Victory Over the Demons

(10th Sunday after Pentecost) (Matt. 17:14-23a)

In today’s reading from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, we hear the disciples are unable to cast out a demon from a man. When they ask our Lord why this happened, he tells them that their failure is a result of their unbelief – that is, their lack of faith. He then gives them a key instruction: “This kind only comes out by prayer and fasting.”

The Fathers tell us more. The man who came to the Lord to seek the healing of his son lacked faith. Indeed, the man who was possessed lacked faith – and it was his lack of faith that allowed the demon to enter him, and to control him.

The holy monk-martyr Dometius, whose memory we celebrate today, did not lack faith. Born a pagan during the time of the Emperor St. Constantine, he came to know the Christian faith, and was baptized. The depth and beauty of the Orthodox faith caused him to give up all worldly things and to enter a monastery. He lived among the brethren for a time, and then withdrew into silence. The archimandrite made him a deacon, but when he sought to make Dometius a priest, the saint ran away to a distant mountain, and lived there in a cave, praying, fasting, keeping vigils, and meditating. This brought about an increase in perfection, so that he was able to heal the sick. When the Emperor Julian the Apostate heard of the saint, he sent men to wall up the entrance to the cave in which St. Dometius lived, with two of his disciples. They died in the year 363.

So we have these contrasts: the man whose lack of faith caused him to fall under the control of a demon; and the holy martyr Dometius, whose faith led him to victory over his passions, and a heavenly crown.

What about us? How do we live? I suspect that most of us, if we try to place ourselves on a spectrum described by these two contrasting lives, would have to place ourselves closer to the first man than to the saint. Not a very flattering picture, to be sure! Not only that: what does it say about our bearing witness to Christ in us when we live as we do? Take a moment, and recall the sins that you commit frequently, even regularly. Isn’t it a form of lunacy, aren’t we insane in some way, when we continue to do what we do? Now, to be sure, we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us; so, on one level, we cannot be possessed by a demon; but that does not mean that we are necessarily free of demonic influence, against which we must be on our guard, against which we must fight, against which we must strengthen ourselves. And that brings us back to prayer and fasting.

We are called to be disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ – and more than that, we are called to bear Him within ourselves, and make Him known in the world. Can this be possible? We have the example of the martyr Dometius for an answer: Yes, it is possible. He manifested Christ in the world by healing the sick, as well as by his holy life, and by his teaching two disciples the Orthodox faith and way of life.

Victory over the demons comes by prayer and fasting – and we know these to be hallmarks of the Orthodox faith and way of life, together with alms-giving and struggle against our passions. If we would be set free of the demonic influences over our own lives, we must fast and pray. Remember that one purpose for fasting is to weaken the power of our flesh, so that our will can direct it in its desires. Remember also that one purpose for prayer is to teach our will the will of God, so that we can properly direct our lives in the way that is pleasing to God, and beneficial to the salvation of our souls. We also come into the presence of God through the worship of the church, including the vigils that are served on the eve of every Divine Liturgy; and we can learn more of the will of God by studying and contemplating the Holy Scriptures and the teachings of the Fathers.

Brothers and sisters, as we do these things: fast, and pray, worship, and contemplate – we will find ourselves moving away from being like the demon-possessed man, and moving to be more like the saint. Who knows what wonders God might perform through us as we devote ourselves to be like Him, leaving behind, as much as we can, the way of life that is in the world? Let us dedicate ourselves to drawing nearer to Him, that we may know Him better, and make Him known: to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls.

Holy monk-martyr Dometius, pray to God for us!

Shining with the Light of Christ

(The Transfiguration of our Lord) (Matt. 17:1-9)

One of the most striking elements of the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ is the way in which He is revealed to His disciples while He is speaking with Moses and Elijah. Our Lord’s face shines as brightly as the sun, and his clothing appears to be a pure white. Peter, James and John are unable to look directly at him.

The Fathers tell us that our Lord shone in this way as He revealed, in a small way, His divinity. He shines forth with the light of the uncreated glory of God, a glory, and a light, which words are incapable of describing. The light of the Transfiguration shows us the divinity of Christ.

The theme of light is found throughout the Scriptures. When God created the heavens and the earth, His first command was, “Let there be light!” Later, He created what are called the “lesser lights”: the sun to shine and give light in the day, and the moon and stars to give light at night. The physical experiences of light and darkness became a means for instructing the people of God in the higher concepts of spiritual light, and spiritual darkness. Isaiah the prophet foretold the time when the people who dwelt in darkness would see a great light; and this light would also be a “light to the Gentiles’ – that is, would be a guide to bring them into the same understanding as was being given by God to His people by the prophets. Isaiah also spoke of the situation in heaven, when the sun and moon and stars would no longer give their light; for the light of heaven comes from God, and He shall be His people’s light. There are also many similar instances of this theme in the Psalms.

The holy Apostle and Evangelist John spoke of the Logos, the Word of God, and called Him, “the light of the world,” and, “the light of men” – and of how some chose darkness, rather than the light, and so could not know what could be known in the light. Our Lord Himself called Himself “the Light of the world”; and said that His mission was to enlighten us, so that we would not have to live in darkness.

The Apostle Paul, while still living as Saul, the accuser of the brethren, was stricken on the road to Damascus by the Lord, Who appeared to Him in the great light of His glory, which blinded him for a time, until he was healed. There are also many instances of the saints shining with a heavenly light, such as St. Seraphim of Sarov, as reported in the account of his conversation with Motovilov. The merchant, a seeker after the truth, learns from his encounter with the saint that he, also, shines forth with this light – the light of the glory of God.

In the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord tells His disciples – and we are His disciples, if we follow Him – “You are the light of the world.” He then commands us, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may glorify God in heaven.

Brothers and sisters, do you see? We are also meant to shine the light of Christ in the world. We are meant to bear witness to the divinity of Christ; and the best way to show Him forth is to let Him be seen in us, and to let His light shine forth from us. We are more than whom we appear to be; we are more than our physical existence suggests. But if we do not know of our spiritual being, and if we do not pursue the expression of the life of Christ that dwells in us, who have been baptized, who have been chrismated, who have been fed with the heavenly food of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we cannot pursue our purpose: to make Christ known, to the glory of God. Whenever we sin; indeed, whenever we live in any way that is not meant for the glory of God, we are not shining with the light of Christ; we are not living to give glory to God.

As our Lord was seen shining with the light of God on the mountain of His Transfiguration, may God also grant unto each one of us His grace to allow Christ to be seen in us; that we may bring light to those in darkness; that our good works for God may be seen by men; to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.

Desire and the Will

(9th Sunday after Pentecost) (Matthew 14:22-34)

Last week, you’ll recall, we reflected upon the part that our desires play in shaping and motivating our lives. We found that we are made in such a way that our mind and will work to accomplish whatever it is we desire to have in our lives: fame, power, money, comfort, and so on.

Desire, however, is only part of the equation. Desire, regardless of the form it takes, can be tamed by the will, if we are willing to exert ourselves, if we are willing to make the effort, if we are willing to pay the price to put our will in charge of our mind, and our will in charge of our flesh. If we will do this, then we can tame our desires, and properly harness their power, and put our desires to work in obedience to our will, in order to live a life that is pleasing to God and beneficial to the salvation of our souls.

This “secret” is revealed to us in the teachings of the fathers. For example, we are told that Abba Mark once went to St. Arsenius to ask the saint why he lived as a hermit, and not in a community. St. Arsenius replied that, in heaven, there are thousands of thousands who have but one will, and that, the will of God, as their own; while among men, each of us has our own will – which is usually not focused on the will of God, but upon the desires of our flesh, and of our pride. The reason ascetics go into the desert is to bring their will into full and complete obedience to the will of God; that is, to have no will of their own, but to so desire to do the will of God that they surrender their freedom of will – a God-given aspect of our very being – in order to do the will of God faithfully and completely, without hesitation, and without question.

But what about us, who do not have the opportunity, or even the desire, to flee into the desert, to live in solitude, so that we may directly confront our weaknesses and our desires? Does that mean we cannot follow the path of the desert ascetics? We have two examples that teach us otherwise.

The righteous Eudocimus was an officer in the army of the Emperor Theophilus during the 9^th century. Even as he lived as a soldier, he sought to live according to the teachings of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. He kept himself pure in thought, word, and deed; was generous in giving to the poor; spent his time in the reading of the Bible and other holy books; and above all, was dedicated to coming into the presence of God each day in prayer. He had no time or desire for idle conversation or worldly diversions. His virtuous life brought him to the attention of the Emperor, who appointed him to be the military governor of Cappadocia. Apart from increasing his responsibilities, his life did not change. Having died at an early age (33), his relics were found, after eighteen months, to be completely incorrupt; and many were healed by his intercessions, including a man whose insanity was cured when he touched the saint’s tomb.

Our other example is the apostle Peter, who, as we heard in today’s first reading from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, left the boat in which he and the other disciples were traveling while in a storm, and walked on the water, even if only for a few steps, to be with our Lord. This was an act of will. It was founded on the apostle’s faith – but it took an act of his will to put his faith into action, and to brave the wind and the waves to get out of the boat.

Neither the Apostle Peter nor the righteous Eudocimus were ascetics dwelling in desert solitude. Each of them had lives in the world, with responsibilities, as also do most of us. But each of them set their will to do the will of God, and achieved the same – and so can we, if we choose to do so.

To accomplish this, we need to take time to examine ourselves, and all our decisions, and all our motives, and all our thoughts. Is the action we are contemplating pleasing to God? Is the manner in which we are going to act pleasing to God? Why are we doing what we are doing: to serve God, or to serve ourselves? What does God require of us in this situation? Unless we teach ourselves to think in this way, we will not change what we do, or why we do what we do.

There’s more, of course. We must be careful about how we use the time that God has entrusted to us. How much time do we spend each day in idle talk or activities, which we see the righteous Eudocimus avoided? How much time de we spend serving our flesh? How much time do we devote to the reading and study of God’s Word, and to the teachings of the saints? How much time and effort do we devote to prayer, in which we can, if we choose, draw closer to God?

The world is a tempestuous place; and, unless we are careful, we will do little more than huddle in the bottom of the boat, hoping that somehow we will make it through. Instead, we must gather ourselves together, and summon our will, and take the step, and get out of the boat – and walk with our Lord Jesus Christ each day; to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.

Holy Righteous Eudocimus, pray to God for us!

What is It You Desire?

(8th Sunday after Pentcost) (Great-martyr Christina)

What is it you desire? Riches? Fame? Power? Comfort?

This is not an idle question. Our Lord Jesus tells us, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” We are made in such a way that we pursue what we desire. If we want to be rich, or famous, or powerful, or comfortable, the choices we make, both consciously and unconsciously, are designed to help us get rich, or famous, or powerful, or comfortable. This does not always mean we will succeed in obtaining what we desire – but these unfulfilled desires both motivate us to continue, and bring us unhappiness, anger, and even depression when we cannot have what we so desperately want. As such, if we want to be happy, and if we want to be fulfilled, we must know ourselves well enough to answer the question, what is it you desire?

Today the Church remembers and celebrates the martyrdom of the Great-martyr Christina of Tyre, who suffered for Christ in the third century. Born to a life of wealth and luxury, she was also a beautiful child – so much so that her father caused her to live in a tower, apart from the world. In that life, she had everything she needed, including the best food, and servants to care for her every desire. Being a pagan family, there were also gold and silver idols for Christina to use in worship. Her father’s intent was doubtless that she marry a man whose family was equally wealthy and powerful, and so bring honor and glory to their families.

But this was not Christina’s desire. From her tower, she watched the sun by day, and the stars by night, and came to a natural knowledge of God, Who, in response to Christina’s request, sent an angel to her to instruct her in the true faith. Made bold by her desire to love and serve our Lord Jesus Christ, she smashed the idols, and threw the gold and silver pieces to the people in the street below the tower. Her father, in a rage, had her arrested and turned over to torture. She would not renounce her faith, not even when her tormentors cut off her breasts and cut out her tongue. The martyr was put to death by being impaled on a stake.

Do you ever ask yourself what you might do if you had to suffer for your faith, as the Great-martyr Christina suffered for hers? Most of us complain at even the least bit of unpleasantness. How often do we become angry, resentful, perhaps even abusive, when we’re forced to wait in line, or when someone says or does something we don’t like? We’re most likely to respond poorly when the actions or circumstances thwart us as we attempt to obtain our desires – not that we are being tortured, mind you – just frustrated by not being able to have what we want. And so we must ask ourselves: what is it that we desire?

The Great-martyr Christina desired to be one with our Lord Jesus Christ; and pursued her desire with a single-minded devotion that enabled her to endure both physical torments, and the knowledge that she had been betrayed and delivered to such torments by her father. We work and make sacrifices to obtain earthly desires that will not endure; she obtained an eternal reward that will never be lost.

Brothers and sisters, we must first become aware of what we desire, as this is what moves us, and directs our lives. With this knowledge, we must then measure our desires against the teachings of the Church, and the way of life of the Orthodox faith. Are we pursuing what is pleasing to God? Or are we only seeking to please our flesh? If we do not desire to be with Christ, and to be like Him; if we do not desire to be patient, loving, and forgiving; if we do not desire to be holy and righteous – we desire what will lead us to condemnation, rather than into the presence of God, along a path to which we can direct others, as well.

Let us honor and remember the Great-martyr Christina, and all the saints, by examining ourselves; and, when we find our desires are not those which God would choose for us, let us repent, and confess, and beseech God’s help in transforming our lives, to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls.

Holy Great-martyr Christina, pray to God for us!

Distinguishing Truth from Error

(7th Sunday after Pentecost) (Fathers of the 1st Six Councils)

Today the Church remembers and celebrates the Fathers of the first six Ecumenical Councils. By their labors, they have given us a better understanding of the teachings of the Orthodox Church and faith, and of what we believe, and why we believe as we do.

The first Ecumenical Council rejected the teachings of Arius, who incorrectly believed that our Lord Jesus Christ was not divine in nature, but was a created being. In reply, the Church tells us that the Son of God is of one essence with the Father, equal in divinity, equal in power, and equal in honor and worship and praise. The second Council declared the fullness of divinity of the Holy Spirit. These teachings about the Holy Trinity are summarized for us in the Symbol of Faith, which we recite at every Divine Liturgy – and were written by these first two Councils. The second Council also declared an anathema against anyone who would change the Creed from the form in which it was approved by that Council.

The third Ecumenical Council refuted the false teachings of Nestorius, proclaiming that our Lord Jesus Christ is the Incarnate Word of God; and that His mother, the Ever-virgin Mary, is rightly called the “Theotokos”; which means, “the God-bearer.” Nestorius had taught that she was the “Christotokos,” or, “the birth-giver of Christ”: but this was recognized by the Church as an attack on the divinity of the child borne by Mary, and affirmed her child as being divine.

The fourth Council refuted the false teachings of Eutychus, proclaiming that our Lord Jesus Christ is fully and perfectly God, and also fully and perfectly human, both contained without confusion in Him, One Person. The fifth Council reaffirmed the teachings about the Trinity and about our Lord, in opposition to the continued claims made by those who had not accepted the decisions of the first four councils, but rather had become heretics. The sixth Ecumenical Council reaffirmed the Church’s teaching about the true humanity of our Lord Jesus by insisting upon the reality of His human will and action, as well as His divine will and action. As the fourth council had rejected as heretical the teaching that our Lord, after becoming Incarnate, had only one nature, and not both His human and divine natures in one Person, without confusion, so the sixth Council rejected as heretical the teaching that our Lord, after His Incarnation, had only one will. The Church fathers considered it crucial that our Lord did possess, not only two natures in one Person, but both wills – or else our own ability to be saved would be called into question.

Many of us are not aware of the actions and teachings of the Ecumenical Councils, and this is unfortunate, for, after each council met and deliberated, there were those who did not accept the decision of that council, and so left the Church. But these groups, or their heretical teachings, did not disappear: these heresies persist to the present day and time. These heresies are right outside our door – and, to the extent that we are ignorant, we might be influenced by such teachings. Therefore, we would do well to study the teachings of the holy fathers we celebrate today.

But there is another aspect of this celebration that we must recognize, and which we should emulate. How did the fathers know to distinguish truth from error? In part, they were knowledgeable about the teachings of the Church in their own day – but that, by itself, would not be enough. They were also pious and faithful men, doing all in their power to live according to the Orthodox way of life, struggling against their passion and their sins, pursuing holiness and righteousness, repenting, and confessing, loving God with the fullness of their being, and loving all those made in the image of God as they loved themselves. This personal holiness allowed the Holy Spirit of God, in accordance with the promise given by our Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples, to lead the holy fathers into all truth – and through them, to us – if we will listen and learn, and if we will also pursue holiness.

Brothers and sisters, let us hear the call given to us by the holy fathers we celebrate today. Let us learn from them, that we may be knowledgeable; and let us pursue holiness through prayer, and fasting, through giving, and struggle, and, above all, by love fro God, and for each other – to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls.

Holy fathers of the first Six Councils, pray to God for us!

The Reason for Pain and Suffering

(6th Sunday after Pentecost) (Matt. 9:1-8)

In today’s reading from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, we hear of the man who, “sick of the palsy,” is brought to the Lord in order to be healed. Our Lord tells him, “Your sins are forgiven.” This causes the scribes and Pharisees to grumble: Who can forgive sins, except God? Our Lord, in order that they might know that the Son of Man has the power to forgive sins, then says to the sick man, “Arise, take up your bed, and go home.” Many in the crowd are amazed, and (rightly) glorify God.

Most of us, in a similar situation, would ask God to restore us to heal – by which we usually mean, to bodily health. There are several messages here for us in this account of our Lord’s ministry. The first is that God knows our needs – better, even, than we know ourselves. The second is that God acts to provide for our needs, and sometimes does so even before we have asked for His help. The first speaks of the omniscience of God – that is to say, God is all-knowing. The second speaks to us of the great love God has for each one of us.

But it is possible to ask, “Well, if God’s love for us is so great, why is there pain and suffering in the world? Why was that man sick with the palsy? Why are there people today who are sick, even dying, of cancer, and AIDS, and heart attacks, and strokes? Why is there pain and suffering in the world? How is this possible, if God is so loving?”

We need to remember that all of the evil in life is the result of sin – that is, of our failure to walk in the way that God has appointed for us, and in which God delights to bless us when we live in accordance with His commandments. We also need to remember that suffering, pain, illness, and disease are not punishments sent by God; but rather are permitted by God in order to remind us, as Adam and Eve failed to remember, that we are not God. This is important, because every time we choose to depart from the ways of God, we are, in effect, saying that we know more than God, and that we can establish for ourselves the way we want to live. This arrogant pride is at the root of all sin; and this arrogant pride requires desperate measures, requires strong medicine, in order to bring us to our senses, and change our way of life.

Think about it – it makes sense. After all, if being overweight puts us at risk of diabetes, heart attack, and stroke, well, isn’t that enough to cause us to change our eating habits, and to exercise? Sometimes, yes – but usually something more serious has to happen before we’ll actually take the steps needed to correct the problem. We know that there is a direct link between smoking and lung cancer. Perhaps the mere knowledge of this has stopped some from taking up the habit, and caused some others to stop – but most require a more serious warning, the onset of some physical ailment, to change their behavior.

Sin is every bit as deadly as a heart attack; sin is every bit as lethal as cancer. God, in His mercy, therefore allows us to encounter times of suffering – including illness – in order to alert us to our situation, and to remind us of our need for Him. The course of treatment for our sins is to repent, and confess, and seek God’s help and grace and strength for the transformation of our lives, so that we turn from a way of life that is leading us to spiritual death, and return to living in accordance with God’s commandments. When we repent, when we confess, the Lord says to us, as He said to the man sick of the palsy, “Your sins are forgiven.” This does not always mean that our bodily health will be restored – for the consequences of our choices that may have brought us to fall ill may continue. If this is so, we need to remember that whatever God allows is for the sake of our salvation – and we will know we are on the right track when we accept our situation, giving thanks to God for our suffering, and seeking to draw from our condition the peace that comes with understanding that all that takes place is meant to bring us to a life without end in the joyous experience of the presence of God.

Brothers and sister, let us repent and confess; and let us prepare ourselves to receive the holy Mysteries of our Lord’s Body and Blood, which are given to us for our healing and salvation. Let us give thanks to God for all the circumstances of our lives, and put our trust in Him, and in His love: to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.

Shaped by the Life of the Church

(Holy Royal Martyrs of Russia)

We remember today the execution of the Tsar-Martyr Nikolai and his family and attendants, murdered at the hands of the God-fighting Bolsheviks, who would lead Russia into a period of the most intense persecution that the Church, so far, has had to endure in all her history.

It is worth our taking a few minutes to consider the lives, and deaths, of the Tsar-Martyr and those martyred with him, including his immediate family, those who remained with him out of loyalty, and other members of the royal family. Tsar Nikolai II was the absolute monarch of one-sixth of the world, with great power and incredible wealth at his disposal. Considered in one way, of course, he and his family had access to comfort and luxury beyond what almost anyone has ever experienced – and yet, they did not give themselves over to a materialistic way of life. Instead, they allowed themselves to be shaped by the life of the Church. They were faithful in prayers, both by attending the worship services of the Church, and in their own private devotions. They kept the fasts. They gave alms for those in need, and made offerings for the work of the Church. They were not perfect; but they were striving for perfection by living an Orthodox life; and, when the Tsar was forced to abdicate his throne, and he and all his family were forced to endure arrest, and deprivations, and insults, they did not lose themselves in hatred or fighting, but endured their sufferings with humility, patience, and meekness, trusting, as they had always done, that, even as the sovereign of Russia, their lives were subject to the Lord, and they were called to do His will. This humility influenced many of those who were their captors; and even in death, they did not cease to show forth the suffering of Christ.

Apart from the positions they occupied in life and those in which we find ourselves, were the Royal Martyrs of Russia any different from us? The answer, of course, is, “No.” They, like us, were subject to many temptations. They, like us, had hopes and dreams and fears. They, like us, were subject to illness, and the acts of others had consequences for them, as also for us.

So, brothers and sisters, as we keep this day, let us consider whether we, in the circumstances in which we find ourselves, are serving God as did the Royal Martyrs of Russia. How do we endure suffering? How do we respond to those who hate us, or wrong us, knowingly or unknowingly? Would anyone say of our lives that we meet adversities and insults with patience, humility, and meekness? Would anyone say of us that, by our labors to live an Orthodox life, we caused them to see Christ in our midst, and so helped transform their life as well as ours? If no one would say these things about us, why is this so? And what must we do to change, so that Christ can be seen in and through us, as He can be seen in the lives and deaths of the Royal Martyrs of Russia?

Holy Royal Martyrs of Russia, pray to God for us!

Fasting, Feasting and the Gadarene Swine

(5th Sunday after Pentecost) (Matthew 8:28-9:1)
Today the Church remembers the life and martyrdom of St. Hyacinthus of Caesarea. He was an attendant in the court of the Emperor Trajan; and his faith, which he had kept secret, became known when the Emperor and his court went to offer sacrifices to the gods of Rome. St. Hyacinthus stood apart from making this offering to idols; and so was accused and brought to trial before the Emperor. Trajan urged him to deny Christ and sacrifice to the gods of Rome, but the saint refused to do so, declaring his love and reverence for our Lord, adding that he brought himself to Christ as a living sacrifice. After he had been whipped, spat upon, and flayed, he was thrown into prison. The only food they brought him was food that had been offered to the idols, which St. Hyacinthus refused to eat. He starved to death over a period of eight days; and when they came to take away his body, two shining angels were seen with him, one covering his body in a glorious set of clothing, and the other placing a wreath of glory on his head. The whole prison was filled with a radiant light.

In the reading today from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, we hear of the people of the region of the Gadarenes, and of a herd of swine being kept there. Of course, the Jews were forbidden to eat meat from swine – but apparently this did not keep them from doing so. This is in stark contrast to the decision made by the holy martyr Hyacinthus, who would not eat food that had been offered to idols.

When we fast, we do not abstain from foods because the foods are poisonous, or dangerous. Fasting has two main components. First, fasting teaches our flesh that it cannot always have what it wants whenever it wants it. In this, fasting is similar to training for participating in an athletic event. We fast in order to bring our flesh – that part of us that is living according to the ways of the world, in opposition to the way of the Holy Spirit – into subjection to our will, which we hope, by God’s grace, is in alignment with the will of God. Thus, fasting is a way to discipline our flesh; to make our flesh obedient to our will, so that, in the fullness of our being, we can be doing what is pleasing to God, and beneficial to the salvation of our souls.

This aspect of obedience exhibited through fasting leads to the second main component: namely, obedience. Even before we grasp the training aspect of fasting, we do well to fast because the Church has told us that this is a practice we need to follow in order to work out our salvation. We do not have to understand every reason why fasting is good in order to be obedient to the instruction of the Church – we just need to obey. This is not a mindless obedience; we should always be studying our faith, and the teachings of the fathers, and the lives of the saints. If we do, we will see they also fasted, in obedience to the Church; and they profited thereby, saving their souls, and being examples of how to do so to others – including us, if we will learn from them. The practice of obedience is an essential step for us to bring our will into conformity to the will of God; so that we may keep His commandments, and so save our souls.

These two components – subjecting the flesh to the will, and learning obedience – are a form of “basic training,” by which we can go from a foundation skill to advancing in spiritual warfare. If we can teach ourselves to abstain from meat, and dairy products, and eggs and even fish during fasting days and seasons, we can also teach ourselves to abstain from the passions that lead us into sins. When we strengthen ourselves by obedience in fasting, we strengthen ourselves to restrain our other appetites – the sources of anger, and hatred, and lust, and envy, and greed, and laziness. And when we make our obedience to the will of God an offering of our love to Him, we enter into the ability to love God with the fullness of our being, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves – and so we gain the ability to keep the Great Commandment which our Lord Jesus Christ gave to us for our salvation.

Brothers and sisters, called to be saints: Let us not be like those who, given the command of God to abstain from eating the flesh of swine, chose instead to satisfy the cravings of their flesh, only to lose what they prized because of the demons. Let us instead preserve our holiness through our commitment to Christ, as did the holy martyr Hyacinthus. Let us pray, and give, and struggle against our passions to live a holy life; and let us fast to increase our ability to overcome the passions – to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.

Holy martyr Hyacinthus, pray to God for us!

Living as Apostles

(Holy Apostles Peter and Paul) (Matthew 16:13-19)

Today we celebrate the Feast of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul. In many ways, these two servants of God are preeminent in the life of the Church and faith. St. Peter preached the first sermon of the Church, on the day of Pentecost, and about 3,000 people came to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The holy Apostle Peter preached the Gospel of our salvation throughout Palestine, and in Asia Minor, and in Rome, where he was crucified upside down (at his own request) at the order of the Emperor Nero. St. Paul is noteworthy for both the many missionary journeys he made in order to bring the good news of our salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ to as many people as possible; and for the letters he wrote, which make up a good portion of the books of the New Testament. Through his writings, he continues to teach the faithful and the seekers, even to this day.

It is good for us to remember and to celebrate the lives and ministries of St. Peter and St. Paul. But I have no doubt that, if we were able to ask them how best we might honor and celebrate them, they would say, “Embrace the life and teachings of the Orthodox Church, and live as witnesses to the love of God in Jesus Christ. Seek the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and love one another, as Christ loves us, and gives Himself for us.”

We may never preach a sermon to 3,000 people. We may never make journeys as missionaries to foreign lands, putting our lives at risk for the sake of bringing light to those in darkness. But we can make a statement with our lives wherever we happen to find ourselves, by living a life that is holy and pure, loving God, and loving and caring for each other in the love of God. We can preach without words to our families, and our friends, to our neighbors, our coworkers, and even to strangers, by not living according to the wisdom of this world, but instead by living according to the way of life set forth for us by the Church. We can meet adversities and need with long-suffering patience, and with prayer – and people will take notice. We can fast, even when the world is not – and people will take notice. We can give from what God has given to us, for the work of the Church, and for those in need – and people will take notice. We can do all in our power to refrain from sin, and from indulging our weaknesses, putting aside anger and hatred, greed, lust – and people will take notice. Some of those who notice will mock us, even hate us – but some will be drawn to find out why we do what we do; and if we are prepared to give them an answer, we will have become like the apostles to them in their need.

Brothers and sisters, called to be saints: Let us honor the holy memory of the glorious and all-praised Apostles Peter and Paul by joining them in the awesome task of making Christ known in our words and in our lives, to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls.

Healing: Physical and Spiritual

(4th Sunday after Pentecost) (Matthew 8:5-13)

Today’s reading from the Gospel according to St. Matthew tells us of the Centurion who came to our Lord Jesus Christ to seek from Him the healing of his servant, who was paralyzed. We know that the servant is healed, because our Lord promises that it will be so; and St. Matthew reports that the servant was healed in the same hour – which is to say, at the same time – that our Lord made this promise to the Centurion. If we look more closely, we see that we do not know the faith of the servant; we do not know if he had any idea that Jesus was the Messiah. We should also see that the Centurion was not a member of the household of God, as this was understood at the time. That is to say, he was not a Jew. But he acted on faith; and so obtained what he desired.

On its surface, this is a story about healing – that is to say, the healing (or curing, if you will) – of a physical ailment, and the connection faith has to our physical well-being. Undoubtedly, when we are sick, or feel ourselves getting sick, we pray and ask God to restore us to health. Likewise, when a member of our family, or a friend, or maybe a person prominent in our lives falls ill, we pray for them to be healed. All of these things are good, and proper. We should, indeed, ask these things in prayer, for ourselves, and for others. You’ll note that we pray for those who are ill at each Divine Liturgy. Not only that: we should ask these things with the trust, the faith, that, as our Lord heard the Centurion’s request for the healing of his servant, so, too, will He hear our prayers for healing; and, as He offered to go to the servant with the Centurion, so, too, will He come to us. We may not always obtain what is needed for a return to health as we understand it; but we will always receive what is needed for the salvation of our souls, for this, above all, is what God desires: that we repent of our sins, and turn from the ways of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and walk with Him, in the way He has prepared for us, so that we may enter into life without end in the joy and glory of His presence.

We must also be aware that this Gospel involves more than just physical healing. Our Lord Jesus became incarnate, in part to fix what had become broken and flawed in us as a result of sin, beginning with the sin of Adam and Eve. Each one of us is, in effect, the servant in need of healing, for we are paralyzed by our sins. This is to say that we cannot travel the way God has provided for us because of our sins. As such, in order to make the journey, we must call out to the merciful Lord in repentance, asking the forgiveness of our sins, and for the healing of that which we have weakened, even unto death, by clinging to our passions, rather than embracing the way of life given to us by God through the Church. Of course, we should ask this for ourselves; but we should ask it as well for every other person in our lives: those whom we love, and who love us; and also for those who hate us, or who have offended us. When someone cuts us off in traffic, we should not be provoked to harden our hearts, to anger, or to condemnation of that person. How much better off would we be if we, instead, asked God to forgive and heal and protect that person? And how much better off would we be if those we have hurt or offended, either knowingly or unknowingly, prayed for us to be healed, rather than becoming angry, rather than cursing, rather than condemning?

Brothers and sisters, called to be saints: our Lord Jesus Christ is among us today, to heal our wounds, to heal our sicknesses, in body, mind, and spirit. Let us, with faith, draw near to Him in prayer, for our needs, and for the needs of others – to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.

Being the Family of God

( 3rd Sunday after Pentecost) (Holy Apostle Jude)

Today is the day the Church remembers the holy Apostle Jude, the brother of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to the teaching of the Church. Jude was the youngest of the four sons born to St. Joseph, before the death of his first wife, and his betrothal to the Lady Theotokos and Virgin Mary. It is said that, at the time when St. Joseph was preparing for his death, and he sought to divide his estate among his sons, he desired to give the son of Mary, our Lord Jesus, an equal portion; but the other sons, except for James, objected, and so no portion was given for our Lord. Only James took a portion of his inheritance and gave it to his brother, Jesus. The holy Apostle Jude does not refer to himself as being the brother of the Lord, as does James. He only calls himself the brother of James; undoubtedly ashamed of both his behavior regarding the inheritance; and also his initial lack of faith in the Lord Jesus as Son of God and Savior.

But the good news is that, while the holy Apostle Jude did not believe prior to the Passion and Crucifixion of our Lord, he did become a believer after the Resurrection of his brother from the dead. He proclaimed the good news of our salvation in Christ, and taught the Orthodox faith throughout the Holy Land, and then into Mesopotamia and Armenia. He met his death, crucified, with arrows shot into his body, at the hands of pagans.

What must it have been like, do you think, to have been the brother or sister of our Lord Jesus Christ, as was the holy Apostle Jude? The question isn’t an idle one. After all, while we did not enter this life as members of the household of God, we have become so through being born again of water and the Spirit in being baptized and chrismated. We entered the household, the family, of God. We have a birthright, an inheritance – the kingdom of heaven. Of course, we can renounce this birthright; we do not have to claim it as our own. But if we desire to be the brothers and sisters of the Lord, we must remember that he said that all those who do the will of the Father Who sent Him are his mother and brothers and sisters. This instruction is joined by the direction given to us at the end of the reading today from the Gospel according to St. Matthew: to seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness. If we do so, the promise is that everything else we need will be given to us.

What is the will of God that we must do in order to be considered the family of Christ? How do we seek first the kingdom of God?

It is God’s will that we love Him with the fullness of our being; and that we love each other. Love is patient; love is kind; love does not envy; love is not proud. Love does not serve itself, but rather serves others. Those who love endure much, without thinking evil of those who do wrong, and without being provoked to take any form of revenge. Those who love delight in the truth, and do not live in sins, but struggle against them. In all these things, we see that our Lord Jesus Christ is the supreme example; and we see these qualities as well in the lives of the saints, as in the life of the holy Apostle Jude. To the extent that we do not see these qualities in ourselves – well, each of us has more work to do!

This work begins by embracing the Orthodox way of life. We must pray, so that we may draw closer to God, and spend time with Him, so that we can learn to be more and more like Him, in Whose image we are made, and Whose life we have received. We must fast, so that our flesh, the avenue for so many of our passions, is disciplined and strengthened for the fight against our sins. We must give from the time and talent and treasures entrusted to us by God, so that we may be set free from being attached to this world, and its pleasures and possessions; and we must struggle to overcome our passions and ride, and be more and more like our Lord Jesus, the lover of mankind.

Brothers and sisters, the way to the kingdom, to the household, to the family of God is available to us. Having sinned, let us repent; having sought to take our inheritance from heaven and waste it instead on earthly things, let us choose now to give a portion of what has been given to us for the service of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us love one another, as Christ loves us, and gave Himself for us – to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.

Let Us Honor His Holy Memory in Our Lives

(St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco) (Luke 6:17-23a)

Today we celebrate the holy hierarch and wonderworker, St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco. We remember this saint of God, as we do for all the saints commemorated in the church calendar, to give thanks to God for their life and ministry and example; and we should also be reminding ourselves of what is possible in our own lives – that is, we need to remember that we are not different in our being from the saints, except for the ways in which we choose to live.

The time of the saints is not “long ago and far away.” There are saints of all kinds in every age, in all places. We need look no farther than St. John to realize this is true. He reposed in the lord on July 2, 1966 – and many of us were already born at that time; while others who were not are still only a few years removed from the life of this holy man. The Holy Spirit of God is present and active today, as He has been since the day of Pentecost, to enlighten the faithful and lead us into all truth, and closer to God. St. John proves this, for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear.

St. John lived a deeply ascetic life. He did not permit himself to sleep in a bed. Instead, he rested for a few hours while sitting; or fell asleep while prostrate in prayer. He ate only once a day; and during Great Lent, he did not eat at all during the first and last weeks. When he did eat during Great Lent, he ate only the bread that had been blessed in the altar, and some water. He spent hours in prayer. He gave away the money and possessions that had been given to him. He visited the sick. He cared for the widows and the orphans. He went to the Divine Liturgy every day, and received the holy Mysteries of our Lord’s Body and Blood every day. Is it any wonder, then, that he was able to serve God, and to care for the people God entrusted to him, with healings and other miraculous powers?

Not all of us are able to achieve the ascetic life of St. John, for not all of us are called to do so. But we are called to do all we have been given strength to do in our own ascetic struggles. We should be careful about the comforts we desire, for we pursue what we desire – and our flesh wants to be fed and comforted and pampered. We all can do more in prayer than most of us manage to achieve. We can all do more in charitable works, and in charitable giving. We can all do more to worship God, and to love and care for His people, and to make His presence known to those who still dwell in darkness, and in the shadow of death. None of us may ever reach the ascetic heights that St. John attained; but if we will follow his example, and require more of ourselves, we will honor his holy memory; and we also will become better servants of God.

Brothers and sisters, called to be saints: Let us magnify our holy father, the hierarch and wonderworker, John of Shanghai and San Francisco. Let us live according to his example; to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls.

Holy hierarch, Father John, pray to God for us!

Being "Orthodox" Does Not Mean Being "Correct"

(Second Sunday after Pentecost) (All Saints of Russia)

Today we celebrate all the saints of the Russian land. Under normal circumstances, during the sermon there would be some mention of particular saints who have lived in Russia, and consideration given to how their life and teachings are essential for us today, far away from Russia by geography and culture, but still very close by virtue of the Orthodox Church and faith and way of life that we have in common with these saints.

But, brothers and sisters, today in our parish, circumstances are far from normal, far from ordinary. I have to tell you that our choir director is not coming back – and, this week, I have learned more about the reasons why this departure has occurred.

We know that words have power. After all, when God created the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, He did so by the power of His word. When God said, “Let there be light,” there was light. Whatever God spoke came into existence. Similarly, we know that our Lord Jesus Christ healed by the power of His word; He knocked over the soldiers who had come to arrest Him by the power of His word; He raised the dead by the power of His word. But sometimes we forget that our words also have power: the power to help; and the power to hurt.

On the Sunday after the feast of the Ascension of our Lord, our choir director made a mistake. Things were said to her, and things were said about her – and, as a result, she was wounded in her mind, and wounded in her spirit. These words – not the first ones that were critically spoken to her – proved to be too much for her to bear. There are other reasons for her leaving, reasons that are beyond our power to affect – but what was said that day was the final push that drove her out the door, and out of our parish, and, in all probability, out of our lives. Now, in a way, we are suffering as well – and we must accept our responsibility for what has happened.

But it’s more than just the words. Some of us were born and raised in the Orthodox Church; while others of us came from backgrounds and beliefs outside the Church. Each group – cradle and convert – has strengths and weaknesses they bring with them to Church, and to life. But all, if we are serious about the task of saving our souls, appreciate and embrace the Orthodox way of life: of prayer, and fasting; of giving alms and offerings and tithes and sacrifices; and of struggling to overcome our passions, and replace them with the God-pleasing virtues that are their opposites. But none of this matters if we do not love. If we pray without love, our words are empty. If we fast without love, it is nothing more than a diet. If we give all that we have, and it is not done for love, we have gained nothing. If we live perfect lives, lives without sin, making every prostration, keeping every rule – if we do this without love, we are not Orthodox, no matter how correct we may appear to be, no matter how correctly we speak and act. The Orthodox life above all is a life of love: love for God that causes us to cast away every habit, every behavior, every thought and desire, that we know will displease and separate us from the God Who loves us; and a love for each other, for each person who bears the image of God, that sees no wrongs, hears no insults, accepts all blows, without wavering in love. When our sister made her mistake, and we criticized her, we did not love her – and this happens to us all the time. We all do it; we all are guilty; and all of us need to examine ourselves, and repent of our self-love and hardness of heart.

Brothers and sisters, being Orthodox does not consist of being “correct.” To be Orthodox, we must love God, and love each other. Everything we do must be done for love, done to be living in the service of love, and of the God Who is revealed as Love. If we will repent, if we will confess, and if we will strive to live in love, then, and only then will we be one with the saints who dwelt in the Russian land, who are saints because of their love for God – then, and only then, will we be worthy of being called Orthodox Christians.

Called to be Saints

(1st Sunday after Pentecost) (Sunday of All Saints)

Today, the Church celebrates a Feast in which all of the saints are commemorated. In the reading from the epistle to the Hebrews, we hear about some of them. Some were martyrs, who loved our Lord and His Church more than life itself, and so died rather than turn their backs on Him. Others, confessors, suffered tortures of all kinds while remaining faithful to our Lord, proclaiming Him as Savior and Lord despite horrible cruelties inflicted upon them. Others withdrew from contact with the world, living in caves and deserts and other solitary places, in order to pursue a life in God, and to be free from the temptations that surround the faithful in the world – which is to say, in the culture and society in which they live. There are many, many others, of course. Some, we know – and some who are known by God alone.

The Church, in her wisdom, has given us this day to remember the saints, who in word and deed have made known the truth of our Lord Jesus Christ through the quality of their lives. But we must do more than merely remember them, for we are called to be like them. Each and every one of us here is called to be a saint of God. Some may even be called to be martyrs, for it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see how our culture is growing in its contempt for Christ, and its rejection of His life and teachings. Others may be called to be confessors – and all of us, if we live our faith, if we live the life we are meant to learn from and in the Church, will have people mock us, laugh at us, and reject us for the foolishness of our faith in Christ. The Apostle’s Fast, for example, begins tomorrow. What will the people you work with, or go to school with, think of you when you do not eat or drink what others are consuming, so that you can be faithful in keeping the fast? Are you prepared to answer their questions as to why you do the things you do, and why you have turned away from other things that our culture and society accept as normal, even healthy? And, if you answer, what will you do when they laugh at you, or turn their backs on you? Are you willing to suffer rejection for the faith?

Yes, brothers and sisters, we are called to be saints – to live a holy life in which Christ is revealed by what we say, and by what we do. We may not ever be called to be martyred, or to be tortured because of our faith. But we are all called to put on the life we have been given in our baptism; and our Lord Jesus Christ has told us the way we must go: we must take up our Cross, and follow Him. And so we pray, in order to draw closer to Him. We fast, so that we can withdraw from the world. We give alms and offerings, to set ourselves free from the things of this world that will possess us if we do not understand that all we have is entrusted to us as stewards of the blessings of God, to be used for His glory, and for the salvation of souls. We struggle against the passions that attack us, and fight against the sins to which they lead us; and we labor to love God with all of our being, and to love each other, and all the world, with the love of God in Jesus Christ. When we do these things, we take up the Cross appointed for us, and we carry it, as we follow our Lord Jesus Christ, as He leads us from this world to His heavenly kingdom.

Of course, we cannot do this by our strength alone. It is not possible to be a saint without the power of the Holy Spirit being present in us. But we know the Holy Spirit has come, for we have just celebrated the Feast of His coming, the feast of Pentecost. Now, just as the calendar of the Church makes clear, we a re living in the season after Pentecost – and so it is in time and space as well, for the Holy Spirit has come, and all who ask for His help and presence shall receive what they need to live a holy life.

Brothers and sister, called to be saints: Let us not neglect this opportunity to repent of our sins, to turn to God, to ask His help, and the power of the Holy Spirit. Let us devote ourselves to the Orthodox faith, and the way of life we learn in the Church, so that we may fulfill the high calling to be saints – to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.

Laboring to Be Like Christ

(7th Sunday after Pentecost) (Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council)

Our Lord Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, has ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father. He, possessing the Divine nature as the Son of God, has ascended with His human nature as well – and so, as Adam once lived in the intimate presence of God, so now does our human nature once more draw near to God, in and through our Lord Jesus Christ. A great part of our hope as Christians is that we, too, can approach God, Who has drawn near to us, as did Adam before the Fall. But in order to do so, we must be “in Christ” – that is, we must make real in our own lives the nature that Christ has healed and raised, and with which has ascended into heaven. We must take the life of Christ given to us in our baptism, and bring it into being in and through our own lives.

Brothers and sisters, we are meant to ascend into heaven – that is, we are meant to enter the intimate presence of God. This world is not our home. This material existence that we know is only part of the reality in which we are meant to live. But as long as we cling to the things of this world, as long as we are tied to the ways of the world, the flesh, and the devil, as long as we are weighed down by the cares and concerns of this material, earthly, fleshly life, we cannot rise; we cannot ascend the heights; we cannot enter the presence of God.

How do we set ourselves free from all that weighs us down, and keeps us from ascending? We must believe what we are taught by the Church; and we must put what we believe into action. We must believe that God is our Creator and Lord. We must believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has come and joined His divinity to our humanity, and that He died to save us, putting death to death, so that we might have life that does not end. We must believe that the Holy Spirit has come to make known to us the truths that save, and to empower us in our life of faith.

And we must put what we believe into action. We must labor to be more and more like Christ: showing forth His obedience – for He said He did not come to do His own will, but the will of God the Father, Who sent Him. As well, we must show forth His holiness, for He did not sin; and His patience and His love. We make a start in all these things by obedience to the way of life we are taught by the Church: a life of prayer and fasting, of giving and struggle, of loving each other, and God above all. By praying, we grow closer to God. Remember, when you spend time with a person, you tend to take on the qualities of that person – and so by spending time with God in prayer, we become more like Him, in Whose image we are made. By fasting and self-denial, we set ourselves free from the passions of our flesh, and so strengthen ourselves against the sins these passions will otherwise lead us to commit. By giving, we set ourselves free from the material possessions of this world, and from greed, and envy, among other things. By humility, we set ourselves free from pride. By loving and caring for all who are made in the image of God, we show not only our love for God, but the love of God for us; we make known the reality of God’s love among those who do not yet know this truth. By doing so, we make it possible for them to come to believe what we believe, and to adopt the way of life that we have chosen; and so bring them to share with us the way by which our souls are saved.

Brothers and sisters, Christ has gone up into heaven; and He has shown us the way we are to follow. Let us do so with faith and love; to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls.

Called to Follow our Ascended Lord

(The Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ)

Perhaps you’ve heard the reports that came out as the first cosmonauts went into outer space in the early 1960’s – how they had looked, but had seen no sign of God there in space. As ridiculous as this sounds, it shows the great lengths to which people are willing to go in their efforts to deny the reality of the existence of God; for, if there is no God, then who is there to tell us what we can, and cannot, do, apart from ourselves?

Although the example is a crude one, it is possible to see how the words of the scriptures can be used by those who wish to deny and deceive. In the epistle reading for today’s feast, we hear that our Lord was “taken up” from the midst of His disciples, and was received into a cloud. If we try to picture this in our minds, I suppose we would see the Lord “lifting off,” as if He was some sort of missile – and this is undoubtedly the image that the cosmonauts were invoking – as if our Lord had somehow become a satellite in orbit above the earth, or elsewhere in the cosmos.

When our Lord departed from His disciples, forty days after His resurrection from the dead, He “ascended” into heaven, to be seated at the right hand of the Father, as we affirm in the Symbol of Faith at each Divine Liturgy. We say He ascended, that is, went up, into heaven, not because “heaven” is some place over our heads in space, but because we recognize it is a higher form of existence than what we experience here and now – unless we have also made the journey, by climbing the Ladder of Divine Ascent.

This journey is not a simple one; we are not received into a cloud. We make the ascent by the way of asceticism: prayer, and fasting, giving, and self-denial; by loving God and all those made in the image of God, and not loving ourselves more than these. These ascetic labors take time, and effort – and even then, if we try to make the ascent in our own strength alone, we shall fail, ofr the task is one beyond our means, beyond our strength. But Christ, having risen from the dead, having ascended into the intimate presence of God, has done so with His human nature, which is ineffably joined to the Divine; and if we dwell in Christ, He makes possible in and through us what we cannot do ourselves.

Where, then, do we look for our Lord? We must first look within ourselves, for the kingdom of heaven, He tells us, is within us. We must journey to that place at the depth of our being, where God waits to share Himself with us in a mystic communion. Here again, we can go only by the ascetic way of life; for, otherwise, we will be distracted and diverted by the ways of this world, and the longings of our flesh. We must also look outwardly, and learn to see Christ in each person we meet. When we teach ourselves to see each other as what we are – icons of Christ, and more than icons, because we who have been baptized bear His life itself within us – we will be transformed by being vessels and servants of the love of God.

Brothers and sisters, let us celebrate this glorious feast of the Ascension of our Lord by resolving to follow where He has gone: to make our own ascent, leaving behind the life in the world, and living according to the way of heaven – loving God, and loving each other, bearing Christ and His love for all in ourselves, putting this love into practice in our lives, together with the ascetic way of life: to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls.

Eyes that See But Do Not See

(6th Sunday of Pascha) (The Healing of the Man Born Blind)

Christ is risen!

You know, it’s a funny thing: the man born blind knew he was blind. Now, because he had not seen, and then lost the ability to see, I suppose if no one had told him he was blind, he wouldn’t have known; he would have accepted the world in which he lived as one without sight. He was in darkness; but if he had not known that he was blind, he would have accepted darkness as a natural condition; and probably would have assumed that everyone else lived in the same way. His blindness did not keep him from learning; and among the things he learned was that the Messiah would come. He went to the pool of Siloam to wash with two things that each of us would do well to develop and practice on our own lives: obedience; and faith.

Here’s a tragic thing: Because we have eyes to see the world around us, we don’t know that we are blind. What, you don’t think this is true? Tell me, have you seen God? (I know I haven’t.) Yet we live in the world God created; and we are gathered here in His presence – so we should be able to see Him, right? But we don’t. We are in darkness; and because we don’t know we are blind, we accept our spiritual darkness as a natural condition, and we live our lives accordingly, and assume that everyone else lives in the same way. But because we see in the physical sense, we do not think we are spiritually blind; and so, unlike the blind man, we do not learn. We are not obedient to the teachings of the Church; and we do not have the fullness of faith.

After all, if we truly believed that the Messiah has come, we would not live according to the ways of the world; we would not live according to the desires of our flesh. If we truly believe what we say we believe in the Symbol of faith, we would begin to see the things of the spiritual realm, and come to desire these more than any earthly powers or pleasures. We would pray and fast, in order to be closer to God; we would give, and struggle against our sins, in order to be set free from this world. We would love one another, even those who hate and wrong us, in order to more closely resemble the God Who loves us, and Whom we should love with the fullness of our being. But we are blind to these truths; for, if we were not blind, we would not sin. The evidence of our blindness is our persistence in our sins.

Brothers and sisters, we do not need to wait for the Messiah to come. He has already come, and is risen from the dead, raising us to new life in Him as well. We have already been to Siloam; we were washed in the water of our baptism, empowered in our chrismation. We should see, where we were blind; but we choose instead to close our eyes, and blind our souls, thinking that we see. But now I have told you (and told myself): we are living blindly, although we should be able to see the glory of God, and the image of His beloved Son in each and every person we meet. Let us be disobedient no longer; let us confess our sins, and be washed clean once more. Let us go forth in love, caring for each other and all who bear the image of Christ; for then do we truly worship Him. In loving do we truly serve Him; and in serving Him, we will come to see Him; to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.

Christ is risen!

Springs of Living Water

(5th Sunday of Pascha) (The Samaritan Woman; Ap. John the Theologian)

Living in the desert, we are all aware (or should be aware) of the importance of having enough water to drink. Not only is water scarce – that’s what makes it a desert! – but the heat of the desert also increases the need for drinking plenty of water. If you are outside for any reason during the summer, and especially if you’re doing some type of work, you will get thirsty! When that happens, there’s nothing to compare with a drink of cool water.

The woman who meets our Lord Jesus at the well has come there during the heat of the day to obtain water. Our Lord asks her to draw water from the well for Him to drink; and uses this as a way to gently instruct her to her spiritual needs. He begins with her bodily thirst, to show her, from what she knows, a deeper truth she needs to know. He says of the well, “Whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinks of the water which I shall give him shall never thirst.”

“Water” here refers to the Holy Spirit, and especially to the power of the Holy Spirit to cleanse, as in washing with water; and to refresh, as in the drink of cool water when we are hot and thirsty. As water makes a garden or an orchard more lush and productive, so, too, does the Holy Spirit to the soul that is willing to be “watered.” As someone with a well that is deep never lacks water, and so is never thirsty, the soul that is watered by the Holy Spirit does not thirst: that is, such a soul is not touched by despondency, and is not touched by the plots and plans of the evil one, for the water quenches the fiery darts of the evil one.

Material thirst is quenched by material water; spiritual thirst, by spiritual water, the water of the Holy Spirit. We need both forms of water to stay alive. Material water must be replenished; we drink water every day (unless prevented). If we don’t, we will weaken, and then die. Spiritual water must also be replenished, and we need to drink of it every day. If we don’t, we will weaken, and we will die.

But wait: Doesn’t our Lord say that the water He shall give shall be a well springing up to everlasting life? Doesn’t this refer to something that is permanent?

Yes: but just as a spring of material water, which flows without ceasing, can become polluted, or even be stopped up by our actions, such as filling the spring with stones, so, too, is it possible for us to receive this life-giving spring in ourselves, only to pollute its waters with our sins, and to stop it up by the hardening of our hearts. To have this water remain in us, flowing pure and sweet, we must turn from the earthly life and be transformed by the life we learn in the Church: the life of prayer, and fasting, and alms-giving, and struggle; the life of repentance and confession; a life of loving and caring for others with the patience and love and mercy of God. When we pray and fast and repent and confess, we keep the water pure and unpolluted; and by loving and caring for others, we keep the water flowing. This is because, when all is said and done, the water of this life-giving spring in our soul is the love of God; and that water is not meant for ourselves alone, but that we might learn to increase the flow of this water, and so become a source of blessing and refreshment to everyone around us.

Brothers and sisters! God’s love for us is a ever-flowing river, great and mighty. Let us repent and confess, and fast and pray, that we might be faithful servants of God, and receive within ourselves this water of everlasting life. Let us also love and care for each other, and so be sources of comfort and refreshment to all who are made in the image of God, to the glory of His name, and the salvation of our souls.

Christ is risen!

Paralyzed By SIns

(4th Sunday of Pascha) (The Healing of the Paralytic)

Christ is risen!

If you think about it, we have the same problem as the paralytic. He wanted to be healed; but, when the time came, and the angel had troubled the waters of the pool at Bethesda, he could not get into the water by himself; he needed help, and he had no one to help him. We are paralyzed by our sins – especially by the ones that we have to repeat each and every time we go to confession, because we continue to repeat the sins through the course of our lives. Oh, sometimes we do resist the temptations that beset us; but even when we’ve had a victorious day, we know that, sooner or later, we’re going to fall again, and sin again.

We have to recognize that we are trying to overcome these sins by our own efforts alone, with only our own strength – and that we cannot, and will not, succeed by this approach. We have to recognize our inability to be holy and pure on our own; and that we have to ask for help.

So: how do we not try to do this by our own strength? I don’t know; I’m struggling with that myself. But there are hints from the fathers for us to take into consideration.

The first is that we must pray, asking for God’s help. OK, so this is obvious. It is the foundation for our having a rule of prayer, which begins with attending as many of the services of the Church that we can fit into our schedule – and giving these services the highest priority, rather than just “making do” with the ones that are convenient. The rule of prayer continues with developing the habit of daily morning and evening prayers. We start with the ones found in the prayer book; and add our own hopes and needs and intercessions for others as well. We make a part of this rule the blessing of food before we eat; and giving thanks when we have finished; and we also ask for God’s guidance before we start an activity, and give thanks when the task is completed. Bless yourself and the vehicle you’re driving when you’re about to depart. Parents, bless your children when they go to school, or are going out with friends; and children, pray for your parents. When you learn of someone in need, stop and pray for God to bless and help them. When you hear that someone has died, stop and ask God to be merciful to them, and to grant that person a blessed repose; and do the same when you pass by a cemetery. When you hear a siren, or see a police car, fire truck, or ambulance go by, ask God to protect and deliver those in need, and to keep safe those who go to render them aid.

Now, you’re probably thinking, “Wow, father, that’s a lot of time in prayer!” Well, keep in mind that St. Paul instructs us to pray continually. These are steps we can take in that direction; and when our minds are fixed in prayer, and we remember that prayer brings us into the intimate presence of God, it is easier to resist the temptations to sin! More prayer is good, and most all of us would benefit by it.

The next thing we need to do is to fast. Prayer and fasting are the sword and shield of our spiritual warfare. Fasting teaches our flesh that it cannot have what it wants simply because it wants it. Fasting weakens the flesh and its desires, and purifies us in body, mind and spirit. Fasting shows us that we can deny ourselves; and so we can learn to fast from our sins, as well as from food; and so gain an advantage against our sinful desires and habits. If you deny a weed the food or water it needs, it weakens, and can be uprooted and removed far more easily than when it is at full strength. So, too, it is with our sins.

It won’t surprise you, I’m sure, to hear that we must also give alms, and struggle against our passions. In fact, this is one of the points the fathers make about how we can achieve the victory over sins, the healing of our beings that we desire, but cannot achieve in our own strength. We see two mechanisms at work in the Gospel account today. The first, when the angel comes and troubles the waters, is akin to the Church, and the way of life we are taught to follow. If we will do these things, we will be healed; and it isn’t just the first person in who is helped. Each one of us can and will be transformed to the extent that we embrace the way of life that has been the way of the saints.

Of course, the paralytic was not healed in that way: he was healed by our Lord Jesus Christ. But note that he was present at the pool at Bethesda; it is there that the Lord found him, and delivered him; and afterward, he was found in the Temple, giving thanks to God. It was there, by the way, that he was also warned not to return to his sinful ways, lest something worse should come upon him than the paralysis from which he had been delivered. He did not come seeking out our Lord; he was following the way that had been given, and was found there and helped by the Lord. In the same way, we may also be found and delivered by the Lord; and we make ourselves available to Him by following the Orthodox way of life.

Finally, we must not be discouraged, we must not give up, just because we don’t see anything changing. Remember that the paralytic had waited, without becoming bitter, and without losing hope, for thirty-eight years! St. John Chrysostom notes that we, having persisted in prayer for all of ten days, and not having received what we had asked for, are too slothful afterwards to have enough zeal to continue in prayer. So, even as we continue to struggle to do all that we can with the strength that we have, we should also pray without ceasing for the strength and help we cannot do by ourselves; that our Lord Jesus Christ will strengthen us with His strength, and win in and through us the victory that we cannot attain by ourselves. Let us offer this prayer as we offer ourselves, to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.

Christ is risen!

Are You Seeking the Body of Christ?

(Third Sunday of Pascha: The Myrrh-Bearing Women) (Mark 15:43-16:8)

Christ is risen!

In the reading today from the holy Gospel according to St. Mark, we find two different times when the faithful came seeking the Body of Christ. Nicodemus came seeking the Body of Christ, that he might give the body an honorable burial. The myrrh-bearing women came to the tomb, seeking the Body of Christ, so that they could anoint it according to the burial customs. Nicodemus obtained what he sought; the myrrh-bearing women did not. Instead, they were asked by the angel, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen, as He foretold. Go and tell of His Resurrection to the disciples.”

Why have you come today? Have you come seeking the Body of Christ? If you have come to honor in worship the risen Lord, that is good. If you have come to be transformed, so that His image can be seen more clearly in you, that is good. If you have come so that you can bear His image into the world for others to see, and so know where they can find the Body of Christ, which is His Church, that is good. If you have come for these reasons, you will find, as did Nicodemus, the One you seek.

Have you come seeking the Body of Christ? There is another way we can understand this. Christ is present in our midst; and we have, through the Mystery of Holy Communion, His Body and His Blood here for our benefit. Yet how may will come today and partake of the mystical Supper which He has prepared for His people? How many of the faithful, who have been baptized into Christ’s death and raised to new life in Him Who has trampled down death by death – how many of the faithful will come to Him to be fed and nourished in that new life He has given?

And how much we resemble the myrrh-bearing women! Given the good news of His resurrection, charged by the angel to go and tell of the empty tomb, we find instead that they said nothing to anyone, out of fear. How like them we are! Have you greeted anyone – apart from at church – with the proclamation, “Christ is risen?” It’s easy to say; and who knows? Maybe the person to whom you say this, at work, or at school, or while shopping, will be curious about what you mean, and ask you to say more. But we don’t do it. Like the myrrh-bearing women, we are afraid. We fear what others may think of us; we fear that others may laugh at us, or ridicule us, or reject us, or persecute us.

How amazing! We fear others, but we do not fear God. If we truly feared God, we would do everything in our power to depart from our sins. If we truly believed that Christ is risen from the dead, and has granted us eternal life, we would turn our backs on this world, and all it values, and all the ways of satisfying ourselves with worldly praises and pleasures, and live for God, and God alone. If we took even a few steps in that direction, our lives would be so transformed that we wouldn’t need to say anything at all like, “Christ is risen” to family and friends and neighbors and colleagues. Our lives would speak for themselves; the light of the glory of God would shine from us to those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, drawing them to seek Him; and we could help them find Him.

Brothers and sisters: Christ is risen! Let us therefore keep the feast. Let us prepare ourselves by confession and prayer to receive His precious and holy Body and Blood, that He may evermore dwell in us, and we in Him. Let us seek Him, and make Him the Lord of our lives, and seek to dwell in His presence, rather than in this world. Let us not fear those who may ridicule or reject or even kill us, whether literally or metaphorically; but let us seek Him, and seek to bear Him into the world, so that the world will learn from us the good news: that Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and bestowing upon us all eternal life; to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls.

Christ is risen!