Sunday, May 16, 2004
Christ is Risen! (Tone 5)
Sunday of the Blind Man
Kellia: Deuteronomy 7:6-13 Apostle: Acts 16:6-34 Gospel: St. John 9:1-38
Deuteronomy 7:6-13, especially vs. 9: "Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God
Who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations."
The Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ declares that the love of God always is breaking free from the gloom of
human religious musings to astound our hearts and minds. Listen to St. Gregory the Great: "Our Creator hints to us how
great is His love with which He awaits us when He says through the Prophet: 'I have given heed and listened, but no one
speaks what is good: there is no one who thinks again in his heart and says, What have I done?' We ought never to have
thought of evil. But since we refused to think as we should, you see how He still bears with us in order that we may think
again. Look into His great well of kindness, think of His merciful heart open wide to us. He is seeking those thinking
again in the right way, whom He lost when they were thinking wrongly."
Today's reading reveals the care which God took to lay a rich foundation in order that His People might receive His love
when He came to them Incarnate. We see here already that the Prophet Moses discerned and taught that God's love is
freely given, not being bound by our worthiness nor by any claim we might think to make upon the Lord. Further, Moses
identified a number of ways, by which for many generations, God had specifically manifested His love to Israel. The
Prophet also made clear that while God is loving to those who "keep His commandments" (vs. 9), He likewise is
"not...slack with him who hates Him" (vs. 10).
In this reading, Moses plainly states: "the Lord your God has chosen you to be a People for His own possession" (vs. 6).
Lest any of God's ancient People ever should think that their ethnic heritage could command God's love, the Prophet
declares that nothing "outstanding" about them ever "caught" the eye of the Lord. After all, "the eyes of the Lord run to
and fro throughout the whole earth" (2 Chron. 16:9), and Israel was "the fewest of all peoples" (Deut. 7:7). Still, says
Moses, "the Lord set His love upon you and chose you," and his declaration applies to the Church, as well. Why does God
set His love upon us? Simply "because the Lord loves you" (vs. 8). As the Lord Jesus says, "freely ye have received" (Mt.
10:8).
See how Moses recalls the long history of evidence by which God's love was manifest before the eyes of ancient Israel: the
Lord swore to Abraham that in time to come He would bring his descendants out of bondage (vs. 8; Gen. 15:13-16), and He
did. Israel was redeemed from slavery under Pharaoh (Deut. 7:8). The love of God always is coupled with Divine
faithfulness; God keeps the vows He makes in covenant with His People (vs. 9). More significantly for the Church, God
also promised a Savior (Is. 53:4-5): the Suffering Servant came and dwelt among us and covered our sins with His precious
Blood.
Finally, the Prophet reveals that while God always loves His People and is ready to forgive them, yet His steadfast love
comes only to "those who love Him and keep His commandments" (Deut. 7:9). The love of God never is detached from a
demand for obedience. Hence, those who hearken to God's "ordinances, and keep and do them, the Lord your God will
keep with...steadfast love" (vs. 12). On the other hand, God "requites to their face those who hate Him, by destroying
them" (vs. 10). "The faithful God Who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His
commandments" (vs. 9), will love [His People, bless [them], and multiply [them]" (vs. 13) in very specific ways -
materially and spiritually (vs. 13). O Lord, save Thy People, and bless Thine inheritance, granting to Thy People victory
over all their enemies, and by the power of Thy Cross preserving Thy Kingdom.
Monday, May 17, 2004
Christ is Risen!
Apostles Andronikos and Junia of the Seventy
Kellia: Deuteronomy 7:1-2,16-26 Apostle: Acts 17:1-15 Gospel: St. John 11:47-57
Deuteronomy 7:1-2, 16-26, especially vss. 1-2: "...when the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the
land, into which thou goest to possess it....and shall remove seven nations more numerous and stronger than you,
and...deliver them into thy hands, then thou shalt smite them: thou shalt utterly destroy them: thou shalt not make a
covenant with them, neither shall ye pity them." In light of this passage, we ought to be moved to enlarge the petition of
Vespers to read: "O Holy One; enlighten me with thy precepts and promises." For even as the Lord our God obligates us
with precepts, expecting us, as His covenant People, to act upon that which He commands, even so He promises to give us
"all the spoils of the nations" (Deut 7:16).
In this modern age, stained with the blood and horror of genocide all across the globe, the present portion of Moses' last
will and testament may conjure up images that make us hesitate to read these Divine words and seek from them any
foreshadowing of the glorious Gospel of Christ our God. Still, the pattern of Divine precept and promise which dominates
these verses indeed will rally the careful reader to obedient action as a true partner with God in the salvation of the world.
After all, the land, into which we are going to possess it, is the vast battlefield of our hearts, where God has promised to
"remove great nations from before thee" (vs. 1).
For all who have ever seriously approached this danger zone of battle and promise, know that the inner space of "great
temptations which thine eyes have seen," is likewise filled with "those signs and great wonders, the strong hand, and the
high arm" of "the Lord thy God" (vs. 19). Yes, there are terrible foes within us, but more important is the living, present
God Who promises His Faithful ones that He "shall consume these nations before [His People] by little and little" (vs. 22).
Be not dismayed, O People of God, for steadfast and able is He Who has laid these precepts upon us and made us
unchangeable promises that He will fulfill.
What does He promise? He assures us His People that He will bring His Church "into the land" and remove great nations
of enemies "from before thee" (vs. 1), and "deliver them into thy hands" (vss. 2,23). Where is this promised land? As He
has said. "the kingdom of God is within you" (Lk. 17:21). Truly, we recoil before the enemies that we find within us,
fiends who tear us every way possible from the Lord; but let us heed His promises: "the Lord thy God shall send against
them the hornets, until they that are left and they that are hidden from thee be utterly destroyed" (Deut 7:20).
Of course we hesitate to do battle because we fear the wounds of combat, because we know our frailty, because we have
been stricken in previous skirmishes, and because we have seen comrades fall. God understands this, but He assures us:
"thou shalt not be wounded before them, because the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is a great and powerful God" (vs.
21). God is with us! Yes, we would prefer a quick victory, but, in promising us that we shall prevail, the Lord also tells us
honestly that He will consume these enemies before us only "by little and little; thou shalt not be able to consume them
speedily" (vs. 22).
For us, God's precepts are the key to victory. As we turn inward in prayer, let us smite our foes (vs. 2). Let us "not make a
covenant with them" nor "pity them" (vs. 2). Rather let us "destroy them utterly" (vs. 24), burn up every image of them
that intrudes upon our hearts and minds (vs. 25). Let us resist every temptation to give the abominations of the enemy a
home in our inner life, but dethrone their kings and refuse their sovereignty over our souls (vs. 26).
Be Thou exalted above the heavens, O God, and Thy glory above all the earth. That Thy beloved ones may be delivered,
save Thou with Thy right hand and hearken unto us.
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Christ is Risen!
Stephen the New, Patriarch of Constantinople
1st of Vespers of Ascension: Isaiah 2:2-3 Apostle: Acts 17:19-28 Gospel: St. John 12:19-36
Isaiah 2:1-3, especially vs. 3: "....for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and
the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem." When the Lord ascended to the heavens He did not divest His humanity, but
"didst raise the likeness of Adam, cast into the vaults of hades, lifting it with [His] Ascension to the heavens and making it
equal in rank to Thy Father's throne." The raising of human nature by the Lord Jesus to the right hand of the Father,
assures the Faithful that theosis is now open to any who will earnestly seek the restoration of their humanity. This
elevation of human nature gives to every person of every nation on earth the necessary motivation "to go up to the
mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, [where God] will tell [all who come] His way [that they may
walk] in it" (vs. 3).
Let us understand that the Prophet's allusions to the "mountain of the Lord" or the "house of the God of Jacob" (vs. 3) refer
to none other than Christ's Church. As St. Nikolai of Zica teaches: "The mountain or heights of the Lord's house is indeed
established....in the heights of heaven - for the Church of Christ is primarily not of the earth but of heaven, and one part of
the members of the Church (and that now the greater part) is in heaven, while the others are here on earth." Further, the
Church of Christ is "exalted above the hills," that is, above all earthly and human dimensions. The great philosophies and
art of the world's cultures, all the "earthly heights," are only foothills below the distant mountains of the Church of Christ;
"for the Church would have no difficulty in creating these 'earthly heights,' while not one of them....would be able to create
the Church."
When we understand that Isaiah is speaking of the Church in this passage, it becomes obvious that the voices he mentions,
those who call to us from a multitude of nations, are, as St. Athanasios discerned, the Saints, the Holy Fathers and Mothers
of the Church who invite us: "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob"
(vs. 3). They discovered the riches of God's truth, for the Lord revealed to them "the way wherein [they] should walk;" for
unto the Lord they lifted up their souls (Ps. 142:10 LXX).
However, the way which the Holy Ones reveal is not, as St. Athanasios knew, "for the impure...nor is the ascent thereto for
sinners; but it is for the virtuous and diligent, and for those who love according to the aim of the Saints." Of course this
Divine task is possible because our humanity has been borne into the heavenly places, carried there by the Incarnate Lord
Himself. Now, through our union with Christ Jesus, Who is both God and man, His Deity can penetrate our humanity and
restore it to that "pristine beauty" which is ours from creation. What began in the purifying Mystery of Baptism can now be
fully realized in us by Holy Spirit.
Let us understand what the Prophet means when he proclaims that "the word of the Lord [shall go forth] out of Jerusalem"
(Is. 2:3). Concerning the language of this verse, Theodoret notes that Isaiah "calls 'word' not God the Word, but the
teaching of the divine word. For God the Word did not come out of Zion, but it was in Zion that He taught the truth." Let
us understand two points: first, that the Lord literally taught in the Temple on the Holy Mountain in Jerusalem, crying out
to all, "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (Jn. 7:38).
Second, "the word of the Lord [is going forth] from Zion," the Church (Is. 2:3). Many who heard the Lord in the ancient
Temple heard only the old Law, but failed to discern in Christ the New Law with its promises and fulfillment.
O Christ our God, enable those whom Thou hast illumined with the fire-breathing Spirit to attain purification, that our
hearts may be enlightened and revealed as afire with Thy grace.
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Christ is Risen!
The Leave-Taking of Pascha
2nd Vespers of Ascension: Is. 62:10-63:9 Apostle: Acts 18:22-28 Gospel: St. John 12:36-47
Isaiah 62:10-63:9 LXX, especially vss 1, 2: "Who is this that is come from Edom, with red
garments from Bozrah? Thus fair in His apparel, with mighty strength? I speak of righteousness and saving judgment.
Wherefore are Your garments red, and your raiment as if fresh from a trodden winepress?" How the hosts of heaven
wondered when God the Son, the Eternal Word of the Father, descended from His heavenly throne, made Himself of no
reputation, and came in the likeness of men (Phil. 2:7)! St. John of Damascus gave form to the angels' perplexity at the
Lord's Incarnation by putting the unspoken thoughts of the Archangel Gabriel into words: "How is it that He Who is in the
highest and incomprehensible shall be born of a Virgin? He Whose throne is heaven, and the earth His footstool, how shall
He be contained in a woman's womb? How was He pleased to be Incarnate of her by a word only, He Whom the six-winged ones and those of many eyes cannot gaze upon?"
Similarly, the Lord's triumphant return on high presented another great marvel to men and angels: Christ seated human
nature eternally with the Father, forever joining mankind to the Godhead. The Lord Jesus returned to heaven, from which
He never was separated, coming as a mighty man, fair in appearance. The red garments which the Prophet mentions are the
clothing of flesh which the Lord still wears, having become man. Edom is referred to because in Hebrew Edom means
"red." The name was given to Esau and his descendants after him because of his impetuous sale of his birthright to his
younger and twin brother, Jacob, for a mere serving of red pottage (Gen 25:30). The image of garments stained red from
trampling in the winepress, recalls the Lord's defeat of the enemies of mankind on the Cross when He trampled down
death.
In this passage which we are considering for the Feast of the Ascension, the Prophet Isaiah unfolds a vivid portrait of the
returning "Warrior Savior" coming in triumph to His rightful heavenly throne. Isaiah's scriptural icon includes the Lord's
command on behalf of the Church - "make a way for My People" (vs. 10). The reading also includes the Lord's answers
(vss. 3-6) to the angelic pondering (vss. 1,2). Finally, it concludes with Isaiah's prophetic reflections on the Ascension
(vss. 7-9).
The Prophecy first reveals that the whole earthly ministry of the Lord, following upon His Incarnation from the Virgin, was
for the Church, "the daughter of Zion" (vs. 11) whom the Lord calls "My People" (vss. 10,8). He will permit no
obstruction to stand in our way to heaven (vs. 10). What He accomplished serves not only the people of ancient Israel, but
now functions as a standard to rally all other peoples (vs. 10), which is why He commissioned the Apostles to "disciple all
nations" when they went into the world (Mt. 28:19). The Church is called as a Holy People, "the redeemed of the Lord, a
city sought out, and not forsaken" (Is. 62:12).
In this Prophecy, the Lord Jesus Himself answers the ponderings of the Angels. Since no other man could redeem mankind
(vss. 3,5), He Himself "trampled on [Satan and his hosts] in [His] fury, and dashed them to pieces as earth, and brought
down their blood to the earth" (vs. 3).
Isaiah shares with us his personal awe at what the Lord reveals: "I remembered the mercy of the Lord, and praises of the
Lord in all things wherein He recompenses us" (vs. 7). Of course, the Faithful are not "rebellious" for they know that
Christ Himself is our "deliverance" (vs. 8). No Angel or Prophet saved us, but the Lord Himself because He loves us and
spares us (vs. 9). "He Himself redeemed [us], and took [us] up, and lifted [us] up all the days of old" (vs. 9).
O Thou Who fulfillest all, and didst appear of Thine own choice, and suffer in the flesh and didst rise from the dead, and
didst tread down death, ascending in glory, send us Thy Spirit.
Thursday, May 20, 2004
The Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ
3rd Vespers of Ascension: Zechariah 14:1,4,8-11 Apostle: Acts 1:1-12 Gospel: St. Luke 24:36-53
Zechariah 14:1, 4, 8-11, especially vs. 9: "And the Lord will become king over all the earth; on
that day the Lord will be one and His Name one." The Ascension of the Lord Jesus marked the beginning of the age of the
Church, the present era that shall continue until once again "His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives which lies before
Jerusalem on the east...." (vs. 4). In that day, the Lord will be "King over all the earth," reigning over all as the one and
only Lord Whose Name alone shall be acknowledged by all peoples (vs. 9), and "every eye will see Him, even they who
pierced Him" (Rev. 1:7). The two Angels who appeared to the Apostles after the Lord "was taken up....out of their sight"
(Acts 1:9), revealed that "this same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw
Him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). The Prophet Zechariah further discloses something of what shall take place until that day
and on that day, when "there shall be no more curse," and the Holy Church, the true Jerusalem, "shall dwell in security"
(Zech. 14:11) under the Lord Jesus' gracious reign.
When the Prophet speaks of "spoil" (vs. 1), he employs an image of valuables or treasures seized as plunder by the victors
of wars. What, however, is 'the' spoil, the great treasure that is 'taken' from us in this life? It is our hearts and souls and
our very life and breath. The priceless gift of life itself is taken from all by death, for mortality reigns over all today. We
are handed over to death as a result of sin which separates us from God the life-Giver. Ah, but when the Lord of glory
comes, He will portion out true life to us, eternal life, Life without separation from Him. We will share in the spoil of His
victory and receive that which death takes from us. When the Lord comes "there shall be no more curse; Jerusalem shall
dwell in security" (vs. 11).
As He ascended from the Mount of Olives, so in Zechariah's vision, the Lord will come again to stand on the same Mount.
He pictures Olivet split in two, with a great valley pushing through it on an East-West axis, allowing "living waters [to]
flow out from Jerusalem" to all the earth, to the seas East and West (vss. 4,8). The truth of this vision is far advanced
through tangible history. The Living Waters of the Church now have flowed out from its Apostolic beginnings in
Jerusalem to every continent across the whole face of the globe. Barren cultures filled with death and bitterness have been
introduced to the Gospel. Lives are being quickened, are receiving life, and are flourishing, where before all was desert,
superstition, and death.
May God grant us eyes to see that, despite times of terrible repression and the killing of men's bodies and souls, the
Church, the Life-bearing water, has continued to flow and has not been stifled nor dammed up by the most systematic
efforts of nations, empires, and tyrannies. As the Prophet Zechariah foresaw, the advance of life "shall continue in [the]
summer as in [the] winter" of men's efforts to stop the water of life from reaching the great sea of humanity (vs. 8).
Today, the earth is being converted, from North to South, into a fruitful plain fed by the life-bearing water of the Gospel,
flowing from the true Jerusalem, the Church. When Zechariah speaks of Geba and Rimmon (vs. 10), he uses these cities as
reference points for markers of the northern and southern extremes of the land known to his readers in the sixth century
before Christ. Modern technology provides us with a larger geographic vision, and because the Life, Death, Resurrection,
and Ascension of the Lord Jesus have illumined our hearts and minds, we are able to see the point the Prophet sought to
proclaim: "Jerusalem shall remain aloft upon its site" (vs. 10), with Jesus Christ as its corner stone. Furthermore, it is
being "inhabited" (vs. 11).
Save us, O Son of God, Who didst rise from us in glory to the heavens, as we sing unto Thee. Alleluia!
Friday, May 21, 2004
Constantine and Helen, Equals-to-the-Apostles
1st Vesprs of Holy Fathers: Genesis 14:14-20 Apostle of Sts: Acts 26:1-5, 12-20 Gospel of Sts: St. John 10:1-9
14-20 LXX, especially vs. 16: "And he recovered all the cavalry of Sodom, and he recovered Lot his
nephew, and all his possessions, and the women and the people." The events which preceded Abram's recovery of the
cavalry of Sodom and his nephew, Lot, greatly illumine the present, brief account of the great Patriarch's retaliatory strike
against the massive armed forces of the kings in league with Chedorlaomer of Elam (vs. 17). Clearly, Chedorlaomer was
the powerful, regional overlord who had long dominated ancient Mesopotamia from Elam, an ancient country that lay to
the east of the great river valleys (in what today is southern Iran). Through wars, this great king had subjugated not only the
vast region that comprises present-day Iraq and Syria, but had extended effective suzerainty far to the west, down the
Jordan river valley, even to the city-states below the Salt or Dead Sea. (Gen. 14:1-3).
However, his vassal kings in the Dead Sea region, far away from Chedorlaomer's center of power, after twelve years of
paying tribute, conspired to cease further payments to him, a rebellion he soon set out to quell (Gen 14:4-8). While
reasserting control throughout the western region of his empire, the great overlord once again easily subdued the rebel
alliance of the Dead Sea Kings and set off north toward Damascus with his army. To punish his vassals in Siddim (those
southern plains below the Dead Sea), the great king took men and women as slaves, stripped the people's food stores, and
seized their other possessions. Lot suffered enslavement along with other citizens of Sodom, All these events were
reported to Abram (Gen 14:9-13).
The Holy Fathers teach us to see these events far less as the old story of conquest, war, and power politics - just another
chapter in the history of sin in human affairs; but to glean from these readings "how harmful are the vices" and to
apprehend from Abram, that great patriarch among spiritual warriors, the calling of every Christian to become a warrior of
things spiritual. First, Abram did not turn to his worldly allies for help in recovering Lot and those who had fallen prey to
Chedorlaomer (Gen. 14:13). Instead, he chose or "numbered" from those born in his own household, a small band of only
318 servants to pursue and strike what apparently was an invincible army of the overlord of Elam (Gen. 14:14). In
answering the rampage of sin amongst our natural passions, let us remember that outward assistance will not avail.
Worldly friends, counselors, or confessors cannot help us. It is from those of our own household, the Church, servants of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the intercession of the Saints and Angels, and the all-wise counsel of the Holy Spirit, that we must
find help in recovering what we have lost.
Abram's tiny band overtook their enemies in the darkness, as we also must search out, smite, and destroy the dark enemies
of our souls. As St. John Chrysostom makes clear: "the Patriarch prevailed against [his enemies] not by physical strength
but through faith in God....not by wielding weapons and arrows and spears...but with a few retainers of his own household."
What is more, by his faith and with resources which God gave him, Abram recovered that which was lost to him, and he
greatly benefitted many others as well - as this reading shows (vss. 16,17). What untold good the faith of God's people
showers upon others!
Most important, Abram was quick to give thanks to God. In a type of the Divine Liturgy, Melchizedek, the Priest of God
"brought loaves and wine" to celebrate God's victory through Abram; and the Patriarch received a priestly blessing, and
"gave him the tithe of all" (vs. 20). The "tithe of all" was Abram's own humble way of giving thanks to Him Who gave the
victory.
Thou alone, O Lord our God, rulest over those in heaven and on earth; Who art Lord of the Seraphim and King of Israel;
Who alone art holy and restest in Thy Holy Place.
Saturday, May 22, 2004
The Martyr Basiliskos of Comana
2nd Vespers of Holy Fathers: Deuteronomy 1:8-11, 15-17 Apostle: Acts 20:7-12 Gospel: St. John 14:10-21
Deuteronomy 1:8-11, 15-17, especially vs. 16: "And I charged your judges at that time, Hear the
cases between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien that is with him." We are
right to speak of a Judeo-Christian tradition, for the concept illumines the great consistency of God's revelation to His
People over the course of history. Thus, the command of the Holy Prophet Moses quoted above has applied in the courts of
ancient Israel, the Councils of the Church, and the judicial proceedings of Orthodox Christian nations. In fact, the
Prophet's charge lays down what God expects of all findings called just.
Whatever travesties men may make of right judgment - to distort it to their personal favor, to conform decisions to popular
ideological inventions, or to bend findings to benefit the powerful or wealthy - God sees and condemns all such as
aberrations. The fact is that, from a Judeo-Christian perspective, all courts in all lands stand under this Mosaic command,
for the great Seer gave to God's People truth for all peoples at all times in all places.
Therefore, we should not at all be surprised to find the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles charging the Faithful: "Do not
cause division, but make peace between disputants. Judge justly. Do not show partiality in reproving transgressions. Do
not be of two minds whether or not something should be." Nor should we be surprised, as we celebrate the Feast of the
Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, to see that their deliberations exactly fit the Prophet's charge.
First of all, great Moses enlarged the command to judge righteously by stating this truth both in the negative and in the
positive and by applying it specifically: "You shall not be partial in judgment, you shall hear the small and the great alike"
(vs. 17). This the First Ecumenical Council did in the case of hearing the Priest Arius of Alexandria.
As a Priest serving the large and wealthy parish of Baucalis in Alexandria, Arius' views concerning the Person of Christ
drew much interest and support. In an open discussion of his views in the Clericus of Alexandria, he and his Bishop could
openly disagree. Local Councils were called in support of both sides. Then the matter was taken to the first of the
Ecumenical or general Councils of the Church sponsored by the Emperor Constantine at Nicaea. Arius was given his day in
court, until finally his views were roundly condemned by the majority of the assembled Holy Fathers. They strove to act
impartially in resolving what began as a matter between a Priest and his Bishop, the small and the great in the Church being
given equal hearing.
Likewise, despite strong support from many throughout the Church for Arius' views, including the popular Bishops of three
influential dioceses (Nicomedia, Nicaea, and Chalcedon), the Holy Fathers of the First Council were not "afraid of the face
of man, for the judgment is God's" (vs. 17), and they sought to be faithful to the truth of Divine revelation as they had
received it, for the very life-giving and saving truth of God was at stake. For this reason, only after no other phrases of
Holy Scripture could be found did they utilize the non-Biblical word "homousion," of "one essence," to express the relation
of God the Father and God the Son.
Nicaea itself was the final court of appeal, for numerous Councils had been held in the East and West, as well as within the
jurisdiction of the See of Alexandria. When the "case [was] too hard" (vs. 17) for these earlier, regional Councils to settle
definitively, appeal had to be made as Moses first charged, for he instructed the "wise and experienced men" (vs. 15) of the
tribes to appeal to him as a higher authority (vs. 17). In the Church it required an Ecumenical Council.
Ye have given all, O thrice-blessed Fathers, to know the Trinity clearly, He being the Cause of the creation of the world,
for ye have appeared as champions of the Orthodox word.
Sunday, May 23, 2004
(Tone 6) The Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council
3rd Vespers of Holy Fathers: Deuteronomy 10:14-21 Apostle: Acts 20:16-18, 28-36 Gospel: St. John 17:1-13
Deuteronomy 10:14-21, especially vs. 17: "For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords...."
In the fourth century AD, when the heretic Arius of Alexandria taught that our Lord Jesus was the Word, born before time
and perfect,"beyond all other creatures, though still a creature," he precipitated a major crisis in the Church. Arius
formed his beliefs from syllogistic logic and by fixating on the absolute singleness of God's Person. To gain popular
support for his views, Arius set his doctrines to song. Worst of all, his teaching was not easily countered from Scripture,
for he explained all Biblical language with his own concepts.
A raging debate was loosed on the Church despite the condemnation of his views by several councils of Bishops, including
the council of Arius' own Bishop in Alexandria. Under the auspices of the God-loving Emperor of the Romans,
Constantine, the Bishops of the Church convened in the City of Nicaea after the 20th of May in 325 to address Arius'
teaching.
His popularity aside, Arius outraged the vast majority of the Bishops and the Faithful of the Church with his heresy. The
saintly Archbishop Nicholas of Myra, having suffered imprisonment by the pagan Emperor Diocletian for affirming that
Christ is God, was so offended at Arius that during the Council he struck him with his hand. For that action the other
Bishops removed Nicholas from the Council and from his position as a Bishop. However, seeing a vision of the Lord and
the Theotokos praising Nicholas, several of the leading hierarchs obtained the godly Bishop's forgiveness by the Council
and granted his complete episcopal restoration.
The Holy Spirit Who led the Bishops at Nicaea to repudiate Arius' teaching later impressed the Church to appoint the
present passage from Deuteronomy for celebrations of that first great Council. Like the Holy Fathers, Moses also
prophetically affirmed the absolute Deity of Christ Jesus as the Divine Son of God, teaching us that the Lord Jesus "is God
of gods and Lord of lords" (vs. 17) to Whom "belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it" (vs.
14), that He is a loving God Who "set His heart in love upon...[us] above all peoples" (vs. 15), and that He also is a just
God Who "executes justice" for the humble of the earth (vs. 18), truly our "praise...Who has done...great and terrible things
for us (vs. 21).
The Church reads and applies Moses' words to the Lord Jesus because Christ revealed Himself to His Apostles as God the
Word, Who was "in the beginning with God" and "without [Whom] nothing was made that was made" (Jn. 1:2,3). Of
course "the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it" (Deut. 10:14) alike belong to Him, for He is "the brightness of
[God's] glory and the express image of His Person" (Heb. 1:3).
Further, the Lord Jesus, early in His ministry, revealed to Nicodemos that God loves the world and "did not send His Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (Jn. 3:16,17). Let us remember that
the Lord Jesus, as God, before He took flesh from the Virgin, had "set His heart in love upon [the] fathers [Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob] and chose their descendants after them, [including us] above all peoples" (Deut. 10:15), for now all peoples of
the world are "called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles" (Rom. 9:24).
How compassionate and just is Christ our God Who manifested His great love and justice for the defenseless (Deut. 10:18)
by raising a widow's son from the dead (Lk. 7:13,14)! Truly we are called to serve Jesus as Lord, Who is our "praise" and
our "God, Who has done for [us]....great and terrible things" (Deut. 10:21) by His Death and Resurrection for our salvation.
We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee, O Lord, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty; O Lord, the Only-Begotten Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Spirit.
Monday, May 24, 2004
Vincent of Lerins
Kellia: Deuteronomy 8:1-10 Apostle: Acts 21:8-14 Gospel: St. John 14:27-15:7
Deuteronomy 8:1-10, especially vs. 3: "And He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you
with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know; that He might make you know that man does not live by
bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord." Dionysios the Areopagite,
reflecting on the nature of God, says, "'Tis the whole Being of the Supernal Godhead (saith the Scripture) that the Absolute
Goodness hath defined and revealed. For in what other sense may we take the words of Holy Writ when it tells us how the
Godhead spake concerning Himself, and said: 'Why asketh thou Me concerning the good? None is good save One, that is,
God [Mk. 10:18].'" Let us then expect only the good from God; at the same time, let us also understand that it is He Who
defines the good even as He gives what is the best for us.
In today's reading, the Prophet Moses reveals four things the People of God may expect from the Lord: 1) that He will
humble us, 2) that He will test us, 3) that He will discipline us, and 4) that He will bring us "into a good land" (vs. 7).
Moses further reminds us that God gives us these good things with a desire to evoke good thinking and wholesome actions
from us.
Some may take exception to the Prophet's proposal that humbling is one of God's "good" gifts to His Beloved, for surely
there is a painful, bitter side to being humbled. Notice what Moses reveals as God's purpose for humbling us: "to know
what was in [our] heart" (vs. 2). So that God might know? Not at all, for the Lord already knows what is in a man's heart
(Jn. 2:25). Rather, the Lord humbles us that we might discover what is in our heart, that we might face whether we are
inclined to keep His commandments, and that, with this knowledge, we might cleanse everything from our heart that is not
worthy either of us nor of our Creator.
God tests us also, Moses says (Deut. 8:2), and the Prophet closely associates God's testing of His People with His
humbling of us. God does test and humble us, not only that we should discern what is going on in our hearts, but also to
learn that "man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord"
(vs. 3).
God tested ancient Israel by leading them into a desert where they were totally without resources for food or shelter. In the
stark barrenness of Sinai, the Lord provided unexpected food, called manna, a source of nourishment they had not
experienced before. Furthermore, He took care that their clothing did not wear out (vss. 3,4). Testing and humbling are
Divinely provided educational experiences which rouse our minds to our utter dependence on God and heighten the acuity
of our spiritual ears so that we become attentive to the word of God in every situation, in every temptation (Mt. 4:3,4), and
in all our choices and decisions (1 Kngs. 3:9).
We may also expect discipline from the Lord that we may grow in our capacity to walk in His ways and fear Him (Deut.
8:6). Even when discipline is experienced as punishment, so long as it is received from the hand of the Lord, not in
bitterness or anger toward Him, it can guide us through the "narrow gate" and onto that "difficult...way which leads to life"
(Mt. 7:13). Finally, God's humbling, testing, and disciplining have the great value of awakening us to the truth that He is
bringing [us] into a "good land" (Deut. 8:7). For ancient Israel, Moses spelled out the evidence of the goodness of the
promised land, that they might remember (as we also should) "to bless the Lord [our] God for the good land He has given
[us]" (vs. 10). In Christ, we expect a "good land" that is "not of this world," but a kingdom rich in life, both now and ever.
"Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name: Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in
Heaven." (Mt. 6:9-10).
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Third Discovery of the Honorable Head of the Forerunner John
Kellia: Deuteronomy 9:7-17, 25-29 Apostle: Acts 21:26-32 Gospel: St. John 16:2-13
Deuteronomy 9:7-17, 25-29, especially vs. 26: "And I prayed to the Lord, 'O Lord God, destroy not Thy
people and Thy heritage, whom Thou hast redeemed through Thy greatness, whom Thou has brought out of Egypt with a
mighty hand.'" At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, in dismissing the Faithful, the Priest prays: " May He Who rose
again from the dead, Christ our true God, have mercy upon us and save us, forasmuch as He is good and loveth mankind."
However, note: additional language of this prayer qualifies this basic petition by adding these phrases: "through the
intercessions of His all-immaculate and all-blameless holy Mother; by the might of the precious and life-giving Cross; by
the protection of the honorable bodiless powers of heaven; at the supplications of the honorable, glorious Prophet,
Forerunner and Baptist, John; of the holy, glorious and all-laudable Apostles; of our father among the saints, John
Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople; of the holy, glorious and right-victorious martyrs; of our venerable and God-bearing fathers; of [our patron saint]; of the holy and righteous ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna; of [the saint whose
memory we celebrate this day] and of all the saints: have mercy upon us and save us, etc...."
The People of God trust with great dependence on the intercessions of the holy ones of God for all necessities, especially
for obtaining God's mercy and for salvation. The tradition of relying on the intercessions of the Saints may be traced back
in the history of God's People over the long millennia that separate us from the righteous Noah who interceded for all
living things upon leaving the ark, for he "built an altar to the Lord....and offered burnt offerings" (Gen. 8:20). God
responded to Noah with this promise, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the imagination of man's
heart is evil from his youth....While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and
night, shall not cease" (Gen. 8:21,22).
Observing the Prophet Moses as an intercessor in this reading, we see immediately that God reveals His People's sins, the
state of their souls, and of their many needs to His Saints. Here God directly tells Moses, "Arise, go down quickly from
here; for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly (Deut. 9:12). Thereby, Moses is alerted to a
serious situation needing prayer, and he hastens down the mountain to look for himself to see how the people "have turned
aside quickly out of the way which [God] commanded them" (vs. 12). Of course, there he discovers that they have cast a
golden statue of a calf and are worshiping it (Deut. 9:16; Ex. 32:4-6). He turns directly to intercession (Deut 9:18).
Note further that as the Lord informs the Prophet of the idolatry going on at the foot of the mountain, He refers to the
Israelites, to the ancient People of God, as "your people" (Deut. 9:12). The bond that exists between us and the Saints, as a
result of our common union in Christ, should always reassure the Faithful that the Saints not only know our necessities, but
that they also care for us and our welfare far more than we can imagine, for they are joined to us. After Moses observes for
himself what the people are doing, he knows exactly what is required in this circumstance. This is not something he thinks
about, but a godly motion welling up from his heart: he "lay prostrate before the Lord for...forty days and forty nights,
because the Lord had said He would destroy [them]. And [he] prayed to the Lord, "O Lord God, destroy not Thy people"
(vss. 25,26). Seek the Saints' intercession boldly for they are ready, willing, and earnest to intercede at all times with God
for our sake.
O protection of Christians, mediation unto the Creator most constant: be thou quick, O good one, to hasten to intercession
and speed thou to make supplications, O Theotokos.
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Augustine of Canterbury, Evangelizer of England
Kellia: Deuteronomy 10:1-5 Apostle: Acts 23:1-11 Gospel: St. John 15:16-23
Deuteronomy 10:1-5, especially vs. 4: "And He wrote on the tables, as at the first writing, the ten
commandments which the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly;
and the Lord gave them to me." In today's reading, as throughout Deuteronomy, Moses speaks of the Lord's
Commandments. He reminds us constantly how blessed we are to be God's People and to possess the "statutes and
judgments so righteous as all this law" (Deut. 4:8); he urges each of us: "take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently"
by obeying all this law and teaching it to "thy sons, and thy sons' sons" (Deut. 4:9). How blessed we are, for God places His
Commandments before us physically in writing, as on tables of stone - but more so, as Moses says, in "speaking" to us,
which God does through "the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart" (2 Cor. 3:3).
Note: the Commandments of God come not as an alien, external authority to enslave us, but, as St. Peter of Damaskos says,
they are "natural knowledge given us by God, whether this come through the Scriptures by human agency, or by means of
the angel that is given in divine Baptism to guard the soul of every believer, to act as his conscience and to remind him of
the divine commandments of Christ," which "if the Baptized person keeps...the grace of the Holy Spirit is preserved in
him." The whole purpose of the commandments, in St. Maximos the Confessor's words, is "to free the mind [the nous, the
deep center of the heart] from incontinence [akrasia, indulgence] and hate, and to bring it to the love of [God] Himself, and
of its neighbor."
Loving God is not simply "the first and great commandment" (Deut. 6:5; Mt. 22:36, 37) - it is the life-giving response of
the believing heart which transforms the Commandments from burdens into grace from the Lord. Hence, as St. Makarios
of Egypt says, the "highest elements of our constitution - the intellect [the nous], the conscience, the loving power of the
soul - must initially be offered to God as a holy sacrifice." For, as the Lord Himself says, "If a man love Me, he will keep
My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him" (Jn. 14:23). Loving
God is less a command and much more an opportunity.
When we love God above all else, His Commandments become weapons and aids in the unseen warfare that is being
fought in and for the soul of every Christian. They are lifelines from the Lord. Our merciful God foresees the demons'
intentions and the weakness of our flesh, and He gives us, His embattled children, commandments for defeating the demons
and for overcoming our passions. St. Philotheos of Sinai assures us that the commandments are powerful weapons: "If
with the Lord's help through careful watchfulness you guard your intellect [nous] from error and observe the attacks of the
demons and their snares woven in fantasy, you will see from experience that this is the case."
Most important is to realize the link between the Commandments and our passions. Each of the Commandments is
matched by a cluster of passions against which the corresponding commandment offers defense and victory. The first four
Commandments clearly are arrayed against self-esteem, vainglory, and pride that we may take up our cross and be buried
with Christ. The commandment against murder restrains anger (Mt. 5:21-24), against adultery cools lust (Mt. 5:27-29),
against stealing or covetousness checks avarice (Mt. 7:24-34) and against false-witness defeats lying and the other evil
impulses of the tongue (Mt. 5:37). Like Moses (Deut. 1:5), let us take the Sacred Commandments and put them in the holy
ark of our heart with the fear of God.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord; teach me Thy statutes. Blessed art Thou, O Master; make me to understand Thy
commandments. Blessed art Thou, O Holy One; enlighten me with Thy precepts.
Thursday, May 27, 2004
John the Russian, Confessor
Kellia: Deuteronomy 12:1-7 Apostle: Acts 15:13-19 Gospel: St. John 16:23-33
STRONG> Deuteronomy 12:1-7, especially vs. 5: "In the place which the Lord thy God shall choose....ye shall even
seek Him out and go thither." Our God and Savior Jesus Christ declared that "Every one who is of the truth hears My
voice" (Jn. 18:37). Some are attuned to Divine Truth, others are not. Those who are "of the truth" meet and touch Truth
Himself in every circumstance of this life without fail. Still, let us agree with Philaret of New York, in his accurate
depiction of this present age: "the distinguishing characteristic of our time is that people are now more and more possessed
by indifference to the Divine Truth. Many beautiful words are spoken, but in fact - in reality - people are completely
indifferent to the truth."
Yes, in this day and age, many truths are promoted, actually are pressed upon us for adoption, so that we find ourselves
bullied by a welter of competing truths, all demanding allegiance and unquestioning submission. But to Divine Truth, the
common response around us is, as the Saint observes, indifference. What we face in modern western culture is a paganism
that is no less entrenched than was the idolatry of the peoples living in the promised land prior to the coming of ancient
Israel. Different in outward appearances, but pagan at heart.
Among the difficulties facing Christ's People as we confront the idolatry of contemporary society is what should be a
simple task - to name the idols and identify the shrines where they are served (vs. 2), and to recognize the altars, pillars, and
graven images used by the present-day pagans (vs. 3). The key to these tasks, as Metropolitan Philaret makes clear, is found
in the so-called truths that the priests of contemporary paganism urge upon us so vociferously.
To name but a few of these idols: there is the rejection of absolute standards of morality in favor of situational ethics.
There is the cult of the god of pleasure that invites all to "do it if it feels good." There is the assumption that the
miraculous is impossible since it cannot be predicted, controlled, or measured. There is the appeal for toleration of all
lifestyles. Television and the other media, the majority of our universities, and a host of well-organized special interest
groups in concert provide the priests who advance these lies and distortions. They easily dismiss the cries of our Pastors
and Elders as the self-serving appeals of arcane bigots out of step with the "truths" of the "real" world.
What are we to do? Moses spoke Divine Truth. We should "destroy all the places" of worship, their altars and the "graven
images of their gods", and...abolish their name out of" our lives (vss. 2,3). However, since the situation we face is less
clear-cut than was Israel's as they faced Canaan, and since the constraints of law, which also protect the Church, are not to
be brushed aside, we do well to heed the counsel of St. Augustine who faced a scene like our own in the dying years of
pagan Rome: "They say that we are enemies of their idols [lies]. So be it; may God give them all into our power, as He has
already given us what we have broken down. For I say this, beloved, that you may not attempt to overcome those which it
is not lawfully in your power to overcome...When the power has not been given us, do not do it; when it is given, do not
neglect it." "Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king" (1 Pet. 2:17)
There is no place for Orthodox Christians to assassinate abortionists, bomb the TV towers and cables of the stations that
send out pornography, or put the torch to adult video stores, universities and school buildings where lies abound in
classrooms. The real tasks before us are to cleanse our hearts, minds, and passions, to offer Divine Truth as we can to our
children and families, and to live Divine Truth transparently so as to reveal its beauty and power to give Life. Lead me in
Thy truth and teach me, for Thou art God my Savior; on Whom I wait.
Friday, May 28, 2004
Germanos, Bishop of Paris
Kellia: Deuteronomy 13:1-4 Apostle: Acts 27:1-28:1 Gospel: St. John 17:18-26
Deuteronomy 13:1-4, especially vs. 4: "You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him,
and keep His commandments and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him and cleave to Him." The pledge of allegiance to
the flag of the United States, commonly used in schools and public assemblies throughout this country, speaks of "one
nation, under God." The present public debates, protests, and court trials concerning prayer in schools, the displaying of
the Ten Commandments in public buildings, the exhibiting of Nativity scenes in public parks, and the like, are symptoms
of a growing repudiation of what the phrase "under God" in the American pledge means to convey.
Beloved of the Lord, let us as Orthodox Christians be clear: the militant opponents of religious expression who are raising
the current dissent against the expression of faith in God are not a harmless, eccentric minority caught up in their own
ideologies and fantasies. They are the very "prophets and dreamers of dreams" who at this moment, in this land, and with
determined conviction are inviting us to "go after other gods...and [to] serve them" (Deut. 13:1,2). These voices are
themselves religious devotees who advocate faith in elemental powers within the natural order. They are prophets of belief
in the service of Nature as the true Source of all the present life forms that exist; and they acclaim "science" as the holy
Authority - higher than God. For the next three days, we shall reflect on three basic portions of the Mosaic teaching
concerned with society and culture, which, when they are subsumed "under God," contribute to a healthy and enduring
national life: 1) sanctified prophets, 2) rightly used wealth, and 3) God-fearing governors. Today's reading focuses our
attention on prophets. The passage largely is a warning against false prophets who produce signs and wonders, evince
clairvoyance, and thus are often able to lead men to "go after other gods" (vs. 2). What the present passage reveals is God's
standard for measuring what constitutes a sanctified prophet, one truly anointed of God. Moses discloses that men can
produce signs and wonders and even foretell the future, but he warns against taking such abilities as reliable criteria for
deciding whether a prophet is true or false (vss. 1-3). Given the complexity and the enormous powers and forces which the
Lord has built into His creation, it is not surprising that men and women through study and practice can learn to harness
and manipulate these to produce amazing results and speak clairvoyantly.
It is evident also that the Creator of the universe is quite capable of producing mighty signs and wonders, either Himself or
through His People. The historical evidence that God does this extends over centuries and centuries, even into this present
"scientific age." The Lord Jesus' own clairvoyance impressed Nathanael to call Jesus "the Son of God" and "King of
Israel" (Jn. 1:49). To this acclamation, the Lord simply replied, "You will see greater things than these" (Jn. 1:50). Every
one of the miracles of the Lord was performed either because of Divine compassion or to reveal to His chosen disciples the
full truth concerning Himself and Divine salvation.
Let us not be dazzled by men's capacities, but learn that those are sanctified who "love the Lord your God" with all their
heart and soul, "walk after the Lord your God," fear Him, "keep His commandments...obey His voice," serve and cleave to
Him (Deut. 13:3,4). In 1937, when Stalin purged the top leaders of the Communist Party, it was more than the loyal party
members could bear; but, as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn observed, "that is the price a man pays for entrusting his God-given
soul to human dogma." Let us trust only in Christ and His Church.
O holy Prophets of God, as ye did bind the heavens by your pure words, and teach us to love and fear God, loosen our
iniquities by your intercessions before the Lord, to save our souls.
Saturday, May 29, 2004
Saturday of Souls; Hieromartyr Luke of Simferopel
1st Vespers of Pentecost: Numbers 11:16-17, 24-29 Apostle: Acts 28:1-31 Gospel: St. John 21:14-25
Numbers 11:16-17, 24-29, especially vs. 25: "Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him,
and took some of the Spirit that was upon him and put it upon the seventy elders; and when the Spirit rested upon them,
they prophesied. But they did so no more." This selection is the first reading at the Vespers of the forthcoming Feast of
Pentecost. It illumines some of the teaching in that service: "The Holy Spirit provideth all; overfloweth with prophecy;
fulfilleth the Priesthood; and hath taught wisdom to the illiterate. He hath revealed the fishermen as theologians. He
bringeth together all laws of the Church. Wherefore, O Comforter, equal to the Father in Substance and the throne, glory to
Thee!"
This passage in Numbers draws from the experience of the ancient People of God, yet it reveals the Holy Spirit as the
Provider of every gift for the Church in her common life. In particular, the Spirit empowers the prophetic ministry among
God's People. Also, He completes the ministry of the Priesthood, imparts wisdom to all the Faithful - even those lacking
formal education - and it is He Who enables the Church to carry out its administrative tasks well.
The Prophet Moses, the wilderness leader of God's ancient People, Israel, at one point became overwhelmed by the
burdens of his office for he was functioning alone. He reached a point of desperation and cried out to God, "If Thou wilt
deal thus with me, kill me at once, if I find favor in Thy sight, that I may not see my wretchedness" (Nu. 11:15). God
responded by directing Moses to "gather...seventy men of the elders of Israel" upon whom the Lord would place His Spirit
(Nu. 11:16). Likewise, the Church clearly needs a diversity of gifts to carry on the Lord's ministry and worship. As the
Apostle teaches: many different "administrations" are required, but it is "the same Spirit" Who provides the various skills
and abilities.
Observe that the Holy Spirit empowered the seventy with prophecy to assist in leading the People (vss. 25-27). Prophesy is
important among the Spirit's gifts, being a capacity that St. John Chrysostom describes as "not only the telling of things
future but also of the present," the power to speak forthrightly to conditions in the Church and society. In a time of
extensive secularization like the present, when the Church is more and more alien in the world, this gift from the Spirit is
vital so that the Faithful not be led away from the truth of the Gospel.
Moses' family were members of the tribe of Levi (Ex. 2:1,2), that clan of Israelites which God set aside to serve in the
tabernacle (Nu. 1:53). As a result, the priestly caste all of whom descended from Aaron, Moses' brother (Nu. 3:9,10), also
were Levites. Therefore, when the gift of the Spirit was bestowed upon elders from all twelve of Israel's tribes, the Lord
revealed the close relationship between all of God's People and the Church's Bishops and Priests. Every member of the
Church has a responsibility to assist and support the clergy in carrying out their duties.
The case of Eldad and Medad is instructive, for "they had not gone out to the tent" for the "ordination" of the Seventy who
were to evolve into the governing council of Israel, the Sanhedrin; yet the Holy Spirit manifestly came upon them also (Nu.
11:26). The holy wisdom imparted by the Spirit is not given exclusively through the Church's seminaries. Many among
the Faithful, through prayer and ascesis, are well-grounded in the essentials of the Faith.
Finally, God the Holy Spirit assists the Church in all its administrative tasks, giving light and wisdom both to the clergy
and to the laity alike. The Seventy did not become Priests, but still bore the "burden of the people" with Moses in the other
aspects of governance (vs. 17).
O Christ our God, send upon Thy People the Comforter, Who is Thy Spirit and the Spirit of the Father, that in Him we may
be strengthened to serve Thee worthily before the world.
Sunday, May 30, 2004
Tone Seven The Feast of Pentecost
2nd Vespers of Pentecost: Joel 2:23-32 Apostle: Acts 2:1-11 Gospel: St. John 7:37-52; 8:12
Joel 2:23-32, especially vs. 29: "And on My servants and on My handmaids in those days will I pour out of
My Spirit." The Prophet Joel foretold an outpouring of the Spirit of God, and the Apostle declares its arrival: "this is that
which was spoken by the Prophet" (Acts 2:16). We are living in those days which Joel foresaw, days "which the Lord hath
made; let us rejoice and be glad therein" (Ps. 117:24 LXX), for God has endowed us "with the seal of the Spirit;" indeed,
"we have received the heavenly Spirit...for He hath saved us." Consider the wonder of fulfillment, cause for rejoicing and
gladness, "ye children of Zion, in the Lord your God" (Joel 2:23). "This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our
eyes" (Ps. 117:23 LXX). Over the years of our life, "the locust, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, and the
cankerworm" of our sins "have eaten" away our spiritual vitality, stripping the life from our hearts and souls, coming like a
"great army" of consequences into inner being - a devouring horde to eat up our joy, peace and purity. And the Lord has
allowed all this to come upon us - has even sent it like an army against us for our wrongdoings and transgressions (Joel
2:25).
Let us be clear: it is we who have invited this swarm of locusts that have eaten up the spiritual food that God would have
given us. However, on this day, at this moment, as is ever true with God, the Lord longs to set for us a place at His
heavenly banquet table. After all, Beloved of the Lord, we are the People of God, His sons and daughters. Truly, how
greatly He would have us come home to Him as awakened prodigals, as returning sons and daughters! Come, let us "eat
abundantly, and be satisfied, and...praise the Name of the Lord [our] God for the things which He has wrought wonderfully
with [us]" (vs. 26).
What has God "wrought"? As St. John Chrysostom reminds us so often: He did not "cease to do all things until" He had
"brought us back to heaven, and...endowed us with [His] kingdom which is to come." Remember: God Himself took our
flesh from the Virgin. God the Son "Himself has suffered, being tempted...to aid those who are tempted" (Heb. 2:18), but
more, He has become "food indeed" (Jn. 6:55) for His People, "bread which came down from heaven;" and those who eat
"this bread will live forever."
Consider the present condition of our life in Christ - as members of the Church of the Living God: if we confess our sins,
the Lord removes our shame forever (Joel 2:26). Listen to Him: "know that I Am in the midst of Israel, and that I Am the
Lord your God" (Joel 2:27). As He says, He is raining "on [us] the early and the latter rain" (vs. 23) of His Holy Spirit. Do
we not pray to a good God? Do we not ask Him to: "send down Thy Holy Spirit upon us and upon these Gifts"? Do we
think that He does not honor the prayers of His Beloved ones? The Holy Spirit is falling upon us, fulfilling "the Kingdom
of Heaven unto boldness" toward our God. The Lord means to "recompense [us] for the years which the locust....have
eaten" (vs. 25).
Children of Zion, "let us rejoice then and be glad" (vs. 23), casting away the shame of our sins into the oblivion of His
mercy and forgiveness, and let us "dream dreams, and...see visions" of what God has actually wrought among us (vs. 28).
Let us not hesitate to "call on the Name of the Lord [and] be saved: for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall the saved one
be as the Lord has said" (vs. 32). Never forget that "He Who rose again from the dead, Christ our true God - through the
intercessions of His all-immaculate...Mother....[has] mercy on us and [saves] us forasmuch as He is good and loveth
mankind."
May the blessing of the Lord and His mercy come upon us through His grace and love toward mankind, always, now and
ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Monday, May 31, 2004
(Memorial Day USA)
Monday of the Holy Spirit
3rd Vespers of Pentecost: Ezekiel 36:24-38 Apostle: Acts 5:8-19 Gospel: St. Matthew 18:10-20
Ezekiel 36:24-28, especially vs. 24: "For I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the
countries, and bring you into your own land." The nationalist longing of Jews around the world for a homeland is, in part,
a lineal result of Prophets like Ezekiel, who was himself an exile in Babylon. Beginning in the middle of the 19th century
AD, Jewish thinkers advanced a "back to Zion" movement, which in 1897 became the Zionist Organization, dedicated to
securing a home in Palestine. "Practical Zionism" at first could do little more than establish a few isolated Jewish
agricultural settlements in Palestine, but in the 1920s, after the area became a British Mandate, more land was purchased
and immigration increased. Both in 1929 and 1936 there were major protests by the Palestinian Arabs, Christians and
Moslems alike, which led to the idea of partitioning. In the post World War II era, Israel became a national state after two
local wars. Large-scale immigration has followed, with no lessening of tensions.
How then are Orthodox Christians, as the true Israel - the true People of God - to understand Ezekiel's prophecy? What is
meant by "coming into our own land," for we are a worldwide people of many lands? While the first and last verses of this
prophecy speak of "land," the reading actually is concerned with God's promise to transform the hearts of His People by
His Holy Spirit, which makes these verses appropriate to the Feast of Pentecost. It is the work of the Spirit in the hearts of
God's People which enables us to "walk in [His] statutes and be careful to observe [His] ordinances," and be His People for
whom He is God (vss. 27,28).
The Orthodox prayer for the Holy Spirit used regularly at the beginning of our services, teaches us that the Holy Spirit is
"everywhere present and fillest all things." Hence, there can be no land which is not under the sovereignty of God nor is
beyond His rule and providence. Therefore, wherever we are is "our own land" as long as we are seeking the infilling of
the Spirit and in all things endeavoring to follow and observe His gracious governance. Most of all, "our own land," is the
Kingdom of Christ; but, as the Lord Jesus told Pontius Pilate, it is "not of this world" (Jn. 18:36). Still, we do approach its
"boundaries" each time we gather as the Church.
It is when we are assembled as Church that the Spirit especially is known to "come and dwell in us and cleanse us of every
stain of sin," as the prayer of the Spirit reveals. In fact, if He does not come and cleanse us and dwell in us, we cannot even
be the Church. His renewing and purifying work becomes most evident as we receive the Christian Mystery, for thereby
God bestows upon us "a new birth through water and the Spirit." By His action, we are empowered to cast off the idols
that pollute our hearts, separate us from God and plunge us into spiritual death.
The Christian Mysteries received in the assemblies of the Church are the very means by which God "gives us hearts of flesh
and puts His Spirit within us" (Ezek. 36:26,27). This is why at every celebration of the Divine Liturgy we pray the Lord to
"send down Thy Holy Spirit" not only on the "Gifts here spread forth" but also "upon us....unto Communion of the Thy
Holy Spirit, unto the fulfillment of the Kingdom of Heaven, unto boldness toward Thee, and not unto judgment or unto
condemnation," so that we "may....observe [God's] ordinances" (vs. 27).
While the Jews desperately still are looking for their "own land" and to establish it by their own human strength, we are
blessed, time and time again, to experience the Kingdom over which God rules. Beloved, we are enabled by the power of
the Spirit to "dwell in the land which [the Lord] gave to your fathers;" for we are His People, and He is our God (vs. 28).
All-Holy Spirit, issuing from the Father and coming through the Son upon us, save and sanctify all those who know Thee as
God, Life, and Life-Giver.
Saturday, May 1, 2004
Christ is Risen!
The Holy Prophet Jeremiah
Kellia: Deuteronomy 2:1-23 Apostle: Acts 9 :19-31 Gospel: St. John 15:17-16:2
Deuteronomy 2:1-23, especially vs. 16-18 RSV: "So when all the men of war had perished and
were dead from among the people, the Lord said to me, 'This day you are to pass over the boundary of Moab at Ar.'"
Having embraced the life in Christ, we discover before us a "land to possess," the "Kingdom of God within," as promised
to the Faithful by the Lord Himself. Being illumined by the Holy Spirit at Baptism, we are called to "possess" this land by
freely choosing to undertake a multitude of struggles through which we prove ourselves "children of the Light" and "heirs
of eternal good things."
In the Baptismal Liturgy, the struggles which follow our choice to pursue the way of the Lord are called "putting away the
old man, corrupt through the lusts of the flesh," and "being clothed upon with the new man after the image of the Lord,"
and are won with God's help.
"Being clothed upon with the new man" is equivalent to preparing for "possession of the Kingdom." Today's reading
discloses some of what is involved in this preparatory process: a long period of spiritual purification, persistent effort to
meet fruitfully the demands of daily life, and conscious effort to continue pursuing the goal God has given us. Ancient
Israel's example during the wilderness pilgrimage provides types which describe such maturation in discipleship.
Though initially Israel disobeyed God and remained camped at Kadesh-barnea, yet in time they turned and journeyed
toward the Red Sea, to the northernmost bay of the Gulf of Aqaba and the settlements of Elath and Ezion Geber (vss. 1,8).
"Journeying" in their case actually was a protracted thirty-eight year nomadic existence (vs. 14). They survived on manna
(see Ex. 16:35), surplus from their flocks, and produce grown in campsite gardens (Dt. 2:7). During this time they skirted
about the mountains of Seir, the home of the Edomites (vs. 4), but they always stayed in the wilderness to the west and
south, without permanent settlements.
This nomadic existence served as their time of purification. They reposed, the generation of those who balked at entering
the Promised Land from Kadesh-barnea (vss. 14-16), but the younger generation - who were just children at the time of
Israel's failure - matured by meeting the daily rigors of unsettled, wilderness living. They were slowly honed into an
adaptable army ready to possess the Promised Land whenever God should direct them.
Similarly, Orthodox Christians ought to consider that the essence of life in Christ is spiritually nomadic, a life of
pilgrimage, in which God is preparing each one for great conquest through the daily spiritual efforts of the present life.
Others around us in our neighborhoods, at our jobs, or in the communities may have settled lives as did the Edomites and
the Moabites. By remaining in the wilderness, Israel learned to rely solely upon God, not the comforts of this life.
At the end of the thirty-eight years, the process was completed and the Lord commanded them to go "in the direction of the
wilderness of Moab" (vs. 8). Just as they had avoided Edomite territory all those years, now they were to respect Moabite
territory and "not harass...or contend with them in battle" (vs. 9). A nomadic people may buy and sell in relation to others
(vs. 6), but always they understand that they are "in passage" and that they are not to become entangled along the way
toward the Promised Land.
Moses reminded them that each of the other peoples had dispossessed giants (called by various names, vss. 10-23), a signal
to Israel that they too would face giants in the land they were about to possess (vs. 12). And so shall every Christian! Still,
in Christ, we can be victors.
O Christ our God, keep us ever warriors invincible in every attack of those who assail us, and make us all victors even unto
the end, through Thy crown incorruptible.
Sunday of the Paralytic, May 2, 2004
Christ is Risen! (Tone 3)
Athanasios the Great
Kellia: Deuteronomy 2:24-37 Apostle: Acts 9:32-41 Gospel: St. John 5:1-15
Deuteronomy 2:24-37, especially vss. 31, 32 RSV: "'Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his
land over to you; begin to take possession, that you may occupy his land.' Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his
people, to battle at Jahaz." From the beginning of the teachings of the Holy Prophet Moses in Deuteronomy, one observes
that the effort to possess requires inner cleansing and the submission of the whole self under the rule of God so that no
aspect of one's life is left aside or avoided because bowing the will is difficult. Today's reading sounds a clear warning
which is echoed repeatedly in the Holy Fathers.
Heed St. Theophan in his cautions to all who wish to sacrifice everything to God and do only His will: "...you will meet in
yourself as many wills as you have powers and wants, which all clamor for satisfaction, irrespective of whether it is in
accordance with the will of God or not. Therefore, to reach your desired aim, it is first of all necessary to stifle your own
wills and finally to extinguish and kill them altogether. And in order to succeed in this, you must constantly oppose all evil
in yourself and urge yourself towards good. In other words, you must ceaselessly fight against yourself and against
everything that panders to your own wills, that incites and supports them. So prepare yourself for this struggle and this
warfare...." To possess is to fight!
Appreciating the battle that faced ancient Israel demands a certain visualization which may be aided by a good map of the
territory that lies on the east side of the great rift valley that dominates the geography of the Holy Land, holding the Sea of
Galilee, the Jordan River, and the Dead Sea. Earlier, Moses commanded: "Now rise up, and go over the brook Zered"
(Deut. 2:13). This stream flows into the Dead Sea at its south end and was the boundary between Edom and Moab (Deut.
2:18). Israel passed northward through Moab without contention.
Today's reading begins with a new command: "go over the valley of the Arnon" (Deut. 2:24). The Arnon is another west-flowing stream that enters the Dead Sea in its midsection and served as the frontier between Moab and the Amorite
kingdom of Sihon. Notice that Heshbon, Sihon's capital, was located between two other west-flowing streams, one that
enters the Dead Sea at its far north end and a second still further north, a tributary of the Jordan. Notice also that Sihon's
kingdom extended quite far north of Heshbon, as far as another west-flowing stream, "the river Jabbok" (vs.37). The
command to avoid "the land of the sons of Ammon" (vs. 37) refers to territory at the headwaters of the Jabbok in the hill
country far to the east of the Jordan.
The destruction of all of Sihon's kingdom, "every city, men, women, and children....[with] none remaining" (vs. 34), as a
type of the Christian's struggle for total inward purity, matches well the spiritual counsel of St. Theophan to stifle our many
wills "and finally to extinguish and kill them altogether." While modern sensibilities may view the means for taking
Sihon's kingdom as genocide, in Old Testament terms the conquest was understood as Divine judgment for the utter
iniquity of the Amorite people (see Gen. 15:16). Note that Sihon defied the reasonable chance to cooperate in Israel's
passage but refused out of "hardness of heart," that God might "give him into [Israel's] hand" (Deut. 2:30). God waits only
so long.
Hence, the Christian who desires God's highest and best, must not tolerate even "socially acceptable" attitudes and
behaviors in himself that are contrary to the Lord's command to "be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Mt.
5:48). We have made a vow to fight for God, as Staretz Nicodemos has said, "to the glory of His Divine Name, even unto
death."
Arouse, O Lord, my soul, sorely paralytic with divers sins and unseemly deeds, as Thou didst raise the paralytic of old, that
I may cry, "Glory to Thy might, O compassionate Christ."
Monday, May 3, 2004
Christ is Risen!
The Martyrs Timothy and Maura of Egypt
Kellia: Deuteronomy 3:1-11 Apostle: Acts 10:1-16 Gospel: St. John 6:56-69
Deuteronomy 3:1-11, especially vs. 2 RSV: "But the Lord said to me, 'Do not fear him; for I have
given him and all his people and his land into your hand; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon the king of the
Amorites.'" For the past six days, we have been examining Moses' account of the struggles of the ancient People of God to
possess the Promised Land, discerning through his teachings some of what it means to possess or attain the Kingdom of
God as Christians. Beginning with the departure of ancient Israel from Kadesh-barnea, where their disobedience threw a
chill over the prospect of occupying the land, and on to the People's final battle along the northern reaches of the trans-Jordan, obedience was the mark of ancient Israel's initial success, just as disobedience had been the cause of their earlier
failures. The two early chapters of Deuteronomy (Deut. 2,3) describe Israel's departure from Kadesh-barnea and their
conquest of Og "the king of Bashan and all his people" (Deut. 3:3). In that period of time, ten Divine commands were
given to them through the Prophet Moses. These directives of God formed them into a nomadic people (Deut. 2:1), took
them out of the desert region of the Sinai peninsula, started them northward toward the Promised Land (Deut. 2:3), kept
them from contending with the sons of Esau, Moab, and Ammon (Deut. 2:5,9,19), and brought them victory against the two
Amorite kingdoms of Sihon and Og (Deut. 2:24,31; 3:2).
Obedience assured Israel's migration and possession of the land. For instance, God commanded them "do not contend with
[the sons of Esau]" (Deut. 2:5), and "we went on, away from our brethren the sons of Esau" (Deut. 2:8). They obeyed.
Still, these first movements were only preparation for their later struggles. They moved along a path chosen by the will of
God and marked out for them by His command. Thus, they defeated those whom God designated to be "utterly destroyed"
(Deut. 2:34; 3:6). Obeying became possessing.
Abba Dorotheos observes that when the devil finds one bit of self-will or self-righteousness, "he will cast him down
through that." This surely was exactly what happened to the generation of Israel's warriors who came out of Egypt and
received the Law from God at Mount Sinai. Their burial mounds in the wastelands of the Sinai peninsula are a permanent
reminder of the need to defeat the enemy of self-assertion.
Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos reminds each of us similarly that we are "told to obey the will of God uncritically as it is
expressed in Scripture and in the works of the Fathers of the Church. Our intelligence [nous] will certainly rebel and
protest, but it is necessary to subject it to the will of God. And since it is possible not to know God's will in so many
details of our daily life, we are required to obey a spiritual father who will guide us on our spiritual journey." We note that
the commands of God to ancient Israel were given through His Holy Prophet Moses.
The theme of obedience, as a precursor for possession, echoes in the teachings of the Lord, Who says plainly, "he who does
not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me" (Mt. 10:38). The Apostles teach the same: "he who looks into
the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in
what he does" (Jas. 1:25). Note how well the words of St. John of the Ladder reflect Israel's journey: "Obedience is
unquestioning movement, voluntary death, a life free of curiosity, carefree danger, unprepared defense before God,
fearlessness of death, a safe voyage...." Beloved, let us possess through obedience, guided by the wisdom of God in His
Holy Church.
Teach us Thy righteousness, Thy commandments and Thy statutes, O God. Enlighten the eyes of our understanding, lest at
any time we sleep unto death in sins.
Tuesday, May 4, 2004
Christ is Risen!
Martyr Florian, Enlightener of Austria & Poland
Kellia: Deuteronomy 3:12-20 Apostle: Acts 10:21-33 Gospel: St. John 7:1-13
Deuteronomy 3:12-20, especially vs. 18 RSV: "The Lord your God has given you this land to
possess; all your men of valor shall pass over armed before your brethren the people of Israel." Having led Israel to
complete the conquest of the former kingdoms of Sihon and Og, the two Amorite Kings, Moses then divided the newly
acquired land among elements of three of the twelve tribes of Israel: Reuben, Gad, and a portion of the tribe of Joseph. The
latter he refers to as "the half-tribe of Manasseh" (vs. 13), for Manasseh was one of the two sons of Joseph (Gen. 46:20).
The Manassites from the time of the Exodus functioned as a tribe in their own right, though they were regularly referred to
as a "half-tribe" [of Joseph]. The allotment of the territory that had lain within the kingdom of Og was specifically
assigned to two Manassite clans, Machir and Jair (compare vss. 14-15 with Num. 32:40-41). From the peoples of the three
tribes who were assigned land within the trans-Jordan area, Moses further required strong detachments of fighting men to
lead the invasion into the lands west of the Jordan (Deut. 3:18-20). These "men of valor" would not be free to return to
their families and new possessions until the other tribes were at rest on their assigned allotments in the main portion of the
Promised Land. God expected mutual support among His People.
The reading today is a forceful reminder for all who are born anew into the Church of Christ: we are members one of
another and, as such, we ought naturally to act in mutual support of our fellow Christians. As St. Paul teaches: "Let each of
you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others" (Phil. 2:4). Reading further in the
Philippians' Epistle, we discover that the Apostle's model for self-giving in the Church is none other than the Lord Jesus,
our God and Savior Himself (Phil. 2:5-11), for "...though He was rich, yet for [our] sakes He became poor, that [we]
through His poverty might become rich" (2 Cor. 8:9).
Christ mystically enables the Faithful to act in love and concern for the brethren in the Church, as the Romanian theologian,
Dimitru Staniloae states: "The holiness of Christ as man is available to all, and is directed actively towards all....The saint
is the man 'for' men, the man who is a stranger to every kind of selfishness." While "friendship after the flesh is very
easily destroyed on some slight pretext, since it is not held firm by spiritual perception," as St. Diadochos of Photiki has
shown, yet, "when a man begins to perceive the love of God in all its richness, he begins also to love his neighbor with
spiritual perception."
The Desert Fathers have provided us with striking examples of such self-giving. Of Abba Agathon who forced himself to
fulfill all the commandments, it was said that, "coming to the town one day to sell his wares, he encountered a sick traveler
lying in the public place without anyone to look after him. The old man rented a cell and lived with him there, working
with his hands to pay the rent and spending the rest of his money on the sick man's needs. He stayed there four months till
the sick man was restored to health. Then he returned in peace to his cell." The Prophet Moses imposed the interests of
others as a Divine commandment on the first tribes to receive allotments of land. Our Lord takes us to the root of mutual
caring: "If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make
Our abode with him." Pursuit of the interests of others becomes natural in us through the indwelling power of the Holy
Spirit, for He awakens love for Christ in our hearts and makes Christ Jesus present there at all times to stir up in us the
"love of God in all its richness."
Stir up, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the wills of Thy faithful people, that they, loving Thee above all things, may plenteously
bring forth the fruit of good works to Thy glory and praise.
Wednesday, May 5, 2004
Christ is Risen!
Feast of Mid-Pentecost
1st of Vespers: Micah 4:2-3,5; 5:2-5,8 Apostle: Acts 14:6-18 Gospel: St. John 7:14-30
Micah 4:2-3,5; 5:2-5,8, especially vs. 4:2 LXX: "...out of Zion shall go forth a law, and the Word of the
Lord from Jerusalem." The Prophet Micah, in a mystic harmony with God's Prophet Isaiah (Is.2:3-4), proclaimed to
mankind an identical prophecy concerning the world-changing era in which many nations and peoples of the earth would
come to the House of God, learn His ways, receive His judgment, and find the way to peace among themselves. What a
wonder for a blighted planet! And we have seen the fulfillment of the Prophets' revelation.
Blessed Micah of Moresheth was a contemporary of Isaiah. Hence, the words of both Prophets were penned eight centuries
before the Incarnation of the Son of God. To the message that Micah shared with Isaiah, he added a unique prediction of
the Lord Jesus' Nativity: "and thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah, art few in number to be reckoned among the
thousands of Judah; yet out of thee shall One come forth to Me, to be a ruler of Israel" (Mic. 5:2).
Indeed, Christ our God has come forth out of eternity, "a Governor of Nations, from the Virgin Maiden Incarnate...Who
shall govern His people, the new Israel. Let us, therefore, raise unto Him magnification!" This we sing at the Feast of the
Lord's Nativity. Now, at the Feast of Mid-Pentecost, let us meditate on the Prophet's word as we stand in the light of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord that our praise may be the greater and more joyous.
Christ is risen! And today many nations are singing exultantly, "Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the
House of the God of Jacob" (vs. 4:2), for mankind's understanding of these words has been transformed by Christ's
Resurrection. Now we know that Mount Zion refers to the Church of God, as does the phrase "the house of the God of
Jacob;" now even the city of Jerusalem is perceived to have a similar double designation (vs. 4:2): "Shine, shine, O new
Jerusalem; for the glory of the Lord hath risen upon Thee. Rejoice and exult now, O Zion, and thou, O pure one,
Theotokos, rejoice at the Resurrection of Thy Son." Today, Christ Jesus judges among peoples on every continent across
the face of the earth. A new Gospel Law is revealed in and through the Church, and people who were hungry to learn the
truth, "walk in the Name of the Lord our God, for the age and beyond" (vs. 4:5), and they are being fed. Strong nations
have been rebuked and brought into His courts in praise. Militantly savage peoples have been formed anew by the healing
power of His truth.
The Prophet Micah's words addressed to Bethlehem confirm to the Faithful that the Holy Infant in the manger is He Who
came forth to God, to "be a ruler of Israel," for His going forth into His creation was "from the beginning, even from the
days of the age" (vs. 5:2). He is the Eternal Who humbled Himself for our salvation. Men under the Old Covenant waited
for His coming, as the Prophet directed: "till the time of her that travails," and, indeed, the Virgin gave birth, so that "the
remnant of their brethren" could "return to the children of Israel" (vs. 5:3).
Now, two thousand years later, the Lord stands as He ever has, and He beholds and feeds "His flock with power," as He has
through all time and shall forever. "They shall dwell in the glory of the Name of the Lord their God, for now shall they be
magnified to the ends of the earth" (vs. 5:4). Let us be assured that no foe or world power or ideology, not even the gates
of hell, shall prevail against His Church (Mt. 16:18). Against all such "Assyrians," the Lord, as He always has, shall raise
up faithful shepherds to thwart the "attacks of men" (vs. 5:6). Christ's Church, as the true Remnant of Jacob, remains to
this day "as a lion in the forest" (vs. 5:8).
In the midst of the Mosaic Feast, O Christ God, Master and Maker of all, Thou didst say, Come ye, and receive the water
of immortality. Wherefore we cry, Grant us Thy great mercy.
Thursday, May 6, 2004
Christ is Risen!
The Righteous Job the Long-suffering
2nd of Mid-Pentecost: Isaiah 55:1-3 Apostle: Acts 10:34-43 Gospel: St. John 8:12-20STRONG> Isaiah 55:1-3 LXX, especially vs. 1: "Ye that thirst, go to the water, and all that have no money, go and
buy; and eat and drink wine and fat without money or price." The Prophet directs, he is insistent, he enjoins the thirsty -
nay, he commands the parched soul: "go to the water." Likewise, the Lord Jesus commands those who thirst to "come to
Me and drink" (Jn. 7:37). In either case - with the Prophet or with the Lord - a feast to satisfy the soul and give life to the
spiritually thirsty is offered (Is. 55:2 and Jn. 7:38). The difference between the Prophet's command and Christ's lies in that
to which the thirsting soul is directed.
Where is the water? What water is meant? In the Gospel command, we have no doubt where we should go to slake our
thirst: "Come to Me and drink"(Jn. 7:37). The Prophetic command is removed from the abstract and is made quite specific
and personal. Christ Jesus provides the specific answer to the spiritual thirst of men by means of an invitational command:
"Come to Me and drink" (Jn.7:37). How do we do this? How do we reach Him for relief?
The Blessed Isaiah points the way for us. "Go to the water" (Is. 55:1). Theodoret of Cyrus clarifies the Lord's point - in
case we should miss it: "Behold what he has shown here...it is thanks to All-Holy Baptism that 'we are justified freely,'
according to the divine Apostle, "by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus'" (Rom. 3:24). Recall that in
Holy Baptism we are filled "with power of [the] Holy Spirit, in the unity of...Christ," becoming "members and partakers of
the death and resurrection of Christ our God."
The Prophet teaches us much more. First, he reveals the cost of unity with Christ, a price that may not be measured in
monetary or other tangible means. Union with the Lord Jesus is freely given to those who thirst, if they will extend His
feast to others - direct others to Him Whom they have received. "Freely you have received, freely give (Mt. 10:8).
As Ambrose of Milan makes clear: "He Who paid the price of His blood for us did not ask a price from us, because He
redeemed us not with gold or silver but with His precious blood. Therefore, you owe that price with which you have been
bought. Even though He does not always demand it, you still owe it. Buy Christ for yourself, then, not with what few men
possess, but with what all men possess by nature but few offer on account of fear. What Christ claims from you is His."
Every soul is made in the image of the Eternal Son of God.
In addition, Isaiah reminds us not to be distracted in expending our labor in this life nor to waste our effort on wrong things
(Is. 55:2). To make clear what to avoid and what to work for, the Prophet speaks the word of the Lord Himself: "Hearken
to Me and ye shall eat that which is good, and your soul shall feast itself on good things" (Is. 55:2). We must purify the
ears of our hearts that we may hear the Lord speaking to us, guiding us, saving us from all false choices, directing us in His
paths to His green pastures beside still waters.
Nor should the final point in verse two be missed: let us turn to Christ and make the effort to sustain an intimate union and
fellowship with Him. God encourages us with a Promise - "Ye shall eat that which is good, and your soul shall feast itself
on good things" (vs. 2). The Lord Jesus yearns to pour out His love, healing, grace - very presence upon us. If we will but
"give heed with [our] ears, and follow [His] ways: Hearken to [Him], and [our] soul shall live in prosperity; and He will
make with [each one who does so] an everlasting covenant, the sure mercies of David" (Is. 55:3).
O Christ God, Master and Maker of all, we kneel to Thee, crying out in faith, saying, Grant us Thy mercy and compassion;
for Thou art the Fountain of life.
Friday, May 7, 2004
Christ is Risen!
Alexis Toth, Confessor of Orthodoxy in America
3rd of Mid-Pentecost: Proverbs Selections Apostle: Acts 10:44-48; 11:1-10 Gospel: St. John 8:21-30
Proverbs. 10:7,6; 3:13-16; 8:6,32,34,4,12,14,17,5-9; 1:23, especially vs. 3:13 LXX: "Blessed is the
man who has found wisdom, and the mortal who knows prudence." The proverbs found in this selection normally are
appointed for the Feasts of Holy Hierarchs - in praise to God for "the memory of the just" or "righteous" (vs. 10:7). We
offer this selection in place of Proverbs 9:1-11 appointed for Mid-Pentecost, because these proverbs express the blessing
that God bestows on all who "find wisdom" and "know prudence" (vs. 3:13). And all persons who thirst for righteousness
and answer the Lord's invitation to "Come to Me and drink" (Jn. 7:37), if they persist, may become righteous. The Church
recognizes that the Lord our God glorifies any who come to Him without reservation, that their lives may disclose the path
to beholding God, to deification, and to His feast what is good and delights (Is. 55:2).
For celebrating our beloved Holy Hierarchs who served as God-bearers in ages past, the Church provides this selection of
proverbs for a very specific reason - to awaken us for the journey to God that those blessed men exhibited in their lives.
They are living witnesses to us that "it is better to traffic for [Holy Wisdom], than for treasures of gold and silver, [for
Wisdom] is more valuable than precious stones" (Prov. 3:14,15). These blessed men remind us that not just Bishops, but
all who have been Baptized into Christ, are responsible for putting on Christ and embracing His whole life, or, as St.
Seraphim of Sarov said, "for acquiring the Spirit of God." Moreover, trafficking in Wisdom is more than a responsibility;
it is a blessed opportunity.
St. Seraphim insisted that acquiring the Holy Spirit is analogous to acquiring money. "The acquisition of God's Spirit is
also capital, but grace-giving and eternal, and it is obtained in very similar ways....Acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit...by
practicing all the ...virtues for Christ's sake. Trade spiritually with them; trade with those which give you the greatest
profit. Accumulate capital from the superabundance of God's grace, deposit it in God's eternal bank which will bring you
immaterial interest, not four or six percent, but one hundred percent for one spiritual ruble, and even infinitely more than
that."
Each Holy Hierarch, in order to save us, effectively took the words of Wisdom to heart and now calls out to us: "Hearken to
me; for I will speak solemn truths; and will produce right sayings from my lips. Now then, my son, hear me: blessed is the
man who shall hearken to me, and the mortal who shall keep my ways" (vss. 8:6,32). Their lives are not display cabinets
for curios in the Church's history museum, but living embodiments of Holy Tradition who can aid us now in following.
Let us set out, and at least begin with purification, and perhaps advance, as God assists us, toward illumination, straining
toward the mystical fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
Consider the Blessed and Holy Hierarchs: their lives and their works provide a gleaming treasury of "counsel, safety,
prudence, and strength"(vs. 8:14). The Lord Jesus, Holy Wisdom Himself, loves those that love Him, whether Hierarchs of
the Church or any Baptized member. His promise shines out of the lives of all blessed men that seek Him: they "shall find
Me" (vs. 8:17). Beloved of the Lord, let us heed the appeal of Wisdom and of those who were filled with Him in every
aspect of their being: "O ye simple, understand subtlety, and ye that are untaught, imbibe knowledge. Hearken to me; for I
will speak solemn truths" (vs. 8:5,6).
Yes, consider the Holy Hierarchs, the blessed men who are living and present for those who are open to understanding -
proven guides for those who will find knowledge (vs. 8:9).
O Holy Hierarchs, who brought forth the utterance of the breath of Holy Wisdom and by the Spirit of our God instruct us
in Divine speech, intercede for the salvation of our souls.
Saturday, May 8, 2004
Christ is Risen!
Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian
Kellia: Deuteronomy 3:21-29 Epistle: 1 John 1:1-7 Gospel: St. John 19:25-27; 21:24-25
Deuteronomy 3:21-29, especially vs. 27 RSV: "...lift up your eyes westward and northward and
southward and eastward, and behold it with your eyes; for you shall not go over this Jordan." Being children who know
God as a loving Father (Eph. 4:6), and being those unique creatures who are made in the image of God (Gen. 1:27), we
human beings most naturally beseech God to permit us to have some small share in His great work in this fallen world.
Furthermore, God the Incarnate Word Himself encourages us to pray to our Father in Heaven: "I say to you, whatever
things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them" (Mk. 11:24). Still, even this
assurance from the Lord Jesus Himself is no "carte blanche," no magic credit card to be run through prayer like a scanner
where approval is certain. Who has not had a heartfelt prayer denied? The Prophet and King David besought the Lord for
the child that Uriah's wife bore to him in the face of the Lord's judgment that "the child that is born to you shall die" (2
Sam. 12:14). Nevertheless, David prayed and "fasted, and went in and lay all night upon the ground" for a week, opening
his heart's desire before the Lord (2 Sam. 12:16); and still "on the seventh day the child died" (2 Sam. 12:18). How many
of us have prayed so stringently and been denied? Let us add that the message of God in refusing David reveals why the
great Moses, after years of service to God, could be denied his heartfelt petition. Read how Moses' prayer was denied.
Indeed, it is encouraging to take the Lord Jesus at His word: to pray to God fully anticipating that He will "hearken and
have mercy," even when already there are strong contraindications. The reading discloses, in addition, that when God
refuses our prayers, He does so graciously, assuring us that our lives and service for Him are not wasted nor fruitless. We
also learn that when God denies a petition, He may still reserve another portion for us, fulfilling later the very vision He
originally awakened within us.
The great majority of Moses' prayers were heard and answered by God, even when there were contraindications. The Lord
announced His intention to strike the Israelites "with pestilence and disinherit them" at Kadesh-barnea for their refusal to
advance into the Land (Num. 14:12). At this, Moses besought the Lord: "Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray Thee,
according to the greatness of Thy steadfast love, and according as Thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until
now" (Num. 14:19); and the Lord pardoned them (Num. 14:20). Let us be assured even in the face of discouraging
evidence, and place our heart's desire before God.
Moses' specific request was denied (Deut.3:25), yet the Lord did not refuse him callously. Instead, God instructed His
Prophet to ascend Mount Pisgah and survey the whole of the land (vs. 27). Then, he was to "charge Joshua, and encourage
and strengthen him; for he shall go over at the head of this people" (vs. 28). In effect, the Lord affirmed His promise that
the People would inherit the land and that the years of Moses' struggle had not been in vain. The desire of the prayer, "to
see the land," was correct, but the time had come for Israel's leadership to pass to Joshua. And already, east of Jordan, the
Lord had given Moses a foretaste of Israel's success in the land to the west - the defeat of the two kings (Deut. 2:32,33;
3:3).
Most significantly, as we have just noted, the Lord gave Moses a most important role in the conquest that lay ahead. He
was to "charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him" (Deut. 3:28). The wisdom of Moses' years was to be
transmitted to the next generation, so that Joshua's leadership would be able to put the People of God "in possession of the
land" (vs. 3:28). O Compassionate God, Thou knowest our necessities before we ask: mercifully give us those things,
which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot, ask.
Sunday, May 9, 2004
Christ is Risen! (Tone 5)
Sunday of the Samaritan Woman
Kellia: Deuteronomy 4:1-9 Apostle: Acts 11:19-30 Gospel: St. John 4:5-42
Deuteronomy 4:1-9, especially vs. 1: "O Israel, give heed to the statutes and the ordinances which I teach
you, and do them; that you may live...." Before each Orthodox Christian receives the Mystery of Christ in Holy Baptism,
the Church prays that he might be inscribed in God's "Book of Life." The Church further begs God to remove all delusion
from the catechumen that he might know the Lord as "the only true God," and that by His grace he might "walk in all [His]
commandments." Notice the correspondence between the latter phrases of the prayer and the language of today's reading.
The important truth in the prayer and the reading is this: "if a man do these things, he shall find life in them." The issue is
to "find life," to "live."
In this present reading, the Holy Prophet Moses strives mightily to impress on God's People that they will find life in the
practice of the Faith. Yes, his teaching is as true for us Orthodox Christians today as it was for God's people of the Old
Covenant: spiritual death and destruction are possible for us; but to live, to "go in and take possession of [that] which the
Lord, the God of your fathers, gives you" (vs. 1), requires that we "give heed, keep and hold fast to the Lord [our] God"
(vss. 1-4). Let us affirm that the Holy Faith delivered to us by the Apostles and Prophets is a matter of urgency, a choice of
life or death. Finding life, very plainly, demands obedience, constancy in prayer and worship, and watchfulness over heart
and soul.
Notice how the Prophet stresses the need for obedience as the way to life. God has revealed how we are to walk - how we
are to live. In turn, we are to "give heed to the statutes and the ordinances" of God (vs. 1). Obedience begins with attention
to what God requires. There is no "adjusting" or "accommodating" to fads, opinions, or trends. God's revelation is not
subject to revision. As Moses says, "You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it; that you may
keep the commandments of the Lord your God" (vs. 2).
The Prophet reveals that participation by a significant number of Israelites in the pagan worship of the Moabite idol - the
"Baal of Peor" - was tantamount to adding to God's statutes and ordinances (Nu. 25:3). The People were invited to the
idolatrous sacrifices which included cultic "harlotry with the women of Moab" (Nu. 25:1), to attend the sacrifices, to eat at
the feasts and to worship the idols (Nu. 25:2). Those who succumbed to the allure of these debased fertility rites were
doomed to death by execution and the plague (Nu. 25:8-9). We find life not by adding forbidden activities into our lives
that attract us, but by obeying the word of God.
Moses reminds the Israelites that those "who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive this day" (Deut. 4:4). Obedience
is nourished by regular prayer and Orthodox worship. This is why the Church cautions us about frequenting "the meetings
of heretics and schismatics," or "forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some" (Heb. 10:25).
There is blessing promised in regular prayer and worship: "...in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts
and minds through Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:6,7). Finally, the Prophet teaches us to keep our souls diligently "lest you forget
the things which your eyes have seen, and...they depart from your heart" (Deut. 4:9). As Archimandrite Ioannikios
Kotsanis says, "Without watchfulness...ignorance is not recognized, it is camouflaged, it hides, it is full of conceit,
especially in the contemporary technological, conceited, and arrogant man." Let us post guard on our souls that the Lord of
Life may continue to abide in our hearts.
From my youth up many passions have warred against me. But do Thou help and save me, O my Savior. Yea, let my
humble heart be lighted by Thy fear, lest it rise and fall from Thee.
Monday, May 10, 2004
Christ is Risen!
The Holy Apostle Simon Zelotes
Kellia: Deuteronomy 4:15-24 Apostle: Acts 12:12-17 Gospel: St. John 8:42-51
Deuteronomy 4:15-24, especially vss. 15, 16 RSV: "Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to
you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves...." A
powerful parallel exists between the teaching of the Prophet Moses in today's reading and the doctrine of the Apostle Paul
in his Epistle to the Romans. Observe this parallelism in the following digest from Romans: "since the creation of the
world, [God's] invisible attributes are clearly seen...by the things that are made" (Rm. 1:20). "Men who suppress the truth
in unrighteousness (Rm. 1:18)....although they knew God...did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful (Rm.
1:21)....[but] exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator...." (Rm.
1:25).
Both the Prophet and the Apostle start with the invisible nature of God and trace the emergence of idolatry to its source in
the acceptance by fallible humans of the corrupting lie of service and worship of the creature (Deut. 4:16; Rm. 1:25). Both
list various physical entities (Deut. 4:16-19; Rm. 1:23) which often are substituted as objects for worship in place of "the
Lord [Who] spoke to you at Horeb" (Deut. 4:15)....and brought you forth...out of Egypt, to be a people of His own" (vs.
20).... the Lord your God...a devouring fire, a jealous God" (vs. 24).
Fascination with and reverence for material things, as expressions of wonder at God's creation, are, in themselves, healthy
and natural movements of men's hearts and minds: "How magnified are Thy works, O Lord! In wisdom hast Thou made
them all; the earth is filled with Thy creation" (Ps. 103:26 LXX). Mankind's trouble begins with the "exchange of the
truth of God for the lie"(Rom. 1:25). Men start believing that the creation is God and ought to receive their highest
reverence and devotion. To identify this "exchange" as the source of idolatry exposes the dead-end into which the devil
invites us. Suddenly, one sees precisely what is wrong with modern secularist culture - its slavish devotion to material
things.
Modern secularists pride themselves on their freedom from religion and superstition, and find it hard to imagine how men
could have been devoted to gods and goddesses, deities "in the likeness of any beast that is on the earth...of any winged bird
that flies in the air...of anything that creeps on the ground...[or] of any fish that is in the water under the earth" (Deut.
4:17,18). It seems incredible that people would "worship them and serve them" (vs. 19) and force "poor Moses" to caution
the People against such obvious error; yet here is the kernel of the problem: service of "the creature rather than the Creator"
(Rm. 1:25), the error of secularism.
The Apostle continues his teaching by tracing a link between the service of things and mankind's capture by "vile
passions." For example, "women [exchanged] the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise, men also leaving the
natural use of the woman [burning] in....lust for one another" (Rm. 1:26,27). The connection between the service of things
rather than God and moral decadence is predictable. Let the reader remember that Moses had just cautioned the People
against further troubles of the sort that overtook them as a result of participating in the debaucheries of the cult of the Baal
of Peor (Deut. 4:3; Nu. 25:1,2,3).
The God Whom Moses calls us to worship and serve is the Lord Who acts for His People in history, Who takes us to be His
own, and brings us forth "out of the iron furnace [that ignites our passions], out of Egypt [the mind-set of idolatry], to be a
people of His own possession" (Deut. 1:20). Let each one ask himself: do I "despise the riches of His goodness,
forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads [me] to repentance?" (Rm. 2:4). Receive me,
a slave to passion, O Fountain of life that takest away the sins of the world.
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Christ is Risen!
Cyril and Methodios, Enlighteners of the Slavs
Kellia: Deuteronomy 4:25-31 Apostle: Acts 12:25-13:12 Gospel: St. John 8:51-59
Deuteronomy 4:25-31, especially vs. 31 RSV: "For the Lord your God is a merciful God; He will not
fail you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them." The verse immediately
preceding the present passage from Deuteronomy ends on a severe note: "For the Lord your God is a devouring fire, a
jealous God" (Deut. 4:24). By that verse, the Prophet Moses was bent on convincing God's People of the grave dangers
inherent in idolatry, a theme he continues in the passage for today. Building on the theme of the wrath of God against
idolatry and sin, Moses declares what will happen to God's People should they indulge in idolatry: "you will soon utterly
perish from the land" (Deut. 4:26).
Still, note that Moses qualifies this pronouncement of judgment: "if you act corruptly by making a graven image in the
form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke Him to anger" (vs. 25). The
assumption is that the People are free to act corruptly or to refrain from idolatry. God reveals that possession of the land is
conditional on obedience, although this is stated negatively. "If you sin, you will be destroyed." A definite change follows
in Moses' speech (vs. 27). Read the present passage over again and notice how the great Law Giver leaves the conditional
framework he invoked at the beginning when he declared God's judgment - the "if" clause (of vs. 25). Instead, he begins to
speak in a prophetic manner, declaring what actually will take place. "The Lord will scatter you...and you will be left few
in number" (vs. 27), "You will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of men's hands, that neither see, nor hear" (vs. 28),
"you will seek the Lord your God" (vs. 29). What he had stated as a possibility, he subsequently declares as a prophecy of
the future. After this, the Prophet returns to a conditional form of address: "you will find [God], if you search after Him
with all your heart and with all your soul" (vs. 29); and immediately, he again reverts to prophecy: "When you are in
tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey His voice"
(vs. 30). By this shifting from "if" statements to prophecy, Moses captures the future history of the People of the Old
Covenant. Their history is predictable because they are sinners and provoke the wrath of God, but at times, they did seek
and find God because He is merciful (vs. 31). Moses relieves his dismal forecast with a proclamation of the Lord's mercy.
Carefully note Moses' declaration of God's mercy, because, as the successors of ancient Israel, we Orthodox Christians
cannot expect to escape punishment from God when we sin. The Lord allows consequences to come upon us. Who can
say with complete certainty that the sad final history of the Orthodox Christian empire did not come upon Byzantium in
some measure as judgment from God? Who can say with utter confidence that the terrible atheistic yoke that fell over the
Orthodox east did not contain in it an element of Divine justice?
However, Beloved of the Lord, let us hearken to God's Holy Prophet Moses: "when you are in tribulation" (vs. 30), "seek
the Lord your God, and you will find Him, if you search after Him with all your heart and with all your soul" (vs. 29). Why
can we hope to find God in the face of our terrible shortcomings and sins? Moses speaks as a Prophet to us: "you will find
Him" (vs. 29), because "the Lord your God is a merciful God; He will not fail you or destroy you or forget the covenant
with your fathers which He swore to them" (vs. 31). This is the teaching of the Apostles; this is the teaching of the
Orthodox Church: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness" (1 Jn. 1:9).
Have mercy on us, O God, according to Thy great goodness; hearken and have mercy.
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Christ is Risen!
Germanos, Patriarch of Constantinople
Kellia: Deuteronomy 4:32-40 Apostle: Acts 13:13-24 Gospel: St. John 6:5-14
Deuteronomy 4:32-40, especially vs. 39 RSV: "Know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that
the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other." At the dawn of each day, for "dawn" is the
meaning of the word "Orthros," the Church sings, "God is the Lord, Which hath shown us light." Do you see that, to etch
this truth on our hearts as the basis for all of life, the Church continues, each day, to call to remembrance what the Prophet
Moses declares in this reading: "that the Lord is God...there is no other" (vs. 39)? Ethnic Israel still recalls that it was God
Who brought them into existence as a nation for Himself from out of bondage "to another nation, by trials, by signs, by
wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your
God did...in Egypt before your eyes" (vs. 34). With great solemnity at their annual Passover meal, they remind one
another: "In every generation it is the duty of each of us to know that it is we - we ourselves - who were saved from the
bondage of Egypt....Passover only becomes real when it is personal; freedom becomes real only when we identify
ourselves within it and strive to spread its fruits to all people, everywhere."
Notice that the language of the Jews conforms to Moses' style by addressing the physical descendants of Israel "as if" they
were the ones actually saved from Egypt. This speaking of history in the present carries forward into our Orthodox
Christian Tradition as well: "Today is the Day of Resurrection! Christ is risen from the dead; by His Death He has
trampled down death, and on those in the tombs He has bestowed life." In this Holy Pascha, we celebrate being the nation
which Christ our God has Himself taken from the midst of many nations, "by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a
mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors," according to all that He did before our eyes (vs. 34).
Let us therefore heed the words of God's great Prophet Moses. The God Who truly is acts today. He is not a mysterious
force inherent in the structure of the Universe. He is the Creator of the Universe, Who stands apart from it, but made it for
us (vs. 32). He reveals Himself by personal action within it. He speaks for our hearing, acts for our eyes, and takes our
nature on Himself that we may understand Him in our terms. All this He has done, is doing, and continues "that [we]
might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides Him" (vs. 35).
In what God has done and is doing we discover His genuine love for us (vs. 37). He is unquestionably faithful in what He
promises (vs. 37), and He is seriously committed to bringing us under Holy Discipline (vs. 34), which is simply healing and
life-giving discipleship, the Way of life that renews and restores our