, to keep it.

A Reflection Concerning Mercy

Source: blessedmart.com

 Is An Apology Necessary?

Dear Parish Faithful,

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fr. Steven

Fr. Thomas Hopko: An Orthodox Understanding of Acts of Mercy

 

Image source: https://store.ancientfaith.com/parable-of-the-good-samaritan-large-icon/

At the Liturgy yesterday, we heard the Parable of the Good Samaritan. I wanted to find an appropriate response to the parable, as I chose to continue with a series of homilies focussing on the Apostle Paul's designated epistle reading. Here is an exceptionally fine piece by Fr. Thomas Hopko on "Acts of Mercy:"

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.

Coffee With Sister Vassa: BLINDED BY SECONDARY ISSUES

Coffee With Sister Vassa

BLINDED BY SECONDARY ISSUES

 

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!” (Mt 23: 23-24)

Here the Lord is warning me about focusing on secondary issues, while losing sight of the whole point of God’s law, or “the weightier matters” that are“justice and mercy and faith.” 

It’s easy to slip into neglecting “justice and mercy and faith,” while being very meticulous about some aspect of living our tradition. For example, I might be a member of the church choir, attending and singing all the church-services with zealous attention to every detail of the Typikon, while being complacent about, say, an outstanding resentment I am harboring against a certain someone. Perhaps the mere mention of them irritates or angers me, which should signalize to me that I’ve neglected “justice and mercy” (both of which are restored, when I responsibly make amends), but this fact doesn’t burden me nearly as much as those times when I skipped a church-service, for whatever reason. Or maybe I support the right causes and charities, while on a daily basis I am crippled, in my heart, by merely-human fears, say, of financial insecurity or of human opinion, rather than taking pause to fortify my faith; to let God be really present in my life.

Instead of continuously swallowing these “camels” and schlepping them around, today let me take pause to look at these ugly “camels,” and let God cast them out by the grace of His “justice and mercy and faith” in me. Lord, open my eyes to the “camels” I may have been ignoring, while focusing on what comes more easily to me, or the “gnats.”

_____

A very fair and honest point is being made here by Sister Vassa. As we strive to fulfill the words of the Apostle Paul: "but all things should be done decently and in order" (I Cor. 14:40); we can indeed neglect what Christ taught us about "justice and mercy." It is very important in parish life that we indeed do things decently and in order - think of the chaos caused by indecency and disorder! - yet, the core of the Gospel is revealed in the challenge to seek first "justice and mercy." When we blind ourselves to that, we have recourse to the Sacrament of Confession within which, by repenting of our sinful inclinations, we indeed restore "decency and order" to our interior lives and so recover our lost sense of "justice and mercy."

 

LENTEN MEDITATION - Day XXXII — The Mercy of God

 

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

Having mercy is God’s most distinguishing characteristic. Pouring out his mercy, his steadfast love, upon his covenanted people is his main occupation. Mercy is at the heart of everything that God is and does and gives to his people. It is the people’s most treasured possession. The psalms, for example, describe the steadfast love of the Lord, which is the mercy of our prayer, in numberless ways. The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting and endures forever. It is higher and greater than the heavens, yet the earth is full of this steadfast love, and it extends to the heavens.

—Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko, The Lenten Spring

_____

In his inimitable style, Fr. Hopko is commenting on and expanding the meaning of the Hebrew word hesed. We certainly depend on it! And this is the background for our innumerable petitions: "Lord, have mercy!"

 

Justice and Mercy for All

Dear Parish Faithful,

"For I demand steadfast love (or mercy) and not sacrifice." (Hos. 6:7; Matt. 12:7)

This link is to the statement issued by the OCA's Holy Synod in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer on Monday, May 25. I read this to those who joined the Liturgy on Sunday either through Zoom or Facebook live streaming. So much has happened since then, that it may already sound a bit dated, but I thought to send it out to everyone so that you can read how our hierarchs are responding to such injustice.

 

 

 

 

I am very supportive of such a statement. Yet, on a personal level - or according to my humble opinion - I find this statement rather tepid and even rather perfunctory. Meaning, it has the tone of an official statement articulating the obvious in a conventional manner; writing something that had to be written in just the expected style and tone. It deplores the killing of George Floyd and condemns racism, all of which are good and necessary. However, I do wish that more was said - or will be said in the future from "official channels" - about the repeated cases of police violence against black people (and other minorities?). How this has become systemic and that nothing has really been done about it over the years besides police "sensitivity training."

This is precisely why the reputations of good, decent policemen (the majority, I believe) who are not racist and who do their jobs in a conscientious manner unseen by the public on a given day, are being tarnished.  

 

In today's world, the public - meaning both black and white people - are no longer going to passively accept this kind of injustice enacted with seeming impunity. In today's world of ubiquitous social media, any such brutality can no longer remain hidden. People now rise up in protest, which is an American civil right, and many do so with passion. 

 

The roots of this American "right to protest" are found in the Boston Tea Party, an event that we now treat with near-mythic status, though it resulted in the destruction of property. Closer to our time, there was a character in the 70's film, "Network," who, though slightly imbalanced, would repeatedly say: "I am as mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore!" And other disenfranchised people picked up this refrain. We (white people) while justifiably deploring rioting and looting, none of which can possibly honor the memory of George Floyd (as his own brother has publicly stated) or further the cause of seeking justice for all, will never be able to quite understand the anger and despair of the black community which continues to suffer the consequences of the racism very much alive in our country to this day. 

 

The Gospel is about justice and mercy for all human beings. It is not about power and privilege. Unfortunately, the escalating chaos is obscuring the initial impetus behind the protest.  Yet, it is on these Gospel principles of justice and mercy that we need to focus if our real interest is building up a civil society based on respect and dignity for all.