Orthodox Voices

Modus Operandi

2009-05-19T04:04:00.001-06:00

Acts 13:13-34 (5/20)
Apostle for Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Pascha

Modus Operandi: Acts 13:13-24, especially vss. 14, 15: "...they came to
Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and
sat down. And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers
of the synagogue sent to them, saying, 'Men and brethren, if you have
any word of exhortation for the people, say on.'"

St. Paul and his companions attended the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch
and followed a consistent pattern of missionary work exhibited
throughout Acts (e.g. 13:5; 14:1). Following arrival in a new
community, when the Sabbath came, the Apostolic teams attended services
at the synagogue or other gathering places of Jews for worship. There
are eight instances of this type of occurrence scattered through the Acts.

In the present day, numbers of visitors come to our churches to inquire
about the Faith. This passage from Acts reveals principles derived from
the Apostles concerning presentation of the Faith. Three stand out: 1)
use whatever existing, natural, and shared beliefs you may have with
those who want explanations of Orthodoxy, 2) consider the experience and
knowledge of those who come, and 3) keep the focus on the Lord and the
Gospel.

The very act of going to services on the Sabbath represented a conscious
effort by the Apostolic teams to connect with local people in the most
natural way possible. They did not go to the rulers of the synagogue
and ask to speak. Honestly and correctly they came as visiting, fellow
Jews. They used whatever opportunities developed from existing shared
beliefs and background. In your "meetings" with those who come to your
parish, seek to act as did St. Paul, beginning with what is known and
shared in belief, finding common ground that is obvious and natural, and
only later proceeding to what may be new or different.

If you establish a link with those who come seeking, they will much more
easily follow your presentation and hear the truths you have to share.
Notice: in St. Paul's statements, he began with the common, well-known
history of Israel (Acts 13:17-22). The effect of such an approach is to
affirm those who are listening so they may consider new truths and
overcome barriers and strangeness within an open atmosphere for learning.

Next, in St. Paul's opening words, he took into account the composition
of his audience. The Apostle saw immediately that, in addition to Jews,
there were present also "God-fearers" - Gentiles sympathetic to
Judaism. "God-fearers" were common in the first-century Greco-Roman
synagogues. The monotheism and morality of Judaism were drawing many
who were dissatisfied with the empty superstitions of paganism. Still,
there were barriers in Judaism that held off inquirers: circumcision,
the dietary laws, and the implicit rejection of their non-Jewish
heritage. In appropriate ways, be sensitive to and honest about any
notable differences among your listeners - consider age, social, and
religious affiliations, etc.

Even though today's reading presents only the opening lines of St.
Paul's speech (vss. 17-24), it is clear that the Apostle early turned
his message to a central point - the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior of all
mankind. Think about our churches. What is central in them? What
stands out above all else in our worship? Of course it is the Lord
Jesus Christ, our King and our God. His icons are central. In almost
every prayer, He is either named or addressed directly. In the Divine
Liturgy, the Holy Gifts are His true Body and Blood received for the
cleansing of our souls, the hallowing of our thoughts, the enlightenment
of our hearts - for our establishment in Him. As with St. Paul, be sure
you place the Lord Jesus Christ in primary focus before guests whenever
you share your Orthodox Christian Faith with them.

Lord, Thou art our life and salvation. Glory to Thee Who hast shown us
the Light!

The Holy Spirit

2009-05-18T15:25:00.003-06:00

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Acts 12:25-13:12 (5/19)
Apostle for Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Pascha
The Holy Spirit: Acts 12:25-13:12, especially vs. 2:
"As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, 'Now separate to Me
Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.'"

While the Person and ministry of Christ our God constitute the subject
matter of the four Gospels, the Person of God the Holy Spirit and His
ministry dominate the early Church history found in the Acts of the
Apostles, for the Spirit is named in almost every chapter. In the few
chapters where He is not specifically identified, His presence and work
will be manifestly evident "between the lines" to any perceptive reader.

Look, for instance at Acts 14:9,23; 27:10.
The Acts passage assigned for today provides three examples of God the
Holy Spirit at work, ordaining, sending, and bestowing charisms. In each
of the cases, notice how carefully the Spirit of God carries out His
ministry - invariably in cooperation - in synergy with flesh-and-blood
human beings who are open to Him and seeking His graces. Should not this
be each of us!?

Take the ordination of Barnabas and Saul as Apostles: the infilling
action of the Holy Spirit came upon these two when they were already
serving as prophets and teachers, in ministries of the Church at Antioch
(Acts 13:1). They were well-known for their godliness and spiritual
illumination (Acts 9:19-20,27; 11:22-26). They provide a clear instance
of existing leaders moving from lesser to greater ministries. It is the
Spirit's way in Orthodox Christianity.

Next, observe the liturgical setting: "As they ministered to the Lord
and fasted..." (Acts 13:2) - or literally, "As they performed the
liturgy to the Lord and fasted...." The pattern continues today, for
Ordinations still occur within the context of the Divine Liturgy.
What about the fasting? It is not stated if their ordination occurred
during a fasting season or in anticipation of ordination. St. John
Chrysostom believed that it was for ordination. "A great, yes a great
good is fasting: it is circumscribed by no limits. When need was to
ordain, then they fast: and to them while fasting, the Spirit spake."
But heed his point about the worship and fasting - that "...there was
need of great sobriety." May such be your model for your life!
What does it mean, "...the Holy Spirit said..." (vs. 2)? God clearly has
instructed the Church to proclaim the Gospel to the nations (Mt. 28:19;
Acts 11:18). Obediently, in Antioch the Church did so; and their pagan
neighbors saw the Spirit working for "...a great number believed and
turned to the Lord" (Acts 11:21). Within the good order of the Church,
members and leaders of pure hearts still hear the Holy Spirit speaking
in their hearts; and they act in obedience.

What about the thousands and millions beyond Antioch? One does not have
to think long to understand why St. John Chrysostom believed there was a
"need to ordain." The Spirit was speaking to them by moving within their
hearts. No audible theophany was needed. Through their prophets and
teachers, they agreed in the Spirit as He poured wisdom upon them. They
opened themselves through worship and fasting, and the Spirit revealed
His candidates. The community heard and understood: these were "worthy."
Then, after additional fasting and prayer, they "...laid hands on
them..." (Acts 13:3) This is why our Bishops take candidates before us
and say, "Wherefore, let us pray for him, that the grace of the all-Holy
Spirit may come upon him."

The Holy Spirit, by ordination, sent them forth. Also, being men, they
needed His grace for ministry. But, since the Life-giving Spirit ever
"...completeth that which is wanting ...through the laying on of hands."
Thus, wherever Barnabas and Saul went, the Spirit guided them (Acts
13:4) with His charisms, His gifts of knowledge, and insight - even when
they met perversion (vs. 10). As St. John Chrysostom notes: "...it shows
that the Spirit did all."

Through communion with Thee, O Blessed Spirit, may we ever serve Christ
our Lord.

Living The Apostolic Life

2009-05-16T05:32:00.001-06:00

Acts 12:12-17 (5/18)
Apostle for Monday of the Fifth Week of Pascha

Living The Apostolic Life: Acts 12:12-17 (include vss. 18-24),
especially vs. 12: "So, when [Peter] had considered this, he came to the
house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many
were gathered together praying."

We regularly asks Christ to heed the intercessions of the Apostles.
What a privilege to seek the prayers of the great Saint Peter, "...head
of the honored Apostles and rock of the Faith!" May his manner of life,
the quality of his spirit, and his intimate communion with the Lord
Jesus encourage us to beseech him to seek the salvation of our souls.
This passage from Acts further encourages us to imitate his actions,
that we might acquire something of his great virtues; for the Blessed
Chief Apostle reveals those basic apostolic traits which ought to mark
every Christian's manner of living: prudent reasoning, submission to one
another in love, and solicitude for the Church.

Consider St. Peter's situation described at the beginning of the present
reading. Without warning in the middle of the night, an angel left the
chief Apostle standing alone in the midst of a city with a hostile
population. He had to act; not being able to remain where he was -
around the corner from the prison out of which the angel had just
released him. "Where to go? What to do?" These questions had to be
sorted out. Once before, when he had been released supernaturally,
another angel had told him to show himself publicly in the Temple (Acts
5:20). That event had happened almost a decade earlier. Since then,
social and political conditions had changed and become much more ominous
for him. This time the angel gave him no instructions.

Take special note of Peter's deliberations in verses 11 and 12, and you
will see that his chief concern was God's will, yet he also used his own
prudent reasoning. He considered the facts (vs. 12): God had delivered
him from death at the hands of King Agrippa (vs. 11), the king who
already had murdered the Apostle James, son of Zebedee - to ingratiate
himself with the enemies of the Church (Acts 12:3). He himself had been
slated for death. Thus, where should he go now? He chose the home of
Mary, mother of John Mark (the future Evangelist Mark).

>From Mary's home he would be able to alert the head of the Jerusalem
Church, James "the Brother of the Lord," without going in person and
jeopardizing him if the authorities should go there! And observe that
"...many were gathered together praying..." (vs. 12). Note that Peter
stopped only briefly at this Christian gathering place.

Peter made an effort to contact James; but did so co-operatively, not
unilaterally. He arranged for messengers to inform James what he was
doing, perhaps even where he was going. How well he fit the admonition
of another Apostle, to be submitted "...to one another in the fear of
God" (Eph. 5:21)! The "chief" of the Apostles manifests humility,
obedience, and cooperation - the marks of true life in the Church. He
lived out the commandment of the Lord to you and all of us: "But he who
is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself
will be humbled; and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Mt. 23:11,
12).

Finally, notice how carefully Peter protected the little community. He
came to the door and knocked. When Rhoda ran to tell the others, he did
not raise his voice at being left outside, but quietly persisted in
knocking. He needed care for his safety, the little gathering, and.
James. Thus, when the Faithful came to the door, he did not go in, but
gave the message and left. Out of great solicitude, he left the city
altogether so as to place no unnecessary risk on anyone.

O Lord our God, grant that we may glorify Thee in the manner of Thy Holy
Apostles: by prudent reasoning illumined by Thy Holy Spirit, by
submitting ourselves to one another in love, and by solicitude for the
well-being of Thy Holy Church.

The Way of the Lord:

2009-05-15T06:01:00.006-06:00

Apostle for the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman: Photeini

Acts 11:19-26, 29-30, especially vs. 21: "And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord."

The British poet, William Cowper, first penned the well-known line: "God
moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform." The present passage
from Acts reveals the diverse way in which God illumines our darkness so
that too often we fail to see or respond to His hand at work (Is. 41:20). For example, some members of the early Church resisted bringing
the Gospel to Gentiles, contrary to the Lord Jesus' mandate that all
ethnic group are to be discipled and joined to the Church (Mt. 28:19).
While the Apostle Peter focused his ministry principally on Jews, still
God led even him to a group of Gentiles to preach to them and Baptize
them (Acts 10:9-48). Following the stoning of Stephen, God also used
the scattering of Greek-speaking, Jewish disciples to reach Gentiles.

At Antioch, God moved some Hellenized disciples to speak "...to the
Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus" (Acts 11:19-20). News of this
prompted the Jerusalem Church to send Barnabas to Antioch. In turn,
when he saw "...the grace of God..."(vs. 23), he "...departed for Tarsus
to seek Saul" (vs. 25), and brought that former foe of the Church, and
Her future Apostle to the Gentiles, into Her assemblies where they
"...taught a great many people" (vs. 26).

Do you see how diverse is the way of God in His disciples' lives? Be
encouraged and take notice; for your Lord is active in all aspects of
your life, perhaps in a conflict you now face, in persecution you once
endured, in exile from your land or family of origin, during job-related
travel or when you are at home, in formal interviews and during small
talk, in planned meetings or chance encounters. He is at work in your
disposition and temperament - either in your willingness or your
unwillingness. The point is that nothing in your life remains outside
His purview. That is the character of the way of the Lord, to be
everywhere present and filling all things. Be attentive to what He is
doing and saying for you in every moment.

Certain Holy Fathers of the Church are called "neptic," or "watchful."
Their lives and teaching are reminders to be alert to the way of the
Lord at all times. Archimandrite Ioannikios reminds us concerning
"...three giants of the devil, who demolish the spiritual life...to its
very foundation...forgetfulness, ignorance, and indolence;" but he
reassures you also, that "Watchfulness...shows itself much stronger than
these three treacherous malefactors."

Father Ioannikios goes on to teach that "The Christian can stay free
from the bonds of forgetfulness and ignorance, but that is not enough
for an awakened conscience. In the spiritual life theory and practice
go together. The Christian also is industrious, diligent in the working
of the divine Commandments." You must be as energetic and diligent as
possible to obey Christ.

Take the case of Barnabas in the present reading. Why do you think the
Church in Jerusalem sent him out? Was it not his record of industry?
When the Church there had care for many who were in need, he sold his
land "...and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet" (Acts
4:37). Was that not diligence? Why else would the Church in Jerusalem
select him to be sent out "...to go as far as Antioch" (Acts 11:22)?
Clearly he worked the Commandments of God in seeking Saul, finding him,
and bringing him to Antioch (vss. 25,26).

Attentiveness and watchfulness are gifts of the Holy Spirit, as revealed
by this account of Barnabas in Acts: "For he was a good man, full of the
Holy Spirit and of faith" (vs. 24). And this grace is yours if you
will, for such is the way of the Lord. As St. Seraphim says: "The grace
of the Holy Spirit is the light which enlightens man," and His light is
meant to be yours!

O Holy Spirit, mysterious Light, fill me with the streams of Thy knowledge!

Accepting Direction:

2009-05-14T05:52:00.008-06:00

Apostle for Friday of the Fourth Week of Pascha

Acts 10:44-11:10 (include vss. 11-18), especially
vs. 9: "But the voice answered me again from heaven, 'What God has
cleansed you must not call common.'"

Often our worst enemies are our unexamined presuppositions, which lead
us to think that we understand what is happening when we do not. Thus,
we misjudge entire situations, and later discover that we were wrong and
failed to anticipate many key factors. Worst, our wrong presuppositions
can lead us to throw ourselves against reality - in an effort to force
life to conform to our ideas.

On the other hand, unexpected events often are our great opportunities
to gain humility and learn basic acceptance of the will of God.
Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow urges us to pray for the unexpected:
"Teach me to treat all that comes to me throughout the day with peace of
soul and with the firm conviction that Thy will governs all."

The present passage from Acts records the first outpouring of the Holy
Spirit on non-Jews - Gentiles. The passage instructs us to accept God's
direction. God caused all who were present at the home of Cornelius to
"go beyond" their expectations. The Evangelist Luke reports that all
who were there accepted the evident will of God. St. John Chrysostom,
in commenting on what happened, observed: "Clearly the whole is of God;
and as for Peter, it may almost be said, that he is present only to be
taught the lesson with them."

St. Luke leaves no doubt: God, for His gracious reasons, took the
division between Jews and Gentiles into His Own hands in Caesarea.
Jewish Christian acceptance of Gentiles into their fellowship would
prove to be a serious strain on the relationship between ethnic Israel
and the Church (see Acts 10:21-33). Looking at these events from the
perspective of conservative Judaism, one can sympathize with the
astonishment of the Jewish Christians who came to Caesarea with the
Apostle Peter as they saw the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Gentiles.

Let their surprise remind us to examine our readiness to accept shifts
of direction, most of all when events abruptly contradict our human
certainty and established expectations. There is nothing wrong with
amazement. After all, this present existence is shaped both by visible,
tangible, earth-bound factors and by the ever-active, but unseen, hand
of God. As a Christian, expect life to produce wonder and awe as events
unfold: "For God is with us. Understand, O ye nations, and submit
yourselves: for God is with us."

Consider St. John Chrysostom's thought - that St. Peter was learning
along with the others present. The Apostle's response to the outpouring
of the Holy Spirit was to order Baptism for the Gentiles. His response
has much to say about accepting change. The Holy Spirit plainly
revealed the way to Peter. A spiritually mature man - which the Apostle
Peter surely was - knows immediately what next step to follow. That is
not surprising. Peter simply obeyed; for the Lord had told the Eleven,
"...make disciples of all nations, baptizing them..." (Mt. 28:19).
Learn to be discerning. When events move unexpectedly, ask, 'What does
God expect of me now?'

Finally, look further at the response of "those of the circumcision,"
the Jewish Christians still fettered by the ancient strictures of the
Law. They were astonished to see the Holy Spirit come upon Gentiles;
yet it seems that they assisted in the Baptisms (Acts 10:48).

Later, those not present felt right in challenging Peter (vs. 11:2).
They knew it is necessary to "...withdraw from every brother who walks
disorderly and not according to the tradition..." (2 Thess. 3:6).
"...the Faith once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3) is not to
be compromised. Still, the truly wise accept God's hand and follow His
lead (Acts 11:18).

O God, our God, illumine our souls and number us with Thy rational flock.

The Gospel: Thursday of the Fourth Week of Pascha

2009-05-14T04:13:00.001-06:00

The Gospel: Acts 10:34-43, especially vs. 43: "To Him all the prophets witness that, through His Name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins." The message that the Apostle Peter preached to a gathering of Gentiles in the home of the Centurion Cornelius was the "'...word which God sent to the children of Israel...'" (vs. 36). It is the word that Jesus of Nazareth proclaimed after the baptism preached by John (see vss. 37,38). That message was and is known as "the Gospel" (Mk. 1:1,14), or the Good News. St. Peter knew that, in preaching the Gospel to those with Cornelius, he was obeying a command of the Lord Jesus (vs. 42). He was certain also that it made no difference whether those who heard him were Jews or Gentiles (vss. 34,35) - the message is the best news for all people (Mt. 28:19). Pay close attention to the six points in the Apostle's message for its truths remain applicable for you and everyone from the Apostle's time and forever. As you review try reframing St. Peter's six points into questions to consider for your own life. 1) Saint Peter knew that God is forever concerned for everyone without respect to culture, race, ethnicity, language, or religion (vss. 34,35,42-43). Christian Faith is not inherently imperialistic, despite the fact that some have mistakenly sought to impose its truth on others. True, the Faithful in Christ are under mandate to disciple all nations without partiality (Mt. 28:19; Acts 10:34). Still the command does not imply force or hype. The Gospel is to be offered as a free gift (Rom. 5:15). Have you freely chosen to receive the Gospel yourself? 2) Many do not consider faith in Christ important. Others think God is a useful idea of someone is inclined toward "that sort of thing." But consider Peter's belief that God cares for everyone and ask yourself: "Do I believe that God is active in history, including my life? Do I believe that He truly is concerned about me and cares what I believe and do and say?" 3) From the Apostle Peter's perspective, the primary life-issue facing every person who has ever lived is the state of his relationship with God. Yes, the Saint also knew that everyone's relationship with God is significantly disrupted by sin (vss. 42,43). The disruption is significant for you because your broken relationship is with the One Who created you - He Who holds your life and eternal destiny in His hands. "Am I concerned about my sins against God?" 4) Lest you think the Christian message is simply an effort to "make people feel guilty," be assured that the Gospel, which St. Peter set forth in today's reading, firmly asserts that Jesus Christ is "...He Who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead" (vs. 42). The Gospel affirms that ultimately you will have to give an account to God for the sins that have broken your relationship with Him. "Am I concerned about what I will say to God when I stand before the dread Judgment seat of Christ?" 5) The outstanding element in the good news of the Gospel that the Apostle preaches is this: the Judge you will face, Jesus Christ, is the "...Lord of all" (vs. 36), the Person of God accepting, loving, forgiving, and healing, and freeing you and everyone from demonic compulsions (vss. 38,43). Is my heart seeking Christ as my God and Savior, praying for Him to prompt me to repent, accept me, and move me to fear God and work righteousness (see vs. 35)? 6) What St. Peter proclaimed in Caesarea is a message for everyone - those who read of his meeting with Cornelius and those who do not. Consider what he preached, be honest and ask, 'Do I fear God so that I am willing to humble myself before the Lord Jesus, believe in His promises, cry out for His forgiveness, and work with Him to renew my way of life?' (see vs. 43). Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner!

Standing Firm In Conflict:

2009-05-14T01:31:00.005-06:00

Apostle for Saturday of the Fourth Week of Pascha

Acts 12:1-11, especially vs. 1: "Now about
that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the
Church."

Here is a record of an early, politically-motivated assault against the
Church: "The kings of the earth were aroused...against the Lord..." (Ps.
2:2). The mention of "Herod the king" places the events described here
just after A.D. 41, for in that year, Claudius, the Roman Emperor,
enlarged Herod Agrippa's kingdom in southern Syria and Galilee to
include Judea, and Agrippa moved his Capital to Jerusalem.

For thirty seven years, Judea had been directly under Roman control with
all agents of government answering directly to the Imperial procurators,
Pontius Pilate being the most well-known. With the return of Herod
Agrippa as king, the growing tension between ethnic Israel and the
Church gained political backing in favor of those who violently opposed
the Church. St. Luke provides evidence of this shift toward violence by
reporting the execution of James and the arrest of Peter. Of Herod,
Luke says: "And when he saw that [James' execution] pleased the Jews, he
proceeded further to seize Peter also" (vs. 3). When conflicts in this
world oppose the clear will of God, you and I as Christians often have
to answer for our motives, goals, and choices.

Hence, when government turns against the Church, examine your primary
loyalties. St. Luke speaks plainly about the political nature of
Herod's goals: keep in mind the root sense of the word, "political,"
from the Greek word for "citizen," "polites." The king was currying the
favor of the majority of his citizens, while the Jewish Faithful in
Christ were a distinct, unpopular minority in a nearly all-Jewish
population. Ten years earlier their Leader, Jesus of Nazareth, had been
executed. Now the followers of Jesus were admitting Gentiles - non Jews
- into their synagogues, blurring the lines between Jews and other
ethnic groups, actions totally contrary to the traditionalist values of
most of the citizens of Israel (see 1 Chron. 16:35).

Popular opinion favored rigidly maintained separatism. In Herod
Agrippa, the Jews had a king of acceptable lineage, and, best, He was in
good standing with the dominant Roman powers. However, the Christian
synagogues plainly threatened the stability of Jewish privilege with the
Romans. Recall the Prophet David's words: "The kings of the earth were
aroused, and the rulers were assembled together, against the Lord, and
against His Christ. Let us break their bonds asunder, and let us cast
away their yoke from us" (Ps. 2:2,3). May you stand with God's will and
the Church for the full inclusion of those of every ethnic group (Is. 60:3)!

Government necessarily is about control, and the power to enforce. By
pleasing most people through the repression of the Christians, King
Herod aimed at building popular support to solidify his power and keep
his newly restored kingdom in the hands of his family.

The God-given goal of the Church remains the redemption of every person
from any ethnic group who chooses Christ - access to God's Kingdom for
anyone on the face of the whole earth. And note well: since God is
Ruler of all - no matter a government's "case" to the contrary - His
will is to be obeyed and honored (Acts 12:11). Be aware: even you could
have to resist.

Overriding Herod's political methods of arrest and execution in response
to "constant prayer" (vs. 12:12), God reveals that the king was puny in
his struggle against the Powers of Heaven. Herod would have executed
Peter (Acts 4:3; 5:18), yet events demonstrate the greater power of
God's hand - sometimes by martyrs' witness, and sometimes by angels. As
the Prophet David says, "He that dwelleth in the heavens shall laugh
them to scorn, and the Lord shall deride them" (Ps. 2:4). What matters
is how you stand before the Great Judge of all.

Preserve Thy Holy Orthodox Church, keep it in peace and unconquerable
forever.

With A Strong Hand II ~ A Convert's Response:

2009-05-07T05:55:00.002-06:00

Apostle for Saturday of the Third Week of Pascha

Acts 9:19-31, especially
vss. 19, 20: "For several days Saul was with the disciples at Damascus.
And in the synagogues immediately he proclaimed Jesus, saying, 'He is
the Son of God.'"

Acts 9:1-19 records how God blinded, humbled, and brought Saul to
repentance, filling him with gratitude. As you read what happened
subsequently (Acts 9:19-31), note the significant inner changes that the
Lord worked in the heart of the former blasphemer and persecutor of the
Church. Such is what the present reading describes, giving you the
opportunity to reflect on what can result from encountering Christ.

The verses tell of events that took place at two distinct locations - in
Damascus and Jerusalem; but Saul's activities followed a common pattern
in both cities. First, he spent time with the local Christians (vss.
19,27). Second, he openly proclaimed the Lordship of Christ to his
fellow countrymen, the Jews (vss. 20,29). Third, his public speaking
led to discussions with those who had questions or doubts about the
Faith (vss. 22,29). Serious negative reactions developed to the
Christian message, especially among Greek-speaking Jewish Christians.
Then, threats began to be made on Saul's life. However, in each city,
the local Church rallied and helped him escape to prevent his murder
(vss. 25,30).

Having obtained mercy from the Lord (1 Tim.1:13), Saul pursued what is
essential for us as Christians: he joined the Communion of fellow
believers. In Jerusalem, there were grave doubts about his motives for
seeking them out (Acts 9:26), yet he knew it was imperative to be united
to the Church, despite the suspicions of Christians toward him.
An ancient Christian book illumines this urgency: "...gather together
each Lord's Day, break bread, and hold Eucharist....let no one who has a
quarrel with his fellow man join in your meeting until they be
reconciled." Saul clearly persisted, for "...Barnabas took him and
brought him to the Apostles" (vs. 27). Life in Christ is Communion:
"'For where two or three are gathered together in My Name, I Am there in
the midst of them'" (Mt. 18:20).

In Orthodox Tradition, even among hermits, the general rule is to leave
one's isolation to come together regularly for prayer and the Liturgy.
As the Lord says: "'I Am the living bread which came down from heaven.
If any one eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that
I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world'"
(Jn. 6:51). Do not be a branch long-separated from the vine or you will
wither and die (Jn. 15:5).

Also, Saul "immediately" began proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God (Acts
9:20). Some English translations use the word "preached" instead of
"declared" or "proclaimed." The preaching by the clergy during the
Liturgy is a specialized form of proclamation, specifically designed for
edification of the Faithful. Naturally, this type of preaching is not
normal or appropriate for converts and the unordained. Saul's
proclaiming was personal confession in the synagogues where he was known
and welcomed. And such "preaching" is appropriate in your contacts with
neighbors and family (Rom. 9:3). Saul shared with friends and loved
ones, that they might embrace the true Faith also. Do not be "preachy,"
but be open about your Faith.

Finally, as opportunities presented themselves, Saul held reasoned
discussions with those who questioned his new-found Faith. We know from
his Epistles that he never relied on his own brilliance (1 Cor. 2:1-2),
yet he confounded many (Acts 9:22). He did what we are meant to do:
speak from the heart to the heart of anyone open to listening. As Saint
Paisius says, "He who remains in love, remains in God: where love is;
there is God also."

O Lord, inspire me with Thy Holy Spirit, that my words and deeds may
glorify Thee.

Love One Another: 1 John 4:11-16

2009-05-06T13:12:00.001-06:00

1 John 4:11-16 5/6 Second Reading at Vespers, Feast of the Apostle John the Theologian (5/8) Love One Another: 1 John 4:11-16, especially vs. 11: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” Here is a challenge. Don’t you just know the objections? 'How can I love those who hate me, despise and take advantage of me? No! I really need to defend myself against people like that.' Also, reject the simplistic idea that love for one another applies only to fellow Christians, another dodge of the command. You know those who are outside the Church and hate, abuse, and take advantage; but admit that you also know Christians within the Church who do the same. The truth is we have this same injunction defined comprehensively from Christ our God Himself: “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you” (Lk. 6:27,28). Now in St. John’s First Epistle, you and I not only are given this basic requirement of life in Christ, but also are provided a guide for establishing it in ourselves as our practice. St. John spells out in simple steps how to grasp what may seem beyond you: practice loving the hateful, embrace love, make love your way, attain peace of heart, and thus gaining eternal life. First there is the phrase, “...so loved us...” (1 Jn. 4:11). By it St. John returns to the verse immediately previous to the present passage: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn. 4:10). This phrase also points ahead to verse 14 in this lesson. He speaks of Christ our God, born a flesh-and-blood man like ourselves, walking radiantly among us, embracing His Passion and death on the Cross, and trampling down death. Here is prima facie evidence that God does not ask of you what He Himself is not willing to do. The Lord Jesus is not God-in-the-abstract but He Who had to “suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the end of the ages...appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Heb. 9:26). In a way it is true that “No one has seen God at any time” (1 Jn. 4:12), yet, in Christ, we know in a direct, concrete manner that “If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us” (vs. 12). What we cannot “see” of God we know through life in His Body, the Church - through His Scriptures and Mysteries, and from His Saints. Who but a pagan or heretic will deny that the love of God abides in Christ and is perfectly revealed in Him? You know this yourself: “...that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit” (vs. 13). Surely you remember Chrismation, and “...the seal of the gift of [God’s] holy, and almighty, and adorable Spirit....”! The Spirit makes Christ present within us. Be confident, for we have the Apostle’s word based on years of physical, tangible experience “...that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world” (vs. 14). St. John learned this by living with Him (1 Jn. 1: 1), and that is exactly how you and I touch Him - in the Church. Do not hesitate at what you are reading and confronting here just because you have not touched the Lord Jesus in the same way that St. John did. Take the Apostle’s assurance to heart: “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God” (1 Jn. 4:15). You did that at your Baptism the first time, and you repeat that confession each time you recite the Nicene Creed: “I believe in...one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God....” Pray God that you, like the Apostle, may know and believe “...the love that God has for us” (vs. 16). “God is love...” (vs. 16). Love is His essence; and, in Christ, He is seeking to have love be your nature as well, so that loving enemies becomes easier bit by bit until it is second nature. Thus, love will abide in you and you will abide in love and so abide in God (vs. 16). O Lord, come and abide in me: cleanse me that I may love fully as Thou commandest.

Tuesday of the Third Week of Pascha

2009-05-05T08:18:00.000-06:00

Acts 8:5-15 (5/5) Apostle for Tuesday of the Third Week of Pascha Opposition and Growth II ~ Preaching the Word, Acts 8:5-17, especially vss. 4, 5: "Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them." In His providence, God uses all that happens to extend His glory into the darkness of this world's nations, families, hearts, and souls. That is why the Evangelist Luke does not report that those who were scattered went everywhere trying "to hide," despite the fact that their persecutors went after them (Acts 9:1-3). No! Those disciples went "...preaching the word" (Acts 8:4). Hence, Saint Philip's outreach in Samaria (today's and tomorrow's readings) and his meeting with the Ethiopian on the road to Gaza (Thursday's reading) reveal the power of the Risen One to spread light by the Holy Spirit. St. Luke employs "...preached Christ..." (vs. 5) as a code-word for describing how, by God's grace, Philip shared the truth of Christ with words and tangible evidence. There were "...the miracles which he did" (Acts 8: 6), exorcisms and healings (vs. 7), joyful heeding of his message (vss. 6,12), baptisms (vs. 12), and eventually, the gift of the Holy Spirit (vs. 17). "Preaching" of this sort is the true means for doing mission work: by demonstrating the power inherent in "...the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ" (vs.12). This is why, when Peter of Damaskos gave thanks for Christ's saints, he said, "...Thou givest thy servants the power to do even greater things, so that we may be still more astonished...for through Thee Thy saints perform all their miracles." God gave miracles by Philip that people might unite themselves to Christ, the Source of healing (vs. 12). As Metropolitan Hierotheos declares: "Christianity is neither philosophy nor 'natural' religion, but mainly healing." Hence, the goal of Gospel-based ministry always is making persons whole and giving them life - the restoration and renewal of humanity. Consider the Samaritans to whom Saint Philip brought the Gospel: their way of life paralleled many of his values, practices, and assumptions, which gave the Saint common ground for preaching "...Christ to them" (vs. 5). Despite suspicion between Samaritans and Jews (Jn. 4:9; 8:48), they were well-known as "neighbors," with many aspects of ethnicity, culture, and religion in common. They and the Jews mostly shared the same Scriptures, worship, and hopes from God. Similarly, you and your neighbors share much in common. Consider the parallel: for the most part you and your non-Orthodox neighbors use the same the Old and New Testament Scriptures, believe many of the same teachings found in the Creed, have a common culture, and shared many similar values and practices. Like St. Philip, you are the living Orthodox witness whom God has made available to those around you. The final portion of this present reading describes how the Apostles completed the ministry that the Deacon Philip initiated. For "...when the Apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God..." (Acts 8:14), they went down and "...prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit," laying their hands on them (vss. 15-17). Orthodox outreach, principally, is friendship and attraction; yet in the end it must be completed by and within the life of the Church. True evangelism is not individualistic, although it is personal. In the end, the true Faith is Communion in the Holy Mysteries, participation in the Apostles' fellowship and teaching. Without the illuminating, indwelling of the Holy Spirit found in the worship and life of the Church, the healing that begins in Baptism often withers and is lost. I will come into Thy house in the multitude of Thy mercy: Lead me, O Lord, in Thy righteousness that with a clear mind I may glorify Thee forever. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Words of St. Symeon the New Theologian

2009-04-08T21:55:00.000-06:00

"If, then, you thus persist with all your strength and soul, knocking, begging, and asking Him, He will not abandon you but, whether through Himself or through one of His servants, He will teach you as many things as you need to do and, through His grace and the prayers of His servant, will grant you the strength to accomplish them. For without Him you will be able to do nothing. He, though, as I have just said, will be all things to you unceasingly. And if He does not become all things, at least you will be found to be seeking Christ at the hour of your death, at least you will be found subject to His friends and authorities and serving Him through them - for the will of God is the will of His servants - at least you will be found working and not idle, in humility and not in conceit."St. Symeon the New Theologian.

Spiritual Words - LOVE LOVE LOVE revisited

2009-04-01T08:25:00.000-06:00

"What a man loves that he assuredly clings to and everything that obstructs his way to it he despises, lest he be deprived of it; and the man that loves God is concerned for pure prayer and every passion that obstructs his way to it he casts out of himself." St. Maximus the Confessor.

Love, Love, Love

2008-09-11T12:28:00.000-06:00

Love, Love, Love by Fr. Antonios Kaldas “All you need is love.” Thus sang the Beatles in one of their chart toppers (that incidentally also brought in a whole lot of money that they didn’t really need). “Love, love, love.” A beautiful sentiment; fill the world with love. But which love? What were they really after? Did they fill the world with love? No doubt this song had a lovely effect on millions who heard it, but there is also no doubt that everyone interprets that word, ‘love’, in their own idiosyncratic way. For one person, love is a deep romance with the girl who sits two rows down on the train every morning (to whom, by the way, he has never yet had the courage to speak). For another, love is the suffocating, controlling, manipulating power over her only daughter so that her daughter can ‘have everything I never had’ (translation: fulfil MY needs). For a third, love is that vague and general sense of goodwill towards the human race, although “I can’t stand that annoying old hag in the canteen who insists on smiling and showing everyone her crooked yellow teeth” (Linus in Peanuts: “I love humanity; it’s people I can’t stand!”) All you need is love. I think this idea needs some qualification. Who do I love, in what way, and why? Most of us could honestly and immediately list those close to us as people we genuinely love. Parents, children, spouse, siblings (yes, even those) – perhaps we might add extended family, close friends, colleagues in study or work. If blessed with a nice neighbourhood, we might add the neighbours we often see through the week and stop to chat to. Our fellows at Church. How real is this love? How strong? What type of love? “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13) How many people would I really be willing to give my life for? Would I do it for a complete stranger? Would I do it for an enemy? Would the Beatles do it for anyone? Yet this is the astonishing, awful standard that Jesus set for His followers; “…lay down one’s life for his friends…” And He took it further by calling His enemies (sinful humanity) His friends, and then proceeding to lay down His life, horribly, for the very people who violently wrenched it from Him. And thus He won them. Love is very powerful, when practiced the right way. It goes against the intuition, it goes against our instincts, but there can be no doubt that genuine, unselfish, willing love is the one and only invincible power in this world. And I do not mean only power on the large scale, as in the love that conquered the world peacefully through the Christian religion. I am speaking on the day to day individual level for each human being. Everyone genuinely dedicated to divine, unselfish love and living it out unreservedly is, in the long run, victorious over all other forces. And in the short term, they have the added bonus of peace and joy that no one can take from them. Start the day with love. End the day with love. Fill the day with love. Thus read the sign at a place I worked once. It is very good advice. Instead of awaking with a growl and a grumble, and being obnoxious to everyone until morning tea time, imagine if you awoke with love in your heart. Imagine waking to the joy of a new day gifted to you by a wildly generous Creator who has decorated it with flowers and twittering birds and bright sunshine on glistening green gardens. Imagine spreading that joy with those who are close to you through a smile and a hug and words of happiness that are infectious. Instead of collapsing in a heap into bed at the end of the day, imagine taking the time and putting forth the effort to remind those you love that you love them, to offer them, more than words, some simple act of kindness, some small gesture that shows them practically what they mean to you; perhaps to turn on their electric blanket for them unasked so that they are pleasantly surprised when they gingerly crawl into bed expecting coldness, or to complete a household task for them so that they don’t have to do it tonight. Imagine going through today with others in your mind. Thinking about their needs and acting in kindness towards them. Imagine that thoughtful kindness one day becoming a habit, a part of you, no longer something you must consciously choose to do, but rather something that springs forth from you naturally without conscious intention. Love, love, love. Yeah, yeah, George. That’s all very good; but which love do you mean? Fr Ant source: http://stbishoy.org.au/modules/wordpress/

Manifestations of the Lord Jesus Christ to Mary Magdalene After the Resurrection

2008-09-10T14:26:00.000-06:00

By His Eminence Metropolitan Bishoy In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God, Amen. His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, may God grant him long life, explained that Mary Magdalene visited the tomb of Christ the Lord five times on the dawn of Sunday of the resurrection. The first four of these five visits occurred at the time between the appearance of the first beams of light at dawn “…when the sun had risen…” (Mk 16:2) and the fading of the remains of the night’s darkness “…while it was still dark…” (Jn 20:1). This period of time is usually no less than an hour each day. Mary Magdalene frequently visited the tomb and would return to the city of Jerusalem in haste, then she quickly went back to the tomb for her next visit. The tomb was near Jerusalem (see Jn 19: 20, 41) so the journey did not take her a long time. Despite the fact that Mary Magdalene covered the distance ten times in all five visits, in the first four visits, she only covered the distance six times because she had already visited the tomb on Sunday’s dawn. This means that the journey from the tomb to Jerusalem and back, took her about ten minutes each time. Since the sequence of these incidents of the resurrection are of great importance, we shall list the synoptical account mentioned by the four evangelists in the sequenced order of Mary Magdalene’s five visits to the tomb. The First Visit: Saint Mark mentions the first visit in his gospel as follows: “1Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. 2Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” 4But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. 5And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. 7“But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.” 8So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” (Mk 16:1-8). The proof that this was Mary Magdalene’s first visit, are the words of Mary and Mary the mother of James when they said amongst themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” This indicates that Mary hadn’t yet seen the stone rolled away. The Second Visit: After Mary Magdalene’s return from the first visit, she did not notify anyone of what the angel told her because she was afraid. Thus, she went to see the tomb again, but this time accompanied by Saint Mary the Virgin. Saint Matthew mentioned this incident in his gospel without referring to the Virgin specifically, but he called her “…the other Mary…” He wrote, “1Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. 3His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. 5But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6“He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7“And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.” 8So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. 9And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. 10Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.” (Mt 1:1-10). By stating, “…behold, there was a great earthquake…”, Matthew did not mean that the earthquake occurred during this visit, but rather that it had taken place prior to both the first and second visits. Saint Mark also mentioned the second visit briefly in his gospel. It is the visit in which Mary Magdalene saw Christ the Lord, when she accompanied Saint Mary the Virgin. Saint Mark mentions this visit after mentioning the first one. His gospel states, “9Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. 10She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. 11And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.” (Mk 16: 9-11). From these verses, we can observe how Christ the Lord honored His mother, the Virgin Mother of God. He did not appear to Mary Magdalene in her first visit when she went in the company of Mary the mother of James and Salome; however, He appeared when His mother arrived. After the second visit, the will of Christ the Lord in informing His disciples about His resurrection was carried out. As Saint Matthew mentioned, they went out of the tomb “…and ran to bring His disciples word…” (Mat 28:8). It is desirable to have the companionship of Saint Mary the Virgin in our spiritual lives, in order to see Christ the Lord through the eyes of our hearts and evangelize the good news of His resurrection without hesitation. Amongst all of the saints, the Virgin is the example of complete obedience and surrender. The Third Visit: After Mary Magdalene informed the disciples of the Lord’s resurrection, both she and Mary the mother of James returned to the tomb accompanied by a group of women. Saint Luke mentions this visit in his gospel after outlining the incidents relating to the burial on Friday and the rest on Saturday: “55And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. 56Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. 1Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 5Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6“He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, 7“saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ” 8And they remembered His words. 9Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. 11And their words seemed to them like idle tales.” (Lk 23:55-24:11). Since our fathers the apostles did not believe the women, Mary Magdalene started to doubt, and so she decided to go alone to the tomb. This was the following visit. The Fourth Visit: Before the end of the night’s darkness, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb alone. Saint John the evangelist mentions this visit as follows: “1Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” 3Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. 4So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. 5And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, 7and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. 9For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. 10Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.” (Jn 20: 1-10). Amazingly, after this visit, Mary Magdalene started repeating words that were entirely different to what she had stated after her second and third visits. After both the second and third visits, she informed the disciples that she had seen the Lord, proclaimed to them His words and the words of the angels, and told them about His resurrection. However, after the fourth visit, she started repeating a phrase that echoed feelings of doubt concerning the resurrection of Christ the Lord, despite His appearance to her and the frequent appearances of the angels. She told Saints Peter and John the Apostles, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” (Jn 20:2). Following this encounter, and the apostles’ awareness that those who guarded the tomb were no longer there, Saints Peter and John the apostles went to the tomb followed by Mary Magdalene. This was the fifth and final visit on the Sunday of the resurrection. This visit was filled with significant occurrences which completely changed the path of Mary’s life and her way of thinking. The Fifth Visit: Saint John mentions the incidents of this visit in his gospel immediately after the events mentioned in John 20:1-10. His gospel says, “11But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” 14Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” 16Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ” 18Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.” (Jn 20:11-18). During this fifth and final visit to the tomb, we see that Mary Magdalene was weeping, perplexed, and in doubt. She repeated the words which she had spoken to Saints Peter and John, to the angels who were sitting inside the tomb. She said, “…they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” (Jn 20:13). Mary even spoke to Christ in the same manner when He appeared to her for the second time saying, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” (Jn 20: 15). She said this because she thought that He was the gardener and did not know that He was Christ (Jn 20: 15,14). When Christ the Lord called Mary by name saying, “Mary!” (Jn 20: 16), He wanted to reproach her for her unbelief concerning His resurrection. He wanted to rebuke her for doubting in His glorious resurrection, and also for desiring to hold on to Him. Mary wanted to hold onto Christ so He would not escape as He had previously, after she clasped His feet and worshiped Him when He appeared to her while she was accompanied by Virgin Mary (See Mt 28:9). This time, reproaching her, He said, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father.” (Jn 20: 17). This was a severe reprimand because she doubted His resurrection and wanted to hold onto Him, to prevent His disappearance once more.In doubting His resurrection, Mary also doubted Christ’s divine power to rise from the dead. She doubted that He is the Lord of life Who is equal to the heavenly Father in might, greatness, and authority. Thus, in Mary’s eyes, Christ had not reached the level of the Father. Moreover, she wanted to prevent His disappearance from her sight so that she would no longer doubt in His resurrection. It was as though she wanted to prevent His ascension into heaven. If this was her state at the time, one wonders what she would have been like after His real ascension to sit on the right hand of the Father. Thus, the Lord Jesus commanded her plainly, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father…” (Jn 20:17). In saying this, He meant to tell His disciples: Your God (the Father) became Mine when I emptied Myself, was incarnated, and came in the image of a slave. My heavenly Father (that is, My Father by nature), will become your Father by adoption when I ascend into heaven, and send the Holy Spirit, to filial you from God through baptism. Through My descent I took what is yours, and through My ascension you shall receive what is Mine. This time, Mary Magdalene understood that she should accept the notion of Christ’s ascension (although He had not yet ascended), despite His disappearance from her sight after His resurrection. Christ remained on earth for a full 40 days from the time of the resurrection until His ascension into heaven in the presence of His disciples and saints. Therefore, “Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.” (Jn 20:18). Christ took away the doubt of Thomas, on the Sunday that followed the resurrection. And likewise, He took away the doubts of Mary Magdalene by appearing to her in the garden for a second time on the Sunday of the resurrection. Our Lady, the Virgin Saint Mary was marvelous and superior in her faith. She believed before she had seen Christ the Lord risen from the dead, she believed when she saw Him, and believed when she clasped His feet and worshipped Him. She accepted His ascension in complete surrender because she knew that He would sit on the right of His heavenly Father. Saint Mary understood that His kingdom is everlasting, just as the angel had announced to her before the incarnation of the Word in her womb. Thus, through the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth told her, “Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.” (Lk 1:45). Glory be to God forever, Amen. source: http://www.metroplit-bishoy.org/english/articles.htm

TOWARDS REAL ORTHODOXY

2008-09-10T11:33:00.002-06:00

TOWARDS REAL ORTHODOXY That good thing which was committed unto thee, keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. 2 Timothy 1, 14 Foreword Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodoxy, Greek Orthodoxy, Russian Orthodoxy, Romanian Orthodoxy: whatever name it is given, it is surrounded by ignorance, myths, inventions and fantasies. Perhaps the greatest of these is the myth that Orthodoxy is different from Christianity. Let us be clear from the very beginning: Orthodoxy is Christianity. The two words mean exactly the same thing. Anything that calls itself Christianity and is not Orthodoxy is something less than Christianity. And anything that calls itself Orthodoxy and is not Christianity is something less than Orthodoxy. You can call it Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Evangelism, Baptism, Methodism, Pentecostalism, anything you like. However, if it is not Orthodoxy, it is not Christianity, and if it is not Christianity, it is not Orthodoxy, but a reductionist, manmade adaptation of it. True, the words Orthodox and Christianity, and Orthodox and Christian, are often put together to make ‘Orthodox Christianity’ and ‘Orthodox Christian’, but only in contexts where people might not otherwise understand and be confused. The words Orthodoxy and Christianity, the words Orthodox and Christian, mean exactly the same, they are synonyms. It is therefore curious to see how sometimes newcomers to Orthodoxy confuse Orthodoxy with something other than Real Christianity, Real Orthodoxy, so creating a false Orthodoxy and a false Christianity. The source of such confusion is in a non-spiritual approach to Christianity/Orthodoxy. This non-spiritual approach takes two different illusory forms, created by two sorts of temptations. The first temptation is that of the body, resulting from an external, physical approach. The second temptation is that of the mind, resulting from an intellectual, rationalistic approach. Since both sorts of temptation are superficial, they are not spiritual, and therefore do not lead to a Christian/Orthodox way of life. The First Temptation There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. I Cor 15, 44 The first temptation of some new to the Orthodox Church (because that is the only place where Christianity/Orthodoxy can be confessed) is to muddle the outward with the inward, confusing externals with internals. For example, we have sometimes seen how those new to the Church imitate what they think Orthodox ‘look like’, a fantasy which seems to be obtained from books. This can mean men growing long beards and long hair (so disobeying the words of the Apostle in 1 Cor 11, 14) and women wearing nineteenth-century clothes and putting impossibly huge headscarves over their heads. In such cases, both sexes may dress in black, displaying large crosses and, on their wrists, prayer-knots, in a manner exaggerating that of Orthodox monks and nuns (who do not wear crosses). Sometimes, both sexes may spend long hours talking about strange fasting foods and spend large sums on them. Sometimes, both sexes also wish to change ordinary Christian names to exotic Christian names. In over thirty years of Orthodox life, I have never met any ‘ordinary’ Orthodox behaving or dressing in the above way. Since Orthodoxy is simply Christianity, it most certainly does not involve bizarre ways of dressing or hairstyle. Neither does it mean non-monastics pretending to be monastics. And certainly the aim of Orthodoxy is not to eat strange foods. The aim of fasting is not to talk about food, still less eat it, be it fasting food or non-fasting food, but to spend less time eating and talking, and more time praying. And one of the benefits of fasting is spending less money on food and giving the money saved to good causes. In everyday life, ‘normal’ Orthodox, who may have been baptised ‘Dmitri’, Theophilus, ‘Haralambos’ or ‘Vladimir’, often modify their names to ‘Jim’, Theo’, ‘Harry’ or ‘Walter’. Newcomers, on the other hand, sometimes do the opposite, trying to change names like ‘Antony’, ‘Michael’, ‘Peter’ and ‘John’ to ‘Vladimir’, ‘Auxentius’, ‘Rostislav’ and ‘Theologos’. Why? Who knows. I plead with such newcomers to the Orthodox Church to get through this phase as swiftly as possible, if possible before they are received into the Church, and to start living like other Orthodox. They should look around. If they care to visit ordinary Orthodox churches, they will not find anyone dressed bizarrely. They will not find a single woman wearing a gigantic headscarf, they will rarely find a single man with a long beard (except for the priest, and his beard may be short and, perhaps like his hair, trimmed). They will not see a single person wearing prayer-knots around their wrists – for the simple reason that the other people in church are not monks or nuns, but married or single laypeople, who have not taken on the obediences of monastic life inside a monastery or convent. Regarding crosses, Orthodox do not wear them on the outside of their clothes, they do not even display them; small metal neck-crosses are worn inside our clothes, next to our hearts. And people rarely discuss the boring topic of food (unless, of course they own or work in restaurants, and even then they tend to change the topic swiftly – who wants to talk about work on a day off?). A superficial, physical view of Orthodoxy is not only strange, but it can also be spiritually dangerous. A strange external appearance, not an imitation at all, fails to understand that Orthodoxy is simply Christianity, it fails to understand that Orthodoxy is simply the Christian way of life. It reduces the Faith to an external and immodest show. And in failing to understand this, it can, in certain circumstances, degenerate, becoming pretentious, both in the sense of pretending to be what it is not, but also developing into pride. This pretentiousness can lead to people referring to themselves as ‘slaves of God’ (we are not called to be ‘slaves’ of God but servants and children of God). It can lead to people signing letters with the word ‘the unworthy’, ‘the sinful’ before their names. Let monks and nuns do this. But let the rest of us refrain from this: we already know that we are all unworthy and sinful – we have no illusions about ourselves. It can lead to the backbiting and gossiping of little hothouse groups, who gather together in order to criticise others. Such criticism and aggressiveness towards others come from insecurity. Not surprisingly, those who come into the Orthodox Church and think that Orthodoxy is about a fantasy imitation of supposed externals, which in reality do not exist in any Orthodox parish, will not last long in the Church, precisely because they are insecure. They will usually find that the Church is ‘not good enough’ for them, that they are well on their way to lapsing completely. The convert complex, the disease of the neophyte, is actually rooted in pride, the wish to be ‘better’ than everyone else. The curious thing is that when such people do fall away from the Church, they rarely blame themselves, but always ‘the Church’, which is ‘not good enough’ for them. The best away to avoid this temptation is to start looking at other Orthodox, at people have been Orthodox for decades and generations and to accept obedience. I knew a young man who turned up in an Orthodox church with long hair and a long beard, dressed in black clothes, and asked the priest if he could become Orthodox. When the priest told him that the first thing he needed to do was to have a haircut and shave and dress normally, the young man revolted and left. His refusal to accept a small dose of humility and obedience meant that he did not become Orthodox, and in more than one sense. The spiritual disease of the neophyte imitating externals, is to be overcome as quickly as possible. After a few months of frequenting an Orthodox church, it is time to become Orthodox. It is time to leave the first course of the meal and to come to the main course, to enter the arena, for only this will lead to our ‘dessert’ – salvation. However, there is yet another sort of temptation to overcome before we can begin this main course. The Second Temptation Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know I Cor 8, 1-2 For newcomers to the Church who are of a more intellectual frame of mind, there is another and perhaps still greater temptation. This is to turn Orthodoxy/Christianity into a mere set of ideas, booklore, a bookish cult. In reality, Orthodoxy/Christianity is not an idea, it is a way of life, the faith lived. Look at other Orthodox; they do not necessarily read piles of books and yet they have a faith stronger than piles of University professors. I know elderly Orthodox who have never read the Bible in their lives, and yet when they speak, they speak the Bible. How is it possible? It is simply because all their lives they have been to church, they have been bathed in a way of life impregnated with the living Scriptures. They do not read the Bible, because, much more importantly, they live it. The intellectual mentality often degenerates into mere rationalism. What we need, they say, is a new form of Orthodoxy, a better one, a reformed version. In other words, as worldly people, they want to invent their own religion, reducing Orthodoxy/Christianity to the size of their reason. They want to reduce eternal and infinite spiritual reality to the tiny neatness of their limited created minds, rather than humbly accept a drop of the limitless greatness of the grace of God, far beyond human reason and social conditioning. This spirit of rationalism does not come from the Church; they bring it with them from the outside, like so many holiday suitcases, full of unneeded clothes. Then, demands start. First of all, there are those who demand that the secret prayers and the Eucharistic Canon be shouted out during the Divine Liturgy. Apparently, salvation is only possible for them, if this is done, for, as they say, ‘everyone must understand’. But we have not come to church to understand what cannot be understood anyway, we have come to pray, to purify our hearts. Only when our hearts are purified will our minds begin to be enlightened and so understand. Spiritual enlightenment, true education, begins in the heart and then spreads to the mind, and not the other way round. For the mind is merely a tool, whereas without the heart we suffer both physical and spiritual death. However, this is not acceptable to those who think that the proud and sinful human mind can understand everything. Their next demand may be that the iconostasis be removed from their local church. Naturally, they have no concept of the sacred, or of the sacrifices that previous generations made to set up the iconostasis in their church. Then, of course, the calendar must be changed, so that ‘we can be like everyone else’. Unknown are the Scriptures, which say that we are not like everyone else, that we Christians are a race apart: But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people (I Peter 2, 9). What next? Well, of course, we must get rid of all these strange and irrational, ‘anti-feminist’ customs, that women cover their heads modestly in church (in obedience to the words of the Apostle in 1 Cor 11, 5), that women do not take communion during menstruation, that mothers do not go to church for forty days after childbirth (since both menstruation and childbirth are involuntary consequences of the Fall). Once they have eliminated all of the above ‘customs’, then, of course, why not have deaconesses and priestesses – ‘like everyone else?’ And on the subject of everyone else, we must have ‘ecumenism’ and intercommunion. In fact, why not destroy the Church completely and start all over again? What a pity the Holy Spirit has been wrong for all these 2,000 years, when only they were right. Clearly, they are God’s gift to mankind. Such is the logic of the rationalist. Such is the obstacle to reaching the main course of the meal, to reaching what is above reason, the supra-rational. Such rationalism is the result of pride and self-flattery. Pride can be seen in the desire of the rationalist to avoid confession (one of the hallmarks of the rationalistic approach) and to take communion at every single Liturgy. However, to refuse confession, in the words of the Evangelist John the Theologian, is self-deceit, for there is no man without sin and we all need confession (I John 1, 8-10). And communion without confession will only lead to the sickness described by the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor 11, 29. The rationalistic, anti-mystical approach to Church life is in fact the quickest exit from the Church, because it denies the essence of the Church, which is mystery. Sadly, there are those who have taken this exit. Afterword Now the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: From which some, having swerved, have turned aside unto vain jangling. I Timothy 1, 5-6 Several years ago I remember hearing an anecdote about an elderly Russian woman commenting on the behaviour of a zealous young convert: ‘He’s certainly Orthodox’, she said, ‘but is he Christian?’ What she meant was that he observed all the externals, in fact he observed them to the exclusion of everything else, and, as a result, he observed none of the internals. In the words of the proverb, ‘he could not see the wood for the trees’. In the words of the Apostle, he suffered from ‘zeal not according to knowledge’. Outwardly he was Orthodox, but inwardly he tended to resemble a ravening wolf. In any case, he did not live a Christian/Orthodox way of life. Zeal was without experience. The conclusion must be that those who are new to the Church need first to follow the examples of others around them, who have never known anything other than Orthodoxy/Christianity. Hence the danger of parishes where, unfortunately, there are only newcomers to the Church. They can become unhealthy hothouses. Sadly, I have known people who have never got over their period as neophytes and all their lives remained ‘converts’, even describing themselves as such (for that is what they feel). This is because they have never passed through the first course of the meal and reached the main course, they have never been into the arena. How then will they get to the ‘dessert’? Our summary of ‘Towards Real Orthodoxy’ is seven words: Be humble, be simple and be modest. For is this not the message of the Gospels? Why complicate Christian/Orthodox life? Be humble, be simple and be modest. That is all there is to it. source: http://www.orthodoxengland.org.uk/realorth.htm

What is Monasticism?

2008-09-09T16:52:00.000-06:00

by H.H. Pope Shenouda What, according to our Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church, is Monasticism, as it was founded and blossomed in the early centuries? Yes, what is the Monasticism that attracted many tourists to Egypt just to see our fathers in the desert and hear a word of wisdom from their mouths; or learn some lessons from their fathers' lives? Yes, what is the Monasticism that our holy fathers lived and which Paladius, Rofinus, and John Cassian wrote about? And who is Saint Athanasius that explained a version in his book about St. Anthony? Monasticism is not only a name or a monastery legacy. It does not reside in the monks' clothes nor is it attached to their kolonsowa (head garment) or their belts. Monasticism is living a life of inner liberation from materialism. Our fathers have lived angelic lives. It is said that the monks are earthly angels and heavenly humans. They are people who have deprived themselves of every thing, to live humbly, and in contemplation in its highest level, executing the word of the Holy Bible."Do not love the world or the things in the world" (1 John 2:15-17). "When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!" Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up." (John 2:15,17) Accordingly, monks rid themselves of all the worldly desires such as money, material things, positions, or fame. They leave everything so that God may be their world. Monks no longer desire worldly ways or their positions, but they choose poverty exactly like their hero, St. Anthony fulfilled the word of the Bible "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have a treasure in heaven; and come follow Me (Matthew 19:21). So, he went and gave away all of his possessions to the needy before he began his monastic life, and he lived as a poor monk in the ascetic life. It is true that monasticism and wealth are complete opposites which cannot travel in the same path of life. It is also true that monasticism and luxury do not correlate, because luxury is an easy way of life, to which poor people, other than monks, are not exposed to. Monks leave the world to live in the desert, mountains, and caves in order to live with God; the God they have dedicated their lives to. How deep is the everlasting expression which identifies monasticism! Monasticism is a total withdrawal from every person and every material thing to connect to the One and Only "God", who fills the heart, mind, and time. A monk will never achieve this spiritual level if he still desires worldly things. Here we remember what Jesus Christ said to Martha, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed and Mary has chosen that good part which will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41-42). The goal of true monasticism is a continuous life filled with prayers. A life of continuous prayer is the main feature of a monk's life, which ordinary people cannot live because of their worldly engaging tasks and interests. He who begins a monastic life trains himself to a continuous life of prayer. When he succeeds, he then begins a life of isolation, which then helps him in his prayers and contemplation. This is why monasticism is a life of loneliness. From loneliness originated the name of the monk. The word in Greek (monakes) means lonely. In French, "moine" means a monk. In English…etc. In loneliness a monk may continue a life of prayer, contemplation, and songs without delay or distraction of any kind. A true monk escapes people to be with God. This is what St. Arsanius the Great had done. St. Macarius of Alexandria once asked him saying, "Father why do you flee from us?" He answered saying, "The Lord knows that I love you all, but I cannot speak with God and people at the same time.' This is why the Spiritual Elder in his deep wonder expression once said, "The love of God made me a stranger to humans and their ways." source: http://abbey.suscopts.org/library/whatis.html

THE FOOD SECURITY PROJECT OF JESUS

2008-09-09T11:13:00.001-06:00

THE FOOD SECURITY PROJECT OF JESUS By FR. DR. REJI MATHEW, STOTS NAGPUR The price of food materials is increasing everywhere in the world along with that of oil. Inflation is a regular phenomenon in countries like India and people are afraid of starvation. Economists and scientists suggest many ways to control inflation and to put an end to the rise of price for essential commodities. In places like Kerala the governments are thinking about developing a Food Security Project so that this issue can be dealt with for a long time. In this background let us have a new study about the Feeding of the Five Thousand. This miracle is recorded in all the four gospels (Mtt 14,13-21; Mk 6,32-44; Lk 9,10-17; Jn 6,1-13) and in Matthew and Mark there is a second account; the Feeding of the Four thousand (Mtt 15,32-38; Mk 8,1-13). Whether the first was done in a Jewish territory and the second in a Gentile land is a matter of debate. Some people think that Matthew and Mark give a duplicate account of the same miracle. Both these reports have many things in common; only the place of happening, the number of loaves, the number of people gathered and the number of baskets are different. This miracle happened in a place near the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus got big crowds always. According to Luke this happened in a place called Bethsaida and John says that the season was that of Passover. The reason for a big gathering might be the increasing popularity of Jesus due to the healing miracles he was performing and because of the wonderful sermons he was delivering. Jesus is accompanied by his twelve disciples and the event becomes a practical class for them. Good teachers use always teaching aids and they choose good locations to make their ideas more concrete. The Feeding of the Multitude teaches the disciples as well as the people gathered the salient features of the Kingdom of God. They are the following: 1. God acts when his people suffer: Spirituality is not only about nourishing the “spirit” but also about addressing the needs of the “body” and “mind”. Since the spirit finds its home in the body, physical needs appear also in the divine plan of salvation. God is concerned about the material requirements of his people and he intervenes in history whenever there is a heavy need. He had answered the cries of Moses and the Israelites during their desert life and He had provided the Manna. According to the fourth Gospel this same God is active in the feeding of the five thousand. Jn 6,25-59 gives us a detailed exposition of the report of the feeding and there Jesus compares the event with that of the time of Moses. The pain of the people was always disturbing Jesus. He was healing “the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, who were laid at his feet” (Mtt 15,30) and the people were amazed at his divine power and they said: “this is a new teaching”. Yes, the healing and the teaching were two sides of the ministry of Jesus and these happened together. Jesus had compassion to the crowd which spent three days with him in a remote place. It is interesting here to note that even though the hungry people did not make any uproar Jesus understands their pain and he expressed his compassion towards them. 2. Disciples of Jesus should address day to day issues of the society: Jesus teaches his disciples a marvellous lesson. They have to take care of the pains and suffering of the people. He tells them: “You give them something to eat”. This creates an alarming situation. The disciples inform Jesus about the main problems they were facing: a) they have gathered in a remote place; b) it is already “very late”; c) the crowd is huge; and the price to feed that multitude “would take eight months of a man’s wages”. So the immediate reaction of the disciples is to find an easy solution. They recommend Jesus “to send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat”. Even today this is a common reaction of Churches and ministers. They make wonderful speeches and they are good in collecting money from the people who are affluent. But in places where the people starve and suffer they would ask: Why should we bother about the material, social or political needs of the people? Let them find an answer by themselves. But Jesus tells us always: “You give them something to eat”. 3. God is the ultimate provider, but our share is important: There is no doubt that God is the ultimate source of everything. History teaches us how miraculous His treasuries contain immense wealth and we can not measure His capabilities. In the book of Genesis we read How God created the universe “out of nothing” and in the Gospels we see Jesus who performs many miracles due to his creative power. He changes water in to wine and he walks on water. Here in the case of the hunger of the five thousand he is capable of doing something. But he needs the co-operation of his disciples and the people. He asks “How many loaves do you have?”. This is an important question. If God is the creator, human beings are co-creators and people’s participation is very much necessary. They can not sit idle and say: Let God act. In the event of the feeding of the five thousand the “Tiffin Box” of a young boy changes the whole situation. The boy, who carries it, and Andrew, who finds the boy, become instruments of God. Every mother takes something for the young children when they go for a long journey or for a long session. The mother of the boy of our miracle might have asked her son to carry something to eat, because she wanted no disturbance while she attends the sermon of Jesus. Thus an ordinary situation becomes a context for the divine providence. Similarly, we can also become instruments of God. 4. Discipline is necessary for food security: The crowd is always a challenging group. The crowd can make some body “king” and it can destroy some others at the same time. It is a difficult thing to control a crowd and “a hungry crowd” is a danger for the society. Such a crowd becomes destructive often. Our political leaders exploit such situations for their vested interests and they will not mind, even if a crowd kills innocent people. At the same time there are some people who are able to make use of the power of the crowd. Mahatma Gandhi was always careful to utilize the energy of the crowd for constructive thoughts and activities. Jesus knows well that nothing will happen if there is no discipline in a crowd. To feed a hungry crowd becomes a Herculean task. The Darwinian theory of “survival of the fittest” will be proved if we throw bags of food in a crowd. The strong ones would get more than they need and the weak ones would suffer and die in the stampede. Therefore the command of Jesus “Have the people sit down” is very important. The Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has proved that the major reason for famine is not the scarcity of food, but indiscipline and undemocratic systems. Even in the midst of plenty of food people may starve, if the government does not have a good system to distribute the food. 5. The rest from your table can feed many others: Jesus tells his disciples a finally: “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted” (Jn 6,12). The multitude was hungry. But now they are full and they do not care where the rest goes. This is an interesting thing: the food security project of God includes a planning about the “rest” and the “waste”. It is a reality that there are lakhs of people in this world who waste food materials. What the American and European people throw away can feed quite a good portion of the African people. This is true of the clothes and other things also. We should be thoughtful about the needs of the future generation also. When we burn the fuel for unnecessary things, we should ask: Will our children and grand children find sufficient energy resources? Our responsibility is not only to manage the available resources but also to make researches for the future. source: http://www.lightoflife.com/LOL_BibleStudy_TheFoodSecurityProjectOfJesus.htm

What Makes Recovery Christian?

2008-09-08T12:22:00.002-06:00

What Makes Recovery Christian? by Lance David For many Christians the idea of addiction recovery seems a touchy-feely, self-help, unchristian thing. With terminology that includes, "Higher Power," "sponsor," and "12 steps" recovery can be unfamiliar and possibly threatening to some Christians. It is certainly possible to do recovery- submitting to the program and to a higher power and experiencing sobriety- without following Christ. But this does not make recovery anymore unchristian than non-Christian couples remaining married until death does them part would make marriage unchristian. For something to be unchristian it would have to be contrary to the gospel. Even though the terms may seem foreign to some Christians, the key principles of recovery highlight significant realities of that are contained in the gospel. The first reality is that all of us are a mess. You may hide it or I may be in denial but that will not change the fact that we are both broken. This is the essential entrance exam both for Christians and those in recovery. The context for recovery is realization of the prodigal who knows that he has been fighting with pigs for sustenance. When a person does not view himself as a mess, he is more like the older brother who has all the riches at his disposal but remains aloof and on the outside. Jesus said, "It is not it the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (Mark 2:17 NIV). It is tragic that many in the church today do not deeply understand and appropriate this, instead resembling Pharisees rather than repentant sinners. Those truly engaged in recovery, on the other hand, grasp this reality very well. A second reality of recovery is that I am responsible for this mess. Neither recovery nor the gospel allows a person to wallow in the blame game of victimhood. No matter how a person has been sinned against, he is responsible for his response. Even though others have sinned against me, recovery only begins when I begin to struggle and repent of the character flaws that have developed as a result of my resentments. Jesus captured the essence of this idea with the admonition, "How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye" (Matthew 7:4-5). A third reality is that the path to healing in recovery must be done with others. Meetings, fellowship, support and sponsors all demonstrate that in recovery healing does not happen alone. Unfortunately, this is an aspect that most of us in the church in the western world have abandoned. Even with small groups, men's groups, accountability partners, Promise Keepers and other seminars, most men remain terribly isolated from others- especially when it comes to our problems. We have been taught that it is not masculine but weak to be a broken mess. But to be isolated denies the reality that we all have blind spots that can only be exposed to us by other people. Furthermore, relationships provide the context for change in that just as we all get hurt in by unhealthy relationships, healthy ones heal. Sanctification and recovery do not take place without community. A final reality of recovery is that it must include a recognition of and submission to a spiritual reality. Of course, as Christians, we recognize that the only "higher power" is the one true God revealed in the bible. However, the generic language of recovery makes the steps palatable to those who are not convinced of this truth. The twelve steps of recovery reveal a very spiritual agenda. It is one that includes submission, confession, repentance, reconciliation, and deep character change. These demonstrate that an addict's core problem is a commitment to self and not addiction per se. Only by submitting to the One greater than self can the addict and the run of the mill sinner experience true inner healing. The essential feature of anyone's recovery that makes it Christian is the person who is in recovery. Christ did not come to give us principles, a system, a cause, rules or many of the things that we have perverted his message into. Christ came to bring us back into relationship with God. Left to our own ingenuity, we have found so many different ways, including addictions, to run from him. The story of the gospel is the story of God's recovery of the human race to himself. For more help on this subject see Every Man's Battle. source: http://www.everymansbattle.com/articles.asp?id=871

Our Compasionate God - For Saturday

2008-08-16T20:03:00.000-06:00

St. Matthew 15:32-39 (8/16) Gospel for Saturday of the
Ninth Week after Pentecost

Our Compassionate God: St. Matthew 15:32-39, especially vs. 32: "...I
have compassion on the multitude...." Out of pure compassion, Christ
our God concerned Himself with the hunger of a multitude of thousands of
men, women, and children (vs. 32). Such is the record. Such is God's
true nature. His actions substantiate His words. Indeed, in feeding a
multitude, God manifest mercy and compassion for a crowd isolated on a
country mountainside far from all sources of food. They had been with
Him for three days, seeking and receiving healing for those of them who
were mute, maimed, blind, and lame (Mt. 15:30). At last all supplies of
food became exhausted (vs. 32), and so, in still another, basic, and
direct way, the Compassionate One revealed His immediate provident
nature - He saw men's hunger and He fed them.

Three compelling truths concerning the compassion of God emerge from
this account: 1) Because He is compassionate, God intervenes in human
distress. 2) The compassion of God cannot be measured, established, nor
verified by human, scientific, statistical means - Divine compassion is
revealed to faith. 3) Faith perceives in the Lord Jesus' feeding of
over 4,000 people, the greatest aspect of God's involvement in human
affairs - His became a man Himself to defeat our sin and death, the
issues that reign over our improvident existence.

The message in this passage proclaims that God is compassionate. The
people came to the Lord Jesus and lay their sick and injured loved ones
at His feet, hoping He would restore and heal them (Mt. 15:30). They
were not disappointed. Thus, in some measure their faith in God's
compassion enlarged, for they saw clear evidence of the hand of the
compassionate "God of Israel" (Mt. 15:31). Hence, the crowd lingered in
the wilderness to be near Jesus, for in Him they found active, merciful
help for their tangible needs. Again, when their food ran out, they
discovered that the compassion of God manifests itself toward real
needs. The Lord Jesus also fed them. "Compassionate and merciful is
the Lord, long-suffering and plenteous in mercy. The Lord is good to
all, and His compassions are over all His works" (Ps. 144:8-9).

The account raises a question: here on this tiny planet earth, teeming
with billions of people, how can we say that the God of the entire,
immense universe really cares when there are so many who are hungry?
The question is not stated explicitly. Rather, you will find it woven
into the inquiry of the Lord Jesus' disciples: "Where could we get
enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?" (Mt.
15:33). On this speck of a planet, in the vast "spatial wilderness" we
call "the universe," mankind faces either an impersonal whorl of matter
devoid of care, or we meet Him Who created us and continues to care for
us now and ever.

In the feeding of the 4,000, we are invited to grasp the awe of the
Prophet Isaiah: "He shall tend His flock as a shepherd, and He shall
gather the lambs with His arm, and shall soothe them that are with
young. Who has measured the water in His hand, and the heaven with a
span, and all the earth in a handful?" (Is. 40:11,12). O Faithful in
Christ, our God is compassionate!

Even more, the great declaration of God's compassion is stunningly
embedded in this passage: God appeared as a man and remains so forever.
The compassionate God specifically fed a multitude of 4,000 on a
mountain, He was specifically among us as Jesus of Nazareth - He the One
without Whom "nothing was made that was made" (Jn. 1:3). "God [is] in
Christ reconciling the world to Himself" (2 Cor. 5:19); that is how
compassionate our God is! What need shall we bring to the Compassionate
One to which He is indifferent?

Come, my soul, let us ascend the mountain yonder, whence cometh thy
help. My help cometh from the Lord, Who hath made heaven and earth.
(Ps. 120:1,2)

Dormition of the Theotokos

2008-08-15T20:05:00.000-06:00

St. Luke 10:38-42; 11:27-28 (8/15) Gospel for
the Dormition of the Theotokos

Distractions: St. Luke 10:38-42; 11:27-28, especially vs. 40: "...Martha
was distracted with much serving...." The Evangelist Luke describes the
Lord Jesus enjoying hospitality from His friends Martha and Mary:
Martha is busy serving her guests, but becomes exasperated with Mary who
is not helping her. Our Lord then teaches about the pitfall of losing
focus while serving - this from Him Who exalted service to His future
Apostles: "whoever desires to become great among you shall be your
servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of
all." He points out that "...the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve" (Mk. 10:43-45). How easy it is to be "distracted with
much serving," fall prey to the tyranny of the urgent, forget one's
purpose, and shift focus from the Lord to one's self.

The fact is that Martha, in welcoming the Lord into her home, fulfilled
the royal law of hospitality, a practice highly valued as a worthy act
of piety among the peoples of the Middle East. The great Patriarch
Abraham entertained the Lord God Himself in the theophany of the three
Angels (Gen. 18:1-8). Extending welcome to travelers and strangers
remains an esteemed act of piety (Ex. 2:20; Jdgs. 6:18). And the Lord
Jesus honored hospitality by blessing those who offered Him the comfort
of their homes (Mt. 9:10; Lk. 19:7; Jn. 2:2).

Martha's problem was not serving, but being "distracted by much serving"
(Lk. 10:40). A danger in worthwhile activity is letting that which
seems to be urgent crowd out the truly important matters of life. The
telephone, email, fax machines, and other means of rapid communication
breach the walls of our homes with constant and sometimes imperious
demands. Who does not know the reality of piles of unanswered mail,
unread books, prayerless days, and sleepless nights - all because of
allowing oneself to become a slave to the urgent?

Martha's shift in priorities became evident by the manner in which she
appealed to the Lord Jesus. She scolds: "Don't You care?....tell her to
help me!" (Lk. 10:40). The pressure of "the urgent" transformed
Martha's service into self-service. Was she most concerned about the
Lord and His teaching or herself as a hostess? What motivated Martha?
Was it the chance to be "a slave to all," or her own concerns with the
tasks of providing hospitality singlehandedly? St. Theophan the Recluse
points out how easily we can succumb to pleasing ourselves: the self
"seeks its own comfort and pleasure in all its doing, even the most
righteous and spiritual, and secretly and lustfully feeds on it as
though it were food."

Our gracious Savior and Lord corrects Martha, but also He warns us. He
indicates the best way in the situation. He calls attention to Mary's
choice of "...that good part, which will not be taken away from her"
(Lk. 10:42). Notice in the Lord's comment that Mary "chose" to sit at
His feet and to hear His word (Lk. 10:39, 42). If we are too quick to
heed the urgent, we are apt to succumb to its insistent voice! Be
watchful of little momentary demands that pester you for attention.
When we allow the urgent to tyrannize, we void our freedom in the Lord
and give away the power He graciously bestows upon us to live for His
glory.

Always, to choose the living word of the Lord is the "best part,"
because in so doing, He remains our highest priority. He continues to
be the center of life, and the One we actually serve - no matter the
task at hand. St. Theophan offers a suggestion: to keep peace in our
hearts when affliction and urgency would disturb us, incline the will
toward "God's will itself, then wish it and do it, but only because God
wishes it...only for His glory alone."

Direct us, O Lord, in all our doing with Thy most gracious favor, that
in all our works, begun, continued and ended in Thee, we may, by Thine
aid, serve and glorify Thee alone.

The Worthy Heart V - Bears Fruit

2008-08-15T20:01:00.001-06:00

St. Matthew 21:12-14, 17-20 (8/15) Gospel for Friday of the Ninth
Week after Pentecost

The Worthy Heart V ~ Bears Fruit: St. Matthew 21:12-14, 17-20,
especially vs. 19: "And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and
found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, 'Let no fruit grow on
you ever again.' Immediately, the fig tree withered away." Talking
once with a Samaritan woman at Sychar (Jn. 4:6-26), the Lord Jesus
described the nature of true worship: "...true worshipers will worship
the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to
worship Him" (Jn. 4:23). In the present passage from St. Matthew, the
Lord repeats the message but demonstrates His word graphically by
driving out those who were defiling His Temple (Mt. 21:12-13), healing
those who came to Him in His Temple (vs. 14), and emphasizing His will
either to fill with life those who bear fruit for Him or to withdraw
life from those who fail to bear Him fruit (vss 17-20). Those of worthy
hearts trust God, worship Him truly, and bear Him fruit.

When the Lord Jesus came to the Jerusalem Temple, do not miss the fact
that the Master of the House had come, God Himself, but Incarnate as a
man, yet deserving all honor, glory, and worship in His Holy Temple.
What He found was buying and selling, profane arrangements of tables,
chairs, various denominations and forms of money, and animals - a tidy,
bustling business for the merchants, a convenience store for those
coming to offer sacrifice. In His "driving out" and "overturning," the
Lord Jesus dramatized His ownership of the Temple, expressing plainly
His disfavor with the business operations. All this should be clear
enough.

In addition, in His act of cleansing of the Temple, the Lord Jesus
reiterates the same spiritual truth He made in conversation with the
woman (St. Photeini) at Sychar (Jn. 4:7-26): God's Temple is not a place
but a condition of the heart - our heart is the temple of the Lord.
Therefore, it is possible, if we are mindless and not attentive, that we
can set up business in our heart and displace the true worship of God
for which our heart is consecrated through the Holy Mysteries. As
Blessed Theophylact pleads, "O reader, look and see whether perhaps you
have made God's temple, that is your mind, a den of thieves, that is a
demon's lair. It will be such a den if we have thoughts full of the
desire of material things, of buying and selling and a love of money...."

The facts are that the Lord Jesus came into the physical Temple to heal
those who would "come" to Him (vs. 14), but a false practice had
developed that forbid the lame and the blind to enter the Jerusalem
Temple: no "imperfect" thing or person, was allowed to "desecrate" the
Temple by their mere presence. From the Lord Jesus' perspective, the
very ones who needed to be admitted were excluded while "business for
profit" actively took their place.

Once Christ our God disrupted the false "business as usual," the blind
and lame readily made their way to Him (vs. 14). This applies to you
and me: we may enjoy the Lord's presence within our physical Temples,
but never forget that "His True Temple" is in your heart. Those of
"worthy hearts," those who know their spiritual blindness and crippled
state, joyfully throng to the Lord, go into the Temple of their hearts,
and seek the healing touch of Christ our God. Therefore, anywhere in
the world, men and women may worship the Lord, come "to Him" (vs. 14) in
spirit and in truth, and be illumined and strengthened, and be healed of
sin and evils.

Finally, heed the warning of the fig tree. When the Lord Jesus found a
thriving but fruitless tree, He cursed it to wither away (vs. 19). He
continues searching for those of true worship who will bear fruit to Him
from their hearts. His message is stark, yet full of hope. He will
give life to those who seek Him, but He will also surely withdraw life
from those who turn away from Him being "invested in their own business"
and who do not bear fruit to Him.

"...the meditation of my heart shall be before Thee for ever, O
Lord..." (see Ps. 18:14).

The Worthy Heart IV - Longs to Serve

2008-08-14T13:01:00.000-06:00

St. Matthew 20:17-28 (8/14) Gospel for Thursday of the Ninth Week after Pentecost The Worthy Heart IV ~ Longs to Serve: St. Matthew 20:17-28, especially vss. 27, 28: "...whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." In this passage from St. Matthew, the Lord Jesus draws our attention to the desire to serve - a quality of heart required for His Kingdom. He whom Isaiah called, "The just One Who serves many well" (Is. 53:11), reveals, through His Life and teaching, the high calling of "servanthood." He illumines service. He transforms serving. He raises service from an activity and establishes it as a blessed, divine attitude of heart! A heart worthy of the Kingdom of God longs to serve in the manner and by the grace of God Incarnate. Thus, our Lord Jesus discloses "service" to His Faithful ones (vs. 17) - in the context of His Passion (vss. 18-19). Hence, to receive Baptism in Christ and partake of His Cup (vss. 20-23) is to join Him in giving one's life "a ransom for many" (vss. 24-28). When the critical time came for the Lord Jesus to go up to Jerusalem, He took His disciples aside from the multitudes, and shared with them the solemn events that lay ahead: His betrayal, condemnation, death, and Resurrection. The largest portion in all four Gospels and the preponderance of what is taught in the Holy Icons, concern the Passion and the Resurrection. For the faithful, the Lord's "servanthood" dominates even our approach to the passage of time. We mark the weeks by fasts on Wednesday and Friday and by the celebration of the Resurrection by calling the first of the Week "the Lord's Day." Similarly, the years are marked by Great Lent, Holy Week, and Pascha, so that the Mystery of service is held in the hearts of the faithful. By His own actions as "The Suffering Servant" (Is. 52:13-53:12), Christ our God reveals the profound depth of blessing in service even when done menially. Notice this: Christ our Lord is inviting us to see His teaching and actions in the context of His Passion (Mt. 20:18-19), as "service" rendered for us. In the Passion, He exposes the illusions of the grandeur, majesty, position, and prestige that men seek. True status and honor are given eternally by God our Father to "those for whom it is prepared" (vs. 20:23), servants of the Lord. The incident involving James and John (vss. 20-24) follows the Lord Jesus' disclosure of the necessity of death to self (vss. 18-19) for any who would embrace service. James and John were captivated by Jesus' power over sickness, disease, nature, and death. In turn they were impressed with their own "status" as disciples. They spun images of themselves in the trappings of prestige and power; yet, as we know that "...in the grave...kings and beggars are the same." Like them, we also may easily forget how death levels us all. See, when our Lord spoke of mocking, scourging, and crucifixion (Mt. 20:19), the brothers, remained charmed by what St. Macarios the Great calls "the inconstant dreams of this world." Let us not, like them, fail to grasp that Baptism into Christ is to share His Cup (vss. 22-23). Rather, let us hear our Savior as He exalts the high truth of service and brushes away our fantasies. In the solemn Mysteries of Holy Baptism and the Divine Liturgy, the Lord Jesus illumines the blessings to be found in service. He sobers the heart and shows the mind the import of being the first who quietly serves and slaves for others (vss. 25-27). When one ransoms a slave or captive by paying the price of his release, he knows true joy in seeing one like himself released from bondage. Thus, St. Paul reminds us that Christ our God knew joy "as He endured the cross, despising the shame" (Heb. 12:2). Surely our Lord is also calling us to share His joy by serving with Him in freeing others (Mt. 20:27, 28).

The Worthy Heart III - Is Grateful

2008-08-13T12:58:00.000-06:00

St. Matthew 20:1-16 (8/13) Gospel for Wednesday of the Ninth Week after Pentecost The Worthy Heart III ~ Is Grateful: St. Matthew 20:1-16, especially vs. 15: "Is it not lawful for Me to do what I wish with My Own things? Or is your eye evil because I Am good?" In St. Matthew's account of the parable of the vineyard workers, the Lord Jesus begins and ends with identical declarations: "the last will be first, and the first last"(vss. 19:30 and 20:16). These pronouncements are rather like "bookends," that highlight the theme of the parable. Christ's repetition invites exploration so one can appreciate the meaning of the theme of the parable. The way to understand the larger context is to review our Lord's challenge to a man who said he wished to follow Him (Mt. 19:16). The Lord confronted his desire with a challenge: "if you want to be perfect, go, sell all that you have and give to the poor" (Mt. 19:21). Sadly, the man was unable to let go of his great possessions, and backed off (vs. 19:22). Our Lord's disciples were perplexed by the stringency of the demand made on the man and asked, "Who then can be saved?" (vs. 25). Peter was quick to apply the message to himself and declared, "See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?" (vs. 27). Our Lord assured His disciples that they would have a place as rulers, "...judging the twelve tribes of Israel," and that if anyone should give up the goods of this world to follow Him, he would be rewarded a hundred fold "...and inherit eternal life" (vss. 28,29). Then comes the first "bookend": "But many who are first will be last, and the last first" (vs. 30). It is evident that the Lord Jesus wished to reassure His disciples in their commitment to Him. But He desires that all his "followers" should not be "reward-oriented," but rather grateful to Him; for, of course, God rewards those who are committed to Him. However, He rejoices in those who gratefully embrace Him as did Abram (Gen. 15:1). The singular emphasis of the parable that follows is that "all laborers receive equal pay." Common human thinking expects compensation to differ in proportion to labor expended, but our Lord is explicit on the point that the Kingdom of God operates by its own rules - even as they shatter the tidy categories of reward-oriented thinking. Gradations such as "first" and "last" are rendered meaningless in the "avalanche" of God's unmerited grace toward men. Listen to St. John Chrysostom in his famous Paschal homily and apply it to this parable: If any have toiled from the first hour, let him receive his due reward. If any have come after the third hour, let him with gratitude join in the Feast. And he that arrived after the sixth hour, let him not doubt; for he too shall sustain no loss. And if any have delayed to the ninth hour, let him not hesitate, but let him come too. And he that hath arrived only at the eleventh hour, let him not be afraid by reason of his delay; for the Lord is gracious and receiveth the last even as the first....Let all then enter into the joy of our Lord. Yet first and last receiving alike your reward.... St John Chrysostom understands that gratitude must replace compensation! In the mercy and saving love of our Lord, repentance and gratitude gain Life. "O give thanks unto the Lord and call upon His Name; declare among the nations His works" (Ps. 104:1). Commenting further on this parable, St. John Chrysostom queries: "But the question is this, whether the first have gloriously approved themselves, and having pleased God, and having throughout the whole day shone by their labors, are possessed by the basest feeling of vice, jealousy, and envy." May God's grace sustain our gratitude and keep us far from envy and dissatisfaction - from questioning what God gives us in relation to what He bestows upon others. O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; His mercy endureth for ever! (Ps. 105:1)

Peace in the Orthodox Liturgy

2008-08-12T17:35:00.001-06:00

Peace in the Orthodox Liturgy by Mark Isaac Pearson “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you.” –John 14:27 In the Orthodox church, the notion of peace generally gets a bad press, if it gets any. I have been trying to figure out why. I think that the reason has to do with what the Orthodox public perceives peace to be. Rightly or wrongly, it is associated with an anti-establishment stance, left wing, liberal, hippy, call it what you will. We see the term being used in a frivolous ways, e.g. ‘peace pops’ popsicles, in ideological ways, e.g. ‘peace tent’, and what happens in a ‘peace Pagoda’ is anyone’s guess. In Russia, the term ‘peace’ has been almost permanently corrupted by it’s association with state propaganda. Thus Orthodox Christians are often suspicious of the term. But it is this hijacking of a term describing a spiritual state to which all Christians are urged to aspire which I believe we must combat. How can we create a climate of peace, a culture of peace, a church where Christ is — par excellence — the Prince of Peace? Firstly, we need to scrape away surface preconceptions with the scalpel of Holy Tradition. Let us consider the question, how does Orthodox tradition speak of peace, because peace, as an attribute of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, is a central component of Orthodox liturgical life. ‘I give you my Peace’: Peace in Orthodox Tradition Christ Himself is the core of Orthodox Holy Tradition; all written, oral, iconic and choral tradition of His holy church springs forth from the Holy Trinity. And Christ ‘is Himself our peace’ [Ephesians 2:14] but this is not the same as the world’s peace [John 14:27], it is the ‘peace of God which passes all understanding’ [Phil 4:7. (When I was at school this was recalled at mealtimes when we had fish and chips as 'the piece of cod which passeth all understanding' :-)]. Thus peace lies at the root of Orthodox Christianity. In Colossians chapter 3 verses 11 through 15 St Paul tells the Christians of Colossae that in the new man renewed in God’s image there is neither Jew nor Greek, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free but Christ who is all and in all. Then he tells them to put on the virtues especially forgiveness. But above all the virtues St Paul tells them,’clothe yourselves with love, which binds all the virtues into perfection’ (v 14), and with this, allow ‘the peace of Christ to rule in your hearts’ because ‘as members of one body’ , the Church, ‘you were called to peace’ (NIV). Here St Paul clearly points to the calling of the Church, that is the calling to peace. And how is this manifested? In thanks (v15) (an allusion to the Eucharist perhaps), by letting the word of Christ dwell in you richly, and in worship (psalms, hymns and spiritual songs)(v16). So we have here the central calling of Christ’s body, the Church, to peace through worship. The unity of the church depends upon the bonds of peace between its members. St Paul urges the Ephesians [Ephesians 4:3-6] to bind themselves together in the unity given by the Spirit with bonds of peace. The unity of the Church, one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all; all this depends on the bond of peace. We are also to live in harmony with our neighbours outside the church, for ‘God has called us to peace’ [I Corinthians 7:15], ‘to live peaceably with all’ [Romans 12:18], ‘to make every effort to live in peace with all men’[Hebrews 12:14 (NIV)]. Moving from the New Testament to the liturgical texts of the church, let us look at the evangelists and some of the saints of the church. We see a clear message of peace here. St Matthew has “borne the gospel of peace, life, and salvation to men” [Apostikha of Vespers for St Matthew (November 16)]. On April 25th we ’sing praises to Mark’, ‘the wise writer of the gospel’ ['Lord I Call' (tone 1) of Vespers verse 1 April 25th]. We pray that ‘by your prayers and teachings, / Guide our lives in the way of peace.’ [Same verse as before.] and we pray him to ‘entreat Christ, … to grant peace and great mercy to our souls!’ [Apostikha of Vespers verses2-3]. ‘Most blessed Mark’, even became ‘a river of peace, flowing from Eden’ ['Lord I Call' of Vespers verse 4]. St Luke’s holy writings are ‘powerful weapons of light’ piercing the darkness of evil and we petition him to ‘pray that we may love the light of all’ so that ‘we may granted peace, eternal light and great mercy’ [Apostikha of Vespers October 18th]. Moreover, ‘Your feet were beautiful, most blessed one / as you preached the Gospel of the Peace surpassing all understanding’ [Canticle 8, Matins Canon, Oct 18th]. But it is with our beloved Father Herman of Alaska that we see that peace is for the American people. No fewer than seven times do we petition Father Herman for intercession to grant ‘peace to our souls’ [Canonization of St Herman of Alaska (August 9), Matins post gospel verses], or ‘peace for this land and great mercy to our souls [Vespers 'Lord I Call']. The Kontakion of St Herman (tone 3) on the feast of his canonization expresses the significance of peace: The eternal light of Christ our Savior Guided you, blessed Father Herman, on your evangelical journey to America, Proclaiming the gospel of peace. Now you stand before the throne of glory; Intercede for your land and its people: Peace for the world and salvation for our souls! Finally we have a wonderful Irmos in the Matins canon: I seek you early, Creator of all And peace that passes understanding. Guide me in your commandments, for they are my light [Canticle 5 Matins Canon] And there is not only Father Herman. We pray to St. Innocent, enlightener of the Aleuts and Apostle to America that ‘as the foundation of the Orthodox Church in America’ he would ‘confirm our lives in peace and unity! [Matins canon Canticle 3, March 31st]. We also ‘Pray that your flocks across three continents / In peace and tranquility may glorify the Lord’[Matins Praises (tone 6)]. Saints Peter and Paul were also missionaries of the gospel of peace; ‘Their feet carried them to the ends of the earth, / Preaching the gospel of peace.’ ['Lord I Call' Vespers (tone 2) June29th] Through the Apostles ‘You have given peace to the Universe’ [Wednesday Matins sessional hymn (tone 2), 3rd week of Pentecost]; ‘united by a bond of love’ ‘their beautiful feet were washed / for the preaching of the gospel of peace to all’ [Holy Week Thursday Matins canon Canticle 5]. We ask them to “guard us as we pass through the time of the fast:/May we remain at peace with each other by the grace of God!’ ['Lord I call' (tone 8) Wednesday vespers 5th week of Lent] We find also that the Theotokos ‘grants peace to those who extol you in song’ [Canticle 5second canon, Katavasia, Matins Sunday 2nd week of Lent, Canticle 5 Matins Saturday 5thweek of Lent and four other references in the Lenten Triodion.]. As the Mother of God, ‘She commenced the peace, she opened the kingdom’ ['Lord I Call' Great and Holy Saturday Vespers] . Through her prayers and those of the apostles and saints, we ask the Lord to ‘grant us Your peace and have mercy on us’ [Apostikha (tone 1) Sunday Vespers, 5th week of Lent],to ‘keep the church and our land in abiding peace’ [Troparion to the saints (tone 8) 2nd Sunday after Pentecost All Saints of North America], to ‘guide our lives in peace’ [Troparion (tone 4)Saturday before Lent, Commemoration of all who shone forth in the ascetic life], and ‘keep all who praise and magnify you (i.e. God) in perfect peace’ [Kotakion (tone 8) same day]. We alsopray to the Theotokos that she would ‘make the strife and scandals of the Church to cease; in Your goodness grant her peace’ [Matins Praises of Great and Holy Saturday]. Rightly confessing the true faith, the Church ‘is seen overshadowed with peace’ ['Lord I Call'(tone 6) Vespers Tuesday 4th week of Lent]. This is a remarkable statement upon reflection. Time and time again we find the phrase ‘and He grants to our souls peace and great mercy!’[Troparion to September 26: Repose of the Apostle & Evangelist John the Theologian].Note here that peace is intimately associated with mercy. Christ is portrayed as the Prince of Peace ‘For You are the Prince of Peace’ [Canticle 5, Third Week Sunday Matins, Pentecostarion] ‘who gives peace to all who sing your praises’ [Canticle 4 second Canon Thursday Matins Ascension, 6th Week Pentecost] whose ’statutes are light and peace’[Canticle 5, Matins Seventh Sunday of Pascha]. ‘He is the life, the light, and the peace of the world’ [Antiphon XII (tone 8) Holy Friday: Matins Post-Gospel Antiphons] and ‘Our illumination and resurrection and peace’ ["Lord I Call" Antipascha Saturday Vespers of Thomas]. ‘You are the river of peace and valley of paradise’ ["Lord I Call" (tone 4, Vespers January 2: First Day of the Prefeast of the Theophany], granting ‘peace that passes all understanding’ [Matins Canticle 5, January 1: the Circumcision of Our Lord God and Savior, Jesus Christ]. And “wondrous is Your Incarnation, Good Jesus…/ You have given peace to all those dwelling on earth” ["Lord I Call", Vespers seventh Tuesday of Pentecost]. The descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is also the harbinger of peace; ‘Holy Comforter, hasten to bring peace to the world’ [Apostikha Vespers week of Pentecost (Pentecostarion)].’The most joyful celebration of Pentecost’ ‘grants our souls peace and great mercy’ ["Lord I Call" Thursday Vespers, fourth week of Pentecost]. With the spirit cometh power: ‘Let your Spirit come, bringing peace to the world; / Show the children of mankind the works of your power’ ["Lord I Call", Vespers Thursday 6th week of Pentecost]. But it is not all peace and light in the Orthodox liturgy. ‘Grant victories to the Orthodox Christians over their Enemies’ O Lord save thy people, And bless thine inheritance. Grant victories to the Orthodox Christians, Over their adversaries. –Octoechoes Troparion in Tone 1 This is a familiar Troparion to most Orthodox Christians since it is sung on many feast days (e.g. Elevation of the Cross, Sept 14th) as well as being part of the standard Octoechoes. But who exactly are the adversaries of Orthodox Christians? This question was easier to answer in the era of the Byzantine Emperors and Russian Tsars (i.e. Caesars). It was taken for granted that the enemies of the state were the personal enemies of the Orthodox people. Victories for the state in battle or diplomacy were victories for Orthodox Christians and preserved the church -simple. However, the era of God supported Byzantium and Holy Russia has passed (if it was ever really present) and with it the theology and all too cozy symbiosis of church and state. Now we have a radically different situation in the religiously pluralistic United States of America and elsewhere in the Western world where the religion of secularism is the imposed state religion. Thus the adversaries or enemies of the Orthodox cannot be identified with the enemies of the state or of its organs of control such as the FBI or KGB. But the hymn remains, and we must make some sense of it. It is in the spiritual sense that we can reap the most from this liturgical gem. For who is the adversary but Satan himself? In the book of Job we find that the word ‘Satan’ literally means adversary. And so the real adversaries of Orthodox Christians are the demons over which we struggle for victory. The liturgical texts are replete with references to “the enemy” and his defeat by the forces of the Orthodox righteous. In some cases the reference is obviously to external enemies, for example, ‘In days of old’,Daniel ‘wisely slew the priests of the enemy (the god of the Chaldeans)’ [Canticle 6 first Canon, Matins, Sunday of the Holy Forefathers], and ‘You crushed Rahab like a carcass, / you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm’ [The Praises (tone 8) August 6: the Transfiguration of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ]. But more often the enemy or adversary is the devil or his host of demons. In this respect, the martyrs are particularly notable for defeating demons. Though the martyrs ‘lie in their tombs, they drive away demons,/ and defeat the power of the enemy’ [Apostikha Monday Vespers Tone 3 Octoechoes]; ‘their brave endurance’ ‘defeated the snares of the enemy from whom all evil comes’ [Sessional hymn Matins, Tone 3 Saturday, Octoechoes]. ‘The thrice-blessed Demetrius’, ‘Ever reveals himself to the foe as a two-edged sword, Cutting down the uprisings of the enemy, And casting down the boldness of demons!’ ['Lord I Call' (tone 8) Vespers October 23rd]. But even he, ‘ever prays to Christ to grant peace and great mercy to all.’ [Matins Sessional hymn (tone4) October 23rd] St George ‘brave warrior among the martyrs,’ was ‘invincible to his adversaries’ and ‘conquered the hordes of demons’. Even so, we still ‘ask peace for our souls through your prayers’ [Litya of Vespers (tone 1) April23: Holy glorious great-martyr, victory bearer and wonder worker George (303)]. Saints Barbara and Julianna ‘attacked the enemy and gravely wounded him’ ['Lord I Call' (tone 2)Vespers December 4: the Holy Great Martyr Barbara together with Julianna (c.306)] and ‘the evil enemy …./ is put to shame, conquered by a woman!’ [The Praises (tone 2) December 4th]And of course the apostles help too. St Matthew’s words ‘overthrew the deceitful enemy’[Apostikha of Vespers (tone 4), November 16: the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew] by a fiery tongue, St Andrew, ‘fishing with the cross’, ‘leads souls up from the deception of the enemy’ [Post Gospel verses, Matins, November 30: Andrew the First-called Apostle (62)], and the glorious apostles ‘destroyed all the forces of the devil / who had stolen …. the souls of mankind’ [Matins Sessional hymn, Octoechoes tone 4, Wednesday.]. Moreover, we ourselves can be our own “worst enemies”, for ’since I have sinned by my own choice more than all people / …. / I have become the enemy of my soul’ ['Lord I Call', Fifth week of Lent Wednesday Vespers, Triodion] and ‘our unjust deeds have become our enemies’ [Apostikha, Tone 2 Thursday Matins, Octoechoes], nevertheless, with St Seraphim of Sarov’ by the sign of the cross and by prayer’ [Matins Sessional hymn (tone 4) January 2nd] we can defeat the temptations of the enemy. ‘Reconcile the Two in a Single Body to God through the Cross’ [Ephesians 2:16] So how can we reconcile loving our enemies with victories over them? How can we account for a God of peace who nevertheless orders the massacre of the Amalekites? ["Then Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord, at Gilgal" (1 Samuel 15:33). The story of Saul's disobedience to God's command to utterly destroy the Amalekites, every man, woman, child and living thing, is well known (I Samuel chapter 15). But it's hard to understand why God would punish the Amalekites in such a final way unless they were so wholly evil that this was the only option. When I asked the pastor of my former church whether he had any explanation for this state of affairs, his reply was one which I think is symptomatic of many Christians today. He just said, "they were wrong. God didn't tell them to do that". Well, of course, that denies the essence of God's covenant with Israel and therefore His subsequent covenant with us too.] We get a clue from the Postfeast of the Elevation of the Cross (September 20th). For: The sign of your cross was revealed beforehand! Mightily driving away the hordes of demons, Casting down the pride of the devils By the power that conquered Amalek, the enemy! –’Lord I Call’ of Vespers (tone 2) September 20: Postfeast of the of the Elevation of the Cross Thus, the same power that drives away demons also conquers evil. By the cross ‘we are empowered to crush the heads of invisible enemies’ [Matins stichera (tone 2) August 1: the Procession of the Holy and Life-giving Cross of the Lord]; the cross is ‘the might of the Church’, ‘the enemy of demons’ [Apostikha of Vespers September 13: Prefeast of the of the Elevation of the Cross], as ‘the invincible weapon of godliness’ it is also ‘the invincible weapon of peace round which the angels stand in fear’ [Apostikha (tone 5) of Vespers of The Elevation of the Life-giving Cross (September 14th)]. It is a weapon of godliness, an invincible weapon of peace because ‘it vanquishes the arrogance of demons’ and ‘Now it declares the resurrection of the Saviour and saves all who cry / Grant peace to the world, and enlighten our souls!’["Lord I Call" (tone 4), Vespers August 1: the Procession of the Holy Cross]. ‘When you were nailed to the tree of the cross, / the power of the enemy was slain! [The Praises the Octoechos Tone One Sunday Matins] , you ‘destroyed the corruptible dragon, the enemy of mankind’[Sessional hymn, Matins tone 1 Octoechoes], but ‘now your Church, O Christ, has put forth your cross as a flower, / making life spring up for the world!’ [Apostikha Octoechos Tone 8Wednesday Matins]. Why is this so? Because the cross is the symbol, nay, the reality, of sacrifice. And as the symbol of Christ’s sacrifice for us it is also the symbol of His death-defeating resurrection. By this we are saved, by this was the Comforter sent, by this ‘joy has come into all the world’[Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, immediately after communion of the faithful]. The cross is thus the instrument of peace and because Christ’s sacrifice conquered the final enemy death we say that the cross is the ‘weapon of peace’. And it is our weapon too, for it is by carrying our own cross given to us by God that we are able to become peacemakers and be blessed. Peace and sacrifice! Peace and the Cross! The invincible weapon of peace! The angels stand in fear around it since they cannot offer themselves in sacrifice on the cross. Peace and godliness! By ‘acquiring inward peace’ as St Seraphim said, we acquire godliness, we renew the image of God within ourselves. The uncircumcised Gentiles have been made full inheritors of God’s covenant to Israel through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross (Ephesians 2:12-15),because He Himself is our peace. Christ proclaimed the gospel of peace to those near and far(v17), and by His own sacrifice he has annulled the law (v15), and brought Gentiles into full communion with God’s covenant thereby establishing peace and unity and a new church. What an awesome thing. The fullfilment of Christ’s mission on earth was the creation of peace! Shining with pure rays, the Holy Cross sheds its divine light upon the nations darkened by the beguilement of error, and it reconciles them to Christ who was crucified on it granting peace to our souls. –Matins Canon Canticle 5 / September 14: Feast of the of the Elevation of the Life-giving Cross [September 14: Feast of the of the Elevation of the Life-giving Cross] Apostikha Tone 5 to the special melody Rejoice O life-bearing Cross Rejoice, O life-bearing Cross! The invincible weapon of godliness; The gate of paradise, the protection of the faithful! The Cross is the might of the church. Through it corruption is abolished. Through it the power of death is crushed And we are raised from earth to heaven! The invincible weapon of peace! The Cross is the enemy of demons, The glory of the martyrs, The haven of salvation Which grants the world great mercy! Verse: Extol the Lord our God: worship at his footstool for it is holy! Rejoice, O Cross of the Lord! Through you mankind has been delivered from the curse, Shattering the enemy by your exaltation! O Cross, worthy of all honor, You are a sign of true joy; You are our help, you are the strength of kings. You are the power of the righteous. You are the majesty of priests. All who sign themselves with you are freed from anger. O rod of strength, under which we like sheep are tended. O weapon of peace round which the angels stand in fear! O divine glory of Christ our God, Who grants the world great mercy. November 26, 1996 (St Innocent of Irkutsk) Mark Isaac Pearson, a longtime member of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship, directs the Computer Center at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. Updated June 23, 1997

The Worthy Heart II - Reveals God in Parish Life

2008-08-12T12:18:00.000-06:00

St. Matthew 18:18-22;19:1-2, 13-15 (8/12) Gospel for Tuesday, 9th
Week after Pentecost

The Worthy Heart II ~ Reveals God in Parish Life: St. Matthew 18:18-22;
19:1-2, 13-15, especially vs. 18:19: "Again I say to you that if two of
you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done
for them by My Father in heaven." While the verses appointed for
today's Gospel are not continuous, they are one in addressing aspects of
the life in Christ that are commonly experienced in our Parish
communities - admission to the Holy Mysteries, prayer, worship,
forgiveness, healing and the active participation of children. Each of
these elements of parish life includes lay men and women, the clergy,
and, above all, God Himself Who actively reveals Himself in and through
our gathered life. An Orthodox Christian of a worthy heart seeks God
and seeks to reveal Him in all that happens within the parish community.

Being accustomed to the worship in a parish Church, some may mistake the
Divine services as "just another activity" of our community life. In
some parishes, announcements in the weekly bulletin wisely are grouped
under separate headings, with "Divine Services" listed apart from
"Meetings and Activities." Such separation calls attention to the
reality that Divine Services are unique. How so? They are the chief
means and moments that God appoints for revealing Himself among us. St.
Paul makes this point when he asks, "The cup of blessing which we bless,
is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we
break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" (1 Cor. 10:16).

This miracle of the presence of God in the Holy Mysteries requires our
Orthodox Priests to guard the Holy Gifts from profanation. Priests are
responsible to protect the Chalice, turning away both those who are not
yet united to the Body of Christ through the Initiation Mystery and
those members who by sins have broken Communion with the Church and are
not yet reconciled with the Church. What Priests "bind and loose" is
bound and loosed in heaven (Mt. 18:18).

In addition, the Lord Jesus reminds us that as we pray, our Heavenly
Father responds to our requests. Whatever we ask "will be done,"
particularly as we "agree" (vs. 18:19). In the original, the word,
"agree," implies "agreement through talking over a matter." The miracle
of God's response to our prayers is neither automatic nor guaranteed.
We must work with each other to be led by the Holy Spirit and attain
deep agreement of heart. However, let none of us wickedly think that
because two of us happen to "agree," that God is obligated to violate
His will in a given matter. Agreement comes to us when our Lord leads
and is included: "Your will be done" (Mt. 6:10). God reveals Himself as
we agree with each other in the Spirit in prayer.

Forgiveness is a great miracle among God's People. May this holy wonder
bless all our relationships "seventy times seven" (Mt. 18:22), revealing
God's forgiveness in a hundred unnoticed reconciliations. This may also
occur formally at times as at Forgiveness Vespers before the Great
Fast. But let all forgiveness begin through our confession at every
season!

Thanks be to God that His miracle of healing is revealed frequently in
parish life. Our Lord still heals the multitudes who come to Him (vs
19:2) through holy water and oil, in special Unction Services, and as we
partake of the Holy Gifts, and by our constant intercessions.

God reveals Himself visibly in parish life through our children. We are
given the privilege of seeing tiny children grow in Christ as they
partake of the Holy Mysteries. Pray for the infants and mothers who
come to be Churched. Pray at Baptisms and for Church School classes.
Christ reveals Himself miraculously through the earthly hands of our
Priests who anoint, bless, and touch our children, for "of such is the
kingdom of heaven" (vs. 19:14).

"Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, Who alone doeth wonders" (Ps.
71:19).