The Shepherd At The Sheep's Gate

Christ is Risen!

This Sunday's Gospel reading is from St. John (5:1-15) related to the paralytic at Bethesda.

By Your Divine intercession, O Lord,

As You raised up the paralytic of old, 

So raise up my soul, paralyzed by sins and thoughtless acts,

So that being saved, I may sing to You:

"Glory to Your majesty, O Bountiful Christ!"

(Kontakion of the Feast)

The One Who knows the hearts of men, Who knows the contents of our very soul, Who knows the good and bad about each of us, it is He who comes to the pool of Bethesda on this day and poses what has to be viewed as a most improbable question.

“Do you want to be made well?”

Who could ask such a question.  The God Man Christ knows that this man had been in this condition (as St. John records) for thirty-eight years.  How could He ask such a thing?

But we, who read the Gospels, must know that our God has His reason for every action, every word that He came to leave as a gift to us.

What reasons could there be for what we encounter in this particular portion of Scripture?

Jesus offers healing to the paralytic, certainly, and knowing his heart sees that he indeed loves God.  And so by His Word, He brings healing to the man.  “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”  Such simple words, so very few, yet filled with such love of God that they reverse thirty-eight years of suffering.

But our Lord offers the same healing to the jealous Jews.  His healing of the man certainly solves the illness of the paralytic, but the man's walking brings the opportunity for healing to the Jews who have not yet found the heart of God within Jesus.  In the Gospel of St. Mark our Lord plainly tells the Pharisees, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27)  But today the Pharisees still stubbornly choose to cling instead to a human misinterpretation of God’s mercy for His creation.  For these men, the Sabbath takes precedence over the human condition of the man.  For Christ, the exact opposite is true.  In demonstrating this opposition to God’s will, Jesus gives the Jews a glimpse into the heart of God, offers them the same healing from the same event—”Come, and be made well, too!” 

They however remain blinded to this benevolent love of the Creator for His creation.  He has in essence told the Jews as well, “Take up the rancid place in which you have lain all these years and come into the fullness of the Love of God.  Leave your spiritual illness behind and arise!”  And they refuse.

Our Lord’s healing of the paralytic is shown to have produced in him the proper effect, that of seeking God and offering thanks for the gift he had received, for he goes to the temple to offer this thanks.  It is there that he gives testimony to the Jews, offering as an evangelist the words that healed him, and which our Lord would have heal them as well—if their hearts, like the man’s, were truly aligned with the recognition of God’s love.

But there is yet another reason for our Lord's words, for His question, "Do you want to be made well?"  Can we not see that these same words are offered to us?  Do we want to be made well?  If we answer, “Yes,” then the consequence of such an answer is that we, like the paralytic, must choose to align ourselves with God’s will in our lives.  We must effect a change in our hearts, the change that the Jews were unable to make, that same change remains for us to make in ourselves. 

Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Mat 6:33), love your neighbor (Mat 22:39), love your enemies (Mat 5:44), care for the poor and needy (Mat 25).

But most of all, repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand (Mat 4:17). 

They are simple words, very few, very easy to understand.  But our hearts must be right to follow where such powerful words lead.

Jesus comes to the pool at Bethesda, a name which translates to “house of mercy.”  Our Lord told the Jews (and thereby He tells us), “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’” (Mat 9:13, Hos 6:6)  It is a verse that points lovingly at Chapter 6 of the book by the Prophet Hosea, which begins with the words, “Come, and let us return to the Lord…”  (Hos 6:1)

Today’s Gospel is a gift to us to remind us, now three Sundays after Pascha, the repentant path that we walked during the Fast, and that we dare not lose in our hearts what we gained while making that walk.

Do we really want to be made well?  We can’t shout joyously “Christ is Risen!” if we don’t!

Christ Is Risen!

These three words have changed the course of human history.

Christ is Risen!

From the time that Adam at the devil’s prompting chose to seek the means to become “like God”, mankind has lived in a world without hope.  Through the fall, the place for which we were created by God was taken from us.  Eating from the tree to become like God, Adam was forced to live in a place that would show him how unlike God he still was, for where there was warmth and joy and communion with God before, now there was hardship and toil and pain and suffering, and a seeking for God which would go unfulfilled.

And so by sin death entered into the world.  And we became partakers of death, even though we were created to be partakers of eternal life.  The recognition of this is present in every human soul.  It is why we are so unsatisfied with life.  There is an inherent understanding that there must be something better than this.

And indeed, there is.  It took 4000 years for Christ to come to recall Adam.  Within that time there was both joy and suffering in Israel, but there was no salvation, no visible path back to God and eternal life in His heavenly kingdom.

It is not until Jesus comes, until He teaches us the true meanings of the Scriptures, gives us commandments for living lives that are pleasing to God, showing us our need for repentance, showing us His Divine love for us in His openly forgiving the sins of those who come to Him with the request, from the cleansing of the lepers, to the healing of the blind and the lame.  And ultimately, He showed us the full extent of that love as He restored the dead to life, especially the life of Lazarus, who was dead for four days. 

In all of these things, God coming, putting on our flesh, and speaking to us and with us directly showed to us His plan for that salvation.  He took on the death that Adam brought to all humanity, showing in Himself the fullness of His own humanity.  He suffered with Adam and all of his descendants.  He suffered for and with all who would be born from the time of Cain until the last person who will exit the womb before His return at His Second and Glorious Coming.  St. John Chrysostom writes, “Are we only dying with the Master and are we only sharing in His sadness?  Most of all, let me say that sharing the Master’s death is no sadness.  Only wait a little and you shall see yourself sharing in His benefits.  ‘For if we have died with Him,’ says St. Paul, ‘we believe that we shall also live together with Him.’  For in baptism there are both burial and resurrection together at the same time.  He who is baptized puts off the old man, takes the new and rises up, just as Christ has arisen through the glory of the Father.  Do you see how, again, St. Paul calls baptism a resurrection?”

We sing today, “As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ!”  We come to take His precious Body and Blood into our very beings, transforming us so that we carry Him with us wherever and whenever we go.

Being baptized we are born again into His Resurrection.  Being partakers of His Precious Body and Blood we are made to be partakers of that Divine Nature that Adam sought in Eden.

It is not only St. Paul who speaks to us this day, but also St. Peter, who tells us “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous Light.” (1Pet 2:9)

So when we gather, as today, and as we will now for the next 40 days, we greet each other with the Royal Greeting—CHRIST IS RISEN!  We speak it boldly, we proclaim what our God has done for us unapologetically, forcefully, so that others may come to see His victory in the faces of His people who still live in this fallen world bodily, but who are residents of the Heavenly Kingdom already in spirit.

We can do this because CHRIST IS RISEN!  We can be brave, enduring all sorrow and suffering, for we know that it is temporal, and that means it is temporary.  When we hold in our hearts and proclaim with our lips that CHRIST IS RISEN!  , we lose the attachment to this life, and proclaim His victory—a victory that raises Adam from the fall, a victory that has emptied the tombs and decimated Hades, a victory that has changed the world, both for those who dwelt in the 4000 years before Christ, and those in the 2000 years after Him.

So let us proclaim with the utmost joy, CHRIST IS RISEN!  to all that will hear.

Fruits of Repentance

Having passed the preparatory Sundays before the Great Fast, we see on the Sunday of the Last Judgment the fruits of what the Church has been preparing us for since the Sunday of Zacchaeus.

Zacchaeus?  Repentance.  Publican and Pharisee?  Repentance.  Prodigal Son?  Repentance.

But on this day, the Church gives us a concrete warning from the very lips of our Savior.  The warning is, “The time will come when repentance is no longer available.  Therefore do it today, while there is still time.”

Our Lord’s familiarity with us as fickle people is evident in the words He crafts for us to absorb today.  And His representation of human nature is equally evident.

We owe it to ourselves to look at the imagery the Lord gives us within this Chapter 25 of the Gospel of St. Matthew.  He starts with the parable of the ten virgins.  Fully half of them were clueless, while the others were shrewd.  The shrewd ones recognized that they were there to serve the Bridegroom, not He to serve them.  And so they came prepared.  “I don’t know when He’ll arrive, but when He does, I’ll assure that I’m ready,” and so they came with oil for their lamps to spare.

The foolish ones were only concerned about themselves.  “I’ll go to the wedding, He’ll come, and we’ll celebrate the wedding feast!  Let’s party!”  For this, they are separated from the Bridegroom’s joy.

The wise virgins, as they denied the foolish some of their oil, were not unloving of the foolish.  But serving the foolish ones was not why they were there.  They were present to serve the Bridegroom!  “We must serve our purpose, and if we help you, our goal is in jeopardy.  Go and get for yourselves!”

The parable of the distribution of the talents is a similar tale.  Those who were given more knew that they would have more required of them.  And so they labored—not so that they could give back to their Master His original gifts, keeping any increase for themselves.  No, their hearts were aligned toward pleasing their Master.  The wicked servant who hid his talent had no concern over improving his Master’s lot, a perspective which is itself self-serving.  And for it, he is condemned.

Listen to the words our Lord uses then at the Last Judgment.  He will separate sheep from goats.  Those who find favor will do so because they have served “the least of His brethren.”  Those who will be accursed will be so because they ignored these same people.

But listen to the words of “human nature” between the sheep and the goats!  Those accounted as sheep are astonished.  “When did we do these things to help You, Lord?  We don’t remember them….”  Those accounted accursed as goats are astonished as well.  “When did we deny You these things, Lord?  We don’t remember finding You in need…”

The sheep, in always doing good, can’t remember doing good to Christ.  The goats, in always serving self, can’t remember “being asked” to help Christ.  “Nobody told me I should look for You in other people….”

The fruits of our repentance are that which produces in us the desire to always serve others, to always do good.  Repentance defocuses us on self, re-focuses us on living as Christ showed us, being a servant to all.  God, the Creator of all things, came and put on my flesh to come and serve me.  Inside of that phenomenal recognition, if there is not a reflexive response to take up that Cross and follow where He has already led, then we’re doomed to be goats.  Today’s Gospel is a reminder and a warning.  It reminds us that there is still time to become a sheep.  It warns us that the time grows short before, if we do not choose to repent, we’ll be doomed to goat-hood.

Your Body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit Who Is In You

On the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, Saint Paul carries us to a place of discomfort before we get to hear the parable from our Lord.  He tells us clearly that our body no longer belongs to us, as he says clearly, “you are not your own.”  For when we accepted baptism into Christ, we put on Christ.  And in putting Him on, we gave our bodies to be His, we became the “temple of the Holy Spirit.”

Why is this important on this day?  Because as we consider the parable of the prodigal, we need to recognize in him that part of us that wants to conform to the world, and not to the Father’s love for us.  We, like him, are enticed beyond our limits to resist, and we choose to spend our precious Father-given resources on things that give momentary pleasure to the body, and simultaneously steal away precious opportunity to grow in spirit.

I can hear you resist.  “Father, I don’t spend wantonly on the kinds of things that the parable implies were the focus of the prodigal.”

Let’s use the Lord’s own words and try to understand His meaning, and how it indeed relates to all of us. 

St. Luke says, “The younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.”

The word used for “journeyed” is apodemeo, which means to go abroad, to visit a foreign land.  Whenever we leave the love of the Father, we place ourselves outside His love, which is a place foreign to His created home for us.  He created us to be with Him.  We neither will nor can we be fulfilled, satisfied, happy outside of being in His presence.

The word used for “far country” is chora, which translates to not just any ‘place,’ but an empty expanse, a place where nothing of import is.  It is the root from which we get the English word “chasm”.

The word used for “wasted” is diaskorpizo, which means to simply strew or scatter.  Literally it indicates that the prodigal could have taken all that the Father had and simply cast it to the wind, and the result would have been the same.

The Greek word translated as “prodigal” is asotos, and it carries the meaning of living riotously, dissolutely, giving absolutely no care for the morality or lack thereof of the actions.  The English meaning of “prodigal” means “recklessly extravagant.”  We need say no more.

Most of us earn comfortable livings.  How many things have I made into “gods” for myself?  Television?  Radio?  Social media?  Internet in general?

How many things do I on a daily basis give attention to that promote my own connection to the Father?  Almsgiving?  Praying for others?  Reading scripture?  Visiting the sick or imprisoned?

You see, we’re all straying in that empty expanse that the world attempts to convince us is in fact important, when in reality the world’s ‘important’ causes us to stray further from the Father and His love.

Our bodies are not our own.  We gave them freely as a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit.  By our ways of life, are we daily welcoming Him and living in His love, or are we driving Him out and boarding the doors?

The temple of the Holy Spirit must ever be open, so that the Father’s love will remain on us, in us, with us, as we attempt not to serve our own flesh, but to serve the least of His brethren. 

Time grows short.  We must seek His forgiveness, return to Him with the same repentant heart that the prodigal discovered.

The Father is looking for us, as well, waiting, for until we find our own repentance, we too are dead to eternal life, wasting our precious God-given life in this foreign land.  He waits to embrace us, too, seeing us chose His life by repenting for our own prodigal living.

Nativity and Gifts

Christs is Born!  Glorify Him!!!

The world that surrounds us would have us believe that the Feast we celebrate today is not about Christ, but about giving.  If the world would have its way, they would forcefully instruct us that the Lord is a fairy tale, but the mall Santa is real.

As Orthodox Christians we know a different side of the Feast.  And the giving of fruitcakes, video games, and high definition electronics isn't what it's about.

What are the gifts upon which we, as Orthodox Christians, focus?

We need to go to the Stichera on Lord I Call for Vespers for the Feast.  Here is what the Holy Orthodox Church teaches about gifts and the Nativity of our Lord:

What shall we offer You, O Christ,
Who for our sakes has appeared on earth as a Man?
Every creature made by You offers You thanks.
The angels offer You a hymn;
The heavens a star;
The Magi, gifts;
The shepherds, their wonder;
The earth, its cave;
The wilderness, the manger;
And we off You a virgin Mother.
O pre-eternal God, have mercy on us!

So you see, gifts on this day DO have meaning.  But our greatest gift to be offered on this day is defined in the third line of the above hymn - thanksgiving!  But more than this, the Holy Church's teaching shows us that there is but one single portion of all creation that does not offer praise to God for the miracle of the Incarnation.

What is that one single portion?  It is the remnant of mankind which, by deceit of the enemy, opposes God at all times.  For even as the Savior comes into the world as an Infant, there are those who already seek His destruction.  It was true in the time of His birth.  It has been true throughout all of history since.  And, it remains as true even today.

We all know the Nativity account.  A child is imminent, and the family responsible for Him comes to Bethlethem where they find no one who will accomodate a young woman who is delivering a Child.  If there was an inn (and Scripture tells us there was), you can believe that there were people in that place who had a room and were quite comfortable thank you very much, but could not and/or would not be bothered to give up their comfort for the sake of a woman and her Child.

The world didn't exactly welcome God into it, did it?  Did WE?  And to this day we treat Him still with perhaps not contempt, but at least indifference.  All those days He knocks at the doors of our hearts and asks to come in, but we "are full" - we have no room for Him to enter, no capacity to allow Him to change us from the earth-bound creatures we have become, no vision of our need to be heaven-bound as possessors of the promise He came into this world to assure to us.

Ergo, on this great Feast of the Incarnation of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, let us come to Him as did the shepherds - filled with the wonder inspired by the hymn of the angels.  Let us come as did the Magi, offering to Him that which we have.  Gold was the gift of a King.  We may have no gold, but we have that which is precious to the King, the desire to be obedient to His commands.  Frankincense was the gift of the High Priest.  We may have no frankincense, by we have that which is precious to the High Priest, prayers offering up our thanksgiving.  Myrrh was the gift of One Who is to be buried.  We may have no myrrh, but we have that which is precious to the One Who comes into the world to suffer and die for our sakes - the heartfelt desire to repent of our sins.

And so, we may come to God on this day, and on every day, bearing gifts that are precious in His sight.  Let us therefore run to the cave, as did those shepherds, so that we might fall down and worship God, Who came into the world in His love for us.  Those shepherds loved their sheep, but they abandoned them to go and find what the angels proclaimed to them, God With Us! 

For this is that Love, the Love of God, and it is the greatest of all gifts!

Christ is Born!  Glorify Him!!!!

What Good Is Fasting, Anyhow?

It's a question that's asked silently more often than aloud, but if truth be told, most of us who "hold fast to the Orthodox faith" have at some point in time considered the question.

We know the drill.  We fast every Friday.  And yes, we're supposed to fast on Wednesdays as well.  That's our "weekly" schedule.  But we also know that there are four fasting seasons.  There's the Great Fast, and second to it in duration is the Nativity or Advent Fast.  Next in duration - well, that's difficult.  The Dormition Fast always lasts for 14 days (Aug 1 thru Aug 14).  But the Apostles' Fast is "variable."  It begins on the day AFTER the Sunday of All Saints (one week after Pentecost), and extends until the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul on 29June.  So in those years when Pascha falls early, the Apostles' Fast is longer than those years when Pascha falls late.  I recall a year not so long ago when the Apostles' Fast was only one or two days long.  Of course, if you're lucky enough to worship on the Old Calendar, 29June comes 13 days later, so there's an additional 2 weeks to the Apostles' Fast!!

I just took a look at calendar 2019 ("New" Calendar, that is).  When one observes every prescribed Wednesday and Friday, and all of the days of each of the four fasting seasons, one fasts for a total of 182 days - almost EXACTLY half of the year.

But back to the title's question - What good is all this fasting?  What do I accomplish from it?

In too many instances we've heard people openly state, "I'll lose weight during the fast...."  Perhaps you will, but that's NOT the purpose of the fast.

The purpose of any fast is to put the body to war with the spirit, and to allow the spirit to emerge victorious over the body.  If we for a moment think that our lives are fully conformed to the fullness of the instruction and example our Lord gave us for living, we're deluding ourselves.  And in that separation from His perfection we should be striving for it as our goal, for He commanded us, "Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect..." (Mat 5:48)  Can we achieve that perfection?  No, but we won't even get closer to the goal unless we struggle, strive, FIGHT - spirit against body.

The body loves to eat, and to overeat.  The body loves to recline and rest.  The body calls to us to satisfy any number of "wants" including those of the more base fleshly desires.  Is there anything sinful in taking food?  No.  But when we overeat, our bodies become lazy, and we don't strive to labor to help those in need.  Is there anything sinful in the condition of human love?  No, when approached in the light of God's gift between husband and wife, it's a beautiful gift.  But when we focus on that any gift to extremes, we deny ourselves the vision of those around us who need to feel love from another person.  That love can be accomplished with a smile, or a kind word, or a visit to one ill and shut in.

Fasting allows us to gain control over those things in the world that we usually allow to effect control over us - the stimulus of an advertising sign showing delicious food, making us desire it; the stimulus of a person speaking with us and talking about another in an unflattering way, urging us to participate in that unrighteous talk.  When we fast, we consume time in other ways - giving alms, reading scripture, and yes - hearing our stomach's complain (growl) as we deny them what they crave.  That feeling and that sound remind our spirits that they are winning - and strengthen them for the battle!

So fast as many of those 182 days as you can.  In fact, fast more if you can!  Define your fast as not "just" from food, but from the passions that tear us down.  Then add to your fast cultivating the virtues that bring us closer to God's perfection.

If we can do this, we'll not need to ask what the fast is accomplishing in us!

The Journey of the Fast

Beginning.  Making a start.  Launching an effort.

What are the things that we as human beings do when we set out to accomplish something?  Let us say, for example, that we are planning "the vacation of a lifetime", a journey to see places and things we've longed to see for many years.  How would we go about the task of planning such a thing, and what would be the first things essential to assure success in attaining our goal?

For you see, it is that goal that brings focus to every action that we will take. 

And so we begin by laying into order all the things necessary to achieve that goal.  We start by study - we seek information about modes of travel, places we might pass through that could add to the joy of the journey.  We search out costs, maximizing the use of our resources in the trip, but not 'skimping' because, after all, this is the "vacation of a lifetime", and it needs to be as perfect as we can make it.  We look for travel guides, not the cheapest, but those who have reviews from others who have journeyed attesting to their benefits, to the degree to which their participation in the journeys of others.  We would have complete and total knowledge of every aspect of this "vacation of a lifetime" EXCEPT for what we would experience when we actually get TO our destination.

What better explanation is there, what better 'analogy', to our living our lives as we "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness"? (Mat 6:33)

For us, the "mode of travel" is our Faith.  Read Hebrews Chapter 11 to understand what "by faith" means to us, how it is "by faith" that all things are accomplished.  St. Paul goes so far as in attesting to the faith of so many of the forefathers that he say about them, "of whom the world was not worthy." (Heb 11:38)

Those of us who have embraced Holy Orthodoxy therefore "travel toward the Kingdom" by our Faith.  Holy Orthodoxy is our "ship" that carries us toward our destination, the Kingdom of Heaven.  Even this analogy is not an accident, for many Orthodox churches are built in the shape of an ark, the ship of Noah which saved the souls of those set aside by God before the flood.  And the book that contains our living instructions, the Canons of the Church, is known as "The Rudder" - the implement by which a ship is guided, steered upon stormy seas.

We add to our "journey" those places and events which make the journey more than it would be otherwise - the calendar of the Church, the Twelve Major Feasts which are in and of themselves joyous events, and they sustain us in our joy was we travel the seas of temptation, still seeking our "goal", our coming to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Our "travel guides" are the Holy Fathers.  Their teachings, their writings, their wisdom, their having lived and walked the paths that lay before us now attests to their qualifications as being sound and proper guides for us as we begin our journeys. 

The only thing that we cannot comprehend is the total joy and bliss that will exist upon our arrival at our destination. 

And so we set out on the journey through this year's Great Fast.  This is a "little journey" - with the goal of experiencing that joy we'll see at our Lord's Pascha.  The planning is also a microcosm of our life's goal of attaining the Kingdom.  So what is our plan for this present journey?

As we enter this year's Great Fast, we begin with yesterday's Forgiveness Sunday Vespers, where we prayed these words:

Let us hasten to humble the flesh by abstinence, as we set out on the God-given course of the Holy Fast, and with prayers and tears let us seek our Lord and Savior.  Laying aside all memories of evil, let us cry aloud: 'We have sinned against You, O Christ our King; save us as You saved the men of Nineveh in the days of old, and in Your compassion make us sharers in Your heavenly Kingdom.

Our plan is outlined for us by the Holy Church.  We have exalted our flesh, fed it, overfed it.  Our bodies have become our masters.  It is time for the spirits to be elevated, to "humble the flesh" by abstaining from food.  But we also must humble the ego by abstaining from that which feed it - gossip, idle talk, vain thoughts and pursuits, reading things that do not profit the spirit.

Our plan includes intensified prayer, and not just any prayer, but prayer which searches out the inner depths of our hearts, sheds God's divine Light on the darkest corners, so that we can find and root out that which is unclean and remains within.  This often brings us to tears, recognizing things we've forgotten, finding things we didn't know were there.  The Holy Fathers teach that our tears of repentance are another baptism, washing away the sins which caused these tears to flow from our eyes.

We do these things to seek our Lord and Savior.  And as we confess our sins to Him, we know His promise to forgive all we confess.  In this certainty, we lay aside all memories of the evil we have done, for it is wiped clean by His forgiveness, and in the joy that comes from this knowledge, we admit those sins freely, easily, openly, joyously. 

The reference to "the men of Nineveh" comes from Jonah Chapter 3, where the prophet finally accepts God's divine will and prophecies to the people of Nineveh that God will destroy their city because of their sins.  The book reveals,

So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 

 Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 

 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water.

 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 

 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? 

They repented.  They fasted.  They no doubt prayed.  And, the result was,

Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

Our yearly journey to Pascha is made its best when we take part in the fullness of the Church during the Fast.  Our participation in the services helps our planning, fulfills our desire for maximizing the benefits of the trip, gives us the guidance to be had from the Holy Fathers through the hymnology of the Church.

This is our promise for this year's "journey" within the Great Fast!  The Fast began yesterday with this reference to Jonah.  Interestingly enough, this passage is read as one of the Old Testament Readings during the Holy Saturday Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil - the Liturgy at which the Resurrection of our Lord is first announced with the hymn, "Arise, O God, judge the earth, for to You belong all the nations!"

It is with the greatest joy that we invite you to journey the Great Fast with us at St. Herman's!  See our web page at www.sainthermanchurch.org for the calendar of the week!

Glory to Jesus Christ!

A Few Thoughts on Prayer

"You remember how you were taught to write.  Your mother put a pencil in your hand, took your hand in hers, and began to move it.  Since you did not know at all what she meant to do, you left your hand completely free in hers.  This is like the power of God in our lives."  (Metropolitan Anthony Bloom)

There are times in our lives (each of us) when we find ourselves confused, or lost, or sorrowful, or in despair, or any of a thousand other human conditions that would not exist if we didn't live in a fallen world and amongst our own sins.

When we are in such states, too often we turn to prayer is a manner that is not consistent with our Lord's teaching.  Perhaps we fall short of issuing demands to God (the ever-poignant "Give me patience and give it to me now!"), but we nonetheless pray with a singular focus that is self-centered.  Our words in some fashion lead us to a place of first-personness in our prayer.  "I need (this)."  "Lord, grant that I may receive (that)."  "Father, help ME by providing (something)."

The I/ME/MY portions of prayers are not totally what's at fault here.  It's true that The Lord's Prayer gives us direction to consider the first-person plural ("Give US this day our daily bread..." , or "forgive US OUR trespasses as WE forgive THOSE...").  Rather, it's the lack of focus on, "Lord, teach me to do Your will," and "Open my heart to receive and accept the path You would have me take."

When our prayers are offered, we need to know that they are always heard and always answered.  God's answers are not always aligned with our pleas, but He DOES answer.  In turn, WE need to listen and to find His answers in what results from our prayer.

For all who offer your prayers hoping for answers consistent with your pleas, do not stop!  Redouble your efforts to pray.  Continue to ask for what you, in your heart guided by the Holy Spirit, believe to be in your best interests (SPIRITUALLY, that is).  And then, live as though you know (not just believe) that your prayer is being answered.

Metropolitan Anthony again teaches, "A prayer makes sense only if it is lived."

Patron Saints

Today, 09 August, is a day on which we commemorate the "glorification" of our parish's patron saint, Saint Herman of Alaska.  It is an auspicious day in that we remember this glorification, or "canonization" in some uses, on this date in 1970, now 47 years ago.

Over a year earlier (on 13 March 1969), the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America issued an address concerning Father Herman, speaking to his holy life, his labors for the Church, and of the intention to canonize him on the following year's 09 August.

For us, who call ourselves his spiritual children, we are familiar with his life.  We know of his incredible journey from Valaam to Alaska.  We know of his life spent defending the native Americans, of working to heal them during times of epidemic, of establishing schools and orphanages to care for the children, of working miraculous deeds in defending them from tsunami and fire.  We know of his shortness of stature, and of his incredible physical strength.  We know of his humility (for some sought to ordain him to the Holy Priesthood, which he rejected as being unworthy).  And we know how he welcomed all who came in any need.

Today, as we celebrate this feast of his glorification, we offer prayers to God in praise of him, simultaneous with our prayers to St. Herman to intercede for us before God for our own needs.

As we offer these prayers, let us never forget the root of what it is that makes St. Herman, and indeed all of our Lord's Saints, "special", makes them "friends of God."

It is Love!

When one's life is guided by an unbridled love for all of God's children, and indeed for all of His Creation, this love cannot be contained.  It overflows the vessel of our being, and those who are near to us benefit from the overflow for they receive, not from us, but from the Source of all Love, that Divine Love of which we can only offer a dim reflection.  And yet, in reflecting that love, we follow where our Lord commands us to go.  We love neighbors as ourselves.  We love enemies.  We love without restraint or reservation.

Our Lord demonstrates to me the unlimited nature of His love if I find myself accepting of the fact that He indeed loves me, even in my sinfulness and unworthiness.  If God in His perfection can love me, how can I deny love toward any of my fellow beings, for we are all created in His image, are we not?  And if we are, then we MUST find the way to see our Lord within every other human being we encounter.

Our country and our world are torn apart by division, distrust, hatred.  These cannot be cured by resorting to human solutions.  It is only love that can repair the torn fabric of humanity.  You will say, "But Father, there are those who simply will not accept our love - what then?"  The answer is simple.  Love anyway!  Will others have their hatred converted to love by showing them hatred in return?  In how many instances in the Prologue do we find those persecuting the Church converted into Christians, not by cunning argument, not by well crafted sermons, not by intellectual engagement, but by showing love to them as they demonstrate their hatred and fury against us?

And so, on this day, we pray to our blessed Patron and ask him to intercede before our Lord so that we may engrave upon our hearts the words that he, Saint Herman, gave to us.  "For our good, for our happiness at least let us make a vow that from this day, from this hour, from this minute we will strive to love God above all else, and to fulfill His Holy Will."

Amen!