I'm Offended!

You don’t need to spend any long amount of time listening to radio broadcasts, TV news stories, or even conversations on the street or in the office to hear some variation on the word “offended”.

“That offends me.”  “I take offense to that!”  “Your position is offensive.”

As we so often do, let’s go to the dictionary.  What does it say?

Definition:  offensive – adjective; 1) causing anger, displeasure or resentment; 2) disagreeable to the senses; 3) making a physical or military attack.

So let’s “pretend” that I’ve just said something to someone and they have responded in this way.  “That offends me.”

What should we conclude from this verbal transaction?

A better way to couch that question is, “Because someone found a statement offensive, does that make it wrong?”

Ahhh….  Now we get to the crux of the matter.  You see, being offended or not is NOT founded on right or wrong.  It is founded on relativism.  What offends you may not offend your brother, or your neighbor, or your boss, or even your spouse.  In short, the word “offended”, like so many other fallacious constructs of our time, is based on FEELING, and NOT on truth.

Let me give you an example.  You go to see a doctor because you’ve been feeling weak.  The doctor runs tests.  He determines that you have cancer, and so he gives you the diagnosis.  Being told that you have cancer is a very offensive thing.  Based on the previous definition, it causes anger, displeasure AND resentment.  But it’s the truth.  His words are offensive to you, but they’re true.  If he attempts to speak so as NOT to offend, he signs your death warrant.

But you are likely to say, “But Father, that’s not being offensive – that’s being a doctor, he HAS to diagnose.”

OK.  Let’s look at a parallel situation, one in the Church.  I speak out against abortion at every opportunity.  Some people find my position offensive.  Some people find this position so offensive that they would attempt to shut down my ability to speak against abortion, if they could.  But given the teachings of the Holy Church, I must so speak out - I must speak the truth.

Don’t like that example either?  Let’s go to Scripture.  In Matthew Chapter 15, Jesus is confronted by the Pharisees yet again.  “Why don’t Your disciples follow the rules?  Why don’t they wash their hands before they eat?  Jesus responds to their treachery.  “Why do you establish traditions counter to God’s commandments?”  Jesus tells them clearly that Commandment #5 says that you are to honor father and mother.  And yet the ‘tradition’ of the Pharisees was to ignore their own father or mother’s need, denying their requests for help by saying that whatever portion of the child’s income they might need has already been promised to God.  Therefore, the child has no obligation to care for the parent!  Jesus identifies these evil men’s sin saying, “You have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.”  He follows this by calling them hypocrites!

In response to all of this, and after the encounter, the Lord’s disciples come to Him and say, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard Your indictment of them?” 

Again, it is truth, not offensive speech, that brings us to this point.

The Greek word for ‘offend’ is skandalizo, clearly the source of our word “scandalize”, but from the Greek, it carries the meaning of establishing a stumbling block, a trap.  Those who take offense are trapped by their anger, their displeasure, their resentment, and all too often, refuse to see the truth.

In Luke 7:23, the Lord says, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.”  He says, “If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you.” (John 15:18)

Let us seek in all instances not to offend.  But in so doing, let us never fail to speak the truth.

They Forsook All and Followed Him

In today’s Gospel (Luke 5:1-11) we are presented with an account that is described in all three of the synoptic Gospels, that of our Lord teaching, and then the “great catch of fish”.

Blessed Theophylact writes that our Lord entered Peter’s boat so that He could face the crowd and have all present in front of Him.  And so the Master politely “borrowed” what belonged to Peter and his partner fishermen.

But after receiving this gift willingly from them, our Lord chose to repay their kindness, and He blessed them in two ways.  First, He gave to them such an enormous catch of fish that they and their partners in a second boat could not deal with the bounty.  Second, Jesus made them disciples!  The lesser blessing came before the greater, but they could not comprehend the true magnitude of either fully.

Isn’t it astounding how our Lord sends blessings to His servants in manners consistent with their ability to grasp His actions?  On this day, with Peter, Andrew, James and John, all of whom were fishermen, He gains their attention with what else– fish!  He opens the discussions with the Samaritan woman at the well with what else—a request for water!  He gains the attention of the Magi with what tool that they would recognize—the Star!  He finds Saul of Tarsus persecuting those who are struggling to establish His fledgling Church, a man who in his Pharisaical ‘sight’ judges Christians to be worthy of death, and He gains his attention how—through sending blindness upon him!

Do we begin to see the wondrous ways of God working among His people?

And how has He attempted to work on me?  And I ask that you now ask this same question of yourself.  What skills, talents or abilities has He bestowed upon me, and when and where did He reach out through those gifts to get my attention, to have me notice that He was calling to me, to give me direction, perhaps healing, perhaps sustenance, spiritual or physical?  And if I can be blessed to think upon such things with remembrance that perhaps they did occur, what was my response?  Did I, like Saint Peter, feel a repentance that would have me calling to Him, ‘Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man’?  Or did I (as most people would), notice, but then say, “That was weird”?

The telling answer to these questions is in the response.  When Peter, Andrew, James and John were confronted with the immense catch of fish, they did not ignore the Lord’s authority over nature.  And when He told them, ‘From now on, you will catch men,’ they did as St. Luke records, ‘The forsook all and followed Him.’  St. Photini, the woman at the well, dropped her water vessels and went to evangelize the men of Sychar.  The Magi left their homelands and travelled to a place following the star, not knowing where it would lead.  Saul waited in Damascus for three days for the Lord to appoint Ananias to heal him, only to become the great Apostle!

Our Lord deals with His people in mysterious ways, calling us to live our lives for Him, if we are willing to accept His invitation and calling.  Let us serve this loving God with our whole heart.

 

Truly Denying Ourselves

Many often opine that understanding Holy Scripture is mostly straightforward.  But all too often that perspective can be shown to be flawed.  Take today’s Gospel reading from the Sunday After the Elevation of the Cross (Mark 8:34-9:1). 

Within today’s text we find our Lord teaching, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” The Greek word used for “desires” here is thelo, which goes beyond ‘desire’ to a meaning of ‘delighting in’ something.  Thus our Lord speaks to those who delight in being near to Him.

But let’s move to the operative stumbling word—deny.  This Greek word is aparneomai, and it means utter rejection, to the point of disowning.

How is it that we are to understand this concept and relate it to ourselves?  Is our Lord saying that we are to give zero consideration to self and self-needs?

St. Theophan the Recluse teaches this about denial.

The Lord demands decisive self-denial of those who want to follow Him.  ‘Let him deny himself,’ He says.  It could be expressed like this: Cast aside your interests and pursue only the interests of the Lord.  You will be fulfilling this when you always do what is pleasing to Him.  How can one do this?  Mind carefully what is in you, and what is around you on the outside, and discern strictly in one or another situation, be it internal or external, how to act in the way that is most pleasing to God—then, not pitying yourself and not inserting your own calculations, act accordingly, with complete self-denial.  You say, “It is hard to determine this.”  No, it is not hard.  We have been given clear and fixed commandments—they express what we can do to be pleasing to the Lord.  All that remains is to apply them to the given situation, and this does not present any great problem.  Having common sense is enough.  If you cannot figure something out, ask your spiritual father, or someone else whose words you respect, and act according to their directions.  But it is always better to sharpen your discernment through reading of the word of God and writings of the fathers, so that you will always have a decision-maker with you.”

St. Theophan is not suggesting that we turn our self-will over to the cemented decision of another.  Rather, his words indicate that we are to train ourselves up in the faith.  His admonishments to read (and therefore to KNOW) Holy Scripture, and to study (and therefore to LEAN UPON) the wisdom of the Holy Fathers is paramount to our then self-willed and heartfelt desire to follow where our Lord will lead us.  In giving full deference to His will in our lives, we have already moved to that point of denying ourselves!  It’s really rather simple—His will, not mine!

There is an account of a Father Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Catholic priest, who during WWII knew that the Germans were approaching, so he instructed others in his monastery to leave.  He remained with a few monks, and they sheltered over 2000 Jews for a time.  Ultimately he was arrested and sent to Auschwitz.  There, Fr. Max would take food last to assure others had enough.  He would give of what he’d been given to those in the greatest need.  The Nazi’s had a practice of murdering 10 random prisoners whenever one would escape the camp.  One day a prisoner from Fr. Max’s baracks escaped, and 10 were selected for execution in ‘the starvation hole’.  One poor man began to cry out, ‘My poor wife!  My children!’  At his cries, Fr. Max broke ranks with the other prisoners and boldly went to the commandant—”I am a priest.  I would like to take the place of this man.”  Surprisingly, the commandant agreed.  The 10 men including Fr. Max were led to the starvation bunker, where they remained without food or water until all were dead.  The man whose place he took lived to be 95 years old, and he never forgot Fr. Max’s selfless love.

Our Lord goes on in today’s Gospel to say, “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it.”

Fr. Max showed self-denial.  And without doubt he has found his place in the eternal embrace of His (and our) Master!

Earthly Things, Heavenly Things

Today we find ourselves at the Sunday Before the Elevation of the Cross.  As such, we encounter an additional Gospel reading, from the Gospel of St. John, 3:13-17.  The reading is very short in number of words.  The reading is very deep in meaning to us as followers of Christ!

The verse immediately before today’s Gospel reading (verse 12) speaks volumes to us about how we should look at our “knowledge” or “understanding” of things relating to the Kingdom.   Jesus says, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”

Jesus is speaking here with Nicodemus, a Pharisee who, unlike the other Pharisees, does not wish to immediately condemn Jesus for things not clearly understood about Him or His teachings.  He comes (like last Sunday’s young man) with a pure heart, sincerely wanting to embrace the truth, and through the truth to find the way to Heaven.

Our Lord’s statement about His telling us earthly things and our inability therefore to grasp heavenly things is reminiscent of the Feast of Transfiguration, where the Apostles Three were shown His glory as far as they could bear it.

As if it were necessary to somehow “seal” our inability to understand the heavenly while being earthly, Jesus presents another phrase that is beyond our understanding.  No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.

Let’s break down this phrase.  He has not yet arisen, therefore He has not ascended, but He says that He has.  In order to ascend, the Holy Fathers (many) say that descending precedes ascending.  But the hard spot is that Jesus says He is IN heaven.

Do we need further proof that our human understanding should be focused not on the “things of heaven”, but rather on the things that can lead us to heaven.  Focus on that which leads from earth to heaven!  About the above phrase from John 3:13, St Hilary of Poitiers says:

By what perception of human understanding can we comprehend that He ascended where He was before, and He descended Who remained in heaven?  The Lord says, ‘What if you should behold the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?’  Can sense apprehend this? The Son of Man—Who is in heaven—descends from heaven.  Can reason cope with this?  The Word was made flesh– can words express this?  The Word becomes flesh, that is, God becomes man.  The man is in heaven; the God is from heaven.  He ascends Who descended, but He descends and yet does not descend.  He is as He ever was, yet He was not ever what He is…. If we understand Christ even in this way, we shall know Him.  If we seek to understand Him further, we shall not know Him at all. (On the Trinity, 10.54)

This is preparatory material for our coming to the very foot of the Cross of Christ in this coming week.  For how are we to comprehend the Life of all succumbing to human death, and yet living?

We must confine our thoughts to that which is revealed by God as within our ability to grasp.  For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,  (1Cor 15:3)  Simple.  Easily grasped by any with faith.  And like it, this.  Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high.  I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.  But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a child quieted at its mother’s breast. (Ps 131:1-2)

Let us take the example of the Apostle Philip, who desired to know more, but knew that there were limits,  Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us. (John 14:8)  In this request he showed an all-too human lack of understanding.  The Lord responded in love to Philip, as He will respond to us in our humanly constrained understanding.  And He will show us all we need to know—as far as we can bear it—to give us the tools that lead to Theosis.

 

What Must I Do?

The young man in the Gospel for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost (Mat 19:16-26) is rightly preoccupied with attaining entry to the Kingdom of Heaven.  The desire of the heart is to be encouraged and applauded.  It is, after all, the entire reason for our existence—finding our way to attaining Theosis, ‘clawing’ our way as necessary to achieve our desired homeland.

The place where the applause and the encouragement must cease is in the young man’s focus what appears to be some ill-conceived idea that some thing can be done to gain entry, that God grants entry to those who have some kind of mystical ‘key’, or a secret handshake that permits such entry.

As the man asks our Lord for guidance (again, a totally well-placed request for a righteous desire of the heart), Jesus replies with what the man already knows.  Our Lord speaks the Commandments back to him.  These are clearly the ‘rules’ with which the young man is familiar.  His statement, All these things I have kept from my youth, while again being an ill-conceived response, is nevertheless a representation of the man’s commitment to the goal.  His heart truly desires eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven!  He wants with all his mind to find the path to be near to God.

But that’s the point.  For this young man, the pursuit is an intellectual one, not a spiritual one.  In order for the pursuit to become spiritual, it needs to move to another dimension.

The Gospel of St. Mark (Mark 10:21) adds a wonderful dimension to this interplay between Jesus and the young man.  St. Mark records, Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him…  Our Lord never does anything except from a perspective of love.  And so the prescription that follows is wed to the Lord’s love for one so earnestly desiring salvation!

It is for this reason that our Lord gives him “the prescription” that He dispenses—sell all you have and give to the poor.  Jesus says, If you want to be perfect.  The word used for perfect is the Greek telios, which means “complete” - finished, the final product, the real deal in contemporary terms.  In the expression of the Holy Orthodox Church, we’d say that such a one achieving this ‘perfection’ has reached Theosis!

Unfortunately, it is the man’s intellect, the same one that drives him to seek salvation, which now holds him back from achieving the goal.  The mind sees the wealth and won’t release it, even for the promise of the Kingdom of Heaven!  The man’s spirit has lost, perhaps IS lost from this time forth.  His “things” own him—spiritually!  The possessions prevent the Lord from entering where His love wishes to go.

Is this not the case with me?  Perhaps it’s not possessions.  Perhaps it’s food, or judgmentalism, or a general lack of love for neighbor.  There are so many “things” to which I can point that would have ME “going away sorrowful” because I’m too intellectually (humanly) tied to them.

The reference to “camel” is one over which many have stumbled .  This author won’t attest to having the answer.  But one perspective is that the original word was “gamala”.  The word “gamal” or “gimel” is the word for the animal.  “Gamala” is a word for a heavy rope.  Ergo the Lord’s example is to point to the difficulty in threading a heavy rope into a needle.

I am that heavy, coarse rope.  Before it’s too late, may our Lord grant me the grace to find a way through His needle’s eye.

And from there, into His kingdom!

 

A Servant is not Greater than His Master

These words from our Lord are found in the Gospel of St. John, Chapter 13, in which our Lord has gathered with the twelve for the Last Supper.  The message comes as Jesus is washing the feet of His beloved Apostles.  The ending to the verse adds, Nor is he who is sent greater than He who sent him.  

We bring forward these words as we ponder the teaching today from St. Paul in his first letter to the people of Corinth (1Cor 4:9-16).  In this letter, St. Paul pointedly instructs his spiritual children on how, once one chooses to follow where the Spirit leads, one is subject to the same rejection that our Lord experienced.

St. Paul carries his spiritual children to places where he denigrates himself while aggrandizing them.  We are weak, but you are strong.  We are dishonored, you are distinguished.  Is the saint purposefully lauding them to build up their egos?  No, he is leading them on the path of humility, and showing them that the way of the Cross is not an easy way.

St. Paul details for his spiritual children the things that he, the Apostles in general, and those who were evangelizing the faith had to endure in their ministries.  We see in his description the “least of our Lord’s brethren” from Matthew Chapter 25 repeated in his words.  He speaks to hunger, thirst, being poorly clothed, beaten (prisoners), and homeless—all characteristics of those whom our Lord in Matthew 25 encourages us (and St. Paul is teaching the people of Corinth) to care for.

But if this is a veiled reference to Matthew 25 and the least of our Lord’s brethren, St. Paul then takes a turn that shows how and why caring for the needs of such people has merit.

We labor with our own hands.  We must not be judgmental of the merits of the needy based on appearance.  My father (of blessed memory) spoke of men in the 1930’s who would hitch rides on empty train boxcars, moving from town to town looking for some one or some place that would exchange their work for food or pay.  The word in that day was “hobo” - today’s homeless.

Being reviled, we bless.  We have no way of knowing how those who are poor, those who are the beggars of our day, might pray for US, the people who give them change, or a sandwich, or even those who give them nothing, who perhaps need their prayers the most.

Being persecuted, we endure.  When one has little to nothing, what remains except to continue trying to find the way out of one’s emptiness?

Being defamed, we entreat.  Webster defines the word entreat to have the synonym “beg”.  St. Paul is defining himself as a beggar, aligning himself with the same people we see who are in need around us—in ever greater numbers—today.

We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.  Offscouring—defined as an outcast in one sense, but in another as refuse, matter that is vile and despised.

But a servant is not greater than his Master.  The things St. Paul is detailing as that which those who are serving the Church and or Lord are enduring are nowhere near as significant as the reviling and beating and defamation endured by our Lord.

And so if we are to truly be His followers, who are we to look down on the needy, the least of His brethren?  Who are we to think that we deserve something better?  Who are we to place ourselves on some kind of pedestal, thinking we deserve the best and finest this world has to offer?

St. Paul even teaches us the answer to these questions.

Eph 5:1—Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.

9th Sunday - Dormition

8th Sunday

Build Wisely

People in the world, when they erect a luxurious house, give themselves no rest at night, and at the end of the day they toil and plan, laboring until they have achieved their objective; and such is the longing that fills them that their mind is wholly occupied in this and in considering how the roof may be well covered, or how the floor, adorned with many different marbles with every other form of elegance, will offer lovers of fine sights the most pleasing appearance.  But if someone were to wish to tear them away from that care, they would be more distressed, as though they were being seriously wronged.  

But we. when we are building not a corruptible house but an incorruptible one, one not made out of stones and wood, but one skillfully constructed from spiritual graces, how can we be idle and come far below these others in zeal?  How should this not be the greatest of wrongs?  

That other house harbors people who love the flesh, and when it has passed through many masters it will be pulled down and deserted.  The other knows that it welcomes the Holy Spirit, since we are a temple of the living God, and the Spirit of God dwells in us, as the living Apostle says.

- St. Theodore the Studite

6th Sunday After Pentecost

"Because of Their Unbelief"

St. Matthew records in Mat 13:53-58 that our Lord was rejected by His own people, the people of Nazareth.  And he ends the chapter by saying, "Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief."

St. Theophan says this about this passage of Scripture.

Arriving in Nazareth, the Lord found no faith there.  His visible simplicity hindered the Nazarenes from seeing His invisible glory and Divinity.  Does not the same occur with a Christian?  Christian dogmas are very simple in appearance; but for the mind which enters into them, they represent an all-embracing harmonious system in and of themselves, which was not - nor could ever be - generated by any creature's mind.  Proud-mindedness, casting a fleeting glance at the simplicity of the Gospel, is repelled by it and begins to build his own house of knowledge, which he deems enormous and full of broad horizons.  It is in fact no more than a towering house of cards, and the horizons are no more than mirages, phantom products of a heated imagination.  But there is no point in telling him.  He and his brothers are ready with their critical attacks to immediately cast anyone who tries to dissuade them from the mountain into the abyss, but the truth always passes unharmed through their midst and goes on to other souls capable of receiving it.

We must ever seek the help of the Holy Spirit, for discernment comes through Him.  Human views when instructed by the Spirit are founded in His Truth ("the Spirit of truth, Who is everywhere present, filling all things...").  When human views are founded on human intellect alone, truth fails to be the absolute that is Godly truth and moves to relativism.

Where we find our world today.

Let us, the faithful, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, let us not have Him approach us, His own people, and find us not just lacking in faith, but having NO faith!

5th Sunday After Pentecost

Speaking "Out of Turn"

The expression of the title of this piece is often used to describe a person or situation wherein something was said that was inappropriate at the time, or when something is said that is unwise or impudent.

I suppose you could make a logical argument that the expression describes a subset of the conditions of what happens when people gossip.  The definition of gossip is "saying something in a hurtful or spiteful manner" about another person.

As Orthodox Christians, we're taught to guard the lips.  1Pet 3:10 teaches, "For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile."  

St. John Climacus says, "He who has become aware of his sins has controlled his tongue, but a talkative person has not yet come to know himself as he should."  In short, "The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil." (Prov 15:28)  We are to control what we say, how we say it, so that our words edify, lift up our brothers and sisters.  Our words should not be offered in a prideful way ("YOU need to listen to MY opinion..."), but ONLY when those words instruct, soothe, bring the love of Christ as a salve to any discouse.

To end, within the life of St. Mary of Egypt, the blessed saint asks St. Zosimas 'How are the people, the rulers, the church?'  It is a righteous question from a saint who has already shown herself to be clairvoyant.  St. Zosimas could have spoken to her about the troubles in the church and in the world.  The emperor and his wife were parties to multiple scandals, both publicly and within the Church.  But St. Zosimas didn't allow the conversation to go there.  What would have been the benefit?  Instead, he replied to her question, "By your prayers, all are at peace."  What a beautiful and instructive answer, teaching all of us the benefit of "speaking IN turn."

FrB

Life is Sacred

In light of the recent Supreme Court ruling on abortion, it was fortuitous (God's will) that just prior to that announcement, the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops issued a statement entitled, "On the Sacredness of Human Life and Its Untimely Termination."  The document is not terribly long, but is so well crafted that it deserves being read by every Orthodox Christian who wishes to better understand the Church's perspective on these contemporary moral issues.  The document can be read in its entirety here:

https://www.assemblyofbishops.org/news/2022/human-life-sacredness

It begins by defining life, when it begins, and the means by which mankind has found ways to bring life to an end - murder, suicide, euthanasia, capital punishment, abortion, and miscarriage.

The section on abortion is especially important to us as we engage the world around us in this now post-Roe era to help all understand the loving perspective the Church brings to the process of human conception, reproduction, birth, and the sorrowful conditions which can occur when human life is placed at risk by the process of giving birth.

The section of the document on abortion is the longest section, and for good reason.  It says this:

Our salvation begins with a conception. The Mother of God’s miraculous conception of her son and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ marks the beginning of new life and hope in the world. As we sing in the Troparion that celebrates the Annunciation, “Today is the beginning of our salvation, the revelation of the eternal mystery!”

Our liturgical calendar includes other feasts of conception, including the Righteous Anna’s Conception of the Mother of God and the Conception of John the Baptist by his parents Elizabeth and Zachariah. The Church has integrated these celebrations into its life not only as an affirmation of these figures who played such important roles in salvation history, but also because these feasts teach us that human life is bestowed by God and that the origins of every new human being are clearly inseparable from conception. Therefore, human life in its earliest manifestations in the womb is sacred and inviolable. Any act to terminate life in the womb – whether by abortive medications, medical procedures, or destructive behavior – denies this truth, is considered murder, and risks terrible spiritual consequences for those involved.

As with any instance of sin, mercy and healing – not retribution and punishment – are the way of the Lord. The Church is called to minister to those seeking abortions, those who have had or those who have been forced to have abortions, and those who have performed abortions, knowing that abortions are often sought because of poverty, abuse, coercion, neglect, despair, or the influence of a life-denying ethos that has become a societal norm. Church-sponsored and other programs that provide spiritual, physical, psychological, and financial support to expectant single mothers and couples in situations in which abortion is being considered, and to young families in need of extra care, should be vigorously supported by the Church and the faithful.

Current societal trends condone abortions for what some perceive as non-desirable human qualities, including physical or chromosomal abnormalities, or a less desirable sex. The Church appreciates, respects, and cares for all manner of human life and, therefore, never condones abortion in these cases. Every human life is worthy of our prayer and protection.

The Assembly of Bishops has previously acknowledged that there are “rare but serious medical instances where mother and child may require extraordinary actions” (Statement on Sanctity of Life, 2019); see also Assembly of Bishops Endorses Alternatives to Women in Crisis Pregnancies, 2021). This refers to tragic situations in which an abortive measure will preserve life. For example, if both mother and unborn child will almost certainly perish should the pregnancy continue but the mother will likely live if an abortion is administered, the Church grieves the tragedy of the situation and offers space for the discernment of the mother, the father, and the pastor as to the most life-giving course of action. Yet, these situations are unique and unusual and do not condone abortion as a norm in any way. Furthermore, the Church does not accept contemporary thinking that links free will with the right to abortion.

We continue to uncompromisingly reject any acceptance of abortion, while creating a merciful and compassionate path for all of those who have experienced abortion to journey back to the Church and to re-commit to human life as sacred and inviolable.

As She always does, the Holy Church deals with sin from the perspective of love, healing, and forgiveness through repentance.

THIS is the path for us, as Orthodox Christians, to open discussion with those who believe that the court's decision is some kind of 'revocation of a right,' an oppression of some sort.  We need to pray for these people every bit as hard as we have long been praying for an end to the loss of innocent life permitted by this unjust law.  We need to have our Lord's heart of mercy for all!  This will not end until we live the love of Christ and bring healing to all who are hurting.  This includes the children aborted, but it also includes the millions of mothers who must live with the knowledge that they participated in the process.  It includes fathers, some who acquiesced to the process, others who were denied access to the decision under the false pretense that "it's the woman's body," removing fatherhood from the discussion.  We must also lovingly engage women who from this time forward may seek what they've been taught is a 'right' wherever they can find it.  These, too, need our loving outreach to them in support of life!

Love, not judgment, is the key.

All Saints

 

"Take No Thought..."

The Lord says this in Mat 6:31.  Then how is one to live?  We have to eat, drink, and wear clothes.  But the Savior does not say, 'Do nothing,' but rather, 'Take no thought.'  Do not weary yourself with cares that consume you both day and night and give you not a moment of peace.  Such care is a sinful disease.  It shows that one is relying upon self and has forgotten God, that such a one has lost hope in God's Providence, that such a one wants to arrange everything for themself by their own efforts and to procure all that is necessary and preserve what they have procured by their own means.  Such a person has become chained in their heart to their property, and they think to rest upon it as though it were a solid foundation.  Love of possessions has bound such a person, who thinks of only how to get more into their hands.  This mammon has replaced God for such a one.  By all means, work - but do not weary yourself with evil cares.  Expect every success from God and commit your lot into His hands.  Accept all that you obtain as a gift from the Lord's hand, and wait with the firm hope that He will continue His generous giving.  Know that if God so desires, a rich man can lose all he has in one minute.  All is decay and dust.  Is it worthwhile wearying yourself for this?  So, take no thought!

St. Theophan the Recluse, Monday After All Saints
Thoughts for Each Day of the Year

Feast of All Saints

vocation—n, 1) a regular occupation for which a person is suited or qualified; 2) an inclination or aptness for a certain kind of work; 3) a calling of an individual by God

We have all been given our own vocations by the Lord.  And He has distributed talents to each sufficient to permit us, through our own efforts and labor, to accomplish the things He commissions us to do.  It requires commitment.  It requires diligence.  It often requires sacrifice.  But it always points to that vocation to which He calls all of us by our own individual and separate paths, even while He joins us collectively into His one Body—the Church.

This vocation to which we are called is sainthood.

We could offer many definitions for saint.  From the Latin sanctus it points to one who is holy.  But then we need to define holy.

Instead, let us view saintliness as being set apart to serve the Lord.  Saintliness requires the person who seeks such heights to cooperate with the teachings and commandments of the Lord.  But even more importantly, it requires submission to the direction of the Holy Spirit.  It points to one who lives in and for God’s grace.

Who are these people, and how would we recognize them as saints?

St. Paul teaches in today’s Epistle (Heb 11:33-12:2) that these people were/are those who worked miracles (they subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, stopped the mouths of lions, became valiant in battle, raised the dead to life…), who were reviled and persecuted (they had trials of mockings and scourgings, chained, imprisoned, stoned, slain by the sword…), who gave up this world in favor of life in the world to come (wandered about in skins, destitute, afflicted, tormented…).

But do not all of these descriptions suggest that such people are not OF this world?  They are certainly IN it, but not OF it!  St. Paul ends his description of these blessed ones by saying, “of whom the world was not worthy.” 

Picture what St. Paul is explaining to us.  The world sees these saints as the lowest form of life.  No one wants a life as he describes these saints lived. They had NOTHING to which the world would assign any value.

Now, let me look at MY life.  I seek “things”.  I covet “things”.  I want more than I already have, even while recognizing that I have more than I need.

I eat more food than I need.  I do so to such an extent that it harms my physical well-being. 

I judge neighbor and brother.  I keep for myself all He has provided in plenty without concern about the needs of the destitute who literally surround me.

And yet, He calls even me to the vocation of becoming a saint!

The tools and talents He provided may have been squandered until now, but as with the Prodigal, through repentance He gives me a path to return.  By prayer and fasting He gives a path to saintliness.  By showing true love for those who have no one to love them He provides a means of fulfilling the vocation He laid out for me from the time before He blessed me to be conceived.

If only I act now to call on Him to help me to labor to be worthy of His love...

 

Pentecost

Kneeling Prayers

Holy Spirit Day

Comforting His disciples, the Lord said that it would be better for them if He ascended to Heaven for, having ascended, in place of Himself He would send the Comforter - the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit has descended and abides in the Church, accomplishing in each believer the work of Christ.  Each Christian is a communicant of the Spirit.  This is something so necessary, that in fact whoever does not have the Spirit is not of Christ.  Look closely at yourself - is the Spirit of Grace within you?  For He does not remain in everyone; He can depart.  Here are the signs of His presence: first, He finds a spirit of repentance and teaches a Christian to turn to God and correct his life; the spirit of repentance, accomplishing its work, passes the Christian on to a spirit of holiness and purity.  This is succeeded at last by a spirit of sonship.  The characteristic of the first is work-loving zeal; the characteristic of the second is warmth and a sweet burning of the heart; the characteristic of the third is the feeling of sonship whereby the heart sighs to God, 'Abba, Father!' (Mark 14:36)  Examine which of these levels you are on.  If you are not on any of them, take care for yourself.

[For Monday after Pentecost, "Thoughts for Each Day of the Year," St. Theophan the Recluse, St. Herman of Alaska Press]

The Dangers of Pride

For many of us (like this author), the sin of pride is one that is always before us.  It  is a fault that we struggle with throughout our lifetime.

St. Maximos the Confessor says, "Self-esteem is eradicated by the hidden practice of the virtues, pride, by ascribing our achievements to God."

It helps us to give serious and prayerful thought to those times we've succumbed to prideful thoughts.

When we experience prideful thoughts, we need to prayerfully labor for a 'change in perspective.' We must work, confessing, fasting, praying that this effort will translate to a change in heart.  

The goal, not in 'any' work, but in EVERY work is to labor seeking God's will, so that our efforts bring glory to Him.  In the limit of the example, our participation in the effort could and should go unnoticed!

The hammer can take no pride in having driven a nail.  The hammer is a suitable tool for the job.  The craftsman would never choose a saw to drive the nail.  The craftsman knows the task to be accomplished and employs the proper tool to do the work.  When a God-given task comes our way, we call on Him to bless what we are about to do.  Then we do our best to bring honor to the effort He has appointed for us.  When it's done, we thank Him, regardless of how it turns out.  For it goes well, we've participated in sending Him the glory.  But if the result is less than good, we ask to be blessed by Him to learn what He has appointed for us to learn.  In neither situation is there any room for "self".  All that matters is the Lord's divine will, and our sincere effort to be a worthy servant.

St. John Climacus taught this:  "An angel fell from heaven without any other passion except pride, and so we may ask whether it is possible to ascend to Heaven by humility alone, without any other of the virtues."

When we are tempted by the sin of pride, let our thoughts turn to those times when our words, deeds, thoughts were less than pure and honorable.  In this, prideful thoughts dissipate at the recognition of what we are still capable of IF we allow ourselves to fall into those same prideful ways in the future.

St. Anthony wrote, "Having fallen from his heavenly rank through pride, the devil constantly strives to bring down also all those who wholeheartedly wish to approach the Lord; and he uses the same means which caused his own downfall, that is pride and love of vainglory. These and similar things are the means by which the demons fight us and hope to separate us from God."

Following the Shepherd Always

Christ is Ascended!  In glory!!!

On this glorious Feast, we're tempted to think only upon the one aspect of the day - our Lord's leaving this world, leaving His beloved Apostles, to ascend "to where He was before" in the hymnology of the day, but in reality to where He always is, was, and will be - with the Father and the Spirit!

But focusing only on the Ascension misses so much of what's truly important on this day.  

St. Nikolai Velimirovich teaches that we can't view the Lord's work on behalf of our salvation if we ignore ANY of His deeds (meaning a focus on the major Feasts of the Church).  So let's look at His Ascension through the lens of other elements of His condescension to us and for us.

It begins with the fall.  Adam and Eve were part of the perfection God had created.  Everything was "very good" until we, being tempted by two elements, chose to turn our love from God toward self.  The first temptation was the food.  It looked really good!  The second temptation was thinking that we could achieve equality with God through the eating of that food.  We ate.  We fell.  We sinned.  We were no longer "very good", because we had chosen imperfection for ourselves, and there is no room for imperfection in the presence of perfection.  And so we were expelled from the presence of God.  We condemned ourselves to death.

But God, being a loving God, would not leave us to our own chosen demise.  He promised salvation, He promised a Savior.

And so we move to the Annunciation.  God chooses to put on this flesh we had corrupted.  He condescends to become one of us.  He shows us clearly that life begins at conception.  

He is born in poverty and humility.  He is hunted by those who hate Him without knowing Him from the time He takes His first breath out of the womb.  Still, the Shepherd comes and joins with His sheep.  

He matures.  He encounters everything that we as His people encounter - temptation, suffering, heat, cold, hunger, thirst, pain, rejection by those who should know Him and love Him.  And in all of these He leads us, His sheep, by setting the example.  

Love.  Love the poor.  Love the hurting.  Love the sinner.  Love your enemy.

Love.

How does He teach us to love?  By being humble.  By repenting, which is His first commandment to us.  He (the Shepherd) leads us to a repentance He Himself does not need as He submits to baptism, showing us our need to be born again of water and the Spirit.  

He shows compassion on all who are in need.  He heals.  He forgives.  The Shepherd shows us how we must do all these things as His sheep to those we also encounter in the world.  In all things, the Shepherd leads and feeds His sheep, setting the example for them.

Ultimately the Shepherd is taken by wolves who seek to destroy Him.  He submits to their attacks.  He voluntarily goes to His death.  As He does so, He teaches His sheep the ultimate lesson in humility, praying for those who are murdering Him!

And so He leads His sheep in the path we all must walk, to death, to the tomb.  

But the Shepherd does a marvelous thing.  He gathers His sheep who have been given over to death, and leads them out of hades!  And upon those in the tombs, He bestows life!  Not life back into this fallen world, but life in the everlasting Kingdom.  His Resurrection shows to His sheep the path from eternal separation from God to becoming eternally joined with Him.

But the Shepherd is not yet done.

He spends 40 days teaching His beloved Apostles what they will need to know to bring His bride, the Church, into Her own fullness of life.  He reveals to them all those things they saw in their three years of walking with Him so that they finally understand the content of the scriptures, and how His life and ministry fulfilled all things.  Previously, they had confessed Him as the Son of the Living God.  Now, their eyes are opened to see the fullness of their previous confession of faith.

But the Shepherd is still not finished.

After 40 days, He leads them to the mountain, from which He ascends to His place with the Father.  The Shepherd shows to them (and through them, to us) that there is one more place to which He calls us to follow, to endure to our own ends, and to seek that place with Him to where He has gone on this glorious day!

So we see, without the Annunciation, there is no conception.  Without conception, there is no Nativity.  Without the Nativity, there is no Jesus.  Without Jesus, there is no baptism before John, no call to repentance, no healings, no forgivings, no Lazarus being raised, no Beatitudes, no Lord's Prayer.  Without Christ, there is no Crucifixion.  Without the Crucifixion, there is no descent to Hades, no harrowing of hades, no destruction of Satan's domain.  Without the destruction of hades, there is no Resurrection.  Without the Resurrection there is no Ascension.  Without the Ascension, there is no descent of the Holy Spirit, and no path for man to heaven, no salvation!

St. Theophan says this:

St. Paul expresses the power of the Lord's Ascension in this manner: 'When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.' (Eph 4:8)  Having satisfied God's righteousness, the Lord opened for us all the treasures of God's goodness.  This is indeed a capturing or taking of spoils after victory.  The beginning of the distribution of these spoils to people is the Descent of the Holy Spirit, Who, having descended, always abides in the Church and gives everyone what he needs, receiving all from that captive captivity.  Let everyone come and take.  But prepare for yourself a repository for that treasure, which is a pure heart; have hands with which to take it, which is unreflecting faith.  Then step forth, searching hopefully and praying relentlessly.

Let us remain ever-vigilant, ever-hopeful, ever-prayerful!

It's a Glorious Feast!  Christ is Ascended!  In glory!!!