This Is How Far We've "Progressed" in Sixty-seven Years

My Popadia and I were dining at an inn in east central Ohio this afternoon (24Jul20).  On the wall was a signed copy of what you'll see at the bottom of this post.  It is a prayer offered on 20Jan1953 that was offered by President Eisenhower - a prayer given preceding his first Inaugural Address.  It was a prayer for unity.  That's right - UNITY!  The text may be a little hard to read in the post, so we'All transcribe it here.

Almighty God,

As we stand here at this moment, my future associates in the executive branch of the government join me in beseeching that Thou will make full and complete our dedication to the service of the people in this throng and their fellow citizens everywhere.  Give us, we pray, the power to discern clearly right from wrong and allow all our works and actions to be governed thereby and by the laws of the land.  Especially we pray that our concern shall be for all the people, regardless of station, race or calling.  May co-operation be permitted and be the mutual aim of those who, under the concept of our Constitution, hold to differing political beliefs, so that all may work for the good of our beloved country and for Thy glory.  Amen.

Can you picture any politician today, now sixty-seven years later, that is two plus generations later, offering these same words?  

And if you answer, "No!", then we must ask, "Why not?"  Is it because we have "progressed"?  If you answer, "Yes!", then we must ask, "Please define progress!"  For today, while God's Name may be invoked by people in positions of authority, when have you last heard it invoked in "prayer", in thanksgiving or supplication to Him?  Has any politician "prayed" for deliverance from Corona?  No?  Why not?  Has anyone in authority prayed for an end to violence in the streets?  Has any official given thanks for the benefits we've enjoyed in this country for so very long?

When will it be time for Christians and all God-fearing people to stand up once again and declare boldly that this country, founded on Judaeo-Christian values, chooses to return to that foundation?  Will we, CAN we, place ourselves in the position of the people of Nineveh, who after hearing of their impending destruction from the Prophet Jonah, from the king to the lowest servant repent and ask God for forgiveness?  Can God remain and watch us move ever further from His divine love and not stand aside in His divine protection of us so that more evils will befall us?

It's time for prayers like this to resurface, and not in a spirit of timidity, but with boldness, from "the king" to the least of "we, the people"!

May our God have mercy on us, and may He bless our country with repentance, love for both neighbor and enemy, and peace!

This Was From Me

[Ed:  The following is a writing from St. Seraphim of Viritsa, a gift to one of his spiritual children, speaking to the faithful as with the voice of God.  St. Seraphim lived in Russia from before the revolution until his repose in 1949.  He was given the gifts of healing, of prophecy, and of clairvoyance.  Let his words move your heart! - FrB]

Have you ever thought that everything that touches you touches Me as well? For that which touches you touches the apple of My eye.

You are dear in my eyes, precious, and I have loved you; therefore it is a particular pleasure for Me to educate you.

When temptations arise against you, and the enemy comes like a river, I want you to know—This was from Me.

Your weakness needs My strength, and your safety comes from giving Me the opportunity to fight for you. If you find yourself in difficult circumstances, among people who do not understand you, who do not take what you like into consideration, who alienate you—This was from Me.

I am God, Who arranges circumstances. It was no accident that you find yourself in the place where you are; this is the place I have appointed for you. Did you not ask that I teach you humility? Well, then, look: I have placed you in precisely that place, in that school, where this lesson is learned. Your surroundings and those who live with you are only fulfilling My will. If you find yourself in financial difficulty, if you find it hard to make ends meet—This was from Me.

For I have your material means at my disposal. I want you to call unto me, for you to be dependent upon Me. My reserves are inexhaustible. I want you to be confirmed in fidelity to Me and to My promises. May it not be said to you in your need: “You did not believe in the Lord your God.”

Are you in a night of suffering? Are you separated from your loved ones and those close to your heart? This was from Me.

I am the Man of suffering, Who has tasted affliction. I have allowed this so that you would turn to Me, so that in Me you would find eternal comfort. If you have been let down by your friend, to someone to whom you opened your heart—This was from Me.

I allowed this disappointment to touch you so that you would know that your best friend is the Lord. I want you to bring everything to Me and to speak to Me.

Has someone slandered you? Give this to me, and bring your soul closer to Me, your Refuge, to hide from the “contradiction of the nations.” I shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noonday. If your plans have been destroyed, if you are downtrodden in soul and tired—This was from Me.

You made plans, and brought them to Me, so that I would bless them. But I want you to leave Me in charge of the circumstances of your life, and then responsibility for everything will be Mine, for this is too difficult for you; by yourself you can not manage them, for you are only an instrument, and not the actor. If unanticipated problems of life have visited you, and if despondency has seized your heart, then know—This was from Me.

For I want your heart and your soul to be always aflame before My eyes; to conquer faint-heartedness of the soul in My name. If you do not hear from your dear ones and friends for a long time, and in your faint-heartedness fall into despondency and grumbling, know—This was from Me.

By this anguish in your spirit, I test the strength of your faith in the surety of My promise and the strength of your boldness in prayer for these dear ones of yours. Was it not you who entrusted them to the Protection of My All-Pure Mother? Was it not you who once entrusted their care to My providential love? If serious illness, either temporary or incurable, has visited you, and has confined to your bed, then know—This was from Me.

For I want you to know Me even more deeply in you bodily infirmities, so that you would not grumble over this trial sent to you, that you would not try to penetrate My plans through different means for the salvation of people’s souls, but that you would uncomplainingly and submissively bow you neck under My goodness towards you. If you have dreamed of performing some special deed for Me, and instead haven fallen onto a bed of sickness and weakness—This was from Me.

Then you would have been immersed in your activities, and I would not have been able to attract your thoughts to Me, for I want to teach you My deepest thoughts and lessons, so that you would be in My service. I want to teach you to recognize that you are nothing. Some of My best co-workers are those who have been cut off from vital activity, that they would learn to wield the weapon of unceasing prayer.

Have you unexpectedly been called to occupy a difficult and responsible position? Go, place it on Me. I entrust these difficulties to you so that the Lord God would bless you for this in all your deeds, on all your paths, in everything that will done by your hands. On this day I put into your hands a vessel of holy oil. Use it generously, My children! Every difficulty that arises, every word that insults you, every obstacle to your work that could elicit in you a feeling of annoyance, every revelation of your weakness and inability, shall be anointed with this oil.

Remember that every obstacle is a Divine instruction. Every sting will be dulled when you learn to see Me in everything that touches you. Therefore place the word I have declared to you today in your heart: This was from Me. For this is not an empty matter for you—this is your life.

A Prayer For Deliverance From the Virus

Lord Jesus Christ our God, You traveled through towns and villages “curing every disease and illness.” At Your command, the sick were made well.

Come to our aid now, in the midst of the global spread of this virus, that we may experience Your healing love. Heal those O Lord who are suffering with this pandemic's illness. May they regain their strength and health through medical care as Your instrument of healing.

Heal us from our fears, which prevent nations from working together and neighbors from helping one another. Heal us from our pride, which can make us claim invulnerability to a disease that knows no borders. Lord Jesus Christ, Healer of all and Physician of our souls and bodies, stay by our side in this time of uncertainty and sorrow.

Be with those who have died from the virus. May they be at rest with You in Your eternal peace. Be with the families of those who are sick or have died. As they worry and grieve, defend them from illness and despair. May they know Your peace.

Be with the doctors, nurses, researchers and all medical professionals who seek to heal and help those affected and who put themselves at risk in the process. May they know Your protection and peace.

Be with the leaders of all nations. Give them the foresight to act with charity and true concern for the well-being of the people You have blessed them to serve. Give them the wisdom to choose long-term solutions that will help prepare for or prevent future outbreaks. May they know Your peace, as they work together to achieve it on earth.

Whether we are at home or abroad, surrounded by many people suffering from this illness or only a few, Lord Jesus Christ, stay with us as we endure and mourn, persist and prepare. In place of our anxiety, give us Your peace.

For You are the Physician of our souls and bodies, O Christ our God, and to You we offer glory, thanksgiving and worship, together with Your eternal Father and Your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

What Are We SUPPOSED To Do?

Most of us are appalled at what we are witnessing in our society.  I suppose there is at least some morsel of truth in assigning 'blame' on the pandemic.  But Christians are not a people who dwell on blame, except as a tool to purge from our own beings that which separates us from God - specifically, our OWN sins, and the 'blame' we ascribe to ourselves in attempting to purge from ourselves that which we know separates us from God.

Without moving towards being judgmental, but rather using discernment, we search for where we might find our Lord's hand in the things we see happening in the world around us.  All too often, we exhaust that search without finding anything edifying.  Riots in the streets.  Continued slaughter of innocents in abortion.  Murders rampant in our cities.  And instead of rational dialog on how to fix societal problems, we are confronted with a never-ending set of litanies by opposing political sides who only seem to vehemently blame the other.  All the while, we hold out hope for reconciliation, for justice, for peace, and for righteousness to prevail.

Saint Anthony the Great lived in the deserts of Egypt in the late 3rd and early 4th centuries.  He is known as "the father of monasticism", and he taught many to live the monastic life, developing a monastic rule by which many continue to this day to live such lives.  Within the writings of St. Anthony is one pearl that points to days such as these, and we should guard it with all the integrity that we can muster.  He said, "A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, 'You are mad; you are not like us.'"

Is this not the argument we might offer about the world around us today?  As Christians, we are accused of hating, of unrighteous exertion of "privilege", of being judgmental, of being hypocritical, of being all things anti-society.  Why are we so accused?

Is it not because we call sinful that which is sinful?  Is it not because we call the sick to enter the spiritual hospital (the Church) to be healed? 

The world refuses to use the word "sin".  In our spiritual and social relativism, anything goes, nothing is banned or called wrong or in error.  Saying that someone has fallen into sin is now officially defined as hate-speech in some places (just search the net for clergy jailed for hate-speech). 

The fact that we are seen by the world as being mad and not like them is a condition that we must use to engage this world.  We don't need to go any further than our Lord's own words as we consider the implications.  Jesus said, "If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you."  But what is the reason for this condition?  Jesus explains that, too.  "If you were of the world, the world would love its own.  Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.....because they do not know Him Who sent Me." (John 15:18-21)

So back to the title - What are we supposed to do given these circumstances, that the world sees us as not belonging to it, and as a threat to its authority? 

We do what our Lord did.  We follow His divine example.  We love first.  We feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick and imprisoned.  We carry His love to the least of His brethren.  Matthew Chapter 25 is our call to action!

You will say, "But father, the people who are at odds with us aren't naked or homeless.  How does this apply?"

Let us reply to such thoughts with this.  Those whose stomachs are overflowing with food are still hungry for the truth.  Those who bathe in hour long showers and drink gallons of liquids daily are still thirsty for wisdom and understanding.  Those who have closets filled with fine apparel are still naked in understanding God's love for them, a love that could clothe them with His righteousness - if only they were open to it.  Those who live in houses from the most modest to the most ornate are still needing to find that eternal home in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Those who have the best body mass indexes, heart rates, and blood pressures are still infirm in spirit.  And those who are free to go anywhere and do anything are still imprisoned by beliefs that are designed to hide God's truth from their views - His love for them all equally, His free gift of salvation if only they choose to repent and embrace that gift.

This is why we are here, at this point in time.  Again, the Lord said, "the gates of Hades" shall not prevail against His Church until the time of His return (Mat 16:18).  Why us?  Why now?  God knows!  All I can tell you is that for His own reasons (and for our own salvation) He has placed us here in this place at this time, and has given to us the same charge to defend His Church that He has given to His disciples throughout the history of the Church.

If we are faithful to follow where He has already led, we will be found to be worthy of the calling of disciples.  But beware.  The Lord also issued a warning to us.  "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." (Mark 8:38)

So be steadfast in faith.  Do not conform with the world around us.  We are not of this world, nor are we called to be anything except servants of our homeland (Heaven) while we sojourn within this world.  If we are found to be such, we retain hope that we might hear His voice at that last day saying to us, "Well done, good and faithful servant;  ....  Enter into the joy of your Lord." (Mat 25:23)

Prayer of the Optina Elders

Grant unto me, O Lord, that with peace of mind I may face all that this new day is to bring.
Grant unto me to dedicate myself completely to Your Holy Will.
For every hour of this day, instruct and support me in all things.
Whatsoever tidings I may receive during the day, teach me to accept tranquilly, in the firm conviction that all eventualities fulfill Your Holy Will.
Govern my thoughts and feelings in all I do and say.
When things unforeseen occur , let me not forget that all comes down from You.
Teach me to behave sincerely and rationally toward every member of my family, that I may bring confusion and sorrow to none.
Bestow upon me, my Lord, strength to endure the fatigue of the day, and to bear my part in all its passing events.
Guide my will and teach me to pray, to believe, to hope, to suffer, to forgive, and to love.
Amen

Morning Prayer of Metropolitan Philaret

[Ed:  Continuing in the path of offering prayers that might be edifying to our people, here's one from Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow.  Metropolitan Philaret was Metropolitan of Moscow from 1821 to 1867, and was glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1995.  His feast day is celebrated on 19Nov.]

O Lord, grant that I may meet the coming day in peace.

Help me in all things to rely upon Your Holy Will.

In every hour of the day, reveal Your will to me.

Bless my dealings with all who surround me.

Teach me to treat all that comes to me throughout the day with peace of soul,

and with the firm conviction that Your will governs all.

In all my deeds and words, guid my thoughts and feelings.

In unforeseen events, let me not forget that all are sent by You.

Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarassing others.

Give me strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day will all that it shall bring.

Direct my will.

Teach me to pray.

Pray Yourself in me.

Amen.

A Prayer from Elder Paisios of Athos - For the Whole World

[This prayer was given to a convent which had asked the Elder for a prayer rule that the nuns there could use in their evening vigils.  It came from the Elder during the final years of his life.]

Our Lord Jesus Christ, do not desert your servants who at present are away from the Church, but through your love and grace bring everybody close you.

Remember Lord all your servants who are in pain, who are in despair, who are sick, who are poor, who have lost a loved one, who have been wronged, who are by themselves, who have been slandered,  who are captives, who are hungry, who are refugees, who have lost their ways, who have been deceived, who are unprotected, who are in prison.

Remember Lord your servants who are suffering from cancer.

Remember Lord your servants who suffer from small but also from serious illnesses and diseases.

Remember Lord your servants who are disabled.

Remember Lord your servants who have psychological problems and diseases.

Remember Lord all of our public servants and help them to govern as Christians.

Remember Lord all the children who come from broken families.

Remember Lord all the broken families and those who have been divorced.

Remember Lord all the orphans of this world and all of those who have lost their spouses.

Remember Lord your servants who are in prison, who declare them as anarchists, who are drug addicts, who have killed, who have stolen, who have committed a crime. Enlighten them and help them to change their ways and come to You.

Remember Lord your servants who are away from their homes and live in a foreign land.

Remember Lord your servants who are travelling today by sea, by air, or by land and protect them.

Remember Lord our Church, our priests, and all the faithful.

Remember Lord our monks and nuns, our abbots and abbesses, our spiritual guides, our brotherhoods and all the monastics from the Holy Mountain and the Holy Land.

Remember Lord your servants who are in the midst of war.

Remember Lord your servants who are being hunted.

Remember Lord your servants who have lost their homes and their jobs.

Remember Lord your servants who are homeless.

Remember Lord all the nations of the world.  Keep them in your embrace and cover and protect them from war and evil. Keep our beloved country day and night protected from war and evil.

Remember Lord your servants who have been abandoned and have suffered injustice.  Have mercy on families that are going through trying times.  Pour your abundant love and mercy upon them.

Remember Lord your servants who suffer from any kind of problems of the body, soul, and mind.

Remember Lord your servants who are in despair, help them and give them peace. 

Remember Lord your servants who asked for our prayers.

Remember Lord and all of those who have left this life and grant their souls rest and peace.

Prayer of Contrite Repentance - St. Seraphim of Sarov

[St. Seraphim of Sarov encouraged those who were his spiritual children to pray this prayer in moments of despondency, to use it as an antidote to despair.]

Master and Lord of Heaven and Earth and King of the ages. deign to open the door of repentance to me, for in anguish of my heart I pray to You, our true God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Light of the world. Look upon me in Your great loving-kindness and accept my prayer. Incline Your ear to my prayer and forgive me all the evil that I have done by the abuse of my free will.

Behold, I seek rest, yet I do not find it, for I have not received forgiveness from my conscience. I thirst for peace, but there is no peace in me from the dark abyss of my transgressions. Hear, O Lord, a heart which cries to You. Regard not my evil deeds, but consider the agony of my soul and make haste to heal me who am badly wounded.

By the grace of Your love for Your people, give me time for repentance and deliver me from my shameful deeds, lest I finally perish. Hear me, O Lord, in my despair. Behold, I am bereft of my will and of every thought of amendment. Therefore, I have recourse to Your compassion. Have mercy on me, cast down and condemned on account of my sins.

O Lord, rescue me who am enslaved and held by my evil deeds, as if I were shackled with chains. You Alone know how to set prisoners free; and as You alone knows the secret things, You heal wounds that are known by no one, but seen by You. Therefore, being tortured in every way by cruel pains, I cry only to You, the Physician of all who are afflicted, the Door of those who knock without, the Way of the lost, the Light of those in darkness, the Redeemer of those in bonds, Who ever restrains Your right hand and withholds Your anger prepared for sinners, but Who gives time for repentance through Your great love for us.

You are quick to show mercy and slow to punish.  Therefore shine upon me, who have fallen badly, the light of Your countenance, O Lord. In Your loving-kindness stretch Your hand to me and raise me from the depth of my transgressions. For You alone are our God, Who does not rejoice at the destruction of sinners, and Who does not turn away Your face from those who cry to You with tears.

Hear, O Lord, the voice of Your servant who cries to You, and manifest Your light to me who am deprived of light, and give me Your grace, for I have no hope whatever, that I may always trust in Your help and power. Turn my weeping into joy, rend my rags and gird me with gladness. Grant that I may rest from my dark deeds and enjoy the morning calm with Your chosen, O Lord, whence all pain, sorrow and sighing have fled away. May the door of Your Kingdom be opened to me, that I may enter with those who rejoice in the light of Your countenance, O Lord, and that even I may receive eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen.

On the Nativity of the Forerunner (24June)

There’s nothing “common” about the life of Saint John the Forerunner.  He stands as the single most important man in the history of humanity.  What about Christ?  He stands as the God-man.  What about the Mother of God?  She is the Queen of Heaven.  Our Lord said of Saint John, “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Mat 11:11)  “None greater” is qualified in our Lord’s praise for the Baptist by adding “the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater.”  Who is this “least”?  It is the Mother of God.  And even here we find harmony with our Lord’s other words, “So the last will be first, and the first last.” (Mat 20:16)

When we refer to St. John, we give him three titles – Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist.  He fulfilled all three. 

As a prophet as he foretold the coming of the Son of God. 

As Forerunner he called Israel to repentance before the Lord’s mission began, a mission which the Lord Himself began by echoing St. John’s call, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Mat 3:2 with St. John, 4:17 for the Lord)  St. John even pointed to Christ before this day of his nativity, as he leapt in the womb of his mother Elizabeth when he found his Savior before him within the womb of the Theotokos as she visited her relative.

As Baptist, he in obedience laid his hands upon the Master to give us, and Christians for all time, the example of dying to this life to be reborn into life in the Kingdom of Heaven.

St. John was born in a miraculous way, being a gift to his aged parents Zacharias and Elizabeth.  Being announced by the Archangel Gabriel, Zacharias disbelieved that he could father a child being as old as he and his wife were, and for his disbelief he was struck dumb, only to regain his voice when, on the day of the circumcision of his son (eight days hence), he would confirm his name to be John by writing on a tablet, upon which he sprung into verbal praise for God.

There is also a ‘miracle’ within what this birth means to Israel.  At this time in the land of Israel, there had been no prophet for hundreds of years.  The Prophet Malachi was the last prophet, roughly 350BC.  Now Zacharias, the priest, has no voice.  And the evil king Herod was not really Jewish and ruled in collaboration with the Romans.  Thus the three offices of the Savior, Prophet, Priest, and King, we vacant, silent, or illegitimate.  Seven hundred years earlier, the Prophet Isaiah foretold of this child:  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'" (Isa 40:3)  God in His wisdom “prepared the way” for His Savior by bringing the greatest of prophets, one who could change the hearts of the people and give them a path and a desire to return to the Lord.

Who is Saint John, then?  As a child, he was within the age group which Herod would attempt to snuff out with his decree to slaughter young boys when he learned about the birth of Jesus.  Tradition holds that soldiers came to Zacharias in the temple and asked him to give them his son.  When the Saint told them he did not know where Elizabeth and the child were, they murdered Zacharias in the Temple.  

Elizabeth took the child into the wilderness to hide from those who sought his death, hiding herself and St. John in a cave.  Again, tradition holds that she died 40 days later, and the boy grew up alone in the wilderness, fed and cared for by angels, and protected by God. 

Here, he learned the ascetic way of life, living on only what God would provide for that very day.  He ate locusts and wild honey.  In his asceticism, he became fearless in preaching God’s truth to all who needed to hear.  He called both the lowly and the powerful to the same repentance.  Ultimately, his renouncing of the immorality of the King led to his beheading, killed because those in power loved that power and authority more than they loved God and truth and right.

As we can see, there is nothing about the saint that we would consider in any way to be “normal”.  His conception, his parents, his upbringing, his ministry, his death – all are abnormal by any worldly standard.  And within this observation is perhaps the most salient point about what we should take from this Feast.  “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord.” (Isa 55:8)  Again, our Lord’s own commandments to us highlight this concept, as He teaches us, “Be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Mat 5:48)  We are called to something beyond this world.  Heaven is not of this world, and yet it is the place we call “home”!  None would call this world a place where barren old women give birth, where prophets are born as a result, where a virgin carries God the Son in her womb, where governments and nations are toppled by the actions of babies, and where confused old men speak God’s own words with boldness and clarity!  This world is not a place where a person who leads an austere life, clad in camel’s hair, paves the way for the One Who is King of Creation!  And yet, this IS what happened, because these ARE God’s plans.  He accomplished EXACTLY this, with EXACTLY these people and these conditions.

This is not the God of “just” Zacharias and Elizabeth.  He is our God.  And He calls us to the same outrageous faith – in our hearts, in our lives, in our churches, in our world.  He calls us to see HIS authority over all things.  He calls us to believe (as Zacharias didn’t at first) that whatever may seem to be impossible for men is totally possible with God.  In the world, it’s not possible to forgive your enemies.  With God, this is possible.  In the world, it is frowned upon to love the downtrodden, the poor, the needy, the destitute.  With God, this is a requirement.  In the world, it is impossible to be “perfect.”  With God, this is our calling!

Those things in this world which bring people (including ourselves) to places of weakness, despair, sorrow, hatred, putting self above others, and every mentionable human failing, all of these human conditions will continue unabated or even grow in magnitude within us unless we submit to God’s call to “radical change” in our own lives.  A small seed of “religion” allowed to exist in the margins of our lives may give us the appearance to others of some degree of caring and respectability, but this seed will not bear the desired fruit - to aid our attempt to take the Kingdom of Heaven by force.  We are part of the “Church Militant.”  Our Lord Himself said, “From the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Mat 11:12)  In explaining this verse, the Orthodox Study Bible says,  “The Kingdom of Heaven belongs not to the sleeping or lazy.”

In the time of our Lord’s ministry, the people of Israel needed “a wake-up call”.  St. John was God’s gift to them to do just that. 

His message has even more relevance in today’s world.  Who can look at the world around us today and say that we are in any less of a position of needing a spiritual awakening? 

God’s plan for mankind’s salvation is integrally tied to the life and ministry of St. John the Forerunner.  It was true in the time of our Lord’s ministry.  It has been true for 2000 years.  It is even more true in 2020.  If we can find in St. John’s words, in his call to repentance, and in his living a pure life conforming to God’s will an example with which we are willing to conform, even if “imperfectly” at first, then we will honor his memory as is fitting for the Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist, and we will have gone a long way toward attempting - as best we can - to conform to our Lord’s call to “be perfect” ourselves.

Violence For Violence

01Jun20

Christ is Ascended!

This past week we've watched with horror one unjust act inside of one city. Thereafter we've observed this unjust act bring a unified voice among every person who saw it, regardless of racial background, economic strata, or geographic local, declaring it to be horrific, and stating that the perpetrator must be brought to justice. In these observations, horror brought unity.

Then we watched as the unity dispersed like a puff of smoke, and faded into violence. We note with great sadness how some who began by being united in horror now attempt to rationalize and to offer apologetics for what is being witnessed today in the streets of so many cities. How do the actions we see in the streets, burning, looting, even more murdering, bring honor to the memory of one brutally and unjustly murdered? Where is the 'positive' in hatred and brutality-for-brutality?

Christ has answered such questions before. He taught us, "Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. (Mat 5:44-45) He ended this teaching with these words, an impossible challenge to humanity, but clearly showing His divine expectations for us: "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

When we are presented with moral dilemmas, we also turn to the Holy Fathers for guidance. We offer these words from St. John Chrysostom from his work, "On the Priesthood". The words do not apply only to the officer who committed the original act, but also to those whose violent actions must not be couched in words that allow them to be "normalized".

"Christians above all men are not permitted forcibly to correct the failings of those who sin. Secular judges indeed, when they have captured malefactors under the law, show their authority to be great, and prevent them even against their will from following their own devices: but in our case the wrong-doer must be made better, not by force, but by persuasion."

If we are to labor to normalize anything, we must bring love to the state of normalcy. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35)