Reflections for the Sunday of the Cross
In the Lenten Hymnody we chant, quoting the Psalm, “How shall I sing the Lord’s songs in a strange land?” Saint John of the Ladder locates this strange land for us. He identifies this adverse place that is not our home as “the land of the passions.” A passion is a sinful tendency that we cling to and use to define ourselves either negatively, as in victim mentality or positively in brazenness, which either revels in sin or makes peace with it as “normal.” The passions are defined sometimes as movements in the soul, hidden within us. Sin then, is the fruit of those passions. It is how those passions manifest in the body and our lives.
This is the Sunday of the Cross. The cross is, for the Orthodox faithful, a vehicle which delivers us from the strange land of the passions to the blessed home of our Father. We follow our Elder Brother, the Lord Jesus Christ on our way home from this foreign land. Let us be emboldened this Holy day to continue in the fast because we see ourselves as living in this strange land. We are only half -way to Pascha. There is yet work to be done.
How will we make the journey back to our homeland? Saint John says elsewhere, “A vivid remembrance of death cuts down food; and when in humility food is cut, the passions are cut too.”
Reflections on Tradition
In the Church, when we say Tradition, what exactly do we mean? Outside of the Church, this word carries implications which make it obvious that we are using it in a quite different way. Take, for example the tradition of observing Easter.
Many people continue to observe traditions regarding the celebration of Easter. They may do this out of a sense of duty to the past, a sentimental attachment to customs that gave shape to their childhood. Or they may do it for simpler, market driven reasons. Whatever the case, these kinds of traditions are kept alive by the people who maintain them; barely alive. Over the generations, they have lost the meaning and the dimension they once had, if they are observed at all. For the Easter tradition, whatever it meant in the past, it now means, a nice meal with the family, possibly an egg-hunt for the kiddies and maybe a visit by a magical, chocolate egg laying bunny. Whatever value these traditions embody, they are dependent upon the people who observe them. They have no life of their own.
In the Church, however, when we say Tradition, we are talking about something that is not only independent of popular support, but upon which we, the Orthodox faithful are completely dependent. For us, Tradition is the life and activity of God, the Holy Spirit making manifest God’s Kingdom in history. The Tradition is Holy. It imparts to us Life and the awareness that our Lives, lived in God, not only have meaning and purpose but are of eternal consequence and value.
When we celebrate Holy Pascha this year, let us do so with resolute knowledge that it is not just “our Easter.” Let us be illumined by the feast! Let us purify our senses, and we shall behold Christ, radiant with the unapproachable light of the Resurrection, and we shall hear Him say, Rejoice! as we sing the hymn of victory.
Saint John of the Ladder
The placing of St. John of the Ladder just after the Sunday of the Cross is greatly beneficial for us to consider. To learn how it fits the flow of the preceding Lenten weeks we might quickly reflect on some of their pedagogical aspects. The Sunday of Orthodoxy demonstrates to us that there is a Church, that her practices are not subject to the scrutiny of unbelievers, and that because Christ truly became Man, we can depict Him in Icons and use those Icons in true worship. The second Sunday, of St. Gregory Palamas, teaches us that having found the true faith, in the One Church, a method is available to us whereby we can come to know the unknowable God in His Uncreated Energies. The third Sunday, that of the Cross, teaches us how the way back to our Father’s house has been opened and that we have access to the tree of Life. We learn that the way and the tree are both the precious Cross of our Lord; that the Lord Himself, crucified, is both the way and the life.
But what about St. John? He leads us out to the desert and shows us what seems to be a ladder too high and too steep to climb. And we would give up if we were to forget that we do not climb alone. We might dismiss the exercise altogether by thinking that his words do not apply to those of us living in the world. But we would be wrong. The world is our desert. The world is in our hearts. We need a Moses, like this Holy book, to lead us up and out. This Great and Holy Lent we should allow St. Johns book, “The Ladder of Divine Ascent” to speak to us. It is as if a clear path through the desert is marked out in it. True, we would be mistaken to think everything in it applies to us in an isomorphic way. A greater mistake would be to think that it does not apply to us at all.
Reflections on Saint Mary of Egypt.
When we reflect on the life of St. Mary of Egypt, we quickly realize the great depth of teaching she offers us. Often, we reflect on her debauched past with great horror. In her life we read of things that make us shudder and, if we have the presence of mind, to see how much pain our lives have been spared. Consequently, we should see the truth of the Gospel principal that God raises to great heights those who have repented with bitter tears. Our Lord says it without qualification, “…but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.” There is so much there for us.
We may do well to reflect on her death as well. We not only fear death but we also avoid properly preparing for it. It seems the case that the more we fear death, the more we ignore it. By ignoring death, we fail to purify our hearts and when it comes it overtakes us like a thief. In contrast, after her violent taking of the kingdom by force, St. Mary spent literally the rest of her earthly life preparing for her death through repentance. And when it was time for her departure, having done the necessary preparing, this hero of repentance offered her soul to her Lord, the author and Lover of her life. There is so much for us there as well. This Great and Holy Lent, let us learn again from the Life of St. Mary and from Her Death.
Reflections on the Resurrection of Lazarus
The central belief and hope of Christian people is that the dead will rise. We believe that all people will rise when our Lord returns to Judge the world. Our belief in the resurrection of the dead is rooted in the fact that our Lord Himself became the First born of the Dead by Raising under His own Divine power.
But before He suffered, died, and rose from the dead Himself, our Lord showed without doubt, that He could do it. He proved it when He raised His friend Lazarus from the dead. Authority over death is the quickest way to separate between authentic and counterfeit claims. The universal resurrection, the resurrection of all men, our resurrection is confirmed by this one act!
The reason all lives matter is found in this fact. What we do in this life will determine the condition of our experience both after death and after we are raised from the dead…and, it is certain, we will be raised. Remember, Lazarus received the loving attention of our Lord precisely because he was His friend. Will He view us as His friends? Or did we attend His services as our schedules allowed? Did we follow Him when we heard His voice? Lazarus, the four-day dead, heard His voice though he was wrapped in the clothes of the grave. Did even we listen for it?
Reflections on Palm Sunday
The Angels in Heaven offered Him praise while the children of Jerusalem laid down branches of palm, the symbol of a victorious King and shouted, “Hosanna in the Highest!” And “blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord!” In His comments on Palm Sunday, Blessed Theophylact offers meaningful insights which allowed me to enter the Theology, in the form of a palm frond, I held in my hand after the services this Sunday.
He describes the rough and narrow trunk of the palm tree and how difficult it would be for the unskilled to climb such a tree. He notes that the branches of these palm trees do not grow low on the tree but at its top. So, to get one requires much work. In fact, the branches grow, he says, from a center point called the heart which crowns, as it were, the top of the tree. If you get the impression there is more to this than you had thought, you are right. The heart, which bears fruit suitable to lay down at the feet of the King of Glory…is a white heart, a pure heart. The fruit suitable to offer such a King of Glory is Divine fruit, the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
While the angles and children offer worship to God, what are the rest of us doing? Are we idle? Let us magnify His two comings. He came of old. Let us strive to purify our hearts that we too may welcome the blessed one who comes riding on a colt. Do we justify ourselves? He will come again to judge. May we be deemed worth to lay down our gifts at His feet!
Christ is Risen!
Christ is Risen!
The resurrection of Christ fills all things with Joy. We rejoice, having seen Christ the King, like a bridegroom come forth from the tomb. In the seventh ode from the Paschal canon, we chant “We celebrate the death of death, the destruction of hades, the beginning of another life eternal, and leaping for joy, we hymn the Cause, the only blessed and most glorious God of our fathers.”
Pascha is the beginning of another life. If we have been made worthy to celebrate another bright Resurrection, then we have another opportunity to begin again to live eternally. The tomb is empty. Let our hearts be filled with Joy and the resolve to live genuinely Orthodox Christian lives!
Indeed He is Risen!
Reflections on the Myrrh Bearers
In a recent discussion with an acquaintance, I was forced to abruptly draw the conversation to a close. Our talk had to do with certain passages of Holy scripture and how we understood them differently. I realized that my partner in discussion was arguing from a brute rational perspective and that nothing I said, from an Orthodox perspective, could satisfy his curiosity. The Orthodox faith is to be lived; it is life. The vitriolic and cavalier approach of my partner showed that our reasons for debating were as different as our understanding of the texts. We must defend the Faith whenever necessary. But our faith is in the Holy Trinity, the Uncreated Father, His Only Begotten Son, and His All Holy, Good and life creating Spirit; the One God, in three persons, who we love more than father, mother, brother, sister or anything else.
As we offered the services for the Sunday of the Myrrh bearers, I was Impressed by the small amount of content specifically directed at the Myrrh bearers themselves. I was also reminded of sermons I had heard which seemed sentimental, almost treating this Sunday like another Mother’s Day celebration. As I surveyed the canon for the feast some things became clear. The Myrrh bearers never actually had the chance to offer the intended Myrrh. Also, they misunderstood the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. They did not know that it had happened yet. So, we are not commemorating them necessarily for their deeds or knowledge. What stands out most is that they could not be separated from their Lord. In the nature of the case of the Theotokos, referred to as Mary of James in the text, their Son and God. Their love for the Lord Jesus was so central and so profound that they could not be separated from Him even though He lay in a Tomb. Because of this all-consuming Love, they became worthy to hear from the voice of the Angel, “Why seek Ye among the dead, as though He were Mortal Him who liveth in everlasting Light?”
Let us learn from the Myrrh bearers. The strongest apology we can make, the only argument which can be made is our Love for Christ. Do we rise early to seek Him? Do we spend every cost to offer Him gifts worthy of His incalculable value? Do we offer Him the gift of tears of repentance? Let us imitate the Myrrh bearers and may God give us hearts aflame with love for Christ our true God!
Reflections on the paralytic
The events presented on the Sunday of the Paralytic begin with a great tragedy, the great failure of fallen humanity. We love ourselves more than we love others. When asked by the Lord Jesus, if he desired to be made whole the paralytic man sadly answered, “I have no man, when the waters are troubled to help me into the pool.” In many ways we are like the throngs of people pushing their way into the pool, year after year, before him. We love and care for ourselves as a matter of first importance. And, in many ways we are like the paralytic; impotent folk…blind, halt, withered. However, in the Church, we are unlike him in at least one particularly important way. While he had no man, we cannot say the same.
Our Lord asks, through the service of the Church, “how can you say you have no man when I have come?” I was reminded of how many “men” we have who are not only ready but looking for opportunities to “help us into the pool” for our healing. In Christ, we have a whole hierarchy of help beginning with the Most Holy Trinity and ordering itself by the will of the Father, in the Person of the Son, and through the activity of the Holy Spirit.
First, we have the Most Pure Virgin Theotokos, who helps us as if we are Her very children. Next, we have our Guardian Angel, given us by God at Baptism. Also, we have our Patron Saint, with whom we entered a relationship of prayer at our Naming. Then we have a whole host of other heavenly intercessors, both Angels and Holy people, available the moment we cry out to them. Our parents, if they possess the will, are our direct help through guidance and correction. Our sponsors in Baptism literally lead us into the pool! We have our Bishops, priests and all the clergy who constantly pray for us and who themselves strive to lead the way to sanctity and wholeness. And there are so many more of these “men” that come to mind.
With such a cloud of help available to the Orthodox Christian how can we fail to ascend the spiritual ladder? But we do. Possibly we do not realize the great value and grace of the help we do have. Perhaps we cling to our passions and egotism? Perhaps we falsely believe that God will save us no matter what; or that we are safe? For 38 years the paralytic man tarried at the pool seeking the healing he needed. Perhaps we do not wish to be healed or made whole?
The paralytic believed he had no man until he heard the words of the Godman. Let us acknowledge the manifold help appointed for us and take every advantage of it. By faith we too may be found in the temple of God giving thanks for His great Love for mankind.
Reflections on the Man Born Blind
Over the years, the rabbis of Judea, had fashioned a form of religion loosely based upon the sacred scripture. The thing is that they had lowered the Law of God, which is the perfect Law of liberty, to a tool of man, fearful man. When our Lord sought and found the man born blind, He was not only working a wonder by giving eyes to a blind man, but He was also correcting the clouded vision of all those who, while able to see, could not behold that Law with the eyes of faith. Faith in God liberates man to live eternally, to transcend the limits of the functions of the body and to see that which is invisible to the eyes of the flesh.
When he “made clay” on the Sabbath, our Lord did nothing contrary to the Law. How could he violate the Law which reflected His own Holy, Good and Just character? Impossible! In making the clay our Lord did at least two things we should consider. First, being the author of the Law He was correcting all the erroneous interpretations and applications given in the Rabbinical tradition. Without wishing to sound theatrical, I would suggest that His action here was a fire, a flaming dart, shot backward in time, scorching all the fanatical notations of fearful men who laid heavy burdens upon their peers to enslave them. While many had thought of the Law of God as being a heavy burden, it was in fact light; a yoke not heavy to bear. The Sabbath was made for man! The Jews had already agreed that if anyone claimed to be the Christ, he was to be cast out. But our Lord was showing, in an unmistakable way, that He was the Christ and that His actions were the fulfillment of the Law.
Second, when our God acts, He acts in His Son and by the Spirit. The man born blind was not so because of his own sin or because of the sin of his parents. When our Lord formed this man, in his mother’s womb, he withheld certain aspects of his physiology. Often, our God does what He does so that others might share in the wonder, joy, and glory. This, in fact, is why He created the world and all that is therein. But why fail to completely form this man in the hidden place of his mother’s womb? Because the works done by our Lord were done publicly. Public deeds attract the attention of the people. While our Lord had fully crafted countless other bodies while in the womb, He chose to postpone the completion of this work in order that the works of God would be manifest. In ordering His work this way all could see; we could see and know that He is the one who created “In the Beginning”; that He is good and loves mankind!
Why do we, having eyes, fail to see Christ, the resplendent light of those in darkness? Why do we, like the Pharisees, resist the clear and simple teaching of the Church? Why do we fearfully cling to that which we see? May we be granted the faith to imitate this sighted man who, when accosted by them said, “one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.”
Reflections on the Ascension of our Lord
In a certain sense, whenever we enter the temple to celebrate the Divine services, we become participants in the Ascension of our Lord. The architecture of our Orthodox temple invites us to assume the posture taken by our Lords Apostles, who watched in awe, as He ascended into Heaven. The prayers offered in the services both invite and prepare us to receive Christ as He most assuredly comes in each divine Liturgy, and the Gift of the Holy Spirit.
Upon entering the temple, we are taught to make the sign of the cross over ourselves thrice, stating three brief prayers found in the back of the prayer book (how one should pray in Church). After this we bow to the right and to the left and take our proper place “listening to the prayers read in Church, but one does not say to oneself other prayers of one’s own choosing”. One important reason for this unity of prayer is because what is offered by us all together in the Liturgy is exponentially more powerful than the several prayers we may offer separately. We are the Body of Christ; many members, but one body, speaking with one voice.
Another reason for the unity of our prayer has to do with the experience of the Saints. While every one of us receives according to his own ability, what we are receiving is the same thing. It is as if we drink from the same spiritual well. In an age when most of the faithful have access to their own favorite internet teachers and the speakers who impart their own ideas, in their own words, the divine services provide correction and clarification to ensure the sheep are not lead astray.
While the faithful are united in prayer, they are also united in expectation. Having taken their places, those who offer prayers to God are facing the east. They have found the proper orientation. They wait for Christ. Facing the Holy Altar table, they also see beyond it to the High place. The High place, or Bema, attracts our attention to the heavens in the East and that is from where our Lord will come when He returns in Glory!
I hear the complaint that the feast of our Lord’s ascension is glossed over, even undervalued. Could it be that we fail to see the connection between ourselves and the Apostles who watched Him go? Could it be that we do not expect to see Him come, either in the Liturgy or ever?
Let us attend the services of the Church with true faith, doubting nothing. If we do, we will join the Apostles, upon whom the promised Holy Spirit descended and all the Saints, who, from the ages anticipate the return of the One who shall so come in like manner!
Come receive the fire-breathing dew of the Spirit, As the ransom cleansing from faults and offences, O all ye that are the Church’s light-formed children…
Reflections on Pentecost
The experience of Pentecost, the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, should be understood in terms of Revelation. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was the long-foretold event where God, who had before, worked alongside of man, inspiring him with Divine wisdom and leading him into acts of Godly, death defying courage, would enter the Apostles and operate from within, inspiring even greater things. The Revelation of Pentecost lead the Apostles into ALL TRUTH.
We like the idea that the Apostles and their successors have the experience of having All Truth. What we forget sometimes is that having All Truth is not possible without the shedding of blood. In the Divine economy of salvation, the Sprit is not sent except by the Son. The Son does not send the Spirit without having first received ALL AUTHORITY on earth and in heaven. This authority was conferred upon Him because He laid down His Life for sinners. Pentecost is made possible by the painful suffering and death of the God-Man. The gift of Truth is bought with the greatest price.
If our Bishops, priests, and clergy have a responsibility to possess and defend the Truth, then we all share in this duty. When accused of being a schismatic, Saint Joseph of Petrograd, who stood for the Truth in the face of certain danger and death, cited the following chilling details. He said, “…I will never consider myself a schismatic, even if I were to remain absolutely alone, as one of the holy confessors once was… perhaps the last ‘rebels’ against the betrayers of the Church and the accomplices of Her ruin will be not only bishops and not proto priests, but the simplest mortals, just as at the Cross of Christ His last gasp of suffering was heard by a few simple souls who were close to Him…”
Summer is here in Michigan. The general feelings of unrest, due to a protracted house arrest experience have given way to the carefree, fun-loving, sun-seeking summer vibe… in the world. However, for the Orthodox Christian, who seeks to live life in the Church, the apostles fast is about to begin. While those in the world are firing up the grill, the faithful are tightening up their belts!
Over the years I have heard many otherwise Orthodox Christians make excuses for why they do not fast. I have even encountered Orthodox Christians who claim to have been given a “blessing” to not fast. For some, the fast is just an archaic imposition that has no relevance in life. For others, the discipline of fasting is at odds with their contemporary, dare I say, deistic, pseudo religious “spirituality”. I have met Orthodox Christians who claim to be “Vegan”. How can you follow the teaching of the Church when you subscribe to another religion? The excuses continue.
If our Lord Jesus Christ blessed Marriage and sanctified it by his attendance at the wedding at Cana, He also blessed and sanctified the Orthodox Christian practice of ascetical fasting by His own fasting. Christians are those who follow Christ. Christ fasted regularly. He taught us how our fallenness relates to our diet in such a way that we are governed by the impulse to fill our stomach. He taught us that the foods we believe we need to survive not only do not give and sustain our lives, but that once we eat them, we are only satisfied for a short while. Moreover, He taught us that it is possible to be obsessed and driven by demonic influence in such a way that only fasting accompanied by prayer can deliver us from bondage. These few things should motivate us to explore the ascetical life.
It could be that we have seen too many movies that when we hear about demonic possession, we dismiss the possibility that we could be in any way influenced by evil. If we believe this, we have a wrong view of our-selves, of the nature of sin, and of the spiritual warfare waged all around us. Fasting gives us the opportunity to look inward. And when we do, we will see that all is not well as we supposed. If our fallenness relates to our diet, then our salvation is related to our fasting. Adam and Eve brought sin into the world through eating. With God’s help and the guidance of the Church, we can drive sin out of our hearts through fasting.
We have only a short time this fast. If we invest ourselves in this sin destroying asceticism, God will draw near us and become the desire of our hearts. He will satisfy us, and we will see that He is Good.
Independence Day
This weekend, Americans celebrate the fourth of July which, for years, has stood for the historical declaration of Independence from England. What many see as a unique origin among countries was the fact that not language, religion, or ethnicity formed the basis of this great country.
In an article from The Heritage Foundation, written in 2008, the author describes the difference in this way, “The United States of America, by contrast, was born because its founders believed in a series of principles and ideas. Having escaped religious persecution in Europe, the first non-native Americans were firm defenders of a number of things including: liberty, freedom and opportunity”[1].
It is beyond doubt that many of the principles believed by the founding fathers were the fruit of western Christendom especially in the form of moralism and social sensibilities. Sadly, however conscious the current generations of Americans may be of the actual history and politics surrounding the founding of our country, little more than sentiment, driven by popular music, sloganeering and marketing remains. And if there is one thing we run short of it is Independence.
When I recently saw a concentration of “Religious Liberty” signs cropping up in our village I asked myself these questions. What does it mean to be free after all? Precisely what kind of liberty do we enjoy and how far have we moved from opportunity to entitlement?
First, freedom is not an idea or an ideal. Freedom is an experience where the soul is no longer captivated by the passions; the impulses present in our being because of the fall. The passions can be either blameless, such as hunger, thirst, and fatigue, or they can be blameworthy such as lust, anger, and vanity. Freedom, then is the transformation of the blameworthy passions into virtue and the transcendence of the blameless passions altogether. The Saints experienced it and this freedom is possible only in Christ.
Second, related to freedom is liberty. Liberty is the hearts desire to do what is best for the person. Something is good for a person only if it unites him with God, the Trinity. And Liberty never allows us to destroy our neighbor. The Law of God defines and protects this mutual freedom. A thing simply cannot be good for one while it destroys another.
In His Omni-benevolence the Creator God has revealed His Holy Law and this Law becomes, for the Orthodox Christian liberty, Light and Life. Yet, Lawlessness is increased and the Love of most has grown cold. When we neglect the Holy Law of God, liberty is not possible.
What if “Religious Liberty” as such, was revoked. Would our lives change at all? Is our faith an idea; do we believe in ideas? The Orthodox Faith is not a system of beliefs. It is life, lived in God and expressed in and by every aspect of that experience. Another question is this, what matter does it make if we have religious liberty or not when most people do not exercise it? Are you at liberty to skip church or come late if at all? What about spiritual development? Does your liberty allow you to neglect it in exchange for entertainment and amusements?
Lastly, what kind of opportunity is available to us and how zealously do we seek it? In the prophet Isaiah, the un-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ says, “Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near”. While we are assailed by every distraction, the hourglass is emptying. The all-merciful Lord has loosed the bonds of hades and set the prisoners free. We have the “opportunity”, with them, to enjoy not only true freedom, and actual liberty but also Eternal life.
While many will celebrate the fourth of July without even knowing why, we do well to think about our citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven. No earthly government can ultimately deliver what we need most. May God grant us repentance and the will to find in Him and His Kingdom what we seek everywhere else.
[1] The real meaning of the fourth of July: Israel Ortega The Heritage Foundation.
Reflections on the Transfiguration
Sometimes, it is the thing right in front of us that we overlook. Occasionally, we need to take the long road around what should be obvious to us. And there are those times when we lose the significance of it through familiarity. We have just celebrated the Transfiguration of our Savior and it’s possible that our attention has skipped over one of the most important aspects of this theological feast.
In His Transfiguration, our Lord Jesus Christ reveals the unseeable Father. The canon states it this way. “…on Mount Tabor Thou didst show us the burning ember of divinity, which burneth up sins and enlighteneth souls;” The Uncreated Divinity which had been revealed before, in shadowy form to Moses, on the mount of the law, in the overshadowing glory in the tabernacle of old, in the pillar of fire and cloud in the wilderness, was revealed in the Person of Jesus who was bathed in and from whom emitted the unapproachable light of the Godhead. The revelation of the Transfiguration of Christ God confirmed that the same man who ascended the mountain with His disciples was established also as the One who had “…existed from before the beginning of time”. Again, from the canon “Moses and Elijah cried to the disciples who were being instructed on holy Mount Tabor: “Behold, Christ the Savior is the God Whom we proclaimed of old!” And a thing is confirmed in the mouth of witnesses!
What we have already stated is full of Glory, but it doesn’t conclude with the Revelation of God, seen in His Son, who united human and Divine natures in His Person. The thing that we sometimes miss is the purpose of this all-Glorious Revelation. If, in the Transfiguration of Our Lord, we find the fulfillment of so many of the aforementioned types, then we should find in those types the same purposeful didactic element.
What is that element? Given our weakness we may ask the question, “why?” What are we to learn from it all? It is this; Our great and man-befriending God is willing to suffer for our sakes! This is the message of the Gospel throughout all the ages. The Kontakion assures us that this is the purpose of the Transfiguration and therefore of all its preceding types. It reads, “Thou wast transfigured on the mountain O Christ God, * and Thy disciples beheld Thy glory as far as they could endure; * that when they would see Thee crucified, * they would comprehend that Thy suffering was voluntary, * and proclaim to the world that Thou art of a truth ** the Effulgence of the Father.”
The disciples, watching the Transfiguration, were to understand that the God-man would willingly undergo the great pain, suffering and death that He would soon experience. That they would truly comprehend that His suffering was voluntary. And that with this understanding, they would be empowered to proclaim to the world that Jesus is the Great Brightness of the Father!
Is the world so far gone that no one needs to hear that God loves them and suffered willingly to redeem fallen man from sin? May it never be! If we understand the beauty of the Cross of our Lord in some small way, it is because of this central teaching of His Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. Let us not lose sight of His investment in us. May we say with Moses of old “Unto our God and Redeemer let us sing!”
Reflections on Finding a Parish
Lately, I have been receiving many inquiries from people who may be interested in joining our parish. So many changes have taken place in world Orthodoxy, so many compromises have been made that people feel, if for the first time, emboldened to reach out to our little mission looking for a home.
There was a time when the Orthodox Christian in America genuinely stood out from other Christian people. What’s more, there was a time when to be a Christian meant that there was something qualitatively different about a person. Now movies stars who receive large amounts of money to prostitute themselves while being filmed engaged in dramatized acts of violence and sex claim to be Christian. Additionally, the average lay person, in most Christian confessions would be remis to deliver a sound presentation on the basic tenants of the most well-known confessions of faith, let alone site from memory the Ten commandments.
We are not unsympathetic to the disillusionment and doubt that we see growing all around us. It does not surprise us that many are seeking more. And we are not unwilling to try to help them discover a home in our much beloved True Orthodox Church.
If we are to be truly helpful to those people, we need some tools to ensure that we offer them precisely what Christ offers. We must have in mind what the Church is, expressed in Her fullness in each genuine Orthodox Church. Further, we must not use manipulative methods to allure them. The fact is, we have what they need, but we may not have what they are looking for. As my Archbishop once told me, “What we embrace is Joy-making sorrow.”
At the Birth of the Baptist, a summary of our mission as Orthodox Christians is stated on our website. It reads, “Our mission is to live Life in a truly Orthodox Christian manner, offering Holy prayers to the Eternal God in accordance with Traditional Orthodoxy. We labor to provide a setting within which salvation, offered, accomplished and conferred by the Holy Trinity is made available to all who seek.” Salvation for us flows from the Cross, requires that we crucify ourselves upon it, and that we live every moment of our life conscious of our need of the mercy of God.
We need to make sure, when people approach us because they are fed up with their current situation, that we are honest with them about what the Church is. To begin a definition we may site the following, “The holy Church is God's most supreme, most holy, most good, most wise and necessary establishment upon the earth. She is "the true tabernacle'' of God, " which the Lord pitched, and not man" (Heb. viii. 2)—not Luther, not Calvin, and not Mohammed, nor Buddha, nor Confucius, nor any other suchlike sinful, passionate person. The Church is a union of people established by God, united among themselves by the Faith, Doctrine, Hierarchy, and Mysteries. ”
While many seek programs, opportunities to perform, ethnic familiarity, artistic beauty, or any number of other human, fallen ideals, these ideals could be found in many institutions outside of the Church. In fact, many of these ideals are contrary to the goal of the Church, the deification of man. Many of the desires people seek to fulfill in the Churches have their origin in human passion. This accounts for infighting in the churches, when one party feels that he didn’t get his way and it accounts for the drive of world Orthodoxy to accommodate these desires and the passionate people who express them.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not suggesting that True Orthodoxy is immune to these temptations. And we feel in no way that we have overcome our passions to such a degree that we ourselves are above these feelings. What we have is the true knowledge of what the Church is. We know what Her goals are and how She accomplishes them. We know that we must daily crucify our minds in our movement toward doctrinal unity. We know that we must judge ourselves with strictness in our constant return to humility through repentance. We also understand that since the Church was established by no passionate man, but by the Lord Jesus Christ, that we must apply ourselves to the pure teaching of the Church to avoid heresy. Finally, we confess that there is no other place wherein we are called to work out our salvation. As sited above, “The holy Church is God's most supreme, most holy, most good, most wise and necessary establishment upon the earth.
While we wholeheartedly welcome all inquirers, we want to begin well. If you are looking for an ego boost, we cannot help you. If you are looking to impose your wonderful ideas about how we can be more relevant, you can’t help us. If you are looking for a place where you can learn to absorb pain, learn how to pray, and fast, to experience the kind of sorrow which creates joy, please come join us. We formally invite you.
[1]From an article entitled “The Church—The Treasury of Salvation”
by St. John of Kronstadt
Reflection on legalized murder
There are some things we would rather not reflect upon at all. This is one of them. The legalized murder of unborn human beings is something that happens in our world now and has happened throughout the ages. It’s necessary to use the long hand when we discuss it to avoid the ambiguity given rise by terms like abortion. When people use terms long enough, they distance themselves from the issues, even to call them issues seems to reduce the significance and we should never allow ourselves to theorize about such grave activities. After all, a pregnancy that is aborted means that an unborn human being’s life has been taken. At such a late hour it seems that we should have these things well ordered in our minds, but we don’t. Recently our parish attended a Pro-life rally held in our town. This reflection is an attempt to reveal another level to the seriousness and egregious nature of legalized murder.
Since the creation of man several thousand years ago, murder has always been forbidden. In the beginning it did not happen, but it happened shortly thereafter. Man was created by God as a special ruler over the visible world. He ruled over the animals and generally, over the world. He, above the animals had a special, created/immortal nature which was made in the image and after the likeness of God. Hence, he was different and over the other created things in the visible world. Having this dignity and being created as the special priest and king over the world, man also had the special attention of his all-seeing God. Therefore, to take the life of a man was to violate and act against the special care, concern, and interest of God. To kill man was to destroy the friend and companion of God. This is the first reason murder is wrong.
In time, as man filled the earth and built kingdoms, he forgot about his special duty to God to rule under Him. He began to believe that he ruled under his own power. And because of his sinfulness he rightly feared that his fragile rule over other men could be overthrown. From the first murder, a fratricide, by Cain, of Able, man’s fear of the superiority of other men has driven him to suppress and kill his fellow man. The reality of war is an illustration of this fear. Often, rulers, like the wicked King Herod, would turn to the murder of the unborn and young as a way of pre-emptively eliminating their competition. He killed 14,000. The murder of man is an act of evil. The murder of unborn humans manifests this evil at its worst. It is the highest act of self-love; the unwillingness to tolerate anything that takes away from one’s own comfort.
As stated above, murder was evil because it attacked not only the special creature of God, but His unique friend (Theomenos). This should be reason enough for sensible and rational people. But the Neo-Herodians want their “rights”. At the exact time (the exact moment) of this writing the number of abortions performed is at 32,312,071 already this year. And that number continues to rise.
So, what could be the second reason to condemn murder in general and the murder of the unborn specifically? The answer is in the Incarnation of the Son of God. Before the incarnation, God and man lived as in a relationship of Creator with creature. But, after taking flesh of the Most Holy Virgin when God became Man, everything changed. The same flesh He took from the Holy Virgin is Deified, Crucified, Resurrected, Ascended, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. The Creator, through His great love for mankind became one of us and joined, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, human and Divine natures. The inestimable value of Human life takes on eternal dimensions, and this takes what was fratricide and elevates it to Deicide. While man attempts constantly to suppress the truth about God, revealed to him in his conscience, the murder of the unborn seems to be an attempt to aim the weapon at the Creator Himself.
While women cry for their rights (and we heard their cries and insults at the event) to do this heinous act, we appeal to them, by the mercy of God to offer themselves as Living sacrifices instead. Ultimately, we wish to protect them from the burden of guilt and to help them see that the child in them carries the divine light. There can be no “right” to take the life of the innocent. Let us defend life for Christ’s sake, the life of men and women; old, young, and unborn.
Reflection on Thanksgiving
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful...
Today, while working my day job, as a carpenter, I heard some things from the television in the next room that caused me to think about tomorrow’s secular feast day, Thanksgiving. What I heard from the so called “conservative” news crew was a cacophony of indignation over how the democrats are ruining the country, indignation over how the media is spinning certain cases of Law to pervert justice, and some helpful tips to observe the Thanksgiving Day, with dignity, in an economy currently ruined by others
I don’t want to sound as if I have an agenda against conservative news. I’m sure that, had liberal news been playing, I would have heard as many or more criticisms highlighting the guilt of others for similar reasons.
It is beyond my ability to relate to most of the issues I heard discussed. But what about Thanksgiving? The plastic news lady and her sympathetic extra-long eyelash extensions couldn’t have seemed less genuine while instructing Americans to do potlach for the sides, ask for financial contributions from guests and to simply opt out of purchasing a turkey. as a Christian I have been trying to learn something about being thankful. Are we living in a post thankful era? Has gratitude and genuine thankfulness been replaced with a self-serving, self-loving, egotistical, self-entitled, Darwinist cynicism? It has indeed. The brutal reality of this is clearly delineated in the above-mentioned news feed. Violence in the streets, racial polarization, looting, and lawlessness do not exemplify a disposition of Thanksgiving and do not make for palatable table talk.
Most Orthodox Christians know that the word Eucharist means grateful, or gratitude or simply, Thanksgiving. The parable of the ten lepers found in the Gospel of St. Luke offers us an illustration of the difference between true gratitude/Thankfulness and what passes today in its place. The account goes like this. The Lord encounters a group of ten lepers who seek to be healed by him. He spoke and told them to “go, show yourselves to the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him Thanks: and he was a Samaritan.” Once again, we have the Samaritan for our teacher!
My question is this; were not all ten lepers thankful? Were they not all glad to have their newly received health? Of course, they were, according to our fallen human definition of the word Thankful. We, like them, fail to give true thanks because we forget God. Being glad that all our needs are met, being excited about our careers, our new cars, our new houses, our vacations, our plans, our…whatever it is, is not living in thanksgiving.
The nine lepers were healed. They were certainly happy and couldn’t wait to get back to life as usual. In so many ways we are like them. I can remember more than one occasion where people showed up after the divine liturgy to ask the priest to offer a thanksgiving Moleben for the restored health of a loved one. To my utter confusion, they gave the priest an envelope containing money but when we began the service on their behalf, they left the Temple and went home! Another example is the classic “candle lighter” with not enough time for a long Church service beyond just lighting up a few candles before leaving and getting back to life! Far from simply annoying, these kinds of actions show ingratitude and often disdain.
When God gives us anything; and He often gives or allows the things we don’t like, He wants the response of the Samaritan from us. He wants us to live Eucharistic lives. He doesn’t need our money, or candles, but He does want us to offer everything back to Him. The leper received healing; he gave back worship. We receive our lives; we offer ourselves as living sacrifices. We receive pain; we offer up tears. We receive money; we give back Tithes. Our whole life is meant to be a constant exchange between our Great Benefactor and ourselves. We can be truly thankful only when we have the remembrance of God. While crime, hate and fear grow at an alarming rate, let us learn to live Eucharistically, freely giving and receiving; this is what it means to be thankful.
The Christmas fast is here!
Why should I fast? Isn't this supposed to be a joyful season?
Those who do not fast, who do not keep the fasts of the Church, are not capable of knowing Joy. Does this sound outrageous? One of his spiritual daughters asked the famous Saint Seraphim of Sarov about marrying a man who was loosely attached to the Church. His response will shock many. He said, "whatever he may call himself, if he does not keep the fasts of the Church, he is not a Christian."
Fasting prepares the soul to receive Grace. It is a simple way to attract the Mercy of God. It is an imitation of Christ. It a provision for the poor (traditionally, fasting enabled the poor to receive the foods and monies that would otherwise be eaten and used for costly foods). Fasting and prayer have the power to drive demons and their influence from the heart. Gluttony steals our vigilance. Gormandizing is the practical, culinary application of self- love. For these reasons and many more, we should see that fasting is the way to true Joy.
People of all ages and walks of life, including young children, should fast. However, the Church does not require pregnant and nursing mothers to fast strictly. The reason for this lies in the freedom of the will and that God does not accept gifts that are offered by force. While a mother has the duty to teach her children to fast, it must be done in a spirit of nurture and not by force. Saint Theophan the recluse advises parents that if they do not teach their children to fast from the earliest age, it will be nearly impossible to do so later. As a matter of fact, many Saints of the Church, in infancy expressed their desire to fast by rejecting the breast on fasting days!
If the feast is known in our Liturgical and sacramental experience, and if that experience is enabled by our ascetical labor, let us strive all the more, with strength to keep the fast this season. In this way, we will be prepared to receive the King of all who comes as a babe. Glory to Thee, O Christ our God and our hope, Glory to Thee!