(Matthew 4:12-17)(January 25, 2004)
Usually, when I’m lighting the lamps in the church, I say a prayer, along these lines: “O Lord God, Lover of mankind, as these lamps bring light unto the darkness, fill us with the light of Thy grace and truth, Thy mercy and love, so that we, too, may be lamps, and bring light to those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death, that they may find Thee and know Thee, and so find salvation for their souls.”
As we have considered before, it is no secret that the darkness in our culture seems to be growing stronger. The fathers tell us that the darkness is not that which we see in the material world around us, the absence of light. The darkness is rather the ungodliness of men. The fathers also tell us that the “shadow of death” is sin. The source of sin is our fear of death. Because we know of the reality of death, that our earthly existence will come to an end, our bodies are overwhelmed, and our resolve to restrain our appetites and control our passions is weakened; and so we sin. And, of course, as St. Paul writes, “The wages of sin is death.” We are caught, it seems, in an unbreakable cycle of sin and death; and if it is not reversed, this awareness brings us even deeper into the darkness of despair.
At the end of the troparion for the Theophany, we sing: “O Christ God, Who hast appeared, and hast enlightened the world, glory be to Thee.” With the coming of Christ, light has sprung up: the great light of the Gospel of our salvation; the good news that death has been destroyed by death, and Christ has brought eternal life. When we at last embrace this truth, it begins to weaken the fear of death; and suddenly we find ourselves empowered by the grace of God to begin to struggle against our sins. In the Great Doxology, which we sing towards the end of the Matins service, we hear, “For in Thee is the fountain of life, and in Thy light do we see light.” Christ is the Light; and as we are transformed more and more into His likeness, as we devote ourselves to living the life of Christ into which we have been baptized, in the power of the Holy Spirit, which we received when we were chrismated, we drive away the darkness, and are filled with His light.
In order to enter into His life, we had to repent of our sins; and we were washed clean in the waters of baptism. Now, when we sin, that light of His life, still within us, is dimmed. The light is not extinguished; but, as mud thrown on the outside of a lantern keeps its light from shining forth to light the way, so do our sins keep the light of the love of God, and His grace and truth, from shining forth from us. And so we must again heed the call to repent: to “change our minds”; for this is what it means to repent. We must choose to turn away from our sins, and choose instead the way of what is pleasing to God, and saving to souls. We must change our minds about what is good, and come to hate, despise, abhor the sins which we have learned to love. When we repent, and confess, God has mercy on us, and cleanses us of all unrighteousness; and so the light can shine forth from us once more.
Brothers and sisters: We are called to be witnesses to Christ, and to make Him present in the world around us. We are called to be bearers of the light of Christ, and to bring that light to those who dwell in darkness, and in the shadow of death. Let us repent of our sins, and embrace the Orthodox life, the life governed by the Gospel, the good news of God’s forgiving and enduring and merciful love. Let us repent of our sins, for the love of God, that we may bring to those in darkness His light and love; for the glory of God, and the salvation of souls.
Sunday, January 25, 2004
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Out of Egypt have I Called My Son
(Matthew 2:13-23) (January 21, 2004)
“Out of Egypt have I called my Son.”
St. Matthew is quoting the prophet Hosea; who, in turn, was speaking with the voice of God. He said, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt have I called my son.” Hosea continued, “But the more I called Israel, the more they went from me. They sacrificed to the Baals, and burned incense to graven images.” (Hos. 11:1-2)
The prophet Hosea was speaking of the Exodus of the Jews from Israel. St. Matthew gives a new perspective: What had occurred with the deliverance of the Jews had taken place long before the prophecy was spoken. Thus, the prophecy was not fulfilled until Christ was born, and fled with Joseph and Mary into Egypt. The Jews had gone down into Egypt to avoid death by famine; Christ went down to avoid death from Herod’s jealousy and hatred. Life can be found in the most unlikely places.
The fathers tell us that, with Babylon, Egypt is a symbol of the world’s ungodliness. In the coming of the Magi to worship Christ, we see Babylon acknowledging Him as king, and more. With Christ coming to Egypt, that land also will be transformed. Egypt is sanctified by Christ’s entry there; and Egypt over time turns to Him, becoming a paradise of monastics, such as St. Anthony the Great. “Out of Egypt have I called my Son”; and out of Egypt come many who glorify Him by being living bearers of His holy likeness.
We also are called to be sons of God; and we, who are worldly, we, who are ungodly, are sanctified by the entry of Christ. He enters us at the time of our baptism; and we receive Him, He enters us, when we receive the Mystery of Holy Communion. We are meant to turn to Him, and to be holy, leaving behind the things of this world, and applying ourselves to the toils and struggles by which the virtues we lack are to be obtained.
Brothers and sisters: The prophecy is fulfilled: “Out of Egypt have I called my Son.” We are called out of this world to live for Christ. We are called out of sin and ungodliness to holiness. We are called out of death to life eternal. Let us not be as those before, who, having been delivered, turned their backs on God. Let us embrace the Orthodox Church, and faith, and way of life, so that we may be transformed; and so bear witness to the Son of God.
“Out of Egypt have I called my Son.”
St. Matthew is quoting the prophet Hosea; who, in turn, was speaking with the voice of God. He said, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt have I called my son.” Hosea continued, “But the more I called Israel, the more they went from me. They sacrificed to the Baals, and burned incense to graven images.” (Hos. 11:1-2)
The prophet Hosea was speaking of the Exodus of the Jews from Israel. St. Matthew gives a new perspective: What had occurred with the deliverance of the Jews had taken place long before the prophecy was spoken. Thus, the prophecy was not fulfilled until Christ was born, and fled with Joseph and Mary into Egypt. The Jews had gone down into Egypt to avoid death by famine; Christ went down to avoid death from Herod’s jealousy and hatred. Life can be found in the most unlikely places.
The fathers tell us that, with Babylon, Egypt is a symbol of the world’s ungodliness. In the coming of the Magi to worship Christ, we see Babylon acknowledging Him as king, and more. With Christ coming to Egypt, that land also will be transformed. Egypt is sanctified by Christ’s entry there; and Egypt over time turns to Him, becoming a paradise of monastics, such as St. Anthony the Great. “Out of Egypt have I called my Son”; and out of Egypt come many who glorify Him by being living bearers of His holy likeness.
We also are called to be sons of God; and we, who are worldly, we, who are ungodly, are sanctified by the entry of Christ. He enters us at the time of our baptism; and we receive Him, He enters us, when we receive the Mystery of Holy Communion. We are meant to turn to Him, and to be holy, leaving behind the things of this world, and applying ourselves to the toils and struggles by which the virtues we lack are to be obtained.
Brothers and sisters: The prophecy is fulfilled: “Out of Egypt have I called my Son.” We are called out of this world to live for Christ. We are called out of sin and ungodliness to holiness. We are called out of death to life eternal. Let us not be as those before, who, having been delivered, turned their backs on God. Let us embrace the Orthodox Church, and faith, and way of life, so that we may be transformed; and so bear witness to the Son of God.
Monday, January 19, 2004
The Theophany of our Lord Jesus Christ
(Matthew 3:13-17) (January 19, 2004)
If you listen carefully to the petitions of the prayer for the blessing of water during the service of the Great Blessing of Waters, you will find that many of these are also found in the blessing of the waters when someone is to be baptized. It makes sense, really: for today, among other things, we celebrate the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ; and this should remind us also of our own baptism.
Less than two weeks ago, we celebrated the Feast of the Nativity, the Incarnation of our Lord. God, desiring to accomplish our salvation, has identified Himself with us, taking on our human nature without ceasing to be God. Our Lord Jesus Christ is made like unto us in every way, except for sin. It is this knowledge that prompts St. John the Baptizer to ask of our Lord, Why do you come to me for baptism? He is saying, Lord, I am the one who is a sinner, and need to be made clean; You are without sin, and have no need for baptism. Our Lord replies, Let it be done, so that all righteousness will be fulfilled.
The fathers tell us that our Lord was thirty years old when He went to the Jordan to be baptized. This was not an arbitrary age. Rather, by that time, He had experienced all the temptations to sin: the great foolishness of the first ten years of life; the great flames of passion and anger of the second ten years of life; and the temptations of greed and envy and covetousness of adulthood. Our Lord waited until He had fulfilled the law in all the ages of man. Then , having done in our nature what we, by ourselves, are not capable of doing - fulfilling the Law - our Lord Jesus completes the sanctification of human nature by presenting Himself for baptism. Having lived without sin, and by baptism, He has cleansed us, and has delivered human nature from the curse of Adam. Adam’s sin closed the heavens to us. Christ’s baptism of Adam’s nature opens the heavens to us once more.
Think now of the promises you made when you were baptized: renouncing Satan, and all his ways, we proclaimed that we have joined ourselves to Christ. We have promised that we would be His, and make Him present wherever and whenever we are present. Of course, when we forget that this is who we are supposed to be; when we choose, not the way of righteousness, but rather the way of sin, we hide Him, rather than making Him known. May God forgive us for our continual failure to let His Son be revealed to others through us because of our sins.
“As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Alleluia!” Brothers and sisters: Let us renew this day our baptismal vows, and live to allow Christ to be seen in and through us. Let us fast, and pray, give from the wealth which God has bestowed upon us, and struggle to discipline ourselves in body, mind, and spirit, so that we turn from our sins. Let us who have been baptized into Christ do all in our power to put on Christ; so that He may be revealed to a world which needs to see Him - to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls. Amen.
If you listen carefully to the petitions of the prayer for the blessing of water during the service of the Great Blessing of Waters, you will find that many of these are also found in the blessing of the waters when someone is to be baptized. It makes sense, really: for today, among other things, we celebrate the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ; and this should remind us also of our own baptism.
Less than two weeks ago, we celebrated the Feast of the Nativity, the Incarnation of our Lord. God, desiring to accomplish our salvation, has identified Himself with us, taking on our human nature without ceasing to be God. Our Lord Jesus Christ is made like unto us in every way, except for sin. It is this knowledge that prompts St. John the Baptizer to ask of our Lord, Why do you come to me for baptism? He is saying, Lord, I am the one who is a sinner, and need to be made clean; You are without sin, and have no need for baptism. Our Lord replies, Let it be done, so that all righteousness will be fulfilled.
The fathers tell us that our Lord was thirty years old when He went to the Jordan to be baptized. This was not an arbitrary age. Rather, by that time, He had experienced all the temptations to sin: the great foolishness of the first ten years of life; the great flames of passion and anger of the second ten years of life; and the temptations of greed and envy and covetousness of adulthood. Our Lord waited until He had fulfilled the law in all the ages of man. Then , having done in our nature what we, by ourselves, are not capable of doing - fulfilling the Law - our Lord Jesus completes the sanctification of human nature by presenting Himself for baptism. Having lived without sin, and by baptism, He has cleansed us, and has delivered human nature from the curse of Adam. Adam’s sin closed the heavens to us. Christ’s baptism of Adam’s nature opens the heavens to us once more.
Think now of the promises you made when you were baptized: renouncing Satan, and all his ways, we proclaimed that we have joined ourselves to Christ. We have promised that we would be His, and make Him present wherever and whenever we are present. Of course, when we forget that this is who we are supposed to be; when we choose, not the way of righteousness, but rather the way of sin, we hide Him, rather than making Him known. May God forgive us for our continual failure to let His Son be revealed to others through us because of our sins.
“As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Alleluia!” Brothers and sisters: Let us renew this day our baptismal vows, and live to allow Christ to be seen in and through us. Let us fast, and pray, give from the wealth which God has bestowed upon us, and struggle to discipline ourselves in body, mind, and spirit, so that we turn from our sins. Let us who have been baptized into Christ do all in our power to put on Christ; so that He may be revealed to a world which needs to see Him - to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls. Amen.
Sunday, January 18, 2004
Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord
(Mark 1:1-8) (January 18, 2004)
“Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.”
This prophecy, spoken by Isaiah, is fulfilled by St. John the Baptizer, whose coming was foretold by the prophet Malachi: “Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” St. John was sent by God to prepare His people for the coming of Christ. He was to bring them to an awareness of their sins, so that they might repent, and accept Christ as Savior and Redeemer.
The fathers tell us that everything about St. John has meaning. For example, consider the way in which he dressed himself: with camels’ hair, and a leather belt around his body. These are symbols of mourning; for those who repent of their sins must mourn for their sins. The garment of camel hair signifies this mourning, through a suffering in the flesh for the sins of the flesh. The leather belt, being dead animal flesh, shows the deadness of the law - that is, its ability on its own to bestow life; and the deadness of those who understand the law in a fleshly, that is, literal and superficial manner.
St. John ate locusts and wild honey. The fathers tell us that the locusts signify the attempt to rise to heaven. Locusts seem to do so when they leap; but, after rising, they fall back to earth. So it is with us in our spiritual lives. On our own, we cannot rise to heaven. The wild honey is produced by wild bees. The fathers tell us that the bees are the prophets; and that the honey are the words of the prophets, the sweetness of the Scriptures. The honey is wild because it was not cultivated, not domesticated; that is, the words of the prophets were not being understood.
And so it is that St. John becomes the voice of one crying in the wilderness; by which the fathers mean us to understand, in the synagogue of the Jews. There could be found the Law and the Prophets; but, because these were not understood, the resulting way of life was wild, even if it did not appear to be so - for adherence to the Law as an external exercise was not the point: it is the transformation of the inner man. We are meant to know that it is not enough to live by the Law. The Law serves to point out to us both our sins, and our inability to overcome these by ourselves.
“Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.” The Way is the Gospel, the good news of our salvation in Jesus Christ the Lord. The paths, the fathers tell us, are the commandments of the Law, which had become twisted over time through neglect and misunderstanding. And so comes St. John the Baptizer, saying, “Prepare yourselves for the life lived according to the Gospel, and make spiritual the commandments of the Law.” This message is meant for us, as well.
The Orthodox Church has her way of life; and, in one sense, we have a collection of laws and rules and regulations that govern the way in which we are to live. There are the rules of fasting: what to eat, and what not to eat, and when. There are the rules for praying: attendance at the worship services of the Church, and private prayers; morning, evening, at mealtimes. There are the rules for alms-giving, such as the tithe. There are rules for when to cross yourself, and when not to do so; when to make bows and prostrations, and when not to do so, and when to do one in place of the other. There are rules about how to dress, and how and where to stand, and who says what when, and who doesn’t… The list seems to be without end.
Please don’t misunderstand me. These rules and regulations and canons are important, and can be of incredible help to us. But we must be careful not to fall into the same trap as did the Jews to whom St. John the Baptist made his proclamation to prepare the way. If we take all these rules and think that, by external compliance with them, we are Orthodox, we show that we, also, do not understand the deeper, spiritual purpose underlying and supporting these rules. If we are not enjoying a life lived according to the good news that our salvation has been accomplished for us by Jesus Christ crucified, buried, and risen from the dead; if we are not living a life in which we labor to discipline ourselves so as to bring our passions into subjection to God as an act of love for God in response to His incredible and merciful love for us, we have not yet prepared the way in our hearts; we have not yet prepared the way of the Lord.
Brothers and sisters: The cry of St. John the Baptizer comes to us: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. He is the messenger sent by the love of God, to call us to remember that love; and to repent of our sins, and to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. Let us live by this law, the law of love - to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and with all our strength; and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Let us live by this law, the law of love, and all the rules and regulations of the Orthodox life - of prayer, and fasting, of alms-giving and struggle, will take their proper place in our lives, serving us and helping us to live a life of love, the life of the Gospel; for the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.
“Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.”
“Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.”
This prophecy, spoken by Isaiah, is fulfilled by St. John the Baptizer, whose coming was foretold by the prophet Malachi: “Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” St. John was sent by God to prepare His people for the coming of Christ. He was to bring them to an awareness of their sins, so that they might repent, and accept Christ as Savior and Redeemer.
The fathers tell us that everything about St. John has meaning. For example, consider the way in which he dressed himself: with camels’ hair, and a leather belt around his body. These are symbols of mourning; for those who repent of their sins must mourn for their sins. The garment of camel hair signifies this mourning, through a suffering in the flesh for the sins of the flesh. The leather belt, being dead animal flesh, shows the deadness of the law - that is, its ability on its own to bestow life; and the deadness of those who understand the law in a fleshly, that is, literal and superficial manner.
St. John ate locusts and wild honey. The fathers tell us that the locusts signify the attempt to rise to heaven. Locusts seem to do so when they leap; but, after rising, they fall back to earth. So it is with us in our spiritual lives. On our own, we cannot rise to heaven. The wild honey is produced by wild bees. The fathers tell us that the bees are the prophets; and that the honey are the words of the prophets, the sweetness of the Scriptures. The honey is wild because it was not cultivated, not domesticated; that is, the words of the prophets were not being understood.
And so it is that St. John becomes the voice of one crying in the wilderness; by which the fathers mean us to understand, in the synagogue of the Jews. There could be found the Law and the Prophets; but, because these were not understood, the resulting way of life was wild, even if it did not appear to be so - for adherence to the Law as an external exercise was not the point: it is the transformation of the inner man. We are meant to know that it is not enough to live by the Law. The Law serves to point out to us both our sins, and our inability to overcome these by ourselves.
“Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.” The Way is the Gospel, the good news of our salvation in Jesus Christ the Lord. The paths, the fathers tell us, are the commandments of the Law, which had become twisted over time through neglect and misunderstanding. And so comes St. John the Baptizer, saying, “Prepare yourselves for the life lived according to the Gospel, and make spiritual the commandments of the Law.” This message is meant for us, as well.
The Orthodox Church has her way of life; and, in one sense, we have a collection of laws and rules and regulations that govern the way in which we are to live. There are the rules of fasting: what to eat, and what not to eat, and when. There are the rules for praying: attendance at the worship services of the Church, and private prayers; morning, evening, at mealtimes. There are the rules for alms-giving, such as the tithe. There are rules for when to cross yourself, and when not to do so; when to make bows and prostrations, and when not to do so, and when to do one in place of the other. There are rules about how to dress, and how and where to stand, and who says what when, and who doesn’t… The list seems to be without end.
Please don’t misunderstand me. These rules and regulations and canons are important, and can be of incredible help to us. But we must be careful not to fall into the same trap as did the Jews to whom St. John the Baptist made his proclamation to prepare the way. If we take all these rules and think that, by external compliance with them, we are Orthodox, we show that we, also, do not understand the deeper, spiritual purpose underlying and supporting these rules. If we are not enjoying a life lived according to the good news that our salvation has been accomplished for us by Jesus Christ crucified, buried, and risen from the dead; if we are not living a life in which we labor to discipline ourselves so as to bring our passions into subjection to God as an act of love for God in response to His incredible and merciful love for us, we have not yet prepared the way in our hearts; we have not yet prepared the way of the Lord.
Brothers and sisters: The cry of St. John the Baptizer comes to us: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. He is the messenger sent by the love of God, to call us to remember that love; and to repent of our sins, and to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. Let us live by this law, the law of love - to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and with all our strength; and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Let us live by this law, the law of love, and all the rules and regulations of the Orthodox life - of prayer, and fasting, of alms-giving and struggle, will take their proper place in our lives, serving us and helping us to live a life of love, the life of the Gospel; for the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.
“Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.”
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
On the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ
(Matthew 2:1-12)(January 7, 2004)
"Christ is born!"
We celebrate today the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ; the Incarnation of the Son of God, the second Person on the Holy Trinity. We celebrate the beginning of the completion of God's plan for our restoration to relationship with Him; the plan that will lead our Incarnate Lord to His crucifixion, death, and glorious Resurrection. In a way, Pascha begins today, with the Feast of the Nativity.
And so we greet each other with this remembrance, that Christ is born; and we reply, "Glorify Him!" But what, exactly, does this mean? How do we glorify Him?
In Scripture, the word "glory" is related to the presence of God; a presence which is "active" and "radiant." The "glory of God" speaks of the very real presence of God. "Glory" also has a sense of "greatness"; to which we pay attention, to which we give honor, respect, and devotion. In connection with our Lord, many times "glory" is also related to "resurrection." The phrase, "Jesus has been glorified" is the same as saying, "Jesus has died and risen again."
So: How do we glorify Him? As "glory" means "presence," we must make Him present. As "glory" means "greatness," we must make Him great. As His glorification speaks of His death and resurrection, we must also die, and live: that is, we must die to self, to the desires and actions of our passion; and live instead for, and in, Christ.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is here with us. We see His presence, among other things, in the icons showing scenes from His life and ministry; and in the bread and wine that He will bless to be His Body and Blood. Our Lord is here with us, in each one of us who has been baptized; each of us is an icon of Christ. And as we live the life of the Orthodox faith, the way of life we learn in the orthodox Church - a life of prayer, and fasting, or alms-giving, and of spiritual struggle against our sins - we make Him present.
Brothers and sisters: Let us celebrate the birth of the Lord by dedicating ourselves to the transformation of our lives and being; to embrace with renewed commitment our Orthodox life and faith. Let us celebrate the Incarnation of the Son of God by striving to live a life without sin. Let us celebrate the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ by honoring Him in each other, and by an awareness that He is born in us, and that we bear Him in order to show Him to the world.
”Christ is born!"
"Christ is born!"
We celebrate today the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ; the Incarnation of the Son of God, the second Person on the Holy Trinity. We celebrate the beginning of the completion of God's plan for our restoration to relationship with Him; the plan that will lead our Incarnate Lord to His crucifixion, death, and glorious Resurrection. In a way, Pascha begins today, with the Feast of the Nativity.
And so we greet each other with this remembrance, that Christ is born; and we reply, "Glorify Him!" But what, exactly, does this mean? How do we glorify Him?
In Scripture, the word "glory" is related to the presence of God; a presence which is "active" and "radiant." The "glory of God" speaks of the very real presence of God. "Glory" also has a sense of "greatness"; to which we pay attention, to which we give honor, respect, and devotion. In connection with our Lord, many times "glory" is also related to "resurrection." The phrase, "Jesus has been glorified" is the same as saying, "Jesus has died and risen again."
So: How do we glorify Him? As "glory" means "presence," we must make Him present. As "glory" means "greatness," we must make Him great. As His glorification speaks of His death and resurrection, we must also die, and live: that is, we must die to self, to the desires and actions of our passion; and live instead for, and in, Christ.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is here with us. We see His presence, among other things, in the icons showing scenes from His life and ministry; and in the bread and wine that He will bless to be His Body and Blood. Our Lord is here with us, in each one of us who has been baptized; each of us is an icon of Christ. And as we live the life of the Orthodox faith, the way of life we learn in the orthodox Church - a life of prayer, and fasting, or alms-giving, and of spiritual struggle against our sins - we make Him present.
Brothers and sisters: Let us celebrate the birth of the Lord by dedicating ourselves to the transformation of our lives and being; to embrace with renewed commitment our Orthodox life and faith. Let us celebrate the Incarnation of the Son of God by striving to live a life without sin. Let us celebrate the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ by honoring Him in each other, and by an awareness that He is born in us, and that we bear Him in order to show Him to the world.
”Christ is born!"
The Way of Love and Humility
(Luke 2:1-20) (January 7, 2004)
Please don’t misunderstand what I’m about to say. Of course, it is important for us to be knowledgeable about the Orthodox faith; about what we believe, and why we believe it; about how we are to live, and why we live as we do - a life of prayer, and fasting, and alms-giving, and of spiritual struggle against our sins, so that we can show forth the life of Christ given to us in our baptism. We should know the rules of prayer, and keep them; we should know the rules of fasting, and keep them; and so on.
But we would do well to remember that our Orthodox life is meant to be so much more than just a strict adherence to rules. “But, Father,” I can hear someone ask, “how can that be true?” It must be true. Consider this, which we have revealed to us, among others, in today’s reading from the Gospel according to St. Luke, about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ: When the angels in heaven sang of His birth, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will towards men?” It wasn’t to those who were the most knowledgeable about the faith at that time; it wasn’t to the priests, or the scribes, or the Pharisees. No, the angels sang of Christ’s birth to the shepherds; to men who lived a much simpler life, who were probably not nearly as educated, not at all as informed, about the day-to-day rules and regulations of the faith. God did not choose to reveal the birth of His Son to those who were considered to be wise, but to those who were simple, and without guile. The heavenly vision was not given to those who thought they knew the right way - the “orthodox” way - of life; but to those who were simple, honest, and, the fathers tell us, without guile.
What, then, about us? How do we balance the necessity of living carefully according to the rules and guidelines, which we acknowledge to be good, and important, and yet not seek to do so to the degree that we become the scribes and Pharisees of today? This is especially important for those of us who are converts to the Orthodox faith, for we were (for the most part) raised in a culture that does not grasp well this tension in the life of the Orthodox faithful; and for whom the temptation, then, is to “prove” ourselves in our newly-embraced faith by keeping all of its outward requirements. I believe that the answer to this dilemma is by the way of love and humility.
If we dedicate ourselves to fulfilling our Lord’s instruction to us to love God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and with all our strength, we will find developing within our being a desire to live rightly; a desire to keep the commandments of God, and the rules of the Church and faith, as an offering of ourselves to God. This is an act of love, and it is, I believe, empowered by our realization of the incredible love that God has for us. Love draws forth love; and the more we know the richness of God’s love, we find ourselves responding to Him with love. Our desire to please the one we love changes us; and so we are less inclined to keep the rules in order to be right, and more inclined to live rightly so as to please God as an offering of love to Him.
As we dedicate ourselves to the second part of the Great Commandment, to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, it is possible for us to overcome the temptation to judge ourselves against how well we think others are keeping the rules. “He broke the fast, and I didn’t,” or, “She doesn’t pray as much as I do”; when we take our eyes off the rules as the way of living, and seek instead to love, we remember again God’s love for us, which has led to the forgiveness of our sins, because of love. Love seeks to forgive; love covers a multitude of sins. Love responds to wrongs done to us by saying to ourselves, “My own sins are worse”; and to the one who has offended us, “Please forgive me, a sinner.” Love, then, leads us to humility - considering everyone else as better than ourselves, more worthy, more honorable, and more pleasing to God.
Brothers and sisters: As we prepare ourselves to celebrate the glorious Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us pray that God will bless us to live rightly the Orthodox faith and way of life. Let us ask God to be born in our hearts, so that His love and His truth will dwell in us, and shine forth from us. Let us seek, in humility and in simplicity, to bear Christ in our hearts and lives, so that, above all, He may be seen in and through us; to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls, including our own.
Please don’t misunderstand what I’m about to say. Of course, it is important for us to be knowledgeable about the Orthodox faith; about what we believe, and why we believe it; about how we are to live, and why we live as we do - a life of prayer, and fasting, and alms-giving, and of spiritual struggle against our sins, so that we can show forth the life of Christ given to us in our baptism. We should know the rules of prayer, and keep them; we should know the rules of fasting, and keep them; and so on.
But we would do well to remember that our Orthodox life is meant to be so much more than just a strict adherence to rules. “But, Father,” I can hear someone ask, “how can that be true?” It must be true. Consider this, which we have revealed to us, among others, in today’s reading from the Gospel according to St. Luke, about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ: When the angels in heaven sang of His birth, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will towards men?” It wasn’t to those who were the most knowledgeable about the faith at that time; it wasn’t to the priests, or the scribes, or the Pharisees. No, the angels sang of Christ’s birth to the shepherds; to men who lived a much simpler life, who were probably not nearly as educated, not at all as informed, about the day-to-day rules and regulations of the faith. God did not choose to reveal the birth of His Son to those who were considered to be wise, but to those who were simple, and without guile. The heavenly vision was not given to those who thought they knew the right way - the “orthodox” way - of life; but to those who were simple, honest, and, the fathers tell us, without guile.
What, then, about us? How do we balance the necessity of living carefully according to the rules and guidelines, which we acknowledge to be good, and important, and yet not seek to do so to the degree that we become the scribes and Pharisees of today? This is especially important for those of us who are converts to the Orthodox faith, for we were (for the most part) raised in a culture that does not grasp well this tension in the life of the Orthodox faithful; and for whom the temptation, then, is to “prove” ourselves in our newly-embraced faith by keeping all of its outward requirements. I believe that the answer to this dilemma is by the way of love and humility.
If we dedicate ourselves to fulfilling our Lord’s instruction to us to love God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and with all our strength, we will find developing within our being a desire to live rightly; a desire to keep the commandments of God, and the rules of the Church and faith, as an offering of ourselves to God. This is an act of love, and it is, I believe, empowered by our realization of the incredible love that God has for us. Love draws forth love; and the more we know the richness of God’s love, we find ourselves responding to Him with love. Our desire to please the one we love changes us; and so we are less inclined to keep the rules in order to be right, and more inclined to live rightly so as to please God as an offering of love to Him.
As we dedicate ourselves to the second part of the Great Commandment, to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, it is possible for us to overcome the temptation to judge ourselves against how well we think others are keeping the rules. “He broke the fast, and I didn’t,” or, “She doesn’t pray as much as I do”; when we take our eyes off the rules as the way of living, and seek instead to love, we remember again God’s love for us, which has led to the forgiveness of our sins, because of love. Love seeks to forgive; love covers a multitude of sins. Love responds to wrongs done to us by saying to ourselves, “My own sins are worse”; and to the one who has offended us, “Please forgive me, a sinner.” Love, then, leads us to humility - considering everyone else as better than ourselves, more worthy, more honorable, and more pleasing to God.
Brothers and sisters: As we prepare ourselves to celebrate the glorious Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us pray that God will bless us to live rightly the Orthodox faith and way of life. Let us ask God to be born in our hearts, so that His love and His truth will dwell in us, and shine forth from us. Let us seek, in humility and in simplicity, to bear Christ in our hearts and lives, so that, above all, He may be seen in and through us; to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls, including our own.
Sunday, January 04, 2004
"The Old Testament Telephone Book"
(Matthew 1:1-25)(January 4, 2004)
I have to admit that, when I first started reading the Holy Scriptures aloud in the services, I always wanted not to be assigned to read passages such as the one from the Gospel according to St. Matthew appointed for today. Indeed, almost very reader I know hoped to avoid the passages with the long lists of names, what we sometimes jokingly referred to as the “Old Testament telephone book” listings. Some of the names, of course, are familiar to us - David, Abraham, and others - while some are people that are known only to those who are scholars of the Bible. Because we don’t know them, we can’t always pronounce their names; which, of course, is why readers hope to avoid having to do so in Church!
But a little bit of study of this list of names reveals some interesting information. First of all, we see (and if we don’t see it at first, St. Matthew later underlines it for us) that there are three sets of generations: from Abraham to David; from David to the time of the exile in Babylon; and from the exile in Babylon to the birth of Christ. Among other things, this is meant to make us aware of God’s promises; because both Abraham and David were given promises by God. God promised Abraham that his descendents would be without number, as many as the stars in heaven, and of the sands of the sea. God promised David that his sons, so long as they were faithful, would always sit upon his throne. Christ is the fulfilling of these promises.
We are also meant to understand that Christ is the fulfilling of the hopes of the people of God for a ruler. The period from Abraham to David was one in which the prophets and judges ruled God’s people; while kings ruled from David until the time of the exile into Babylon. From the time of the exile until Christ, the people were ruled by the priests of the Temple, together with the scribes and the Pharisees. Remember? The High priest, and the Sanhedrin? Now Christ has come - and He is Prophet, Priest, and King. Again, He fulfills our needs and desires.
Christ also fulfills our hopes. The fathers tell us that, because the Son of God became the Son of Abraham and the Son of David, we who are sons of Adam have the hope that we will be sons of God. He Who is uncreated lowered Himself to take on created being, our human nature, in order to exalt us. There is also another aspect to our hope that arises from His Incarnation. Not only did He become flesh for our sake; He did so without regard for the evils that had been done by those from whose line He comes. To see this, we need to know a bit more about some of the people whose names we find in this list.
The first one we meet in this pursuit is Tamar. She was mistreated by Judah, the son of Jacob, who was her father-in-law; and, to gain what was due unto her, she plays the harlot, and so bears two sons to Judah - one of whom is the ancestor of our Lord.
Next, we meet Rachab. She was a prostitute in Jericho at the time when Joshua had sent spies into the land to conquer it. Rachab shelters two of the spies, and assists them in their efforts, in exchange for a promise for safety for herself and her family when the city is conquered. We have to say, in all honesty, that, in addition to being a harlot, she is also a traitor. Not exactly qualities we would do well to emulate! And yet her son, Boaz, marries Ruth - herself an alien, not of the people of God, but who, by her love and devotion, is accepted as one of God’s people. Ruth’s son is Obed. He is the father of Jesse; and Jesse is the father of David the king.
David, of course, is described as being a man after God’s own heart. Among other things, he commits adultery; and arranges for the death of Uriah, the woman’s husband, in battle. He adds murder to adultery. Again, not qualities for anyone to brag about among their ancestry! David’s son by Bath-sheba, who had been Uriah’s wife, is Solomon - who has 300 wives and 700 concubines.
Murder; adultery; fornication; treason. Yet the Son of God did not hesitate to become Incarnate with these elements in His “family tree.” In part, this is because He came, not as a Judge, but as a Physician; to cure, if you will, our sinful condition. And we are meant by this knowledge to have hope: there is no sin in our past that He will not forgive. There is likewise no sin in our future that we cannot defeat, if we will live according to the life He has given us in our baptism; by the power of the Holy Spirit given to us when we were chrismated. If you were being consumed by worms, and there was a potion you could drink that would cure this problem, would you hesitate to take it? The fathers tell us that we are indeed being consumed by our sinful passions and habits. But we have the medicine right here: the Body and Blood of Christ, by which the power of sin in us is broken, and we who have been broken by sin are made whole. We have a way of life entrusted to us to guide us and strengthen us in the defeating of our sinful desires and habits: the life of the Orthodox Church and faith; of prayer, and fasting, or alms-giving, and spiritual struggle. By this way of life, we show that we have indeed put our hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Giver of life, and the Author of our salvation.
Brothers and sisters: Christ has come to fulfill the promises of God to us, for our deliverance from death, and for our salvation. Let us pout our trust and hope in Him, and walk in His ways; to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.
I have to admit that, when I first started reading the Holy Scriptures aloud in the services, I always wanted not to be assigned to read passages such as the one from the Gospel according to St. Matthew appointed for today. Indeed, almost very reader I know hoped to avoid the passages with the long lists of names, what we sometimes jokingly referred to as the “Old Testament telephone book” listings. Some of the names, of course, are familiar to us - David, Abraham, and others - while some are people that are known only to those who are scholars of the Bible. Because we don’t know them, we can’t always pronounce their names; which, of course, is why readers hope to avoid having to do so in Church!
But a little bit of study of this list of names reveals some interesting information. First of all, we see (and if we don’t see it at first, St. Matthew later underlines it for us) that there are three sets of generations: from Abraham to David; from David to the time of the exile in Babylon; and from the exile in Babylon to the birth of Christ. Among other things, this is meant to make us aware of God’s promises; because both Abraham and David were given promises by God. God promised Abraham that his descendents would be without number, as many as the stars in heaven, and of the sands of the sea. God promised David that his sons, so long as they were faithful, would always sit upon his throne. Christ is the fulfilling of these promises.
We are also meant to understand that Christ is the fulfilling of the hopes of the people of God for a ruler. The period from Abraham to David was one in which the prophets and judges ruled God’s people; while kings ruled from David until the time of the exile into Babylon. From the time of the exile until Christ, the people were ruled by the priests of the Temple, together with the scribes and the Pharisees. Remember? The High priest, and the Sanhedrin? Now Christ has come - and He is Prophet, Priest, and King. Again, He fulfills our needs and desires.
Christ also fulfills our hopes. The fathers tell us that, because the Son of God became the Son of Abraham and the Son of David, we who are sons of Adam have the hope that we will be sons of God. He Who is uncreated lowered Himself to take on created being, our human nature, in order to exalt us. There is also another aspect to our hope that arises from His Incarnation. Not only did He become flesh for our sake; He did so without regard for the evils that had been done by those from whose line He comes. To see this, we need to know a bit more about some of the people whose names we find in this list.
The first one we meet in this pursuit is Tamar. She was mistreated by Judah, the son of Jacob, who was her father-in-law; and, to gain what was due unto her, she plays the harlot, and so bears two sons to Judah - one of whom is the ancestor of our Lord.
Next, we meet Rachab. She was a prostitute in Jericho at the time when Joshua had sent spies into the land to conquer it. Rachab shelters two of the spies, and assists them in their efforts, in exchange for a promise for safety for herself and her family when the city is conquered. We have to say, in all honesty, that, in addition to being a harlot, she is also a traitor. Not exactly qualities we would do well to emulate! And yet her son, Boaz, marries Ruth - herself an alien, not of the people of God, but who, by her love and devotion, is accepted as one of God’s people. Ruth’s son is Obed. He is the father of Jesse; and Jesse is the father of David the king.
David, of course, is described as being a man after God’s own heart. Among other things, he commits adultery; and arranges for the death of Uriah, the woman’s husband, in battle. He adds murder to adultery. Again, not qualities for anyone to brag about among their ancestry! David’s son by Bath-sheba, who had been Uriah’s wife, is Solomon - who has 300 wives and 700 concubines.
Murder; adultery; fornication; treason. Yet the Son of God did not hesitate to become Incarnate with these elements in His “family tree.” In part, this is because He came, not as a Judge, but as a Physician; to cure, if you will, our sinful condition. And we are meant by this knowledge to have hope: there is no sin in our past that He will not forgive. There is likewise no sin in our future that we cannot defeat, if we will live according to the life He has given us in our baptism; by the power of the Holy Spirit given to us when we were chrismated. If you were being consumed by worms, and there was a potion you could drink that would cure this problem, would you hesitate to take it? The fathers tell us that we are indeed being consumed by our sinful passions and habits. But we have the medicine right here: the Body and Blood of Christ, by which the power of sin in us is broken, and we who have been broken by sin are made whole. We have a way of life entrusted to us to guide us and strengthen us in the defeating of our sinful desires and habits: the life of the Orthodox Church and faith; of prayer, and fasting, or alms-giving, and spiritual struggle. By this way of life, we show that we have indeed put our hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Giver of life, and the Author of our salvation.
Brothers and sisters: Christ has come to fulfill the promises of God to us, for our deliverance from death, and for our salvation. Let us pout our trust and hope in Him, and walk in His ways; to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.
Sunday, December 28, 2003
The Parable of the Great Supper
(Luke 14:16-24) (December 28, 2003)
In today’s reading from the Gospel according to St. Luke, our Lord Jesus Christ is speaking in a parable. Parables are given for our instruction; and, if we want to learn from the parable, we have to be able to recognize who we are among the persons described in the parable.
In the parable of the Great Supper, we meet “a certain man,” who is giving the supper, and his servant. The fathers tell us that the “certain man” is God the Father, the Lover of mankind; His servant is Christ, who, “not counting equality with God as something to be grasped, made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men”; and the “great supper” is the divine economy of God for our salvation through the Incarnation. We also see two groups of people: those for whom the feast had been prepared; and those who were not originally invited to come to the feast. The parable concludes with its “punch line” - “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
You know the story. Those who had originally been invited to partake of the feast, whose presence was expected, send word that they cannot - or will not - come, even though they are now summoned to do so. Christ, the servant of God, has come to them, and tells them that “all things are now ready” - “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” But their desires for wealth, and for pleasure in this world, are more important to them than is participation in the feast of our salvation, and so they do not come. In their place at the table, we find those who have been brought in from the streets, and from the highways and hedges. These are those who travel a way other than the one true path appointed by God; a way of lawlessness; a way of false beliefs; a way of sin. Sin is a great hedge that separates us from God. The servant of God is sent to them, not merely to invite them, but to “compel” them to come to the great supper. Now, this does not mean that they were forced to attend against their will, for God does not violate our freedom to choose whether or not we will believe. Rather, the servant of God is sent with great power to preach and proclaim and demonstrate the word of truth, so that those of us who were mired in false beliefs and doing unspeakable things might be persuaded to leave these behind, and walk instead the road of the life that is pleasing to God, doing the will of God instead of continuing to practice our sins. “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Where do we find ourselves in this parable? Brothers and sisters, we are either among those who love the things of this world more than we love God; or we are among those who have recognized the great generosity of God’s mercy, and have been “compelled” to come to the feast by the persuasive power of the love of God for us. In this, we can begin to grasp what the saying at the end of the parable means: “many are called, but few are chosen.” God calls many - that is to say, everyone -- to take part in the great feast of salvation. But who are the “chosen?” The chosen ones are those who open their hearts to receive the grace of God; and who yield themselves to doing the will of God in and through and by the power of God’s grace. The chosen ones are those who live to fulfill the will of God, obeying His commandments, loving God with all their heart and soul and mind and strength, and loving their neighbor as they love themselves. When we live in this way - when we live the life of the Orthodox Church and faith - we live by God’s grace; and His grace will bring us to take part in the “great supper” of God’s salvation.
Brothers and sisters, the day is past, and evening is at hand - it is “suppertime.” Let us not be one of those who loves the things and pleasures of this world above God. Let us choose to trust in God, and the love of God for us in Jesus Christ. Let us submit ourselves to God, living a life of prayer and fasting and alms-giving and spiritual struggle, in humility and love. Let us choose to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; and to accept the free gift of God’s grace; so that we may be partakers of the delights of His Mystical Supper now, and in the Kingdom of God.
In today’s reading from the Gospel according to St. Luke, our Lord Jesus Christ is speaking in a parable. Parables are given for our instruction; and, if we want to learn from the parable, we have to be able to recognize who we are among the persons described in the parable.
In the parable of the Great Supper, we meet “a certain man,” who is giving the supper, and his servant. The fathers tell us that the “certain man” is God the Father, the Lover of mankind; His servant is Christ, who, “not counting equality with God as something to be grasped, made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men”; and the “great supper” is the divine economy of God for our salvation through the Incarnation. We also see two groups of people: those for whom the feast had been prepared; and those who were not originally invited to come to the feast. The parable concludes with its “punch line” - “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
You know the story. Those who had originally been invited to partake of the feast, whose presence was expected, send word that they cannot - or will not - come, even though they are now summoned to do so. Christ, the servant of God, has come to them, and tells them that “all things are now ready” - “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” But their desires for wealth, and for pleasure in this world, are more important to them than is participation in the feast of our salvation, and so they do not come. In their place at the table, we find those who have been brought in from the streets, and from the highways and hedges. These are those who travel a way other than the one true path appointed by God; a way of lawlessness; a way of false beliefs; a way of sin. Sin is a great hedge that separates us from God. The servant of God is sent to them, not merely to invite them, but to “compel” them to come to the great supper. Now, this does not mean that they were forced to attend against their will, for God does not violate our freedom to choose whether or not we will believe. Rather, the servant of God is sent with great power to preach and proclaim and demonstrate the word of truth, so that those of us who were mired in false beliefs and doing unspeakable things might be persuaded to leave these behind, and walk instead the road of the life that is pleasing to God, doing the will of God instead of continuing to practice our sins. “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Where do we find ourselves in this parable? Brothers and sisters, we are either among those who love the things of this world more than we love God; or we are among those who have recognized the great generosity of God’s mercy, and have been “compelled” to come to the feast by the persuasive power of the love of God for us. In this, we can begin to grasp what the saying at the end of the parable means: “many are called, but few are chosen.” God calls many - that is to say, everyone -- to take part in the great feast of salvation. But who are the “chosen?” The chosen ones are those who open their hearts to receive the grace of God; and who yield themselves to doing the will of God in and through and by the power of God’s grace. The chosen ones are those who live to fulfill the will of God, obeying His commandments, loving God with all their heart and soul and mind and strength, and loving their neighbor as they love themselves. When we live in this way - when we live the life of the Orthodox Church and faith - we live by God’s grace; and His grace will bring us to take part in the “great supper” of God’s salvation.
Brothers and sisters, the day is past, and evening is at hand - it is “suppertime.” Let us not be one of those who loves the things and pleasures of this world above God. Let us choose to trust in God, and the love of God for us in Jesus Christ. Let us submit ourselves to God, living a life of prayer and fasting and alms-giving and spiritual struggle, in humility and love. Let us choose to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; and to accept the free gift of God’s grace; so that we may be partakers of the delights of His Mystical Supper now, and in the Kingdom of God.
Thursday, December 25, 2003
St. Herman of Alaska
(December 25, 2003)
Our holy father Herman of Alaska became a monk at the age of 16. He entered the monastic life at the Holy Trinity - St. Sergius monastery near St. Petersburg, probably through the St. Sergius Lavra, a dependency of the monastery, located in Moscow, near the place of Fr. Herman’s birth. After 5 or six years, he went to the monastery at Valaam. There, he was guided by the abbot, Blessed Nazarius, and he found in the brotherhood and the ascetic life of the community a true joy, which he truly loved.
I do not doubt but that St. Herman would have rejoiced to have been able to have lived all his life at Valaam. But Abbot Nazarius, charged with choosing monks to send to Alaska to tend to the flock growing there among the Russian trappers and traders and the native peoples, chose Fr. Herman to be one of ten missionaries. In 1794, they left Valaam to make the trip east across all of Russia, and then to take ship from Kamchatka for Alaska. Fr. Herman settled on Spruce Island, about two miles from Kodiak Island. He named his home, “New Valaam.” He was part of a missionary effort that saw thousands baptized, with churches and schools being built. St. Herman in particular loved children, and built an orphanage for them.
St. Herman lived the ascetic life of Valaam. At first, he lived in a “cave” that was little more than a hole he dug in the ground. Even after the Russian-American Company built him a small cabin to use as his cell, he kept the cave for the day of his burial. His bed was a board covered with deerskins; his pillow, a few bricks. He used another board atop his body, calling it his blanket - this in Alaska! By regular prayer, and fasting, and struggles with his passions, and with the demons, he was transformed. He could perform great feats of physical strength; he needed little sleep, and even less food. He would give away to those in need all the food and other gifts people brought to him. He also performed healings, and was seen to have power over the elements - floods, fire, wind, rain, and so on.
St. Herman taught that, “A true Christian is made by faith and love towards Christ.” He also taught, “A true Christian is a warrior fighting his way through the regiments of the unseen enemy to his heavenly homeland.” He said, “The vain desires of this world separate us from our homeland; love of them and habit clothe our soul as if in a hideous garment. … We who travel on the journey of this life and call on God to help us ought to divest ourselves of this garment, and clothe ourselves in new desires, in a new love of the age to come, and thereby to receive knowledge of how near or how far we are from our heavenly homeland. But it is not possible to do this quickly; rather, one must follow the example of sick people who, wishing the desired [health], do not leave off means of curing themselves.” When he died, the people living nearby spoke of having seen the light from Spruce Island go out; they knew that Fr. Herman had departed from this life.
Brothers and sisters, our holy father Herman was not created from something different from us. We share together in one human nature - the same human nature that our Lord Jesus Christ took on when He became Incarnate. We have been baptized into the same life of Christ; we have received the same Holy Spirit in chrismation; we partake of the same grace in the holy Mysteries. If the fruits of our lives do not begin to compare with those of the life of St. Herman, it is not because he was made different from us; but rather that he made different choices. As God grants us time, as St. Herman has taught, “…let make a promise to ourselves, that from this day, from this hour, from this minute, we shall strive to love God above all, and to fulfill His holy will.”
Holy father Herman, pray to God for us. Amen.
Our holy father Herman of Alaska became a monk at the age of 16. He entered the monastic life at the Holy Trinity - St. Sergius monastery near St. Petersburg, probably through the St. Sergius Lavra, a dependency of the monastery, located in Moscow, near the place of Fr. Herman’s birth. After 5 or six years, he went to the monastery at Valaam. There, he was guided by the abbot, Blessed Nazarius, and he found in the brotherhood and the ascetic life of the community a true joy, which he truly loved.
I do not doubt but that St. Herman would have rejoiced to have been able to have lived all his life at Valaam. But Abbot Nazarius, charged with choosing monks to send to Alaska to tend to the flock growing there among the Russian trappers and traders and the native peoples, chose Fr. Herman to be one of ten missionaries. In 1794, they left Valaam to make the trip east across all of Russia, and then to take ship from Kamchatka for Alaska. Fr. Herman settled on Spruce Island, about two miles from Kodiak Island. He named his home, “New Valaam.” He was part of a missionary effort that saw thousands baptized, with churches and schools being built. St. Herman in particular loved children, and built an orphanage for them.
St. Herman lived the ascetic life of Valaam. At first, he lived in a “cave” that was little more than a hole he dug in the ground. Even after the Russian-American Company built him a small cabin to use as his cell, he kept the cave for the day of his burial. His bed was a board covered with deerskins; his pillow, a few bricks. He used another board atop his body, calling it his blanket - this in Alaska! By regular prayer, and fasting, and struggles with his passions, and with the demons, he was transformed. He could perform great feats of physical strength; he needed little sleep, and even less food. He would give away to those in need all the food and other gifts people brought to him. He also performed healings, and was seen to have power over the elements - floods, fire, wind, rain, and so on.
St. Herman taught that, “A true Christian is made by faith and love towards Christ.” He also taught, “A true Christian is a warrior fighting his way through the regiments of the unseen enemy to his heavenly homeland.” He said, “The vain desires of this world separate us from our homeland; love of them and habit clothe our soul as if in a hideous garment. … We who travel on the journey of this life and call on God to help us ought to divest ourselves of this garment, and clothe ourselves in new desires, in a new love of the age to come, and thereby to receive knowledge of how near or how far we are from our heavenly homeland. But it is not possible to do this quickly; rather, one must follow the example of sick people who, wishing the desired [health], do not leave off means of curing themselves.” When he died, the people living nearby spoke of having seen the light from Spruce Island go out; they knew that Fr. Herman had departed from this life.
Brothers and sisters, our holy father Herman was not created from something different from us. We share together in one human nature - the same human nature that our Lord Jesus Christ took on when He became Incarnate. We have been baptized into the same life of Christ; we have received the same Holy Spirit in chrismation; we partake of the same grace in the holy Mysteries. If the fruits of our lives do not begin to compare with those of the life of St. Herman, it is not because he was made different from us; but rather that he made different choices. As God grants us time, as St. Herman has taught, “…let make a promise to ourselves, that from this day, from this hour, from this minute, we shall strive to love God above all, and to fulfill His holy will.”
Holy father Herman, pray to God for us. Amen.
Sunday, December 21, 2003
Darkness and the Light of Christ
(Luke 13:10-17)(December 21, 2003)
One of my favorite times to be in church is in the evening. There’s something about the way the church is lit when only candles and oil lamps are lit. There’s a soft glow, and a warmth; and somehow it just seems to encourage us to come to God in prayer. Of course, when the lights are on, or when the sun is shining brightly, that’s a good time to be in church, too. At those times, you have to work pretty hard to miss the majesty and the grandeur of the glory of God. It’s right to worship and rejoice in the light. But still, there’s that special time of praying by lamplight…
Darkness seems so powerful. Most of us, at one time in our lives, were afraid of the dark. And even now, in the darkness, bad things seem to get even worse. And yet, for all its appearance of power, the light from one little candle has the power to drive away the darkness. It may not be much light at all, really - but even the smallest candle in the midst of the darkness brings us good cheer. And, where we may have feared to have to walk about in the darkness, with that small amount of light, we have a much better chance of finding our way.
Today is December 21st. It’s an interesting day. It’s the day in the year when the daylight is shortest, and the night is the longest. Over the last three months, the days have been getting shorter; the nights, longer. Now, logically, we know that this process will reverse after today; but still, there is the symbolism, even the threat, that the power of darkness might yet overcome the light. I guess that’s why I’ve always been fascinated with this day - the day when darkness, symbolically, is at its height.
Among other things, Satan, we are told, is the Prince of Darkness. So, maybe there’s some reason to be wary of the dark, after all. And if we consider today, this day when the darkness is at its greatest in the cycle of the year, and then look at the world around us, and the culture in which we live, it’s not hard to draw a parallel conclusion - the darkness around us, a spiritual darkness, is growing stronger. Behaviors which, a generation ago, were not spoken of, are seen today in movies and on television and even on the streets. There are things described in some forms of popular music that are truly shocking - except that we have become so hardened and calloused that we scarcely take notice, or even find enjoyable. Would anyone disagree that there is a general increase in lawlessness taking place around us? Here’s but one example. Who can safely drive the speed limit on the roads and highways anymore - except, of course, when there’s a police car nearby. Then, we’re all law-abiding. But as soon as it is out of sight, zoom! We are all participants in one way or another with bending, or breaking, the law; and every time we do so, the darkness around us grows a bit stronger.
The fathers tell us that we are born in darkness, and dwell in the shadow of death. But when we are baptized and chrismated, something happens. Our Lord Jesus Christ, Whose life is the light of men, gives us new life in Him. His Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot comprehend it. In a way, each of us becomes a candle; not much, by itself, and yet, as the small candle drives away the physical darkness, so, too, does the Light of Christ in us drive away the power of spiritual darkness. This happens first of all for ourselves; and we can see the way in which we should walk, where before we were blinded by the darkness. Then, as we grow brighter, we can become a light for others, showing them the way as well. Gathered together, as we are here, we can shine forth brightly in the world - or not. When we sin, we are, once more, walking in the darkness, hiding the light of Christ in us. But when we repent, and confess our sins, and turn once more to walking in the ways that are pleasing to God, the light shines forth once again. Our Lord Jesus said, “I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
How do we shine ever brighter? How can we reveal more of the light of Christ? By living an increasingly Orthodox life. By prayer, and fasting, and alms-giving, and struggling to overcome our passions, and to put in their place their opposing virtues. As we draw nearer to God in prayer, we come closer to the uncreated Light of His glory; and, as we have said, the darkness cannot endure where the light is present. As we fast, we grow in the strength we need to fast from our passions, and so turn from our sins. As we give alms, we set ourselves free from those things, material and spiritual, that would hold us in the world with its darkness. As we pursue virtue, we take care to preserve the light of Christ, and not to hide it, or, God forbid, extinguish it by returning to a life of sin.
Brothers and sisters! We have been given the Light of the life of Christ. Let us this day, the day of darkness’ seeming triumph, dedicate ourselves once more to be bearers of the light, not only for ourselves, but that we may become beacons shining forth in the darkness, to reach those who still dwell in darkness, and the shadow of death. May our Lord makes us to be candles in His service, to drive away the darkness in our lives, and in this city - that by our being bearers of the Light, their souls may be saved; and ours with them.
One of my favorite times to be in church is in the evening. There’s something about the way the church is lit when only candles and oil lamps are lit. There’s a soft glow, and a warmth; and somehow it just seems to encourage us to come to God in prayer. Of course, when the lights are on, or when the sun is shining brightly, that’s a good time to be in church, too. At those times, you have to work pretty hard to miss the majesty and the grandeur of the glory of God. It’s right to worship and rejoice in the light. But still, there’s that special time of praying by lamplight…
Darkness seems so powerful. Most of us, at one time in our lives, were afraid of the dark. And even now, in the darkness, bad things seem to get even worse. And yet, for all its appearance of power, the light from one little candle has the power to drive away the darkness. It may not be much light at all, really - but even the smallest candle in the midst of the darkness brings us good cheer. And, where we may have feared to have to walk about in the darkness, with that small amount of light, we have a much better chance of finding our way.
Today is December 21st. It’s an interesting day. It’s the day in the year when the daylight is shortest, and the night is the longest. Over the last three months, the days have been getting shorter; the nights, longer. Now, logically, we know that this process will reverse after today; but still, there is the symbolism, even the threat, that the power of darkness might yet overcome the light. I guess that’s why I’ve always been fascinated with this day - the day when darkness, symbolically, is at its height.
Among other things, Satan, we are told, is the Prince of Darkness. So, maybe there’s some reason to be wary of the dark, after all. And if we consider today, this day when the darkness is at its greatest in the cycle of the year, and then look at the world around us, and the culture in which we live, it’s not hard to draw a parallel conclusion - the darkness around us, a spiritual darkness, is growing stronger. Behaviors which, a generation ago, were not spoken of, are seen today in movies and on television and even on the streets. There are things described in some forms of popular music that are truly shocking - except that we have become so hardened and calloused that we scarcely take notice, or even find enjoyable. Would anyone disagree that there is a general increase in lawlessness taking place around us? Here’s but one example. Who can safely drive the speed limit on the roads and highways anymore - except, of course, when there’s a police car nearby. Then, we’re all law-abiding. But as soon as it is out of sight, zoom! We are all participants in one way or another with bending, or breaking, the law; and every time we do so, the darkness around us grows a bit stronger.
The fathers tell us that we are born in darkness, and dwell in the shadow of death. But when we are baptized and chrismated, something happens. Our Lord Jesus Christ, Whose life is the light of men, gives us new life in Him. His Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot comprehend it. In a way, each of us becomes a candle; not much, by itself, and yet, as the small candle drives away the physical darkness, so, too, does the Light of Christ in us drive away the power of spiritual darkness. This happens first of all for ourselves; and we can see the way in which we should walk, where before we were blinded by the darkness. Then, as we grow brighter, we can become a light for others, showing them the way as well. Gathered together, as we are here, we can shine forth brightly in the world - or not. When we sin, we are, once more, walking in the darkness, hiding the light of Christ in us. But when we repent, and confess our sins, and turn once more to walking in the ways that are pleasing to God, the light shines forth once again. Our Lord Jesus said, “I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
How do we shine ever brighter? How can we reveal more of the light of Christ? By living an increasingly Orthodox life. By prayer, and fasting, and alms-giving, and struggling to overcome our passions, and to put in their place their opposing virtues. As we draw nearer to God in prayer, we come closer to the uncreated Light of His glory; and, as we have said, the darkness cannot endure where the light is present. As we fast, we grow in the strength we need to fast from our passions, and so turn from our sins. As we give alms, we set ourselves free from those things, material and spiritual, that would hold us in the world with its darkness. As we pursue virtue, we take care to preserve the light of Christ, and not to hide it, or, God forbid, extinguish it by returning to a life of sin.
Brothers and sisters! We have been given the Light of the life of Christ. Let us this day, the day of darkness’ seeming triumph, dedicate ourselves once more to be bearers of the light, not only for ourselves, but that we may become beacons shining forth in the darkness, to reach those who still dwell in darkness, and the shadow of death. May our Lord makes us to be candles in His service, to drive away the darkness in our lives, and in this city - that by our being bearers of the Light, their souls may be saved; and ours with them.
The Orthodoxy of the ‘Super-Correct’
(Luke 13:10-17) (December 21, 2003)
Anyone who has spent any time reading the Orthodox bulleting boards on the Internet is familiar with what we might call, “The Orthodoxy of the ‘super-correct’.” It is possible to take all the instructions and rules given for living the Orthodox life, and to construct from these a “checklist” or set of “rules and regulations” - and anyone who does not live up to each and every one of these is subject to being judged, even condemned, as not being an Orthodox Christian.
We see this “holier than thou” attitude in today’s Gospel reading. Our Lord heals a woman who has been suffering from a crippling physical ailment for 18 years. He does so on the Sabbath. The ruler of the synagogue, remembering - rightly - the commandment given by God to Moses, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy,” rebukes the people who have beheld the miraculous healing of the suffering woman by our Lord. But, while correctly recalling the words of the commandment, the ruler of the synagogue has no idea of the purpose at its core: that the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath. That is, our lives are not meant to be consumed by the cares and labors of the world exclusively; but we are meant to make time to remember God, and to contemplate Him - to spend time with Him, worshipping, praying, and giving of ourselves to Him. The “sabbath rest” is to lay aside all earthly cares; and to refrain from thoughts and acts of evil.
We need to understand the instructions and directions of the Orthodox life in the same way. These are not so much rules and regulations or laws to be obeyed for their own sake - after all, we have been set free from the law. Rather, all of these are meant to guide us to a way of life in which we do indeed rest from our sins and passions, and instead seek that which is pleasing to God - for what is pleasing to God is also saving to our souls. The rules of prayer, and fasting, and alms-giving, and of the spiritual struggle against our sins and weaknesses are not standards by which we judge ourselves, much less judging others - these are tools to be used by each of us to construct a new life, in which we are being rebuilt, our labors directed and strengthened by God, to reveal more and more the image of God, and the life of Christ, that are already ours by virtue of our baptism and chrismation. It’s not the rules; it’s the life.
Brothers and sisters, let us not seek to be super-correct about keeping every little rule and regulation of the Orthodox life. Let us not be so scrupulous in fasting, for example, that, when we read the label of the product in the store, and find that the second to last ingredient of 27 or 28 different things is sodium caseinate, which is derived from the stomach of a cow, and so not “lenten” - even though everything else is acceptable - that we put it back and buy something else instead. There’s nothing wrong with this, mind you; but we must ask ourselves at such moments whether we are bringing the same energy and effort to bear in refraining from our sins - especially those that we must repeat each time we make our confession. There’s no point in avoiding gelatin - made by boiling cow hooves, and so “not lenten” - if we continue to be filled with pride, or greed, or lust, or envy, or jealousy, or gluttony, or sloth. There’s no point in reading our prayers each morning and evening if we don’t hear the words, if our only goal is to “get it over with.” There’s no point in being “correct” about all the details if our hearts remain unchanged; if we do not love the Lord with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, and if we do not love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Yes, we must keep the sabbath - but we must understand that we do so rightly not by adherence to the list of rules, but by adhering to the list of rules for the love of God; that we might make a sabbath rest of refraining from evil. When we do so, confessing our faults, and striving (by God’s grace) to be transformed, we are set free from the crippling affliction of our sins, as the suffering woman was set free. Our Lord Jesus heals us, and puts His hands on us, to empower us to do, with Him, the works of virtue.
Brothers and sisters, let us truly be Orthodox - not by worrying about whether we are keeping all the rules, but rather by focusing on doing what is pleasing to God, and beneficial to others. Let us renew each day our commitment to the disciplines of the Orthodox life, so that we might be transformed from who we are to become the people God wants us to be - sharing with God and each other in a relationship of love, so that, by saving our souls, we might enter the sabbath rest of the kingdom of heaven.
Anyone who has spent any time reading the Orthodox bulleting boards on the Internet is familiar with what we might call, “The Orthodoxy of the ‘super-correct’.” It is possible to take all the instructions and rules given for living the Orthodox life, and to construct from these a “checklist” or set of “rules and regulations” - and anyone who does not live up to each and every one of these is subject to being judged, even condemned, as not being an Orthodox Christian.
We see this “holier than thou” attitude in today’s Gospel reading. Our Lord heals a woman who has been suffering from a crippling physical ailment for 18 years. He does so on the Sabbath. The ruler of the synagogue, remembering - rightly - the commandment given by God to Moses, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy,” rebukes the people who have beheld the miraculous healing of the suffering woman by our Lord. But, while correctly recalling the words of the commandment, the ruler of the synagogue has no idea of the purpose at its core: that the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath. That is, our lives are not meant to be consumed by the cares and labors of the world exclusively; but we are meant to make time to remember God, and to contemplate Him - to spend time with Him, worshipping, praying, and giving of ourselves to Him. The “sabbath rest” is to lay aside all earthly cares; and to refrain from thoughts and acts of evil.
We need to understand the instructions and directions of the Orthodox life in the same way. These are not so much rules and regulations or laws to be obeyed for their own sake - after all, we have been set free from the law. Rather, all of these are meant to guide us to a way of life in which we do indeed rest from our sins and passions, and instead seek that which is pleasing to God - for what is pleasing to God is also saving to our souls. The rules of prayer, and fasting, and alms-giving, and of the spiritual struggle against our sins and weaknesses are not standards by which we judge ourselves, much less judging others - these are tools to be used by each of us to construct a new life, in which we are being rebuilt, our labors directed and strengthened by God, to reveal more and more the image of God, and the life of Christ, that are already ours by virtue of our baptism and chrismation. It’s not the rules; it’s the life.
Brothers and sisters, let us not seek to be super-correct about keeping every little rule and regulation of the Orthodox life. Let us not be so scrupulous in fasting, for example, that, when we read the label of the product in the store, and find that the second to last ingredient of 27 or 28 different things is sodium caseinate, which is derived from the stomach of a cow, and so not “lenten” - even though everything else is acceptable - that we put it back and buy something else instead. There’s nothing wrong with this, mind you; but we must ask ourselves at such moments whether we are bringing the same energy and effort to bear in refraining from our sins - especially those that we must repeat each time we make our confession. There’s no point in avoiding gelatin - made by boiling cow hooves, and so “not lenten” - if we continue to be filled with pride, or greed, or lust, or envy, or jealousy, or gluttony, or sloth. There’s no point in reading our prayers each morning and evening if we don’t hear the words, if our only goal is to “get it over with.” There’s no point in being “correct” about all the details if our hearts remain unchanged; if we do not love the Lord with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, and if we do not love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Yes, we must keep the sabbath - but we must understand that we do so rightly not by adherence to the list of rules, but by adhering to the list of rules for the love of God; that we might make a sabbath rest of refraining from evil. When we do so, confessing our faults, and striving (by God’s grace) to be transformed, we are set free from the crippling affliction of our sins, as the suffering woman was set free. Our Lord Jesus heals us, and puts His hands on us, to empower us to do, with Him, the works of virtue.
Brothers and sisters, let us truly be Orthodox - not by worrying about whether we are keeping all the rules, but rather by focusing on doing what is pleasing to God, and beneficial to others. Let us renew each day our commitment to the disciplines of the Orthodox life, so that we might be transformed from who we are to become the people God wants us to be - sharing with God and each other in a relationship of love, so that, by saving our souls, we might enter the sabbath rest of the kingdom of heaven.
Sunday, December 14, 2003
“This night, thy soul shall be required of thee.”
(Luke 12:16-21) (December 14, 2003)
“This night, thy soul shall be required of thee.”
Is there anyone who can hear these words, and not feel at least a little bit nervous? Yes, we trust in the mercy of God; but are we ready, right now, to go into His presence? What if you were to die tonight, and found yourself standing in the presence of God? What would you say? What would you do?
This parable about the rich man is meant to instruct us, so that we can be prepared for that moment when we depart this life and stand before God to be judged. Now, as we look at the parable, we see a man who is rich and successful. He’s just completed a very profitable harvest (and there’s the impression that this is not the first time this has happened to him), so much so that he requires more space to store the harvest than is available to him. He is now planning what to do to provide for the future, and how he will enjoy the benefits of this wealth. From the point of view of our culture, this man is someone we’d like to know, if we couldn’t actually be him. He’s looking forward to a long and comfortable life.
But there’s a problem. “This night, thy soul shall be required of thee.” According to the fathers, God is saying that the angels will come for this man and demand (that’s the word in the original Greek) that he surrender to them his soul. But he does not want to give his soul, for he loves this life, and claims the good things of this life as his own.
The angels do not require the soul of the righteous man, because he has already committed his soul to God, and has done so freely, with joy and gladness. For the righteous man, the body is a light burden, easily laid aside. But the sinner has made his soul fleshly, something in substance like the body, and like the earth, making it difficult to separate from the body. This is why it must be demanded of him, as debt collectors treat those who refuse to pay what they owe. But the souls of the righteous do not need to be collected; their souls are already in the hands of God.
The fathers also tell us that we do well to remember that we will, one day, die; and that each of us should always give thought to the condition of our soul. Wise? Or foolish?
He who lays up treasure for himself is foolish. He is never happy; never satisfied; he is darkened by the love of wealth, and the light of divine knowledge does not penetrate. Ultimately, death overtakes him, his plans unfinished, his soul unprepared. The rich man does not consider that he had received his wealth from God; and so he contemplates what to do with his riches only from a worldly, and selfish, point of view.
He who lays up treasure for the poor and for God is rich towards God, and does not deprive God of what is His. He trusts in God to provide for his needs, even if he were to give away all that he has. If the rich man had considered that the wealth he had received had come from God, he might have realized that he was meant to serve as a steward for God. Then, rather than planning to build barns to hold his goods, he might have thought of the poor. He might have made their stomachs his storehouses, and so built up riches for God, for he who feeds the poor feeds God.
God has entrusted riches to us. We need to examine ourselves: what is our attitude towards the good things we have received in life? Do we give thanks for these to God? Or do we consider that we are entitled to what we have because of who we are, and what we’ve done? Do we use what we have - or, at least, a portion of it - for those in need? Or do we only take our own wants and needs into consideration? If we use it only for ourselves (and don’t be fooled: if you’re not giving up something in order to give for the needs of others, you don’t get it yet), we are like the rich man - we are foolish. If, however, we are doing what we can to use wisely the riches God has entrusted to us, and caring for the needs of others with the understanding that we are stewards of God’s bounty, we lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven.
Brothers and sisters, we do not know the hour of our departing this life; only God knows the day and the hour. Let us not delay, but dedicate ourselves, and all our life to the love and service of God; and put this into action by loving and serving each other, and those in the world around us. Let us embrace the Orthodox life of prayer, and fasting, of spiritual struggle and the giving of alms, so that we may entrust our selves and our souls to God, and be set free of all that would hold us in this world.
“This night, thy soul shall be required of thee.”
Is there anyone who can hear these words, and not feel at least a little bit nervous? Yes, we trust in the mercy of God; but are we ready, right now, to go into His presence? What if you were to die tonight, and found yourself standing in the presence of God? What would you say? What would you do?
This parable about the rich man is meant to instruct us, so that we can be prepared for that moment when we depart this life and stand before God to be judged. Now, as we look at the parable, we see a man who is rich and successful. He’s just completed a very profitable harvest (and there’s the impression that this is not the first time this has happened to him), so much so that he requires more space to store the harvest than is available to him. He is now planning what to do to provide for the future, and how he will enjoy the benefits of this wealth. From the point of view of our culture, this man is someone we’d like to know, if we couldn’t actually be him. He’s looking forward to a long and comfortable life.
But there’s a problem. “This night, thy soul shall be required of thee.” According to the fathers, God is saying that the angels will come for this man and demand (that’s the word in the original Greek) that he surrender to them his soul. But he does not want to give his soul, for he loves this life, and claims the good things of this life as his own.
The angels do not require the soul of the righteous man, because he has already committed his soul to God, and has done so freely, with joy and gladness. For the righteous man, the body is a light burden, easily laid aside. But the sinner has made his soul fleshly, something in substance like the body, and like the earth, making it difficult to separate from the body. This is why it must be demanded of him, as debt collectors treat those who refuse to pay what they owe. But the souls of the righteous do not need to be collected; their souls are already in the hands of God.
The fathers also tell us that we do well to remember that we will, one day, die; and that each of us should always give thought to the condition of our soul. Wise? Or foolish?
He who lays up treasure for himself is foolish. He is never happy; never satisfied; he is darkened by the love of wealth, and the light of divine knowledge does not penetrate. Ultimately, death overtakes him, his plans unfinished, his soul unprepared. The rich man does not consider that he had received his wealth from God; and so he contemplates what to do with his riches only from a worldly, and selfish, point of view.
He who lays up treasure for the poor and for God is rich towards God, and does not deprive God of what is His. He trusts in God to provide for his needs, even if he were to give away all that he has. If the rich man had considered that the wealth he had received had come from God, he might have realized that he was meant to serve as a steward for God. Then, rather than planning to build barns to hold his goods, he might have thought of the poor. He might have made their stomachs his storehouses, and so built up riches for God, for he who feeds the poor feeds God.
God has entrusted riches to us. We need to examine ourselves: what is our attitude towards the good things we have received in life? Do we give thanks for these to God? Or do we consider that we are entitled to what we have because of who we are, and what we’ve done? Do we use what we have - or, at least, a portion of it - for those in need? Or do we only take our own wants and needs into consideration? If we use it only for ourselves (and don’t be fooled: if you’re not giving up something in order to give for the needs of others, you don’t get it yet), we are like the rich man - we are foolish. If, however, we are doing what we can to use wisely the riches God has entrusted to us, and caring for the needs of others with the understanding that we are stewards of God’s bounty, we lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven.
Brothers and sisters, we do not know the hour of our departing this life; only God knows the day and the hour. Let us not delay, but dedicate ourselves, and all our life to the love and service of God; and put this into action by loving and serving each other, and those in the world around us. Let us embrace the Orthodox life of prayer, and fasting, of spiritual struggle and the giving of alms, so that we may entrust our selves and our souls to God, and be set free of all that would hold us in this world.
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