tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84035442024-03-08T00:44:22.642-07:00Rumblings from a Desert CaveSermons as they were <em>meant</em> to be delivered by a Priest of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside RussiaFr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.comBlogger224125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-36118589322942368892010-12-13T07:52:00.000-07:002010-12-13T07:52:49.426-07:00Do You Know the Impact You Can Have?<div class="MsoNormal">Our holy father, the martyr Paramon, was not a Christian; but he was a well-respected man in the region where he lived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He encountered one day a group of 370 Christians whom the governor of the region has arrested, bound, and brought to the temple of Poseidon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There they were threatened with death unless they offered sacrifice to the idol – something that none of them would do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Paramon learned what was taking place, he denounced the wickedness of the governor and continued on his way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The governor sent his men after Paramon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was arrested; tortured by being stripped and beaten, by having a thorn jabbed through his tongue, and then by being stabbed all over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paramon endured it all with prayer, and gave his soul to God, being baptized in his own blood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 370 Christians were then beheaded, giving their souls to God as martyrs in the year of our Lord 250.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Most of us will never be arrested because of our faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of us will never be tortured in an effort to make us renounce our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of us will never become martyrs, as did our holy father Paramon and the 370 faithful we hear of today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there are some things we should note in the life of these saints, by which we also may be instructed, if we will hear the teaching and follow it each day.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The first thing to note is that Paramon was not a Christian at the time he suffered – at least, not in a way that we would recognize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This should serve as a warning to us not to judge others, nor to condemn others simply because they have not been baptized, and do not openly proclaim the Lord Jesus as their own Savior and Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God knows His own; and He will provide for them the necessary faith when time and circumstance require.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We should give thanks for those who seek to do good to others, whose lives are Christian, even if their faith is not known to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, if we have the opportunity to do so, we should tell them of our Lord, and invite them to become Orthodox Christians.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This leads to the second point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What was it that brought about Paramon’s martyrdom?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was it not the example of the 370 who were willing to die rather than turn away from their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and offer a sacrifice to an idol?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This tells us that the quality of our lives can be a powerful testimony to others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does the way in which you live tell others that you are a faithful follower of the Lord, and that you will not turn aside from that path?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or do our lives say that we are indistinguishable from those of the world around us – that we pay tribute to worldly concerns and fleshly desires, just as the nonbelievers do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you won’t even say a prayer in silence and cross yourself in public, as we do at mealtimes, what message does that send?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we abuse others in word or in deed; if we gossip; if we consider ourselves to be better and more deserving of others, what message do we send?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if we do not live as Christians, where will those who today stand in the role our holy father Paramon once held see the power of faith, and so be inspired to do as he did?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">May God grant us grace and strength to walk in His ways without turning aside, so that we may also bear witness to Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Holy father Paramon, pray to God for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amen.</div><br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_c.png?x-id=f0e007eb-5218-48cf-926a-eaccb48b2cbe" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related more-info pretty-attribution paragraph-reblog"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-71548515249074875572010-07-26T09:58:00.001-07:002010-07-26T10:00:01.297-07:00What Are You Afraid Of?<div class="zemanta-img separator" style="clear: right;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Luis_Borrass%C3%A1_001.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Jesus takes Peter who failed to walk on water...." height="472" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Luis_Borrass%C3%A1_001.jpg/300px-Luis_Borrass%C3%A1_001.jpg" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="clear: both; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Luis_Borrass%C3%A1_001.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">What are you afraid of?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In the reading today from the holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, we hear the story of our Lord walking on the water in the midst of a storm, coming to His disciples in a boat being tossed by the wind and the waves. They don’t recognize Him until He speaks to them; and then Peter, still not quite sure, says, “Lord, if it is you, command me to walk on the water.” Then he does something amazing. He gets out of the boat, and walks on the water – as long as his eyes are on the Lord. Once he is distracted by the storm around him, he begins to sink, and must be saved by the Lord.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We know what the disciples were afraid of in that story. They were afraid of the storm; and remember, there were experienced fishermen in the boat, who had been in storms before. They were afraid they had seen a ghost – is that really the Lord? Finally, except for Peter, they were afraid to get out of the boat because they were afraid of dying. So: what are you afraid of?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Most of us are afraid of death. We hear about the martyrs, and wonder if we could do what they did, doubting that we can do so. We hear about those who are given a sentence of death, and who are able to meet it peacefully, and wonder if we could do what they did, doubting that we can do so. Really, we fear death because, like the disciples, our faith is weak and imperfect. We sing, “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death”; but like the disciples in the boat, we ask, “Is it really the Lord?” We don’t believe; and so we sink. As long as his eyes remained on the Lord, Peter walked on the water. When we allow ourselves to be distracted by the winds and the waves of the cares of this life, and when we focus on them, and not the Lord, we sink, and are perishing. If we truly believed, we would not fear death. If we truly believed, we would walk confidently by faith. If we truly believed, we could walk on water, if need be.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So: What do we do? We should live in the way we should even if we do not yet have faith sufficient for us to get out of the boat. We may never walk on water; but trust in the love of God, and in His mercy, remembering that with a word He calmed the wind and the waves, and brought His disciples out of the storm. Live as a disciple: praying and fasting, giving, and forgiving; seeking humility, and honoring Christ in everyone you meet – do these things, and we will know that the One walking with us in the midst of the storms of life is truly the Lord; and He will bring us safely to harbor in His kingdom, where death has been conquered, and live does not end.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">What are you afraid of? Live as a disciple; trust in God’s love; and there is no reason for us to fear death.</div><br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_c.png?x-id=0f79b5d2-7eab-482e-b75f-cc088b9e53ee" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related more-info pretty-attribution paragraph-reblog"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-79534802915898604792010-07-06T08:57:00.000-07:002010-07-06T08:57:25.531-07:00Preparation for Martyrdom<div class="zemanta-img" style="display: block; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; margin-top: 1em; width: 240px;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RelicsStJohnShanghai.jpg" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Summary The relics of St. John of Shanghai and..." height="224" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/RelicsStJohnShanghai.jpg" style="border: none; display: block;" width="230" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RelicsStJohnShanghai.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">The holy martyr Julian of Tarsus was a young man when he suffered and died for the Christian faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Born into a family of wealth and influence, from his youth, he was taught the Faith; and so, when the time of his suffering came, he was ready, and despite being taken from town to town and being out to torture in each one, he would not deny that Jesus Christ is Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a year of enduring torments, he was sewn into a sack filled with sand, snakes, and scorpions, and thrown into the sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was eighteen years old when he departed this life.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Our holy father <a class="zem_slink freebase/guid/9202a8c04000641f80000000006ca05d" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=37.7802555556,-122.486194444&spn=1.0,1.0&q=37.7802555556,-122.486194444%20(John%20of%20Shanghai%20and%20San%20Francisco)&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="John of Shanghai and San Francisco">John of Shanghai and San Francisco</a>, whose feast we celebrated yesterday, was also born into a noble family; and he also, from his youth, learned the Christian faith, embracing the Orthodox way of life, inspired by the asceticism of the monks he saw living near to his village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His family fled from his homeland during the Russian Civil War for Serbia. He left Serbia for Shanghai when he became a Bishop. Forced to flee from Shanghai once again ahead of the Communists, he led his flock to the Philippines, from where they were resettled, some in Australia, some in South America, and some in the United States. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He knew of his impending repose some four days before it happened, and foretold as well the place where he would die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was seventy years old when he departed this life.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Both of the holy fathers whom we celebrate this weekend experienced what our Lord spoke of in the reading today from the holy Gospel according to St. Luke. Both experienced persecution; both knew that a martyr’s death was a very real possibility, and one achieved a martyr’s crown.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">What about us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although none of us has been born to a family of power and influence, we live in a time and place with riches and conveniences that we take for granted, which not even emperors had of old – and they could have almost anything they wanted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to the prosperity we enjoy, we also live in a time of relative peace, and in a place where we are not suffering for our faith – at least, not yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the words our Lord spoke to warn and to encourage His disciples remain as true today as when He first uttered them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The apostles saw the armies of Rome arrayed against Jerusalem, and their defeat of that city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The faithful were persecuted again and again across time and space – and there are places around the world today where Christians suffer for the Faith, and martyrs are killed all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We don’t see it happening on the evening news; we don’t see it happening in our neighborhoods – but it is taking place all the same, and we are naïve if we think that it will never happen here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">What, then should we do?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must be instructed by what our Lord tells His disciples – and we are His disciples if we follow His teachings, and His example.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By enduring, we will win our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not in this world, to be sure – but this world, this age, this life will not endure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only that which is established in heaven will endure. If we will embrace and live the life of our Lord Jesus Christ given to us in baptism, fed in us by His Body and Blood, taught to us by the holy Fathers and Mothers, shown to us in the lives of the saints, then our lives, too, will be established in heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Above all, it is by so pursuing the life of Christ being expressed in our own that we can endure even betrayal by friends or family, to say with our Lord, “Father, forgive them,” even as we are being put to death.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Brothers and sisters, let us ask God for the grace and mercy He gives to us from His love for us, that we may not love our lives in this world, but rather desire the life to come, so that we will not fail in the time of trial, but may also come, with our holy father Julian and our holy father John, to a blessed repose, and a place in His kingdom that shall never end.</div><br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_c.png?x-id=b6a8b2e5-026a-41c6-8d50-3d44c9f3b6ad" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related more-info pretty-attribution paragraph-reblog"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-71838092625103109762010-06-27T07:52:00.000-07:002010-06-27T07:52:46.094-07:00No Guarantees<i>Luke 4:22-30</i><br />
<div class="zemanta-img" style="display: block; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; margin-top: 1em; width: 310px;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Christus_Ravenna_Mosaic.jpg" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, ..." height="376" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Christus_Ravenna_Mosaic.jpg/300px-Christus_Ravenna_Mosaic.jpg" style="border: none; display: block;" width="300" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Christus_Ravenna_Mosaic.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></div>Last week, with the account of the healing of the centurion’s servant, we hear how the people of the covenant with Moses, the people whom God had prepared with the revelation of Himself and His promise to send a Redeemer, had not, for the most part, recognized His Son when He came into their midst. Instead, it was someone who was not a member of the community of faith, someone who was not allowed to worship in the temple, who knew that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, with the power to heal even from a distance. That theme is present as well in the reading today from the holy Gospel according to St. Luke. Our Lord is speaking to the people of God in the synagogue when he tells them how the prophet of God Elijah was sent to dwell in the house of a widow and her son during a time of great famine. The woman had just enough flour and oil to bake one last portion of bread for herself and her son, and then they were resigned to starving to death. But while the prophet was there – having asked her to give him their last meal, which she did – the container of flour was never empty, and the pitcher of oil never ran out. So it was that they survived the famine – but the widow and her son were not from among the people of god. Our Lord also tells them of the prophet Elisha, who healed Naaman the Syrian of his leprosy. His statements anger those who heard what He said, so much that they even tried to kill Him by throwing Him from the top of a cliff. The words He said that angered them should be words of warning for all of us – for remember, we are now the people of God; we are the people of the New Covenant; and we are the ones at risk of missing the blessings that God desires to give to all who call upon His name with faith.<br />
<br />
Here’s what our Lord was saying in the synagogue that day that made those listening so upset. It wasn’t, He was saying, that there were no widows in Israel who were starving – indeed, there were. Likewise, it wasn’t that there was no one afflicted with a skin disease, called leprosy (although what we call leprosy today is not what was referred to there) in Israel – indeed, there were. In both instances, our Lord was pointing out to those who thought that they were holding on to a “guarantee” of being the favored people of God that God would not hesitate to reach out to those who truly believe, as the widow trusted God in feeding His prophet, and as Naaman trusted by following the prophet’s instructions for his healing. Just because we know how to cross ourselves, this does not make us the people of God. Just because we know how to fast, just because we know how to pray, just because we venerate the holy icons – these things, all good for us to do, these things do not make us the people of God. Do we have the love of God in our hearts; and do we show that love to everyone we meet? Do we have a love that is patient, gentle, humble, generous, forgiving, and kind? Do we trust that God will provide for our needs, and live, not for this world, but for the world to come? It is living in that way – living a life in which Christ can be seen, humble, righteous, patient, and loving so well that He accepted death on the Cross on our behalf – it is living that way which makes us to be the people of God.<br />
<br />
Brothers and sisters, may God give us grace and strength, wisdom and patience, and the peace that passes all understanding, that we may show the life and love of Christ to all, to the glory of His name, and the salvation of our souls.<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_c.png?x-id=e4903c76-eded-4ac2-89b4-c5b68cc6e39e" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related more-info pretty-attribution paragraph-reblog"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-33918020687886201842010-03-19T06:53:00.000-07:002010-03-19T06:53:55.410-07:00Destroying the Image of God<p class="zemanta-img" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; float: right; display: block; width: 310px; "><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:%D0%92%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%88%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D0%9B%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%8F2.jpg" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/%D0%92%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%88%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D0%9B%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%8F2.jpg/300px-%D0%92%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%88%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D0%9B%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%8F2.jpg" alt="икона 15 века, новгородская школа, Новгород, М..." style="border:none;display:block" width="300" height="458"></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:%D0%92%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%88%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D0%9B%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%8F2.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></p>Why does the demon possessing the boy in the account read today from the Gospel according to St. Mark treat the boy as he does, throwing him onto the fire, and into the water? The answer is simple: he is trying to destroy the image of God in that young man.<br />
<br />
One of the things that makes us different from the angels is that, unlike them, we are created in the image and after the likeness of God; and while we are created but a little lower than the angels, when the kingdom of God is established, we shall be closer to God than are they. Our Lord Jesus Christ never took on the form of an angel; but He did become incarnate, He did take on our form. As St, Athanasios the Great said, “He became like us in order that we might become like Him.” It is believed that this is why Lucifer, the Light-bearer, the greatest of the angelic order, rebelled against God, and led others to do the same: his pride would not allow him to accept that he one day would be subject to us. This is why the demons hate us; this is why they try to destroy us.<br />
<br />
What was true for the boy in the Gospel account is true for every one of us: there are demons who would love to throw us into fire and into water to destroy us. They cannot overthrow God; so they seek to destroy His image in us; and if they cannot destroy us in this world, they seek to make us their victims in the world to come, to cause us to suffer the torments they, too, will suffer when the Kingdom comes in its fullness. If we do not want to share their fate, we need to do something: we need to remove ourselves from being influenced by them. We should take note, then, of what our Lord says when His disciples ask why they were unable to heal the boy. “This kind,” He says, “come out only by prayer and fasting.” <br />
<br />
Each one of us has sins that we have learned to love; sins that we repeat, and against which we seem to be powerless. Like the father in the Gospel account, each of us, looking at our lives, can say, Lord, I believe; help me in my unbelief!” What is our help? Prayer and fasting. Every time we find ourselves repeating a sin, we should recognize the need to pray and to fast. Every time we find ourselves tempted to sin, we should pray and fast. Now that we are past the halfway point in Great Lent, with the celebration of Pascha coming ever nearer, we should pray and fast. <br />
<br />
Brothers and sisters, let us give thanks to God Who has made us but a little lower than the angels. Let us give thanks to God that He has made us in His image and after His likeness. Let us give thanks to God for the love that led Him to become one with us, and that led Him to the Cross for our salvation, and has given us a way to climb on high with Him. Let us fast and pray and give thanks, to the glory of God and the salvation of our souls.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top:10px;height:15px"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/efc74750-02e7-4236-a346-fcd444066b0b/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_b.png?x-id=efc74750-02e7-4236-a346-fcd444066b0b" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" style="border:none;float:right"></a><span class="zem-script more-related more-info pretty-attribution paragraph-reblog"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-21732576698449734532010-02-28T14:19:00.001-07:002010-02-28T14:20:49.703-07:00"I Am the Door"<p class="zemanta-img" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; float: right; display: block; width: 310px; "><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Chora_Anastasis1.jpg"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Chora_Anastasis1.jpg/300px-Chora_Anastasis1.jpg" alt="Chora Church/Museum, Istanbul,fresco,Anastasis..." style="border:none;display:block" width="300" height="224"></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Chora_Anastasis1.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></p>In the reading today from the holy Gospel according to St. John the Theologian, our Lord says of Himself that He is “the door.” What does He mean when He says this? One place we can go for insight is the reading from the holy Gospel according to St. Mark: a memorable scene, in which a paralyzed man, carried by four friends to our Lord to be healed, is actually brought into His presence by being lowered through a hole they made in the roof. What does the Lord tell this man to heal him? “Your sins are forgiven.”<br />
<br />
Of course, this stirs up the Pharisees, who sought at all times to live according to the 613 laws of Moses, because they thought that this was the pathway to salvation. Having dealt with the man’s problem, our Lord then dispels their objections by healing the man physically as well as spiritually, linking the two. This is important for us to understand; so let’s look at the objections raised by the dissenters.<br />
<br />
“Who but God can forgive sins?” they ask. Our Lord thus shows all who would raise this objection that He is, indeed, God, by restoring the paralyzed man to physical health, so that he could stand, pick up his bed, and return without help to his home. So it is that we begin to understand how we should grasp that our Lord says of Himself, “I am the door.”<br />
<br />
Remember that when Adam and Eve were cast out of Paradise, cut off from dwelling in the immediate and intimate presence of God, the gate – a form of a door – was guarded by cherubim with a flaming sword, to prevent Adam and Eve from seeking to return to the presence of God in that way. Now here is our Lord telling us that He, God, is the way for us to return to Paradise, to return to dwelling with God close by us – indeed, within us, something that Adam and Eve did not possess. He is the door to the abundant life He came to bring.<br />
<br />
How do we access that door? We access it by becoming like Him: by drawing near to Him with faith, in love, through prayer and fasting and giving and forgiving; and by living at peace, with the love of God, with all those around us. And, to the extent we fail to do these things in love, we confess our sins, asking forgiveness, and starting again – even if we must break through our own ceiling, our earthly desires and attachments, in order to be lowered into His presence to be healed by the forgiveness of our sins. <br />
<br />
Brothers and sisters, let us keep this in our hearts and on our minds as we journey through the forty days of fasting before Holy Week and Pascha. Let us remember that our Lord is the door by which we enter into eternal life; and let us, through the way of life of the Orthodox faith and church, strive to let the light and life of Christ be seen in and through us, so that we may enter through the Door, and bring others with us as well.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top:10px;height:15px"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/8620d7f6-73da-4760-ade6-1bbd4ac39dac/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_b.png?x-id=8620d7f6-73da-4760-ade6-1bbd4ac39dac" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" style="border:none;float:right"></a><span class="zem-script more-related more-info pretty-attribution paragraph-reblog"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-10825755568775321112010-02-21T16:27:00.000-07:002010-02-21T16:27:07.398-07:00The Triumph of Orthodoxy<p class="zemanta-img" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; float: right; display: block; width: 196px; "><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/71401718@N00/3280945818"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/3280945818_3920fd6a58_m.jpg" alt="Golden Dome, Russian Orthodox, Orthodox Church..." style="border:none;display:block" width="186" height="240"></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution">Image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/71401718@N00/3280945818">Wonderlane</a> via Flickr</span></p>Today is the “Sunday of Orthodoxy”; sometimes known as the “Triumph of Orthodoxy.” The celebration of this day, which takes place every year on the first Sunday of Great Lent, celebrates the decision made at the Seventh Ecumenical Council that icons do not violate the provisions of the second of the Ten Commandments, in that, by becoming incarnate, the invisible God Whose form could not be depicted properly in any way could now be seen, and so could be depicted in icons. The same was held to be true for icons depicting the Mother of God, and the saints, for all of them, though imperfect, show us the image of Christ – indeed, every person is made in the image, and after the likeness of God, and so each one of us is an icon of Christ.<br />
<br />
We come to church, and we find icons. We cross ourselves and bow, or make prostrations, before them. We offer prayers before them, asking for the prayerful assistance of the saint whose image we see, or of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, being aware of His presence with us in a special way through our seeing Him in the icon. We are not confused. Our Lord is not in the icon – at least, not in some magical way. For we know that our Lord Jesus Christ, being God, is everywhere present and fills all things through God the Holy Spirit. He is present in the icon only in the same way that He is, as we have said, “everywhere present.” But for those who understand – and the Orthodox Church has never required any of her members to revere the icons, only to avoid saying that the use of icons is idolatry – we are connected by faith with the person we see in the icon, and that the love and respect we show to the icon is not offered to wood and paint, but actually passes to the person who is the object of our devotion.<br />
<br />
But our bowing and prostrations and prayers are meaningless if we do not realize that these images are less important than the living icons standing here all around us. Our devotion and respect and prayers are meaningless if we forget that every living person is an icon, and do not treat them with the same devotion and respect we offer to the images of pigment on wood. The truth of our Orthodox faith, and the triumph of our faith, celebrated today, is worthless if it does not cause us to understand the connection between the icons in the Church and the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the homeless, the sick, and the imprisoned about whom we heard on the Sunday of the Last Judgment. Remember what our Lord said: for inasmuch as you have done these things unto one of these, you have done it unto Me; and to the extent you have not helped them, you have not helped Me – and each group receiving its reward. We will not be judged on the basis of how much we reverenced the icons we find in the church and in the prayer corners of our homes; we will be judged on the love and respect we have offered to the living icons all around us. That recognition and the action that flows from it, as we reach out in love to help another person – that is the real triumph of Orthodoxy. May God grant us the grace we need to be truly Orthodox, loving God, and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top:10px;height:15px"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/42e760f6-031e-46f8-a9cb-0deeedf70755/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_b.png?x-id=42e760f6-031e-46f8-a9cb-0deeedf70755" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" style="border:none;float:right"></a><span class="zem-script more-related more-info pretty-attribution paragraph-reblog"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-47147576664655602352010-02-14T22:14:00.000-07:002010-02-14T22:14:06.608-07:00Which Path Will You Choose?<p class="zemanta-img" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; float: right; display: block; width: 310px; "><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Crucifixion_by_Theophanes_the_Cretan.jpg"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/Crucifixion_by_Theophanes_the_Cretan.jpg/300px-Crucifixion_by_Theophanes_the_Cretan.jpg" alt="The Crucifixion" style="border:none;display:block" width="300" height="252"></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Crucifixion_by_Theophanes_the_Cretan.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></p>In the hymns during the Vigil for this joint celebration of the Casting Out of Adam and the Meeting of the Lord, we are presented with two pictures that give us an interesting contrast. One the one hand, the hymns from the Triodion show us, again and again, Adam outside the gates of Paradise, from which he had been expelled because of his sin, forced to leave his dwelling place in the intimate presence of God because of his unrighteousness. On the other hand, we see the righteous Symeon waiting in the Temple, the place where God promised to meet His people, receiving in his arms the One for whom he had been waiting; the One who would open once more the gates of Paradise for us to enter once more into the intimate presence of God. Adam is lamenting for his loss; Symeon is rejoicing that the promise God made to him has been fulfilled by the coming of the One God had promised to Adam.<br />
<br />
The world into which Adam was exiled is the same world in which we live today. It is the same world in which Symeon lived; it is the same world which our Lord Jesus Christ entered upon His incarnation. So we can see from Adam that it is possible to live in this world and feel cut off from God; but we can also see that God has entered into the world into which we were exiled in order to bring us back to where we belong; and we see in Symeon that it is possible for us to rejoice at what God is doing in this world, and to turn away from sin and all unrighteousness and live, as Symeon did, in a way pleasing to God.<br />
<br />
We are about to depart on the spiritual journey that takes us through Great Lent, coming to the city of Jerusalem as our Lord makes His entrance on Palm Sunday, watching and waiting with Him as He is arrested and mistreated, led to Golgotha, and His death on the Cross – and to the empty tomb on the morning of Pascha, as He rises from the dead, setting us free. Will we go through this season lamenting, like Adam, the loss of the things that we traditionally deny ourselves during this time? Or will we instead rejoice like Symeon that God has come into the world to save us, and we receive Him in our hearts as the righteous elder received Him in his arms? Brothers and sisters, the choice is ours. Which will you choose: Adam’s way? Or Symeon’s?<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top:10px;height:15px"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/7270693d-30ac-4dc9-b101-3b0b50ba594b/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_b.png?x-id=7270693d-30ac-4dc9-b101-3b0b50ba594b" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" style="border:none;float:right"></a><span class="zem-script more-related more-info pretty-attribution paragraph-reblog"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-53851107789480517372010-02-08T11:27:00.000-07:002010-02-08T11:27:31.566-07:00The Last Judgment<p class="zemanta-img" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; float: right; display: block; width: 310px; "><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Das_J%C3%BCngste_Gericht_%28Memling%29.jpg"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Das_J%C3%BCngste_Gericht_%28Memling%29.jpg/300px-Das_J%C3%BCngste_Gericht_%28Memling%29.jpg" alt="Last Judgement, Triptych" style="border:none;display:block" width="300" height="213"></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Das_J%C3%BCngste_Gericht_%28Memling%29.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></p>If I could convince you to memorize – or even just remember – only one portion of the Bible, it would have to be the reading today from the Gospel according to St. Matthew. It tells us, of course, about the Last Judgment. The hymns from the Triodion at the Vigil last night return constantly to the remembrance of death, and the need to prepare ourselves in this life to be ready for the day when our secrets will be revealed, and we will received what we are owed – and to remember that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.<br />
<br />
Today is also the day we commemorate the holy New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian land, who did not surrender themselves to those who wished to erase from the landscape of Russia the churches and monasteries and seminaries that covered the land – and to turn the hearts and minds of the people away from God and the preparation for a life in the kingdom of God, to obeying the secular rulers and building, as if such a thing were possible, the kingdom of heaven on earth. They resisted these efforts to destroy the Church and the Orthodox Faith, and suffered, some being killed and so becoming martyrs, while others endured imprisonment and tortures, becoming confessors. If, as Tertullian said, the blood of the martyrs – and the confessors, who also shed their blood, just not unto death – is the seed of the Church, then the Russian land was renewed by their blood. Just look at Russia today: the Bolsheviks no longer rule; their movement is shattered; and the Church is once more alive and growing.<br />
<br />
But even as the cathedrals and churches and monasteries and seminaries in the Russian land are rebuilt and renewed, all of this means nothing if we do not understand and apply what we are told in this parable from St. Matthew today. Beautiful churches are nothing more than gaudy tombs if the people inside them care more about the building than they do for the hungry and the sick and the homeless and the lonely. Reading your morning and evening prayers is a waste of time if you get angry at people in traffic, or judge another, or harbor evil thoughts against another in your heart. Fasting does nothing if we abstain from meat but take advantage of those around us for our own pleasure or our own gain. How terrible will it be for us to have received the Body and Blood of Christ, Who, because of His great love for us when we were unlovely and unlovable, became one with us and died for us, only to have us not love everyone who is made in His image more than we love ourselves?<br />
<br />
Brothers and sisters, the fathers tell us that we must be ever mindful that one day we will die, and then it will be too late to achieve the transformation of our souls. The New Martyrs and Confessors tell us that death can come suddenly, and unexpectedly, and so we must not waste a day, an hour, a minute – but must resolve today to live as Christians should, in the hope that, on that great and terrible day of Judgment, we shall be set on the right hand, with those who will enter into the rejoicing of the kingdom of heaven, and not sent to condemnation and torment because we loved ourselves more than we loved others. Let us love one another, as Christ loves us and gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God. May we put this love in action by reaching to others who are in need in body, mind and spirit, giving of ourselves and from what God has given to us, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the lonely, and to love and care for each other as icons of Christ.<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top:10px;height:15px"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/d63ef8a4-af38-429d-b1ad-391af2ab26a4/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_b.png?x-id=d63ef8a4-af38-429d-b1ad-391af2ab26a4" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" style="border:none;float:right"></a><span class="zem-script more-related more-info pretty-attribution paragraph-reblog"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-36569607044960554482010-01-07T16:44:00.000-07:002010-01-07T16:44:40.372-07:00The Beginning of the End<div class="zemanta-img" style="display: block; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; margin-top: 1em; width: 310px;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Statue-Augustus_white_background.jpg"><img alt="English: Augustus of Prima Porta, statue of th..." height="450" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Statue-Augustus_white_background.jpg/300px-Statue-Augustus_white_background.jpg" style="border: none; display: block;" width="300" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Statue-Augustus_white_background.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span><br />
</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">The most powerful nation on the face of the earth has ordered that a census be taken, so that everyone who a subject of that nation could be taxed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Little did they know that at that very moment in time something was taking place that was going to transform the world; and they were powerless to stop it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Truth was, they never saw it coming; and once it was underway, there was nothing they could do about it, although they certainly tried their best to eliminate it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the end, they were defeated; their empire crumbled into nothing; but what started then continues today, and the world remains powerless against it.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This is the scene for us in the reading of the birth of our Lord as described in the Gospel according to St. Luke, and today, from the Gospel according to St. Matthew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The nation, of course, was Rome; and St. Luke tells us that Augustus had ordered the taking of a census as a prelude to the story of our Lord’s birth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is that stark contrast between the two stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the one hand, the might and power of Rome, symbolized in their Emperor; on the other, a newborn baby, of humble parents, for whom there was no room at the inn, and so he was born in a cave that was being used as a stable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One the one hand, a military power that had conquered much of the world, against whom few other nations dared to stand; on the other, one helpless child who possesses all the power in heaven and on earth.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In one part of that world, a province of that Empire, someone did recognize that something was happening, and he did his best to destroy it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Herod, made king by the Romans, did all he could to destroy this new power coming into the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But his efforts failed, though the battle was costly: the innocent young boys slain in his attempt to retain his title, the King of the Jews.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These were but the first of the hundreds, and then thousands, and then millions who would be killed for their allegiance to this child, rather than to the princes and powers of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Now we live in what is arguably the most powerful nation on the face of the earth, one against whom few dare stand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That nation, in ways far more subtle than those of Herod, does not seek to destroy those who today proclaim their loyalty to the King born in a stable by killing them outright.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather, it seduces, it teases, it promises, and it misleads – and any of the flowers of this newborn King must battle their own passions, lest these be turned against them and lead them to degradation and destruction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet the world remains powerless to those who embrace the life of this King, for He has defeated the last enemy – death – something no power in the world can achieve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He promises the victory to those who will stand with Him in faith, even at the passing away of the world.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Brothers and sisters, with the birth of the Son of God wrapped in our humanity as He was wrapped in his body with swaddling clothes, our victory is assured; but the battle must be fought, and the battleground is within us, in our hearts and minds and souls and bodies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To succeed, we need only follow what the victors who have gone before us have done:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pray; fast; give from the wealth God has entrusted to us; love; forgive, being patient and humble, and seeking heavenly things rather than earthly gains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The time of our liberation is at hand; and if we will live as Orthodox Christians, the world is powerless to stop us.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Christ is born!<br />
</div><br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/a8d37374-4f3e-4ad1-bdc0-2fd99f6f279d/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_b.png?x-id=a8d37374-4f3e-4ad1-bdc0-2fd99f6f279d" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related more-info pretty-attribution paragraph-reblog"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-7854548054356127012010-01-06T14:21:00.000-07:002010-01-06T14:21:31.587-07:00A Tale of Two Kingdoms<div class="MsoNormal">The Reading today from the Gospel according to St. Matthew describes how King Herod responded to the news that a King of the Jews had been born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was, of course, unpleasantly surprised, inasmuch as he had been made king of the Jews by the Romans, on who behalf he ruled Judea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although not read today, we have the advantage of knowing the next part of the story:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>how he sends his troops to Bethlehem with orders to kill all the male children in the region aged two years or less, according to the time when the magi told him the star they had followed to find him had appeared.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This is an instance of how the world responded to the news that God was setting in motion the completion of the promise He had made to Adam and Eve even as they were forced to leave Paradise, no longer able to dwell in the intimate presence of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said that there would be enmity between the seed of the woman (that is, all her offspring, including us) and the serpent, that is, Satan, the deceiver, who led Eve astray, and through her, Adam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By their action, Adam and Eve delivered the world, which had been given to them, into the hands of Satan, the power of the prince of the air, the ruler of this world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the prophecy was that one of the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent; and now that child has come into the world.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">That power and that promise are still active in the world today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That the world does not understand what is taking place can be seen in the efforts, sometimes laughable, of many scientists who try to find a way to make a celestial object – a star – behave so as to be able to lead people across hundreds or thousands of miles, not only to a specific country, not only to a specific city, but to a specific location in a specific city – to the cave where the newborn child lay in a manger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All they need to do is read the fathers, and find that the wise men were led their by an angel, shining with the light of the glory of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That angel and that light remain in the world today, through our guardian angels, and the Angel of Great Counsel, who is Christ Himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we embrace the life of Christ born within us when we are baptized, the world will try, as Herod tried, as Satan tried, to destroy us; but if we embrace that life and light, the world may come against us, but it cannot overcome us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Brothers and sisters, let us embrace that light, let us allow the life of Christ to be seen in us, in what we do, in what we say, in who we are, so that others may be drawn to the light, and join chorus with us in praising the God of our salvation.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Our King and Savior is drawing near.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Come, let us adore Him!<br />
</div><br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/8fffe1a6-c79b-4153-9ead-b166af2ab7e6/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_b.png?x-id=8fffe1a6-c79b-4153-9ead-b166af2ab7e6" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related more-info pretty-attribution paragraph-reblog"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-3284640136362393932010-01-03T14:52:00.000-07:002010-01-03T14:52:13.212-07:00Preparing for the Coming of Christ<div class="zemanta-img" style="display: block; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; margin-top: 1em; width: 310px;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Florentinischer_Meister_um_1300_001.jpg"><img alt="Florentine mosaic Last Judgement of about 1300" height="239" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Florentinischer_Meister_um_1300_001.jpg/300px-Florentinischer_Meister_um_1300_001.jpg" style="border: none; display: block;" width="300" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Florentinischer_Meister_um_1300_001.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span><br />
</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Today is the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of our Lord Jesus Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is also the Sunday before the Nativity of our Lord; so this season of preparation for the celebration of His coming in the flesh is drawing to an end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Has everyone finished their shopping?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Unfortunately, that seems to be the highlight of this holiday – actually, we should say, “holy day,” which is the origin of the word, “holiday”:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>feasting, parties, decorations, presents – and let me say that there is nothing wrong with any of these things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is easy for us to lose sight of what we are celebrating, and lose our connection to the holy with our focus on the earthly side of the holiday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to remember first that Christmas – again, more properly called, the Nativity of our Lord – is not the culmination of the Christian life, or faith, or message.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You wouldn’t know that if you look at how the various holidays are celebrated here in this land, in this culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the Nativity, as important as it is, pales in comparison to the celebration of Pascha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, it’s true:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No Nativity, no Pascha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Pascha is the pinnacle, the completion; and the Nativity isn’t even really the beginning of what is finished at Pascha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The beginning of the work of bringing about our salvation is the feast of the Theophany, which we’ll celebrate in a few weeks, some twelve days after the Nativity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until that time, there was no public ministry on our Lord’s part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that time, He begins to proclaim that the kingdom of God is near, gathering followers and disciples, working miracles, healing the sick, and starting down the road that will lead to Gethsemane, death, and resurrection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If that is the story from beginning to the end, the Nativity is the prologue, the introduction, letting us see how the story itself is set in motion.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The setting in which the Nativity is the highlight, the completion, is the feast celebrated today, the Holy Fathers of the Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the patriarchs whose trust in God led them to a new land, the Holy Land, to Moses the Lawgiver, and Joshua and the judges who ruled Israel guided by God, to David the King and the other rulers, to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Hosea, Amos, and the prophets, God is at work fulfilling His promise to Adam and Eve and all their descendents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God made things ready for His people to receive One Who would be prophet, priest, and king:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His Son, whose birth in a cave we celebrate this week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We see in the Holy Fathers Faith, the Law, and the Prophets, all needed for us to understand Who Christ is, and to receive Him as Lord and Savior, as we should.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We should not lose sight of this, either, even as we make our plans and carry out our celebrations.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Finally, as we celebrate Christ’s coming into the world, for which celebration we have been preparing ourselves in this season, we should always keep in mind that He has promised to return.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We should always be preparing at least as much for His second coming as we do to celebrate His first coming – for unlike the time when He was born in that cave, and laid in a manger, He will return in glory, with His angels; and while this time after His birth is a time of mercy, a time for repentance, a time for the transformation of our lives, then, when He comes again, He comes to judge the living and the dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does anyone want to come to that great and terrible day of Judgment without making some preparations?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think not; but can we truthfully say that our preparations for that day are even close to being equal to the time and energy and attention we put into the celebration of the Nativity?<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Brothers and sisters, it’s later than we think; the time is drawing closer, even if we do not know the day and hour of His return.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we give thanks to God for the gift of love He has given us by giving us His Son, let us also ask for the grace we need to be ready to rejoice in His presence when He comes again to judge the world.<br />
</div><br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/5b8b1e40-90b6-4590-abe6-e0eb0b763552/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_b.png?x-id=5b8b1e40-90b6-4590-abe6-e0eb0b763552" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related more-info pretty-attribution paragraph-reblog"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-38517288089649328132009-12-27T18:31:00.000-07:002009-12-27T18:31:31.242-07:00A Dinner Invitation: What's Your Excuse?<div class="MsoNormal">Today we celebrate the holy forefathers of our Lord Jesus Christ, the patriarchs and the prophets and the other holy men and women from Adam and Eve to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to Moses and Joshua, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel up to John the Baptizer, the last of the Old Testament prophets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we read the Old Testament, we should do so to learn not only of the history of God’s involvement with us, but also to learn the many ways in which we were being prepared for the coming of Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, we know that the prophets told us of His coming, from the “Suffering Servant” mentioned in the prophecies of Isaiah, and of His miraculous birth, also found in the book of the prophet Isaiah, who foretold that the Virgin would conceive and would bear a child, whose name would be called, “Immanuel” – that is, “God with us.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if we read and learn, we may also recognize in Abel a prefiguring of Christ the Good Shepherd, who was the first to offer sacrifice pleasing to God, for which he became the first martyr.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We might learn of the faith of Abraham that led him to depart from his homeland to the place where God would lead him, to give him a home, even as we are called to leave this world behind to follow where God leads, to our true dwelling-place with Him in His kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would see the sacrifice of our Lord in the offering of Isaac, we would see the faith of Ruth and Rahab the prostitute, and many, many others, all of whom can teach us about who we are and who we are meant to be as followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, Whose coming fulfilled the promise God made to Adam and Eve even as they were being forced to leave Paradise because of their sin, that a Deliverer would come to set us free from sin and death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we draw near to the celebration of the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord, we do well to prepare ourselves, to learn, and to live as we should.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In the reading today from the Gospel according to St. Luke, we hear of the man who prepares a great feast, and sends his servants to gather those who had been invited to take part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they respond by making excuses as to why they cannot attend; and so the host sends his servants out again and again, to gather the uninvited as guests, even using force to compel them to enter, until the hall has been filled; but, in his anger, he declares that those who had been invited would now be refused entrance to the feast.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">What shall we make of this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you realize that a feast has been prepared for you this very day, and that all who desire to take part and have prepared themselves will be fed with the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What excuses have kept you from accepting the invitation today?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is true, no one will compel you to come today – no one will be forced to come to the feast today, nor next Sunday, nor on the Feast of the Nativity itself – but why do you not come?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why do you refuse the hospitality of our God, Who desires that we share in His rejoicing in His Son, our Savior?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brothers and sisters, a day is coming when we will make excuses to not attend His feast, and find that we are no longer welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us not harden our hearts, and so risk being denied a place at the great banquet of the kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us prepare ourselves with fasting, confession, repentance and prayer; and let us come to the Mystical Supper, especially on the day we celebrate the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ into our midst, remembering also that He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us strive by the grace of God given to us in our baptism and in the Lord’s Supper to be ready for the day of His return, that we may celebrate and rejoice to behold Him.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Our King and Savior is drawing near!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Come, let us adore Him.<br />
</div><br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/e9bf026d-7344-4034-b938-85314b21bda5/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_b.png?x-id=e9bf026d-7344-4034-b938-85314b21bda5" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related more-info pretty-attribution paragraph-reblog"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-47689120520567742652009-12-22T01:23:00.000-07:002009-12-22T01:23:34.496-07:00"Where are the Other Nine?"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9aYUO6R1lw-Yu843l4pkl-dsaEDqcQIMGT5RCBDzcnaX0a1ho5uQbDi_IfJIX3PWyjQSUB_9-HpzYpCIUO9gVmWy7qK4qaoxzE7Bc72K4398A_hn7r2R3v-vq91L3_1wLc9ID/s1600-h/st+ambrose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9aYUO6R1lw-Yu843l4pkl-dsaEDqcQIMGT5RCBDzcnaX0a1ho5uQbDi_IfJIX3PWyjQSUB_9-HpzYpCIUO9gVmWy7qK4qaoxzE7Bc72K4398A_hn7r2R3v-vq91L3_1wLc9ID/s200/st+ambrose.jpg" /></a><br />
</div>Our holy father Ambrose of Milan was born to a Christian mother and a pagan father, who was the Roman governor of the province in which Milan was the principal city. When his father died, the emperor appointed Ambrose in his place. It was in his capacity as governor that he went to the church in Milan, where the bishop had died, causing a division in the congregation between the Orthodox Christians and those who were followers of the heresy taught by Arius. Although Ambrose had gone to keep the peace, a child at its mother’s breast cried out, “Ambrose for bishop!” – a cry taken up by others as well, who considered it to be the voice of God. Ambrose was baptized, consecrated reader, and ordained a subdeacon, deacon, and priest all within one week, at the end of which he was consecrated as the Bishop of Milan. He slept very little, worked tirelessly, prayed without ceasing and fasted every day except Saturday and Sunday. Because of this, he was privileged to see many great works of God, and to perform them, as well. He healed the sick, cast out demons, and even raised the dead. Humble before those whose position in society was lower than his, he was fearless with the nobility; he even ordered that the Emperor Theodosius not be permitted to enter any church until the Emperor repented of his sins. He departed this life on the morning of Pascha in the year 397 A.D.<br />
<br />
In the reading today from the Gospel according to St. Luke, we hear the account of the healing of the ten lepers, one of whom, a Samaritan, returns to give thanks, prompting our Lord to ask, “Where are the other nine?” Presumably, those who did not return to say, “Thank you,” were from the people of the first Covenant, to whom God had revealed Himself in a special way, setting them apart from everyone else on the earth. It was this group of people who had been given the promise of the Messiah, and the prophecies about Him. Now He had come; but among these ten lepers, the only one to recognize Him was someone from outside the house of God.<br />
<br />
We should always pay attention when the circumstances and responses of those who had been given the first Covenant by God are the subject of the story, because now that group is us, the people of the new Covenant. We are partakers of the special revelation of God to us in Jesus Christ; we are the beneficiaries of the promise of God; and now we can enjoy the special relationship that sets us apart from all other forms of belief, worship, and practices. But can we honestly say that we are doing any better than our predecessors? Like them, we are more likely to live according to the ways of the world, rather than the way of life required by God. Like those who are not members of the community of the new Covenant, we are not looking for the second coming of Christ; and, like the nine who were healed but did not return to give thanks, we daily experience the loving mercy of God, but so often fail to give thanks to God, much less give thanks to God when things do not go the way we’d like them to go. God might look at St. Ambrose, and the good example of his life, and, thinking that the saint was not made in any way differently than any of us, ask, “Where are the others?”<br />
<br />
Brothers and sisters, let us not be like those who, having been blessed by healing in the Gospel account today, failed to return to give thanks and to bow down at the feet of our Lord. Let us set our hearts and minds to give thanks to God even in the midst of sickness and suffering, and certainly when we have been given good things by God. Let us not follow any longer the ways and practices and beliefs of the culture around us, but rather let us beg God to give us His grace and strength to follow instead the example of life given to us by our holy father Ambrose, of the saint whose name we bear, and of the most holy Lady Theotokos.<br />
<br />
Holy hierarch, father Ambrose, pray to God for us!<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/e119d082-9a94-4924-8695-6d03f93da53e/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_b.png?x-id=e119d082-9a94-4924-8695-6d03f93da53e" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
</script><br />
</div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-72695564901451133202009-12-19T13:58:00.000-07:002009-12-19T13:58:06.026-07:00Saint Nicholas: The Power of Love<p class="zemanta-img" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; float: right; display: block; width: 310px; "><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Russian_icon_Instaplanet_Saint_Nicholas.JPG"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Russian_icon_Instaplanet_Saint_Nicholas.JPG/300px-Russian_icon_Instaplanet_Saint_Nicholas.JPG" alt="An example of Russian icons of St. Nicholas fl..." style="border:none;display:block" width="300" height="373"></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Russian_icon_Instaplanet_Saint_Nicholas.JPG">Wikipedia</a></span></p>Our father among the saints, Nicholas, was the only child born to wealthy parents, and was instructed in the Christian faith by his uncle (also named Nicholas), who was the bishop in the town of Patara, where St. Nicholas was born. When his parents reposed, Nicholas gave away his considerable inheritance to help the poor, and entered the monastery his uncle had established. It was his uncle who tonsured Nicholas as a monk, and who ordained Nicholas a priest. Throughout his life, Nicholas was known for his love and mercy, and for miracles worked both before and after his repose. Part of his legacy can be seen in his presence in our midst even today. Many nations, including Russia, look to him as a protector of their land and people, and more than 1,200 churches are named in his honor, including 400 in Great Britain – more than any other saint. It is estimated that western artists have depicted him more frequently than any other saint, apart from the most holy Theotokos. Many people don’t realize that the “right jolly old elf” dressed in red and driving a sleigh with reindeer has his origins in this saint: “Santa Claus” is the anglicized version of “Sinter Klaus” – Dutch for, “St. Nicholas.”<br />
<br />
Most of us are familiar with certain aspects of the life of St. Nicholas. Probably the most well-known story is how the saint secretly provided gold coins to a family where poverty threatened to cause the sale of three daughters into prostitution. The gold – in some stories, it is dropped down a chimney to land in the stockings of the daughters, which had been hung by the fire in order to dry – spared the family from such a terrible decision. Many of us also know, and, in a way, sort of enjoy, the story of how St. Nicholas, enraged by the heretical teachings of Arius, struck Arius – according to some accounts, he punched Arius in the nose – at the Council of Nicaea in the year 325. Perhaps you even know how, on two separate occasions, St. Nicholas intervened to spare three men who had been wrongfully sentenced to be executed: once, when he confronted a regional governor who had take a bribe to find three men guilty; and again when he appeared in a dream to the Emperor Constantine to tell him that three officials of the imperial court were innocent of the charges that had been brought against them. IN each case, the condemned men were set free.<br />
<br />
While these stories are familiar to us, we seem to be less familiar with the deeper details of the life of the saint, the details that make such actions as are celebrated in these stories possible. What power makes it possible to confront a government official, risking imprisonment or even death – and St. Nicholas certainly suffered for the faith during the persecutions under the emperors Diocletian and Maximian – to save innocent lives? What power makes it possible to stand up against popular false teachings to defend the Christian faith? What power – and this is particularly crucial in our world today – makes it possible to break the grip of wealth and possessions, and to give away a fortune? There is only one power capable of doing these things: the power of the love of God in Jesus Christ, that flows through those who love God above all else, and whose love flows to everyone made in the image of God, making them sources of God’s love for each one of us to everyone around them. If we do not love God, we will not put ourselves at risk to protest injustice and unrighteousness, to spare others from suffering or to save innocent lives. If we do not love God, we will not take a stand against false teachings; and we will even make compromises with teachings and practices that do not agree with those of the Orthodox Church and faith. If we do not love God, then we cannot truly love each other as we should; and the things of this world that attract and hold our attention – wealth, fame, honor, power, pleasure – these will capture us and keep us from rising toward heaven, as St. Nicholas rose, living as an angel on the earth in the midst of others.<br />
St. Nicholas is loved by many because he loved so richly. His love for God caused him to turn his back on the world, giving away his worldly possessions, and not seeking any worldly honors. His love for God led him to be obedient when, in pursuing a solitary life, he was instructed by God to live his life in the midst of the people around him. His love for God led him to love every one of us – and in his love for us, to seek justice and righteousness for us, and to give gifts of love. <br />
<br />
Brothers and sisters, let us love one another as Christ loves us – for He went to His passion and death through the power of His love. Let us love one another as St. Nicholas loves us, and ask for the grace to follow the example of his life.<br />
<br />
Holy hierarch, father Nicholas, pray to God for us!<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top:10px;height:15px"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/8beb011a-24b0-4ca4-9026-a7a668e305bc/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_b.png?x-id=8beb011a-24b0-4ca4-9026-a7a668e305bc" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" style="border:none;float:right"></a><span class="zem-script more-related more-info pretty-attribution paragraph-reblog"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-69098749267063103152009-12-14T14:20:00.000-07:002009-12-14T14:20:35.860-07:00Church Growth? "Come and See..."<p class="zemanta-img" style="margin:1em;float:right;display:block"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/8545333@N07/2236200705"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2114/2236200705_56aa64911d_m.jpg" alt="DUCCIO di Buoninsegna Calling of Apostles Pete..." style="border:none;display:block"></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution">Image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/8545333@N07/2236200705">carulmare</a> via Flickr</span></p>Is there anyone who does not want the church to increase? Think about that…<br />
<br />
Today we celebrate the feast of the holy Apostle Andrew the First-called. He is given the title, “the First-called” because it he, with another of the disciples of St. John the Baptizer, were shown the Lord by the Forerunner. We do not know the other disciple’s name; nor would we know Andrew’s, except that he responded not only to the instruction of the Lord to follow Him, but also by going to find his brother, Simon, and telling him to come and see for himself that the man Jesus was the Messiah, the anointed one of God, for Whom they and all the faithful in Israel had been awaiting His coming. When Simon saw the Lord, he was given the name, “Cephas,” which we know as “Peter”; both terms deriving from the words for “rock” in Aramaic and in Greek. Thus, it is also fair to say that St. Andrew was also the first evangelist; although surely St. John the Baptizer might also be given this honor.<br />
<br />
When the faithful were forced to flee from Jerusalem because of the persecutions of the Church growing there, the holy apostle Andrew went to the region of Byzantium, and then along the Danube and the Black Sea and even to Kiev before returning to Greece, having established churches, consecrated bishops and ordained priest along the way during his journey. In the Greek city of Patras, he preached the Gospel; among his converts were the wife and brother of the Roman governor, who was furious, and ordered the arrest and torture of the apostle. He was executed by crucifixion; and as he was on the Cross, the faithful came to him, and he taught them, then prayed, was covered with a bright light for some thirty minutes, and then yielded his spirit into the hands of God. He departed this life for the next in the sixty-second year of our Lord.<br />
<br />
In the reading from the holy Gospel according to St. John the Theologian, in which we heard about the holy apostle Andrew, we hear as well about the apostles Philip and Nathaniel, and there is a common theme at play. The Lord finds Philip, and say to him, “Follow me.” Philip, in turn, goes to his friend Nathaniel, and says that they have found the One they had been waiting for, of Whom Moses and the prophets had foretold. Nathaniel is skeptical at first; “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” But he responds to Philip’s invitation, “Come and see”; and, when he meets Jesus, he, too, becomes a disciple.<br />
<br />
What does any of this have to do with us? I’m sure that most, if not all, of you would answer the question I asked at the beginning in the affirmative: Yes, we want the church to grow. Well, growing the church is a lot like growing a garden. It’s not enough to go to the place where you want the garden, and sprinkling some seeds on the ground, and hoping for the best. If you want your garden to grow, it’s going to take some work: preparing the ground, planting the seeds, watering, pulling the weeds, and so on. The same thing is true for growing the church: it takes work. More than anything else, we need to work at living in the Orthodox way of life, so that what we say agrees with what we do; and we need to be willing to admit our mistakes, when we fail to live as did the fathers and the saints. But there’s a lesson for us in the Gospel about what we need to do, and it’s not terribly complicated. In order to have the church grow, we have to do what the holy apostles Andrew and Philip did: we have to invite people; we have to say, “Come and see.”<br />
<br />
In part, this requires us to heed the teaching of the holy apostle Peter, who wrote that we must be prepared at all times and in every season to give an account of the hope that is within us. What hope is that? It is the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, a life on which death has no claim and no hold – the life given to us in our baptism. Our hope is in the love of God in Jesus Christ, by which our sins are forgiven and our souls are saved. If we consider what God has done, and is doing, for us, and if we receive the love God intends for each and every one of us, then we should find ourselves able to say to those we know who are broken and hurting, and to those who are searching, and to those who are in darkness, “Come and see.” Brothers and sisters, if we live with the desire to reveal Christ in us, the hope of glory, if we live loving everyone around us as Christ, and if we will say to them, “Come and see,” the church will grow, God will be glorified, and souls will be saved. May God, through the prayers of the holy apostle Andrew, give us the grace to join in his labors, and to say to as many as we can, “Come and see.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top:10px;height:15px"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/2a20990b-746b-4c4f-806f-0d53be9e7a78/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_b.png?x-id=2a20990b-746b-4c4f-806f-0d53be9e7a78" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" style="border:none;float:right"></a><span class="zem-script more-related more-info pretty-attribution paragraph-reblog"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-3719835505809526732009-12-07T11:00:00.001-07:002009-12-07T11:01:37.123-07:00Riches, Retirement, and the Kingdom of HeavenThis is the time of year when the accountants and tax preparers are contacting us to help us with the end-of-the-year steps we can take to reduce our tax bills for the year. If you haven’t already heard an appeal from some agency about making an end of the year donation on the television or on the radio or on the internet or in a newspaper, magazine, or email, you probably will in the next few weeks.<br />
<br />
In the first reading today from the Gospel according to St. Luke, we hear the parable of a man who is wealthy in worldly terms, whose riches are increasing so much that he needs to build larger barns in which to store his possessions. We also hear him planning his retirement into a life that he expects will be comfortable.<br />
<br />
Now, to this point in the story, who among us would not want to be in the same situation: to be rich; to have additional riches at hand; and to have the prospect of a comfortable retirement? Most of us would take a deal like that with barely a moment’s thought. <br />
<br />
Of course, being familiar with the rest of the parable, perhaps we wouldn’t be as quick to exchange our situation for his. We hear him called a fool by God; and we learn that his soul will be required of him that very night. What, then, will come of his wealth and his plans? As we all know very well, “You can’t take it with you.”<br />
<br />
Truth be told, most of us are, indeed, very much like the rich man in the parable. This is not to say that we are rich – although you must admit that, by the standard of living of most people around the world today, as well as the vast majority of those who have ever lived – the average American lives more comfortably, more abundantly, than almost anyone anywhere at any time. But it is true that there are people who have more material possessions and greater worldly wealth than we have. But it is not on the basis of wealth alone that makes us like the man in the parable. We are like him in that our thoughts and concerns are dominated by the things of this world; we pursue wealth in order to make our own lives more comfortable – and we do this even though we know that we do not know when our own soul will be required to come into the presence of God and to give an accounting of how we used the things that God entrusted to us – time, talents, and treasures – not for ourselves alone, but for the good of all. Like the man in the parable, we are rich in worldly terms, but poor in spiritual things: praying, fasting, giving, loving.<br />
<br />
The truth is, we <i>can</i> take it with us. Not in its worldly form; but by using the time and talents and treasures we have been given to lay up wealth for ourselves in the kingdom of heaven. By feeding the hungry, by clothing the naked, by visiting the sick and those in hospitals and prisons, and, yes, by giving to help support the work of the church, we can employ the things of this world for the benefit of others now, and for our own benefit in the world to come. Then, we will not be like the man in the parable, finding ways to store our wealth here while contemplating a comfortable retirement. Rather, we will have the safest place of all to store our wealth; and the hope of eternity sharing the love of God with Him and each other in His kingdom, because we have already learned how to do so in this world.<br />
<br />
Brothers and sisters, let us not be ignorant, and let us not be lazy, but rather let us set our minds to use what God has entrusted to us for the service of His people, to give glory to God, and to bear witness to Him in the world.<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top:10px;height:15px"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/96c6bc49-eb4d-4348-b22c-de3c93b052dc/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=96c6bc49-eb4d-4348-b22c-de3c93b052dc" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" style="border:none;float:right"></a><span class="zem-script more-related more-info pretty-attribution paragraph-reblog"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-73190569057584684082009-11-30T07:54:00.000-07:002009-11-30T07:54:00.621-07:00Mercy, Not SacrificeToday we celebrate and remember the holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew. He was a tax collector – every bit as unpopular at the time as he would be today – and was at his work when the Lord Jesus called to him, saying, “Follow me.” To his credit, Matthew did so, leaving behind all worldly possessions and possibilities, choosing instead an inheritance in the kingdom of heaven. According to tradition (although modern Biblical scholarship may say otherwise), he wrote the first account of the birth, life, and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ; and the account he wrote is first among the four Gospels in the New Testament canon. This is why he is called an Apostle and an Evangelist: for he was one of the Twelve who accompanied our Lord, and one of the four who wrote about Him after His passion, crucifixion, resurrection from the dead, and ascension into heaven. St. Matthew went to Ethiopia, where he established a church and consecrated a bishop. He also baptized the wife and son of a prince of that land, causing the prince to seek the arrest of the apostle. The first band of soldiers sent to bring him to the prince returned without him, saying they had heard his voice, but could not see him. The second detachment found the saint, but the light that shined from him dazzled them so that they cast down their weapons and ran away. The prince himself went to find the saint, and was blinded by the same light; his sight being restored only by the prayers of St. Matthew. This did not prevent the prince from seizing the apostle; and, after many tortures, in which he was protected and sustained by the Lord, the holy apostle yielded his spirit to his Master. The prince ordered that his body be placed in a casket made of lead and thrown into the sea; but the bishop, following the appearance of the apostle in a dream, found the body. It was this miracle that brought the prince to repent, and to embrace the Christian faith; and he became first a priest, and then later the bishop of that land, serving the Lord as a faithful shepherd of the flock until his own falling asleep in the Lord.<br />
<br />
In the reading from the Gospel bearing his name, we hear of the feast that St. Matthew gave after he left behind his earthly life to follow the way of Jesus Christ. It is striking to hear how the Pharisees criticized our Lord for sitting down to eat with tax collectors and sinners. We should recall that the Pharisees sought to fulfill all the commandments of the law of Moses, which included avoiding meals with those who were “unclean” – and certainly Matthew and the others gathered for the feast he gave qualified for that distinction in the eyes of the Pharisees. Our Lord speaks to them; and we would do well to hear and understand what He is saying. First, He says that He did not come for the righteous, but to save sinners. Then, He rebukes them, saying, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Of course, it is the work of an evangelist to bring the good news of our salvation in Jesus Christ to those who do not yet know Him, who have not yet come to Him for mercy and forgiveness and new life in Him. We don’t have any real problems with the first part of His reply to the Pharisees. But that second part? For some reason, this can be a very real challenge for some of us as we seek to embrace and practice the Orthodox way of life.<br />
<br />
The danger for us is that we can get so caught up in trying to do everything right that we can miss the real center of the Orthodox faith: to love God with the fullness of our being, and to love others as we love ourselves. If we remember to pray, but do not remember the poor, what god does praying do for us? If we remember the fast, but do not feed the hungry, does our fasting really benefit us? If we confess our sins, but judge others in our hearts, have we truly confessed? If we pay more attention to what others are doing while we are in church than we are to the prayers, have we really taken part in the worship of God? “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” says the Lord – and I take that to include the need for us to be blind to the faults of everyone else, except perhaps in order to pray for them, and to not be so focused on outward acts, as valuable as these may be, that we do not remember to forgive, and to love, and to be patient, and to be humble, and not to judge, or tell another person what to do – unless, of course, they come to you and ask.<br />
<br />
Brothers and sisters, let us leave behind the ways of the world – including the ways of the Pharisees – and, following the example of the holy apostle and evangelist Matthew, let us be transformed from our lives in this sinful world to shine with the light of the love of God in Jesus Christ, even to the point of praying for those who seek our deaths.<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top:10px;height:15px"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/132c8c86-dcea-4ca0-bd1b-08d8a654309f/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=132c8c86-dcea-4ca0-bd1b-08d8a654309f" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" style="border:none;float:right"></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-25827720642998463992009-11-22T17:38:00.000-07:002009-11-22T17:38:02.905-07:00Good Fruit from Dry SticksAmong the saints commemorated today is our holy father John Kolobos (little, or dwarf) of Egypt, a friend of St. Paisios the Great, and teacher of St. Arsenius the Great. Among the aspects of his life we learn how, as a novice, he was given an obedience by his spiritual father, St. Pambo, to plant a dry stick in the ground, and to water it every day until it produced leaves. St. John watered that stick every day for three years, until, by the grace of God, the stick produced leaves, and then fruit, which St. Pambo gathered and took to the church, saying, “Come and taste the fruit of obedience!”<br />
<br />
<p class="zemanta-img" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; float: right; display: block; width: 310px; "><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mikharkhangel.jpg"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Mikharkhangel.jpg/300px-Mikharkhangel.jpg" alt="Michael (archangel)" style="border:none;display:block" width="300" height="373"></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mikharkhangel.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></p>Yesterday, we celebrated the festival of the holy archangel Michael and all the other bodiless powers with the added blessing of the presence of the most holy Theotokos through her Kursk Root Icon, whose visit was a great privilege and blessing. We considered how it is that the nature of angels, who certainly appear far more powerful than we are ourselves, not to have dominion, but rather are called to serve. We remember that it is said of many of the saints that they lived as angels on earth; and how each of us is called to be the servant of everyone around us, honoring and respecting every person because they are made in the image and after the likeness of God, and, being blind to, and quick to forgive, their sins, remembering only our own sins, to consider all others as being more worthy of honor and respect than we may ever be ourselves.<br />
<br />
Everyone, I am sure, will agree that actually obtaining this ideal requires a great deal of labor, a great deal of struggle. Yet the life of St. John Kolobos and his watering of the stick should encourage us, as we should also be encouraged by the account of the woman with an issue of blood, of whom we hear in the reading today from the Gospel according to St. Luke. No doctor was able to cure her, and she suffered daily for twelve years; but drawing near to our Lord Jesus Christ by faith, and touching only the fringe of His garment, she was healed. Both her healing and the restoration of life and the bearing of fruit from what was once a dry stick are beyond our power to achieve, or to comprehend; yet both are possible by the grace of God.<br />
<br />
Brothers and sisters, in so many ways we are like the woman with an issue of blood: suffering the loss of our lives both bodily and spiritually because we have cut ourselves off from the root of Life by our sins. We are like the dry stick: lifeless, and with no chance of bearing fruit. But if we will put our trust and hope in the Lord, and draw near to Him by prayer and fasting and all the other practices of our Orthodox way of life, and persevere in doing so, even when all it might seem that we are doing is watering with faith a dry, lifeless stick, by our obedience, by desiring and pursuing the grace of God, not the least of which by drawing near with fear and faith to regularly receive the holy mysteries of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we may have hope that we also, like the woman with an issue of blood, and like the dry stick, may be healed, and so bear the fruits of the Spirit, and so live in such a way that others may taste of that fruit, and draw near to God, and so be saved.<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top:10px;height:15px"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/1d12764b-27e1-4772-ac19-bd53f8e0f6c5/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=1d12764b-27e1-4772-ac19-bd53f8e0f6c5" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" style="border:none;float:right"></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-2053489292162173932009-11-22T06:39:00.000-07:002009-11-22T06:39:08.618-07:00Living as Angels on Earth<p class="zemanta-img" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; float: right; display: block; width: 310px; "><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Goldenlocks.jpg"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Goldenlocks.jpg/300px-Goldenlocks.jpg" alt="12th-century icon of Archangel Gabriel from No..." style="border:none;display:block" width="300" height="380"></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Goldenlocks.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></p>Have you ever thought about the angels? Most of us, I’d suspect, usually don’t, unless we find ourselves in a difficult situation, and then remember to ask our guardian angel for help. Thinking about the angels isn’t something easily done in the culture of the world in which we live. Many people, when angels are mentioned, get an image of a golden-haired person in a long white robe with white wings. Of course, as the “traditional” beginning of the Christmas shopping season is less than a week away, soon we’re going to be surrounded with this sort of image of the angels.<br />
<br />
Our Orthodox fathers teach us something different; an aspect of which can be seen on the deacon’s doors – the side doors into the altar, one on either side of the royal doors. The door to the right quite often is an icon of St. Michael the Archangel, dressed for battle; while the door to the left is quite often the archangel Gabriel, who, while not in armor, is nevertheless a figure of power, much different from the angels on Christmas cards and atop Christmas trees. The fathers teach us that, before God created the heavens and the earth, the nine ranks of angels were created. They are not material beings, as we are; they are spiritual beings, super-intelligences, able to take on the appearance of having being, and so to interact with the material world. The fathers also teach that the foremost of these created beings, Lucifer, the “bringer of light,” led a revolt of some of the angels after having beheld God’s plan for creation, and especially for mankind, to be created in the image and after the likeness of God. These rebellious beings, cast out of the heavenly realm, became the demons, with Lucifer, renamed Satan – the Adversary – as their leader; opposed by the holy archangel Michael, the leader of the bodiless hosts.<br />
<br />
Because we are created in the image and after the likeness of God we are, as the Psalmist says, but a little lower than the angels. One thing we can deduce from this is that we are not as intelligent or as powerful as the angelic beings. Why, then, do we not worship them? Why, then, are we not subject to them as part of the dominion of God?<br />
<br />
The answer is at once both simple and instructive. It is the nature of the angels to serve. In the case of the angels who did not rebel against God, they remained faithful servants of God. Indeed, the word “angel” derives from “messenger” – the angels are the messengers of God. Among other things, this means they are servants. In the case of the demons, they chose to serve themselves, rather than to serve God. What is striking about this is how much we have in common with the angels. We are also called to be the obedient servants of God; and yet consider how often we choose to serve ourselves, instead of doing the will of God! Every time we go to confession, every sin we admit there is evidence of how we have followed the example of the rebellious angels, rather than keeping faith with God.<br />
<br />
It is said of many of the saints that they lived among us as “angels on earth.” This means, in part, that they gave no thought to the things of this world, but lived in a bodiless way, as much as is possible for us to do. They lived only to serve God; and quite often this was expressed by their serving those made in the image and after the likeness of God, giving instruction with love to assist others in the pursuit of the salvation of their souls. In this way, both by teaching and by their deeds they served us as a way of serving God.<br />
<br />
Brothers and sisters, it is our calling to follow the example of the holy Archangel Michael and the other Bodiless Powers of heaven, and to be the servants of God. Of course, one of the greatest examples of this is found in the holy and blessed Lady Theotokos, who, when told of her part in God’s plan for the salvation of the world by the archangel Gabriel, responded by surrendering herself in the fullness of her being – body, mind, and spirit – in order to give birth to our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ. As with the angels, and with the Mother of God, so it is meant to be with us. We are given the opportunity to bear Christ, as did the Theotokos; and to present Him to the world, as she does, as she is most often depicted in the icons. Not only should Christ be seen in and through us, in what we say and in what we do; but having followed the example of our blessed Lady who said, “Behold the handmaiden – that is to say, the servant -- of the Lord,” we are to follow the example of the holy angels and archangels; who, despite their power in comparison to our own, are the servants of God – so much so that I am certain that, on this feast day to honor St. Michael and all the Angels, they share with us the delight in having the presence of the most blessed and glorious Lady Theotokos in the form of her Kursk Root Icon. They are not jealous because their festival is shared; rather, they rejoice to be with the one who is “more honorable than the cherubim, and more glorious beyond compare than the seraphim.” This is what we should understand, and cultivate in our own hearts – that the joy of the servant is in serving. So let us rejoice in the presence of the angelic hosts, and let us serve each other in humility and love, and so become more and more like angels on earth.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top:10px;height:15px"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/691b5677-63e9-4b9c-af22-31c47a271098/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=691b5677-63e9-4b9c-af22-31c47a271098" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" style="border:none;float:right"></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-58142569317042607742009-11-15T17:28:00.000-07:002009-11-15T17:28:53.773-07:00Saved by Grace? Grace and Works in Our Salvation“For by grace you have been saved by faith; and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; not by works, lest any man should boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)<br />
<br />
St. Paul writes this in his epistle to the Church in the city of Ephesus. He tells them of God’s plan and purpose, to bring all of creation together under Christ: a plan that begins with His reconciling us to Him through the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Being reconciled with God, we are then to be reconciled to each other, with the barriers that separate us having been torn down by the Lord Jesus. Made one, we are able to become the Church, through which and in which the message of salvation is to be proclaimed throughout all the world, so that everybody everywhere has the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. <br />
<br />
Why emphasize the point that we cannot save ourselves? The saint wants us to know that we lack the capability to truly love, or to forgive, or to be merciful, when we are apart from God – and sin, of course, separates us from God. He is telling us that God works first in us; that His work is that of faith, the faith in Jesus Christ that saves sinners. There is nothing, no work that we can do to earn the favor of God. Does this mean, then, that it does not matter what we do? Is there any need for praying, or fasting, or giving? Is there any need to struggle against our passions, against the impulses and appetites that, left uncontrolled, soon control us, and lead us away from the path that leads to heaven? If we are not saved by our works, why bother to forgive, or to discipline our flesh, or to pursue humility or patience or generosity or mercy?<br />
<br />
Our salvation is a gift from God. No one “earns” a gift; no one “deserves” a gift. A gift is given, at least, ideally, because the giver loves the person for whom the gift is intended. The act of giving is independent of the recipient. But this is not to say that we need do nothing. Actually, those aspects of the Orthodox way of life that might be called “works” – praying, fasting, giving, forgiving, struggling to be patient, humble, laboring to uproot the passions that betray us – these are things we undertake in response to the gift we have been given. We follow the Orthodox way of life not because it saves us – it does not – but because it is through the development of the qualities that praying and fasting and giving and struggling produce in us that allows us to “get out of the way,” as it were, and allow the life of our Lord Jesus Christ given to us in holy Baptism to come forth, to be seen and heard in what we say and do. The “works” of the Orthodox way of life are a way of giving thanks for the gift of salvation given to us freely, while we were still sinners, while we were still the enemies of God, so that we might know the love of God for us in His Son, and in His death on the Cross on our behalf. As we allow the life of our Lord and Savior to be seen in and through us, we may know that we are becoming His Body, His Church – and that the message of salvation is being proclaimed in this time and this place, as St. Paul wanted the believers in Ephesus to know and to do.<br />
<br />
Brothers and sisters, we cannot save ourselves; but the good news is that God has saved us, doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Let us give thanks to God for the love that is the source of His mercy and grace; and let us, with thanksgiving, embrace the way of life of our Orthodox faith, so that we may fulfill His purpose for us, and be His servants, gathering in all His people, to the glory of God.<br />
<strike><strike></strike></strike><br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top:10px;height:15px"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/56d8b3de-54e1-4fc8-817f-568bbc5febc4/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=56d8b3de-54e1-4fc8-817f-568bbc5febc4" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" style="border:none;float:right"></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-78850650179787213992009-11-09T09:00:00.001-07:002009-11-09T09:03:15.953-07:00Does Sin Cause Earthquakes?The holy Great-Martyr Demetrius was the only child of faithful and devout parents, who had begged God in prayer to grant them a child. Of a wealthy family, Demetrius was well educated, and his family’s place in society led him to become the military commander of Thessalonica after his father retired from that post. It was in this office that Demetrius was ordered by the Emperor Maximian, who hated the Christian Church and faith, to persecute and exterminate the faithful in the region under his command. Instead, the saint openly and boldly refused to follow the order, declaring his faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. He was arrested; and, knowing that his life would soon come to an end, gave all is possessions to his servant, so that he in turn could give them all to the poor and needy in the city. His executioners found him in prayer, in which he was strengthened for what would happen by an angel; and they killed Demetrius with their spears. His friends collected his body; and found that myrrh came from his burial site. Many of those who were sick found healing through this myrrh, and a church, small at first, was built at the site of his relics. A rich nobleman who ran to the relics was healed of an incurable disease, and built a larger church in thanksgiving. When the Emperor Justinian tried to move the saint’s relics to Constantinople, a flame of fire arose from the tomb, and a voice was heard, saying, “Leave them here; do not touch them!” The martyr had not, at the time of his death, been removed from his office as the military protector of Thessalonica; and so continued in that office even after his repose, delivering the city many times from barbarian attacks.<br /><br />In the year 740, a great earthquake struck the city of Constantinople on the feast day of St. Demetrius. It was an earthquake of some duration, and the destruction is caused was significant. The people of the city understood that the earthquake was the result of their sins, and so they were moved to repentance and a changed way of life, even as they gave thanks to the most holy Theotokos and to the Great-Martyr Demetrius for their protection in the time of trial.<br /><br />This theme is echoed again and again in the hymns during the canon recalling the great earthquake, which is chanted at the service of Matins on the eve of the feast. The hymns call us to flee from sin, which is the cause of great earthquakes, plagues, and death; and to seek to please God by repentance and amendment of life. Of course, this explanation of the cause of the quake that day, as on other days, does not fit well with our understanding of the science of plate tectonics, the cause, as best as we are able to explain it, of earthquakes and volcanic activity. Yet we would do well to remember that the heavens and the earth are created by God; and who can predict when an earthquake might take place, or explain exactly why the earthquake was of any given magnitude or duration? Surely, if God exists – and, of course, we believe He does – it is not beyond the realm of possibility that, indeed, an earthquake may very well be one way in which the love of God, Who desires not the death of a sinner, but that we might instead turn from our death-directed ways, and return to Him, and so find life, shakes us – literally – from the path to destruction, and gives us the opportunity to once more walk with Him, as did Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden.<br /><br />Brothers and sisters, let us, with faith, overcome the world – and what it has taught us that intentionally or unintentionally denies the reality of God; for when we deny the existence and activity of God, we also deny the existence of sin. If there is no God, then there is no sin, and so there is no need to repent, or confess, or to change our way of life. May we never deny our faith and trust in God; and may we, by our faithfulness to our Lord Jesus Christ in word and in deed, through the protection of the most holy Theotokos and the holy Great-Martyr Demetrius, bear witness to Him, and to His love for us.<br /><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top:10px;height:15px"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/2f6491fd-a248-4f38-9926-47593bc7d8c4/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=2f6491fd-a248-4f38-9926-47593bc7d8c4" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" style="border:none;float:right"></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-70422415999996898652009-11-02T21:46:00.002-07:002009-11-02T21:52:08.158-07:00Called to Bear the Love of GodIn the second reading today from the Gospel according to St. Luke, we hear our Lord giving instructions on how we are to love. Those who were at the Vigil service last night also heard a reading from the first Epistle of St. John the Theologian that teaches us about how we are to love. It’s important enough that I want to read it again for the benefit of those who were unable to attend. <blockquote><br />If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Whoever loves the Father also loves the child who is born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. His commandments are not grievous. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: your faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? </blockquote><br />We know that it is important for us to pray, for praying is meant to draw us closer to God; but, as St. John the Theologian teaches us, if we do not love our brothers, we cannot say that we love God, no matter how wonderful our time in prayer may be. We know that it is important to fast, for fasting helps us gain the control we need over our flesh, so that the desires we experience for the things that feed our passions rather than our souls, and so lead us into sin and death, are mastered by the discipline of fasting; but keeping the most severe fast does us no good if we do not love each other. We know that it is important for us to give from the wealth that God has entrusted to us, because by giving to help those in need, and for the work of the Church, we set ourselves free from our attachments to worldly goods and pleasures, and so rise more easily to heaven; but even giving away everything gains us nothing if we do not act out of love. <br /><br />Who are we to love? Our Lord tells us that our love must go beyond loving those who love us. It is easy – or, at least, easier – to love those who love us. We are certainly supposed to love our families: parents, children, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews. We are certainly called to love each other as we gather together to worship the Lord. But we must also love those who might laugh at us as we say a prayer before a meal, and make the sign of the Cross over ourselves in their presence. We must love those who, by word or by deed, offend us – such as the person who cuts us off on the highway, or gets in line ahead of us. We must love those who hate us, even those who would, if they were able, put us to death, so that we might no longer remind them of the reality of our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and our hope that our sins will be forgiven, and we may be given eternal life with Him in heaven.<br /><br />We are called to love, even when it is difficult to do so – if only because God, Who is holy and righteous, and who detests sin, has loved us when we were His enemies, has loved us in the midst of sinning, and has shown His love for us by becoming one with us, joining His divine nature to our fallen nature, restoring us to where we were before the Fall, and opening once more for us the way to dwell unceasingly in His presence, as Adam and Eve lived before they violated God’s commandment. God is merciful, and expresses His love for us in His mercy; and so we are to be merciful – but we cannot do so if we do not love.<br /><br />Brothers and sisters, called to be the bearers of the love of God: this is a most difficult task. We cannot accomplish it without embracing ever more fully the Orthodox way of life. Let us ask God for the grace we need to become more fervent in prayer, more stringent in fasting, more generous in giving; to be humble and patient and forgiving, so that we may be purified and then filled with His love, so that all the world may know the great love of God by which we are saved, and so join with us in worshipping and glorifying the God of love.<br /><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top:10px;height:15px"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/d31bc969-26fd-4ddd-a3ed-58fcc5c7605f/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=d31bc969-26fd-4ddd-a3ed-58fcc5c7605f" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" style="border:none;float:right"></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-3247414366810100592009-10-26T11:19:00.003-07:002009-10-26T11:25:51.578-07:00Flaws and Miracles<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhne5eYoszbinxPQFScZB7Ew0QcyzUoJ38u5zeSOWG7PUoQ-0rzozNBDIRWp4OXPJ6Y1KGbb1Azozgn4dQjpuBVPFnhtynBUXi06udjydCc-OlJfjvNJbXIVkEZ0xVxe-qtdyMd/s1600-h/iveron00.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 234px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhne5eYoszbinxPQFScZB7Ew0QcyzUoJ38u5zeSOWG7PUoQ-0rzozNBDIRWp4OXPJ6Y1KGbb1Azozgn4dQjpuBVPFnhtynBUXi06udjydCc-OlJfjvNJbXIVkEZ0xVxe-qtdyMd/s400/iveron00.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396976542953774802" /></a><br />Last night, those who were present were blessed by the presence of the most holy Theotokos and Ever-virgin Mary through her myrrh-streaming Iveron icon from our parish in Honolulu. Someone said to me after the Vigil had ended, and we had processed with the icon from the church to the car in which it was traveling to say, “goodbye,” that we should announce every week some miraculous event at our church, rejoicing that so many people had come to take part in worship with this most wonderful sign of God’s love and caring for His people through the prayers and protection of His most holy Mother.<br /><br />Many of you may have read the <a href="http://www.orthodoxhawaii.org/icons.html">account</a> written by Reader Nectarios about the myrrh-streaming icons of the Cross of our Lord and of the Iveron Mother of God. One part of the story that I learned from Fr. Anatole, the priest of our parish in Honolulu, which is dedicated to the Holy Theotokos of Iveron, is that the print of the icon was purchased by him while on a visit to Toronto. At the bookstore where he was purchasing icons for his parish church was a table with icons whose selling price was greatly reduced, because there were flaws of one kind or another in each print. He wasn’t sure why, but he was moved to purchase the print of the icon now streaming myrrh from that table. I mention this because it has a message for each one of us who have our own flaws, as made evident in our sins. In the case of this icon, God has taken what was flawed, and through it has worked, and is working, a miracle. This should give each one of us hope, for no matter how great our sins may be, if we repent of our sins, and confess them, and return to our Orthodox way of life, making ourselves offerings to God, who knows what God may accomplish in and through us?<br /><br />Earlier, I mentioned the comment made by someone last night, about how we should announce a miracle every week. Although I don’t think that person meant that in a serious way, the truth is that we could, indeed, say that a miracle takes place here every week; indeed, every time we gather in worship. For example, today at this celebration of the Divine Liturgy, as at every celebration, we are in the presence of the miraculous blessing that transforms the bread and wine that we offer to God to become His most precious Body and Blood that He offers to us for our salvation. We receive from Him His Body and Blood in the form of the bread and wine of the offering in exactly the same way that His disciples, who were gathered together with Him in the upper room on the night in which He was betrayed, and went to His Passion and to death on the Cross, received His Body and Blood; through the miracle of God’s love for us, by which we are saved. At this, and at every, celebration of the Divine Liturgy, and at every Vigil service, and at every molieben and pannikhida offered, we are gathered together with the saints and angels, who join us in our prayers as we worship God. Whether we can see them or not; whether we are aware of it or not, these miracles are taking place, just as the miracle of myrrh streaming from a flawed picture printed on a piece of paper and mounted on a simple pine board shows us that God can take the ordinary and humble and raise it to miraculous heights.<br /><br />Brothers and sisters, let us worship and glorify our God, Whose love for us is so great that it is beyond our ability to understand or describe. Let us give Him thanks for the great blessing of being witnesses to the miracle of the myrrh-streaming Iveron icon of the Mother of God; and let us pray that He will make us ever mindful of the miracles that take place every time His people gather for prayer and for worship. Let us, as we consider these miracles, remember the great depths of God’s love for us, and seek to bring this love to everyone around us, so that they may also experience the great miracle of the love of God in Jesus Christ, and join with us to worship and glorify Him, the God of miracles, and the God of love.<br /><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top:10px;height:15px"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/fc60d0ba-6112-46fa-93ad-960eb89c7a97/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=fc60d0ba-6112-46fa-93ad-960eb89c7a97" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" style="border:none;float:right"></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403544.post-5215542458774806132009-10-26T11:16:00.001-07:002009-10-26T11:19:24.088-07:00You Are the Light of the WorldIn the reading today from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, our Lord tells those who are listening to Him, “You are the light of the world.” He then gives some additional details about this light. He says, “A city on a hill cannot be hidden be hidden.” Think about driving around town at night. Every house on a hillside can be seen for miles. Our Lord also says, “No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Rather, the lamp that is lit is put on a stand, so that its light shines for everyone in the house.” Then He tells us what this means for us: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify God in heaven.”<br /><br />With what light are we meant to shine? On one level, it is the light of good works: especially those things that are done to help another person in need. We know what these things are: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, housing the homeless, visiting the sick, and those in prison, and welcoming the stranger – all the things spoken of when our Lord describes the time of the Great Judgment, of the sheep and the goats. But it is possible to do these things, and yet fail to shine. If we are to understand this, and to respond in a manner pleasing to the Lord, what else is there?<br /><br />Another form of “good works” by which we may bring light into a world of darkness is to faithfully live the Orthodox way of life: praying, fasting, and giving; with humility, patience, forgiveness, generosity to others, and love. If we devote our time and energy to developing and refining these behaviors in our daily lives, we will find it a joy to reach out to others, to feed and clothe and visit and so on. Yet even these good things can be done without bringing the light we are meant to shine. What else must we understand and do to be pleasing to the Lord?<br /><br />St. John Chrysostom tells us that the light within us is not our own. Rather, the light is ignited in us by our Lord Jesus Christ when we are joined to His life in Holy Baptism. He lights the lamp in us. St. John continues, however, to instruct and remind us that, while the light in us was lit by the Lord, it is up to us to keep the lamp burning. That is, we must, from time to time, trim and renew the wick; and we must, from time to time, refill the lamp with oil; and we must, from time to time, clean the lens through which the light must shine. <br /><br /><p class="zemanta-img" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; float: right; display: block; width: 310px; "><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Oil_Lamp_Christian_Symbol.jpg"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Oil_Lamp_Christian_Symbol.jpg/300px-Oil_Lamp_Christian_Symbol.jpg" alt="Antique bronze oil lamp with Christian symbol ..." style="border:none;display:block" width="300" height="208"></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Oil_Lamp_Christian_Symbol.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></p>Experience with oil lamps, as often found in a church, teaches that the wicks are best served when trimmed twice a day, morning and evening. So it is that the Church advises us to be diligent in prayer at the start, and at the end, of each day. Remember how Moses, when he would return to the people of Israel from being in the presence of God, had to cover his face with a veil, because his face was bright with the light of the presence of God? When we take time to draw near to God in prayer, we come into the light, and so are better prepared to carry that light with us through the course of the day. The lamps must be filled at least daily; and so we should fill ourselves with the words of Holy Scripture, and the teachings of the Fathers, and the lives of the saints, who also brought the light of Christ to us and to the world – that’s why, in the icons, they have haloes. Periodically, the lamps must be cleaned of the dirt and debris they accumulate; and so too must we seek to be made clean in the mystery of confession, through repentance, with the desire not to repeat our sins, but to be transformed. These practices will help us tend to the light given to us, so that, properly cared for, we nay shine with Christ’s light in us, becoming lamps on stands, and even cities on hilltops, to light the way for those in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide those who are seeking God to find and follow the right path.<br /><br />Brothers and sisters, let us ask God for the grace we need to tend the light given to us, so that the light of our good works of piety and charity may shine before men, so that God may be glorified; and let us never seek praise or commendation from others for the good we may do; but give thanks and glory to God, remembering that if we shine, it is only because He loves us and has given Himself for us, so that we may be saved.<br /><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top:10px;height:15px"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/4c9db1b9-0e99-488a-b1a3-dd0ca1c68d86/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=4c9db1b9-0e99-488a-b1a3-dd0ca1c68d86" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" style="border:none;float:right"></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>Fr. John McCuenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10094795943688215243noreply@blogger.com0