Being Conceived

 When does life begin?  It is a question that plagues our society.  There are those who have an agenda to permit removal of an embryo before it is “viable.” Others claim that life begins when a heartbeat is first noted.  There are still others who would contend (the Church being one) that life begins at the moment of conception.

Why this topic today?  Because if the “birthday” of St. Herman’s was on January 23rd 2005 (the day upon which we held our first service as a Diocesan Parish), then our “conception” was on this day, the Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women, which occurred in that year on May 11, 2003. 

A conception. The word conjures images of life that require nurturing, loving, protection by a loving parent and family.  Truth be told, it seems to be an appropriate image for us.  On that day now nearly twenty-three years ago, there was the love of a Metropolitan who chose to permit this life to enter the realm of being conceived.  There was a core group of faithful from our mother parish who saw the benefit in supporting this new life.  And there was a gathering of faithful, the “cells” of the new Body being formed in this place, in this time.

With new life comes new responsibility.  There were plans to be made. There were needs to secure a place to worship, to gather enough financial resources to enable the group to begin operating.  Services had to be planned.  Letters and advertisements had to be placed.  Tell the world—this new life is taking root.  Being loved and nurtured from the beginning, we prayed that with the Lord’s blessing it would grow into something wonderful, beautiful.  And by the Grace of God, it would come to serve the needs of those who would find it and come to it in faith and love, to share in its life.

Now, these many years later, we look back on that Sunday and we find a sense of astonishment.  How did this all come to be?  How is it possible that we even exist?

Life itself is so very fragile.  It is not promised.  It is a gift that, once given, must be cherished.  And within that gift, there comes a responsibility to conform that life into the image for which God created it, the image for which it was permitted to be conceived.

What image does our Lord want for us?  If we answer honestly, we must say that we, as faithful disciples, haven’t seen that vision yet. 

In a previous visit for St. Thomas Sunday, His Eminence, in his homily after Liturgy, encouraged all who were present to “believe and embrace the hope”.  We hope for answers to our prayers, that our Lord will give to us that which is beneficial for our salvation.  We “want” things for our own purposes, often without considering if our “wants” conform to God’s plan for us.  We want growth.  We know this would be good.  His Eminence’s urging is for us to expect that God will answer this good request.  We want a firm faith.  We know this also to be good.  We must expect that God will honor such prayers, those directed toward seeking His holy will for all of us.

We want so very many things.  But only one thing is needful, and that is to love the Lord, and to love our neighbor.  When we live in this way, we expect that He has and will give us all that is truly needful!

Christ is Risen!

Indeed, He is Risen!!!

 

Eternal Joy!

The Eternal Joy of Christians

Christians, always rejoice, for evil, death, sin, the devil and hell have been conquered by Christ. But when all of this is conquered, is there anyone in the world who can bring our joy to naught? You are the lord of this eternal rejoicing as long as you do not give in to sin. Joy burns in our hearts from His truth, love, resurrection, and from the Church and His saints. Joy burns in our hearts all because of sufferings for Him, mockings for Him, and death for Him, insofar as these sufferings write our names in heaven. There is no true joy on earth without the victory over death, but the victory over death does not exist without the Resurrection, and the Resurrection does not exist without Christ. The risen God-Man Christ, the founder of the Church, constantly pours out this joy into the hearts of His followers through the Holy Mysteries and good deeds. Our faith is fulfilled in this eternal joy, insofar as the joy of faith in Christ is the only true joy for human nature. 

- St. Justin Popovich

Prayer for Our Enemies

Lord Jesus Christ, Who commanded us to love our enemies, and those who defame and injure us, and to pray for them and forgive them; Who Yourself prayed for Your enemies, those who crucified You: grant us, we pray, the spirit of Christian reconciliation and meekness, that we may heartily forgive every injury and be reconciled with our enemies. Grant us to overcome the malevolence and offences of people with Christian meekness and true love of our neighbor. We further beseech You, O Lord, to grant to our enemies true peace and forgiveness of sins; and do not allow them to leave this life without true faith and sincere conversion. And help us repay evil with goodness, and to remain safe from the temptations of the devil and from all the perils which threaten us, in the form of visible and invisible enemies. 

Amen. 

"No Fault" Repentance

 Most of us are aware of the auto insurance coverage labeled “No Fault Insurance.”  One purported benefit is to avoid legal entanglements so that those impacted by an accident can receive benefits to cover loss sooner that would otherwise be possible.

So, something bad has happened, and no one is to blame!

When we come to confession, I think we often approach the priest with these same ideas in mind.  Yes, there was sin, but no one is at fault for what happened.

One of the phrases used by many who come for confession is the expression “everyday sins”.  What exactly is this supposed to mean?  In the minds of some it’s likely to mean “This sin is so minor it doesn’t really need forgiveness.”  For others it would seem to indicate “The world is a dirty place, and just by walking in it, some of it gets on you.  Who can blame anyone for that?”

But you see, all of these perspectives turn the righteous and honorable process of confessing into something that has no meaning.  If the things that have “just happened around me” are being offered as my sins, the act of confessing has been neutered, for I leave no better than when I arrived. I’ve done nothing wrong.  The world has done it to me! That same “stuff” that’s in the world is going to happen again, and again, and if I don’t take the opportunity to cleanse myself of more than just “the same old stuff,” I’m not taking any steps to attempt to avoid falling into sins again—at any level.  St. Tikhon of Zadonsk wrote a piece, “On Self-Examination” where he gives this advice:

We believe in the Gospel, but do we live in a way that is worthy of the Gospel? We confess and we call on the true God; but do we please him with the faith and pure conscience that He requires of us? We listen to the holy word of God; but do we heed it, and do we correct ourselves according to its rules? We commune the holy and life-creating Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ; but are we renewed by Holy Communion and do we progress towards a new, spiritual personality?

Within our preparation for the sacrament of repentance, our focus on this new spiritual personality should come to the fore in our prayerful preparation.  I come to confession because I’m not content being the person who I am on a daily basis.  I want with my whole heart to become that person who my Master created me to be.  I want to serve Him, not myself.  I come in prayerful hope that He will open my eyes to those things in my life which separate me from Him.  I come in the expectation that He wants to and will forgive me of all that I confess in sincerity.

I come recognizing that I truly AM “at fault,” and I try not to leave before emptying my heart to my spiritual father.  Sometimes this process is blessed with tears.  Whatever the case, the process of cleansing only produces gain to the extent to which I commit to seeking repentance fully.

Generalizations within the act of confessing are not helpful.  Going to a doctor with the words, “I’m not feeling well” produces no healing benefit.  Where does it hurt?  How does it incapacitate you?  Only with honest answers can proper medicines be prescribed.  These same ideas must enter the confessional with us if we hope to be healed.

Archpastoral Message - Opening of Holy and Great Fast

 Your Grace, beloved Fathers, brothers and sisters in the Lord,

Once again, with the will and grace of God, the Giver of all good things, we are entering Holy and Great Lent, the blessed period of fasting and repentance, of spiritual vigilance and journey with the Lord, as He approaches His voluntary Passion, so that we may reach the veneration of His glorious Resurrection and become worthy of our own passage from earthly things to “what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived” (1 Cor. 2:9).

In the early Church, Holy and Great Lent was a period of preparation for catechumens, whose baptism took place during the Divine Liturgy of Pascha. This connection with baptism is also preserved in the understanding and experience of Great Lent as the period par excellence of repentance, described as “a renewal of baptism,” “a second baptism,” “a covenant with God for a second life,” in other words, a renewal of the grace of baptism and a promise to God for the beginning of a new way of life. The services and hymns of this season associate the spiritual struggle of the faithful with the expectation of the Lord’s Pascha, whereby the forty-day fast radiates the fragrance of Paschal joy.

Holy and Great Lent is an opportunity to become conscious of the depth and richness of our faith as “a personal encounter with Christ.” It is rightly emphasized that Christianity is “extremely personal,” without this implying that it is “individualistic.” The faithful “encounter, recognize, and love one and the same Christ, Who alone revealed the true and perfect human person” (St. Nicholas Cabasilas). He invites all people—and each person individually—to salvation, so that the response of each may always be “grounded in the common faith” and, at the same time, be unique.

I prayerfully wish all of you in our God-protected Diocese of the USA, Canada, and Australia a blessed and salvific Holy and Great Lent 2026.

+Metropolitan Joseph

In Search of Fervent Prayer

Here's a spiritual lesson you can try at home.  Take a candle that has never been lit, and also a lighter.  Using the lighter, pass its flame over the wick.  Note how it does not immediately light.  Do it again.  Still no light, right?  Now, hold the flame on the wick until you confirm that it has lit.  Now, blow the candle out.  Walk away for 5 minutes, then come back and repeat the above.  Note that now that the wick has supported a flame, the candle lights with much less effort.  Now as a final step, light the candle, blow it out, then immediately pass the lighter flame NEAR the wick.  See how the flame leaps to the wick and it burns fully.  What is the purpose of this effort?  A candle is emblematic of our prayers.  If we do not pray, we are like the candle that has never been lit.  The flame must remain with us for a long time for us to show our prayer.  Once we have approached prayer, we are like the candle which has been lit, and it becomes easier for us to support the flame, to engage in profitable prayers.  It takes less to get us going!  Finally, if we are praying but have our prayer interrupted, then re-engage it quickly, the flame leaps to light the way.  So it is with our prayer.  Thank you, St. Paul, for teaching us that we need to pray without ceasing!  (1Thes 5:16-18)

The Second Coming

   The Holy Orthodox Church remembers our Lord’s Second Coming on this Sunday each year—the Sunday that begins Meatfare Week.

The Gospel reading begins: ““When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.”

The words from this first verse of today’s Gospel that always capture my attention are, and ALL the holy angels. 

There is no scriptural reference detailing the total number of angels in heaven.  St. Paul goes so far as to say, But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels. (Heb 12:22)  In short, there are so very many of them that perhaps only God Himself could number them!

The next phrase in today’s Gospel says, All the nations will be gathered before Him.  How many people is this?  Given today’s statistics, it is nearly 8.3 billion.  All of those angels.  All of us.  All gathered before the Judge, before one Man.  He returns to do what St. Matthew describes next: He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 

What identifies the difference between a sheep and a goat?

A sheep is one who “does” without taking note of their good deeds.  They feed, they give drink, they shelter those in need.  They clothe those who are naked.  They visit the sick and imprisoned.  The goats also take no note of their “inactions” in not doing for others.  And the fascinating part of the account is that neither sheep nor goat sees their connection with the Lord.  Both ask the same question: When did we see You in need, Lord?  The difference is in the Lord’s answer.  You did (or did not) do it for Me when you did (or did not) do it for….  Those separated as sheep are surprised to find that it was in fact Jesus for Whom they were providing.  Those goats are surprised to find that it was in fact Jesus Whom they were ignoring.  Each group does what they do because of their character (or lack thereof).  Wise virgins wait.  Good servants serve.  Sheep also serve.  The difference compared with nature is that we are free to choose to be a sheep.  We are free to choose to be a goat!

Who are those who benefit from the goodness of the sheep?  The least of My brethren.  The Greek word used for ‘brethren’ carries a connection between people as being joined by a common womb. It is yet another view of the Parable of the Good Samaritan—everyone is my neighbor, and all of us are one people, we have a common Father, we are all brothers and sisters.

Minimally at every Divine Liturgy, but also for most of us within our own daily prayer rule, we pray the Nicene Creed, within which are these words: And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead.  We echo the words of today’s Gospel reading in our daily prayers!  Do we call to mind Matthew 25 when we pray the Creed?  If not, why not?  If not, do we look for the Second Coming as being a certain event, one that looms on the human (and my personal) horizon?

This is What it Means to be a Father

   Or a mother, for that matter.

One of the definitions we have for God is, God is Love.  And we know that God is One in the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  So when God the Son sets out to explain to His creation (mankind) how he should understand God, what description can He offer to help us understand that which is beyond our ability to comprehend?

He gifts to us the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

In the Gospel of St. Luke we find the scribes and the Pharisees grumbling.  This Man receives sinners and eats with them.  This is a judgmental attack toward God for His being loving and merciful!

And so our Lord attempts to lovingly bring them under His wing by offering not one, not two, but three parables.

First there is the parable of the man who has a hundred sheep, and he leaves the ninety-nine to go and find the one that is lost.

Second there is the parable of the lost coin and the fervent effort the woman makes to search for and find the lost coin, and of her rejoicing when she recovers it!

Continuing through the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, we finally we get to what this author considers to be the ultimate parable given us by our Lord, that of the Prodigal Son.

You see, the son was exceedingly cruel.  Metropolitan Anthony says this about him:  When he says, ‘Father, give me my part of your inheritance,’ do the words not mean, ‘I can’t wait until your death...It is now that I want to reap the fruits of your life… Let us come to an agreement—for me you are dead.  Give me what belongs to me, or what would belong to me after your death, and I will go and live the life I have chosen.’

Isn’t this emblematic of our own behavior toward our Heavenly Father?  While we are with Him, we receive all we need from Him.  But we feel limited by His rules.  He expects integrity and truth from us.  He expects us to understand the true meaning of love from Him.  But too often, these expectations toward us are too much for us.  We take His gifts, then turn and use them not as He would intend, but only to profit ourselves, without any returns to Him.

I for one can’t imagine agreeing to the young man’s request, knowing his inexperience and the danger to which it would expose him.  But this Father is wiser than I am.  His caving to the request indeed exposes the young man to many things not immediately to his benefit.  But spending all, having to find a means of living, seeing oneself envying the swine for the food he is providing to them, all of this brings him to a core-level change, he came to himself.

Please note that related to this revelation is the image of fasting.  He would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, but no one gave him anything.

It is this hunger that changes him, and immediately he considers his Father’s own servants, and brings him to the point of generating his fervent confession.  Father, I have sinned!  He offers no excuse.  He knows this is all on him!

Now, see the love of the Father, Who seemingly unceasingly stayed fervently looking for His son’s return.  Jesus tells us that the Father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.

The Father spoke no words to the son.  He spoke only to the servants.  Bring a robe.  Put a ring on his finger.  Put sandals on his feet.  Kill the fatted calf.  Let us celebrate!

As Metropolitan Anthony suggested the son’s motive of considering his Father as dead, so now the Father reverses this perspective.  For this My son was dead, and is alive again.

Lord, instill within us a heartfelt desire to be faithful children, worthy of the love You show us each and every day of our lives.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Giving Thanks Properly

 God, I thank You that I am not like other men.  While it is a fact that David in the Spirit wrote, It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High (Ps 92:1), such a virtuous encouragement to offer heartfelt thanks to the Lord does not provide license to turn the praise into judgment of another.

But this is human nature, isn’t it?  If I set out to assess my spiritual state in life, is my analysis founded on Scripture and the instructions of my Lord, or does my judgment of self get run comparing myself to someone else?

We’ve all at least heard such things, and if truth be told, we’ve most likely all participated in such things.  “Yes, I did thus-and-such wrong, BUT others have done so much worse!”  In short, we ‘justify’ ourselves not on an absolute scale (“Sin is sin!”) but on a relativistic scale (“I’m not as bad as……”)

Consider for a moment the Pharisee’s words.  I thank You that I am not like other men.  What does this mean analytically to the one making the ‘prayer’?  The clear implication is that only I am without sin.  How dangerous a position is that to take with the Just Judge?

And what kinds of other men are  we talking about? 

1) Extortioners:  My memory is not so good, but just last week we heard from a man whom our Lord called by name who said this: If I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.  In these words, Zacchaeus is admitting to extorting money, and he is offering the repentant response of giving back four times what he stole unrighteously.

2) The Unjust:  Recall the account of St. Moses who lived a life of crime, but was saved by his repentance.

3) Adulterers:  We have the example of St. Mary Magdalene, who by repentance saw the Lord expel seven demons from her, and also St. Mary of Egypt who although lived a life of sin in her youth received great spiritual strength in her old age by repentance and fasting.

4) Tax collectors:  Remember, St. Matthew was a tax collector.  Also today’s Publican, who went to his house justified is in this group.  The Greek word for justified here is dikaioo, and it carries the meaning to render as innocent!

And so those being judged by the Pharisee as unworthy of God’s love and attention are among the first to find His favor—when they also find repentance.

The Lord is so very careful to spend so much time, so many words, describing the Pharisee with at least 40 words in his description.  What does our Lord say about the Publican?  Twenty-nine words total, but seven of greatest import—God, be merciful to me, a sinner!

Today, the Church gifts to us the entry point, the gate, if you will, to enter into the season of the Fast.  How does She open this gate to us?  By gently teaching us, as taught by St. Theophan, to focus on that one and only thing I have been given the ability by my Lord to be able to change.

Myself!

David said in Ps 51, Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.  Lord, I beseech You, put that Spirit to right myself into my heart.  And teach me to pray fervently and continuously, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!

Christ is Born!

 My brothers and sisters in Christ:

Christ is Born!  Glorify Him!

 It is with these joyous words that we greet one another in this season.  What more joyous news is there than the birth of a child?  What more joyous news is there than God coming in the flesh to redeem His creation as that newly born child?

 In the world around us, we find troubles, sorrow, pain, suffering.  As human beings we desire with all our hearts to see all suffering come to an end.  But we find ourselves powerless to do much to change the world and put an end to such things.

 But in the coming of Christ, we can look upon all these things in a new light.  He is the Light of the World, and in His Light we shall see light!  Because Christ is born, mankind need no longer fear the suffering in the world, for God shows to us His intention to unite again fallen mankind with Himself, and where God is, there is neither sorrow nor sighing, but only life everlasting!

 Saint Paul taught us about our Lord’s own joy in His work by saying, “Looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:2)  Even our Lord endured human sufferings and sorrow.  But within these, God the Son encountered joy in accomplishing His ministry, to redeem us from our sins, from our own suffering, so that we might become filled with the same joy that filled Him.

 We end our Liturgical services with a benediction, a word that translates from the Latin to literally mean “to speak well of”, but meaning to give a blessing.  In that benediction, we say, “May Christ our God, through the prayers of …. Have mercy on us and save us, for He is good, and He loves us!”  Each time I offer that prayer, I’m struck with those final words.  He is good.  This I know.  But, He loves us.  As the words pass my lips, I very often think, “Why?”

 Perhaps this is the greatest mystery of all.  God loves us—you, and me, and the neighbor who taunts us, and the person in traffic who cut us off this morning, and the boss who chewed us out last week.  He loves all of us.  How can we not be filled with joy when we know we are so loved?  How can we be at odds with people whom we know our Lord loves as much as He loves us?  We are benefactors of a love that exceeds all love we can know in this world, for God’s love supersedes the love of this world.  His love is focused on overcoming what binds us to this world, to take us to be with Him, where He is.  This is the reason that He comes to take on our flesh today, so that He might provide the way for us to be with Him for all time.  Because He loves us!

 In this season of renewal, when nature begins to turn from darkness to light, let us take firm hold of this love that can and must bring us joy that overflows our ability to contain it!  Let the joy of this day so fill us that we shout to those around us, “Christ is Born!”, expecting the greeting to fill them with the love and joy that fills us.

 May the joy of this day fill your hearts with His joy, and may His love fill each of us so that we might share both with all whom we greet, on this day, and on every day with the festal shout, “Christ is Born!”

Father Basil

The Road to Humility

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen 1:1)  He is God.  He is Creator.  As Creator, there is more Scripture to define Him.  For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. (Col 1:16)  So not only are all things in His creation sourced by His Holy will, but all things belong to Him.  They are His, and in His mercy He provides all things to accomplish His holy will.

In that image of His will being accomplished through His creation, He remains all-powerful.  I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.  I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’” (Isa 46:10)

In His nature, He is beyond the limits of nature.  Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. (1Kings 8:27)

He is Sovereign, our King, the King of kings and Lord of lords. (1Tim 6:15)

What more do we need to say to establish the credentials of our God?  He is the Creator of all things, He is above all things, He is the Ruler of all things.

Having said ALL of this:

Within these next two weeks we, who hope to be found worthy to be called servants of our God, will become witnesses, not of some monumental display of superiority, but of monumental humility.

He Who sits eternally at the right hand of the Father in His glory comes within the womb of a young maiden, to be born as is any human being, and to be laid in a manger, a feeding trough for animals.  He comes offering the fullness of God to be united to us in fullness as Man.  And in His divine offering, He creates a path to salvation for all of humanity—for all who will choose to receive the gift He brings.

What do we see as we gaze into the cave where He is laid as a child?  We see His Virgin Mother, one who loves Him as the Child she has carried these many months, but one who loves Him in a way that must include, even if imperfectly, the vision of His divinity, for she knows His conception is beyond nature.  We find lowly animals, witnesses from His creation to His arrival.  We find an elderly man who will offer himself as a guardian for as long as He determines is Joseph’s lot.  We find hosts of angels offering glory to God.

There is a Stichera on Lord I Call from the Vespers of Nativity that speaks to what the world has to offer in return.

What shall we offer You, O Christ, Who for our sakes has appeared on earth as man?  Every creature made by You offers thanks: Angels offer their hymn, and the heavens a star.  Wise men bring gifts as the shepherds won-der.  The earth offers a cave, and the wilderness offers a manger.  And we, Your people, offer You a virgin mother! O Pre-eternal God, have mercy on us!

He Who will come again in glory comes now in humility.  He Who comes to give His life for His creation comes to assume that life so that He can show us the way to salvation.  And we, like the angels, stand in awe and wonder at His humility for us and his mercy towards us.

A Simple Message From St. Paul

 Many of Saint Paul’s writings require in-depth study and explanation from the Holy Fathers to grasp his message.

Not so in today’s lesson from Ephesians 4:1-6!

1)  Walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.  The Lord has blessed each of us with talents, abilities, capabilities, gifts, assets—all of which are different for each of us, but all of which He sent to us because He gives to us that which is necessary for our own salvation.  If He has blessed me with the ability to speak well, then St. Paul is saying, “Use your ability to bring glory to God.”  If I’ve been blessed with talents to build things, then St. Paul is saying, “Build to the glory of God!”  In whatever gifts He has sent to me, use them not JUST to some kind of self-aggrandizement (laying up treasures for myself), but share His gifts with others who can benefit from what He has gifted to me!

2) Be lowly, gentle, and longsuffering.  Another way of phrasing this would be to be meek.  Understand that there is sin within vainglory, and there is nothing gained when one sews division.  We are to bear with the shortcomings of others, and not only bear with, but use our God-given abilities and spiritual gifts to make up for their deficiencies when He so directs us.

3) Bearing with one another in love.  Indeed, love overcomes all division, and leaves no room for either animosity or selfishness.

4) Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Did you ever wonder why ’peace’ is called for so often during a Divine Liturgy.  It’s well over 40 times.  The Liturgy opens with In peace, let us pray to the Lord, and it ends with the “Prayer Before the Ambo” which ends with the words, Give peace to Your world, to Your churches, to Your priests, to all those in civil authority, and to all Your people.  Unity is a fruit of peace between God’s people.

5) There is one Body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling.  This calling is made to each of us.  Each of us are servants of the same Master.  He may call upon me now, and you later.  He will have differing tasks for each of us, dependent upon those skills and gifts with which He has blessed each of us.  And we will each do different things in answer to His call.  And in the unity St. Paul is calling for, I will pray for you to serve Him well, as you will pray for me.

6) One Lord, one faith, one baptism.  We serve the same Lord based upon the foundation of a faith that is also shared.  Individual tools, skills and abilities differ, but the guiding beliefs which direct each of us to use those gifts to His glory are the same.

7) One God and Father of all, Who is above all, and through all, and in you all.  You don’t see “your god” while I see a different god.  There is One God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Together we serve Him.  He has one purpose, and He directs us individually to serve His Divine purpose with the skills and abilities with which He has blessed us.

I can’t answer for you.  As for me, I fail too often to seek His will as I go through my day.  For this I repent.  But I know as in 2) above that you have expended effort—love, prayer, support—when you’ve seen me faltering and failing.

And so each of us should give thanks to the One Who is making us worthy of the calling to which we were called.  And we should give thanks to one another, who have together been  lowly, gentle, and longsuffering towards one another, as we together bear with one another in love.

Do This and You Will Live

We all know the parable of the Good Samaritan.  We typically remember it as, “Do unto others..”  The actual words used in today’s Gospel are, Go and do likewise, referring to showing mercy as did the Samaritan.

Between these two statements, one that ‘opens’ todays Gospel and one that ‘closes’ it, is contained the fullness of what it means to be a Christian, a follower of Christ.

Our Lord’s statement, Do this and you will live, is pointed toward the ‘certain lawyer’s’ answer to our Lord’s asking him to interpret his own understanding of what scripture teaches about eternal salvation.  Each of us daily assesses What must I do (today) to be found worthy of entering into the Kingdom of Heaven—’Eternal Life’?  The answer given by the man is affirmed by God the Son.  The answer was, focusing on self, I must love the Lord my God with all my heart, all my soul, all my strength, and all my mind, and along with that, I must love my neighbor as myself.

Today’s focus is the ‘Good Samaritan,’ but let’s together delve into the first part of the man’s answer.

1) I must love God with all my heart:  What is the heart in terms of meaning to this commandment? In one sense, the heart is the source of our life.  While our hearts beat, we live.  In another sense it is the source of our bonding with others.  Love is a bond between hearts.  And so this commandment is saying to us that we must dedicate that which gives us life and that which gives us love FULLY—using all my heart—to loving my Lord and my God.

2) I must love God with all my soul:  The first part above dedicates everything physical about me to loving God.  This portion dedicated everything spiritual about me to loving Him.  I must use all my soul to love Him.

3) I must love God with all my strength:  Strength is a capacity to accomplish a goal.  St. Isaac the Syrian says, ‘Whoever prematurely begins a work that is above his strength receives nothing, but only brings harm upon himself.  I must expend all my capacity, all my effort to loving my Lord and my God!

4) I must love God with all my mind:  In short, I can’t be preoccupied with the things of THIS world.  I must have focus, dedicating all that effort in 3) by using my intellect to direct my love—towards my Lord and my God.

Finally, the last portion of the man’s answer puts meat on the bone of the first portion of the answer.  I must love my neighbor as myself.  If I were to accomplish (in my own evaluation of self) ALL of the previous four, but never reached out with my heart to my neighbor, never dedicated my spirit to serving my neighbor, never exerted my strength for the benefit of my neighbor, never focused on the needs of my neighbor as opposed to my own needs, or in my case too often my own desires, then they have all been done in vain!

Our Lord’s instructions to us to qualify as followers, to bear the Holy Name of ‘Christian’, are not so onerous.  Lord, give to us each day the heart, the soul, the strength, and the mind to love the least of Your brethren, for in loving them, we show our love for You.  Help us to find our paths to eternal life in Your heavenly Kingdom!

Glory to Jesus Christ!  Glory forever! 

Who is this Rich Man?

I recall reading from the Holy Fathers.  Which one in particular I cannot recall.  The identity does not matter—the content does.  In this particular account a monk was speaking with a visitor, who asked him how he fasts and why he fasts.  The old man replied, “I take 100 grams of bread each day (about a quarter pound).  If I were to eat more, I would be stealing from another who is hungry.”

Living in the world as we do, we too easily lose perspective on how we (individually) live as compared with others around the world, others who are in need. 

Not for all of us, but for most of us, our cupboards are stocked with enough to carry us for several days.  If we’re out of milk, the grocery store is not far away, and even though milk is more expensive now that perhaps ever, we have enough resources to get not only what we need, but more than that if we so choose.

RTS, which is a waste management service, has a survey which indicates that Americans waste about 60 million tons of food every year.  We won’t impose the aforementioned monastic’s rigor on all, but if we allowed three meals in a day at 2 pounds of food in total, that 60 million tons could feed 30 million hungry people.  This same RTS survey also suggested an estimate of 35 million Americans (including 10 million children) suffer from “food insecurity”.  In short, if the waste could be turned into resource, we could wipe out hunger in our country!

In one of today’s Gospel readings we encounter again Lazarus and ‘the rich man’.  Note carefully that our Lord gives the suffering man’s name—Lazarus.  The name Lazarus means ‘God has helped.’  Our Lord does not call the rich man by name.  God does not “remember” his name!  This is the meaning of our prayer for departed souls, “May his (her) memory be eternal!”, asking that the person be found in God’s Book of Life, ever remembered by Him!

Within the meaning of Lazarus’ name, we find yet more teaching.  The images to be found in pondering ‘God has helped’ are multiple.  Lazarus suffered in this life, but still fell under God’s providential care, being led to a place where, when his soul was called for, he was found worthy to be gathered with the sheep, with the righteous.  After death, God has helped by placing Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom.

This is diametrically opposed to the condition of the rich man, who with his fine clothes and sumptuous eating was united in this world not to eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven, but he was shackled to the dust of this earth, to which he then returned—without God knowing afterwards who he was, not to be found in God’s eternal memory.

Who is this “Rich Man”?

He is me.  I am him.  God knows the names of all those people who I regularly pass by without ever noticing or recognizing their need.  But when it comes to that day when He speaks the word and calls for my soul to part from my body, will He remember me?  And more to the point, what must I do in the here and now to change from one who is absorbed with self to one who lives selflessly, living for those who have no bread, both physically and spiritually.  For my Lord has called me (and He is calling all of us) to care for “the least of His brethren” in whatever needs they have for which He has given us talents and resources over and above that necessary to supply our own “need” - not want, NEED!