Lives Worth Judging

 

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

As we draw closer to the beginning of Great Lent – at least for Orthodox Christians – we are able to set our Lenten efforts against the background of the Last Judgment, thus giving us the “big picture” within which we live our lives and determine our personal destinies. 

The Gospel read at the Eucharistic Liturgy just this last Sunday was that of the Discourse on the Last Judgment (MATT. 25:31-46). Therefore, the second Sunday before Great Lent is also called the Sunday of the Last Judgment. In highly symbolic form and with awesome imagery, the Lord speaks of His own Parousia as the glorified Son of man at the end of time and reveals to us that this will be a time of judgment. And this judgment will lead to separation.

The “sheep” (the saved) will be placed on the right hand, and the “goats” (the lost) on the left hand of the eternal Throne of God. This, in turn, will reveal the “quality” of our lives, though not in the way in which we today use the term “quality of life.” We will be confronted with the question as to how well we served the Lord by how well we served the “least” of His brethren: “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these brethren, you did it to me” (MATT. 25:40).

These least are the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the prisoner. How many of us have to admit that these are precisely the people that we neglect? The fact that society removes such people from our sight does not offer a very reassuring excuse for our neglect. It simply make it more convenient and less troubling for our consciences. Sadly, this may point to one of the most glaring of “disconnects” between the Gospel and our Christian lives, expressed in the following hymn:

Why do you not think of the fearful hour of death? Why do you not tremble at the dread judgment seat of the Savior? What defense then will you make, or what will you answer? Your works will be there to accuse you; your actions will reproach you and condemn you. O my soul, the time is near at hand; make haste before it is too late, and cry aloud in faith: 'I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned against you; but I know your love for humanity and Your compassion. O good Shepherd deprive me not of a place at Your right hand in Your great glory'. (Vespers, Sunday of the Last Judgment)

I, for one, am not ready to dismiss this hymn as excessively rhetorical, overly pessimistic, or unfairly harsh in its outlook. It is rather a sober and honest plea calling us to repentance and the re-direction of our lives. It further reminds us that it is never too late. And that the Good Shepherd will place us upon His shoulders to the accompaniment of rejoicing angels in heaven over our repentance.

“God is love” (I JN. 4:8). And yet God is demanding. If God “so loved the world that He gave His only Son” to die on the Cross for our redemption, then God expects us to approach and treat others with the same love. This is a love expressed in action and in giving, and is not to be confused with emotions or feelings.

We are all outcasts and alienated from God based upon the primordial sin of Adam, and yet God did not forget us or abandon us. “You were bought with a price” (I COR. 6:20). If we are indeed to “imitate the divine nature” as St. Gregory of Nyssa taught, then we could convincingly say that God expects us to “perform” according to the full capacity of our human nature made in the “image and likeness of God.” All the more plausible and possible because our fallen human nature has been renewed in and through the Death and Resurrection of Christ. Our rescue from a condition of “ontological poverty” is meant to arouse in us a desire to rescue “the least of these” from the impoverishing conditions of a fallen world.

Simultaneously with the external history of our lives there is occurring the internal history of our hearts. The outer life is more readily open to being accurately recorded, from the date of our birth to the date of our death and the significant events in between that make up our personal histories. What is happening within our hearts is far more difficult to record, because the human heart is deep and mysterious.

Yet the prophecy of the Last Judgment, testing the direction of our hearts, raises some very real questions: On what we call the “spiritual level,” is our heart expanding or contracting? Is it growing larger or smaller? Is it becoming more generous or more grasping? Is it letting the neighbor in, or keeping the neighbor out? Is it, as the years move inexorably forward, embracing God and neighbor, or is it shrinking in self-protection? These are questions to explore as we move into the Lenten season.

If our lives are worth living, then they are worthy of being judged. Our deeds, words and thoughts are significant because we must answer for them before a God who is love. Since God loves us and saves us, God will also judge us, though our judgment is actually self-inflicted and not imposed on us as a punishment. In a wonderful article entitled “On Preaching Judgment,” Fr. John Breck put it this way:

Judgment is indeed self-inflicted. God offers us life, and we choose death. He opens us the way into the Kingdom of Heaven, and we continue down our own pathway, which leads to destruction. Yet like the father of the prodigal son, God pursues us along that pathway, desiring only that we repent and return home. It is our decision to do so or not. (God With Us, p. 230)

In a bleak and cold universe absent of the presence of God and governed by immutable “laws of nature,” there is no judgment. But what does that say about the significance of our lives?

Enter not into judgment with me, bringing before me the things I should have done, examining my words and correcting my impulses. But in your mercy overlook my sins and save me, O Lord almighty.(Matins Canon of the Sunday of the Last Judgment, Canticle One)

 

Fasting for Great Lent in the Orthodox Tradition

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

I get my fair share of questions each year about the precise nature of the prescribed fasting for Great Lent – especially from new members to the Church, catechumens, inquirers, etc. I also assume that there is a certain amount of confusion over this, because we pick things up from other church traditions that did not quite fit into our own Orthodox Tradition.   With Great Lent beginning on Monday, March 7, I wanted to pass on the fasting guidelines of the Church in plenty of time as you make your plans. I found a very clear article about this entitled, "Our Fasting During Great Lent," by Fr. John Hopko. It is attached to a book published by SVS Press - When You Fast - Recipes for Lenten Seasons.  Fr. John's article is to the point, and it also has some sound pastoral considerations added, so I will simply pass on the relevant paragraph or two for your reading and reference: _____ We should begin by reminding ourselves of the basics of the Church's traditional discipline of fasting. During Great Lent, the strictest levels of fasting are prescribed, with certain exceptions allowed for weekends and feast days. The traditional norm, as developed and followed over many centuries in the Orthodox Church, is that we would abstain from the following items (listed here in order, beginning with those items that are eliminated first and then on down to those items that may be permissible at some times):  meat and meat products (must be restricted) milk and egg products (often referred to as "dairy." These items are perhaps permissible for some, for example, young children) fish (permissible on certain feasts during Great Lent) olive oil (permissible on weekends and certain feasts during Great Lent) wine (this means all alcoholic beverages; ;they are permissible on weekends, and certain feast days during Great Lent) So then, generally speaking, during Great Lent we are to make do with the following types of food: shellfish (shrimp, clams, etc.) vegetables vegetable products legumes fruit, grains (breads, pasta, rice, etc.), nuts, etc. nonalcoholic, dairy-free beverages Having laid out the traditional guidelines for fasting, certain points must be made in reference to them. First of all, each of us must make an honest, prayerful assessment of how well we can maintain the fasting discipline. If we are unable - due to age, illness, or some other weakness - to follow the traditional order of fasting completely, we must then make a decision about what we are going to do. Being overly scrupulous in this regard will not save us but neither will any rationalizing away of the need to fast. Each and every person, usually together with the other members of his or her family and, if necessary in consultation with his or her parish priest, needs to make an honest and prayerful decision about how he or she is going to keep the fast. (pp. 247-248). ____ A clear and pastorally-balanced approach in my estimation from Fr. John. (That is not a mistake, for this is Fr. Thomas Hopko’s son). The book from which this article is taken, by the way, is filled with hundreds of lenten recipes, from "main dishes" to "cookies and desserts." It is out of stock from SVS Press, but Amazon may have some used copies. As to the fasting, there is no doubt that it is both a disciplined and a healthier way of eating and drinking. Each and every family needs to work out its own “domestic strategy” striving for the “royal road” between the extremes of legalism and laxity. Fasting is only effective when linked to prayer and almsgiving. (MATT. 6) As Fr. John noted, it is sound advice to speak with your parish priest about these issues and how they may be integrated into family life. Please contact me if you so desire.

Great Lent - 'What is this struggle?'

 

Dear Parish Faithful, As Great Lent approaches, here is a remarkable text by a medieval Byzantine saint. Although known for his austerity and "strictness" as the abbot of the Studite monastery in Constantinople, I find this text one of the finest succinct summaries of the meaning of Great Lent. We may indeed follow the "letter" of the Great Fast, but here we find the all-important "spirit" of the season related with deep pastoral  care.   A Word About the Great Fast St. Theodore the Studite What is this struggle? Not to walk according to one’s own will. This is better than the other works of zeal and is a crown of martyrdom; expect that for you there is also a change of diet, multiplication of prostrations and increase of psalmody all in accord with the established tradition from of old.  And so I ask, let us welcome gladly the gift of the fast, not making ourselves miserable, as we are taught, but let us advance with cheerfulness of heart, innocent, not slandering, not angry, not evil, not envying; rather peaceable toward each other, and loving, fair, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits; breathing in seasonable stillness, since hubbub is damaging in a community; speaking suitable words, since too unreasonable stillness is profitless; yet above all vigilantly keeping watch over our thoughts, not opening the door to the passions, not giving place to the devil. We are lords of ourselves; let us not open our door to the devil; rather let us keep guard over our soul as a bride of Christ, unwounded by the arrows of the thoughts; for thus we are able to become a dwelling of God in Spirit.  Thus we may be made worthy to hear, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Quite simply, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is just, whatever pure, whatever lovely, whatever of good report, if there is anything virtuous, if there is anything praiseworthy, to speak like the Apostle, do it; and the God of peace will be with you all.

The 'Spiritual Damage' of War

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

"Put not your trust in princes, nor in sons of men, in whom there is no salvation." (Psalm 145:3 LXX)

"For the peace of the whole world ... " (Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom)

"Nothing is more contrary to God's will for creatures fashioned in his image and likeness than violence one against another, and nothing more sacrilegious than the organized practice of mass killing. All human violence is in some sense a rebellion against God and the divinely created order." (For the Life of the World - Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church)

The anticipated invasion of Ukraine - a sovereign country - by overwhelmingly superior Russian forces - is now underway. This invasion has nothing resembling a justifiable cause. Yet, leaving "politics" aside for the moment, we must acknowledge the grave "spiritual damage" this war will extract from its participants and for the entire world. 

 

 

I am shaken by the spectacle of Orthodox Christians slaughtering one another. In fact, the strong historical, cultural and religious bonds of both countries has recently been stressed by the aggressors. As is well-known, Russia and Ukraine are both primarily Orthodox Christian countries. I am sure that the vast majority of the Russian armed forces - both men and women - are Orthodox Christians. Ukraine has a much larger Roman Catholic population than Russia, but Ukraine remains a predominantly Orthodox country (67% according to a recent survey). These soldiers will probably be "blessed" by a bishop or priest, together with their weapons, with Holy Water and then begin the carnage of killing one another. In fact, they may "prepare" for their war effort by first going to Confession and then receiving Communion. So, after being united in the common chalice as "brothers and sisters" in Christ, they will then go about the business of killing these very "brothers and sisters." And then there could be a horrific death toll among the innocent civilian population of Ukraine. 

What a sad and tragic reality! The sheer madness of it is staggering: Praying to the "same God" for protection and victory in battle as Christians and then killing each other with impunity. I am certainly not implying that it is less sinful or spiritually devastating to kill non-Orthodox Christians or non-Christian peoples! But I am speaking as a member within the Orthodox Church and stressing the total incompatibility of the vision of life within the Church and its perversion in "real time." 

We can only pray to God for peace and that the human suffering and death will be limited.

 

'Can't Find My Way Home' - Lessons from the Prodigal Son

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

"And He said, 'There was a man who had two sons'..."

 

This is how Christ begins what is perhaps the greatest of his parables, the one we know as the Parable of the Prodigal Son, but which could easily be titled the "Parable of the Two Sons" or the "Parable of the Compassionate Father." With this parable, which we heard at the Divine Liturgy on Sunday, we are invited to prepare to enter the "school of repentance" -- Great Lent -- and sit at the feet of the Master, so that we can hear the words of eternal life and "keep them."

After receiving his portion of the inheritance, even before his father had died, the younger of the two sons "gathered all that he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living" [Luke 15:13]. This one sober understatement does not demand a great deal of imagination to yield its meaning. We know that loose living refers to a web of wrong choices, bad company, unrestrained satisfaction of "the passions," and forgetfulness of God. This spiritually suicidal combination leads to bankruptcy on a further series of interrelated levels: the material, moral/ethical and spiritual. In no time, the prodigal son is forced to feed "on the pods that the swine ate" [Luke 15:16].

Before succumbing to the temptation of trying my hand at an updated melodramatic script that would luridly describe the sins of the wayward young man of the parable -- replete with money, sex and drugs -- together with all of the didactic apparatus meant to strengthen our resolve to protect our children (since we are now too old for all of that), I would rather more modestly pause at the words about a journey "into a far country." 

The far country of the parable is geographical, for the young man of the parable ventured far from his home. Yet, a "far country" can also refer to a hidden place in our interior landscape; a "place" in which we can distance ourselves from God and right living to a frightening degree, even if slowly and unintentionally. At first, that interior far country can prove to be appealing. It can appease our vanity, protect our pride and/or feed "the passions" that we can nurture with pleasure, even if hidden from the view and censure of others. This is initially stimulating and seems to promise endless delight -- perhaps like the endless freedom that an unsupervised dorm may offer to an innocent college student away from the sheltering, but seemingly restrictive, atmosphere of home.

When the emptiness of such a landscape becomes evident, we too can desperately desire to "feed on the pods that the swine ate." The self-serving (or "self-help!") philosophies on which we squandered our "inheritance" from God will no longer satisfy us, but in a restless and hungry search for something else to replace these, we can even fall to the level of "swinish delights" -- anything to relieve our boredom or frustrations. Without moving anywhere, and without changing the patterns of our lifestyle, we can still withdraw to a "far country" in that interior landscape that can prove to be as treacherous as any unknown environment of the exterior world.

It is said of the prodigal son of the parable, that when at "rock bottom," he "came to himself" [Luke 15:17]. This is certainly one of the key expressions found in this endlessly rich parable. The young man found his right mind, his sanity was restored, and basically he "got a grip on reality" — an undramatic, but meaningful, way to describe "conversion," or the process of turning back toward God and the warm embrace of our heavenly Father.

In effect, the prodigal son repented. This major character of the parable did exactly what Christ taught as the beginning of His public ministry: "Repent, and believe in the Gospel." [Mk. 1:15] This call to repentance will allow me to again quote what I consider to be one of the best descriptions of repentance, at least among contemporary Orthodox writers, and that is from Archbishop Kallistos Ware's book The Orthodox Way:

Repentance marks the starting-point of our journey. The Greek term metanoia, as we have noted, signifies primarily a "change of mind." 

Correctly understood, repentance is not negative but positive. It means not self-pity or remorse but conversion, the re-centering of our whole life upon the Holy Trinity. It is to look not backward with regret but forward with hope - not downwards at our own shortcomings but upward at God's love. It is to see, not what we have failed to be, but what by divine grace we can now become; and it is to act upon what we see.

To repent is not just a single act, an initial step, but a continuing state, an attitude of heart and will that needs to be ceaselessly renewed up to the end of life (p.113-114).

 

A certain clarity of thought is needed to find our way home when we drift off toward a far country. The short-lived rock band of the late 1960s, Blind Faith, had an intriguing song entitled "Can't Find My Way Home." Perhaps that was an honest and clear-sighted assessment of the band's state of mind at that time (money, sex and drugs?) and a poignant recognition of being in a "far country." Two other songs on the album, however -- "In the Presence of the Lord" and "Sea of Joy" -- may have pointed to more promising discoveries.

Every year, through the lectionary of the Church, especially in this pre-lenten season of preparation, we are powerfully reminded of just how far away from "home" we may actually be in mind and heart. If we have been equally prodigal with the gifts bestowed upon us by God, then we can equally "come to ourselves" and return home to the embrace of our compassionate Father. Great Lent will once again present us with that possibility.