What Are You Afraid Of?

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What are you afraid of?

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.

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?

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.

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.

What are you afraid of?  Live as a disciple; trust in God’s love; and there is no reason for us to fear death.

"I Am the Door"

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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.”

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.

“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.”

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.

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.

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.

A Tale of Two Kingdoms

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.  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.  Although not read today, we have the advantage of knowing the next part of the story:  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.

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.  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.  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.  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.

That power and that promise are still active in the world today.  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.  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.  That angel and that light remain in the world today, through our guardian angels, and the Angel of Great Counsel, who is Christ Himself.  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. 

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.

Our King and Savior is drawing near.  Come, let us adore Him!

"Where are the Other Nine?"

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.

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.

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?”

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.

Holy hierarch, father Ambrose, pray to God for us!

Weakness in the Face of Temptations

Our holy father Sisoës the Great was born in Egypt. As a young man, he left his city and went into the desert, settling finally on the same mountain where St. Anthony the Great had lived and struggled with the ascetic way of life, until he came to victory over the flesh, the passions, and the demons. Sisoës did the same, praying and fasting and in other ways taking no regard for this world or for his body, seeking only communion with God and a desire for the kingdom to come. He also won the victory; and God gave him the ability to heal the sick, to cast out demons, and to raise the dead. Many people came to the saint, and he helped them for some sixty years in this world before departing this life; and has been a healer and a helper after his repose, until today.

He gave many people direction for their own spiritual development. A monk asked the holy father what he needed to do in order to please God, and be saved. He was told to leave the world and everything in it behind, and to draw near to God with prayers and with tears of repentance. Another complained that he was not able to memorize the wisdom given to him by the elder, so that he could repeat it. The holy father told him that he should rather work to obtain purity of mind, and then to speak from this purity, trusting to God in everything. Then it would not be necessary to memorize someone else’s words. He taught that when temptation comes against us, we must acknowledge that this is the result of our sin, and we must then yield ourselves completely to the will of God. Likewise, when something good comes to us, or when we respond to a situation by doing what is good and pleasing to God, we should acknowledge that this, too, is because of God’s mercy, and not anything of which we can claim for ourselves. When asked about acquiring humility, the holy father taught that, when we consider every other person as being better, more worthy, than ourselves, we are on the path to being truly humble.

In the reading today from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, we hear of our Lord healing a man who was paralyzed. What does our Lord say? He says, “Your sins are forgiven.” It is only after the teachers of the law accuse Him of blasphemy that He directly addresses the physical ailment, commanding the man to rise, take up his bed, and walk. St. Sisoës shows us the same connection: When we do not acknowledge that we are weak in the face of temptations, when we do not confess our sins and our weakness, we are overwhelmed, and become paralyzed by our sins: certainly in spirit, and sometimes even physically, for we are beings of body, mind, and spirit, and what harms one part harms us in all our parts. As did the man healed in the Gospel, we need to draw near the Lord with faith, with prayers, and with repentance with tears. It is our Lord’s desire that we be made whole, a gift freely given to us, ours for the asking, because of His love for us – a love so great that He endured His Passion and the Cross and burial to set us free from sin and death.

When we are honest with ourselves, and remember our sins, how can we think that we are better than another person, more worthy, entitled to anything good? This is the entryway into the humility that gives us an indication of how well – or how poorly – we are serving as vessels of the love of God and for our neighbor we are meant to be. This is not easy. Indeed, the most restrictive fast is nothing compared to acquiring humility. Standing in prayer throughout the night is far easier than thinking that we are each first among sinners, and everyone else has not sinned as we have. The person who cuts you off in traffic; the person who ignores your plea for help; the person who rejects your efforts; the person who ridicules your faith, and your effort to show the life of Christ in your own – yes, I am saying that the people who anger and injury and hate and even kill you are meant to be considered more important, more valuable, and more worthy than we think of ourselves. When you find it difficult or impossible to do this, confess this as a fault, asking, begging, God for help – and remembering above all God’s love for you, and all that He has done for you, and has promised that He will do for you. When we allow the truth of the great mercy and love of God for us to fill us and to guide our thoughts and words and deeds, then we, like our holy father Sisoës, have come one step closer to mastering our passions, and to leaving this world and all its snares behind.

Holy father Sisoës the Great, pray to God for us!