Opening the Door to God's House

(Sunday of the Prodigal Son) (Luke 15:11-32)

Imagine that you have a child who is grown, and so has left home to live on his own. Now imagine that your child has made some serious mistakes, and has adopted a way of life that is harmful to him; and is a way of living of which you cannot approve. Now imagine that your child is returning home – clothes in rags, body unwashed, tired, hungry, lonely, scared. Are you going to refuse to open the door when he knocks? Are you going to refuse him food and drink? While there may be other circumstances where this may be what happens, for the most part, the majority of parents, in such a situation, will open their door as they have already opened their hearts, and rejoice that their child is alive, and has come home.

We see this in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

Now let us consider this parable, and our own parental response, in light of the mission of our parish, which we have said exists to be of help to us in saving our souls, and to reach out to those in darkness around us, that they also may be saved. When we sin, haven’t we become like the Prodigal Son, who ran away from home, and adopted a way of life that is deadly to us, a way of life, which our heavenly Father, cannot bless? Yet He does not withhold Himself from us, nor close the door of His house to us. Indeed, He runs to be with us, even while we are still a long way off.

How, then, can we close the door of His house to those who may not be dressed in an Orthodox manner? How can we be critical of those who may not know the rules of His house? When we do so, we are not showing the love and mercy of God; rather, we are like the elder brother, who scorned the celebration of his brother’s return.

Please do not misunderstand this point. Of course, we should do everything we can to learn the proper ways of behavior in church: Of how to dress, and how to bow, and how and when to cross ourselves. And when someone is ignorant of these things, and they ask us, we should lovingly tell them what they do not know. But first and foremost, our task is do what is needed to save our souls; and, if others are in need of help on the way, not to presume to be their judges, but to teach them by our good example, so that they will see the light of the love of God shining forth from us, and so desire to be like us that they adopt our behaviors and ways.

Our brothers and sisters are dwelling in darkness, and in the shadow of death. It is up to us to clothe them, as the Father did for His returning Son; but not to allow their need for attire, either literally or figuratively, to interfere with our celebration of the Feast. Let us be glad when someone finds this house of God for the first time, and not rush to burden them with all the rules. Let us give thanks to God when they come again; and let us give them time, and our good example, to encourage them to adopt our way of life. After all, what do you think is more important to God? That one of His lost children has come home? Or the way he chose to dress that day?

Writing the Law on Our Hearts

(The Meeting of Our Lord) (Luke 2:22-40b)

Forty days after His birth, St. Joseph the Betrothed and our most blessed Lady Theotokos went to the Temple in accordance with the Law of Moses to present the Child in the Temple, and make the offering for Him required by the Law. The Law required a lamb for a burnt offering to the Lord, and a turtledove or pigeon for a sin offering for the mother. As well, the Law required that every first-born male be consecrated to the Lord, both human and animal. This was, in part, acknowledgement that God had slain the first-born males in Egypt at the time of the tenth, and final, plague that preceded the Exodus of His people from slavery in that land. Sons were to be redeemed by the offering of a sacrifice; and so it was that the holy family went to the temple to offer their first-born son, and to make the required sacrifices.

We know that the Law does not save us. The Law was given to instruct us, and show us holiness; but the Law, by itself, is powerless to save us. Salvation is in Christ alone; and He is the only sinless one. Parents, take heart: Your faithfulness in living the Orthodox faith, in following the Orthodox way of life, is a positive influence upon your children, just as the obedience and faithfulness of St. Joseph the Betrothed and the Theotokos was a positive influence on the holy Child in their care. Of course, our children don’t live without sin; but how much harder it will be for them, if we do not set for them a good example! And even if our children have grown and now live on their own, and those who do not have children of their own, the way in which we live, the degree to which we follow the Orthodox way of life – praying, fasting, giving alms and offerings, struggling to overcome our passions with the virtues, loving and caring for each other, and worshipping God – we bear witness to the reality of the presence of God, and this can have an influence on many others who see us.

The “trick” – if I can call it that – is learning to write the Law on our hearts, so that it is not just something we follow out of fear of punishment (although there is some merit to that, to be sure). Rather, we remember our Lord’s summary of the Law: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” – and let this law of love govern every thought, every word, every deed, every feeling. If we love each other as we love ourselves, we will not act to hurt or harm another in thought, word, or deed. If we love God with the fullness of our being, we will do all we can to keep ourselves from sinning.

And let us never forget that we were bought at a price. An offering was made by God to God, to redeem us from death, and our captivity to sin. In this, then, let us behold the love of God for us in Christ Jesus our Lord; and let us, in reply, meet Him in His temple, and make our hearts a temple to Him as well, that we may dwell in Him, and He in us, to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.

What is Our Mission and Purpose?

(Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee) (Luke 18:10-14)

This is a question I think we all would benefit from considering: Why does this parish exist? What is our purpose? What is our mission?

Today, we celebrate the Synaxis of the Three Hierarchs: St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, and St. John Chrysostom. It is also the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, which is, in a way, the start of our preparation for Great Lent – itself a time for us to prepare for the celebration of Pascha, and our Lord’s victory for life over death. We can be guided in our consideration of the question about our parish’s mission and purpose by today’s remembrances.

St. Basil the Great, among many other things, is credited with writing the Divine Liturgy that we use ten times each year, particularly on the Sundays in Great Lent, as well as on the eves of the Nativity and the Theophany of our Lord. From the congregation’s point a view, apart from a different hymn to the Theotokos after the consecration of the Body and Blood of our Lord, the only noticeable difference from the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is that some of the responses from the choir are longer. This is because the prayers said quietly – “secretly” – in the altar are much longer. The prayers tend to be much more penitential in nature, which is why the liturgy of St. Basil is used for Great Lent and the eves of the great feasts. These are truly beautiful and profound prayers, and I would encourage you to read them. St. Gregory wrote the liturgy for the Presanctified Gifts; also a very moving service, markedly different from the other liturgies we use. And, of course, we should all be familiar with the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, the “workhorse” of our worship services – being celebrated today.

We are all familiar, I am sure, with the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee. One of the men depicted in the parable is in the Temple, praying, it seems, to God, but actually, he is praising himself. The other knows that he is a sinner, unworthy of any good thing from God; and so he humbles himself, praying, simply, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Our Lord is teaching His disciples that the mercy of God is given to those who are humble.

How does the celebration of the Three Hierarchs, and of the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, help us answer the question about our parish mission and purpose? From the holy Hierarchs, we learn the importance of worship in our lives as Orthodox Christians; and especially the celebration of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Receiving the Holy Mysteries cleanses us, and strengthens us, so that we can labor and do our part in the transformation of our being. To receive the Mysteries, we prepare ourselves by prayer and fasting, and by penitence, confessing our sins, and humbling ourselves, and not thinking that we are somehow worthy of any good thing, apart from the love and mercy of God. This is a lesson we learn from the Publican, as he prays with humility for the mercy of God.

Let me conclude by giving you my answer to the question. The mission of our parish is to help each one of us to save our souls; and, as we labor to do so, to reach out to others in the world around us, who dwell in darkness, and in the shadow of death, and to bring them the light of the love of God in Christ, so that they, also, may see the way to save their souls, and share that journey with us. We have no other reason to exist; we have no other purpose, than the salvation of souls.

The Orthodox faith is the true faith; there is no other way for us to be saved. The Orthodox way of life – of prayer, and fasting, of giving alms and offerings, and struggling against our passions; of loving and caring for each other, in humility considering all others to be more worthy than are we, ourselves; and worshipping God – this is the way we put the Orthodox faith in action; this is the way we save our souls. And when we do so, our lives are transformed, and we become different – and, by God’s grace, perhaps this difference stirs up something in others, and causes them to desire it for themselves. Then we can play a part in their salvation, as well as our own.

There is one other lesson we should learn from the Publican and the Pharisee. The Pharisee, when he sees the Publican, compares himself to the Publican, and thinks he is the better of the two. The Publican thinks of no one else, but sees only his own sins. We need to do the same. We should not see what others in Church are wearing, and think less of them. We should not see what others are doing, and think that we know more, or are better, because we know how to cross ourselves, or when to bow, or any other form of external devotion. It is good for us to know these things; and we all should do all that is in our power to conduct ourselves properly for worship. But let us examine only ourselves, and let us be critical only of ourselves, and so be strict only with ourselves; for when we do, we are like the Publican; and so we also may have hope that our sins will be forgiven, and our souls will be saved.

The New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia

(33rd Sunday after Pentecost) (Luke 21:12-29)

A martyr is someone who, when faced with the choice of renouncing his or her faith or death, chooses death. A "“confessor"” is someone who endures great suffering rather than renounce the faith, although without dying as a result. We need to be reminded of this, for we live in a time when there are people who strap explosives to themselves, and go into public places and detonate the explosives, killing themselves and as many others as they can manage --– and who are considered to be "“martyrs"” for their cause. It is not so for Christians. Our example is our Lord Jesus Christ, Who, at the time of His arrest, told His disciples (one of whom had drawn a sword and cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest), "“Do you not know that the Father would send me twelve legions of angels if I asked for them in prayer?"” Our example is the Lord Jesus, Who spoke not a word of hatred or reproach for those who falsely accused Him, who beat Him, or who mocked Him. Our example is our Lord Jesus Who, as He was dying for the life of the world on the Cross, prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

The New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia are also examples for us, for they suffered greatly, and so bore witness to Christ, and did not deny Him, or renounce their faith. They suffered the single greatest, and most persistent and perfidious, persecution ever to attempt to destroy the Church. Every brutality that might come to the human mind, every depravity, every cruelty, was practiced on those whose only "“crime"” was that they would not depart from their faith in God. We need to be reminded of this, for we live in a place where we have enjoyed freedom and prosperity, where suffering is not something to be embraced, but avoided. When one has all the material comforts, it is not easy to prepare to suffer; it is not easy to contemplate martyrdom.

Our freedom to worship is dependent upon the state; and if the power of the state is turned against us, as it was in Russia after the revolutions in 1917, how will we fare? It isn't likely that the persecutions will be as overt and brutal as took place in Russia; but we should not ever think that, "It can't happen here."” There are already efforts being made to change the status that churches have in our society. We hear increasingly that we have no "“right"” to go to the government to enact laws that express Christian morality. We hear increasingly that we have no right to speak out about moral conditions in our society; the day is coming when warning people about the dangers of sin will be a crime against the state. It won'’t begin with prisons and camps; it will begin with lawsuits, by which they will take away our buildings; and when we try to meet in homes, or in some other place, we will find ourselves in violation of some other law. And, if we persist in speaking the Truth of our salvation in Christ, and of the way that God desires us to live, we will be silenced in one way or another --– and then there will be prisons and camps for the faithful. It may not come in this generation; but we must never think that it will never come to pass.

What, then, can we do to prepare? We must fully embrace the Orthodox way of life. We must pray: publicly, as we do here today, and privately, in our prayer corners. We must fast, so that we not only weaken our flesh and its desire to satisfy the passions, but also to strengthen us to do without. We must give; and we must struggle to overcome our passions. We must study the Scriptures, and the services of the Church, and the teachings of the fathers, and the lives of the saints, so that these are so written in our lives that, should every book be confiscated and destroyed, our faith and Church and way of life will still go on. We must love and care for each other; and we must do our best to bring others the light of the kingdom and the love of God, so that they also will join us in the labor to save our souls.

Brothers and sisters, there is one more thing we need to do, as we remember the testimony of faith we have received from the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. Let us pray and ask them to guide our hierarchs to know and do the will of God with regard to the healing of the suffering and divided Russian Orthodox Church. Ask them, if the current plan is pleasing to God, to allow it to go forward; and if it is not, to reveal to our hierarchs the way, and the time, that God desires. For in the days to come, we will need the strength of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia to help us remain faithful in a time of troubles; so let us ask now, and follow their example.

Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, pray to God for us!

Seeing the Things of God

(32nd Sunday after Pentecost) (Luke 18:35-43)

How do you see the world? When you read or watch the news, or talk about events, whether national, international, or local, what do you see? Do you see the glory of God in creation? Do you see God’s mercy and protection through the course of your day? Do you see God’s love in action, especially in the love you share with others, and the love of others for you?

Chances are, these aren’t the things we see – at least, not without being prompted. If someone mentions these things, of course, we can see them. But for most of us, it’s not “natural” for us to be aware of the grace and mercy and love of God as we go through the course of our day. When it comes to seeing the things of God, most of us are blind, as blind as the man who sat by the road near Jericho.

Bartimaeus was blind, and so he could not see our Lord as He traveled the Jericho road. But the blind man heard the commotion, and knew something out of the ordinary was happening. He asked, and when he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, he called out for mercy, for this blind man knew that Jesus is the Messiah, the one God promised would come to save His people. Nor would he be silent, but continued to call until the Lord had the blind man brought to Him. And when Bartimaeus asked for the ability to see, our Lord healed him, and he could see.

Because the eyes of our bodies function, we think we can see; but we do not realize that we are spiritually blind. Maybe if we knew that what often troubles us is the commotion in our souls as the Lord draws near, we would also cry out for mercy, and draw near to the Lord to be made whole. But we miss the chance, and so nothing changes.

Today, we also celebrate the Chains of St. Peter. King Herod, having ordered the death of St. James, the brother of our Lord, had cast St. Peter into prison, bound in chains between two soldiers; but when an angel of the Lord entered the cell, filling it with light, the chains fell from St. Peter, and, obedient to the angel’s command, he left the cell, and returned to the faithful, who had been praying for his safety, and for his return.

We are also bound with chains. We are chained to this life, and to this world, by our passions; and because we are not free from the chains of our passions, we sin, and it is our sin that blinds us to the things of God, blinding us to the vision of heavenly things. Brothers and sisters, this should not be.

Fasting is a step to removing the chains that bind us to this world and this life. Fasting teaches us obedience. Fasting weakens our flesh, and its grip on worldly things. Fasting teaches us restraint, so that we can also restrain our sinful impulses and desires. Fasting is a necessary part of the Orthodox life.

Giving is a step to removing the chains that bind us. When we give, we set ourselves free from grasping the things of this life, things that will perish, things that only give the illusion of permanence, and of being able to satisfy us. When we give, we acknowledge that we are not the masters and rulers of our lives, but stewards of the good gifts that God has entrusted to us to use in His service. Giving weakens our flesh, and its grip on worldly things. Giving is a necessary part of the Orthodox life.

The single greatest weapon in our spiritual warfare is prayer. Bartimaeus prayed for mercy, and received his sight. The Church prayed for the safe release and return of St. Peter, and he was set free. Prayer brings us into the presence of God, as the blind man was brought into the presence of our Lord. Prayer brings our guardian angel to our side, and to our defense. Prayer is a necessary part of the Orthodox life.

Brother and sisters, would you be set free? Do you desire to see heavenly things? Then we must pray, and fast, and give, and struggle. Let us pray that God will have mercy on us, and take from us our spiritual blindness, that we may see Him, and glorify God. And let us pray that God will save His people, and set them free; let us pray, as we do again and again, “Help us, save us, have mercy on us, and keep us, O God, by Thy grace.” In this way, our chains will fall off, and we shall be free to love and serve the Lord. In this way, our eyes will be opened, and we will see the glory of God. Let us, then, live the Orthodox life, to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls.

Light and Darkness

(31st Sunday after Pentecost) (Matthew 4:12-17))

The themes of “light” and “darkness” run throughout the pages of holy Scripture. Very early in Genesis, on the first day of creation, after God has created the heavens and the earth, He says, “Let there be light”; and then He separates the light from the darkness, calling the light, “day,” and the darkness, “night.” On the fourth day, God creates lights in the heavens: a greater light, the sun; and a lesser light, the moon; and the stars – all to give light to the earth, and to separate the light from the darkness. Later, God gave His people His law; of which the Psalmist says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Ps. 119:105)

In the first chapter of the Gospel according to St. John the Theologian, speaking of the Word, the evangelist says, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” (John 1:4-5, 9)

In the reading today from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, we hear more about this theme of the light and the darkness. The evangelist tells us that the prophesy of Isaiah was fulfilled by the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ after His baptism in the Jordan and 40 days of preparation in the wilderness: “The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.”

The “great light,” the fathers tell us, is the Gospel, the good news of our salvation in Jesus Christ. The law, we are told, was also a light, but a lesser light: as King David said, it could shine so as to point out the path we were to follow, but it could not, by itself, illumine us – that is, fill us with light – for light casts out the darkness; light, in effect, destroys the darkness. The law, as a light, was greater than the darkness; but it was an external, and in order to be transformed, something more was needed – and provided for us by our Lord Jesus Christ.

The fathers also tell us that the “shadow of death” is sin. Sin is the likeness, the silhouette, of death. Dead in Adam, dead in our sins, we could not comprehend the light, the life of men. But Christ illumines us; after someone is baptized, we speak of that person as being the “newly illumined servant of God.” We have light within us; although when we sin, we turn from light once more to darkness; and the only way to overcome the darkness is to turn back, once more, to the light – by repentance and confession of our sins.

This is the message that our Lord, the Giver of light and life, preaches: “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We tend to think of a kingdom as being a place: the kingdom of Great Britain, for example. But the fathers tell us that the kingdom of heaven is not a place, it is Christ; and it is the life of virtue – but that is saying the same thing, for we can only live the life of virtue by being in Christ. We enter into Christ by baptism; we remain in Christ by repentance, and by perseverance in the life we learn from His Church: prayer, and fasting, giving, struggling for the virtues, caring for each other, caring for those around us in the world. When we live in this way – in humility, rather than pride; in simplicity, rather than filling our lives with possessions; forgiving, and asking forgiveness of others; yielding to others (and not just on the highway!), and considering them to be more worthy than we are; and praying for those we may happen to see sinning, as if the offense was our own – when we live this way, we are drawing near to the kingdom of heaven, near to the angelic life, near the life of our Lord Himself. If we live this way, we will find the rule of the kingdom has been established in our hearts. We will find in our hearts and minds the peace of God, which passes all understanding, and which no earthly power can disturb. We will find love for our enemies, and for those who hate us.

And if these things are not yet the hallmarks of your life, do not despair; but examine your life, and find the places in your being that have not yet been brought into the light, but remain in darkness. Then take these into the light by prayer, by repentance, with fasting and prostrations, and see if God is not as good as His word – for the light that is our life, the light of Christ, will overcome the darkness.

Brothers and sisters, let us pray that God will make us bearers of His light, and allow us to shine forth in a world of darkness, that we may show forth the life of Christ in us, and by doing so, may guide those who have not yet come to Him to turn from their ways and seek Him; to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls.

Showing Forth Christ to the World

(The Theophany of our Lord) (Matt. 3:13-17)

At the entrance with the Gospel, we heard the introit, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, and hath appeared unto us.” This, indeed, is what happened when our Lord Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan River. St. John the Baptizer knew there was more to this man than meets the eye – but then, he had, in his mother’s womb, leapt for joy at the sound of the voice of the Theotokos as she bore in her womb the Son of God. When our Lord went into the waters, he was, as far as anyone else present was concerned, simply a man, one of a multitude who had come to be baptized. All that changed, of course, when He came up out of the waters, as the heavens were opened, and the voice of the Father declared Him to be His beloved Son, and the Spirit of God descended upon Him in the form of a dove.

What about today (and I am not referring to the Feast we celebrate today)? Are there any theophanies of Christ today? Not as it occurred on the day we remember and celebrate; our Lord will not be going again to be baptized in the Jordan River. That took place at a certain date in time, that He might be made known to the world; and in order to restore fallen Adam, and, through that restoration, all of us who are the heirs of Adam. So, on that basis, the answer is, No, there are no theophanies today.

But maybe there are still ways that Christ is shown forth to the world today; maybe we can speak of a Theophany in this day and age. But how is this possible?

It is possible when we live the life of Christ given to us in our baptism. We are given a reminder of this every time someone is baptized, as took place here last night; and we heard the reminder today, when, in place of the Trisagion hymn, we sang, “As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Alleluia!” So, when we live a Christ-like life, we show Him forth into the world. When we love our enemies, when we forgive those who hate and hurt us, when we turn the other cheek, when we go the extra mile – as Christ has done for us, to save us – we show forth His life, His presence in the world today. When we live the life of Christ, people can see that there is something different about us, that we are not just another person, not just one of the multitude. We have a great, even an awesome, opportunity – which we all too often fail to accomplish.

Living the life of Christ isn’t easy; and we fall, and fail, all the time. Yet, if we will pursue, with all our powers, the way of life we are taught by the Church – prayer, and fasting, giving, struggling against our passions; loving and caring for each other, and reaching out to those in need around us – the life of Christ becomes more and more obvious to those who are looking for something beyond what the world has to offer – who are looking for a Theophany to transform their life.

Brothers and sisters, as we celebrate this great Feast, let us humbly beseech our God to make us shine forth with the life of Christ, for the glory of His name, and the salvation of our souls.

Preparation for the Coming of the Kingdom

(Eve of Theophany) (Luke 3:1-18)

We hear again today of St. John the Baptizer, and his calling to the people, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.” He is telling them – and us – that the Lord is coming, and we need to be ready. For the people of his day, St. John is speaking about the day when the Lord would be revealed to all, although he did not know the date, place, or time. For us, this is a reminder that our Lord will come again, and there will be the great and terrible Day of Judgment. We need, then, to prepare the way of the Lord in our hearts, and labor to make the paths we travel straight, not crooked or distorted by our sins. As we have heard before, this task of making straight what has been bent begins with repentance for our sins.

St. John the Baptizer is calling to the people to repent in preparation for the coming of the Kingdom of heaven, in the person of the King. We are, in a way, also making a journey through the wilderness of this life, in a world that is not meant to be our home, but simply a place of preparation as we journey towards the Kingdom of heaven. The way to the Kingdom is the way of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who Himself prepared the way, and calls us to follow Him, so that He might lead us to our eternal home with Him. We who have been baptized have had our tickets stamped; we have our boarding passes in our hands; but we must now go to the departure gate; and pass through a security checkpoint along the way.

The security checkpoint is the great and terrible Day of Judgment, when we each will be called to account for every word, every deed, every thought, every feeling. We should not come carelessly; we need to prepare. On the way there, we should learn from what St. John the Baptizer was teaching the crowds who came to him. The first step is to turn away from evil. This is the direction he gives to the tax collectors and the soldiers: stop doing what is evil. The next step is to do good; and the concrete example he gives is that those who have in abundance should share with those who have nothing; if you have two coats, give one to someone who does not have a coat at all. Of course, none of this is possible without God’s help; but each of us who bears the life of Christ within us has the power that is needed, not in ourselves, but in Christ, to be transformed in the way that is needed to save our souls, and allow us to reach the Kingdom of heaven.

So we should follow the way of the Orthodox Church and faith, the way of life we have received from the saints, our fathers before us. Prayer and fasting bring us closer to God, and farther from evil; giving allows us to do good for others in the name of God; and struggling against the passions which lead us into sin also helps us to do good, and to turn away from evil. Diligently pursued, our lives are transformed; and so we can truly have hope that God is with us, and of the salvation of our souls.

Brothers and sisters: Our King and Savior is coming again. Let us hear the cry of St. John the Baptizer, and prepare ourselves, and the ways of our hearts, and the paths of our lives, that we may be ready to meet Him when He comes; to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.

Baptism, Repentance, and Confession

(30th Sunday after Pentecost) (Mark 1:1-8)

“I have baptized you with water; but He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Bishop Alexander (of blessed memory) taught that there is, in each of us, an innate desire for happiness; and yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we are very seldom happy, even when we are not threatened in any way. The reason why we are not happy is because, by God’s grace, we are aware of the darkness within us, caused by sin – both our own personal sins, and the corruption of human being that is produced by sin. Sin is spiritual sickness; and, left untreated, spreads like a cancer within us, causing the darkening of our mind, the weakening of our will to do what is good, making us bitter and depressed, angry and resentful, and increasingly inclined to repeat our sins again and again. This is the way of sin; this is the way of death. The treatment of this spiritual sickness begins with repentance.

And so it was that the people from the region around the River Jordan, where St. John the Baptizer was found, came to him to be baptized. Their baptism was an act of repentance, whereby they acknowledged their sins, and expressed their desire to be made clean from the stain and shame of what they had done. The baptism of St. John did not set them free of their sins; but it “prepared the way” for them to receive the baptism of forgiveness which our Lord Jesus Christ was soon to bestow upon those who came to Him in faith. Drawn to repentance by the grace of God, their burden of sin was loosened, until it was removed from them completely by faith in Christ.

When we were baptized, we were washed clean of our sins; and we received as well the Holy Spirit, Who was seen by some descending upon our Lord Jesus Christ when He came to St. John the Baptizer at the Jordan River. Thus, what St. John the Baptizer said was true: “I baptize you with water, but He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Not only have we received the forgiveness of our sins; we have received power in the Holy Spirit to live a new life, the life of Christ, Who alone was without sin among all born of a woman. Even so, we must continue to struggle against our sins, lest these should grow once more in the darkness, and make us spiritually ill once again. For us, as for those who came to St. John the Baptizer, this way begins with repentance, and confession. For it is in our repenting and confessing our sins that we are washed clean again for the sins we commit after we have been baptized.

We have said that sin causes us to be spiritually ill – and that the course of treatment for this illness, and its symptoms of a darkened mind and a weakened will and bitterness and anger and a turning away from doing what is good to pursue our passions, begins with repentance. But the course of treatment has many more steps. Indeed, the entire Orthodox way of life serves for the treatment of our spiritual ills, and to lead us to health and strength in living the life we have been given in Christ. Prayer and fasting, giving, and struggles against our sinful desires draw us closer to God, and farther from our sins. The greatest medicine of all, of course, is the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and all who want to be spiritually well will not neglect the opportunities offered to partake of this most powerful treatment. Of course, the way of preparation for Communion also involves us in prayer and fasting, and also confession – so that we might receive the Body and Blood to our benefit, and not to our condemnation. Then, having partaken, with Christ mystically feeding us by His presence with us, we are strengthened, we are blessed, we are more and more transformed – and so we are better able to embrace and live the life of the Church, which is the way of our salvation.

Brothers and sisters, all this is here for you, today. Here we are gathered, as if at the Jordan River. Here we hear the words of God, calling us to repentance, that we might be restored to a blessed communion with Him. Here we can receive the spiritual food to strengthen and help us in our lives in Christ, so that His life might be seen in us; and we may have life without end in Him. As we prepare to celebrate the Theophany of our Lord, let us also prepare ourselves to live the life He gives. Let us repent, and confess; and let us fast and pray and give and struggle, and receive His most precious and holy Body and Blood, to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.

Herod and Christ

(29th Sunday after Pentecost) (Matt. 2:13-23)

When the wise men from the East came to King Herod and asked him where they could find the new-born King of the Jews, Herod was worried – and for good reason. He was the King of the Jews only because the Romans had appointed him to the position. Not only was he not a descendant of King David, he was not a Jew at all. A true descendant of King David could cause the people to rally on his behalf, and to reject Herod and his family’s claim to the throne. As a result of his fear, Herod sought to find the Child, in order to kill him; and, when his plan was thwarted by the wise men, who did not return to him because they had been warned by an angel of God not to do so, Herod put to death all the children in Bethlehem and its surrounding area that were two years old or younger. Church tradition puts the number of children killed by Herod at 14,000.

Herod acted out of fear, greed, and a love of power, and did not hesitate to use murder in order to maintain his grip on an earthly throne. Had it been within his power, he would have killed the new-born Child Who is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We need to consider how like Herod we are, as well.

Think about it: Christ has been born in each of us, by virtue of His grace and mercy when we are baptized. He has come to save us; and we would be wise to allow Him to rule in our lives, and be our King. But we love too much the pleasures and powers and temptations of this world; and we will do anything, it seems, not to be forced to set aside worldly things. We persist in our sins; and, when we refuse to follow the way of life identified for us by the Church – the life of prayer, and fasting; of giving; of struggling to achieve holiness in thought, word and deed, and to rid ourselves of following our passions – it is as if we, too, are trying to put to death within ourselves the holy One Who has come to dwell in us, that we might live forevermore in Him. Of course, we cannot put Him to death, any more than could Herod. But it is possible for us to put to death our own innocence – that is, to so deaden our conscience that we no longer recognize the good, nor desire to obtain it, if doing so conflicts with satisfying our flesh.

Brothers and sisters, this should not be. Even as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we should be vigilant to protect and nurture what God has done in and for us, as Joseph acted to protect the Child and his mother, taking them away to a place of safety. When we are beset with thoughts or desires to fulfill our passions, we should flee to God in prayer; and should take refuge in fasting, and prostrations. We should set ourselves free from attachments to this world, again, by fasting, and by taking from what God has entrusted to us to give for the needs of others, and for the work of the Church. We should fortify ourselves with the words of holy Scripture, and the teachings of the fathers, and the lives of the saints, and, above all, by taking into ourselves the most precious and holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that we might nurture the life within us, and make it our own, and let it be seen in and through us.

Herod died in great torment; and so, too, does great torment await those who do not repent of their sins. As we remember and celebrate the birth of Him Who came to die that we might have life, and have it abundantly, let us dedicate ourselves anew to the labor of making Him the Lord of our lives, to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.

Christ is born!

"We have seen His Star in the East"

(The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ) (Matt. 2:1-12)

As the world was preparing to celebrate western Christmas, there was an article in the news reporting the efforts of astronomers and historians to reconcile the history of appearances in the heavens with the reports in the Bible of the birth of Christ. What, they wonder, was the star that appeared in the east, which brought the wise men to Israel? Was it a supernova? A planetary conjunction? Was it a comet? Or was it just a legend, invented years later? The news article is clearly uncomfortable with miracles, and suggests, as its first paragraph is concluding, that the explanation can be found in naturally-occurring events.

A quick reading of the Fathers would have saved them all a great deal of time and trouble. They tell us that the “star” was an angelic power who appeared to guide the Magi to Christ. Two questions can help make this abundantly plain.

First, how can a star disappear, and then reappear? After all, the wise men followed the star to Jerusalem; but then had to ask of King Herod, “Where is He Who is born King of the Jews?” When they departed from Jerusalem to go to Bethlehem, the star reappeared to guide them.

Second, we are told that the star that went before them as they came to Bethlehem “stood over the place where the young Child was.” Either the star had to move in the heavens in a way totally uncharacteristic of the heavenly bodies we call stars; or it was not one of the lights God created in the heavens to light the night skies, and to reveal Himself through the wonders of nature. The Fathers use this example: You see the moon, or a particular star, and it appears to be over your house. Yet someone else, miles away, sees the same moon or star, appearing to be over their house. This can hardly serve to guide a traveler from afar to either house! And so, if the star stood over the house where our Lord was to be found, it was not a star, but an angelic power appearing to be a star, in order to bring the wise men to our Lord and His mother.

God was the guide of these travelers from afar, who were not “people of the Promise”; they were gentiles, outsiders – and yet they had come, with knowledge, with prophecy, to find the King of the Jews. When they found this peasant family and their new-born Child, they bowed down to Him, and offered gifts of gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. They recognized our Lord Jesus, even as a baby, to be King, and offered worship to Him. Compare this to those who thought themselves to be the people of God, who had the prophesies of the coming of the Messiah – who interpreted these to help the Magi come to Bethlehem! They did not worship Him; they did not even bother to try to find Him, Who was – or, at least, should have been – the fulfillment of all their hopes, and the answer to all their prayers.

Brothers and sisters, God will guide all those who seek Him, and will bring them to worship Him. He has brought each of us here, to this place, that we might worship and honor Him. He gives us the gift of Himself, and His love, and the hope of life without end in the wonder and enjoyment of His presence. Will we, in return, give Him gifts? He does not need or want our gold, our wealth – that is entrusted to us to use on His behalf, in making possible the work of the Church, and to care for the needs of those around us. He does not ask for frankincense, but for our prayers to be offered to Him – not for Himself, but for our benefit. He does not require of us myrrh, for He has already died, and been resurrected, so that we might not be bound any longer by death. Let us, then, in love, give Him the gift of our selves, our worship, our obedience, and our loving care for each other, and for all those who are made in His image. As we live the way of life of the Orthodox Church, our Lord Jesus Christ, born in us by baptism, will shine forth to bring all who seek Him to Himself, and be born in them as well. Let us live according to the Orthodox life, that we, too, may be stars to guide those who are on a journey to find the Lord may find Him here, and worship Him with us!

Christ is born!

Visions of Angels

(Eve of the Nativity of our Lord) (Luke 2:1-20)

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.”

The life of the shepherd is not an easy life; but it is a simple life. Shepherds don’t eat fine food, or wear fancy clothing. They don’t have access to a wide variety of entertainment or diversion; they don’t sleep in soft, comfortable beds. Their food and their clothing are simple; their entertainment, likewise, simple – and their bed is the ground. Shepherds also do not live in the midst of a number of people, nor among the delights – and temptations – of cities and towns. Rather, they live apart from the world, and from all the ways of the world. All around them are the works of God in nature, especially at night, as they behold the glories of the heavens, where God is also revealed.

As a result of living simply, and apart from the world in the midst of God’s creation, shepherds tend to be without guile; and so it is that, when our Lord is born, the angels appear to the shepherds, in a divine vision, revealing to these simple and humble men the good news of His birth. And the shepherds say to each other, “Let us go and see what has come to pass”; and, having seen, they leave rejoicing, glorifying God, and they themselves become heralds, as were the angels to them, telling everyone the good tidings of great joy for all people – the Savior is born; God is with us.

There aren’t too many of us who live a simple life away from the world – so we should not be surprised not to see visions of angels. Even so, God, in His mercy, has brought us to His house, and entrusted to us the good tidings of His presence with us, and that He has come to save us from sin and death. We may not live according to the circumstances that helped prepare the shepherds to receive the divine vision; but we can pursue simplicity and a life apart from the ways of the world, even as we dwell in the world, and not in the wilderness. We can pray, and fast; we can give, and we can struggle against our passions and the sinful impulses and desires that arise from them. We can study the words of Scripture, and the lives of the saints, and the teachings of the fathers – and we can live with humility, peace and love – love for God, for each other, and for those who have yet to hear the good news, those who are not yet members of the household of God.

Brothers and sisters: Let us celebrate the joyous Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ by giving thanks and praise to God for the hope of our salvation; and let us labor to bring forth in our own lives the testimony of the reality of His presence by letting Him be seen in us – in what we say, and in what we do, in what we think and feel, and in who we are. Having come to where He is, and been in His presence, let us go forth rejoicing to tell all the world that God is with us, and that the Savior has come, to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls.

Conceived of the Holy Spirit

(28th Sunday after Pentecost) (Matthew 1:1-25)

Among other things, today is the secular New Year. But, as we wish each other a happy New Year, we do well to recall that, for the Church, the New Year begins, not on January 1^st, but on September 1^st. In a way, it is a blessing for us that the Church is “out of synch” with the world; for we are in this world, but not supposed to be of this world. We are called to a different way of living; and when we encounter what appears to be a “disconnect” between the Church and the world, as with the calendar, it can help to remind us that this world is not meant to be our home. It is temporary; it will one day cease to exist. Our true home is in eternity; and the way to enter into that life without end in a state of blessedness is the way that we can only find in the Orthodox Church.

Today is also the Sunday before the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ; and, on this day, the Church recalls the Holy Fathers of our Lord, as evidenced in the reading from the Gospel according to St. Matthew assigned for use today. The Gospel begins with the genealogy of Joseph, showing him to be the “son” – that is to say, the heir – of David the King, whom God had promised that one of his sons would always sit on the throne as king, as long as they were faithful in following God, as David had been. Joseph is not the father of our Lord in the sense that “father” means “procreator”; but he certainly was a father to the young child born of the Theotokos, Who is Christ the Lord. Indeed, the Church Fathers tell us that Joseph was chosen by God and appointed to be the protector of Mary and her Child; and he shows his fatherhood in giving the Child the name proclaimed by the angel, naming Him “Jesus,” because He would save His people from their sins. By naming the child, Joseph also gives the child his lineage. When we read the genealogy set forth in St. Luke’s Gospel, we see that the Theotokos is also of the lineage of King David; and so our Lord is the fulfilling of the prophecy from both His earthly parents.

Joseph, we are told, was a righteous man; and we see his righteousness demonstrated in this reading from the Gospel. Finding that the young woman to whom he had been betrothed was pregnant, and knowing he was not the father of the child, he knew that he could not marry her, for it would have been marrying someone guilty of adultery; and so, in his desire to do what would be pleasing to God, he resolved to put an end to the betrothal. We also see righteousness with mercy; for he would have been within his rights to have had Mary stoned; but instead, he resolved to divorce her secretly. The Fathers tell us there is more; for Joseph, knowing she had conceived of the Holy Spirit, knew he was not worthy to keep as his wife this woman who had received such divine grace. But the angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream, and told him not to fear taking Mary as his wife, and to raise the child as his own.

One of the key points in the angel’s words to Joseph have some significance for us, as well. The angel said, “That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” Of course, it was the Son of God Who had taken human being in her womb, that He might save us in the fullness of our being. The Author of Life came to life in her womb, and she gave birth to the Creator of the World, that He might be also the Savior of the world.

That which is conceived in us who have been baptized is also of the Holy Spirit; and we also have developing within us the life of Christ, the Son of God, born of the Virgin, the Savior of the world. We are meant to bring Him forth into the world; we are meant to reveal Him by giving ourselves to His service, and by laboring to be transformed into His likeness. This process of transformation is the foundation of the way of life taught by the Church: of prayer, and fasting, giving alms and offerings and tithes and sacrifices, and struggling against the desire to indulge our passions and our flesh, doing instead what is virtuous and pleasing to God. Yet how many of us live in such a way that we can be seen to be bearers of Christ? How many of us have been given the great gift of new life in Christ, and yet continue to live according to the ways of this world, and are unrecognizable as Christians? We will rightly receive a greater condemnation at the great and terrible Day of Judgment than will those who knew nothing of our Lord Jesus Christ, if we have failed to follow the heavenly way of life to which we are called, and instead bury within our flesh the image of the Son of God, Who should shine forth from within us to be the light of the world.

Brothers and sisters, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us renew our dedication of our lives and persons to Him. Let us repent of our sins; let us pray, and fast; let us be generous and humble; and beseech God to have mercy on us, that we may fulfill the ministry given to us: to show forth Christ, born in us by water and the Holy Spirit, in every aspect of our lives – to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.

St. Nicholas of Myra - The Journey to Heaven

(St. Nicholas of Myra: 6/19 December) (John 10:9-16; Luke 6:17-23a)

In the Gospel reading at Matins for the celebration of St. Nicholas of Myra, our Lord speaks of Himself as the “good shepherd.” A shepherd, of course, leads his flock from pasture to pasture, and defends the flock against enemies. Our bishops, of course, are in our midst as reminders of the reality that Christ is in our midst; the fathers tell us that the Church can be found where the clergy and people have gathered with the bishop in their midst. The zhezl, the bishop’s staff or crozier, derives from the staff used by shepherds; and is symbolic of this ministry.

As the Good Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ seeks to bring all people into His flock; and to lead us to the kingdom of heaven. It’s not a journey by an immediately obvious route, because, as He has told us, the kingdom of heaven is within us. Thus, we must go within ourselves to find the way, and this route can be a dangerous one if we lose contact with the shepherd who leads us. As such, He teaches us, in today’s reading from the Gospel according to St. Luke, “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” How do we enter into blessedness?

Most of us, when we hear about those who are poor, understand this to mean that they have very little money, no real material possessions. In a way, this is easy to understand; they have little that ties them to this world, and so it is, it would seem, easier to look instead to the kingdom of heaven. But if this translates itself into being hungry in the body, it is a rare gift then to be able to lift one’s spiritual eyes to seek the way to heaven. We could, of course, give away all that we have, and become poor in the world’s sense; after all, this is what one does upon becoming a monastic – but the concept is not limited to being materially poor, as the word is often understood.

The fathers tell us that when we live without greed, we are among the poor; and when we live humbly, we are among the blessed poor. As such, these are qualities we do well to develop in ourselves: to not be moved by the desire for material possessions, and not to give time and energy to thoughts about what to eat, or drink, or wear, o how we shall use leisure time for our entertainment; and to consider everyone else as better, and more worthy, than we are ourselves. To live humbly, outwardly due to poverty, and inwardly by self-effacement and self-reproach, is to travel the way to the kingdom of heaven.

Our holy father Nicholas shows us a way to understand this manner of living. He desired to live as a hermit, but was told by God that his God-appointed labors were to take place in the midst of the people. He was noted for his many acts of charity – which, among other things, made him the prototype for “Santa Claus” – and this is significant for us, because it goes back to the point of being so poor that one cannot think of heaven because of being hungry in the body. This way remains for us today: to practice generosity in giving for the needs of the Church, and for the needs of those who are in need. Of course, when we take time and money and resources and use them for the Church, or to feed the hungry, care for the needy, visit the sick and those in prison, and so on, that is time or money we cannot devote to our own desires or pleasures. This is to say, when we give alms and offerings, we make ourselves a bit poorer – but now we’ve seen that this is a good thing, for it leads us closer to the kingdom of heaven.

Brothers and sisters, let us follow the example of our holy hierarch father Nicholas, and use the material blessings God has entrusted to us for the work and the Church and the needs of others; that they may find the grace and mercy of God by these gifts freely given; and that we may find our way along the path to the kingdom of heaven.

Holy hierarch father Nicholas, pray to God for us!

On the Journey to Bethlehem

(27th Sunday after Pentecost) (Luke 14:16-24)

Today – in case anyone has failed to notice – is the day the western churches (and those Orthodox Christians on the new calendar) celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the last week of so, it seems that a number of movie versions of the story, “A Christmas Carol,” have been shown on television. I don’t know how much Charles Dickens knew of Orthodox theology, but I am struck by the words he put in the mouth of Marley’s ghost, the specter who appears to Ebenezer Scrooge at the onset of the story. Scrooge asks Marley why he appears bound in chains, with moneyboxes linked to the chains. Marley’s ghost replies, “I wear the chain I forged in life. I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.” Marley bound himself to earthly things, never giving thought to heavenly matters; and so doomed himself to suffer in all eternity for the loss of what does not endure beyond death.

We are still in the midst of our journey to Bethlehem, and our celebration of the feast of the Nativity. We celebrate the coming of the Messiah, the Anointed One of God. He came to set us free from our own bondage, to break the gates of Hell and to trample down death by death. Our Lord Jesus Christ has the power to break the chains with which we bind ourselves, if we will allow Him to do so. But this means, among other things, that we must be transformed, we must break the habits by which we forge our own chains, link by link, and bind ourselves in these chains by our own free will. Our Lord has the power to set us free – but we must do our part.

Consider the Parable of the Great Supper, the first reading today from the Gospel according to St. Luke. A great feast has been prepared, and the host sends his servant to bid those for whom the feast has been prepared to come, as it is ready. However, the invited guests decline to come, pleading other commitments. The Fathers tell us that the man who would not attend because he had just bought a piece of ground represents those of us who are governed by the wisdom of the world, and cannot accept the mysteries of faith, only the laws of nature. Thus, the birth of Christ from the Virgin is unacceptable, for it is not a natural birth to this type of person. The man who has purchased five oxen represents those who have bound the soul to the five senses of the body, making the soul into flesh, and limiting it to this world, with no desire to partake of the mystical Great Supper. (This should give us pause, as the foretaste of the Great Supper will be offered today – but how many are prepared to partake of it?) The man who does not attend because he has just taken a wife stands for those who are lovers of pleasure and who live to please the flesh, which is the mate of the soul. But living to please the flesh means that we are not living to please God.

Do you see the parallel? When we persist in our habits of indulging the passions, we weigh ourselves down, as it were, with the chains we make for ourselves – we keep ourselves from rising up to the heavens to meet our Lord and our God. How, then, do we receive the power needed to break the chains that bind us, and weigh us down in body, mind, and spirit? We do so by making the journey of preparation; by living the life of the Orthodox faith and Church; by prayer, and fasting, by giving alms and offerings, and struggling to replace our passions with the virtues that are their opposites: love, instead of hatred; humility, instead of pride; patience, understanding, and forgiveness, in place of remembering the sins and wrongs of others; abstinence and chastity in place of gluttony and lust; generosity in place of greed; laboring, in place of sloth; and so on. We find the power to make the journey in the grace of God, given to us by His mercy and love for us; and strengthened indeed by the mysteries of the faith, of which the greatest is that of holy Communion, in the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Brothers and sisters, our Lord has come to set us free, to give us life that will not end. Let us choose to be free; and to live in a way that is pleasing to God, breaking the chains of our passions and sins that bind us to the world, that bind us to death. Let us prepare ourselves for the Great Supper that God desires all His people to attend; for, by preparing ourselves, and answering His call, we shall glorify His name, and shall save our souls.

"Let Us Not be Like this Rich Man"

(26th Sunday after Pentecost) (Luke 12:16-21)

[NOTE: This is a "bonus" selection. I wrote this sermon, but didn't like it enough to preach it; so I wrote another instead. It is offered here despite it not having actually been preached.]

The Fathers tell us that our life is not lengthened by an abundance of possessions in the material world; therefore, it is foolish for us to concern ourselves with acquiring them, and to maintain them. All too often, we waste time and energy worrying, “What shall I eat, what shall I drink, what shall I wear?” Of course, if we have nothing, these questions take on a different meaning. The person who is starving asks, “What shall I eat?” But that is a different question when we have things in abundance. The poor ask the same questions as do the rich – but with a different reason, and to a different end. We see this in the parable from the Gospel of St. Luke today.

The rich man makes several mistakes. First, he worries because he has been blessed with an abundant harvest. He worries about how he will enjoy it; and he worries about how he will maintain it. Second, he takes the credit for God’s blessing – and he doesn’t consider God as he does so, speaking instead about “my fruits” and “my goods.” Third, he makes plans for a long life, although he has no assurance of this; and says to himself, “Eat, drink, and be merry” – ignoring the reality that too much food and too much drink usually leads us to indulge other passions as well, making our offenses even greater than before.

We should pay attention to this, for we are all rich in material goods; and we dwell in a land that is the symbol of prosperity, the symbol of wealth, and the symbol of consumption. The rich man in the parable looked at his fields, and the harvest, and decided he needed bigger barns to store his wealth. Anybody here checked the value of his or her house lately? The rich man decided he could do better, and get more, and so live a life of comfort and ease. Ask yourself: What is it I am working for? How many hours do I spend going about the business of making money? For what purpose? To what end?

Please don’t misunderstand. Money is not evil; food and drink and clothing and shelter are all necessary. But when was the last time you stopped to give thanks to God for blessing you and protecting you? The skills each of us uses to obtain our daily bread, and the other things we need to live – did not God give us these abilities? And the opportunities? What do we do with the material things we possess? Do we remember those in need; and give alms to help them? The fathers say of this rich man, that, instead of building bigger barns, he could have stored his surplus grain in the bellies of the poor – and not only would it have been safer there, but then he would not have had the need to build, or worry about fire, or theft, or decay affecting his riches; and when it came time for him to give an account of his life, he need not worry that he had neglected others, but had been merciful to them, as God had been merciful to him. The angels would not have had to come to him to take his life from him, which he was reluctant to give to them, as he loved this world and its pleasures so much. Instead, he would have already given his life into the hands of God; and so departed this life willingly, in order to be with God in a life without distractions or responsibilities or fears.

Brothers and sisters: We are rich in material possessions. Let us not be like this rich man. Let us instead give thanks to God for all that He has given us; and seek to use what He has given to glorify Him, and to care for His people. Let us give from the abundance we have received to support the work of the Church to bring the Gospel of truth to a world in darkness. Let us give from the abundance to help those in need. Let us use wisely the time and resources, which God has entrusted unto us, to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.

A Life of Love - St. Sabbas the Sanctified

(26th Sunday after Pentecost) (Matthew 11:27-30)

Our holy father Sabbas the Sanctified is glorified as an instructor of monks and converser with the angels. He started seven different monasteries during the course of his lifetime, becoming a monk himself at the age of eight. At the age of eighteen, he left the monastery he had entered when he left his parent’s house, and lived for five years in a cave he found at the direction of an angel. After he had become perfected, he found that others seeking a holy life were drawn to him, and so he gathered them into the monasteries he established. Even his mother came to him after his father had died, and she also become a monastic, living in asceticism until her death. He was attacked many times by those who were close acquaintances, by heretics, and by the demons. He responded to the attacks of his friends with goodness and patient forgiveness; to the heretics by an unshakeable confession of the Orthodox faith; and to the demons by the sign of the Cross and by calling upon God to help him. He was 94 years old when he departed this life to be with the Lord.

One time, some monks rebelled against him, and were then driven from their monastery by the order of the Patriarch, Elias. The went and built huts for themselves in a river bed, and lived there in a desperate way, without any of the things that are necess ary for life. When St. Sabbas learned of their situation, hearing that they were starving, he loaded mules with flour, and took them to the monks himself. When he found they had no church, he built them one. At first, the monks received the saint with hatred, but after he ministered to them, they returned his love with love, and repented of their former evil toward him.

Brothers and sisters, this is the Orthodox faith; this is the Orthodox way of life. When the demons attack us, we should respond with the sign of the Cross, and with prayer to God, asking for help, that we might not follow the urges of our passions. When heretics challenge us regarding our faith, we need to be prepared to answer them from the words of holy Scripture, from the Divine Liturgy and the other services of the Church, from the teachings of the Fathers, and from the lives of the saints. In this, our response should be gentle and calm, yet firm and unyielding – not the easiest thing to do. Similarly, when those close to us question us about our Orthodox way of life, we need to be patient with them, and do our best to show them our Lord Jesus Christ in what we say and do. The example we have in St. Sabbas is a good one for us to follow.

None of this is possible without humility and meekness; and this is what the fathers tell us is the meaning of our Lord’s call to us, as we heard today in the reading from the Gospel of St. Matthew. “Come unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, that I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” The yoke of Christ is humility and meekness. When we humble ourselves before others, we are free, and are at rest, for nothing troubles us. Think about it. When our pride leads us to desire the praise and attention of others, and when we don’t want others to think less of us than we think of ourselves, we never rest; we must constantly be trying to protect and enhance our image. It is easier for us to be humbled than to be exalted.

It sounds like an easy thing, to humble yourself, and to think that all others are better, more worthy, than you. It’s not easy, of course – at least, not at the start; and not when we try to do it in our own strength alone. We cannot succeed without the grace of God, and for that, we must live the Orthodox life: of prayer, and fasting, of giving, and of struggling against our passions. And I cannot imagine how any of us could do what St. Sabbas did for those who had rebelled against him without humility, and without the grace of God – for he surely did what our Lord commanded when He said, “Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for them that spitefully use you.” Not only did he feed them when they were starving; he built a church for them to use to worship God. He met their hatred with the forgiving love which God offers to us all, who are sinners. Who among us does the same? Who among us lives in this way? Yet we are called to this manner of life in this world, that we might obtain a blessed repose, and a life of rejoicing without end in the world to come.

Brothers and sisters, in the life of St. Sabbas the Sanctified, we see the Orthodox way of life, of humility, of purity, and of love. May God grant us His grace to follow his example, and pursue the same – to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.

Holy Father Sabbas, pray to God for us!

"Actions Speak Louder than Words"

(25th Sunday after Pentecost) (Luke 10:25-37; Matt. 10:23-31)

At this time in the Church year, we are preparing to celebrate the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ. On the one hand, we celebrate His birth, His coming into the world. The victory of Pascha, when death is trampled down by death, is not possible without the Incarnation, without our Lord entering into the world, doing so in a way in which His divinity is perfectly joined to our humanity, without mixture, without confusion, without ceasing to be God, and without ceasing to be human.

So we have good reason to celebrate; but we must never forget that He has already come; and that, when He fulfills His promise and comes again, it will not be as it was the first time. He will not be born into the world, a baby in a manger. He will, as we recite in the Symbol of Faith, “come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead”; and of His kingdom there will be no end. We do well to remember that we need to prepare for His coming again, as much or more than we prepare to celebrate His birth in Bethlehem so many years ago.

With this in mind, the question that the lawyer asks our Lord becomes even more important: What must I do to inherit eternal life? We are all familiar with our Lord’s answer: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength; and love your neighbor as you love yourself. This makes sense. When we love ourselves more than we love God, it is easy for us to justify, in our own minds, allowing ourselves to indulge in whatever passion it is that brings us pleasure (even if only for a moment) in this world. This affects our human relationships as well. Think only of yourself, and soon there will be no one in your life except yourself. When we love someone else, when that person is more important to us than we are to ourselves, we are sensitive to the things this person we love likes and dislikes; and we do our best to change our words and deeds so that we maximize the positive responses of our beloved, and minimize the things that would displease or irritate or anger them. Our relationship with God is really no different. When we focus on ourselves, and our own desires, we are distant from God. When we endeavor to draw near to God, it becomes our desire, and then our delight, to do those things pleasing to God, and leave behind the things that would take us farther away. In a similar way, when we love ourselves more than we love our neighbor, it is then that we do them harm in thought or word or deed; from ignoring them, to neglecting them, to cursing them, to actively causing them harm. When we love them as we love ourselves, it is easier for us to be humble, patient, generous, and kind.

It is not enough for us to know these things. We must not only know them, we must do them. And it is not enough just to do them here. I am struck by what our Lord Jesus said to His disciples in the reading from St. Matthew’s Gospel today. He said, “What I have told you in darkness, speak in the light; and what I have whispered in your ear, preach this aloud from the rooftops.” The fathers tell us that this means that what we have seen and heard here, in the Church, we must proclaim in the world. How can we do this?

There’s a folk saying everyone is probably familiar with (and for which I’m sure there is an equivalent in Russian): “Actions speak louder than words.” We’ve probably all seen this happen enough to know the truth of it. When someone says one thing, and does another, we question whether that person can be relied upon; but when words and deeds agree, we can say that this is a reliable person. So it is with us. If we say that we love God, but do not walk in His ways, what message does that convey to those around us who need to know from us about God and His love? If we say that we love our neighbor are we love ourselves, but ignore or neglect or mistreat them –even if only in words – what do we say about the love of God in our midst?

Brothers and sisters, let us love God with the fullness of our being; and let us love each other as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us. Let us shine forth with the light of a holy life, through a life of prayer, and fasting, of giving, and of struggle against the passions. Let us shout from the rooftops with the love of God, as we labor to let Christ be seen in us, and as we love and care for those around us, in the Church, and in the world. If we will do so, we will make a powerful statement about the love of God; to the glory of His name, and the salvation of our souls.

Becoming Living Temples

(24th Sunday after Pentecost) (Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple)

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple. Having been blessed with the miraculous birth of a child, her parents, Joachim and Anna, brought their daughter to the Temple at the age of three years, to dedicate her to the service of the Lord. In the Temple, there were fifteen steps up to the Holy of Holies; and, being so young, it would not have seemed possible for her to have ascended; but, being placed on the first step, she was able to run to the top. She was met there by the high priest, Zacharias, who would become the father of St. John the Baptizer. He, inspired by the Holy Spirit, took her into the Holy of Holies, where only the high priest could enter, and that was permitted only once a year, on the Day of Atonement. She who will bear the Son of God Most High was thus blessed to enter into the most holy place of the Temple, which, until Christ’s coming into the world, was the sign of God’s dwelling in the midst of His people.

The most holy Theotokos is said to have laughed with delight and joy at entering the Temple, and did not cry or turn aside when her parents left her there. She entered into the daily life of the Temple, dwelling with the virgins in the rooms that were part of the Temple complex for those who served God. She was there at the sacrifices offered three times a day, joining in the prayers. She took part in the other activities of the Temple community, praying, fasting, and learning handicrafts together with the others whose great delight was to serve the Lord God. She would gladly have remained there all her life; but, after eleven years, it was decided that she would be placed in the care of her kinsman, Joseph, betrothed (but not married), so that she could continue to live in virginity, although this was not the practice at that time. The holy Virgin was obedient to the temple elders and departed with Joseph to live in his household. Thus we see two characteristics of her life that are both indicators of the preparation she received from God to make it possible for her to give birth to our Savior, Jesus Christ. She found her great delight to be in the presence of God; and she was obedient.

Today, each one of us has also entered into the Temple. We should realize this, and ponder what it means. We have come to the place that is set aside for us to gather together to meet God, and be with Him, as did the most holy Theotokos in Jerusalem. Is it a joy for you to come to the worship and fellowship of the Church, as it was for the Virgin in the temple? Are you taking part in the way of life of the faithful, and so being prepared to bear the Son of God in yourself, to show Him to the world, as she did? Do you offer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving through the day, as she did? Do you offer yourself to be the servant of God, as she did, with the fullness of her being? If you are doing so, glory to God! If not, why not?

Brothers and sisters, having entered the Temple today, we have a choice to make: Either to embrace the way of life that transforms us, and empowers us to show forth Jesus Christ to the world; or to turn away from this opportunity. Do we love the ways of the world, and all its comforts, and its praise and glory, more than we love God? For if this is so, we will not pray as we should; nor fast; nor give alms; nor will we see any need to labor, to struggle, to overcome the desires that overwhelm our flesh and lead us into sin. But if we will pray, and so draw closer to God; and if we will fast, and so discipline our flesh, and strengthen our will, so that we can set aside the desires that lead us to sin; if we will give, remembering that all that we have has been given to us by God as evidence of His love for us, and we can partake of and share that love by following His example, and giving to help others in need, and for the work of the Church; if we will struggle to stop doing what is harmful to ourselves and to others, and instead do what is virtuous, and pleasing to God, then we will be transformed, and the image of God will be seen in us, and we will share in the ministry of the most holy Theotokos. Let us, on this day of celebration, pray that we who have also entered into the Temple may be blessed to follow the example of our Lady Theotokos, and so become living temples of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Most holy Theotokos, save us!

"We have found Him" -- "Come and See!"

(23rd Sunday after Pentecost) (Luke 8:26-39)

Today the Church celebrates the life and ministry of the holy Apostle Philip. Philip lived in Bethsaida, the city in which also dwelt St. Andrew the First-called, and his brother, St. Peter. When our Lord met St. Philip, He said to Him, “Follow me.” Philip will follow our Lord throughout His earthly ministry. We hear him mentioned at the miracle of the feeding of five thousand with five loaves and two fish; for, when our Lord asks where bread might be purchased to feed the multitude, it is Philip who replies that they do not have enough money to buy enough bread to give each person a morsel. Philip is mentioned again in Jerusalem, after Lazarus had been raised from the dead. Some Greeks came to him and said, “Sir, we would see Jesus.” Philip takes them to St. Andrew, who takes them to our Lord.

But I think the two most significant mentions of the holy Apostle Philip are the first, which we heard read today as the second Gospel reading, and the last, also from the Gospel account of St. John the Theologian. In the last occurrence, he is with the Lord and the other disciples at the Last Supper, and he asks our Lord, “Show us the Father, and that is enough.” In reply, our Lord gives him an important bit of information: “If you have seen me,” He says, “you have seen the Father.”

After the day of Pentecost, Philip, in the power of the Holy Spirit, goes to Greece and then into Asia to preach the Gospel of our salvation. Many miracles took place as he journeyed. In one place, where the Jews sought to kill him, there was an earthquake, which swallowed up his persecutors. There were miraculous healings, which helped bring many from paganism to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. In one place, the pagans kept an enormous snake, which they worshipped as a god. St. Philip killed it with a prayer, as if he had thrust a spear into the snake. The enraged pagans seized him, together with St. Bartholomew, and crucified them both upside-down, on a tree. Again, there was an earthquake, in which the earth consumed those responsible. This led the others to try to release the apostles. Bartholomew was still alive; but St. Philip had already departed this life to be with the Lord once more.

So we see St. Philip ends his life as he began to live after having been called by our Lord; for, having met Jesus, Philip goes to his friend, Nathanael, and says to him, “We have found the one we have been waiting for, the one Moses spoke of, and the prophets. He is Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph, the carpenter.” He does the work of an evangelist. Though he did not then know what he would know later, he brings his friend, telling him, “Come and see.”

Brothers and sisters, the Lord has also said to us, “Follow me,” just as He called St. Philip. He has given us the Holy Spirit, just as St. Philip also received the Holy Spirit. If we see Him – through the way of life we can learn from the Orthodox Church, and our fathers before us in the Church: through prayer, and fasting, through giving, and through struggling to overcome our sins and to live a life pleasing to God – we have also seen the Father. And, while we may not be able to go to the marketplace, or the assembly, or some other gathering, and proclaim the good news of our salvation in Jesus Christ, yet we can still do as St. Philip did for his friend Nathanael. We can, by being prepared to speak of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ our Lord, and by laboring with God in the transformation of our lives, we can say to people, “We have found the One all the world has been waiting for – the One Who sets us free from sin and death”; and, when they say, “How can we find Him?” we can say, “Come and see,” and bring them here to meet our Lord, even as we are gathered here to meet Him, to praise and worship Him, and to love and care for each other with the love He gives to us to share.

Brothers and sisters, let us prepare ourselves, in word and in deed, to be evangelists, to bring to those in the world around us the good news of Jesus Christ; to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls.

Holy Apostle Philip, pray to God for us!

Choosing Our Place in Eternity

(22nd Sunday after Pentecost) (Luke 16:19-31)

The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus should make every one of us nervous; because, if we’re honest with ourselves, we’d have to say that our lives more closely resemble that of the rich man, who, we are told, dressed in fine clothing, and ate sumptuously every day. (Sumptuously: that means that he ate well. That means a table overflowing with the best food, and the best drink. Something to think about, as Thanksgiving Day draws near.) Every one of us has a roof over our heads, clothing to wear, and food to eat – indeed, even though we don’t consider ourselves to be rich, by comparison to some – the Donald Trumps of this world, for example – we should recognize that we live more comfortably, and with more luxury, than the vast majority of people across time and space. Only a few of us have ever suffered, or will ever suffer, in the way that Lazarus is seen to be suffering in the Gospel today.

Why does this matter? It matters because, among other things, our way of life blinds us to the truth – a truth that includes the reality of hell. Hell is real. The suffering is real. What’s more, God does not send people to hell – those who go there have chosen to do so. That’s part of the point our Lord is making in telling us this parable. He wants us to know that hell is real, that the torment there is real – and that the way we live makes a difference on the great and terrible Day of Judgment, when we must give an accounting for our lives, for every deed, every word, every thought, every desire. What have we done with the life God has granted to us? What have we done with the talents and abilities and resources God has entrusted to us? Have we been good stewards? Or have we been selfish?

Those who show no mercy, and those who give no alms, be warned: eternal punishment awaits you! Those of you who suffer, in body, mind, or spirit, rejoice! For you have hope to receive good things in the life to come, if you patiently endure your circumstances in this life. Consider Lazarus in his suffering. He has no place to live, but makes his bed at the front gate of the rich man. He has no food to eat, and would be grateful if he could eat of the food that falls to the floor in the rich man’s house, as the dogs do. He suffers from bodily sores, and from the agony of having the dogs lick those sores, being powerless to drive them away. Yet in all of this, he does not blaspheme; he does not curse God, or even blame Him, for his suffering; nor does he hate or blame or condemn the rich man for his wealth, or his refusal to share it, or make a charitable use of a part of it on behalf of Lazarus. When he dies, he is met by the angels, who escort him to a place of blessed repose. We know his name, for his name is also written in the Book of Life.

The rich man, on the other hand, is not given a name. He is not worthy to be remembered by God by name. He died, and was not met by angels, but was buried, as his soul had been buried all those years, buried alive in his flesh. He never had a heavenly thought during his lifetime; and so his soul departed, not for heaven, but to hades, to a place of torment.

Which end would you prefer? In which place would you rather dwell? (Well, duh!) So, consider this question: Where is the Lazarus in your life? Who is the person (or persons) you can help by using a portion – and we’re only talking about a portion, mind you – of what God has given to you as a blessing, to be a blessing, to be used wisely in His service? Maybe the answer isn’t as simple as it was for the rich man, who had a beggar outside his own front door. But the season is now at hand, here in the Valley, when we will have beggars on the street corners with their cardboard signs. Maybe you could set aside something to have at hand to stop from time to time and give them something. Thanksgiving Day is at hand; and even though it is not, strictly speaking, an Orthodox holiday (after all, we should give thanks to God every day, continuously), it is a day in our culture where we enjoy the richness of God’s bounty; and there are those who make it a point to provide a meal for those who might otherwise have nothing, or have only crumbs. You can make a donation to a local food bank – in fact, you can do this at any time of the year – but the need is particularly great right now.

Brothers and sister, beloved of God: We choose our place in eternity; and we demonstrate our choice by the way we live. Let us use the time God has given us wisely: in prayer and fasting; in studying the Bible, and the lives of the saints; in loving and caring for each other; in setting ourselves free from the world and our possessions by giving for the needs and work of the Church, and alms for those in need around us; and by struggling to turn away from our sins, and practice in their place the virtues pleasing to God. Then we also will have good reason to hope in the mercy of God, and to be met by angels when we depart this life, and be escorted by them to a blessed repose. Let us live with patient endurance and generosity, to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.