A COMMUNITY CALLED CHRISTMAS

A COMMUNITY CALLED "CHRISTMAS"

By Father Daniel Rohan

I noticed an article in the Travel Section of the Terre Haute Newspaper regarding the apprehension of the Israelis over the growing throngs of tourists which come every year at Christmas time. So they have issued special permits. You can’t just go into Bethlehem anymore. You have to have a special permit. And if you want to get into the Basilica of the Nativity, for Christmas Services, it’s by special invitation only. Unless you know someone you can’t even go. I don’t know why that strikes me as amusing, but it does. Think about the baby of a carpenter and peasant woman who couldn’t even find a place to be born. And now to get there you have to have a permit and special invitation.

The musician Stevie Wonder wrote this song:

Someday at Christmas, men won’t be boys,

playing with bombs like kids play with toys,

One warm December our hearts will see

A world where men are free.

Someday at Christmas, There’ll be no war

When we’ve learned what Christmas is for,

When we have found what life’s really worth

There’ll be peace on Earth.

Someday all our dreams will come to be

Someday in a world where men are free

Maybe not in time for you and me

But someday at Christmas time.

Someday at Christmas we’ll see a land

With no hungry children, no empty hand,

One happy morning people will share

A world where people care.

Someday at Christmas there’ll be no tears

All men are equal and no man has fears.

Someday at Christmas men will all care

Hate will be gone and love will be there.

Someday a new world that we can start

With hope in every heart.

Someday at Christmas.

A long time ago Isaiah, with similar insight, wrote these words: “For behold I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind; but be glad and rejoice forever in that which I created. For behold I create Jerusalem rejoicing and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people. No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, an old man who does not fill out his days. They shall build houses and inhabit them, they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit, they shall not build and another inhabit, they shall not plant and another eat, for like the days of a tree so like the days of my people be and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord and their children with them. Before they call I will answer them while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolves and the lamb shall feed together. The lion shall eat straw like the ox. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain says the Lord.”

Perhaps the most familiar aspect of the work of Isaiah is his anticipation of a saving invasion of God’s love. Perhaps the least known aspect of the writing of Isaiah is that he was not simply anticipating a single Savior, but a saving community. He was anticipating that the time would come when there would be a saving remnant, a convenant community who would assume the responsibilities of a suffering servant, responsibilities which most of us delight in assigning to one Jesus of Nazareth 2,000 years ago.

The words of Isaiah and of Stevie Wonder have to do with a community called “Christmas.” A community which refuses to abandon its responsibility to a wee baby in Bethlehem or a man on a cross but brings reality to the dream of the Prophet Isaiah that someday there will be a convenant community, a community of commitment which will dare to assume the full responsibility of the suffering servant. Suffering means self-offering. Someday there will be a community called “Christmas.” Christmas means Christ Mass — the Christ for the masses.

We spoke about the Christ being inclusive rather than exclusive. God’s spirit, love, light is inclusive. A community called “Christmas” is a community of total commitment to love; not a popular thing but every once in a while someone dares to put together the real meaning of Isaiah’s words. Prophecy does not mean “predict the future”. Prophecy means, “I speak for God.” Isaiah was speaking for God when he anticipated that sometime the power of the claim of love upon the lives of men would cause such commitment, not a little dash and a little dab there, but such a total commitment that there would be a community called “Christmas”; a convenant community that would dare to practice self-offering, that would be able to recognize;

“This is the night. ..

When a worried world abandons argument

 

And breathes its plea for peace

 

In the quiet of a stable. “—Author Unknown

They would dare to be that loving, caring, year

 

roundgiving, gentle community called “Christmas”.

 

I wonder what would happen, “If a beginning were

 

really made in the Word”

 

There are many bits of poetry, snits and snatches of insight, which begin, “Well, now it’s over again”. “So once again we’ve celebrated Christmas.” “So, now it’s past.” But what if Christmas weren’t past? What if this little rag tag band of committed people dared to become a community called “Christmas?” What if? What if we decided to make a total commitment here and now today, with all that we are, all that we have, of all the potential for what we will be? Dare this day in all of our parishes of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese to be that saving remnant? Not now and then, but all the time? What if we decided to put all our substance, all our being, all our hopes and dreams on the line today? What if?

 

We would make our promises and design our affirmations based on the gifts which have been given to us. Think about these gifts and make your promises to accept them. “The gift of life is marked with your name, and lovingly given to you — Accept it. The gift of peace is marked with your name and lovingly given to you — Accept it. The gift of joy is marked with your name and lovingly given to you — Accept it. The gift of wisdom is marked with your name and lovingly given to you — Accept it. The gift of courage is marked with your name and lovingly given to you — Accept it. Divine approval is a gift marked with your name and lovingly given to you — Accept it.”

“The challenge to be a Community called ‘Christmas’ is the greatest challenge we will ever receive. There is no reason to cop out claiming we lack power, that we lack some spiritual gift, that we haven’t yet received. No one is lacking any spiritual gift. To say we are lacking is to deny the call to become the community called ‘Christmas’. We are capable of more than we know! We are greater than we realize. This is the truth about us. Accept it. Make a promise now to become, with all our being and all our substance, the community called ‘Christmas’. Go forth each day claiming and proclaiming that we are indeed citizens, an active participating citizen, of a community called ‘Christmas’.”

CHRIST IS BORN!

 

INDEED HE IS AND ALWAYS SHALL BE!

 

Christmas Warfare

Homily By Father James C. Meena

I take this opportunity to wish all of you a very blessed and most joyous New Year as we celebrate the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I embrace you in the Name of the Lord and pray that between now and the Christmas which is to come, 365 days from now, that our situation in the life of the world shall be infinitely better than it is today. I ask you to continue praying for those being held hostage by Godless Regimes, to continue praying for those suffering persecution behind the Iron Curtain at the hands of anti-Christ and for all those who are struggling to know God and who are being interfered with by those who would be anti-God.

As we join together in this exceptionally holy season of the year, the Nativity of our Lord, let us not forget that we are commissioned as Christians and as His followers to carry the message of the Word, the good news which He came to proclaim. We come together as Orthodox Christians to offer up our prayers of joy and thanksgiving on this special holy day because the Nativity of Christ is of great significance to us.

It should not be wasted upon us that historically the Church did not celebrate the birth of Jesus as a separate feast day until three or four centuries after the Church was commissioned by Christ but rather His birth was celebrated in conjunction with His baptism, both being acts of initiation, both being significant to the beginning of the life of the Church. It was not until some time later that the fathers of the Church determined that the birth of Christ should be celebrated not simply because it was an important event that should be set apart, but because it should be set up as a counterbalance to the pagan practices which were prevalent in those days.

We have been fighting this battle with pagan practices for some 1800 years and we win a battle here and we lose a battle there but I assure you the war will not be decided until The Second Coming of Christ. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us as followers of Christ to continue to be aware of the fact that we are involved in a warfare that is unseen, against enemies which are invisible, enemies who struggle to tear us apart spiritually at every possible opportunity.

It’s about time we got excited about the reality that we are soldiers of God, that we have been enlisted into His army by our baptism and by virtue of our commitment to Him and that we are commissioned to do the tasks which He has ordained us to do, namely, to carry the good news to the whole world, to transform all of creation so that the whole of creation might rejoice and sing today: “Glory to God in the Highest and on Earth, Peace, Good Will among men.”

“Christ is Born:" says the ancient hymn of the Church and it responds, “Glorify Him!”

Christ is born and skeptics have been scattered!

Christ is born and doubters have been refuted!

Christ is born and sadness has been repudiated!

Christ is born and glory has come upon the face of the earth!

Christ is born and hope has been manifested in the hearts of men!

Christ is born and the powers of hell have been dispelled!

Christ is born and we are reborn with Him that we, like the shepherds and the magi, might fall down before Him and hail Him as our Lord and Master and as the Prince of Peace in a world that knows no peace.

Give the Gift of Truth

Give the Gift of Truth
Date: November 30, 2005
By Philip Nasr

Imagine if you were told that you held the key to eternity, that you would be able to live beyond time. How would you feel? Would you be filled with joy or fear? Would you keep it for yourself or offer it to others?

We must ask ourselves this very question because in fact we do hold the key to eternity. It is what we do with this key that will determine whether our lives are filled with fear or joy.

There are many Christians who believe in Jesus Christ and live a blessed life and yet, for one reason or another, are outside the Orthodox Faith. The Church teaches us that it is not our role to judge the salvation of these people: to do so is to sit on God’s throne. Nevertheless, as Orthodox, we know that we have been given the Truth about God and the Truth about Man in the teaching and worship of the Orthodox Church.  Therefore, if we do not live up to our commitment to Christ, we will face a far greater judgment by virtue of the fact that we have been blessed to know the truth. Central to our commitment to Christ and His Church is our obligation to relay His Truth to the world. We must all open our hearts and live like Christ so that everyone may witness and share in Christ, the Key to eternity.

Our society has transformed Christmas into a season of giving material gifts to one another. People look forward to opening a present from a loved one or a friend. Many people enjoy making others feel loved through gifts. Christ also wants to make His children feel loved by giving them the gift of Himself, and he expects us to be His co-workers in this endeavor. He wants us to make others smile by sharing the love He gives so freely to us.

As the Nativity of our Lord comes ever closer, we should take time to reflect on ourselves, family, friends, and especially on our prayers. We should remember Christ by giving to the Church, both monetarily and through our participation in Her sacramental life: we must not forget to return to Christ the best part of the love He so generously pours out on us.

Our Lord was born of the Holy Theotokos for the salvation of our souls. It does not matter how much you give to Christ, what matters is the fact that you give in obedience as God directs. Take time to talk to a friend. Invite someone to church. Talk to someone about the Church. Give as a Christmas gift a book on Orthodoxy or a CD of Church hymns rather than the latest movie or novel. This Christmas, give someone the gift of Truth: give someone the gift of Christ. 

Christ is born! Glorify Him!

IT IS THAT TIME OF YEAR

IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR

by Father Michael Massouh

 

Wonder! You can see it in the eyes. In the eyes of children in particular, but also in the eyes of adults. What is this wonder? Why, with the cynicism and crassness of today’s world, do people suspend reason, and hope that the myths and the fantasies come true.

Wonder? Yes, wonder. The ability to wish, to hope, to realize childhood fantasies, to want to make the world a better place, to want people to treat each other as people — as God’s children.

Wonder. It’s a powerful phenomena. I saw it in the eyes of a grown woman in the choir of a church in Upstate New York. When she marched in with the choir to take her seat in the front of the church, there was a look on her haggard face that this was just another obligatory Christmas Eve service to get through, and get back home to complete the final preparations for her children the next day. It looked like she was unhappy and tired, having put in a full day of unsatisfying work at the office. Singing tonight was just one more chore she had to endure.

She was attractive, blond hair and striking features, but her face looked drained. Her life did not look particularly easy nor plentiful. The blond hair had not been coiffured into some beauty shop sensation. She obviously had not time for the beauty shop nor time to waste on herself. She sat through the early part of the service, sang the appointed hymns, and then waited while the priest made introductory remarks before his sermon.

There was, however, something special in the air that night. The rustling of children anticipating Christmas, coughs and paper shuffling noises from the adults. Candles glowing from every pew. And the priest was joyful. It was his first Christmas Eve service at this church, so very few parishioners had an idea of what he would say or do.

He began with a reading from Scriptures, from Isaiah, and then Luke. But, then he asked all the children to come forward and sit with him as he completed the readings. He then asked the children in turn what they thought about the readings and what they were looking forward to the next day.

As each child responded there was an anticipation, a youthful innocence, a glow that became contagious. Each hardened adult sensed it, and began to smile, to engage in the wonder, yes the wonder of the Christ Child, and the wish to believe that it was indeed true that He was born into the world just as the Scriptures said.

The hardened blond lady in the choir began to engage in the mood of the sermon and the children’s responses. Her eyes became alert, and opened with, yes wonder. As each child answered the priests question, or said something innocent that touched a nerve in the adults, it brought a chuckle or a hearty laugh to the congregation, and a smile to the blond lady’s face. You could see her recall her own childhood, when she possessed the innocence of these children, when she believed, when times were better.

What is there about the story of the Christ child that awakens wonderful thoughts in children and adults? Or, what about the story of Santa Claus?

Now here is a 19th Century account of a traveling St. Nick with flying reindeer. Before the Reverend Clement Moore wrote A Visit from St. Nicholas as a poem to entertain his daughter, St. Nicholas was the beloved Bishop of Myra in third Century Christendom. He was beloved because of his generosity, of helping people unobtrusively. His feast day in the church is celebrated on December 6th and he did bring gifts to people at night without their knowing it. So, there is a connection between Clement Moore’s St Nick filling each stocking and the third Century bishop St. Nicholas leaving gifts unobtrusively in empty shoes.

Now, the St. Nick of Clement Moore has become the Santa Claus of commercial downtown, uptown, and mall North America. He and his many variants, both human and animal, are the subject of TV specials in December. His reindeer are imbued with all sorts of peculiar powers. Even the movies have taken Santa to their hearts or at least to their pocketbooks. Whether Hollywood continues the beneficence or introduces malevolence into the legend, Santa reigns. Occasionally, he may not be mentioned explicitly, but Hollywood releases movies for the Holiday Season whose themes are wonder, fantasy, hope, or a return to childhood innocence. WHY?

Is it because we want to believe in the wonder of miracles? Do we want to hold onto innocence? The grown-up world we inhabit is not a pleasant place. People are uncaring. Economic reality hurts. It is hard. The political system, whether in this country or anywhere in the world, is tarnished and corrupt. It does not help people; on the contrary it demands a great deal — putting up with politicians, taxes, service and perhaps death in the armed forces, and other not so pleasing duties.

So, it’s that time of year when the world falls in love, when it tries to recall a better way, a better time, a better future. Houses, stores, churches, schools, offices are decorated. People go out of their way to act like people should to each other, to capture the innocence of childhood and forget the realities of the harsh world, and to wonder. Families get together, special arrangements are made to gather the clan from as far and near as necessary. It is also a time to take stock of ones life and measure it against enduring standards, to recall friends and good times, and to hope that the world will enjoy peace among all men.

Wonder. Did you ever wonder about wonder? Why is it so captivating? I remember a lecture that an emeritus professor of mathematics gave. Dr. Elbert Clark was reputed to be one of the first mathematicians to understand the theories and implications of Albert Einstein’s work. He was a legend on the small liberal arts campus, and as juniors some of us decided to invite him to speak to us at a student sponsored dinner. The dinner was a way to repay the faculty who had been so kind to us over the year, being available for endless questions about ourselves and the cosmos, inviting us to their homes or apartments for tea or for dinner, and just being supportive. Each junior was to invite his or her favorite professor and pay for themselves and their guest’s dinner. At this high affair it was felt that it should end with sherry and a talk from one of the faculty. What better choice than Dr. Clarke.

Dr. Clarke was tall and lanky with long white hair. He stooped, perhaps more from a lifetime of leaning over to hear students than from old age. His eyes darted from one person to another. No one, not even the organizers, knew what his topic was going to be. We had asked him to make appropriate remarks for such an occasion. He began by thanking us for the dinner and for the conversations, and then in more of a conversational tone than in a formal lecture style he began to speak of wonder.

Wonder, he said, was the thing that kept him young. As much as he had read and studied, and as much as he had thought about the world, the heavens, the theories of the universe, and about people, he was struck by the wonder of it all. He asked us to maintain always a place for wonder in our lives. There were matters that were still unknown in science and mathematics and about the physical world. As far as human beings were concerned, not much was known at all. And of the things that were known, it was amazing to discover the relationships and interrelationships that existed. The order of the universe, the relationship of elements, the ways of the seasons, the biological adaptations — all of these were wonders, suggesting the unknown, some mystery of life.

Wonderful, being full of wonder. In our day to day world there is very little time to be full of wonder. Being full of wonder is no way to get the daily job and chores done, or to get ahead. So, we suspend our sense of wonder, it’s not realistic, it’s not grown-up. We bury our sense of the unknown, of the mystery of life, to get through the day, the week, the month, and the year. But, at the end of the year when we cannot bear to deny the sense of wonder any longer, we have an acceptable rationale to be young at heart, to be kids again, to be innocent, to engage in fantasy, in mystery. At the beginning of winter, during the shortest days of the year when the nights are the longest, when it is cold and dark, when the tax year ends, when we are at our wits end, we have a reason to celebrate, to unwind, to forget our cares and woes, to suspend the rules of the daily game. And so we watch the Nutcracker, the Christmas stories, the Santa shows, and listen to Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Ahmal and the Night Visitors, and all other stories that promise a sense of adventure, of fantasy, of disbelief, and of caring.

Adults say all this is for the kids. But, I wonder. It is as much for the grown-ups as it is for the kids. At what other time of year can one decorate the house, or the office, or have parties, and exchange gifts without having to explain why one is spending money foolishly? At what other time of year can one be kind to another person without everyone wondering what’s up? At what other time of year are mistakes and slip-ups overlooked?

Yes, there is a sense of wonder, as Dr. Clarke said. that requires exercise. We need wonder like we need food and drink. It is a part of being human. But, where do we look for the wonder? In man-made stories and fantasies? Are they satisfying? I am reminded of St. Paul addressing the Athenians about their monument to an unknown god. The Athenians believed there was an unknown god in addition to all the other ones that they knew. It was St. Paul who pointed out to them that this unknown god was the creator of the universe and the Maker of all things, including the Athenians. And, further that His Son, the Christ, was born of a Virgin, crucified, and rose from the dead. Christ is the reason for the Season.

Speak about wonder? One of His names is Wonderful! Another is Counselor. Think about it, is it not a wonder that God gave us mortals His only begotten Son to teach us about caring for each other and to know that God is Our Father? Have you ever wondered where would we be as modern people if that event had not taken place in Bethlehem 2000 years ago? Still in a state of confusion wondering about which Greek god to appease and attempting to satisfy all of them? We would possess the Ten Commandments to guide us, but no Sermon on the Mount, no parables. How discouraging and hopeless. So, Christ coming into the world has made a positive and hopeful difference.

The stories of Creation, of Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection are real wonders and mysteries. They are the basis for fantasies of the Christmas season. They are true. Why do we look to man-made stories for inspiration and for indulging our need for wonder? What repels us from looking to the Father as the source of all wonder not just at Christmas time, but throughout the entire year?

Why expect a Santa to fulfill all desires, and to hope that reindeer fly? Why engage in thoughts about a talking snowman or a red nosed reindeer, when the wonders of God are as near as our hearts? When guardian angels and the seraphim and cherubim watch over all of us? Why do we deny the reality of the Christ child, but accept and hope that a Santa visits each house once a year?

It’s that time of year when the world falls in love. Shall we think of falling in love with God and having Christmas throughout the year? Would it not be a better world if we put into practice our suspension of the rules at Christmas time each day of the year? Think about it. It’s that time of year to wonder.

On the Nativity of the Lord: Metropolitan PHILIP's 1994 Christmas Sermon

What is a merciful heart? It is a heart that burns with love for the whole creation—for men, for birds, for beasts, for demons and for every creature. —St. Isaac the Syrian

Christmas music is filling the air. In every home there is a Christmas tree; some are real and some are plastic. Lights of every color are glittering in windows, shops, bars and even the discos. Some people are selling, some are buying, some are eating, some are drinking and some are starving to death.

I put a ^"Do Not Disturb" sign on my door because Christmas Eve is a very special and private time to me. I want to be alone in order to embrace all men and love all things. In the depths of my aloneness, the past, the present and the future become one single moment. In the depths of my aloneness I experience that boundless love which encompasses the whole creation. I am alone on Christmas Eve but not lonely, because in Christ Jesus there is no loneliness and there is no separation. The walls are destroyed and the barriers are no more. The Child of the manger has reconciled everything to Himself; henceforth, there is no race, no color, no conflict and no hatred; in Him there is "a new heaven and a new earth."

Christmas Eve, to me, is a time for reflection. The year is slowly sinking into the ocean of eternity, and in my reflection there are painful questions:

Did I love Him enough? Did I serve Him enough? Did I suffer enough? Did I forgive enough? How many tears did I dry? How many wounds did I bind? Was I faithful to Him who loved me beyond measure? How loving and compassionate is God, that despite my sinfulness and unworthiness, He ^"became flesh and dwelt amongst us.^" What an unfathomable condescension that He assumed our nature in order to make us par-takers of His nature. Despite His Incarnation, He will always remain incognito in this world if we don't care for each other. But do we really care? Have we seen the starving children on our television screens? Have we ever seen so much despair, so much misery and so much helplessness? These are our brothers and sisters, His brothers and sisters. How sad it is that we do not see the tragedy unless it is projected for us on the screen!

Tonight the Body and Blood of this tender Child will touch millions of lips throughout this troubled world. This divine touch will make us Christlike if we care and respond to His love. To be Christlike, we must be born with Him in the manger, crucified with Him on the Cross and resurrected with Him from the dead. The manger, the Cross, and the empty tomb—these are one single event which sums up the entire history of salvation.

It is Christmas Eve, and another year is about to dawn on us. Let Your light shine upon us so that we may see a new vision, sing a new song and dream a new dream. And if we live to celebrate another Christmas, give us courage to love You more, serve You more and worship You more "in spirit and in truth."

From And He Leads Them: The Mind and Heart of Philip Saliba, Joseph J. Allen, ed. (Ben Lomond California: Conciliar Press, 2004), pp. 385f.

PEACE ON EARTH

by THE RT. REVEREND ARCHIMANDRITE ILYAS T. KURBAN

 

“Glory be to God in the highest and on earth peace and good will among men.” This is the hymn which was sung by the group of angels, almost two thousand years ago.

Is there peace on earth? This word has been commercialized to an extent that it has lost its real meaning and purpose. It has been vulgarized and abused.

Great nations, small nations, communities, individuals, commit the greatest crimes under the cover of peace. Where are we from peace today? Yes, the angels cried, “on earth peace,” but humanity has been suffering from wars, diseases, natural calamities, hatred, mistrust, vengeance, and killings. Planes collide and hundreds of thousands of people die for no reason; gales and hurricanes rise and devastate homes, gardens, trees and take a huge number of human lives; the ocean rises to break and swallow ships and human beings.

For the last fifty years, humanity has witnessed two world wars and has suffered unbelievable losses. New nations have seen the light. Cries for independence and self-determination overshadow any other cry, but with the emergence of the new nations and with the ever-growing cry of freedom and independence, humanity is far from solving its problems. New crimes, new massacres, new hatreds, vengeances, and diseases have arisen. Humanity today, like the humanity of old is deceiving itself. If Hamurabi Ramses, Hannibal, Alexander the Great, and Julius Caesar couldn’t solve our problems, so also, Napoleon, Hitler and the present rulers of today are unable to do so.

We hear today in the opposite camp the cry for peace, but under cover, huge stocks of the most dreadful weapons are piled up to be used to kill and annihilate human life. We admit the fact that we are more advanced than our ancestors in every field of science and knowledge, but it does not make the slightest difference. Men are still killing one another. The only difference, and as a result of our progress, mass killing is more perfected today than ever before.

The memories of the last war are still fresh in our minds. Disturbances and bloody revolts are almost in every continent and country; social and family problems are on the increase, there is no mutual trust, fidelity or integrity. Man thinks he can solve his problems without the help of God. The results are misunderstanding, deception and dangerous deviation in our social order and structure.

Yes, the angels are still singing the hymn of peace and in spite of the fact that peace is a reality, we misunderstand its real meaning. The incarnation of our Lord is a reality, the Kingdom of God is at hand, but it is for those who choose it. The Kingdom of God is the kingdom of true peace, the peace that we have when we belong to Jesus and His Church.

We can have peace in spite of all the atomic bombs and armies. Our peace is the peace of mind, the peace that is from above, the peace of God.

Our world is the world of appearance. Don’t be misled by the false prophets of social reform and human justice. There is no reformation, no justice, outside of God. He is our hope and our life. His kingdom is for those who accept His Word and do His Will. Let us really be His children; let us constantly pray that we may get His blessings and His forgiveness in this new year, and that we may have the power and strength to quell our passions and our treacherous and wrong desires. Let us worship God that we may be filled with His grace and love.

Do not be proud of your own personal achievement. Pride is the source of all sin, and no matter how much you do, you still have more to do. Our whole life is a struggle and strife to achieve a better life. There is no rest and no retirement.

May Almighty God grant all the knowledge of His truth, and may each and every one of us have peace, love and understanding. May we forgive one another that we may help one another and may we be liberated from the slavery of our egoism and selfishness. May God grant our sick health and restoration and comfort the hearts of the suffering, and may He repose the souls of all our beloved ones in His glorious and happy kingdom.

REFLECTIONS ON THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD, GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST

REFLECTIONS ON THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD, GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST
From the Nativity homily of St. John Chrysostomos,
Archbishop and Patriarch of Constantinople, 354-407 AD

I behold a new and wondrous mystery. My ears resound to the Shepherds' song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn. The Angels sing. The Archangels blend their voice in harmony. The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise. The Seraphim exalt His glory. All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead here on earth, and man in heaven. He Who is above, now for our redemption dwells here below; and he that was lowly is by divine mercy raised.

Bethlehem this day resembles heaven; hearing from the stars the singing of angelic voices; and in place of the sun, enfolds within itself on every side, the Sun of Justice. And ask now how; for where God wills, the order of nature yields. For He willed, He had the power, He descended, He redeemed; all things move in obedience to God.

"But what shall I say? What shall I utter? *Behold an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Mary is present, who is both Virgin and Mother, Joseph is present, who is called father. He is called husband, she is called wife. The names indeed are lawful, but there is no other bond. We speak here of words, not of things. He was espoused to her, but the Most High overshadowed her. Hence, Joseph, doubting, knew not what to call the Infant. He would not dare to say that It was conceived in adultery; he could not speak harshly against the Virgin; he shrank from calling the Child his own. He knew well that here was something unknown to him; how or whence was this Child born? And being anxious because of this, there came to him a message, by the voice of an angel, which said: *Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Spirit."

From a sermon of St. Cyril of Alexandria,
Patriarch of Alexandria, + 444 A.D

"He Who sits upon the sublime and heavenly Throne, now lies in a manger. And He Who cannot be touched, Who is simple, without complexity, and incorporeal, now lies subject to the hands of men. He Who has broken the bonds of sinners, is now bound by an infant's bands."

"Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice: for the Son who is co-eternal with the Father, having his throne and like him without beginning, in his compassion and merciful love for mankind has submitted himself to emptying, according to the good pleasure and the counsel of the Father; and he has gone to dwell in a Virgin's womb that was sanctified beforehand by the Spirit, O marvel! God is come among men; he who cannot be contained is contained in a womb; the Timeless enters time; and strange wonder! His conception is without seed, his emptying is past telling; so great is this mystery! For God empties himself, takes flesh, and is fashioned as a creature, when the angel tells the pure Virgin of her conception: 'Hail, thou who art full of grace; the Lord who has great mercy is with thee.'"

MORE ON THE NATIVITY BY SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
I behold a new and wondrous mystery. My ears resound to the Shepherd's song, piping no soft melody but chanting forth a full heavenly hymn. The Angels sing. The Archangels blend their voice in harmony. The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise. The Seraphim exalt His glory. All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead here on earth, and man in heaven. He Who is above, now for our redemption dwells here below; and he that was lowly is by divine mercy raised.

Bethlehem this day resembles heaven; hearing from the starts the singing of angelic voices; and in the place of the sun, enfolds within itself on every side, the Sun of Justice. And ask not how: for where God wills, the order of nature yields. For He willed, He had the power, He descended, He redeemed; all things move in obedience to God. This day He Who Is, is Born' and He Who Is, becomes what He Was Not. For when He was God, He became man; yet not departing from the Godhead that is His. Nor yet by any loss of divinity became He man, nor through increase became He God from man; but being the Word, He became Flesh, His nature because of impassability, remaining unchanged.

"This day, He Who was ineffably Begotten of the Father, was for me born of the Virgin: in a way no tongue can tell. Begotten according to His nature before all ages from the Father; in what manner He knows Who has begotten Him; born again this day from the Virgin, above the order of nature, in what manner knows the power of the Holy Spirit. And His heavenly generation is true, and His generation here on earth is true. As God He is truly begotten of God; so also as man is He truly born from the Virgin. In heaven He alone is the Only-Begotten of the unique Virgin.

Though I know that a Virgin this day gave birth, and I believe that God was begotten before all time, yet the manner of this generation I have learned to venerate in silence, and I accept that this is not to be probed too curiously with wordy speech. For with God we look not for the order of nature, but rest our faith in the power of Him Who Works.

And what shall I say? And how shall I describe this Birth to you? For this wonder fills me with astonishment. The Ancient of Days has become an infant.

He has decreed that ignominy shall become honor, infamy be clothed with glory, and total humiliation the measure of His Goodness. For this, he assumed my body, that I may become capable of his Word; taking my flesh, He gives me His Spirit; and so He bestowing, and I receiving, He prepares for me the treasure of Life. He takes my flesh, to sanctify me. He gives me His Spirit, that He may save me.

Come, then, let us observe the Feast. Come and we shall commemorate the solemn festival. It is a strange manner of celebrating a festival; but truly wondrous is the whole chronicle of the Nativity. For this day the ancient slavery is broken, paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed from us, error driven out, truth has been brought back, the speech of kindliness diffused, and spreads on every side, a heavenly way of life has been implanted on the earth, angels communicate with men without fear, and men now hold speech with angels.

Why is this? Because God is now on earth, and man in heaven; on every side all things commingle. He has come on earth, while being Whole in heaven; and while complete in heaven, He is without diminution on earth. Though He was God, He became Man; not denying Himself to be God. Though being the impassable Word, He became flesh; that He might dwell among us, he became flesh, He did not become God, He was God. Wherefore He became flesh so that He Whom heaven did not contain, a manger would this day receive. He was placed in a manger so that He, by Whom all things are nourished, may receive an infant's food from His Virgin Mother. So, the Father of all ages, as an infant at the breast, nestles in the virginal arms, that the Magi may more easily see Him. Since this day the Magi too have come, and made a beginning of withstanding tyranny; the heavens give glory, as the Lord is revealed by a star.

St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

St. Nicholas of Myra Celebrated on December 6th Troparion of Saint Nicholas  "The verity of your actions revealed you to your flock as a rule of faith, an icon of mildness, and a teacher of continence, O Father Bishop Nicholas; wherefore by humility you have achieved exaltation, and by poverty richness. Intercede with Christ to save our souls."        Holy Myrrh Streaming Icon of St. Nicholas     Coming to the city of Myra when the clergy and people of the province were in session to elect a new bishop, St. Nicholas was indicated by God as the man they should choose. This was at the time of the persecutions at the beginning of the fourth century. "As he was the chief priest of the Christians of this town and preached the truths of the faith with a holy liberty, the divine Nicholas was seized by the magistrates. He was tortured, then chained and thrown into prison with many other Christians. But when the great and religious Constantine, chosen by God, assumed the imperial diadem of the Romans, the prisoners were released from their bonds and with them the illustrious Nicholas, who when he was set at liberty returned to Myra."      St. Nicholas was zealous in his duties as bishop and took strong measures against paganism: and one of the temples that he destroyed was that of Artemis, and the evil spirits fled howling before him. He was the guardian of his people in temporal affairs as well. The governor Eustathius had taken a bribe to condemn to death three innocent men. At the time fixed for their execution Nicholas came to the place, stayed the hand of the executioner, and released the prisoners. Then he turned to Eustathius and did not cease to reproach him until he admitted his crime and expressed his penitence. There were present on this occasion three imperial officers who were on their way to duty in Phrygia. Later, when they were back again on Constantinople, the jealousy of the prefect Ablavius caused them to be imprisoned on false charges and an order for their death was procured from Emperor Constantine. That night St. Nicholas appeared in a dream to Constantine, and told him with threats to release the three innocent men, and Ablavius experienced the same thing. In the morning the emperor and the prefect compared notes, and the three condemned men were sent for and questioned. When he heard that they had called upon the name of the Nicholas of Myra who had appeared to him, Constantine set them free, and sent them to the bishop with a letter asking him not to threaten him anymore, but to pray for the peace of the world.    St. Nicholas died and was buried in his episcopal city of Myra, and by the time of Justinian there was a basilica built in his honor at Constantinople. When Myra and its great shrine finally passed into the hands of the Saracens, there was a great competition for his relics between two cities of Italy, Bari and Venice. Bari won and the relics were carried off under the noses of the lawful Greek custodians and their Mohammedan masters, and on May 9, 1087, were safely landed at Bari. At Myra, "the venerable body of the bishop, embalmed as it was in the good ointments of virtue, exuded a sweet-smelling 'myrrh,' which kept it from corruption and proved a health-giving remedy against sickness, to the glory of him who had glorified Jesus Christ, our true God." The transfer of the relics did not interrupt this phenomenon, and the "manna of St. Nicholas" is said to flow to this day.    He is venerated as the patron saint of several classes of people, especially, in the east, of sailors and, in the west, of children. The first of these patronages is due to the legend that, during his lifetime, he appeared to storm-tossed mariners who had invoked his aid off the coast of Lycia, and brought them safely to port. Sailors in the Aegean and Ionian seas, following a common eastern custom, had their "star of St. Nicholas" and wished one another a good voyage in the phrase "May St. Nicholas hold the tiller." The legend of the "three children" gave rise to his patronage of children and various observance, secular and ecclesiastical, especially the giving of presents in his name at Christmas time. The deliverance of the three imperial officers naturally cause St. Nicholas to be invoked by and on behalf of prisoners and captives, and many miracles of his intervention are recorded in the middle ages. " St. Nicholas, when discussed in his true form, truly gives the meaning of Christmas. This great wonder-worker humbled himself before his God and before mankind, by spreading joy to those less fortunate than him. He is a great example of how we, as Christians, should treat one another. Remember St. Nicholas during this Nativity season as a giver of Christ to all people. May his spirit and story show you all the true meaning of Christ’s birth: to save mankind!"   Taken From the Department of Youth Ministry Written by Paul Fuller

THE BIRTH OF OUR LORD

THE BIRTH OF OUR LORD

By Archpriest Michael Baroudy

Vicksburg, Mississippi

The birth of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is one of the most staggering facts of history. I have said staggering because our finite minds cannot fully comprehend what is involved in the birth of Jesus Christ from the Virgin Mary in a town called Bethlehem. It is a mystery, the mystery of godliness, as one of the sacred writers calls it. For the Son of God to be incarnated in human flesh and blood, becoming a man, taking upon Him our human nature, is more than our finite intellectual capacity can understand.

However, we fully understand the meaning, the purpose underlying the birth of the Savior. From His blessed lips we have the answer. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish, — but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). And in Luke 19:10, “The Son of man came to seek and to save the lost,” to quote scripture in this connection. But to accomplish this, God needed the cooperation of men. God’s divinity and man’s humanity jointly wrought out the miracle. Always God holds the initiative. God was first in creation. He was also first in redemption and in every contingency of life. Thus we learn that the Christian life, in order to realize its full maturity, must be linked with God, thus God becomes partner with man if the latter accords Him His rightful place.

The birth of Jesus takes us back to fundamentals, to beginnings, for if we were to have an enduring moral structure that could withstand the storms of life, understand and solve the complexities and problems of living, then we would know that man minus God cannot achieve a successful Christian living. One may succeed educationally, materially and in every other aspect of living — and yet if he were to by-pass and ignore God he would be committing the most monumental blunder!

What is going on in the world today is proof of the fact that most people are void of the knowledge that life is a partnership with God. How can we account for the ungodly practices that transpire here, in Christian America and elsewhere throughout the world? Man’s inhumanity to man, the friction, the lack of peace, harmony and unity have their origin in man’s rebellious attitude with regard to the will of God.

Let us consider at this blessed season of the year what had transpired on that day long ago to achieve our redemption —

Joseph and Mary journeyed to the Village of Bethlehem, which had been the home of their ancestors, to enroll their names in a census that had been ordered by the Roman Emperor, Augustus Caesar. When they reached Bethlehem, there was no room for them in the inn and they were obliged to seek rest and lodging in an adjoining stable. In this humble place was born to Mary the son which the angel promised her. In the crude hewn stone grotto, attached to the inn as stable, among the hay and the straw spread for the food and rest of the cattle, weary with their journey, far from home, in the midst of strangers, in the chilly winter’s night, in circumstances so void of all earthly comfort or splendor that it is impossible to imagine a humbler nativity, Jesus, the Savior was born. Then and there the Virgin Mother brought forth her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger. Beyond this announcement of the bare fact, the gospel narrative draws a veil over that most sacred mystery. But as we pass from the sacred gloom of the stable out into the night, its sky all aglow with starry brightness, there is nothing now to conceal, and although no glories of earthly greatness celebrated the Messiah’s coming, heavenly glory shone upon the scene, and choirs of angels hymned the praises of the new-born King. Shepherds were amazed and dazzled by the manifestation of the heavenly glory and at the direction of the angels they came to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph as well as the famous Babe. But how little the shepherds realized the greatness of the power and love that slumbered in the child or dreamed of the mighty events, in the coming ages, that should flow from the scene they had witnessed.

To a meditative mind it is curious to pause over any cradle where an infant sleeps, and, as we look on the face so calm, and the little arms folded on the blessed breast, to think of the mighty powers and passions slumbering there, to think that this feeble nursling has heaven and hell before it that this immortal in mortal form is allied to angels, and that the life which has begun shall last when the sun is quenched, enduring throughout eternity. Much more wonderful the spectacle the manger offers, where shepherds bend their knees and angels bend their eyes. Here is present, not the immortal but the eternal, here is not one kind of matter united to another or a spiritual to an earthly element but the Creator to the creature, divine omnipotence to human weakness, the ancient of days to an infant of a day!

What deep secret of divine wisdom, power and love lie here wrapped in swaddling clothes, Mary holds in her arms, in this manger with its straw, what draws the wondering eyes and inspires the loftiest songs of angels! If that be not God’s greatest and therefore glorifying work, where are we to seek it? In what else is it found? The depth said, “It is not in me,” and the sea said, “It is not in me.” Were we to range the universe to find its rival, we should return like the dove to the ark, to the stable doors and the swaddled babe, there to mingle human voices with the heavenly choirs, singing, “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace and good will to all men!”

Beloved brethren, at this time in human history when the world seems to be tottering on its foundation, when the universe appears to be in the hands of a great monster, toying with it and about to throw it in oblivion, the most desirable, important and essential thing today is unity, creative good will and love. Disunity in the ranks of Christian people is inconceivable. Our churches, our homes and in all our social gatherings, we should manifest love, loyalty and sincerity. How can we hope to achieve success if we exhibit a spirit of dissension and ill will. I appeal to you hereby as God-fearing Orthodox men and women, boys and girls to promote the dignity of our holy faith and to do nothing which generates ill will, lack of understanding and sympathy.

THE CHRISTIAN CONSCIENCE

Very Rev. Father James C. Meena

CHRIST IS BORN — GLORIFY HIM! You know the Lord came into the world as a child, as a newborn child. As it says in the Epistle of John “…so that you and I might become the sons and daughters of God.” I mean, that is the whole purpose of this Christmas Season; to remind us not so much that Jesus was born but that He was born for a purpose. That purpose is to make you and me the children of God. Now that’s pretty fantastic. It goes on in the first epistle of St. John to talk about this sonship of God…what it means. It means that we are to love each other, that we are to help each other, that we are to commend each other, that we are to be supportive of each other, if we are really to be children of God.

Jesus came in order to give us the possibility to change our whole circumstance. Prior to the coming of Jesus the human race lived like animals. There was no love, there was no compassion, there was no mercy, there was only the law. You either lived by the law or you died. One or the other. There was no in-between. It’s a very severe way of life. Jesus came and preached another extreme; “Love your neighbor as yourself,” “Love your enemies, do good to them that hurt you and despitefully use you.” Jesus said, “I am come that you might love one another and that in loving one another your joy might be filled.” In fact He said, I am come, “so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be (fulfilled, made perfect) complete,” (St. John 15:11). “I am come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly.”

Does that mean that we are going to the live longer than the prescribed seventy years? Not necessarily. But what Jesus was talking about is quality of life, a quality of that is immeasureably and superbly happy because there is first the commandment of love. Love God, love your neighbor, love! Love your brother, love the near neighbor and the far neighbor, love the stranger, love the poor, love the imprisoned, love those who require your compassion and your love. So the whole quality of life changed with Jesus. I think Jesus came, laws began to be changed. Nations started to become more humane and it was with Jesus coming that we have such things as the contesting of capital punishment for so trivial a crime as stealing a loaf of bread. Imagine . . . the middle ages, if you stole a loaf of bread they cut off your hand or they put you in the blocks and let people throw rotten vegetables and mud at you. Can you imagine that happening in North America? Well it happened with our pilgrim forefathers and it happened with their forefathers in Europe before them. It was with the advent of Christianity that laws began to take shape with more mercy and compassion. In fact I sometimes think maybe we’ve gone a little bit too far the other way but that’s not for me to contest and that’s not the purpose of this message.

It is through the changing of the laws that sweatshops have been eliminated: Christian people with their compassion for young children being taken practically from their mother’s bosoms and put to work in slave labor sweat shops, who rose up against this practice that eliminated the sweatshop. It was Christian people prodded by their conscience that got the women the vote. It was the Christian conscience that caused people to look with compassion on those less fortunate than themselves. I’m not talking only about individuals, I’m talking about institutions. Christian non-Christian institutions motivated out of this conscientious sense of love and the fulfillment of the joy of Christ within himself, move to help to alleviate hunger wherever and whenever they can. “I am come that my joy might be in you and that my joy might be fulfilled in you.” You have nothing to be sad about. Christ came to make you sons and daughters of God. As St. Athanasius said, “God became man so that man might are to be become God.” Fantastic concept! Something greater than we could ever conceive for ourselves!

During this Christmas, I remind you of St. Paul’s message to the Galatians and of St. John’s message to us. “I am come that my joy might be made perfect in you.” “I am come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly.” “Peace I give you. My peace I leave with you. Not as the world gives do I give unto you.” These are words of our Lord. He gives us joy, life, peace and love. May His blessings be upon you at this holy time of the year and today and tomorrow as you gather with your families, may you rejoice with one another and be steadfastly happy in the Lord for He is good and He loves you.

THE CHRISTMAS TRAPS

Homily by Father James C. Meena

I would like to talk to you a little about Christmas. It seems that we all have a tendency to build up to Christmas as a climax anticipating the feast with all sorts of observances and celebrations and then, as soon as the day is past, forget all about it. I would like to avoid that pitfall if I might and extend our conversation about the birth of Christ through the Theophany, i.e., the celebration of His Baptism if I can, because both feasts are so closely related to each other. I would like you to consider the importance at this time of the year of reordering your priorities of putting first things first, Godly things above earthly consideration.

Most of us fall into several traps as we approach the celebration of this feast day and the Lord knows that Satan lays many snares for us, intellectual, emotional, sensual, anything by which he might trap us and make us a part of his kingdom instead of the Kingdom of God. I am afraid Satan, at this time of the year, succeeds a great deal more than he ought to and he succeeds because he has been able to convince us that we should give priority to less important things and put the most important things of spiritual value somewhere down the list in our evaluation of what is important and what is not.

For example, when we put secular consideration before worship we fall into a Christmas trap. When the giving of gifts over the giving of ourselves in repentance and recommitment to God is more important, we have fallen into a Christmas trap. When we place secular observances over the receiving of the Body and Blood of Christ, over confession and spiritual preparation for the observance of the Birth of Christ we have fallen into a Christmas trap. Using Christmas Eve as an excuse to have a party for the family rather than as an opportunity for the family to worship together at the Divine Liturgy then we have fallen into a Christmas trap. When on Christmas Day itself we emphasize feasting and celebrating without offering sincere thanks to God for His bounties we have fallen into a Christmas trap. When we enter into the season of the Nativity of Christ still bearing grudges and retaining hard feelings against others rather than forgiving them in the spirit of the forgiving God who was incarnate for us at this time we have fallen into a Christmas trap.

The many snares that Satan lays for us now are even greater than those that he normally lays for us throughout the year and it is necessary that we be aware of those snares. He encourages us to make Christmas merely a secular rather than a spiritual feast in order to lure us away from Christ. Oh well, we’re still observing Christmas but what is Christmas without a conscious awareness of the reason and the meaning of the feast? He causes us to become so busy that we have no time to consider enhancing our spirituality . . . busy . . . busy . . . busy! I think Satan helps us to work so hard at our jobs, at coming to get the house ready for the celebration of the feast, at buying gifts and at doing all of the little important yet mundane things that our society requires of us that we have no desire to put out the extra effort needed to grow in the Word of God.

I say all these things to you not to condemn you but rather to caution you as disciples of Christ. Even we who are the faithful fall short of the glory of God. While the Lord may not condemn secular observances, He may not condemn the idea that we still retain a fantasy of Santa Claus and that we buy gifts for our children and exchange gifts with one another and that we spend a lot of time shopping and preparing for a jovial feast day celebration, He may not object to any of these things. What He objects to, as I understand the scriptures, is when we allow these things to minimize or totally diminish our dedication to Him and to the principles that He has set forth for us in His life. Why was Jesus born in the first place? Was it not in order that the world might be saved through Him? Was it not in order that some thirty years later He might preach to us the Gospel of Peace, the Gospel of Repentance, the Gospel of Forgiveness, the Gospel of Salvation, the Gospel of Reconciliation with God? Surely Christ was not born merely to give us an excuse to have another holiday celebration. Surely He was not born in the humble way in which He came into this world in order that you and I might feast royally and forget why He was born in the first place! I urge you beloved to be keenly aware that we are ultimately destroying any possibility that we might have of union with Christ so long as we allow ourselves to forget about Christ at these most important times of the year and allow ourselves to be seduced into falling into the many Christmas traps that Satan lays for us.

Beware, for we know not the hour or the day in which the Lord shall come and require of us a full accounting of our stewardship. When we talk about stewardship we’re not only talking about our worldly possessions and our money, we are talking about the stewardship of our lives. How have we taken care of our lives and what priorities have we established and maintained by which our lives may be ordered. If our first priority is Christ and our commitment to Him then all these things will be added unto you but if our priorities are disorganized and we put shopping and gift giving and feasting before our commitment to Him then Christmas has no meaning whatsoever. It’s just another pagan feast day among the many pagan feasts that we observe, not the least of which, I might add as a post script to this writing, is the feast of New Year’s Eve which we are about to observe.

I remind you of that which I have said to you many times in the past. New Year’s Eve and its celebration is no excuse for us to forget that we are disciples of Christ. Now there is nothing wrong with enjoying a celebration at New Year’s Eve. There is nothing wrong with going to a party. There is nothing wrong with even having a glass of wine or two if you can handle it but when we forget that we are disciples of Christ and use New Year’s Eve as an excuse to practice paganism in its modern sense, to get smashing drunk, to forget to even offer a word of thanks to God at the end of one year and at the beginning of the next, praying that the New Year will be filled with His blessings then we have returned to the pagan practices of our pre-Christian ancestors.

I hope and pray that you are all going to have a wonderful time. I am planning to have one with my family but my family and I will not forget that we are His disciples and that we belong to Him, and we shall comport ourselves accordingly even though the rest of the world goes crazy. I hope you will do the same.

THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST DISCUSSION and RECOMMENDED READING

 

THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST

(Christmas Fast: Nov. 15-Dec. 24)

 

OPENING PRAYER - THE ANGELIC SALUTATION

"Hail! Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, 0 Virgin Theotokos: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, for thou hast borne the Saviour of our souls." CHRIST IS BORN! GLORIFY HIM!

DISCUSSION

Discuss any of the following

In Matthew 1:21 we read: "…and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." "Jesus" is the Greek for the Jewish name Joshua, which means "God is salvation". Discuss the relationship between "Saviour" in the Angelic Salutation; "save His people" in Matthew 1:21; and the meaning of His Holy Name. How are we saved by His Incarnation?

From where in Scripture does the Angelic Salutation come? "Then she spoke with a loud voice and said, \'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." Explain the following, who speaks it, and where is it found in the Bible? \'Why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

Discuss how you celebrate the Birth of Christ in your home. What family tradition has been passed down to you and how do you keep the celebration Holy, not merely commercial? Suggest some new ways in which the Birth of Christ will be the meaning of Christmas for your children. Try this now, and with your children: Sing a Christmas carol and find the words you sing somewhere in the Bible.

RECOMMENDED READING

1. THE ORTHODOX STUDY BIBLE: The following and the footnotes: Isaiah 9:6; Matthew

1:23; Luke 2:7. "My Life in Christ", St. John of Kronstadt.

2. MAKING GOD REAL IN THE ORTHODOX HOME, Mthony M. Coniaris.

3. A GUIDE FOR THE DOMESTIC CHURCH, Diocese of Newton.

 

SPIRITUAL AIDS

PRAISES: 1 Chr.16:4, 9; 2 Chr.20:21, 29:30; Ezra 3:10; Neh.9:5; Psalms: 9:1-2, 34:1-3, 35:28, 50:23, 65:1, 119:164, 101:1, 147:1, 150:6; Luke 18:a43, 19:37; Romans

15:11; 1 Peter 2:9.

:

THANKSGIVING: 1

 

Chr. 16:34; Ezra 3:11; Psalms: 26:7, 75:1, 92,107:22,136, Matthew 26:27; Luke 17:16; John 6:11; 1 Cor 11:24; Eph. 5:20; Phil. 4:6.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

"And so, my brothers, the feast of the Nativity of Christ reminds us that we are born of God, that we are sons of God (1 John 3:1), that we have been saved from sin (Matt. 1:21) and that we must live for God and not sin; not for flesh and blood, not for the world which lies in evil (1 John 5:19). What does the Incarnation of the Son of God require of us? It requires of us to remember and hold in sacred honor the fact that we are born of God; and if we have sullied and trampled upon this birthright with our sins, we must restore it by washing it with tears of repentance; we must restore and renew within us the image of God which has fallen and the union with God and blessedness, truth and holiness which has been destroyed. \'Now God became man, that He may make Adam a god\'." St. John of Kronstadt. "My Life in Christ. B#61.

OUOTATIONS TO PONDER

1. "When I meditated upon Jesus I always saw him either as an infant in the manger seeing His mother Mary\'s face for the first time, or, staring from the crucifix at His mother Mary\'s face for the last time." P.35, Spiritual Sayings of KahIil Gibran

2. "Great little One! Whose all-embracing birth, Lifts Earth to Heaven, stoops Heaven to Earth." Richard Crashaw, "An Hymn of the Nativity".

3. "Little Jesus, wast thou shy, Once, and just as small as I? And What did it feel to be, Out of Heaven and just like me?" Francis Thompson "Ex Ore Infantum".

* * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

REMEMBER ADVENT AND

Advent in preparation of His Magnificent Birth. "He (the Devil) does not dare look at you

directly because he sees the Light blazing from your head and blinding his eyes." St. John

Chrysostom, Baptismal Homily.

EPIPHANY! Bishop Theophan would have you pray more this

ARE YOU SMILING?:

"A real Christian is a person who can give his pet parrot to a town gossip." Billy Graham.

THE TRUE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS

by Joy Corey

I glanced at my watch and suddenly realized they would be here any moment. I really didn’t know what to expect, but I did know whatever the outcome, it would be worth it.

The hands of my kitchen clock now struck 1:00 p.m., the hour I told everyone to be at my house, but there was no evidence of anyone as yet. As I leaned into my refrigerator, I counted . . . 8, 9, 10 — there should be enough I thought. Finally, upon my closing the fridge door, I could hear the sounds of little angels emanating from outside, exclaiming, “Hi Joy” as they peered at me through my floor-to-ceiling kitchen window, and I knew the hour I’d been waiting for had finally arrived.

As I opened the front door to my house, in their exuberant, free-spirited manner they, all, with arms outstretched, reached to bring me down to their level in order that they might plant a kiss on my waiting cheek. I loved every minute of it.

So far, Libby, Andrea, Lisa, Paula and Christina had arrived soon to be followed by Melanie who arrived minutes before Gina and Lisa (their sister Lila was at a birthday party, but she did manage to join us later). I was so excited and it was obvious I had never given much thought to what I was in for or I’d probably have thought twice about doing it. To tell you the truth, I’d do it over and over again — nothing could match the rewards of the day.

They were playfully jumping about and greeting each other when I interrupted their exchange of little amenities, the measure of which was determinable by their own littleness, and asked them all to wash their hands and come back to the kitchen table.

With freshly washed hands they did as I had asked and I placed before each one a piece of waxpaper onto which I set individual balls of dough displaying the assorted shaped cookie cutters, rolling pins and flour in the center of the table. Of course, the intention was to keep the flour on the table and the pins on the dough, but as nothing is guaranteed with children, in their inimitable fashion, the flour found its way to the floor and the rolling pins managed to contact a few heads under the guidance of a couple of small hands allowing the flour thereon to turn their otherwise dark hair to grey (a little premature).

No way were we, the Pre-school, Kindergarten and First Grade class of St. Michael Church’s Sunday School going to embark on such a program without a little help. So with hands clasped, and heads bowed, my little angels turned to the Father in prayer, “Dear God, please watch over us as we make cookies for those less fortunate than us — please make our cookies good so they will like them. Thank you Father for making this day possible. Amen.”

And so we set about the business of making sugar cookies, butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. You never in your life saw such a variety of shapes and sizes, but the recipients of our Christmas goodies would only come to know that these cookies were made and delivered by angels whose special ingredient of T.L.C. (tender loving care) would make these cookies something far beyond the norm.

Naturally, with ten girls and three sets of cookie cutters (Christmas bells and trees, santa clauses, stars, etc.) all ten wanted the Christmas tree at the same time or the Christmas bell — they weren’t particular — they’d just naturally ask for whatever the other asked for. I’m now convinced the Diplomatic Corps would be best advised to hire me for I mastered the art of diplomacy that day.

As the first batch of cookies came out of the oven, their beautiful, awesome eyes lit up like Christmas trees upon viewing the “first fruits of their labor.” Tears found their way gently down my cheeks as I observed the pleasure in their faces. The silver balls, the green and red glitter — all the decorating equipment came out and my little angels produced the most beautiful goodies imaginable.

As the hands on the clock made their way towards the 4:30 p.m. mark, the girls realized they would not have time to package them all with red and green ribbons as we intended since their parents or rides would be arriving momentarily.

On their own initiative, realizing their prayers had been answered, they stopped and again bowed in a prayer of thanks to God for it was apparent He had been with them.

“Goodbye Aunt Joy.” “Remember”, I told them, “tomorrow is a big day for us — tomorrow we deliver our Christmas packages to the sick and suffering. God bless you — goodbye — I love you and remember who loves you.” “We know, Jesus loves us.’’

As I stood in my driveway, again my eyes welled up with tears for the beauty of this day I knew could not be matched, but what I didn’t know then, was that its full beauty was yet to culminate.

The sun shone radiantly that December 16th, significant for the Glory of God which radiated in brilliance that day. As I approached the freeway entrance, I could see Carrie Skaff and her carload of Sunday School kids pass me by — we waved and the kids continued singing the Christmas carols we were practicing on our way. Miles later I passed Andy and Jackie Nassir with their carload and, Oh my, there’s John Gantus and his Sunday School kids — honk, honk!! and look who’s behind me, Ted and Isabel Turk and their precious cargo. Oh wow, this was fun!! I was so excited, but my excitement was not self-limited; my gang shared similar feelings.

After much winding and turning, the sign I’d been anxiously awaiting came plainly within my path of vision and I carefully read, “Sun Air Home for Asthmatic Children.” We’d finally arrived at our first stop; we disembarked and gathered in the parking lot. Everyone began to unload the Christmas stockings filled with goodies that John Gantus had gotten and the packages of comics which my sons had wrapped in red and green ribbons the night before and, of course, our prize possession — the homemade cookies which all the Sunday School children had made. Meanwhile, I went to see the head nurse to tell her we were here. She was happy to see us and assured us we were expected.

Finally, upon assembling ourselves on the stage in their mess hall, I could see how strange it all seemed to the children. The asthmatic children were quite wild, a direct result of the heavy medication of which they all were victim. Restlessness was prevalent and rampant. Their overall appearance was tantamount to arrogance.

John began the program along with Carrie, our Superintendent, and our voices burst into song. Sunday School teacher Isabel Turk intermingled with the kids in an effort to get them to participate. The skeptical looks melted into looks of pleasure as we won them over. Upon completion of our Christmas exalting, our Sunday School children passed out Christmas stockings, the comics and cookies and wished one and all a “Merry Christmas.” Now it was time to gather ourselves together to sojourn to our next and final destination. It was clearly visible on the faces of our St. Michael’s youth that they were proud of what they were doing.

Most of the kids that we sang to were now loaded on a bus readying to go off somewhere and a handful had climbed the stairs to enter the main building when they suddenly turned around and yelled back to us as we stood in the parking lot, “Merry Christmas and Thank You.” The other asthmatics waved from the departing bus as their counsellor who had been talking with a few of us Sunday School teachers exclaimed in awe, “That’s unbelievable! Do you know these kids are so drugged up all the time and so hyper, it’s been at least four years since I’ve heard them say “Thank You”. I can’t believe they took the time to stop and wave to you all, let alone to thank you and wish you a Merry Christmas.” Those words were synonymous with the comprehensiveness of our overt embassy of love.

My Sunday School class continued to talk about the experience in the car on the way to the Tarzana Convalescent Hospital, the experience to be deeply engraved in the pallets of their lives. They had just left the near beginnings of life and were now journeying to a vision of the near end.

Before too long, we were unloading the cars once more and gathering ourselves at the entrance to the hospital. As the door opened, a whole new world unfolded to most of the children — a world of old, sick, dying people. Most had never been exposed to this element before and for some it held a fright; for others a curiosity, and yet for others the realization of the facts of life.

Again, our conductor John commanded our voices to leap out in exaltation and our feet abandoned their stationary stance and we began to walk slowly down the corridors with Carrie pushing a cart, the resting place for our bags of cookies, and the children as they sang, delivered their prize cookie packages of red and green with a greeting of “Merry Christmas.” In passing one of the rooms, my eyes got a glimpse of one of our young boys leaning over an old, sick, bedridden gentleman and as the little elf placed his package of cookies on this sickly elder’s nightstand, I heard him say, in a whispering fashion into the peaked ear of the pathetic figure, “Merry Christmas and God Bless You. I left you some cookies on your nightstand.” This vision lingered with me for a long, long time . . . I was witnessing the TRUE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS.

As we strolled along the hallways, my heart filled with great joy, my eyes filled with tears, I heard a familiar sound from behind, “Mom, Mom! !“ I turned, “Mom, there was an old lady in that room over there and her hands were so shakey she couldn’t button her gown so I helped her, Mom. She thanked me. I then gave her some cookies, she smiled and seemed so happy.” “Son, I’m sure she was — your thoughtfulness brought her that happiness.” The lesson of the experience far outweighed any Christmas celebration he could have been party to.

As we turned corridor after corridor, the anticipation of what the next turn held remained a mystery until its realization. Our voices were strong — our sense of pride was evident.

My spirit-filled brother in Christ, John, put his arm around me as we stopped by this “little old lady’s” room and we harmoniously sang out, “O Little Town of Bethlehem” . . . To John’s invitation that she join us, she motioned to her throat whereupon we simultaneously discovered she did not have a voice with which to sing — our hearts bled and I knew John shared the same anguish as he indicated to her, “It’s alright, we’ll sing for you” and so we did — John, myself and The Spirit.

Upon turning what was to be the second to last corridor, my eyes lifted in the direction of the loud­speaker as the words of the speaking man’s voice caught my attention, “We would like to thank the Sunday School of St. Michael Orthodox Church of Van Nuys for coming out here today to be with us in spreading some Christmas Cheer.” It was apparent from the smiles on their faces and the glow in their eyes that observing the children was as important to these hospitalized souls as it was to the children themselves being there. We found many having the nurses shift them around in their wheel chairs and beds to position them within their eyes range of viewing the children. That voice over the loudspeaker made an overwhelming impact on me — I could not help but think we brought honor to our Patron Saint that day.

What best sums up the day for me was when one of the young boys (about 9 years) turned to me upon exiting the hospital and said, “I feel like a saint for what I’ve done today.” Christmas has a spirit all its own and so it was that it walked with us that December 16.

READINGS FOR CHRISTMAS

By Archpriest Paul Ziatyk

Each year there is an excitement in the air in the weeks preceding Christmas. There is the hectic preparation for the feast — the gift buying, planning, food preparation, card writing, decorating. etc. to name a few of our activities, as wel1 as making time for our children’s Christmas pageant, watching our favorite Christmas programs on TV, and of course the office Christmas Party.

This heavy involvement in preparing for the feast often leaves us tired, irritable and short-tempered, and searching for the meaning behind what we frantically do. There is little joy and peace experienced and we feel that something is wrong with us. It is even common to hear people saying the day after Christmas, “I’m glad it’s over.”

What can we do to change all this which gives so little long term meaning to our lives? It is in understanding Christmas — what are we celebrating —that meaning can be found in what Advent is all about.

WHAT IS CHRISTMAS ALL ABOUT?

Christmas is the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is the celebration of God’s Son taking on flesh and becoming a man, i.e., the Incarnation. It is one of the central events in the history of our salvation. The Incarnation is foretold in the Old Testament in the book of Isaiah 9:2-7: “The people who walked in the darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. Thou hast multiplied the nation, thou hast increased its joy; they rejoice before thee as with joy at the harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, thou hast broken as on the day of Mid’ian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore.

We also read about the Word becoming flesh in the Gospel of John 1:14, 16-18: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth: we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. And from his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through .Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God: the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.”

In the Creed which we recite or sing at every Divine Liturgy we confess our faith in, Jesus Christ, the Son of God — “who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man.”

In the Gospel of Luke 1:26-38 we learn about the announcement to Mary by the Angel Gabriel of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. This feast is related to the Nativity of Christ.

EMMANUEL — GOD WITH US

God so loved the wor1d that He gave us his Only Begotten Son (John 3:16). And so it was that “in the fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4) God sent forth His Son to take on flesh from a virgin woman named Mary. This we read about in the Gospels of Matthew 1 and 2, and Luke 2. Following are the events as recorded in these chapters. Take time to read them in the weeks or days preceding the feast and use them as brief meditations.

Mary and Joseph Betrothed: In the Galilean town of Nazareth, Joseph and Mary were betrothed to one another. She was a young virgin woman: he an elderly carpenter who took Mary to be his wife, and before they came together she was found with child. (Matthew 1:18)

The Annunciation: The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary in the Temple and told her that she would conceive a child and His name shall be called Jesus. (Luke 1:26-35) This event is celebrated each year on March 25.

The Angel and Joseph: The angel also appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him that the son to be born was the long awaited Messiah. (Matthew 1:20-25)

The Census: The Roman Governor of Palestine ordered a census to be taken of all the people. Therefore, Joseph and Mary had to travel to Bethlehem, since they were of the tribe of David, in order to be registered. (Luke 2:1-5)

Birth in Bethlehem: Because of the crowds who came to Bethlehem, there was no room in the inn and the Virgin Mother gave birth to Jesus Christ in a cavern. (Luke 2:6-7) This Nativity of Christ is celebrated on December 25.

The Shepherds: An angel appeared to the shepherds who were caring for their flock in the field and announced the birth of the Savior. They hastened to the cave to find Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger. (Luke 2:8-20)

The Circumcision: According to the Jewish law every male child was circumcised on the 8th day and so it was with the young Christ child who was given the name Jesus. (Luke 2:21) Our Orthodox Church commemorates this event on January 1.

The Ritual of Purification: Again according to Jewish law every male child was presented to the Lord on time 40th day. Jesus’ parents brought him to the temple of Jerusalem on the 40th day where He was received by the righteous Simeon. Simeon blessed God and prayed what is known as “Simeon’s Prayer.” This prayer is sung or recited at every Vesper Service. (Luke 2:22-38) This feast is celebrated on February 2.

The Magi: Magi or Wisemen came from the East, being guided by a star to Bethlehem. And when they found the child they presented gifts and worshiped him as “King of the Jews.” (Matthew 2:1-2, 9-12)

Slaughter of the Innocents: Herod, the ruler of Palestine, hated the young child and feared him for He was a threat to his throne. Herod ordered all male infants two years and younger in Bethlehem to be killed in the hope that Jesus would be among them. (Matthew 2:3-8, 16-18)

Flight: In a dream Joseph learned of Herod’s scheme, therefore he took Mary and the child Jesus and fled into Egypt. (Matthew 2:13-15)

Return to Nazareth: After the wicked Herod died, Joseph took the child and His Mother to Nazareth where Jesus was raised. (Matthew 2:19-23)

THOUGHT QUESTIONS

Who is this Jesus whom we speak about? Is He God, is He just a man, is He two persons? What is the Church’s teaching about “who Jesus Christ is?” He is the Son of God who has a divine nature as the eternal Son of God and who took on a human nature from the Virgin Mary. He is One Person with two natures. How are we saved by Jesus Christ? Give this considerable thought. Discuss it with your family, friends. If you are not sure, speak to your priest.

At the Christmas Vigil, we sing: “God is with us.” In what manner is this understood? Just as Christ was born in Bethlehem of old, so Christ is born in our hearts, minds and souls, if we make room for Him. Advent is that season of 40 days before Christmas which is set aside by the Church in order to help and guide us in preparing ourselves for the birth of Christ within us. This time before Christmas is a time for repentance, fasting, prayer, the confession of our sins and the reception of Christ in the partaking of His flesh and blood. It is a time to come out of the everyday rush of life and to realize that man cannot live by bread alone. Only as we do this will God’s promise become flesh in our lives. When we direct the attention of our hearts to God, the dimness of our eyes will fade away. We discover purpose in our existence and in everything we do. How different is such preparation for Christmas than what the world offers. One leads to God, life, peace and joy — the other to that darkness of soul and restlessness of heart which continues to gnaw at the heart until they find their rest in God.

Icons of the Nativity in the Flesh of Our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ

More Icons

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Origin of the Feast of Christmas

By Antony Bassoline

The celebration of the birth of Christ has become the most obvious religious-based public festival of American life. Its arrival in December is prepared for months in advance. It is the one event which generates the most anticipation and to which the most tradition and custom have attached themselves. Individual homes and whole cities dress up for Christmas. In popular sentiment it has eclipsed the greater feast of the Resurrection, and has completely dwarfed its twin festival, the Epiphany.

But how did we get a feast of Christmas? What was its original purpose? How does it actually fit into the life of the Orthodox Christian Church?

The Christian Church in the first three centuries of its existence knew of only one great festival, Pentecost (by Pentecost is here meant the complete celebration of the Christian Passover from the cross and resurrection to the 50th day commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit). Every Sunday was considered a feast in that it was a gathering to proclaim the mighty redemption brought by the death and resurrection of Christ. This festival of redemption was realized weekly by the Holy Eucharist, the presence of the victorious Risen Christ in the midst of the assembly. It was realized yearly in the great Paschal Feast in the administration of baptism. We see that in this ancient period the interest and emphasis was not at all on the historical facts concerning what happened to Jesus, but rather how what happened to Jesus now happens to those who join His Church; how the new believer dies and rises to new life in Christ through baptism and how in the Eucharist the believer participates directly in the sacrifice of Christ.

In time the celebration of martyrs’ days, that is, the yearly anniversary of a martyr’s death, came to be celebrated. But these festivals were local and usually conducted at the martyr’s tomb.

It is not until the Fourth Century that the idea of celebrating occasions in the earthly life of our Lord started to become popular. Much of this is due to the Church of Jerusalem. Special celebrations which were devised on the actual or supposed sites of the events of the life of Christ lent themselves particularly well to the celebration of historical remembrances. Thus interest developed in where Jesus was born, where He grew up, where He performed His miracles, etc.

It is to the Church of Rome, however, that we must give the credit for the origins of the feast of the birth of Christ. But on what was this feast based and why was December 25th chosen as the day for its celebration?

The actual historical facts surrounding the birth of Christ are clouded in mystery. No one really knows when Jesus was born. Only certain facts can be deducted from the biblical account and from history. For one thing, Jesus was definitely born in B.C. (Before Christ!). This is known because Herod the Great died in 4 B.C., and Herod figures in the account of the Nativity given by St. Matthew. Jesus was definitely not born in winter. St. Luke mentions that the shepherds were staying out in the pasture land with their flocks, an event that does not take place in winter. We must look elsewhere for the origin of the late December celebration of the Nativity.

We find the origin of the winter feast of the Nativity not in the historical facts available concerning the birth of Christ, but in a curious astronomical phenomenon. In late December we reach the shortest day of the year with more hours of darkness than daylight. From this point the hours of daylight become gradually longer. This observable phenomenon was given a religious significance in the pagan Roman world. It became the feast of Sol Invictus (the Unconquerable Sun). It was popularly celebrated in Rome during the last two weeks of December as Saturnalia. What better time for the Christians to celebrate the coming of the true unconquered “Sun”? Thus the feast of Christmas was born; the celebration of the dawning on the world of the Sun of Righteousness.

The feast was not originally called Christmas or Nativity, but Epiphany or “Manifestation.” It celebrated the idea of Christ’s coming and manifesting Himself through several events of the New Testament and its timing was based on the feast of the Unconquered Sun. In the East this feast of “coming” was generally kept on January 6th and in the West on December 25th. It did not originally concentrate exclusively on the birth of our Lord, but celebrated several aspects of His manifestation: the birth in the cave, the adoration of the Magi, the baptism in the Jordan, and the first miracle at Cana in Galilee. All of these themes came in one way or another to be associated with the feast of the Epiphany. The East celebrated all of this on January 6th and knew of no feast on December 25th. (The Armenian Church to this day still celebrates the nativity and the baptism together on January 6th with no celebration whatsoever on December 25th.) Egeria, a nun from Spain, traveling in Palestine at the end of the 4th century mentions a great celebration of our Lord’s coming. Thus it was only later that the East and the West came to share both December 25th and January 6th. The East separated the Nativity from the Baptism, leaving the January date as the feast of the Baptism of Christ and accepting the December date as the feast of the Nativity. The West in turn added January 6th to its “Manifestation” celebration as the commemoration of the Adoration of the Magi.

Once this double feast, Christmas-Epiphany, entered the life of the Church it became, like Easter-Pentecost, an occasion for the celebration of baptism. The feast of Christ’s coming was seen to be appropriate for the administration of the sacrament by which Christ would come to the new believer. Several relics in our present liturgical practice hint at the baptismal connections of Christmas and Epiphany, as the long list of readings of the vigil of both days (meant to cover the time of actual baptizing), and the singing of the baptismal verse “As many as have been baptized into Christ” in place of the Trisagion. The strange notation in the liturgical books: “Nativity of our Lord . . . Three days Passover” and “Epiphany of our Lord . . . Three days Passover” can only be explained in connection with the sacrament of baptism.

The hymns of both Christmas and Epiphany reveal the origin of these days in the old winter festival of the Unconquered Sun. Note how many astronomical references we find in the Nativity Troparion: Christ is described as the “Sun” of Righteousness, who illumines those who worshipped stars (of which the physical sun is one). Jesus has come as the dawning from the East (as the sun does).

The Matins exapostilarion hymn speaks of: A newly risen day. Our Savior is the Dayspring from the East. Those who were in darkness and shadow found the Light.

Epiphany is still known as “ton Foton” (feast of Lights). Its hymns also concentrate on astronomical themes. In Vespers Christ is described as “Bestower of light,” who desires to give light to those in darkness. In the Matins of the feast we find: “With Thy light that never sets, shine forth, O Christ.”

Unfortunately most of society has reverted to celebrating the pagan winter holiday under the excuse of celebrating the birth of Christ. The Romans had their Saturnalia, but modern man has his Santa, reindeer, drinking parties and materialism to highlight his feast. In spite of all of this Christians are still called to celebrate joyfully in the Spirit, the coming of the Messiah. As the Christians of old celebrated under the guise of Saturnalia, so the modern Christian must still celebrate the true feast as the rest of our society keeps its pagan winter holiday. The Church at one time conquered and transformed that pagan holiday into the sublime celebration of the coming of the Sun of Righteousness. She still is challenged to transform and transfigure and to proclaim that coming and to lead men beyond tinsel and cheap lights to the true meaning of this holiday: the glorification of the true Gladsome Light of the Holy Glory of the Immortal Father, heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ.

Editor’s Note: Theologians and historians continue to debate the mysterious origins of the December 25 celebration of Christmas. For another perspective on this topic, we recommend this article from the ecumenical magazine Touchstone: Calculating Christmas.

THE TRUE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS

THE TRUE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS

By Joy Corey

Joy is a member of St. Michael Church in Van Nuys, California. Her story will surely give us the Christmas spirit.

I glanced at my watch and suddenly realized they would be here any moment. I really didn’t know what to expect, but I did know whatever the outcome, it would be worth it.

The hands of my kitchen clock now struck 1:00 p.m., the hour I told everyone to be at my house, but there was no evidence of anyone as yet. As I leaned into my refrigerator, I counted . . . 8, 9, 10 — there should be enough I thought. Finally, upon my closing the fridge door, I could hear the sounds of little angels emanating from outside, exclaiming, “Hi Joy” as they peered at me through my floor-to-ceiling kitchen window, and I knew the hour I’d been waiting for had finally arrived.

As I opened the front door to my house, in their exuberant, free-spirited manner they, all, with arms outstretched, reached to bring me down to their level in order that they might plant a kiss on my waiting cheek. I loved every minute of it.

So far, Libby, Andrea, Lisa, Paula and Christina had arrived soon to be followed by Melanie who arrived minutes before Gina and Lisa (their sister Lila was at a birthday party, but she did manage to join us later). I was so excited and it was obvious I had never given much thought to what I was in for or I’d probably have thought twice about doing it. To tell you the truth, I’d do it over and over again — nothing could match the rewards of the day.

They were playfully jumping about and greeting each other when I interrupted their exchange of little amenities, the measure of which was determinable by their own littleness, and asked them all to wash their hands and come back to the kitchen table.

With freshly washed hands they did as I had asked and I placed before each one a piece of waxpaper onto which I set individual balls of dough displaying the assorted shaped cookie cutters, rolling pins and flour in the center of the table. Of course, the intention was to keep the flour on the table and the pins on the dough, but as nothing is guaranteed with children, in their inimitable fashion, the flour found its way to the floor and the rolling pins managed to contact a few heads under the guidance of a couple of small hands allowing the flour thereon to turn their otherwise dark hair to grey (a little premature).

No way were we, the Pre-school, Kindergarten and First Grade class of St. Michael Church’s Sunday School going to embark on such a program without a little help. So with hands clasped, and heads bowed, my little angels turned to the Father in prayer, “Dear God, please watch over us as we make cookies for those less fortunate than us — please make our cookies good so they will like them. Thank you Father for making this day possible. Amen.”

And so we set about the business of making sugar cookies, butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. You never in your life saw such a variety of shapes and sizes, but the recipients of our Christmas goodies would only come to know that these cookies were made and delivered by angels whose special ingredient of T.L.C. (tender loving care) would make these cookies something far beyond the norm.

Naturally, with ten girls and three sets of cookie cutters (Christmas bells and trees, santa clauses, stars, etc.) all ten wanted the Christmas tree at the same time or the Christmas bell — they weren’t particular — they’d just naturally ask for whatever the other  asked for. I’m now convinced the Diplomatic Corps would be best advised to hire me for I mastered the art of diplomacy that day.

As the first batch of cookies came out of the oven, their beautiful, awesome eyes lit up like Christmas trees upon viewing the “first fruits of their labor.” Tears found their way gently down my cheeks as I observed the pleasure in their faces. The silver balls, the green and red glitter — all the decorating equipment came out and my little angels produced the most beautiful goodies imaginable.

As the hands on the clock made their way towards the 4:30 p.m. mark, the girls realized they would not have time to package them all with red and green ribbons as we intended since their parents or rides would be arriving momentarily.

On their own initiative, realizing their prayers had been answered, they stopped and again bowed in a prayer of thanks to God for it was apparent He had been with them.

“Goodbye Aunt Joy.” “Remember”, I told them, “tomorrow is a big day for us — tomorrow we deliver our Christmas packages to the sick and suffering. God bless you — goodbye — I love you and remember who loves you.” “We know, Jesus loves us.’’

As I stood in my driveway, again my eyes welled up with tears for the beauty of this day I knew could not be matched, but what I didn’t know then, was that its full beauty was yet to culminate.

The sun shone radiantly that December 16th, significant for the Glory of God which radiated in brilliance that day. As I approached the freeway entrance, I could see Carrie Skaff and her carload of  Sunday School kids pass me by — we waved and the kids continued singing the Christmas carols we were practicing on our way. Miles later I passed Andy and Jackie Nassir with their carload and, Oh my, there’s John Gantus and his Sunday School kids — honk, honk!! and look who’s behind me, Ted and Isabel Turk and their precious cargo. Oh wow, this was fun!! I was so excited, but my excitement was not self-limited; my gang shared similar feelings.

After much winding and turning, the sign I’d been anxiously awaiting came plainly within my path of vision and I carefully read, “Sun Air Home for Asthmatic Children.” We’d finally arrived at our first stop; we disembarked and gathered in the parking lot. Everyone began to unload the Christmas stockings filled with goodies that John Gantus had gotten and the packages of comics which my sons had wrapped in red and green ribbons the night before and, of course, our prize possession — the homemade cookies which all the Sunday School children had made. Meanwhile, I went to see the head nurse to tell her we were here. She was happy to see us and assured us we were expected.

Finally, upon assembling ourselves on the stage in their mess hall, I could see how strange it all seemed to the children. The asthmatic children were quite wild, a direct result of the heavy medication of which they all were victim. Restlessness was prevalent and rampant. Their overall appearance was tantamount to arrogance.

John began the program along with Carrie, our Superintendent, and our voices burst into song. Sunday School teacher Isabel Turk intermingled with the kids in an effort to get them to participate. The skeptical looks melted into looks of pleasure as we won them over. Upon completion of our Christmas exalting, our Sunday School children passed out Christmas stockings, the comics and cookies and wished one and all a “Merry Christmas.” Now it was time to gather ourselves together to sojourn to our next and final destination. It was clearly visible on the faces of our St. Michael’s youth that they were proud of what they were doing.

Most of the kids that we sang to were now loaded on a bus readying to go off somewhere and a handful had climbed the stairs to enter the main building when they suddenly turned around and yelled back to us as we stood in the parking lot, “Merry Christmas and Thank You.” The other asthmatics waved from the departing bus as their counsellor who had been talking with a few of us Sunday School teachers exclaimed in awe, “That’s unbelievable! Do you know these kids are so drugged up all the time and so hyper, it’s been at least four years since I’ve heard them say “Thank You”. I can’t believe they took the time to stop and wave to you all, let alone to thank you and wish you a Merry Christmas.” Those words were synonymous with the comprehensiveness of our overt embassy of love.

My Sunday School class continued to talk about the experience in the car on the way to the Tarzana Convalescent Hospital, the experience to be deeply engraved in the pallets of their lives. They had just left the near beginnings of life and were now journeying to a vision of the near end.

Before too long, we were unloading the cars once more and gathering ourselves at the entrance to the hospital. As the door opened, a whole new world unfolded to most of the children — a world of old, sick, dying people. Most had never been exposed to this element before and for some it held a fright; for others a curiosity, and yet for others the realization of the facts of life.

Again, our conductor John commanded our voices to leap out in exaltation and our feet abandoned their stationary stance and we began to walk slowly down the corridors with Carrie pushing a cart, the resting place for our bags of cookies, and the children as they sang, delivered their prize cookie packages of red and green with a greeting of “Merry Christmas.” In passing one of the rooms, my eyes got a glimpse of one of our young boys leaning over an old, sick, bedridden gentleman and as the little elf placed his package of cookies on this sickly elder’s nightstand, I heard him say, in a whispering fashion into the peaked ear of the pathetic figure, “Merry Christmas and God Bless You. I left you some cookies on your nightstand.” This vision lingered with me for a long, long time . . . I was witnessing the TRUE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS.

As we strolled along the hallways, my heart filled with great joy, my eyes filled with tears, I heard a familiar sound from behind, “Mom, Mom! !“ I turned, “Mom, there was an old lady in that room over there and her hands were so shakey she couldn’t button her gown so I helped her, Mom. She thanked me. I then gave her some cookies, she smiled and seemed so happy.” “Son, I’m sure she was — your thoughtfulness brought her that happiness.” The lesson of the experience far outweighed any Christmas celebration he could have been party to.

As we turned corridor after corridor, the anticipation of what the next turn held remained a mystery until its realization. Our voices were strong — our sense of pride was evident.

My spirit-filled brother in Christ, John, put his arm around me as we stopped by this “little old lady’s” room and we harmoniously sang out, “O Little Town of Bethlehem” . . . To John’s invitation that she join us, she motioned to her throat whereupon we simultaneously discovered she did not have a voice with which to sing — our hearts bled and I knew John shared the same anguish as he indicated to her, “It’s alright, we’ll sing for you” and so we did — John, myself and The Spirit.

Upon turning what was to be the second to last corridor, my eyes lifted in the direction of the loud­speaker as the words of the speaking man’s voice caught my attention, “We would like to thank the Sunday School of St. Michael Orthodox Church of Van Nuys for coming out here today to be with us in spreading some Christmas Cheer.” It was apparent from the smiles on their faces and the glow in their eyes that observing the children was as important to these hospitalized souls as it was to the children themselves being there. We found many having the nurses shift them around in their wheel chairs and beds to position them within their eyes range of viewing the children. That voice over the loudspeaker made an overwhelming impact on me — I could not help but think we brought honor to our Patron Saint that day.

What best sums up the day for me was when one of the young boys (about 9 years) turned to me upon exiting the hospital and said, “I feel like a saint for what I’ve done today.” Christmas has a spirit all its own and so it was that it walked with us that December 16.

Metropolitan Philip's Christmas Meditation

Lord,

What shall I offer you on your birthday in return for your infinite love?

I have neither gold nor silver, neither myrrh nor frankincense.

My house is without a roof. I have no room for you; not even a manger.

My soul is even darker than the clouds of my passion.

My eyes are too dim to look beyond the horizon of myself.

Help me behold your bright star; "For in thy light we shall see light."

Lord,

You have been knocking on my door for thirty-nine years, but I never dared let you in because my garment is not white as snow.

Forgive me if I do not invite you to my table, for my table is full of everything you despise. I have denied you more than Peter.

I have doubted you more than Thomas.

I have betrayed you more than Judas.

My hands are empty. My lips are not clean to sing your praise.

And my heart is wrinkled with sorrow like a withered leaf under autumn's wind.

Lord,

The only thing I can offer you on your birthday is myself.

Drown me in the ocean of your love.

Feed me with your heavenly bread, for the bread of this world will never satisfy my hunger.

Quench my thirst with your divine fountain, for the water of this earth will never satisfy my thirst.

Give me your eyes to see what you see, your ears to hear what you hear and your heart to love what you love.

Take me with you to Mount Tabor and let me bathe in your eternal light.

Lord,

"Create a clean heart in me. Cast me not away from Thy face. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, and strengthen me with a perfect spirit."

Teach me how to pray in simple words, for only through prayers I may overcome my loneliness.

Help me to care for the needy, the oppressed, the orphans, the sinners and the despised whom you love.

As I kneel before your manger with love and humility I beseech you to listen to my prayers.

CHRIST IS BORN! GLORIFY HIM!

By Father John Abdalah

As Orthodox Christians, we greet one another with this confident exclamation during the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord. With this seasonal greeting we affirm that Jesus, who took on flesh and was born into our world, is indeed the Christ, and worthy of glorification.

 This greeting is unlike other seasonal greetings about being merry (Christmas), glad (tidings), or happy (holidays). Not that I have any trouble with being merry, glad or even happy. I enjoy a spiked eggnog or a traditional Christmas shot of whiskey or arak as much as the next guy. But there is more to the preparation and celebration of Christmas than that. In this feast we celebrate our salvation through the good news of our Savior’s advent. When we greet each other with the news of Christ’s birth, we seize the opportunity to glorify the new born Savior. This greeting carries within it the promise of salvation, and the very meaning of life.

We will not escape the secularization of this feast. We will not change the marketing of goods, the office parties and the exchange of gifts. We will not avoid the need to spend money we may not have, eat too much or party ourselves silly. But with a little work to understand God’s revealed truth, we can transcend and baptize the now secular images to bring us deeper meaning. I offer the following examples of what I mean: Let every twinkling light on every bush and window remind us that Christ is the Light that brings us from darkness into light. Every light can bring us to him who is Light, just like the star that guided the Magi. Every light can remind us of the Christ child who enlightens us with Divine truth. This is the truth that sets us free. He is our light and our resurrection, the light of truth that will guide us from the manger to the empty tomb. This season of Christ’s birth is ultimately the season of salvation.

Let every sale in every department store remind us of how God loves us more than the world can understand. The retailers draw us in with sales so that we will come and shop with them. How much more does Christ draw us close? Christ took on flesh to call us home to Him. He suffered at the hands of his own creation, humiliated and murdered. This is the epitome of love. Every retailer, every jingle, every commercial can remind us of God’s own love for us.

Let every seasonal party remind us of the Joy of Salvation. To save us Jesus voluntarily came to take on flesh and suffer in his body. His sacrifice and his gift are reasons to celebrate. When we celebrate, we can remember all that God accomplished for us. We can remember His nature of love and mercy.

Let every Santa on the street collecting money, or posing for photos with children, remind us of the gifts God has given us and the opportunities God gives us to share with others. Think too of the example of St. Nicholas who taught us to fast, share our resources and love God with fervor.

Let every gift we present to one another remind us of the gift of life that Christ is for us. Christ gives us life as we are born anew into Him. Remember also that the Eucharist is life-giving and is given in his name.

Let every snowman, made of ice or styrofoam, remind us of how cold the world can be and how we need the warmth of our Savior. The world needs your example, your love and your witness in order for it to be warmed by God’s love.

Let every ribbon and bow on every package remind us how Christ has put Satan in bonds and freed us to love him and stay with Him. He who was born in a manger is He who could not die and defeated Satan in Hades.

Let every Christmas carol and seasonal song, remind us that we are called to praise God from the depths of our beings. Our soul wants to call out to Him who created us and who comes to us in this feast as a baby. Sing out, and let God hear your voice. Sing out and let others hear your testimony God has taken on flesh and dwelt with us as the prophets foretold. This is a time to sing out!

Perhaps you could add to my list and share your illustrations with our readers. Take a few moments to write down some secular images that you think can be given new meaning and send them to The WORD. By reading them next year, others may find practical ways to use secular images to be less distracted, and to focus more on the real meaning of this Holy Season.

Christmas comes at the end of the secular calendar. It is for us more than the end of one year and the beginning of a new year, and now a new century. It is for us a call to rededicate ourselves as we make God our Lord, and call him our Savior. Rededicated to Christ, let us charge boldly into the next century. Let us not be ashamed to proclaim that Christ is Born! Glorify Him! He is our God and we are His people.

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

CHRISTMAS - - TO AN EASTERN ORTHODOX

CHRISTMAS - - TO

AN EASTERN ORTHODOX

By Fr. Edward A. Sadvary

“Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel, translated (God is with us).” Isaiah 7:14.

On Christmas Day, “a child is born to us, a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulders; and his name shall he called Wonderful Counselor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace . . . He shall sit upon the “throne of David and upon his kingdom, to establish it and to strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth and forever.” Isaiah 9: 6-7.

When Christ was born in that low and humble place — the world was ready for his coming, the pure womb that was to bear him was prepared. The great and awful event awaited by men since the moment of that first promise may be worthily recorded only in the inspired word of God: “Behold,” says the Angel Gabriel to Mary, “thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shall call his name, Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High

. . . The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most high shall overshadow thee; and therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” Luke 10, 31:5.

Centuries before the first Christmas Day, a malignant angel had come to a woman (Eve) upon an errand of death, and Eve’s disobedience to God’s command which had ensued was the beginning of the sin of the world.

The Archangel Gabriel came to Mary with the message of eternal life, and the ready obedience of the second Eve gave us him who is the fountain of all grace.

Now, Mary, who had designed to know no man, had been troubled, at the announcement of the angel, that she should conceive and bear a son. But her fear was groundless: the Holy Ghost was to be her Spouse, and Mary, still clad in the white veil of virginity, was yet to wear the crown of motherhood: And Mary said: ‘‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word.”

The obedient submission of Mary gave to the world the Divine Redeemer. Now, “The Word was made flesh.” The Second Person of the Holy Trinity, God the Son, became man.

Christ, the Son, now Man, came to us in the deepest poverty — in greatest humility to be our Redeemer — Our King. Yes, Christ is King, not only as God, but also as Man. He is King, not only by reason of perfection of his humanity, not only because he has purchased us as His people by redeeming us; he is King because His is the Word incarnate.

“He, Christ, has dominion over all creatures,” says St. Cyril of Alexandria, who was the great Champion of Orthodoxy against Nestorius “a dominion not seized by violence nor usurped, but by His essence and by nature.” Psalms 23:7.

In this way with these thoughts do the Eastern Christians celebrate the Birth of Christ. The Eastern Christian places the greatest importance upon the religious aspects of this great Feast Day. It is to the Eastern mind — a day for rejoicing, because on this day, he has received his opportunity for Eternal Salvation with God in Heaven.

The feast commemorating the Nativity of Jesus Christ or (Christmas) was introduced in the middle of the 4th century. It is now almost certain that the celebration of Christmas on the 25th of December is of Western origin. The East celebrated Christ’s Nativity on January 6th, now on January 7th. This because the East follows the Julian Calendar, which is about two weeks behind the present calendar. In the liturgy of the Eastern Churches this feast was called Theophany or Epiphany. Three things were commemorated: the Nativity itself: the Adoration of the Magi, and the Baptism of Christ in the River Jordan.

Later, several of the Eastern Churches began introducing the celebration of Christmas on December 25th. In the meantime, it seems that Western Christians adopted the feast of Epiphany, which soon became very popular — and is very popular today.

In the Eastern Churches, the Nativity and Adoration of the Shepherds are celebrated on Christmas Eve — January 6th, the Adoration of the Magi on Christmas Day.

A period of fasting begins 40 days before Christmas for Eastern Christians. This period does not correspond to the Advent Season of the Roman Church; the Eastern Church does not know Advent.

There are two Sundays which prepare the faithful Eastern Christian for the great feast of Christmas, namely the 2nd Sunday before Christmas, called the Sunday of the Fore-Fathers, and the Sunday immediately preceding Christmas, called the Sunday of the Fathers.

On Christmas Eve the Church Services are rather long, but they are very beautiful and inspiring. The morning of Christmas Eve — the Church Services begin with the Solemn Singing of the Royal Hours — so called because the kings and emperors of old always attended these services.

Following the Royal Hours, the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great is celebrated together with the Vesper Service for the day.

On Christmas Eve the Eastern Christian observes a very strict fast Christmas Day begins with a Solemn and Joyful Divine Liturgy usually celebrated one minute after midnight.

Members of the Parishes then visit individual homes of the Parishioners singing Christmas Carols and greeting one another with the salutation “Christ Is Born.” and answering in response, “Praise You Him.”

Very little importance is given to the exchange of gifts or to any commercial thought. For the Eastern Christian — His Church and His Church Service share the Glory of this Day.

He rejoices this day because Christ is in his midst — a new born Child with outstretched arms begs for his Love and he returns this love in His God, His neighbor, his family and to his country.

To the Eastern Christian the birth of Jesus Christ is of tremendous importance to his own eternal salvation, because through the birth of Jesus, God has given the food of Life Eternal.

This food is the invisible Body and Blood of our Lord in visible forms, of bread and wine.

By the birth of Christ and by the food, the natural Son of God made us children of God by adoption. He gave us Himself as a symbol and example in all these things that we may follow his example and win the eternal gifts — life everlasting and endless bliss — which had been lost to us through Eve’s sin and which had been restored to us through the birth of Christ.

To the Eastern Christian this is the object of Christ’s Incarnation and birth. He has granted to us His Holy Body as food that He may make us, through His Birth, his companions, and through our nourishment by Him, inheritors of His Kingdom.

He commanded us, the living, to be steadfast in our performance of this remembrance of Him, and in remembrance of His benevolence to us until he comes again to judge the world.

This is accomplished through faith by inheritance, and by transmission from the living destined to die, to the dead, who shall live again by re-generation, that salvation may extend to all men.

For this reason, the Church has instituted and celebrates daily the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist — the Divine Liturgy — the Mass — or the Lord’s Supper, which serves as a constant reminder to the faithful of the life of Christ — from His birth of His Virgin Mother to His Ascension — reminding us that from our birth to our death — our food for Salvation must be the food brought to us through the Birth of Jesus — whose feast we commemorate at this time.

Share Your Christmas With The Poor

Share Your Christmas With The Poor

 

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE 1970

 

Beloved Clergy and Faithful of our Archdiocese:

Once again we joyfully take this opportunity to send to all of you our greetings and blessings on the occasion of the Holy Nativity of our Lord. Perhaps the story of the Divine Child forced to begin life in a poor stable in Bethlehem, has something of an unreal quality for us as we celebrate our comfortable Christmas in modern North America. The poverty and oppression surrounding that birth appear to be centuries and worlds away, vanished with the ancient past.

In actuality, the forces of violence, deprivation and foreign aggression that haunted the manger in which the Christ Child lay, stalk the Middle East this very moment. In crowded refugee camps and overcrowded desert tents, a whole generation will spend the anniversary of our Lord’s Nativity in exile, on marginal rations and, more importantly, without hope or purpose. We have tried to supply a gleam of hope for the future by establishing the Archdiocesan Scholarship Fund for technical education for competent and eager young Arab refugees from the occupied territories. Already an income of 10,000 LL has been invested in the education of displaced students.

As you prepare to celebrate Christmas surrounded by your loved ones in this fortunate and still secure country, thinking of the old story of the stable that saw the birth of the son of God, spare some thought to those who must share His trials this Christmas, this very year, now! For him there was no room in the inn, is there room on your Christmas gift list for a present to an Arab Refugee youngster whose only hope for a useful future is a good education? Share your Christmas blessings with the poor by sending them a gift to your Archdiocese earmarked “Arab Refugees.”

Remember the words of our Lord: “Verily I say unto you inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Matt. 25:40.

May this Blessed Christmas and the New Year bring to your hearts a great measure of peace, prosperity, happiness and spiritual renewal.

Devotedly yours,

+

Metropolitan PHILIP

Merry Christmas—Later Not Sooner

homily by Father James C. Meena

When I was a little boy, as with all children, I used to anticipate the coming of Christmas weeks in advance. I’d get excited and start thinking about the good food that was going to be shared and the gifts that would be forth­coming, decorating the Christmas tree, putting lights in the window, presents under the tree, waiting for Santa. I used to wonder for weeks what I was going to get for Christmas and I would go scrounging around the house in all of the cupboards and the closets looking for anything that looked like a Christmas present and surreptitiously I would find these gifts and I would play with the toys that had been purchased explicitly for gift-giving at Christmas time. Then when Christmas day actually came and the gifts were given to me and I had to open them, I had to pretend to be so excited and surprised because I didn’t want anybody to know that I had been celebrating Christmas before Christmas came.

Now that was a practice of a child and our society is very much like that child, even though our society does not recognize, to a great extent, the religious significance, the spiritual value of this Holy Season. It has gotten into the habit of celebrating a secular Christmas by anticipation. The commercial segment of our society begins readying itself to this holiday, even before Thanksgiving is over. I am still stunned to see Christmas decorations in the middle of the streets and in store fronts and everyplace where we can look so early in the year. The signs of the secular Christmas, parties at school, office parties, club parties have become a natural thing for our society in anticipation of Christmas. I have tried to evaluate this and I wondered whether it’s because people really are so filled with the joy of the season that they just can’t wait to celebrate, or that this Holy Feast has no real meaning for them at all and that they will take advantage of any excuse to escape the hum-drum routine of their daily way of living.

I’m afraid that based on an evaluation of many years, I must come to the conclusion that the latter is true. The reason that I make these comments to you is that we have become infected by the maladies of society. We of the Church also celebrate Christmas by anticipation. We celebrate the coming of our Lord before He has come. When we should be fasting, we are feasting, and when we should be feasting, we are so overstuffed from our anticipatory celebrations that we fast involuntarily. Isn’t that ironic? Many of us have taken for ourselves the societal custom of inviting friends and family to our homes to feast on the Eve of the Nativity of Christ, when we should be fasting and preparing ourselves spiritually for the Liturgical Celebration of the Birth of our Lord, when we should be meditating and contemplating our lives so that we can present them at the altar with the newborn Christ and partake of the Chalice which He has given to us in order that we might be born again with Him. Many of us have neglectfully lapsed into the traps which society has laid for us. Christmas becomes a social time of the year to be celebrated from late November until December 25th and then to be forgotten about immediately and as quickly as possible. How many of us have said, “I’m so glad it’s over” when it really has only begun.

Once one of our brothers in Christ picked up the telephone when I called his home, and said “Happy New Year”, and I said, “No, Merry Christmas”, because Christmas is not ended. It is the sacred tradition of the Church that the Nativity of Christ be observed as a festal time until we celebrate His Theophany, His Baptism on the sixth of January. You’ve all heard the carol, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. Well the Twelve Days of Christmas are a Spiritual and Liturgical reality to the practicing Orthodox Christian. Of course we don’t worry about gold rings, and partridges and pear trees but everyday of the Twelve Days of Christmas is a celebration of something concerning the Birth of Christ. The day after Christmas is the celebration of the Feast of the Theotokos. We honor Mary, who was the temple through which Christ was born into the world. And the following days we commemorate such personages as David the ancestor of Christ, and Joseph His step-father, and events such as Christ’s Circumcision.

We remember 40,000 faithful Christians who died for the faith and the 14,000 infants who were slain at the command of Herod because he didn’t want this Christ Child to grow into manhood. Everyday for the Twelve Days of Christmas until we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord, is a Celebration of the Nativity of Christ, therefore, it is a contradiction of terms for us, like that little child that I described at the onset of this sermon, to look for the toys and the pleasures of Christmas in anticipation of the Birth of Christ. For us, as Christians, those six weeks before the actual day of the Nativity, is supposed to be a period of introspection, of self-study, of meditation, so that we might transcend ourselves. Talk about transcendental meditation, Christians have been practicing it for hundreds of years. It is not a time for us to participate in secular celebration. The true Orthodox Christian will refuse to celebrate Christmas before the Lord has been born, and will insist that the Twelve Days of Christmas be the time when he celebrates. Every day should be a Christmas Party from the 25th of December till the 5th of January. Every day is an excuse for feasting and rejoicing because Christ Is Born and we are called upon to Glorify Him.

It is for this reason that we, as your spiritual Fathers, have asked all of the organizations of our churches to celebrate the Birth of the Lord after Christmas and not during the Christmas Fast. It’s not because we’re such disciplinarians, it’s just that we like to put things in their proper order. We will continue calling upon each of you to prepare yourselves for the Coming of our Lord by imposing upon yourselves the proper spiritual disciplines of prayer, repentance, and fasting. We will continue to urge you to stand up like adult men and women in the eyes of God to sing His praises in the midst of the congregation as those who are worthy of His blessings and of the love which He showers upon us. Let us not be victimized by the pleasures and temptations of the society which has been condemned by the words of Christ as being the domain of the prince of this world, who is the prince of Darkness. Let us, rather, as citizens of His Kingdom manifest the glory and the beauty of righteousness and piety that are exemplified in His Birth, in His Ministry, in His Teachings, and in His Example. Then we can bid each other a “Merry Christmas”.

Lenten Transformation: Part 2

Part 2

Well these are the basics of Lent. If we could get a handle on these realities, to really internalize them, we would do more than move mountains. But tonight, I want to take this theme of Lenten transformation one step further. It’s a step we often fail to make. Because if Lent is about transformation, it is not merely about individual transformation. During the next few minutes, I ‘d like us to think about the social implications of prayer, worship, almsgiving, fasting, repentance, honesty about who we are, reconciliation with God and with neighbor. Because, after all, none of these actions take place in a vacuum. We are inherently social beings. The story of Robinson Crusoe—the story of one man marooned on an island, who can do everything himself and needs no one—is a bourgeois myth of the nineteenth century, reflecting the aspirations of Western Europeans of the age. That reality has never existed and will never exist—thank God. And John Wayne--the actor who went it alone, who never showed emotions--well, that was just bad acting.

Of course, if you think about our Orthodox faith, we know this to be true. Every sacrament is social. We began this Lenten journey with Forgiveness Vespers. Let’s note the obvious: we did it together. We asked one another for forgiveness. Our failings and our triumphs are experienced in community, within relationships. We did not prostrate ourselves in front of our bedroom mirror. Salvation, like life, is a corporate affair. We read in Ephesians 4:28 “For we are members of one another.” Perhaps the only thing we truly do alone is go to hell. How unnatural, then, how unlike God’s intention, is that place.

We are social beings. And if this is the case, then all that fasting, praying, almsgiving, reconciliation, soul-searching, should have effects on society. I want us to think about the radical transformation of society that could take place, if we took these Lenten characteristics out of the forty days and applied them to the other 325. But just before I do that, I want to talk about our relationship as Christians to the world around us.

You know, perhaps one of the biggest issues to face Christianity over the last two millennia is Christ’s relationship with culture. Do we reject it, forming isolated communities attempting to be sealed off from the world? Do we say Christ and culture are basically the same—the problem when nationalism and religion get mixed up? Do we say that the calling of God and that of the world forever will make conflicting yet legitimate claims on us, forever placing us in a paradoxical relationship to both God and society? Or do we see Christ as the transformer of culture? [1] There’s that word again, “transformation.” “Christ the Transformer” of culture. I want to argue that when the Orthodox faith particularly and Christianity generally has been true to itself, it has had the effect of transforming the environment in it which it finds itself. Whether we speak of the transformation that took place as Christianity encountered Hellenism, thus changing Hellenism from the inside out, or whether we speak of Christianity’s civilizing influence over the tribes of Northwestern Europe up through the Middle Ages, or the process that took place between the Russian missionaries and the native Aleuts of Alaska in the 19^th century, we can see a pattern wherein Christianity affirms that which God has given a culture, affirms it as good, while rejecting those elements of culture believed to be contrary to the Gospel.

Let me give you an example from the fourth century, with St. Basil the Great and a letter he wrote to some youths preparing to begin studies in Athens, [2] something that he had himself done a couple generations earlier. Now Basil knew that his young charges would be encountering pagan thought, literature, poetry, science, for it was this education that formed the typical Roman citizen. But Basil knew there were pitfalls, he knew there were aspects of this culture that were deeply antithetical to the Christian faith. He writes to them, “At the very outset, therefore, we should examine each of the branches of knowledge and adapt it to our end, according to the Doric proverb, ‘bringing the stone to the line.’” That is, all learning is to be tested to see if it measures up to the Christian standard. Not just in learning, but seemingly in all aspects of life and with all forms of knowledge, the students are commended to seek that which leads to eternity. And they are to discern the possible eternal nature of all of this by placing it up against the Christian standard, exemplified by Christ’s teaching to love God and neighbor.

Now I hear you asking, What about ascetics, the monks? Weren’t they trying to get away from society? Well, yes, but remember, the good ones were there praying for the people back in those cities. And there is a long ascetical tradition of withdrawal that ends in service. This was the case for St. Antony, St. Basil, St. Benedict, St. Gregory Palamas, and for St. Seraphim of Sarov, among others. These two aspects of withdrawal and leadership in service are connected, because without first undergoing ascetical preparation, often for decades, they would not have had the spiritual resources to be spiritual and ecclesial guides and masters. Moreover, as we often read about the in the writings of the Desert Fathers, the great ascetics would soon be discovered and sought out, with monasteries forming soon thereafter—and we see the birth of coenobitic or communal monasticism. So even there in the desert, society cannot be avoided. There is no escaping the social.

---

[1] These basic positions towards culture are examined in H. Richard Niebuhr, Christ and Culture (San Francisco: HarperSan Francisco, 2001).

[2] Saint Basil, “To the Young Men, On How They Might Profit from Pagan Literature.” Saint Basil, The Letters. RJ Deferrari and MRP McGuire, trans. London/Cambridge: W. Heinemann/Harvard University Press, 1961-72, 378-435.

Lenten Transformation: Part 3 Fasting & Almsgiving

Part 3

Fasting

Yet how do we tie Lent into social transformation?  Fasting, praying, almsgiving.  How can these activities affect society?  Let’s look at each one of these in turn.  First, fasting.  You know, my wife Sheri and I spend a lot less on food during Lent.  A diet without meat and dairy can be healthier, but it definitely should be cheaper.  We hear a lot in our country about the need to grow the economy; we’re told to spend—even though most of us are just putting it on a credit card.  I guess the assumption is that we can eventually pay off that visa bill.  But by changing our diet, we are actually being quite counter-cultural.  You see, we’re not just accepting the society’s “Eat more, Buy more, Be more” mentality.  And this is hard.  There used to be a time in America when because of the Catholic population, there were always fish dishes on menus.  Well, now that Catholics are not stressing fasting from meat on Fridays, that has been largely lost.  And so, it seems that there are even fewer voices saying, “No, man does not live by bread alone, but by every word which comes from the mouth of God.”  We need these reminders.  And so does our society, desperately.  Our society, and we are part of it, have become satiated. 

A Lenten attitude brings us back to things as they are. And what is that in this case?  That, in fact, in two-thirds of the world, it is the norm to not eat meat--not for religious reasons but because meat is so expensive. Seeing things as they are means realizing that resources are limited, and should thus should be well-used.  Did you know that in this country one in ten households experience hunger or the risk of hunger, or that 840 million people in the world are malnourished?  One hundred fifty three million of these people are under the age of five.  Churches have been very active in trying to alleviate hunger.  It’s been churches running the soup kitchens reporting an increase in the number of people in their programs, increases that churches can’t match.  The US Conference of Mayors reported that last year requests for emergency food assistance increased an average of 19%.  Also, 48% of those requesting this aid were members of families, and 38% of the adults requesting help were employed, they had jobs.  Some of the reasons given for this include high housing costs, low-paying jobs, unemployment, and the economic downturn. 

Almsgiving

So by looking at fasting and our relationship to food, we may get a sense of what it is like for most of the world’s population; it also moves us towards doing some things about hunger.  Seeing things as they are includes coming to terms with the suffering of our neighbors.  Because if we spend less on our stomachs, if we slow down our lifestyles to support a lighter diet, then we have more time to spend on helping our neighbor, both with our time and with our financial resources.  I want to stress that the best way to give is to give of ourselves.  As Orthodox we believe in the inherent value of persons.  I liked what Father said a couple weeks ago about saying hello to a person on the streets.  So often we avert our eyes, we get scared.  After all, “He might push me beyond my comfort zone.” “He may ask me for something.”  “She may want something I don’t want to give.”  “What if I get embarrassed?”  “Is that person really poor?” “What if he hurts me?” Seeing the face of Christ in the poor takes time; it’s a gift—but it’s also a muscle that develops through the ins and outs of service. 

In 1993 I visited Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity for the first time in Calcutta.  On the third day, a few us were asked to work at a place called Prem Dan.  Among other things, it serves as a shelter for the aged, retarded and disabled.  We donned our aprons and went to work.  But then I saw what we had to do:  I looked out and saw scores of elderly and sick men who needed to be bathed by hand.  I thought to myself, “Dear God, this is too much for me.”  All around were men who looked like concentration camp survivors.   Most were so thin and frail that we had to carry them to the large outdoor baths to be washed.  I remember one man.  He was nineteen years old, dying of tuberculosis.  He was my height, but maybe 60 pounds.  I remember washing him—every part of him--awkwardly, praying for strength.  He looked up at me with these eyes full of life and understanding at the awkwardness of the moment, and a certain amount of quiet resignation.  How beyond my comfort zone was this experience, yet how utterly ridiculous are comfort zones in such situations.  There were few times in my life when I felt like I was doing the right thing, but at this moment, everything made sense. There was no room for rationalizations, for hiding, for the totalitarianism of the ego.  This was one of the most real experiences I had ever had.  The point of the story is that I couldn’t think my way into this understanding; I had to live it, I had to do it.  And isn’t that the way of the Lenten disciplines?  We have do them.  You see, most often, we don’t think our way into a new way of acting, we act our way into a new way of thinking.  And when we’re giving alms, we are not only changing our world, we are changing ourselves one action at a time.

Now the word almsgiving in Greek is “eliomousyne.”  It literally means “doing acts of mercy.” So we should not think of this discipline as even being primarily financial.  It is to imitate the merciful God, by which we mean the God who shows steadfast love.  By imitating God’s steadfast love, we become like God. Nevertheless, doing acts of mercy will probably include the financial element.  As we begin to see Christ in one of the least of these, it is also important to put our resources where our mouths are.  You want to see what people really believe in?  Take a look at how they spend their money.  Through my work with non-profits, I’ve learned that you should be able to figure out the mission and values of the agency by looking at its budget.  If someone were to look at your spending, would there be enough evidence to indict you as a one who cares for the poor? 

Now giving alms in this day and age actually takes careful discernment. In this country we don’t often see beggars sitting at the church doorstep.  Again, this is the reality in many parts of the world, and it certainly was true in the patristic period.  This means that we have a tougher job.  We have to discern the best ways to spend our money and time, the best agencies to work with, the best politicians to elect who believe in helping the poor in the best ways possible.  Now if we’re just rushing from one activity to the next, not thinking about God and neighbor, then it will be nearly impossible to find time.  But if we are dedicated to taking the Lenten lifestyle into the rest of the year, slowing down, taking stock, prioritizing our activities based on our values, then we will find more time. 

Hopefully, you see that when I speak about almsgiving I’m not talking about writing a check. ELIOMOUSYNE.  I’m talking about personal engagement, which might include writing a check.  A lot of us don’t have much money.  But we can give some time, we can give of ourselves, our most valuable commodity.

Lenten Transformation: Part 4 Prayer & Conclusion

Prayer & Conclusion

Which leads us finally to prayer.  We know that without prayer, our ascetical efforts will be short-lived.  Prayer under-girds Lent from beginning to end.  We know this--that’s why there are so many services.  They provide us with the strength to make it through the Lenten journey, just as it’s prayer that will get us through life.  It is prayer that places all things before God, and prayer that transforms us and our world.  Looking at what we’ve discussed so far, it’s prayer that helps sustain and give reason to our fasting.  Also, if we are going to discern how to give alms properly, we need to pray.  Too often Christian agencies seeking to serve the poor lose any power they once had because they foolishly allowed prayer to become an accessory, rather than the foundation.  When that happens, burnout is not far behind, along with ineffectiveness, and loss of Christian witness.  CS Lewis once said that the Christians who did the most for this world were those who never lost sight of the next.  When Christians lose sight of the Kingdom their irrelevance is almost guaranteed.

Fasting, prayer, almsgiving.  These three things have the power, not only to transform us, but to change the society we live in.  Hopefully, I’ve given us a glimpse of how that can happen.  I learned a lot in India—and a lot on the back of a scooter, listening to my co-worker, an Indian pastor named Robin, speak about Christian witness in
India.  He said, “Brother, as Christians, we have two eyes looking out at the world, but we have millions of eyes looking back at us.”  The world sees what Christians are doing.  And what is it that they see? Will they see us loving the world unto transformation, or will they see us as no different at all from everyone else?  Self-centered, self-absorbed, scurrying from one activity to the next while failing to do the one thing needful.  Will they hear us hiding behind high fallutin’ platitudes about loving the poor or will they see us actually serving the poor and looking for long-term solutions to limit poverty as it now exists?  These are serious times, and these are the hard questions we must face.  But the only thing that really proves the Christian faith, proves that “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and upon those the tombs bestowing life,” are churches that actually practice what they preach.  Thank God we have a place like this where we can work to demonstrate the reality of Christ’s Resurrection and His on-going Resurrection in our own lives.

What My Church Means To Me

 Word Magazine  October 1964  Page 13

 

 

  

WHAT MY CHURCH MEANS TO
ME

 

 By
Beverly Maloof — age l5

Church of St. John of Damascus, Boston, Massachusetts

First Prize Winning Oratorical — New England Region of SOYO

 

 

 

In answering this question, I first must express what I consider the church to
be. I feel that the church is something we cannot define, for it has many
meanings. One may say that he goes to church to pray and to be with God. Another
may say that he attends church since society expects it of him. But no matter
how you try to define church, it always refers to the people of God.

 

One important way in gaining God’s true love is to walk in His path, love Him,
and serve Him from the bottom of your heart. St. Cyprian said, “He cannot have
God for a Father who has not the Church for his Mother.” Those who love God and
go to church to worship Him will gain His true love.

 

We all know that churches are temples of worship. But there are many forms and
they all have their own symbolic meaning. A church constructed in the form of a
cross is dedicated to the Savior and represents Christ’s Crucifixion to redeem
sinners. A church built in an oblong shape to resemble a ship denotes that it is
through the church that we are saved. A church constructed in the form of a
circle signifies that the church, like a circle, is endless. In all of these
cases, the church is the main path to the Kingdom of God.

 

I feel that the contents of the church are just as important as the church
itself. Church symbolism dates back to the very beginning of Christianity. The
anchor symbolizes a belief and hope in God. The Gospel is significant of the
Word of God. The censor denotes the warmth of prayer, symbolized by incense.
There are many more wonderful significant contents placed in our church, but the
one closest to me is the cross. The cross symbolizes the Crucifixion of our
Lord, through whom we receive our salvation. Whenever I hold the cross or wear
it around my neck, I feel that the Lord is with me and will continue to be with
me until I die. During the terrible hour of our Lord’s Crucifixion, love was
there — His undying love for us.

 

Love is the key to happiness. Without love and love of your religion, there is
not much to live for. Love is found everywhere throughout the church. St.
John said, “If a man say I love God and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he
that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen cannot love God whom he hath not
seen.” Love was first emphasized by Jesus at the inauguration of the Last
Supper. He loved everyone and asked no reward other than the spiritual
satisfaction of knowing that His action was Godlike. To me, one should feel
nearly the same as Christ did Himself. We attend church not only for the
satisfaction of being there, but knowing that God is with us and we are honored
to be with Him. My way of feeling this satisfaction is through Holy Confession
and Holy Communion.

 

Before I receive Holy Confession, I ask myself many questions, but the most
important one is: am I loyal to God and my church? Before answering this
question, I first must answer other questions. I ask myself if I am an active
member of the church school, abide by the Ten Commandments and respect the Seven
Sacraments. Most of all, do I love my church? If all of these answer yes, I feel
that I am prepared to receive Holy Confession. I feel that Holy Communion has a
deeper meaning than receiving the body and blood of Christ. When the priest
places the substance into my mouth, I feel that Christ is within me and that I
am a new person. I receive a great feeling of hope and love. All of this would
not be possible without my church.

 

The church has another very specific meaning to me. We all know that the church
is the Lord’s house, but to me the church is the body of Christ, with each
member having a specific function and obligation — all working together unto the
same spirit and all characterized by humility and love. If we all live
remembering that the church helps to bring us together as the children of God,
we will live the life of true Orthodox Christians.

 

In conclusion, my Orthodox faith has helped me to discover Christ, to know him,
and to love him. I pray I may be worthy of His love.

 

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What We Should Learn From The School Of Life

 

Word Magazine  October 1964  Page 6-7

 

 WHAT
WE SHOULD LEARN FROM THE SCHOOL OF LIFE

 (A Sermon Addressed To
Orthodox Youth)

 

 

  By Very Rev. Father
Michael Baroudy, Pastor Emeritus

St. George Orthodox Church, Vicksburg, Mississippi

 

 

Life is the greatest institution of learning. And the most important training we
get is not how to make a successful living, but how to make the most of our
lives in friendship, love, service, happiness, and worthy experience. So,
whether in war or peace, prosperity or poverty, the quicker we learn some of the
great lessons life tries to teach us, the closer we will come to being able to
say that our lives have been really worth the living. Whether we can pass the
test in the school of life and finish our record with flying colors, depends on
whether or not we are able to grasp these great lessons life teaches, and
practice them day by day.

 

The first lesson life teaches all of us is to be grateful. It teaches all to
appreciate what others have done for us. Most of the fine blessings we enjoy in
life were made possible to us by others who sacrificed, suffered, and died that
we might enjoy these privileges. There is a question in St. Paul’s letter to the
Corinthians, which I wish every growing Orthodox youth should remember. It asks,
“What is it that you have that was not given to you?” Think of it! Others have
built the churches in which we worship; others have built the schools in which
we study; others have written the books, composed the music, created the arts,
which are ours to have to enjoy. Others have built the roads upon which we
travel; others have made the scientific discoveries which make modern living so
much more comfortable. Others have died and are dying even now that you and I
might live and be free. Not a single step in human progress without someone
sacrificing for it! Others have paid the price that you and I might enjoy life.

 

The second lesson life teaches all of us is that it is a real game. If you want
to play the game and win it, you must learn the rules and obey them. You can
ignore the rules only to your own hurt. We all want something good out of life —
health, happiness, success, freedom, friends, a good home, a true love
experience, some thrills and adventures. Those are all normal desires for every
healthy soul. No one ever really makes a bad wish for himself or herself. Of all
the inmates in our prisons not one ever started his life deliberately planning
to end in prison. They got there because they used wrong and evil methods to get
what they wanted out of life. You can’t get something permanently good out of
life by doing something definitely wrong.

 

This is a very important matter for the young people. It is natural for youth to
go after thrills, adventures, self-expression. But the things many of them do to
get their hearts desire are often tragic. They ruin their lives and spoil their
dreams by ignoring the rules of the game, or by breaking them outright. A large
percentage of our prison population is made up of young people. The things they
did to get thrills and adventures led them to prison.

 

The third lesson life teaches us is that some of the finest things in life have
no price tags on them. Money can’t buy them. Your money may buy you a fine
house, but it can never buy you a real home. Money may buy all the luxuries of a
house, but not true love. It takes a lifetime of living and loving, sacrifices
and devotion to turn a house into a home.

 

That is true everywhere else. Your money may buy a high-powered automobile, but
it can’t buy happiness for you. You have got to earn that. Money may buy you a
political office, but never the faith and respect of your fellow citizens. You
have got to earn that. No amount of money can buy a man a good name that is
better than all the gold in the world, nor a clear conscience, nor yet a passage
to heaven and the most important truth about this matter is this —   the things
that money cannot buy are far more essential for the happiness and welfare of
our souls than the things it can buy.

 

The fourth great lesson life teaches us is that a man seldom gets what he wants
out of life, but if he is wise, he will learn to make the most of what life
hands out to him. Never be discouraged or disappointed just because you do not
get your heart’s desire. Life seldom hands out to a man his first choice. Some
of you are planning to become physicians, but will be forced to accept
something else. Some will want to take up law, but may end up as clerks and
laborers. Some young woman may be dreaming of becoming a great actress, but she
may become an ordinary housewife. Life is always like that. Someone said, “When
life hands you a lemon, add some sugar and make lemonade.” The truth is that
life may hand many of you a lemon. Will you be wise and brave enough to turn it
into lemonade?

 

The last and great lesson life tries to teach those of us who are willing to
learn is that a man’s real value is not so much in what he gets as in what he
gives.  You young people ought to get out of life all you can — education,
technical training, advancement, and success. But in the long run the true
measure of your life is not in what you have and keep for yourself, but in what
you give away. If you would have all the world’s wealth and the best education,
but kept it to yourself, it would be like burying your talents in the ground.
The more you use your talent and ability in some worthy cause, the more you will
get out of life.

 

So let us live for something worthwhile. Always try to fill your records with
kindness, honesty, love and service. And you will have your greatest rewards in
the loving hearts of your fellowmen.

 

What we have said so far would be incomplete and inadequate unless we take into
consideration the directives revealed by God in Jesus Christ our Lord. While God
revealed Himself to men in all the stages of history, yet the revelation of
Himself in His Son Jesus Christ excels and transcends all previous
manifestations, for it was the unfolding and unveiling of God in a particular
and peculiar way. In John 1:18 we read, “No man has seen God at any time; the
only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared Him” and
in St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians, Paul affirms, “For in Him (Jesus)
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”

 

Jesus was a comparatively young man when He initiated the Christian movement,
being thirty years of age. He chose twelve young men to assist Him in the
promotion of the Kingdom of God. These men accompanied Him on all of His
missionary journeys, heard Him preach to thousands of people, witnessed His
power in healing people of all kinds of diseases, even raising the dead. Jesus
founded His Kingdom, not upon fear but upon love, not upon fanaticism, but upon
faith, not upon superstition but upon the truth. Jesus revealed God as Love,
Spirit and Light. The mark of genuine discipleship was love. Said he, “By
this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one for
another.”

 

It was from this nucleus of twelve men — modest insofar as numbers go, modest in
terms of educational, financial, political or social attainment, that it has
grown to be the most sacred, the most powerful instrument for righteousness this
world has ever known. It deals in matters that have to do with the salvation of
human souls, and in life’s higher values. Ours is a faith revealed by Jesus
Christ as to what should be a person’s attitude toward God, toward men and
toward himself.

 

With the permission and the blessings of our great leader, Metropolitan Antony,
I hereby appeal to all Orthodox everywhere to do no less than their best
in promoting peace, unity, and creative good will. Much depends on youth and how
to evaluate their heritage and their religious faith.

 

Today much is said about the high standard of living, but what about the high
standard of thinking for as the Good Book affirms, “As a man thinketh in his
heart, so is he.”

 

Upon the shoulders of all, both clergy and laity, falls the responsibility of
lending a helping hand in guiding the ship of the church, whose Pilot is the
Lord Jesus Christ. The church needs the support of every progressive,
forward-looking, God-honoring and God-fearing Orthodox.

 

I hope and pray that we won’t fail, neither the Lord nor our church leaders in
this hour of sinister, divisive, secularism and infidelity, and stand together
and fight off all sinister influences contrary to sound doctrine and faith.

 

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What Women Can Do For The Church

 

Word Magazine  May 1981  Page 14

 

 

 

“WHAT WOMEN CAN DO FOR

THE CHURCH”

  

 

Some fifty men and women of all Orthodox jurisdictions met recently at St.
Vladimir’s Seminary for a conference on “Women in the Life of the Orthodox
Church.” According to Sophie Koloumzin, the Orthodox religious educator who gave
a summary talk, “If there is any problem which was addressed in all the
workshops and all the speeches of the conference, it is the problem of what
women can do for the church.”

 

The theme was introduced by Bishop Maximos of Pittsburgh, whose keynote address,
“The Orthodox Concept of Personhood and the Particular Charismata that Women
Bring to the Church,” introduced the Orthodox definition of “personhood” as the
human being created by God in the image of God. There is only one image of God,
which each person in his or her call to holiness strives to imitate. Yet each
person is unique, offering unique gifts to the church, which is the society of
persons under God. Bishop Maximos itemized the special gifts that women have to
offer the church. These gifts fall under the category of a great spiritual
sensitivity or “Spiritual Motherhood,” with the highest expression of this gift
being love, and the characteristics being a propensity to perfect, protect, and
nurture all things.

 

Vickie Trbuhovich spoke on “Orthodox Women in American Society.” She listed the
challenges facing “not just women, but men also” as challenges of morality,
lifestyle, commitment, security. “The highest-value that secularism has to offer
is relativity, in which there is no place for a total commitment to anything.”
Her proposed response to the challenge of secularism is “to be aggressive and
tireless in seeking the kingdom of God, to make Christ the center of one’s life,
to spend time in church, and not to be blown away by the quest for financial and
emotional stability.’’

 

Vasiliki Eckley, in her discussion of “New Possibilities of Leadership for Women
in the Orthodox Church,” gave an Orthodox definition of the leader, both female
and male, as “one whose acts through submission and service to God become
examples for others.” The new possibility that comes to humanity through
Christ’s incarnation is an invitation by God to act with God through willful
submission. This new possibility is especially significant in our present-day
“post modern” period, a time characterized by organized struggles to liberate
people in various situations, because of the tremendous need for people to
willingly become instruments of grace in a world “which seems to be coming apart
at the seams.” “If we hope to offer our lives humbly to God, we must face
the challenge of relating to each other in true humility, true service.”

 

The abstract discussion of the speakers was put into more practical terms by the
workshops. Participants attended one of five workshops and presented position
papers on each of the topics during the last day of the conference.

 

The Purification workshop, led by Jean Sam and Father Paul Tarazi, discussed the
Orthodox rite of “churching” a woman forty days after she has given birth,
studied the Old Testament view and laws of purification in their relation to the
natural flow of blood, and in this light tried to understand the New Testament
continuity and transformation of the meaning of this purification rite for both
the woman and the child. The workshop reported, “We find that a lack of
education in the teachings of the Church is pervasive among Orthodox men and
women. This leads to a misunderstanding and incorrect practice of the liturgical
rites of the Church. We recommend that people be educated in the essential
meaning of the rite of churching a woman, which seems to be especially
misunderstood.”

 

The workshop on Church Service and the Diaconate, led by Kyriaki FitzGerald and
Deacon Michael Roshak, discussed the resurgence of lay leadership in the Church,
and recommended exploring the possibility of reinstituting the Diaconate for
women and revitalizing the role of male deacons, in light of the tremendous need
for certain work to be done in the church, specifically teaching, social work,
and spiritual counseling.

 

Women’s participation in the ecumenical movement was lauded in the workshop on
Ecumenism, because of the special message that women who are educated in their
own Orthodox faith can bring to the movement. This workshop, led by Father
Thomas Hopko and Vivian Hampers, concluded that ecumenism is an area in which
women should even more actively serve the Church.

 

“Monasticism is the Christian life in its purest form; it is a clarification of
the Christian life.” The workshop on Monasticism, led by Sister Natalie Garland
of the Monastery of the Veil of our Lady in Bussy-En-Othe, France, Archimandrite
Nicholas Smisko, and Father Gregory Gula, named the qualities of the monastic
life as sacrifice, obedience, and trust in God. Monasticism is a basic, ancient
life, but it is new in North America. The workshop reported, “Although the quest
for spiritual life is not necessarily a call to monasticism, at this time in
North America we need not only monastics who are called by God to a life of
prayer, but also lay people who understand monasticism.”

 

The fact that there is no part of the church body that suffers as much as the
family suffers today was stressed by the workshop on Orthodox Women in the
Family, led by Father Joseph Allen and Elizabeth Vinogradov. “Parents take a
load on their shoulders that they do not have the strength to bear. They don’t
know what to do with the children.” The workshop suggested that women, with
their special gift of “spiritual motherhood,” could counsel and advise families
and family members, thus fulfilling the need for motherhood in the church body.

 

In all the workshops and lectures, participants and leaders found that the
question of what women can do for the church could not be isolated from the
broader context of how lay people can find a place in the Church
where they can serve the Church body with increased spiritual vitality. Because
the conference was the first of its kind in the U.S., discussion of topics
related specifically to women’s participation and influence in Church
life was preliminary and inconclusive, except in isolating issues for further
discussion. The conference mandated that similar conferences be organized on a
local level, for the purpose of incorporating more Orthodox lay people and
broaching issues that were introduced by the national conference.

 

 

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What is Unity by Fr. Christopher Holwey

This
article first appeared in the Adbook for the

1996 Midwest Region Parish Life Conference hosted by

St. Elias Orthodox Church in Sylvania, OH

What
Is Unity?

by Father Christopher Holwey

  

    
The theme of our Parish Life Conference this year is: 
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell
together in unity" (Psalm 133:1).  As
we contemplate the meaning of this verse, it is obvious to us that one of the
key words in this passage is unity.  What,
then, does it mean for us to dwell together in unity?

    
The dictionary defines unity as the state of being one; the state,
quality, or condition of accord or agreement; singleness or constancy of purpose
or action; the combination or arrangement of parts into a whole. 
After reading this, and keeping our focus within the life of the Orthodox
Church, it seems to me that the real origin or prototype of our understanding or
definition of unity, of being of one accord, purpose or action, or combination
of parts into a whole, is found within the nature of the Godhead, the Trinity: 
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

    
We know from Holy Scripture that "The Lord our God is one Lord"
(Deut. 6:4), and that there is "one God and Father of us all, who is above
all and through all and in all" (Eph. 4:6). 
It is the teaching of the Orthodox Church, therefore, that there is only
one God of us all because there is only one Father of us all.  We also know from these verses and many others that when the
name of God is used in Scripture, it refers mainly to the Father Himself, which
means that the Son is referred to as the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit as the
Spirit of God, each coming from the Father in their own unique way. 
When the Jews claimed to have "one Father, even God," Jesus
said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded
and came forth from God; I came not of my own accord, but he sent me" (John
8:42).  Later, Jesus told of the
coming of the Counselor, "...whom I shall send to you from the Father, even
the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father..." (John 15:26). 
The point, then, is that from the beginning, before time, the Son and the
Holy Spirit are forever one with the Father, perfectly united with Him in their
divine and uncreated essence and being, yet distinct in their personhood: 
three Persons, yet one divine Godhead.

     
Furthermore, throughout the Gospel according to St. John alone, we see
many instances of the harmony that exists in the Godhead, where the Son and the
Spirit are in perfect accord or agreement with the Father, with singleness of
purpose or action according to the will of the Father: 
"My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his
work" (4:34); "I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will,
but the will of him who sent me" (6:38); "I do as the Father has
commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father" (14:31);
"No longer do I call you servants,...but I have called you friends, for all
that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you" (15:15);
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 
And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be
with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth" (14:15-16).

    
What does this mean for us?  It
means that we must now follow their example as well, and manifest this unity and
harmony of the Godhead in our world today. 
Under the spiritual guidance and direction of our bishops and priests, we
must all - clergy and laity alike - seek to know God personally as our Father
and Lord, and strive to be one with Him.  Every
time we gather together as the Church, to hear the word of God, to offer our
thanks, prayers, and love to God, and to receive the body and blood of Christ in
holy communion, we "become partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter
1:4), and manifest our oneness and common union with God and with one another. 
This oneness must then translate into common action by our working
together for a common purpose, according to the will of God, in order to
accomplish the work that He calls us to do.

     
So, then, what is unity?  It
is beholding how truly good and pleasant it is for us all to dwell and be
together in God: living and working each day here and now in His being, in His
love, in agreement with His purpose and according to His will. 

When The Preacher Loses God

 

Word Magazine  September 1961  Page 7-8

 

  

WHEN THE PREACHER LOSES GOD

  

 

By Howard W. King

  

An Invitation to Soul-Searching 

 

To mediate God to folk is the lofty privilege of the minister of Christ. It is a
challenging and rewarding service, and to perform it the preacher keeps in touch
with God and men.

 

Peter Ainslie, who served one church in Baltimore for more than forty years,
wrote in Working with God, “As the physician goes on his rounds,
believing that he has the cure for most of the ills of the human body, I go on
my rounds with no less confidence, believing that the gospel of Jesus Christ is
the one cure for all the ills of the soul, . . . and bearing to all the
consciousness of God.”

 

The preacher is deeply interested in guiding men, women and youth into the
knowledge of God; but there are times when it seems that God fades out of our
consciousness. We may become less and less aware of His infinite nearness. We
may not even realize that the glory of the Lord has departed from us. If we lose
God, how can we help others to find Him?

 

In That the Ministry Be Not Blamed, John A. Hutton declared, “The whole
Bible is the record of man’s agony to find God, and having found Him, not to
lose Him.” Since there is the possibility of losing Him, what are some of the
experiences that indicate such loss is imminent?

 

WE MAY LOSE GOD WHEN WE ARE OBSESSED WITH OUR BUSYNESS. The preacher is
so busy responding to the ever increasing calls for his help that he may be
uncertain as to what he shall put first on his schedule, and what he shall leave
undone until another day. But every day becomes hectic, and it seems that he is
never able to do many things he had planned to do.

 

We may neglect thorough systematic study of the Bible. We may postpone a course
of reading which we had hoped to pursue. We may fail to take the necessary time
for private devotions; or, we may hurry through them and thus rob them of their
potential salutary effect on our ministry as a whole. The preacher must decide
what are the most urgent matters to which he will give himself.

 

Thomas Chalmers, the noted Scotch theologian, believed that most failures in the
ministry are due, not to lack of study or visiting or church activities, but to
lack of prayer.

 

What James S. Stewart suggested in Heralds of God is a wise and
profitable procedure, namely,     “. . . whether your congregation be large or
small a great part of your task on its behalf lies in the realm of intercession
. . . I mean praying for every family, each separate soul, by name.” He
advocated praying for about three families a day. Visualize their circumstances,
think of their work, difficulties, temptations. This consumes time, but the
effect on the people and the minister himself would be most helpful.

 

Are we too busy to think about the members of our flock daily, and to pray for
them according to their several needs?

 

WE MAY LOSE GOD WHEN WE ARE OBSESSED WITH BEING A VIP. The preacher’s
self-importance seems justified by his busyness. Why is he so popular? Why are
his services sought by so many? Why is so much praise lavished upon him?
The inference is that he is a very important person. But the preacher’s
seeming greatness may dim his vision of God and dull his sensitiveness to God’s
presence.  As Stewart affirmed, “Nowhere surely are pride and self-importance
more incongruous and unpardonable than in the servant of the cross.”

 

The humble man thanks God that he is being used to help others, and thinks of
himself as Roy Pearson put it in The Ministry of Preaching, “He is more
interested in becoming an instrument than an idol. He is more eager to be
used to the glory of God than to use the glory of God as the means of his own
adulation.”

 

WE MAY LOSE GOD WHEN WE ARE OBSESSED WITH THE PRAISE OF MEN. An
overweening desire for complimentary remarks indicates that we may love the
praise of men more than the praise of God. We may be more interested in
expressions of commendation from the hearers than in discerning the
manifestation of God’s power, and thinking, “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is
marvelous in our eyes.”

 

Inordinate desire for praise makes manifest that the preacher thinks more highly
of himself than he ought to think. He may forget God’s part in the work of
preaching and magnify himself instead of the Lord.

 

David Smith has reminded us in The Art of Preaching that the Greek
rhetoricians were so desirous of praise that they would ask for it after the
deliverance of their orations, saying, “What was your opinion of me?” Another
would boast that his audience was becoming larger. A friend would agree, stating
that there were about five hundred the last time. Whereupon the man would
counter that there were at least a thousand.

 

Christian preachers of that era imitated the Greek rhetoricians, even going
beyond them in their eagerness for praise. Chrysostom stated that if they won
the praise of the assemblage they were as happy as if they had gotten a kingdom;
but if their discourse ended in silence their despondency was unbearable. Some
went so far as to have hirelings in the audience to begin the applause!

 

To us this seems disgusting, profane. Yet it may be that we are often “greedy of
popularity” without making it so plain to others.

 

The words of Wilfred T. Grenfell in his little book, What Life Means to Me,
set forth the ideal toward which we might strive, “Amidst such shifting
scenes the highest reward of life to me would be to be like Jesus.”

 

WE MAY LOSE GOD WHEN WE ARE OBSESSED WITH SERMON MAKING. It is possible
that we may be so fascinated with the task of preparing sermons that they become
an end instead of a means to an end. We may overlook the fact that we are only
instruments in the hands of God. “We are laborers together with God.”

 

It is profoundly significant that many of those who have written books on the
sublime but difficult art of preaching have stressed the supreme importance of
nourishing the preacher’s inner life.

 

“I have seen so many men lose God in sermon making, as the scientist loses Him
in his search of nature,” avowed Ainslie, “that from my earliest preaching I
have sought to guard myself and made preparing my heart more important than
preparing my mind.”

 

James Black advised in The Mystery of Preaching, “Preach what you
believe. It is the one type of preaching . . . with magic in it . . . Only what
is real to you can be real to anybody else. The one sure note of power is
sincerity . . . Without the grace of God and a passion for others, the most
finished discourse is a tinkling cymbal!”

 

“The minister’s own religious experience is the in­comparable source of
preaching” averred Halford E. Luccock in In the Minister’s Workshop. “The
minister’s first equipment for preaching, beside which all else is trivial, is
replenished resources in his own life, and fresh first-hand experience of the
riches of the grace of God.”

 

When we are burdened with busyness and fail to renew our spiritual resources, we
are losing God. When we are afflicted with a serious case of “swellheadedness,”
thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to think, we are losing God.
When we are so enamored of praise that we long for it as a hungry man longs for
food, we are losing God. When the thrill of sermon making supplants the joy of
fellowship with the Eternal, we are losing God.

 

But we can find Him again if we heed the voice of the Lord, “Take my yoke upon
you and learn of me,” the yoke of humility, the yoke of obedience, the yoke of
self-denial.

 

The self protrudes so persistently that the view of the Son of God is
obstructed. We should get out of the way and let the people see the Christ.

 

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Where Have All The Grandmas Gone?

 Again
Magazine, September, 1994, Page 28,29,31 

Where Have All the
GRANDMAS Gone? 

THE
LOST INFLUENCE OF OLDER WOMEN

 IN
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH

By Father John Weldon Hardenbrook

The
godless communist dictator Joseph Stalin inadvertently touched upon one of the
most formidable, yet unheralded sources of power known to the Orthodox Church
when he made the now-famous prophecy, “When the old women of Russia die, the
Church will die.” This statement was recently noted by an American news
anchorman. Speaking of the emerging strength of the Russian Church and the
collapse of communism, he said, “The truth of the matter is that the old women
of Russia never did die.”

 

Stalin knew he could not kill the soul of
the Orthodox Church in Russia without exterminating every pious old woman in the
land. Even Stalin knew he couldn’t get away with doing a thing like that. Most
of those women had lost their husbands to World War II or to the evil and cruel
persecutions suffered at the hands of Soviet butchers. However, no oppressor
could win the war against these grandmothers, the “babushkas.” Like the
Myrrhbearing Women, who, after the burial of Christ, were left to go to the tomb
with their costly spices in their hands, these women were left to anoint the
persecuted Church of Russia with their courage and faith. They guarded the small
eternal flame of life in the Church against the ever-pressing gates of hell.

Countless stories concerning the women of
Russia and their faith and courage have spread around the world over the last
seventy years—stories such as that of the nuns of Shamordino. They were sent
to the Solovki Prison and were taken up to a windy, freezing hilltop in the
Arctic winter to kneel bareheaded with no gloves, for eight hours each day for
three days, in temperatures below freezing, because they would not do hard labor
for “the regime of Antichrist.”

Of course these nuns were prepared, both
spiritually and physically, to face such persecution. Their endurance didn’t
just happen. Their spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, obedience, and
working with their hands had formed them into the women who were found faithful,
unwavering at their time of testing.

The young women of pre-revolutionary
Russia had godly nuns as their examples. Whether they saw nuns being formed in
the spiritual rhythm of life at the nearby convents or the novice nuns who
performed their sacred duties in the local parishes, the younger women of Russia
saw what it meant to be holy. Not only the nuns, but the older laywomen as well,
provided a living image of holiness for the younger women to follow. From this
heritage came in later years a constant flow of strong, selfless, and pious old
women—the old women who “never died” because their faith has never died to
this day.

Russia is not the only land that is graced
with the presence of such saintly and righteous old women. In fact, these
stories are typical of the old women of Greece, Lebanon, Syria, Romania, Serbia,
Egypt, and other countries where Orthodox Christians have had to suffer for
their faith. All the Christian immigrants who have come to America have stories
to tell about the old women “at home”—the women who overcame difficult
circumstances such as war and poverty with such selfless and courageous acts. In
fact, all these stories together make up the history of Christian women. 

WHERE
IS GRANDMA NOW?

My
question is—where are the faithful grandmothers in North America? Did these
women somehow fail to immigrate to our land? Did their daughters and
granddaughters get lost in “the land of plenty” and fail to pass on the
spiritual life and holy traditions of the Church? Why aren’t our women today
maturing into the role that is so needed in our lives? In many Orthodox parishes
throughout North America, Grandma is gone. And I believe we the Church will not
come to the fullness of healthy faith until we get her back. For God has given
such women an incredible gift of strength to overcome the most severe and cruel
obstacles of life when it comes to the need for faith and courage to survive.
The fabric of their lives was formed from the warp and woof of personal hardship
and endurance— including factors such as: 

I)
A life of suffering. Women become strong when they have to, not when they are
given the option to be weak. 

2)
An acceptance of suffering as not only inevitable, but beneficial to the
spiritual life. This is not the same as resignation: rather it is an active
decision to accept suffering as coming from God for the purpose of one’s
salvation, and to cooperate with Him in order to derive the greatest possible
spiritual benefit from it.

     
3) A belief that self-sacrifice is
an integral and beautiful part of the Christian life. For self-sacrifice to be
worthwhile, it must be voluntary, not forced: and it must be undertaken in love,
not with an attitude of false martyrdom.

     
4) A godly order of priorities. One
must, according to Scripture, put love for God first: love for neighbor second;
and love for self third (Matthew 22:37-39).

 CONTEMPORARY
COP-OUTS

 It
is not difficult to see how all these factors have been nearly eliminated
from the lives of modern middle-class American women. Physical suffering has
been reduced to a minimum through prolonged peace (at least within our borders),
advanced medicine, and the highest standard of living the world has ever known.
Mental and emotional suffering are combated through psychology and the self-help
movement. 

What suffering remains—for we can never
eliminate it all—is regarded as an almost unforgivable intrusion into our
lives. Our immediate response is to try to avoid it or overcome it in some way.
If this proves to be impossible, we respond with bitterness and self-pity and
try to find someone to blame. If no human scapegoat is handy, we can always
blame God. 

Given these conditions, self-sacrifice has
naturally acquired a bad name. The feminist movement strives to convince women
that self-sacrifice is forced upon them by male-dominated society, and that the
only way to assert their full personhood is to reject the concept of
self-sacrifice completely and pursue self-fulfillment instead. While fulfillment
is a gift which God longs to bestow on His servants, it is not something we can
achieve by striving for it directly. (“For whoever desires to save his life
will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will
save it” [Mark 8:35].) Self-fulfillment is just another name for self-love.

Self-love, of course, is the most abused
concept of all. Misinterpreting the second great commandment of Christ, “love
your neighbor as yourself,” modern pop psychology has decreed that in order to
be able to love others one must first love oneself—in fact, one must put
oneself first in everything. If there’s anything left over when the self has
been gratified, then we can think about giving to others. In this scenario, God
often ends up in last place. Rather than seeking to serve Him, we try to make
Him serve us. We demand abundant earthly blessings in exchange for the great
sacrifice we make in simply acknowledging His existence. 

This cultural context naturally af­fects
us all, men and women alike. However, because there are more real victims
(of physical and sexual abuse, abandonment, etc.) among women than among men,
women in general have been more encouraged to take up the attitude of
victims—an attitude of weakness, self-pity, and self-absorption rather than
the godly response of strength, perseverance, and forgiveness. Ironically, it
seems that the greater the real suffering a woman experiences, the more likely
she is to respond to her suffering with faith and strength. Women whose lives
are truly tragic have to be strong to survive.

GRANDMA,
COME HOME!

The Church
in America may not be facing overt physical persecution, but she is facing
something potentially much more harmful—the slow attrition in numbers and zeal
brought about by constant contact with a godless society. The Church in North
America is in desperate peril. She is losing her young people at an alarming
rate. Without strong, spiritual older women who are willing to give of
themselves to teach the younger women and to keep the traditions of the Church
alive, the Church will not survive.

We need
desperately the return of pious, fearless, courageous, and godly women to help
protect the interior life of the Church and home. Saint Paul wrote, “Older
women . . . [are to  be reverent in behavior . . . teachers of good things— that
they admonish the young women” (Titus 2:3, 4). No one has more experience and
wisdom to pass on to a younger woman than an older woman. It is always tragic to
come upon a young mother who has gone through needless agony because she failed
to understand this divine order—or could not find an older woman willing to
teach her.

Women are to take the responsibility for
helping to make the Faith come alive in the home. The man should set the course
for the home, but the woman has the gift from God to see that the Faith really
gets “fleshed out” as it applies to each unique situation. It is the woman
who can better ensure that her family keeps the spiritual calendar that sets us
apart from this world, rather than the calendar of this world which leads to
separation from God. Worship, feasts, fasts, prayers, pilgrimages, and festivals
should shape our lives more than sports, restaurants, television, and
movies—the pleasure and entertainment calendar of American culture.

Each Christian home is a “domestic
church.” A wedding is an ordination for service in the domestic church, where
husband and wife are called to a unique sharing in Christ’s priesthood by
their holy crowning. Their home is their church with a small ‘c’. If we have
that view of our homes, they will become the spiritual extension of the Church
which can fill our lives with the things of God. Our children will not survive
in this present culture unless we bring the calendar and the rich traditions of
the Faith into our homes.

A Christian home should look and act like
a Christian home. Family icons, votive lamps, altars, collected sacred objects
(oil, water, palm branches), incense, censer, candles, Bibles, a rule of
prayer— all help proclaim that this home is committed to the life of the
heavenly realm.

Having watched men and women for many
years—as a man, a husband, a father, a grandfather, and a priest—I would say
this to the men: Encourage the women and cooperate with them in their efforts to
nurture the holy traditions of the Church and home.

GUARDIANS
OF THE FAITH

The
faithful older women also are called to help beautify and guard the House of the
Lord. The pious old women of Russia and other Orthodox lands unabashedly take it
upon themselves to correct anyone—even a priest—whom they see behaving
improperly toward the things of God. It is the proper place of older women to
admonish the younger women concerning the proper dress and behavior in church.
You won’t catch a young Russian woman entering a church without a headcovering,
or wearing shorts in a holy place, or venerating an icon with lipstick on. The
“babushkas” would never let them get away with it!

These
women have earned the right to correct others’ behavior not by their age
alone, but by their lifetime of selfless and devoted service to the Church. They
are a living testimony to the words of the psalm: “Those who are planted in
the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still
bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing, to declare
that the Lord is upright” (Psalm 92:13-15, emphasis added).

Let me exhort the older women of the
Church to make every effort to model themselves after the godly women of
Orthodox lands. Educate yourself in the traditions of the Church. Cultivate your
own spiritual life so that you will have good fruit to share with others. Be
willing to give of yourself to help younger women (beginning with your own
daughters and daughters-in-law, if you have them) to live out the Faith in their
homes and with their children. Spend time with your grandchildren, teaching them
the traditions of the Church and their meaning. (See the article “Building the
Domestic Church” for some specific suggestions.) Serve the Church in whatever
way you can, not disdaining the lowlier tasks, such as scrubbing floors, nor
shrinking in false humility from more difficult tasks which you may be called
and gifted to do. Finally, don’t be too intimidated to speak out (in love and
humility, not in self-righteousness) if you see others in your parish failing to
give proper reverence to the things of God.

To the
younger women, I would say, try to find older women to model yourselves after,
and receive their advice and correction with humility and respect. If you cannot
find any such women in the flesh, read the lives of women saints and the
writings and biographies of modern godly women. Do all you can to make your home
a domestic church, and strive to grow into the sort of older woman you would
want to emulate.

ONE
WOMAN’S BOLDNESS

As an example of what one valiant woman
can accomplish, I would like to conclude with a story from modern Serbia.
Monasteries everywhere had been laid waste by the communists. Piles of rubble
were all that remained of the once-thriving communities of monastics. The monks
had been driven away, but the nuns could move about with a certain amount of
freedom as long as they did not try to evangelize or to reconstruct any of the
buildings. But one Mother was determined to rebuild. She began by standing on
the streets of towns and villages with an old shoe box in which she stored any
alms given to aid her endeavors.

Forty years passed and she continued to
add to the meager amounts that were given by compassionate villagers, pilgrims,
or foreign tourists. Finally the time appeared to be right to begin the daring
task. Instead of rebuilding the chapel first, which was the normal procedure.
Mother began by rebuilding the living quarters. Villagers came and labored along
with the few nuns dedicated to the awesome task of reconstruction. Soon
communist officials heard rumors in the village of building going on at the
former monastery and sent agents to investigate.

Searching out the Mother in charge, they
demanded to know what she was constructing. “A home,” was her simple reply.
“For whom?” she was further ques­tioned. “A family,” was the answer
given. “What family?” they asked. She replied, “You do not know this
family.” The officials continued to question and remind her that she did not
have permits to build, but to no avail; so they departed for a time.

Throughout
the following months the building site was regularly inspected and the nuns
questioned and threatened, but this harassment had no visible effect upon their
activity. Finally one day, after enduring a barrage of harassment and
interrogation, Mother confessed to the communist agents, “I am rebuilding
God’s house. This is a monastery.”

The officials screamed in her face,
“There is no way you can do such a thing! You know this activity is totally
illegal! We will return and this must all be torn down immediately!”

With flaming eyes and set mouth. Mother
turned on her heel and stormed into the brick building in which the workers
lived. Just as quickly she returned and in her hand was a revolver, pointed
directly at the spokesman of the interrogators. “I am rebuilding God’s house
and you will not stop this work of God. Get out of here!” she cried.

The officials cursed and screamed. “Are
you crazy, old woman?” She replied, “Shall I show you just how crazy I
am?” She extended the gun with a deadly calm and slowly began to squeeze the
trigger. Cursing, the communist officials began to back away, then turned and
hurried to their car and drove away. That was in 1987, and they never returned.
The nuns continued their work until the entire monastery was rebuilt, and it is
now a thriving community of believers in Serbia.

May God raise up for us a generation of
courageous and truly pious women with this kind of conviction and fortitude—
women who refuse to compromise and who keep us connected with the daily life of
the Church. May the women of God help us all to live set apart from this fallen
world. 

 

Who Are You?

 

Word Magazine  October 1968  Page 14

 

  

WHO ARE YOU?

 

  

Father Vladimir Berzonsky

Holy
Trinity Church, Parma, Ohio

  

 

“Judge not,
that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be
judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.”   
(MATTHEW7:1)

  

It’s interesting the way a person is evaluated; the method changes from one
generation to another. Notice, for example, when you are introduced to somebody,
how your new acquaintance goes about learning more about you.

 

The older generation, those more than sixty years of age, always ask about your
origin. Where were you born? Where did your parents and grandparents come from?
Apparently from learning what city or village in Europe your ancestors
originated, they feel able to know you better and to understand your behavior,
personality, likes and dislikes.

 

To anyone less than sixty, origin and nationality are not so important. ‘They
ask, “What do you do?” They evaluate a person by his occupation. To simplify,
they judge the status of a man by his income bracket. We hear, “He’s a $7,000 a
year man.”

 

To assist that type of character analysis, maybe we should leave the price tags
on the sleeves of our suits and dresses, and on the left rear window of our
automobiles. What really does this say about a person? After all nothing
essentially changes in the man who moves from 137th Street to “Worstershire
Regal Estates.”

 

Nevertheless, we continue the hypocrisy of judging a man by his market value in
our society, even if this has nothing to do at all with his real self. He may be
a “big man” in the business world, yet a tyrant and a bully in his home. Another
man, working at the same machine for forty years, can be more full of the wisdom
of the world, concern for humanity, love for his family, his faith and his world
than any tycoon listed on the benefactor plaque at the public museum.

 

Christ warns us not to form judgments about others, not because it’s “not nice,”
to evaluate them, but because it’s impossible. We who don’t really even know
ourselves, can only make broad guesses at the personalities of others on the
basis of what they like, what they wear, how they act and where they “come
from.” How can a boy on the sidewalk with his nose pressed to the window know
what the cake inside tastes like? He can only judge by what he sees. We know
people only by the way they look and act. Their souls remain a secret, silent
mystery. It is much more profitable for us to try and fathom our own souls,
putting aright what is wrong with ourselves, before we begin straightening
others.

 

Depression, alcoholism and despair result when a man believes he is only worth
the price our society puts on him.

 

We in the Church must reach these men and convince them that we are not part of
the “Establishment;” that in the Holy Name of our Lord every person’s soul,
every human being has a value far greater than his “trade-in” value he has to
sell in our society.

 

Just as Jesus, so we too must not judge a person by the values of society, but
by the virtues of his heart. Those who are blessed: the poor in spirit, the
humble, the pure, the charitable, are known to God alone.

 

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Who Cares? The Relationship Of Clergy And Laity

Word Magazine  June
1998  Page 8-9 

 

 

WHO
CARES?

 

THE
RELATIONSHIP

OF
CLERGY AND LAITY

 

 

By Father Joseph Allen

 

 

Whether
one is priest or parishioner in the “symphony” of the Orthodox Christian
parish, the question which strikes at the fundamental nature of our life together
is, “Who cares?” If we are serious about our parish life being a reflection
of the perfect Community, the Trinitarian Community of Father, Son and Holy
Spirit, then this question becomes that much more critical to the Church.

 

When the
Prophet Micah asked that same question, “Who cares?” he quickly answered it
by telling us how to care with this formula:

 

And
what does the Lord require of thee? To do justice, to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with your God (Micah 6:8).

 

Such are
the components of what St. Basil the Great called an “atmosphere” in which a
true caring community grows: to do justice, to love mercy, to walk humbly with
your God. And when God became human in the flesh of Jesus Christ, “when he
pitched his tent among us” (John 1:14), this atmosphere of care received its
ultimate affirmation: it is God who cares first (1 John 4:19). And so
today we speak not only of a community, but a veritable Christian community.

 

But does
all this mean that the atmosphere can exist today without our own efforts? Can
the proper symphony of clergy and laity function so that this atmosphere prevails,
without our own work? Of course, we already know the answer.

 

Depending
on our individual experiences, however, each person will probably be able to
note when he or she saw that Christian atmosphere break down. In turn, this
breakdown in atmosphere can occur between clergy and laity or simply among the
laity. And when it does occur, the question will again be raised: “Who
cares?” The atmosphere rapidly degenerates.

 

Allow me
two examples, one which is contemporary and specific, and a second, ancient and
universal.

 

The first
example is specific to the clergy-laity breakdown, one in which the atmosphere
was not Christian but pharisaic: The young priest was sent to his first assignment
as pastor of a long-established community. He knew “what the Lord required: to
do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God.”  His intention was to create just such an atmosphere where the
Holy Spirit could take root.  But
the parish council in that community told the Bishop that they would “put him
to the test.” The Bishop knew the young man and had every confidence that he
could stand any test put to him. After Liturgy during his first month there, the
parish picnic was scheduled, and they all went out to the local lake as was
their custom. They normally would all gather on the boat with all their supplies
and cross over to the island. And so they did. However, this time as they were
halfway over, a member of the parish council suddenly said, “Oh no, we forgot
the hot dogs!” Someone would have to swim ashore to get them.

 

The new
pastor realized that this was one of those tests, and recalled that the Bishop
did warn him that they would indeed test him. Finally, he closed his eyes like
St. Peter, when at the raging of the sea he asked Our Lord to “call him.”
That young pastor then opened his eyes, got out of the boat and walked on the
water to the shore, where he retrieved the hot dogs. The parishioners were
stunned, forgetting Our Lord’s words:

 

“These
things will you do, and greater things will you do!” They stood amazed and in
silence, until, that is, the leader of the pharisees among them, still seeking
to find some fault, said, “See, I told you the Bishop would send us
someone who could not swim!”

 

The
atmosphere needed in our parish is one in which each of us will see the good
intent of the person who, when asked “Who cares?” will respond “I care!”
We simply will need “eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to perceive”
(Isaiah 6:10, Mark 8:18), rather than a cynical pre-judgment which is the
hallmark of the pharisee’s attitude.

 

The
second example is an ancient one which has a universal meaning, that is, for all
of us, clergy and laity alike. It is a story which we have all heard, but which
I should like now to frame in our present context regarding that atmosphere
which answers the question “Who cares?” It is found in the Gospel of St.
Luke, Chapter Ten, and the scriptural scholars claim that in their encounter we
probably get the clearest example of the interactions in which Our Lord
participated.

 

“A
certain lawyer came to Jesus and asked, ‘What do I have to do to inherit
eternal life?’ “ The scholars say this is the trickiest question in the
Mosaic law. But Our Lord, being a good Middle Eastern man, answers the question with
a question: “Well, you know the law: what does it say?”

 

The
lawyer: “The law says, you shall love the Lord your God with all that you are:
your mind, heart, soul, etc., and your neighbor as yourself.”

 

Jesus
says: “Fine.” That’s all he says: “Fine! You’ve got it right.”

 

But this
is a shrewd lawyer, and he is trying to “justify himself,” trying to
“entrap” Jesus: “But who is my neighbor?”

 

And we
all know what Our Lord does in response: He tells the story of the Good
Samaritan. The Levite passes by. The Priest passes by. The Samaritan crosses
over. And Jesus ends the story with another question: “Now, who proved to be
the neighbor?” “The one who showed mercy.” “Good, go and do likewise!”

 

It is the
Samaritan, the least likely one, who answers “Who cares?” with “I care.”
He is the one who shows the lawyer — and all of us — what the atmosphere
must be like in our parishes. At each point in the story, there is a movement
from the abstract to the concrete, and this is critical because our faith is no
longer Christian Faith until it becomes concretized.

 

When this
lawyer asks “Who is my neighbor?” he would love to get Jesus up in that
beautiful web of the mind. “Well, let’s see: my neighbor is the one who is
within shouting distance, or that I can reach within sixty steps, or who comes
to the same synagogue.” Those kind of “law” questions, those kind of
“mind” questions. But he can’t get away with that: Jesus will not stay up
there in the ice of the mind. He tells the story of the Good Samaritan, what is
called perhaps the most concrete of stories in the entire New Testament.

 

Pay close
attention: with each step of the story into the concrete, we are taken ourselves
into the concrete: the Samaritan picks up the man, rubs oil on his wounds, puts
him on the donkey, takes him to the inn, pays — pays again for that day, pays
for the next day — and will pay for whatever that room and board will
cost when he returns. All very concrete factors. And slowly the lawyer is forced
out of the abstract ice of the mind into the concrete reality of living —
there, where he cannot “play with it” like philosophy. And we learn,
do we not, the real message of ministry, whether of clergy or laity: ministry is
as time-consuming, as expensive, and as “messy” as this process is! That is
the message which is pushed into the lawyer’s mind and into our minds.

 

And so,
both examples, the contemporary one of the young pastor and the ancient one from
Luke’s Gospel, are reminders that if the clergy-laity symphony is to work at
all in our parishes, then we will have to do what the Lord requires of us: “to
do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God.”

 

In this
way we create that atmosphere in which the question “Who cares?” can be
properly answered, “I care!”

 

 

 

Father
Joseph, Director of Theological and Pastoral Education in our
Archdiocese, is North American Chaplain of The Order of St. Ignatius and Pastor
of St. Anthony’s of Bergenfield, NJ.

 

 

Who Gave Us The New Testament?

WHO GAVE US THE NEW TESTAMENT?

By Fr. A. James Bernstein

“The history of early
Christianity clearly reveals that God used His Church, composed of
flesh-and-blood Christians, as active participants in the process of selecting
and establishing the New Testament canon, just as He used real people —with
feelings, emotions, unique backgrounds and perspectives—to write the
twenty-seven separate books.”

Sometimes it is
easy to overlook the obvious.  Take,
for instance, the New Testament.  Even
though  every Christian 
really knows better, it is easy to forget that the New Testament was not
written as one continuous book. Rather, it is a collection of twenty-seven
shorter writings which were penned by a variety of authors at differing times
and geographical locations and compiled much later. Nowhere in the New Testament
do we find a list of what books belong in the New Testament. The “canon” of
Scripture is, of course, not “scriptural.” 

This
brings up anther important question which may not be so obvious. Who, then,
decided which books should be included in the New Testament canon and which ones
left out?

As a
Jewish convert to Christianity via evangelical Protestantism, I once refused to
acknowledge that the Church had anything to do with compiling the
New Testament. I wanted to believe God chose and collected these books without
human involvement. The books, I assumed, somehow validated themselves beyond all
reasonable doubt, and early Christians merely recognized their obvious
scriptural status. 

Though
there is some degree of truth in this position, it is by itself naive and
unbalanced. The history of early Christianity clearly reveals that God used His
Church, composed of flesh-and-blood Christians, as active participants in the
process of selecting and establishing the New Testament canon, just as He used
real people—with feelings, emotions, unique backgrounds and perspectives—to
write the twenty-seven separate books. 

WHAT
BIBLE DID THE APOSTLES USE?

“All
Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (II Timothy 3:16). I had always
assumed that the “Scripture” spoken of in this passage included both the Old
and New Testament. In reality, there was no official “New” Testament
when this statement was made. Even the Old Testament was still in the
process of formulation, for the Jews did not decide upon a definitive list or
canon of Old Testament books until after the rise of Christianity.

As I
studied further I discovered that early Christians used a Greek translation of
the Old Testament called the Septuagint. *  This translation, which was begun in Alexandria, Egypt, in the
third century B.C., contained an expanded canon which included a number of the
so-called “deutero-canonical” books. Although there was some initial debate
over these books, they were eventually received by Christians into the Old
Testament canon.

In reaction to the
rise of Christianity the Jews narrowed their canons and eventually excluded the
deutero-canonical books—although they still regarded them as sacred. The
modern Jewish canon was not rigidly fixed until the third century A.D.
Interestingly, it is this later version of the Jewish canon of the Old
Testament, rather than the canon of early Christianity, which is followed by
most of the Protestant Church today.

HISTORY
IN THE MAKING

The
history of the New Testament canon and  
its development is a fascinating subject — and 
crucial to the understanding of both the Bible and the Church. For
over two hundred years a number of books we now take for granted as being part
of the New Testament were disputed by the Church before being included. Many
other books were considered for inclusion, but eventually excluded. I was
shocked when I first discovered that the earliest complete listing of all
twenty-seven books of the New Testament was not given until A.D. 367, by
Athanasius, a bishop in Egypt.

This
means that the first complete listing of New Testament books as we have them
today didn’t appear until over 300 years after the death and Resurrection of
Christ. Imagine it! If the New Testament were begun at the same time as the U.S.
Constitution, we wouldn’t see a final product until the year 2087!

During
the first four centuries there was substantial disagreement over which books
should be included in the canon of Scripture. The first person we know of who
tried to establish a New Testament canon was the second-century heretic,
Marcion. He wanted the Church to reject its Jewish heritage, and in so
doing dispense with the Old Testament entirely. Marcion’s canon included only
one Gospel, which he himself edited, and ten of Paul’s epistles. That’s it!

Many
believe that it was partly in reaction to this distorted canon of Marcion that
the early Church determined to have a clearly defined canon of its own.
The destruction of Jerusalem in A.D.70, the breakup of the Jewish-Christian
community of Jerusalem, and the threatened loss of continuity in the oral
tradition probably also contributed to the sense of urgency to standardize the
list of books Christians could rely on.

THE
GOSPEL ACCORDING TO WHOM?

The four
Gospels were written from thirty to seventy years after Jesus’ death and
Resurrection. In the interim, the Church relied on oral tradition—the accounts
of eye-witnesses—as well as scattered documents and written tradition. I was
very surprised to discover as I first studied the early Church that many
“Gospels” besides those of the New Testament canon were circulating in the
first and second centuries.

These
include the Gospel according to the Hebrews, the Gospel according to the
Egyptians, and the Gospel according to Peter, just to name a few.

The New
Testament itself speaks of the existence of such accounts. Saint Luke’s Gospel
begins by saying, “Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order
a narrative of those things which are most surely believed among us. . . it
seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things
from the very first, to write to you an orderly account. . .“ In time, all but
four Gospels were excluded from the New Testament canon.

In the
early years of Christianity there was even a controversy over which of
the four Gospels to use. The Christians of Asia Minor used the Gospel of
John rather than the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Based upon the Passion
account contained in John, Christians in Asia Minor celebrated Easter on a
different day than those in Rome, which resisted the Gospel of John and instead
used the other Gospels. The Western Church for a time hesitated to use the
Gospel of John because the Gnostic heretics also made use of it in addition to
their own “secret Gospels.”

Another
controversy arose over the issue of whether there should be separate Gospels or
one single composite Gospel account. In the second century, Tatian, who was
Justin Martyr’s student, published a single composite “harmonized” Gospel
called the Diatessaron. The Syrian Church used this composite Gospel in
the second, third, and fourth centuries. This is the very Church to which “the
Nazares” (Jewish ­Christians of Jerusalem) eventually migrated after the fall
of Jerusalem to the Romans in A.D. 70. The Syrian Church did not accept all four
Gospels until the fifth century. They also ignored for a time the three epistles
of John, and Second Peter.

OTHER
CONTROVERSIAL BOOKS

My
favorite New Testament book, the Epistle to the Hebrews, was clearly excluded in
the Western Church in a number of listings of the second, third, and fourth
centuries. Prominent among reasons for excluding this book were concerns over
its authorship. Primarily due to Augustine and his influence upon certain North
African councils, the Epistle to the Hebrews was finally accepted in the West by
the end of the fourth century.

On the
other hand, the book of Revelation, also known as the Apocalypse, written by the
Apostle John, was not accepted in the Eastern Church for several centuries. Once
again, questions concerning authorship of the book were at the source of the
controversy. Among Eastern authorities who rejected this book were Dionysius of
Alexandria (third century), Eusebius (third century), Cyril of Jerusalem (fourth
century), the Council of Laodicea (fourth century), John Chrysostom (fourth
century), Theodore of Mopsuesta (fourth century), and Theodoret (fifth century).
In addition, the original Syriac and Armenian versions of the New Testament
omitted this book. Many Greek New Testament manuscripts written before the ninth
century do not contain the Apocalypse, and it is not used in the liturgical
cycle of the Eastern Church to this day.

Athanasius
supported the inclusion of the Apocalypse, and it is due primarily to his
influence that it was eventually received into the New Testament canon in the
East. The early Church actually seems to have made an internal compromise
on the Apocalypse and Hebrews. The East would have excluded the Apocalypse from
the canon, while the West would have done without Hebrews. Simply put, each side
agreed to accept the disputed books of the other.

WHO
DECIDED?

With the
passage of time the Church discerned which writings were truly Apostolic and
which were not. It was a prolonged struggle taking place over several centuries
in which the Church decided what books were her own. As part of the process of
discerning, the Church met together in council. These various Church councils
met to deal with many varied issues, among which was the canon of Scripture.

These
councils met to discern and for­mally confirm what was already generally
accepted within the Church at large. They did not legislate Scripture as much as
they set forth what had become self-evident truth and practice within the
Churches of God. The councils sought to proclaim the common mind of the Church
and reflect the unanimity of faith, practice, and tradition of the local
Churches represented.

The
Church Councils provide us with specific records in which the Church spoke
clearly and in unison as to what constitutes Scripture. Among the many councils
that met during the first four centuries, two particularly stand out:

1. The Council of
Laodicea, which met in Asia Minor, around A.D. 363. This council stated that
only canonical books of the Old and New Testaments should be used in the Church.
It forbade reading other books in Church. It enumerated the canonical books of
our present Old and New Testaments, with the exception of the Apocalypse of
Saint John. This is the first council which clearly listed the canonical books.
Its decisions were widely accepted in the Eastern Church.

2.
The Third Council of Carthage, which met in North Africa, around A.D.
397.This Council, attended by Augustine, provided a full list of the
canonical books of both Old and New Testaments. The 27 books of the present day
New Testament were accepted as canonical. It also held that these books should
be read in the Church as Divine Scripture to the exclusion of all others. This
Council was widely accepted as authoritative in the West.

A QUESTION OF AUTHORITY

As I
said at the beginning of this article, the history of the New Testament canon
and its development is crucial to a proper understanding of both the Bible and
the Church. The implications are indeed profound, and they call for some serious
heart-searching on the part of all Christians. I would like to conclude on a
personal note by showing you exactly how profound these implications can
be. For they brought about some radical changes in my life—not only in how I
came to approach Scripture and its interpretation, but in how I now relate to
Christ’s holy Church in its historical expression. 

Soon
after my own conversion to Christianity I found myself getting swept up
in the tide of Christian sectarianism which is so pervasive in the Protestant
world. In fact, I eventually became so sectarian that I came to believe that all
Churches were non-biblical. To become a member of any Church was to
compromise the Faith. A close friend of mine even wrote a book called The
Bible Versus the Churches, in which he argued that the Bible was true, and
in conflict with Churches, all of which were false. 

For me,
Church became “the Bible, God, and me.” My attitude towards others was,
“Tell me what you believe and I’ll tell you where you’re wrong!” Even my
Christian friends became suspect. And my friend who wrote The Bible Versus
the Churches came to believe that the Bible was in conflict with me
as well! We parted ways.

This
hostility towards Churches fit in well with my being a Jew. I naturally
distrusted Churches because I felt they had betrayed the teachings of Christ in
having persecuted or passively ignored the persecution of the Jews
throughout history. As I became increasingly sectarian, indeed even obnoxious
and anti-social, I slowly began to realize that something was seriously wrong
with my approach to Christianity. I also realized that many of my
Jewish-Christian brethren had also fallen into an elitist and sectarian
“super-Christian” mold, believing that they were on a mission to clean
up “Gentile Christianity.”

This
realization led me to a sincere study of the history of the early Church,
where I discovered four centuries of discussion and debate over which books
should be included and excluded from the New Testament canon. It soon became
clear to me that I was dealing with a larger issue— the issue of Church
authority.

Biblical
scholarship had given me four criteria to determine if a book was to be included
as canonical.

1. It
must be written by Apostles or disciples of the Apostles.

2. It
must be considered inspired of God.

3. It
must be accepted by the Church.

4. It
must conform to the oral tradition and rule of faith taught by the Church.

I had no
difficulty accepting the first two criteria. I wrestled mightily, however, with
the thought that the Church had been given the authority to judge what books
composed Scripture. Ultimately, it came down to a single issue. I already
believed that God spoke authoritatively through His written Word. Could I now
accept the fact that He spoke authoritatively through His Church as well—the
very Church which had protected, preserved, and actively produced the Scriptures
I held so dear?

THE CHURCH OF THE NEW
TESTAMENT 

For the
earliest Christians, God spoke His Word not only to but through His
Body, the Church, and it was within His Body, the Church, that the Word
was confirmed and established. Without question the Scriptures were looked upon
by early Christians as God’s active revelation of Himself to the world. At the
same time, the Church was looked upon as the household of God, “having been
built on the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being
the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows
into a holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:20-21).

There
was no organic separation between Bible and Church as we find so often today.
The Body without the Word is without message, but the Word without the Body is
without foundation. As Paul says in I Timothy 3:15, “The church of the
living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” The Church is the living body
of the incarnate Lord. She is an integral part of the Gospel message and it is
within the context of the Church that the New Testament was conceived and
preserved.

This
study was instrumental in my eventual conversion to the Orthodox Faith.
If the Church was not just a tangent or a sidelight to the Scripture, but rather
an active participant in its development and preservation, then it was time to
reconcile my differences and abandon my prejudices. Rather than try to judge the
Church by my modern understanding of what the Bible was saying, I needed to come
into union with the Church that produced the New Testament, and let her guide me
into a proper understanding.

To make
a long story short, I am now an Orthodox priest serving in Seattle, Washington,
and am striving to witness to the power of God’s Holy Church. To those
who, like I once did, stand dogmatically on “Sola Scriptura,” in the process
rejecting the Church of God which not only produced the New Testament, but also
selected through the guidance of the Holy Spirit those books which compose the
New Testament, I would say only this:

Study
the history of the early Church and the development of the New Testament canon.
Use source documents where possible. (It is amazing how some of the most
“conservative” Bible scholars of the evangelical community turn into cynical
and rationalistic liberals when discussing Church history.) Examine for yourself
what happened to God’s people after the 28th chapter of the book of Acts.

If you
examine the data and look with objectivity at what occurred in those
early days, I think you will discover what I discovered. The history of God’s
Church didn’t stop with the first century. If it had, we would not possess the
New Testament books which are so dear to every Christian believer. The
phenomena of separating Church and Bible which we see so prevalent in much of
today’s Christian world is a modern phenomena. Early Christians made no such
artificial distinctions.

Once you
have examined this data, I would encourage you to find out more about the
historic Church which produced the New Testament, preserved it, and selected
those books which would be part of its canon. Every Christian owes it to himself
or herself to find out more about this Church and to understand its vital role
in proclaiming God’s Word to our own generation.

Fr.
A. James Bernstein is the pastor of Saint Paul Orthodox Church in Lynnwood,
Washington.

 

* THE PSALTER
ACCORDING TO THE SEVENTY

The Use of the
Septuagint by the Early Church

What Old
Testament text did early Christians use when they prayed the Psalms? 
Many are surprised to learn that the official text was not the
Hebrew or Masoretic text which forms the basis of most modern English
translations today.  In order to
understand why, it is necessary to know something of the background of the text
of the Old Testament. 

At the
time of Christ, the Apostles, and the early Church, Hebrew had long since ceased
to be the commonly spoken language, even among the Jews.  Although Jesus understood Hebrew, He would have spoken
Aramaic – the common language of Palestine – with His disciples. ; Jesus and
His disciples were probably familiar, at least to a certain extent, with Greek,
the common language of the Roman Empire. 

Because
Greek was the most widely spoken and read language of the empire at large, a
translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek had been accomplished,
according to tradition, by seventy translators, in the city of Alexandria,
during the third century before Christ.  The
name Septuagint means “according to the seventy.” 
The Septuagint, or LXX, was without question the most common text of the
Scriptures at the time of Jesus and the Apostles. 
It was the Old Testament of the early Church.

The
other text used at that period was the Hebrew text that had been preserved by
the rabbis and scribes of Israel.  Those
who read today about scriptural manuscripts will have undoubtedly run across
references made to the “masoretic” texts, which means the texts of the
scribes (who were known as “masoretes”).

In the
first century, after the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, and
the end of the Jewish priesthood, the authority of the rabbis in Israel became
absolute.  Before that time the
rabbis occupied a position secondary to the priests. 
The rabbis and scribes distrusted anything that was not written in the
traditional Hebrew language, and consequently they rejected the Septuagint text. 
But for the early Church the Septuagint was always used. 
When the New Testament quotes the Old, which it frequently does, and when
it quotes the Psalms, which it very frequently does, it quotes the Septuagint
text exclusively.  That is one of
the reasons why the Orthodox Church today still continues to use the Septuagint
text.

From
what Hebrew text was the Septuagint translated? 
The actual Hebrew manuscripts which formed the basis of this translation,
centuries before Christ, have been lost.  The Orthodox Church believes that the Hebrew text upon which
the Septuagint is based is actually older and more venerable than the Hebrew
text of the scribes.

Though
both texts, the Masoretic text and the Septuagint, are quite similar in many
ways, there are significant differences.  These
differences can primarily be summed up by saying that the messianic prophecies
found throughout the Psalms and the prophetic writings are far more explicit in
the Septuagint text than in the Masoretic text.

A
careful study of the Psalms reveals how crucially different the Septuagint text
is in these messianic portions.  Orthodoxy
regards the intensification of messianic prophecy that occurred in the
Septuagint text to be the inspiration of the Holy Spirit preparing Israel for
the coming of the Savior.  As the
time of the Messiah drew nearer and nearer, the prophecies of His coming became
more and more explicit.

For the
most part, translators during and after the Reformation, in an attempt to get
back to what they thought were the roots of the Old Testament text, chose
to use the Hebrew texts of the scribes and rejected the traditional use of the
Septuagint.  Therefore the Bibles
most commonly available in English, whether they be NKJV or RSV or another
English translation, are translations of the Hebrew text of the scribes, not
translations of the Septuagint.  The
traditional text of the Orthodox Church, however, whether it be in her singing
of the Psalms in worship, or her study of the Old Testament, is still the text
of the early Church:  the
Septuagint.

Who Is The New Israel

Again
Magazine Volume 12  Number 4  December 1989  Page 25-28 

WHO IS
THE NEW ISRAEL

By
John W. Morris, PH.D 

On
May 14, 1948, thirty-eight people gathered in Tel Aviv to establish the modern
state of Israel. The establishment of this state provided a cause of great
rejoicing for the Jews who had waited and prayed for an opportunity to return to
a land they believed rightfully belonged to them. For the Palestinian residents
already living in this land as they had for centuries, the news was the
beginning of yet a new chapter in a history filled with tragedy, oppression, and
struggle. Even before that fateful day, war and bloodshed had already begun to
curse the Middle East as two peoples fought for control of the same land. 
 

 

Both the Jews
and the Palestinians claim the Holy Land as their ancient ancestral home. As a
result, Israel has fought a series of wars with its Arab neighbors, invaded
Lebanon, and carried on raids against Palestinians throughout the Middle East.
The Palestinians have responded with terrorist attacks against Israeli targets
both within and outside of Israel. More recently, the native Palestinian
population of the East Bank of the Jordan and the Gaza, occupied by the Jewish
State following the war of 1967, has revolted against their conquerors,
unleashing yet another series of clashes as the Israelis frequently use brutal
tactics to halt the uprising. 
 

 

Throughout the
bloody recent history of the Middle East, the United States has been a steadfast
ally of the Jewish State, sending billions of dollars in military and other
assistance. Much of this unconditional support has come from a surprising sector
of middle class America: conservative and evangelical Christians. The reason for
this support has been the adamant conviction among these Christians that the
establishment of modern Israel is the direct fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. 
 

 

Is such unconditional support warranted? Do the
Scriptures in fact teach that the establishment of modern Israel constitutes a
direct fulfillment of Biblical prophecy? Is the only appropriate Christian 
response to the violent events of the Middle East one of unconditional
support for the Jewish cause and unilateral resistance to the plight of the
homeless Palestinians? 
 

 

A TIME FOR REFLECTION 
 

 

Never
in the recent history of the violent Middle Eastern powder keg has there been
more reason for neutrality and objectivity on the part of the United States. The
events of the past few years have revealed to many that the Palestinians on the
West Bank and the Gaza have legitimate claims to land and self-government. At
the same time, moderate Arab leaders like Hosni Mubarek of Egypt, and even
Yassir Arafat of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, have realized that the
Palestinian people will never regain complete control of all of Palestine. Thus,
they have expressed a willingness to recognize Israel in return for Jewish
recognition of a Palestinian State in those areas with a Palestinian majority. 
 

 

Many Israelis, including
Shimon Peres and Yitshak Rabin of the Labor Party, are now realizing the
futility of continued struggle with the Palestinians and have expressed a
willingness to trade land for peace. Thus, after over 40 years of bloody
fighting, a real possibility for peace in the Middle East exists on the basis of
a compromise between the warring parties, provided that the moderate voices in
Israel are able to win the support of the majority or persuade the members of
the hard-liners to moderate their position. 
 

 

It might
seem that such occurrences would and should persuade most Christians to abandon
unconditional support for Zionist [see inset] expansion and to enter
wholeheartedly into the process of reconciliation. However, a group of largely
conservative Protestant leaders continue to steadfastly support the Zionist
cause in its most extreme form. The Rev. Jerry Fallwell, a leading
Fundamentalist, once wrote: “If this nation wants her fields to remain white
with grain, her scientific achievements to remain notable, and her freedom to
remain intact, America must continue to stand with Israel”  
(Listen America; New York, 1980, p. 98). 
 

 

A CHART FOR ALL SEASONS 
 

 

Fallwell and the
others who demand unconditional support for Israel consider the modern Jewish
State a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. They are heavily influenced by
dispensationalism, a method of Bible interpretation which became popular through
the writings of John Nelson Darby (died 1882). Darby, a one time cleric of the
Church of England, joined the Plymouth Brethren in 1831 and developed a
complicated system of Biblical interpretation that divides God’s saving action
into individual eras or dispensations. This scheme influenced thousands of
American Protestants through the Niagara Bible Conference of 1895 and the
publication of the Scofield Reference Bible by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield the next
year. 

 

Dispensationalism
makes a strong distinction between the promises made to the Jews before Christ
and the reality of the Church after Pentecost. Thus dispensationalists teach
that God’s promises to the Jews were not fulfilled through the Church but
remained unfulfilled during the Church age. They consider the Church a new and
separate creation by God with its own separate agenda, not the heir to the
promises made by God to ancient Israel. Therefore, it is natural that the
dispensationalists should see the founding of the modern state of Israel as a
fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. 
 

 

NOT MY TYPE 
 

 

Dispensationalists
interpret the words, phrases, and sentences of the Bible in a very literalistic
manner. Thus they reject or fail to see the importance of an ancient and almost
universal principle of Biblical interpretation known as typology. Typology is
the method of Biblical understanding which seeks the spiritual meaning of the
historical events described in the Old Testament.

 
 

Fundamental to the
typological method of Biblical interpretation as practiced by the early and
later Fathers is the belief that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment and completion
of the Law and the Prophets of the Old Testament. For example, the near
sacrifice of Isaac points towards the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. The ark
that saved Noah and his family from the Flood is a type of the Church which
saves the faithful from sin and death. The burning bush is seen as a type of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, who bore God in the flesh, yet was not consumed by the
presence of the divinity within her womb. 
 

 

The typological method is not
just the invention of the Fathers, but is based firmly on the New Testament. Our
Lord Himself used the example of Jonah as a type of the three days that He would
spend in the tomb (Matthew 12:40). He also compared the lifting up of the
serpent by Moses to his own ascent of the cross (John 3:14). Saint Paul
considered the passing through the Red Sea as a type for baptism (I Corinthians
10:1-2). Saint Peter even uses the term “antitype” to compare the ark with
baptism (I Peter 3:20-21). Thus the typological method of interpretation is
firmly grounded in the Holy Scriptures. 
 

 

TYPOLOGY AND THE NEW ISRAEL 
 

 

According to the typological
method, God’s promises to Abraham and his descendents were fulfilled through
Christ and His Church. One Orthodox scholar has written: “In Christ, then, the
covenant with Israel was fulfilled, transformed, and transcended. After the
coming of the Messiah—the Incarnation of God the Son—only those who are
‘built into Christ’ are counted among the people of God. In Christ, the old
Israel is superseded by the Christian Church, the new Israel, the body of
Christ; the old covenant is completed in the new covenant in and through Jesus
Christ” (George Cronk, The Message of the Bible; St. Vladimir Seminary
Press; 1982, p. 80). 
 

 

This interpretation
of the covenant with Abraham and his descendents as fulfilled through Christ and
His Church is firmly grounded in the witness of the New Testament. In the
parable of the Vineyard Owner, our Lord uses the unfaithful tenants of a
vineyard to illustrate this point. The owner, representing God, sent his
servants, representing the prophets, and finally his son and heir, representing
Christ, to collect his rent. The tenants, who represent the Jews, ignored the
request for the rent and killed both the servants and the son of the owner of
the vineyard. At the end of the parable our Lord said, “Therefore what will
the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and
give the vineyard to others” (Mark 12:1-9). In other words, those who
faithfully believe in Him will inherit the status that Israel had before it
rejected the Messiah. 
 

 

Saint Paul wrote, “Therefore
know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham . . . if you are
Christ’s then you are of Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the
promise” (Galatians 3:7-9). Indeed, Saint Paul called the body of believers
“the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16). Saint Peter illustrated this point by
applying terms used to describe Israel in the Old Testament when he wrote,
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own
special people” (I Peter 2:9).

 

Thus, according to the New
Testament, the standard against which all doctrine and Biblical interpretations
must be tested, God’s covenant with Abraham and his descendents has been
fulfilled through Christ and His followers, not through a secular state, for
Christ said, “My Kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). 
 

 

It is true that there are some
Old Testament prophecies that speak of a restoration of Israel following the
destruction of Israel by Assyria and of Judah by Babylon. For example, Isaiah
wrote, “It shall come to pass that the Lord shall set His hand again the
second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left” (Isaiah 11:11).
Jeremiah prophesied, “For I will bring them back into their land which I gave
to their fathers” (Jeremiah 16:15). Micah said, “I will surely gather
the remnant of Israel” (Micah 12:12). 
 

 

Indeed, God did restore Israel. The book of Ezra tells
how Cyrus, the King of Persia who had conquered Babylon, allowed the Jews to
return from exile and to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem. Significantly the
beginning of Ezra states that the events recorded are in fulfillment of the
prophecy of Jeremiah (Ezra 1:1). Thus the Old Testament prophecies cited in
support of the modern state of Israel were fulfilled long ago when the Jews
returned from the Babylonian captivity. 

 

SONS OF ABRAHAM 
 

 

The time has come for Christians
to carefully reevaluate an attitude towards modern Israel which is based
on faulty premises. Both Church history and the Holy Scriptures teach clearly
that Christ and His Church are the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.
Saint Paul tells us that those who follow Christ in faith are the true children
of Abraham and heirs to the promises made by God to the Old Testament patriarch.
The prophecies concerning the restoration of Israel have already been fulfilled
and should not be applied carte-blanche to the modern state of Israel. 

 

The Zionist State
was born in conflict between the claims of Jews to a homeland and the rights of
the native Palestinian inhabitants of the Holy Land. Christians should,
therefore, judge Israel on the same basis as other nations, and not accord to
the Jewish State a special status above reproach. Indeed, it is clear that while
both sides have committed atrocities, the Zionists have disregarded the rights
of the Palestinian people to national self-determination. Christians owe no
special allegiance to Israel, but should expect the Jewish State to adhere to
the same principles of justice and decency demanded of other nations. Indeed,
Christians should call the people of Israel to recognize the legitimate right of
all people to the same national self­determination that they claim for
themselves. 

 

[INSET] 
 

 

Although the current leaders of
Israel claim Palestine as their homeland, it was not their home for a period of
almost 2000 years. In 63 B.C. Pompey conquered Israel and placed the Hebrew
people under Roman rule, After two abortive Jewish revolts in A.D. 70 and 130,
the Romans expelled all but a handful of the Hebrew people from Palestine. Thus
the Jewish people lived for centuries in Europe and other parts of the world as
an often persecuted minority in countries dominated by others.

 

Even before the horrifying
murder of millions of Jews by the Nazis in this century, many Jews had begun
looking toward the possibility of re-establishing a nation of their own. In
1895, Theodor Herzl, a Hungarian Jew, published an influential case for a Jewish
homeland. In The Jewish State, Herzl called for the Jews to leave Tsarist
Russia and the other countries where they lived to organize a Jewish State.
Herzl’s arguments persuaded Jews from all over Europe to gather in Basil,
Switzerland, for the First Zionist Congress in August, 1897. This Congress
launched the campaign for the establishment of a Hebrew State in Palestine. 
 

 

Zionism, the movement for the
foundation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, received a new stimulus with the
outbreak of the First World War. Hoping to win the sympathy of Jews living in
the lands of their enemies, the British issued the Balfour Declaration on
November 2, 1917. In this declaration, the English government pledged to
“favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish
people.” 
 

 

At the end of the war, Palestine
was placed under a British mandate, giving Britain the opportunity to fulfill
her earlier commitment. As a result, Jews began moving to Palestine in large
numbers. By 1939 the Jewish population of Palestine had risen from about 85,000
before the war to 445,000. Palestine, the proposed Jewish homeland, was not,
however, an uninhabited land open to foreign colonization. Instead it was
occupied by about 650,000 Arabs, many of whom could trace their ancestry back to
Biblical times. After centuries of domination by the Ottoman Turks, these
Palestinian people now hoped for national self-determination as a part of Syria
or as an independent state following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire at
the end of the First World War. 
 

 

Instead of respecting the wishes
of the Palestinians, the victors placed them under another foreign government by
establishing the British mandate. The Palestinians had no desire to trade
British domination for Jewish domination through the establishment of a Jewish
State in their homeland. Thus the Palestinians, who numbered 1,056,000 at the
beginning of the Second World War, resisted the efforts of the Zionists through
a series of riots, attacks on Jewish settlements, general strikes, and refusal
to pay taxes to the English.

 

The Zionists, however, were
better organized and financed than the native Palestinians, who were mostly poor
tenant farmers on land owned by Lebanese or Syrian landlords. As a result, the
Jews were able to buy large tracks of land and to dispossess the Palestinian
tenant farmers. They also organized a secret army, the Haganah, in 1919. The
Haganah fought both the Arabs and the British, who attempted to find a
compromise between the conflicting sides. In 1937 an even more militant group of
Zionists formed the Irgun to fight the British and Palestinians. The result was
a series of bloody clashes between the various parties in the dispute. 
 

 

The Nazi tyranny and the Second
World War created a large number of Jewish refugees and radically intensified
the struggle. In an effort to prevent further conflict between Jew and Arab, the
British attempted to limit Jewish immigration to Palestine. The Zionists
responded with a campaign of terror against both the Arabs and the British
authorities. Jewish terrorists assassinated Lord Moyne, the British minister in
the Middle East in 1944, and carried on other attacks against the English. In
1946, Zionist extremists blew up the British headquarters at the King David
Hotel in Jerusalem killing almost 100 people. 
 

 

Finally, the British grew tired
of trying to find a solution that would pacify both the Palestinians and the
Zionists and turned the matter over to the newly formed United Nations. After
much discussion, the United Nations voted on November 29, 1947, to partition
Palestine into two states, a Jewish State and a Palestinian State. The
Palestinians rejected the plan because it would place an Arab minority of 45% in
the proposed Jewish State. Thus the Palestinians resorted to violence to oppose
the partitioning of their homeland with the support of neighboring Arab States. 

 

The Jews, however, accepted the
UN resolution and gathered forces to respond to the Palestinian attacks. The
violence reached a climax on April 9, 1948, when extremists massacred the entire
population of Dier Yassin, an Arab village near Jerusalem. Although the Haganah
and the Jewish Agency condemned the murder of 250 men, women, and children, many
Palestinians panicked lest they too fall victim to Zionist atrocities. As a
result thousands of Arabs fled to neighboring countries, vacating most of the
Arab villages in the proposed Jewish State, and creating the Palestinian refugee
problem. By the end of 1949, there were almost 750,000 Palestinian refugees in
Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the Gaza Strip. 
 

 

Meanwhile the Zionists accepted
the UN partition and proclaimed the state of Israel on May 14, 1948, the day the
British left Palestine. The next day, Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq came to the aid of
the Palestinians. However, the Jews were victorious and the war ended in a truce
in early 1949. The new Zionist State was even larger than the Jewish State
proposed by the UN resolution. This only intensified the Palestinian refugee
problem and resulted in the destruction of 374 Arab villages. Throughout the
next twenty years, Israel successfully defended its territory during a series of
wars with its Arab neighbors. Finally, the Jewish State conquered the West Bank
and Gaza in 1967, bringing over 1,000,000 Palestinians under Zionist domination. 
 

 

The Rev. Fr. John Morris is pastor of Saint John
Chrysostom Orthodox Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana. 

 

Who Is The Practical Man??

Word Magazine 
February 1967  Page 12

 

  

 

WHO
IS THE PRACTICAL 

 

MAN??

 

  

 

“Lay
not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt and
where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in
Heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt. and where thieves do not break
through and steal,” (MATTHEW 6:19-20).

 

 

  

A man
said to me recently. “I don’t take much interest in the church or in
religion. It’s all too intangible and indefinite. I want something solid that
I can see and feel and use like my Cadillac, my home, my country club and my
investments. I can sell the latter anytime I choose and the money is very real
and useful. These are the things that interest me. You see, I am a practical man
and haven’t much use for religion.”

 

Before
the scientists exploded the first atom bomb at the proving ground in New Mexico,
they made exhaustive experiments to make sure that they were not touching off a
chain reaction that might possibly destroy all the atoms in the world and put an
end to the existence of everything.  

 

It
appears that tangible, material things are not so permanent and indestructible
after all. Man might destroy his world at any time. What then would be the
practical value of the cars, homes, country clubs and investments?

 

It may
well be that the really permanent things in this universe are the spiritual
values of beauty, goodness, truthfulness, kindness, generosity and love. These
are the building blocks for the house not made with hands eternal in the heavens
of which Paul spoke so eloquently. That is why Paul admonished us:

 

“Whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, 
whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever
things are of good report if there be any virtue and if there be any praise,
think on these things.” (PHIL. 4:8).

 

These are
the permanent elements of God’s world and He continually invites us to
center our affections in and build our lives around them.

 

It is
difficult to think of beauty in the abstract. He gives us the rose, the sunset,
the mountains, the rainbow, great masterpieces of art and music and many
beautiful things to attract our attention and point to Him.

 

We cannot
imagine love in the abstract but we can see it and feel it in our close family
relationships. Generosity, kindness and truthfulness are hardly imaginable other
than as human actions.

 

Because
these qualities require personality to make them clear to us, God sent his Son,
Jesus Christ, into the world to give us a supreme, personal manifestation of
them. Looking at His life and feeling the power of it, we have no difficulty in
identifying and appreciating them. When we see them in Him, we have no doubt
that they are the most real and permanent entities in all of God’s creation.

 

By
contrast, property and material things seem fleeting and of little value. I
would not underestimate them for they are useful and necessary but in the long,
eternal view, they are not the building blocks with which we develop our sonship
to God. They are not the qualities that caused our Creator to say that we are
created in His own image.

 

Christ
was the embodiment of eternal, spiritual values that will rule and reign after
the earth shall pass away and the heavens be rolled up as a scroll.

 

We can
appreciate this contrast the more, I think, if we will try to imagine a
personality coming into the world who represented purely physical values as
distinguished from Christ who was the embodiment of spiritual values. Such a
person would be interested only in food, drink, sex, luxurious living, power and
pomp. All these perish with the using and when one’s physical powers decline,
leave nothing but ashes and regrets. If one is without spiritual qualities and
values, he knows that as his powers decline with every passing year, his
appetites grow weaker and the thrills which he enjoys, less frequent and less
satisfying. By middle age, at the latest, he foresees a bitter end of weakening
powers and the gradual decline to uselessness and nothingness. He soon begins to
realize that those who sow to the flesh, reap nothing but extinction.

 

What
satisfaction is there in a life like that? On the other hand, one who devotes
his time to the accumulation of treasures in Heaven may look forward to
everlasting growth and the enjoyment of satisfaction beyond his present powers
to imagine.

 

“Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the
things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” (I COR. 2:9).

 

Who then
is the practical man? The one who gives his life to fleeting material values,
sensations that will endure for a few years at most leaving him nothing but the
ashes of a burned out and useless life? Or one who sets his heart upon spiritual
values which continue to grow as the eternal purpose of God, in which he shares,
rolls on and on forever?

 

 

 

 

? 
?

Who Says I Must Fast?

Word Magazine  March 1980  Page 15

  

 

WHO SAYS I MUST FAST?

 

Homily by Father James C. Meena

 

 

 “Who says I must fast? Just because the Fathers of the Church say that alms giving is a good thing, must I give alms? And just because the Fathers of the Church specify that on Cheese Fare Sunday, the last day before the beginning of Lent, we are supposed to make an extra effort to forgive one another our trespasses, does that mean that I’m supposed to do that?”

 

Well, let me clarify something for you. It is not the Fathers of the Church who teach us these things and it is not the Church that requires these disciplines of us. Rather it is Christ Himself who has laid down these criteria for us to follow. Those of you who were in Church on Cheese Fare Saturday heard the Gospel lesson from St. Matthew (6:1-15). If you are familiar with that gospel you would realize that Sunday’s Gospel lesson is a continuation of it. (6:14-21) Now, let me give you an idea of what Jesus lays down for us. First of all He says, in Saturday’s Gospel, “When you give Alms, do not have it trumpeted before you. This is what the hypocrites do in the Synagogues and in the streets to win men’s admiration. Your alms giving must be in secret and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.” (6:2)

 

There are some people who, when they give alms, want to ring the bells of the Church and Jesus warns us that our almsgiving should be in secret especially when we give for the help of the poor. It is not NAC-SOYO that has started the alms boxes for the Food for Hungry People. It is Christ who urges us to do these things. He urges more. In the fifth chapter of this gospel, the fifth verse, He says, “When you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites. They love to say their prayers standing up in synagogues and on street corners for people to see them. I tell you solemnly they have their reward; but when you pray, go to your private room, and when you have shut your door pray to your Father who is in that secret place and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.” Now you notice that He’s talking in this instance about private prayer, not corporate prayer and He didn’t say “if ” you pray or “when you get around to praying.” He simply took it for granted that He was talking to people who prayed and that it was His function only to correct their attitudes about prayer.

 

Now had He been addressing a community of people that were not in the habit of praying, I think He might have said “if” you pray, or “you had better get around to praying,” but He simply said, “when you pray,” assuming that prayer was a natural part of the lifestyle of the people to whom He was speaking. And so the Church assumes when She speaks to you, because we assume that you are a prayerful people, that in addition to this corporate worship of ours which makes us the Family of God, each of us enters figuratively into that private place, that secret closet where we offer up our prayers in secret so that God will reward openly. (6:9-13) Now He comes to the statement that sets this day apart from all other days because Cheese Fare Sunday is our day of atonement, our day of forgiveness, not that every day isn’t but on this day we especially mark the importance of forgiving. The beginning of the Gospel lesson for Cheese Fare Sunday is a conditional statement by Jesus who says, “If you forgive you will be forgiven.” So we have alms giving, prayer and forgiveness and finally He sums it all up when He says, “Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth but store up treasures for yourself in heaven . . . Where your treasure is there your heart will be also.” (v. 19-21)

 

Now I hope that settles in your thinking the source of authority that the Church has for laying down the spiritual disciplines of the Fast. It comes from the word of Christ Himself and no Archbishop, Patriarch, Priest, Deacon, Pope has the right to change that which was laid down by Jesus. He says alms giving! He says prayer! He says fasting! These things lay up for us treasures in heaven but if we are so concerned about our houses, our TV sets and our cars and our monetary future that we forget that the only real treasure is that which is stored up in heaven then we’re in trouble because all these things are corruptible, all these things turn to dust. All these things can be lost in an instant. But our good deeds, our prayers, our acts of love and mercy and the spiritual disciplines that we impose upon ourselves in order to affect a spiritual growth, those are incorruptible. Those can never be lost.

 

Where will the Church bells ring for us, in our pocketbooks or in the kingdom of heaven? That’s a question that can be answered affirmatively by you in the style in which you live. So as we begin this Great Lent, let us remember that it all rests with us. We pray for God’s help and that help is always forthcoming. We pray that He will strengthen us and that strength is always forthcoming. We pray that He will make us better than we are and somehow or other when we come out the other end of Lent, if we have obeyed the conditions of Christ, we do come out better than we were when we started.

Who We Are To Become - Who We Can Be

Word Magazine  June
1999  Page 38 

 

 

 

 

WHO
WE ARE TO BECOME

WHO
WE CAN BE

 

By
Archpriest Steven Rogers

 

 

 

There
are perhaps no two men more greatly revered yet so seemingly different than
Saints Peter and Paul.

 

Commemorated
by the Orthodox Church on June 29, Saints Peter and Paul, “the heads of the
Apostles” as described throughout the hymnody of the feast, are especially
loved by the Church of Antioch, where Peter served as its first bishop and Paul
set forth on his great missionary travels. Peter, who preached on the day of
Pentecost when 3,000 were converted to the faith, and Paul, the greatest
missionary the world has ever known and author of over half of the New
Testament, were two of the most powerful instruments ever raised up by God to
spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to found This holy Church. Their preaching
and the power of God within them literally transformed the world. Both lived
completely for Christ and both died a martyr’s death in Rome by order of the
evil Roman emperor Nero.

 

Their
power and end were the same, and yet when we first meet them in scripture, they
are so seemingly different. There is Peter, the fisherman, simple and
uneducated. There is Paul (then Saul), the Pharisee, brilliant and educated,
learned in Jewish, Greek and Roman thought. There is Peter, emotional and
impulsive, often speaking and acting hastily but always remorseful. There is
Paul, seemingly cold and calculating, a powerful and even ruthless intellect,
able to persecute and kill without remorse.

 

No two
men could be more different than Peter and Paul — one driven by fire and
emotion, the other by coldness and intellect.

 

Yes,
these men were vastly different. But they had one thing in common — one thing
that transcended their differences and made them one. That one thing was a
personal encounter with the Son of God.

 

Peter
encountered Christ and was raised up from his humble beginnings to a man of
power. Paul encountered Christ and was lowered from his lofty position to a man
of godly humility. Both gave up what they were, to become what God desired them
to be. And through them the whole world was changed.

 

Oftentimes,
we look at ourselves with our limitations and inadequacies and feel we have
nothing to offer to God. We shy away from serving His Church because we feel we
have no skills or gifts to offer. We see others with all their gifts, and we
back away thinking there is nothing within us that God can use.

 

Often
times, in our pride and arrogance, we feel we are above many of the simple tasks
and labors that are so much a part of the ongoing life of God’s Church.

 

Seen
together, Saints Peter and Paul teach us a great lesson — that no matter who
we are — no matter our backgrounds, our talents, our station in life — if we
offer who we are completely to God, He will make us who we are supposed to be.
If we offer ourselves completely to God — both our abilities and our
limitations — He can and will use us to the glory of His kingdom. If we offer
ourselves completely, whether we are a simple fisherman or a towering
intellectual, the world will see God within us.

 

God
created us who we are and He came into the world to make us all we can be. Peter
continued to be Peter and Paul continued to be Paul, but it was Christ
within them that made them into all that God desired them to be.

 

And so it
is with us. If we offer ourselves to God with all our strengths and
weaknesses, He will use us to the glory of his Kingdom. As we, the Church
of Antioch, gather together to celebrate the feast of our beloved Apostles Peter
and Paul, those “luminaries to those in darkness, two rays of the sun,” let
us commit ourselves to give all that we are to God as they did, so that like
them, we may radiate the love of God into a cold and unbelieving world.

Who is Man?

 Again Magazine 
Volume 20  Number 4
- Winter 1997/1998   
Page 27-31

 

 By
Bishop Kallistos Ware

What
kind of an animal is man?  What is
it that, without separating us from the other
animals, yet serves to distinguish us from them?

 

 I
say “without separating,” because several of the characteristics that we
commonly choose to designate as uniquely human turn out to be present, at any
rate in a less developed form, in many of the other animals. For example, many
animals think, in the sense that, when confronted with an obstacle, they puzzle
over it until they work out a solution.

 

Many
animals have a memory, recalling the past with fear or joy: a horse, separated
from its human owners for weeks or years, on meeting them again will show alarm
or happiness, depending on the treatment it has once received. Some animals form
lifelong monogamous unions, and show grief—or something very similar to
it—when they lose their partner; and so on. Yet, despite all this, can we not
identify a specifically human vocation set before us?

 

Five
[characteristics] of the human animal, each expressing part of the truth, will
help us in our enquiry.

 

1) The ability to laugh and weep.

The
human animal is an animal that laughs and weeps. Essential to our humanity is a
sense of humor, and also a sense of tragedy. If so, we may well weep over what
we are doing to the other animals and to the earth which feeds both them and us!

 

2) The ability to reason.

The
human animal, according to the Stoic philosopher Chrysippus (+207 B.C.), is a
logical or rational animal, logikon zôon,1
an animal endowed with self-awareness, an animal
that speaks and thinks in an articulate and sequential manner. This is certainly
a significant element in the truth about our humanness, but it is far from being
the whole truth. I am more than my reasoning brain, very much more. Indeed, the
narrow concentration upon rational self-awareness that has dominated the Western
philosophical tradition from Descartes onwards—Cogito,
ergo sum, “I think, therefore I am”—is one of the factors that has di­rectly
contributed to the present ecological crisis.

 

3) The ability to relate.

The
human animal, states Aristotle (+322 B.C.), is a political animal, politikon
zoon.2 This comes closer to the heart of the matter, provided
that the word “political” is understood—as it is by Aristotle himself—in
its original and wider sense: the human animal, that is to say, is by nature
communal, created for interpersonal relationship, and so uniquely suited to live
in a polis, in a city, in an ordered
and organized society.

 

Made
as we are in the image of the Trinity—in the image of a God who is reciprocal
love—we express our humanness through mutual coinherence, “dying in each
other’s life, living each other’s death,” to quote Charles Williams.3
The basic principle of the city, as Williams reminds us, is “the
doctrine that no man lives to himself or indeed from himself’; its life is
“unexclusive” and its proper and typical features are “substitution” and
“the exchange of pardon.”4 “What is the characteristic of any
City? Exchange between citizens.”5

 

How
disastrously has the symbolism of the city altered in the past half-century!
What in so much Eu­ropean literature is an image of protection, reassurance,
and glory—”I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God. ... the city is pure gold, clear as glass” (Rev. 21:2, 18)—has now
become an image of selfishness, danger, and corruption. One of the gravest
aspects of the present degradation of the environment is precisely urban
pollution, in all its varying forms. Yet at the same time we are conscious as
never before of our interdependence as “political” animals. The slogan
“One world or none” is not the less true for having become a common­place.

 

4)
The ability to look upward.

To
speak of the human animal as political is to emphasize the horizontal dimension:
our relationship, that is to say, as humans with the other members of our own
kind. But, complementing the horizontal dimension, there is also the vertical
axis: our relationship with God. It is this fourth characteristic of human
personhood to which Saint Gregory of Nazianzus (+c.390) draws attention when he
describes the human being not as politikon
zôon but as zóon theoumenon, “an
animal that is being deified.”6 Made in God’s image, as humans we
are capable of sharing in the divine life, of becoming “partakers of the
divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4).

 

In
the Orthodox Christian understand­ing of human personhood, the line of demarcation
between creature and Creator is never abolished; yet, as humans fashioned in the
divine image, as living icons of the transcendent God, we have the possibility
of becoming like God, of attaining theôsis,
“deification” or “divinization.” In this context Christ quotes the
words of Psalm 81 [82]:6: “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are
gods’?. . . Those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’; and the
scripture cannot be annulled” (John 10:34, 35).

 

As
“an animal that is being deified,” then, our human vocation is self-transcendence
and unification. We are called by God’s grace to reach out beyond space into
infinity, beyond time into eternity. It is our task to mediate between the
created world and the Uncreated. As icons of God, we have the capacity to unite
earth and heaven, and thus “to make of the earth something heavenly,” in the
words of the Hasidic teacher Rabbi Hanokh.7

 

This
unifying role is exactly illustrated in the etymology of the words for the hu­man
person in Greek and Latin. The Greek word anthrôpos
is connected with the verb anarthrein,
meaning “to look up”; unlike most of the other animals, humans stand
upright, with their eyes towards heaven and their gaze directed towards the
stars. In Latin, on the other hand, the words homo
and humanus are linked to the noun
humus, “earth.”8 Such,
then, is the human being: an animal that looks up to heaven, an animal endowed
with a conscience, with a sense of the numinous, an animal capable of mystical
union with the Divine; but at the same time an animal with its feet set firmly
on the ground, an animal with a physical body, an animal that eats and drinks,
that expresses interpersonal love through sexual union in “one flesh” (Gen.
2:24; Matt. 19:5).

 

Heavenly
yet earthly, spiritual yet material, we human persons are each a microcosm; and,
as microcosm, it is our high privilege to act as mediator. Our hu­man task, as
Saint John Chrysostom (+407) expresses it, is to be syndesmos
and gephyra, the “bond” and
“bridge” of God’s creation.9 Uniting earth and heaven, mak­ing
earth heavenly and heaven earthly, we reveal the spirit-bearing potentialities
of all material things, and we disclose and render manifest the divine presence
at the heart of all creation. Such was the task as­signed to the First Adam in
Paradise, and such—after the Fall of the First Adam—is the task eventually
fulfilled by the Second Adam, Christ, through His Incarnation, Transfiguration,
Crucifixion, and Resurrection.

 

5)
The ability to give thanks.

How
precisely do we human animals exercise this unifying and mediatorial role? The
answer is: through thankfulness, doxology, Eucharist, offering. This brings us
to a fifth characteristic of the human animal: it is a eucharistic animal, an
animal capable of gratitude, endowed with the power to bless God for the
creation, an ani­mal that can offer the world back to the Creator in
thanksgiving.

 

Father
Alexander Schmemann (1921— 1983) illustrates this aspect of human personhood
by referring to the opening part of the evening service of Vespers. In the
Orthodox Christian understanding of time, as in that of Judaism, the new day
begins, not at midnight or at dawn, but at sunset. “There was evening and
there was morn­ing, the first day” (Gen. 1:5): the evening comes before the
morning. By the same token, the Church year in Orthodox Chris­tianity begins,
not in midwinter on Janu­ary 1, nor in spring on March 25,
but at the start of autumn on September 1; once more, there is a parallel
with Judaism. Thus Vespers is not an epilogue or conclusion, but it is the first
act of prayer in the new day.

 

How,
then, do we commence our daily cycle of prayer? Vespers starts with the reading
or singing of Psalm 103 [104], which is a hymn of cosmic praise:

 

Bless
the Lord, 0 my soul. Blessed art Thou, O God.

O
Lord, my God, Thou art exceeding glorious:

Thou
art clothed with majesty and honor.

O
Lord, how manifold are Thy works: in wisdom hast Thou made them all.

The
earth is full of Thy riches: so is the great and wide
sea also...

I
will sing unto the Lord as long as I live:

I
will praise my God while I have my being.

 

In
this way, writes Father Alexander, the daily vesperal service “begins at the
be­ginning”:

 

It
begins at the beginning, and this means in the “rediscovery,” in adoration
and thanksgiving, of the world as God’s creation. The Church takes us, as it
were, to that first evening on which man, called by God to life, opened his eyes
and saw what God in His love was giv­ing to him, saw all the beauty, all the
glory of the temple in which he was standing, and rendered thanks to God. And in
this thanksgiving he became himself. .. . If the Church is in Christ, its
initial act is always this act of thanksgiving, of return­ing the world to
God.’ 10

 

Here,
then, is a fifth aspect of our human personhood. In thanksgiving we become
ourselves. Without gratitude we are not human but subhuman, or rather antihuman.
Only in the attitude of offering and blessing do we attain authentic personhood.

 

Using
this fivefold delineation of the human animal, we can now attempt to specify our
responsibility as humans towards the world around us. Our human vocation,
briefly expressed, is to be priest of the creation. As logical animals, pos­sessing
self-awareness and free choice— and at the same time as eucharistic animals
who are being deified—it is our supreme privilege, consciously and gratefully,
to offer the created world back to God the Creator. This distinctively human
function is precisely indicated just before the Epiclesis or Invocation of the
Holy Spirit in the Divine Liturgy, when the cel­ebrant elevates the gifts of
bread and wine, saying: “Thine own from Thine own we offer to Thee, in all
things and for all things.”

 

Priest
and Offerer

“Priest
of the creation” and “offerer”: what do these two terms signify?

 

First,
we say in the Lit­urgy, “Thine own from Thine own.” That which we offer to
God is nothing else than what He Himself has given to us. Unless God had first
conferred the world upon us as a free gift, we could make no offering at all.
The offering is His rather than ours; without Him our hands would be empty.
Indeed, in the Divine Liturgy it is Christ Himself who is the true Offerer, the
unique High Priest; we, the ordained ministers and the people present at the
Eucharist, can only act as priests by virtue of our unity with Him. He alone is
Celebrant in the true sense; we are no more than concelebrants with him. Indeed,
not only is this true of the primary act of offering that is made in what
Charles Williams called “the Operation of the Mass,” but it applies to every
act of offering throughout the whole of human life.

 

Secondly,
in the Divine Liturgy we say not “I offer” but “we offer.” As offerers,
whether in the Eucharist or in other ways, we do not act alone but in union with
our fellow humans. As political animals, our thanksgiving is social and
corporate. Whenever we offer, we are acting as persons in relationship: in John
Donne’s words, “No man is an Island, entire of itself.” This corporate
character of our humanness, as we have already emphasized, is more important
today than ever before. Unless we can learn to share the world, we shall destroy
the world, and ourselves in it. “One world or none.”

 

Thirdly,
when we offer, we are our­selves part of that which we offer. 
As cosmic priests, we stand within nature, not above it.  In Kathleen Raine’s words:

                                    
Seas, trees and voices cry,

                                    
“Nature is your nature.”

 

Fourthly,
we are offerers rather than rulers or even stewards. The language of ruling, and
also sometimes of stewardship, can easily be misinterpreted to signify ar­bitrary
control and exploitation, as if the creation were our exclusive property rather
than a gift that we hold in trust for the Cre­ator.”11
All too often we Christians have tragically misapplied God’s words to the
newly created Adam, “Fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion. . . over
every living thing” (Gen. 1:28). Let us remember that “dominion” does not
signify “domination.” And let us remember also that this dominion is given
to us specifically because we are made in the divine image. It is therefore a
dominion that we exercise in obedience to Christ and in imi­tation of His own
example. Since He said, “My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor.
12:9), since He exercised His power by “emptying” Himself and accepting
death on the Cross (Phil. 2:7, 8), it follows that our dominion within the realm
of nature is essentially kenotic, after the divine example, a dominion of humble
love, com­passion, and self-sacrifice.

 

Our
human vocation, briefly expressed, is to be priest of the creation. It is our
supreme privilege, consciously and gratefully, to offer the created world back
to God.

 

Yet,
even though we humans are called to co-operate with nature rather than to
control it, at the same time God has given us the ability to alter and refashion
the world. This brings us to a fifth point. As rational or “logical” animals
endowed with self-awareness, we humans do not offer the world back to God simply
in the form in which we received it, but through the work of our hands we
transform that which we offer. At the Eucharist we offer to God the fruits of
the earth, not in their initial state, but reshaped through our human skills; we
bring to the altar not grains of wheat but bread, not bunches of grapes but
wine. And so it is throughout all human life.

 

It
is true that, here as elsewhere, there is no absolute line of division between
us humans and the other animals. Beavers build dams, bees construct honeycombs.

 

But
on the whole the other animals sim­ply live in the world, glorifying God
through their instinctive actions, whereas we humans consciously reshape our
envi­ronment, glorifying God through art and technology.

 

As
humans, then, we modify and re­fashion the creation. The world is not only a
gift but a task. In the words of the Ro­manian theologian Dumitru Staniloae
(1903—93), “Man puts the seal of his un­derstanding and of his intelligent
work onto creation, thereby humanizing it and giving it humanized back to God.
He actualizes the world’s potentialities.”12 Formed in the image
of God the Creator, we are in J.R.R. Tolkien’s phrase “sub-creators,”
appointed not only to preserve but to transfigure.

 

Through
our power of self-awareness, and through this ability to alter and restructure
the world, we humans are able to give creation a tongue, rendering it eloquent
in praise of God. As the Dalai Lama said at the inter-faith meeting in Assisi,
“The universe has no voice, and the universe needs to speak. We are the voice
of the universe.” It is through us humans that the heavens declare the glory
of God (cf. Ps. 18 [19]: 1), through us that the moon and the stars, the rocks,
trees, flowers and animals, give Him praise and worship. 13
In his book Byzan­tine Aesthetics, Father Gervase Matthew develops this point
with particular reference to liturgical worship and iconography, but what he
says can be applied more widely to all forms of craftsmanship and agriculture:

 

Because
Man is body he shares in the material world around him, which passes within him
through his sense perceptions. Because Man is Mind he belongs to the world of
higher reality and pure spirit. Because he is both, he is in Cyril of
Alexandria’s phrase “God’s crowned image”; he can mold and manipulate
the material and render it articulate. The sound in a Byzantine hymn, the
gestures in a liturgy, the bricks in a church, the cubes in a mosaic are matter
made articulate in the Divine praise. 14

 

Bishop
Kallistos Ware is the author of the two classic
books, The Orthodox Church and The
Orthodox Way.

 

The
preceding article was excerpted from Through the
Creation to the Creator, a talk delivered
by Bishop Kallistos in 1995 for the third Marco Pallis Memorial Lecture series
(U.K.). Copies of the complete text in booklet form may be obtained in North
America through Mr. Vincent Rossi at Rose Hill College, P0. Box 3126, Aiken, SC
29802. $8.00 individually (plus $1.50 P&H) or when purchasing 10 or more,
$5.50 each (plus 10% P&H).

 

Notes:

1.   
H. von Arnim. “Stoicorum Veterum Frag­menta,” vol. iii (Leipzig
1903), p. 95, § 390.

2.   
Polities 1. i, 9 (1253a).

3.   
“The Founding of the Company,” in The
Re­gion of the Summer Stars (London, 1950), p. 38. Williams puts the phrase
in quotation marks, but I do not know whom he is citing here.

4.   
“The Redeemed City.” in Charles Williams, The
Image of the City and Other Essays, ed. Anne Ridler (London. 1958). pp. 104,
107, 109.

5.   
“Anthropotokos.” in Williams. op. cit., p. 112.

6.   
Oration xxxviii, 11.

7.   
Martin Buber, Tales of the Hasidim:
The Later Masters (Schocken Books: New York, 1966). p. 317.

8.   
See Kallistos Ware, “The Unity of the Human Person According to the
Greek Fathers,” in Arthur Peacocke and Grant Gillett (eds.), Persons and Per­sonality: A Contemporary Inquiry (Oxford. 1987), p.
202.

9.   
SeeWare,op.cit..p.201.

10. 
For the Life of the World:
Sacraments and Or­thodoxy (New York, 1973). pp. 60-61.

11. 
This point is well made by Metropolitan Paulos Mar Gregorios. The Human Presence: Ecological Spirituality and the Age of the Spirit (New
York, 1987), chapter 7. “Mastery and Mystery.” This book was originally
published by the World Council of Churches under the title The Human Presence: An Orthodox View of Nature (Geneva, 1978).

12. 
“The World as Gift and Sacrament of God’s Love,” Sobornost,
The Journal of the Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius, 5:9 (1969). p.
669.

13. 
Compare St. Leontius of Cyprus, “In Defense of the Icons of the
Saints” (PG 93: 1604AB), cited in Kallistos Ware, The
Orthodox Way (revised edi­tion, New York. 1995), pp. 54-55.

14. 
Byzantine Aesthetics (London.
1963), pp. 23-24.

 

Why Do Icons Weep?

 The Word Magazine, September 1994, Page 13-15

WHY
DO ICONS WEEP?

By
Archpriest Paul O’Calla