Sunday of Zacchaeus

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ

 

        It is easy to call ourselves Christians, to claim to me a member of All Saints Church.

  I am amazed at those who do…

  The funeral home calling, or obit appearing saying so and so was a member of All Saints, and yet in my more than 17 years I never heard their confession, never gave them communion, never even met them.

The reality of being a Christian, of being a member of the church,  comes in acting like a Christian, seeking to draw closer to Christ.

   Of reading scripture daily, and at least trying to follow the teachings of the Gospel—to love, forgive, not judge, and act kindly, with mercy, caring, charity.

     In today’s Gospel we see a tax collector, Zacchaeus, called to Christ.

    In coming out to see Christ, he even climbs a tree to lift himself above the people, separating from them in a way.

   We have a picture of him most unexpected.

   And we see him climbing a tree like a child does.

  In his acts we find challenges to our own conduct and what we will do or risk to come closer to Christ?

   Friends? Earthly riches? Our own pride and egos?

   Will we rise above all of these things and more to climb above the crowds.

   Will we find a path that Robert Frost poetically described as one less traveled, and which the Church calls the Way—the way to Christ, the way for Christ, the way with Christ?

   Can we further emulate Zacchaeus in childlike behavior that reminds us of Christ’s admonition to become like a child to inherit the kingdom of God.

   Loving, open, innocent, enthusiastic.

   Can we then free ourselves from sin, or wage that struggle that our Church elders describe as the center of perfection in this world?

  Can we resist being quick to anger, harsh, gossipy, toward all of our sisters and brothers.

    Resist judgment, condemnation, and words and acts that hurt be it in our Churches, our homes, our schools our places of work.

  In all of these places we encounter persons and situations that may point us away from Christ.

   We need to climb above them and remain devoted to our Lord, His Church, His way, and offer him worship from the heart and mind, enthusiastic that we have found a new way of life with Him.

  And in doing so, lift others with us, attracting them to us through our humility, love and meekness.

   And being careful not to allow others to hold us down, drag us down, for indeed peer pressure does not end in childhood as we witness around us.

   Zacchaeus was willing to step away from his former life, conduct and no doubt those he thought of as friends.

   And his rewards were great.

   He sees Jesus not just from afar, or from a tree, but in his home.

   He restores all that he had stolen and more—true repentance.

   He begins following Christ, then becomes a disciple of St. Peter, and later a Bishop.

    The path he took was a good one.

   The way set before him was a blessing.

    My sisters and brothers in Christ, may we begin to set aside each day some quiet time to listen for the Lord, His message, His teachings, His love, and allow them to change us, softening our hearts toward each other, a true mark of being a true follower of Christ.

   Zacchaeus signals the coming of Great Lent, a time given to us to especially focus on increased repentance, and heightened enthusiasm for our worship in the Church, through which we meet Christ.

  Let us pray for the openness of heart and the wisdom of mind to grasp all that Christ offers, and let us give thanks for His Grace.

  Let us pray that like Zacchaeus we may be given the wisdom and the openness of heart to encounter Christ more closely than ever--today and in the days ahead.

NOW AND EVER AND UNTO AGES OF AGES.

    GLORY BE TO JESUS CHRIST.

Sanctity of Life Sunday 2013

Sanctity of Life

January 27, 2013

To the Hierarchs, Clergy, Monastics, and Faithful of the Orthodox Church
in America

Dearly Beloved in the Lord:
  As we make our way into the civil New Year, we continue to grieve over the tragic loss of the innocent lives at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.
  Those directly affected by this most recent act of violence, as well as those who have suffered through the many other examples of inhuman brutality during the past year, undoubtedly will require a long period during which they can find healing for their broken hearts and answers to their questions concerning the providence of God and the goodness of humanity.
  Our society is increasingly weary of the sting of death and human sin and wary of the proclamations of hope and life coming from religious circles.  
  Young people, unconvinced by shallow theology and hypocritical sermonizing, are increasingly identifying themselves as unbelievers, atheists, questioners or simply confused.
  People of all ages are losing faith or becoming critical of it, in part because they do not seem to find a satisfactory Christian response to tragedies such as the Newtown and Aurora massacres.
  As Orthodox Christians, we too dwell under the shadow cast by every assault on the sanctity of human life, whether it be against the unborn, the infirm, the terminally ill, the condemned, or innocent school children.
  We, too, wrestle with the same questions with which society wrestles, since every one of us faces the same reality of death.
  But unlike those who have no hope, we know that, just when death seems to have gained the victory, life blossoms forth, as seen most clearly in Christ’s arising from the tomb on the third day.
  The same paschal confirmation of death being swallowed up by life is revealed in our most recent celebration of the feasts of the Nativity and Theophany of Christ.
  The months of December and January are the richest in commemorations of some of the most venerable saints of the Church:
   Prophets and Ancestors who pave the way for the birth of the Savior, and Hierarchs, Confessors and Monastics who shine with the glory that was revealed at His baptism.
  But no less proclaimers of His glory and His life are the martyrs, including those little ones who suffered incomprehensibly—the Holy Innocents.
  We proclaim, as Orthodox Christians, that all life is a participation in and reflection of the One Who is Life Itself.
  And we do so, even in the midst of the insanity of this world, knowing that human passions and human sin may cause destruction in our communities.
  But Christ Himself,  by His example of voluntary suffering, reminds us that we have our part to play in proclaiming life.
  If we are to transform the collective heart and mind of our society, we must begin by transforming our own hearts and minds.
  Heeding the Gospel, let us remain faithful to the vision of human life as a sacred gift, recommitting ourselves to defending the lives “of all mankind,” as we pray at every Divine Liturgy.
  And let us commit ourselves to bearing witness to the life of Christ in all we do, say and think, so that even in small ways, we might proclaim the glory of the Kingdom not yet fully revealed, but already fully present in our midst.

Sincerely yours in Christ,
+TIKHON
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada

Theophany

      In the Name Of The Father, Son and Holy Spirit—Glory Be to Jesus Christ.
    Today we celebrate the Theophany or Epiphany.
    Theophany means a manifestation and on this day it is God and the Trinity that is manifested to us.
    We see in other faiths, more use of the word Epiphany meaning an appearance, and they celebrate Christ’s Appearance to the Wise men who come to see him on this day.
   In the Orthodox Church the visit by the wise men is commemorated at Christmas.
    The east has continued the practice begun in antiquity of blessing waters on this day.
   This recalls our Lord’s entrance into the waters of the Jordan to receive a baptism of repentance from john.
      Christ, without sin, did not need to be cleansed, but rather he cleanses the water he enters.
   He shows His humility and His obedience to the Father through His acts, and calls us to do the same.
   Our first taste of Holy Water came at our own personal baptism of which we speak about dying and rising with Christ.
   It is a beginning for us of a life lived in Christ through his church.
  We receive the Holy Spirit, which guides us as church, where God’s Kingdom is manifested to us.
  It becomes in other words a living reality that we can accept or reject.
  If we accept is, we acknowledge that we are citizens of god’s kingdom.
   In the ancient church, persons were very aware of this, and sought to live a subjects of the heavenly father as their king.         
  Their attitudes are reflected in early writings of the church, describing christians as not having a person that they did not love.
   further it was written in the first century:
      Even in death, Christians live through our Lord Jesus Christ.
   If we, Christians,  lack earthly goods, we are more than compensated with riches from God.
  No one can rob us of the honor that God offers.
   While some may speak evil of us, we are justified in our lives in Christ.
   For those who would be our enemies, we bless.
   For those who seek to insult us, we offer them honor.
   We continue on a path of doing good, even when punished as if we had done something evil.
          We rejoice in the punishments, ridicule and persecution of the world, for we know better through God.
     Finally when all is said and done, those that oppose us, really don’t know whay, they just know there is something different about those Christians.
   My sisters and brothers in Christ, we have been called from our Baptism and Chrismation, from our emergence of the Holy Waters of the Baptismal Font to a new life.
   called to sacrifice some of the things of the world, but this is a small price to pay for what is given us by God.
       He has re-created the waters, even as He has created us.
  May we be cleansed by them today and each day of our lives.
—Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages
Glory Be To Jesus Christ.
     

In the Name of The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Glory Be To Jesus Christ!
     “I behold a strange mystery: instead of the sun, the sun of righteousness contained ineffably in the Virgin.
  Seek not how this is so, for where God wills the order of nature is overcome. It was His will, He had the power to do so, and thus He came down and saved us.”
     —Saint Athanasius the Great, Homily on the Nativity of Christ

  Grace and Peace from our Savior Born in Bethlehem to the Honorable Clergy, Venerable Monastics, and Pious Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America.
  My Beloved Brethren and Blessed Children in the Lord,
  God’s infinite love for us has once again accounted us worthy to bow down in worship before the great mystery of the incarnation of God the Word.
  We do so with deep reverence and spiritual gladness in the knowledge that if we worthily celebrate the feast of the Nativity, our souls and our countenances will be made radiant with the heavenly light of our Redeemer.
  Worthily celebrating the feast means drawing near the divine Christ child with deep gratitude and humility even as the Magi approached the celestial revelation of divine love with their symbolic gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, even as the Shepherds did so with their guileless faith, simple piety, and undivided heart.
  The spiritual joy that the faithful experience at this time of the year is so very different from the emotional, external, and temporary pleasures that the world offers.
  Christian joy wells forth from a deep spiritual awareness of God’s unbounded love revealed so fully in the incarnation of God the Word.
  The Lord of glory who was born as a child in the days of Herod the King in the humble cave of Bethlehem is eternally born in the humble and repentant hearts of the faithful in a mysterious way that does not intimidate us with a display of divine power and dominion.
   Through the feast of the Nativity, the Holy Church teaches us the mystery of God’s freely offered love that neither coerces nor constrains.
   Referring to the divine incarnation, Saint John Chrysostom remarks, “Today, Bethlehem has become like the firmament above, for in that town angels hymning God take the place of the stars and the Sun of righteousness in a marvelous way takes the place of the physical sun.
  Where God so wills the laws of nature are overcome.
  And God so willed, it was in His power, and He did save man, for all things are obedient to God.
  Today, the eternal One becomes what He was not.
  While still being God, He also became human without ceasing to be divine.
  This wondrous and ineffable condescension was hymned with a loud voice by all His angels.”
  Beloved in the Lord, the Nativity of Christ is the unfailing surety that we are not lost in a dangerous, meaningless world in which we blindly wander into an unknown darkness.
  Christ Jesus, our Light, is in our midst!
  He shares in our life, our struggles, our worries, and even our death, “that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil… for in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to help them that are tempted” (Hebrews 2:14,18).
  Now that the Son of God has become the Son of man with His advent on earth, we know the true God, and we know the truth that sets us free.
  Even further, we are brought to life and given the strength to fight the good fight, for we know that we are no longer alone and unable to rise to life’s challenges, but that with the Apostle Paul each of us can confess
            “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”
(Philippians 4:13).
  Let us prepare, my brothers and sisters, the manger of our hearts by keeping His divine commandments, so that the Savior and Redeemer of the world might be born and dwell in us.       
  Then, we can truly experience within us the peace “which passeth all understanding.”
  Then, the inner man of the heart will be radiant with the unsetting light of
Christ who “illumines every man that cometh into the world.”
  From the depths of my soul I wish all of you a blessed and sacred feast of the Nativity of our Lord,
  With heartfelt prayers and the ineffable love of the Holy Christ child,
*+ Tikhon*
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,
Glory Be To Jesus Christ!

    Today we commemorate the Holy Forefathers of our Lord.
   It is a day that moves us closer to the joy of the Nativity, which we will celebrate in a little more than a week.
   As so often happens and has happened over the years, anticipated joy is interrupted by events in the world.
   Events which bring sorrow and pain, as the tragedy in Newtown does to so many.
   And we as persons, as sisters and brothers of all, try to make sense out of the senseless, find good amidst evil, embrace love where we find hate.
   And the quest for those things to ease our pain, brings us back to one person--to Christ, and to His ancestors, and all those who believe.
   For it was Christ who assured us that in a fallen world we would endure suffering, maladies, and things we just would not like.
   But it was He too Who promised us deliverance.
   And so today, like all the days before and the days to come, He offers us life where we see death.
   The relationship of God with the Forefathers, as with people today, is one that is mixed.
   From a realization of our dependence on God, a desire to live in relationship with Him, to rejection in so many ways.
   Our Gospel today remind us of people being free to reject the invitation of the Lord, and the sad fact that some do.
   We see that rejection historically.
   And we see God coming in the fullness of time, coming to us in the flesh, the time in which we live.
  And still we see rejection, and separation among many.
   We live in a world in which violence although nothing new, seems to grow.
   And we live in a world in which life is devalued and defamed in so many ways.
  The freedom that God gave us out of His love, is abused.
   We make excuses to allow us to ignore the sanctify of life--it’s only a fetus; the person is deformed; the person is old...and as in Newtown, the persons somehow in a twisted mind got in the way.
  As Christians we need to renew our commitment to life at any age, in any condition, and cherish this gift from God.
   We too need to renew ourselves and through us our society, in loving each other, and in lifting up the world, not basking in its fall.
   What does St. Paul say about this, in a message that so fits this day and this time.
   He speaks of lives lived  in rising above what is fallen; separating ourselves from the disobedient; struggling to triumph over anger, lies, wrath, blasphemy, filthy language.
  All the things which even pass for a hit TV show or in what some quarters pitifully passes as comedy today, which some sadly find as entertaining.
   Things which we have come to accept as the norm.
  Well they may be the norm of a fallen world, but they are not the norm of Christians.
  We have read and discussed how the first Christians lived, and what attracted more and more persons to them.
   How they cared for each other, loved others, gave of themselves.
   Closer to us we can be inspired by many and even many today.
   Those, who witness for Christ through their acts and their love of the Church--the ship he gave us on which to navigate troubled waters--our rock--
   Let us then be inspired by lives such as lived by our forefathers and shared by others today. Persons like the educators in Newtown who lost their life protecting the children.
   Let us renew our relationship, our covenant, with God--and find comfort in Christ, who suffers with us, and who knows our pain, and ultimately delivers us from evil.
   Let us with the Psalmist say,
   “Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from the way.”
   Now and Ever and Unto ages of Ages.
   Glory Be To Jesus Christ!
   Glory forever!

Luke 17:12-19
In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,
Glory Be To Jesus Christ

  We come to Church for several reasons.
  Among them are to worship God, to offer prayers to Him, to make our petitions, and importantly to give Thanks to God.
  Throughout our services we speak of these things in words of the choir and celebrant.
  Today our Lord in the Gospel from Luke focuses on one aspect of our worship--giving thanks--while also touching upon others, such as our faith in His ability to Heal.
  Our Lord after healing 10 lepers finds that only one returned to Him to give thanks, while the other 9 went on their way.
  And our Lord poignantly asks, Were not 10 healed, where are the nine?
  It is a question that can be asked in Church after Church, be it Orthodox or of any faith.
  How many pause from their activities to stop and give thanks to God, formally in our worship, as well as more informally throughout the day.
  Indeed we often give thanks to each other for some good work, and anticipate thanks at times for our own efforts.
  Why overlook, ignore, and fail to show gratitude to God Who gives us so much.
   And, regardless of our situation, our condition, there is much for which to give thanks to God.
  If we at times feel we have little reason to do so, we might reflect on some words from St. Gregory Nazianzus.
  In citing reasons to offer thanks to God he says,
  Who gave you the ability to contemplate the beauty of the skies, the course of the sun, the round moon, the millions of stars, the harmony and rhythm that issue from the world as from HARP;
  the return of seasons, the alteration of months, the demarcation of day and night;
  the fruits of the earth;
  the vastness of the air;
  the ceaseless motion of the waves and the sound of the wind.
    If this is not enough, He offers more reasons:
  Who gave you the rain, the soil to cultivate, food to eat, the arts, houses, laws, a republic, cultivated manners, friendship with your fellows.
  My sisters and brothers in Christ, the list is long as the saint notes, and as the one who returned to give thanks acknowledged in being healed.
  Let us emulate him each day as we come to God in prayer, come to His Holy House in worship, and come to Him as One in the Lord.
        NOW AND EVER AND UNTO AGES OF AGES
     GLORY BE TO JESUS CHRIST.

Luke 18:18-27

 

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ

 

     In sharing today’s Gospel we are reminded by the Lord of our need to ask ourselves one simple question:

  Is there or better yet what is there that would keep us from unity with Christ, with eternal life in the Kingdom.

  In other words what is our earthly treasure, desire, passion that we simply feel we cannot live without?

  The answers can vary from food to money, from pride to self-righteousness, from sex to selfishness.

  Is there something among these things and all the other early activities and desires that occupy us, that stand in the way of a close, intimate relationship with Christ?

  Something that keeps us from a life in the Church he has given us as His Body—the mystical assembly of believers.

   It can be frightening to think that there is something that is an obstacle for us in our desire to unite with God and to become like Him in our lives.

   Frightening for we on first impulse would want to answer no there is nothing.

  We just desire you God.

   The man in today’s Gospel was a little like this, assuring the Lord and Himself that He kept all the commandments…seeking Christ’s approval of His lifestyle.

   Frightening too perhaps because we like that one thing so much that we don’t want to lose it, and we desire to cling to it.

   To this the Church says—try God.

   Try God.

  Come taste and see, really taste and see, with our whole heart and mind of what God offers us in a life lived in Him.

  Come and taste and see what we may not even be able to imagine would result if we surrender our lives to Him.

  Come taste and see real joy and fulfillment in this life and the next.

   We hear the words at each Liturgy:

  Let us put aside all earthly cares that we may receive the King of Glory.

  We need to do just that first at Liturgy—where it is perhaps easiest to do.

  And then through repetition to feel the feeling of that freedom, and through prayer, fasting, meditation, to realize that feeling of putting aside earthly cares a little more if not each day than a little more each week or each month.

     It is not easy to do for we are so accustomed to our earthly surroundings.

  We can struggle in our attempts, I know I have, but we can triumph with Christ.

  As we do this we will find that Christ’s promise to us is true—that God numbers the hairs on our heads, as he does the birds in the trees, and the flowers in the fields.

   That He holds us in His loving hand, and extends His to us lifting us from any despair or despondency, drawing us ever closer to Him, welcoming us now into His Kingdom which is witnessed in the Church.

  We are His prodigal children and He has prepared for us a banquet to welcome us home…welcome us home.

   Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages.

   Glory be To Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!

Luke 12:16-21
In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,
Glory Be To Jesus Christ

       We are bombarded especially at this time of year, with advertisements for things we just can’t live without.
  We read advisories of trusting in gold in a poor economy.
    St. John Chyrsostom called the gold we can have in this life--mud --when compared to God’s kingdom.
   We see in today’s Gospel someone who wanted to hoard his possessions.
  He did not think of the good he could do with them, the people he could help, those with whom he could share--
       And we must be careful not to allow them to possess us.
  St. John Chrysostom offers us the image of someone who receives a copper coin and who becomes obsessed with keeping it.
  He clutches it in his hand and thus loses further use of the hand; and likewise the arm; as he seeks to protect the coin; and ultimately the mind and heart as the coin becomes his focus.
    Christ calls on us to open our hands, our hearts, our minds and  do good things with what we have.
    The alternative is to fill our lives with things and activities, leaving no room  for God.
   And if we can successfully crowd out god, we start concluding that we do not need God.
  And from here, to sooth our souls and minds, begin to deny God’s very existence.
    St. John gives us a different reality.
  He speaks of   a heavenly crown; glory together with Christ; the Kingdom of Heaven, everlasting rest, brotherhood, ten thousand good things which it is impossible to name, and above them all a sincere  relationship with Christ.
   We have a timely example as we celebrate the presentation of our Holy Mother into the temple this week.
  She was at peace in God’s house and enjoyed a special relationship with Him.
   In seeking the holy she became holy.
  In reverencing God, she came to be reverenced.
  In honoring the Lord, we honor her.
  And we especially honor her in following The teachings of her Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
  In trading that copper coin for the wooden Cross through which we are delivered...
       Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages
       Glory Be To Jesus Christ!
           

Fr. William
Luke 10:25-37; Eph 2:4-10

  We hear a lofty description of ourselves from St. Paul today.
  He describes us as being the result of the workmanship of God.
  God has created us as special being, and entrusted us with much of His work on this earth.
  We have a responsibility than to treasure ourselves and treasure each other.
  Treasuring means to hold something special--in this case our bodies and souls.
  It is up to each of us to preserve how we were made by God, and to make real His teachings to take care of each other.
  St. Paul writes that we were created in Christ for good works.
  The Lord becomes our example in life, to which we struggle to attain.
  And the Lord teaches us lessons that we need to try and learn and uphold.
  Today He like Paul speaks of good works.
  Works that St. Justin describes as signs of our purity and thus the preservation of our bodies and souls.
  He numbers among the signs rejoicing with those who rejoice;
  weeping with those who weep;
  sharing the pain with the sick;
  and anguish with the sinners;
  rejoicing with the repentant;
  participating in the agony of those who suffer;
  criticizing no one;
  And in the purity of one’s own mind to see all as good and holy.
  It is a challenging prescription but one that  delivers us from the perils of a fallen world and brings us to the threshold of the kingdom.
  St. Ambrose in fact spoke of the fact that in sowing earthly things we get back that which is of Heaven.
     St. Ambrose of Milan goes on to tell us that in giving to others, in helping others, we also help ourselves.
  If we clothe the naked, he says,  we clothe ourself with righteousness;
  If we bring the stranger under our roof, if we support the needy, we enjoy the friendship of the saints and eternal habitations.
  In other words in helping others we gain the added benefit of helping ourselves.
 In treasuring others--we also treasure ourselves.
 We thus realize being the workmanship of God about which St. Paul writes, and live up to the potential of what it means to be His Creation, His children, His love.
NOW AND EVER AND UNTO AGES OF AGES
2GLORY BE TO JESUS CHRIST!

Fr. William
Luke 8:41-56

   Many may be familiar with the words of St. Seraphim:
  “Acquire a peaceful spirit, and around you thousands will be saved."
  such persons are a treasure to those they meet.
  They are that oasis in a world that too often focuses on the crude and rude, the vulgar and vain--those often viewed as celebrities in the public eye, or squeaky wheels in our daily lives.
  The humble saint shows us a different way through which we can bring true joy, and Christ’s peace to others.
  Such persons are a treasure for the lives they touch.  
  --Their way quietly accomplishes one’s positive goals.
   -- They humbly worship God
   --They help their sisters and brothers without seeking praise.
   These are the people who are God’s ambassadors in our society, our Churches, our families, our communities.
  They are bright reflections of the image of god in each of us.
  And unlike the celebrity, the unpleasant who are not meaningfully remembered long or well, these persons are recalled in special ways.
   Not just recalled,  but used as examples by our Lord Himself.
  Our Churches sing their praises; and we mediate on their lives.
    We meet today such a person.
 An afflicted woman, who is ignored and condemned by the public.
    she receives no earthly glories.
  Yet in her quietness, she stops even God, Who is quick to help her.
  St. John Chrysostom notes that she did not seek to detain the Lord, nor try to capture His attention.
  She simply quietly, humbly, gently reached out to touch our Lord’s garment.
  She displayed humility and  faith in this simple act.


  Two thousand years later we read about her, acknowledge her belief, learn from her humility and see her reward.
  Two thousand years later we have her lesson in living as an inspiration in our own lives...
   It is up to us to actualize it and show kindness, love and comfort to all whom we meet.
  Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages...Glory Be to Jesus Christ!

Luke 8:26-39

 

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ

 

  We read the bible to be guided in how to live, how to relate to each other, and how to enter into a relationship with God.

  In the Old Testament we read the amazing history of the jewish people and their special relationship or covenant with God.

   And from the life of this persons, we read of prophets who would foretell the coming of Christ and it’s meaning for us.

  And, of course, Christ’s Incarnation and mission of salvation, along with his teachings are revealed in the New Testament or covenant.

  One lesson He offers is that we need to make an effort to grow spiritually and as persons.

  While God’s Grace falls on all of us, we need through our efforts at prayer, worship, the sacraments, to make ourselves receptacles for that grace—opening ourselves.

  St. Paul in a letter to the Corinthians wrote that those who sow bountifully, reap bountifully, and those sowing sparingly, reap sparingly.

  So it is in receiving God’s grace and growing spiritually.

 We don’t do well in school without studying.

   We don’t win a baseball or basketball game without practicing.

  We need to work on marriages and other personal relationships for them to flourish.

  We are not very productive if we do not concentrate on our responsibilities at work.

  And god has assured us that our spiritual labors, and our making him a priority will yield rewards for us.

  God is a priority when all we do to honor him, and to live in him is done from the heart.

  Giving joyfully, of which St. Paul writes, is to use time, energy, money, whatever, in service to the lord.

    In contrast, if we come to church simply out of habit or fear, or because we have an hour or so to spare, we are not giving from the heart.

  If we donate to the church because it is a rule of membership, or we expect something in return, or we have some excess money,  it is not giving from the heart.

  And the results of these acts will be far different than coming to Church, worshiping God because we love him, and we want to offer him praise, want to declare our faith in him, want to respond to his admonition to be part of his ministry to all persons.

  In giving of ourselves we become part of the exclamation thine own of thine own…offering back to him all he has given us which is all we have.

  And God will perfect our gifts as he does with the bread and wine we offer at liturgy, making it divine.

  This needs to be the basis of a relationship with God.

  Again it is not enough to just be here.

   We see this in the man possessed by demons.

  Even the demons acknowledge god, are fearful of him, and seek something from him.

  They ask to be allowed to enter the swine and god grants their desire.

   Yet their knowledge of god, of being in his presence, does them little good, for we read they plunge to their destruction.

   They simply would not share in God’s love.

   Yet this is the relationship which god seeks with us in his abundance of love.

  When we take this approach to him, we will grow spiritually, and our life will be changed as our hearts grow and our minds are opened.

             NOW AND EVER AND UNTO AGES OF AGES

           GLORY BE TO JESUS CHRIST!

 

     

    

    

Luke 6:31-36

In the Name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit.
Glory Be To Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!
   As we read in 1 John, if we cannot love our sisters and brothers, those we can see, then we certainly cannot truly love God Whom we do not see.
  And if we think we have accomplished this by actually managing to be  nice to a relative or friend, Christ challenges us and tells us we need to love those who may hate us, wrong us, hurt us.
  It is such love that reflects God’s love for those who hated Him and in fact those who Crucified Him, for we recall His words from the Cross...Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
   And when we speak of love we of course have no greater example that that of god’s love.
  It was out of love that God created us.
  Out of love that he holds us dear to him.
  Out of love he sent his son.
  That is a love which while we can never attain, we can seek to emulate in all ways.
  We can begin by loving all around us through simply praying for them.
  If someone hurts us, is cruel to us, is unkind, we can react with prayer grounded in love and concern for all persons.
  In this way we can put away the shackles of revenge, anger, indifference, and be free ourselves to embrace god and to truly love him.
  St. Paul in one of his best known writings in romans speaks of the importance of love, placing it above all other things.
  Beyond this we also know that love can eventually whittle away hatred, and that the good works associated with love can often transform another.
  Bishop Cyril cites the centurion at the cross, who hearing christ’s words of forgiveness for those who crucified him was moved to proclaim christ as the son of god.
  History records him as longinus, now recognized as a saint for his dedication to christ after this incident.   
    We need to remember that we are all sisters and brothers in Christ.
  We are all God’s children.
  We are all made in God’s image.
  It is a challenge at times to believe this about some persons, and that too is when prayer would serve us well.
  Prayer in opening ourselves to receive God’s Grace and come to live in a new way.
  The way described by christ of loving friends and enemies, all people.
   It is such love that will last into eternity, when all else will fall away and be left behind.
  and it is the love that gives us a real relationship with the lord.
   St. Cosmas Aitolos says,
  "Fortunate is the man who has these two loves in his heart, that for God and that for his brethren.   
    “He surely has God; and whoever has God has every blessing and does not bear to commit sin. Again, wretched is the man who does not have these two loves.
   “Surely he has the devil and evil, and always sins.
  “God, my brethren, asks us to have these two loves.
  “As He Himself says in His Holy Gospel: `On these two commandments hang all the law and the Prophets.' Through these two loves all the Saints of our Church, men and women, attained sainthood and won Paradise."        
    Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages. Glory be to Jesus Christ

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,
Glory Be To Jesus Christ.

     Through trust in the Lord, through faith in His power, confidence in His love, faithfulness to the truth of His teachings and the following of His commands good things do come.
   The apostles learned this in many ways.
   We need to be aware of it too.
   Today we see the apostles learn a practical application to following Christ.
  It is realized in their ability to catch fish by listening to the Lord.
  And they are assured with their approach of faithfulness to Christ and His Words, that they will go on to capture persons--bringing others to the faith and love they enjoyed in our Savior.
   One result, of course, is that we are here in this church because of them.
  On this Sunday we also celebrate two older persons, Zacharius and Elizabeth, who displayed faith and trust, and persevered.
  They are described as righteous in terms of their trust and faithfulness in God.
  They were persistent in their prayer for a child.
  And after most would probably have given up, they find their persistence in prayer rewarded.
 They bear a child, whom they name John, whom we know as St. John the Baptist.
  This child given to them had a special purpose in God’s plan.
   Let us remember that we too have a special purpose in serving God.
  St. John would be the Prophet and Forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ, announcing His coming and describing His purpose in the salvation of all persons.
   Today we are called to continue announcing Christ to those who have yet to come to know him.
  And St. John joins others who have a special purpose in God’s plan, special persons for whom the angels spoke.
  In the Old Testament we read of  Persons such as Isaac being born of Sarah who did not have children;
  Of Samson who would be born to another long-childless person, Manoah--
  All of these births are recorded as having a special purpose in God’s plan.
  And all had in common, being announced by angels.
   The birth too of Christ himself was announced by an Angel to Mary.
   And just as our own births are special in some way to god--and special to parents and family--so too do angels have a special place in our lives.
     Each one of us has a guardian angel of which more is written in today’s bulletin.
   The elder Herman of Mt. Athos advises us that when we are praying alone, when our spirit may be low, when we may be weary and feel oppressed by loneliness, to remember that God the Trinity looks upon us with eyes brighter than the sun; and that all the angels and our own guardian angel, and all the saints also look upon us.
  In this we find help and comfort.   
    for we can depend on angels, our guardian angel, as intercessors and guides and protectors for us as we draw closer to christ and his teachings.
  My sisters and brothers in Christ, We are called to display the faithfulness shown in today’s examples as well as through the bible and the decades of the church.
  We are called to witness to Christ.
  To stay loyal and obedient to God and his Church.
   We can call on angels to help us, to influence us, to inspire us, as we seek to do those things and, take our place in the majestic unfolding of His providence...              Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages...
    Glory Be To Jesus Christ. Glory Forever.

Matthew 22:1-14
In the name of the Father, the Son and The Holy Spirit. Glory be To Jesus Christ!
  When the doorbell rings or someone knocks, we can respond in different ways.
 We might simply ignore it, not get to it in time.
  Or we might open the door with enthusiasm and joy over our visitor, or with annoyance, which we sometimes disguise.
  How we answer the door to Christ is brought to mind today as we hear Christ’s parable of the wedding feast to which He invites or calls many.
  He calls us too. And calls us and calls us.
  He calls us to Him and the Banquet He gives us as Liturgy in the Church.
  Some decide they have better things to do or are too busy.
  Some beguiled by the world’s glories, or tricked by satan, think they will find something more fulfilling than Christ and His Church.
  Our Lord is patient  but makes clear in the parable that at some point He will call others who are more likely to respond positively, and we risk not having the time to respond.
  And others, our Lord teaches, do come, but not in the right spirit.
  He speaks of one in his presence without the proper garment.
  St. Gregory the Great compares the garment to that of love--a fervent love that we need to have for Christ.
  St. Augustine looks at it similarly, as he calls in the garment of righteousness--drawing attention to a deep and true relationship with Christ.
  And so we see in the Church those who do come to the banquet when invited, but fail to embrace all that Christ offers.
  Those who come through habit, or for ritual sake.
  Of those our Lord has said, quoting from the Old Testament, these people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.
  It is important thus, Christ teaches, to enter into a true, meaningful, loving relationship with Him.
  One not evidenced only by a presence in a temple or Church, but by the presence of love in our hearts toward all persons, all persons, from which flows a love for God in all ways.
   When we hear this prescription some may say well that’s fine but how do I do that.
   How do I improve my relationship with Christ and His Church.
   Archimandrite Zacharias answers by saying we repeatedly make a new beginning with God, so that we may overcome material novelty.
   He adds that God welcomes our prayers and pleas to show us new ways to approach Him.
   We need to remember that God made us in his image and he wants us to be like him.
   He will help us in this quest.
   A story is told in this regard of St. Zosimas who was tempted into believing that he had acquired all there was in the spiritual world.
  And what happened.
  He went to the desert and there found St. Mary of Egypt and was further enlightened as to humility and repentance--of spiritual growth.
   We can all, all, always learn something.
  My sisters and brothers the time is short to wage the struggle.
  May we pray for the humility and wisdom to open our hearts to the Lord’s teachings;
  to find joy in life in His Church;
  and to delight in the presence of our sisters and brothers--all united through the Creator.
Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages.
Glory Be To Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!

Glory Be To Jesus Christ!
It was good to worship with our All Saints family today. While several persons were on vacation or otherwise away, we did welcome three families as guests, along with others who were visiting, and this is always fulfilling as we worship together.
Below is from a sermon given today. We cannot stress enough the St. Nicodemus' message on delaying and procrastinating in our relationship with Christ, adopting satan's words of Later, Later....Tomorrow, tomorrow. I have heard those words directly or expressed in other ways by persons in my ministry and no doubt have been guilty of them myself. We must remember that we may not have later or tomorrow, or that when it comes to God and His Church we put other things first, and it always becomes Later, later...tomorrow, tomorrow.
Now is the time to seek to draw closer to Christ through our worship, through our attitude toward others, and toward our relations with each other, practicing love, kindness and forgiveness, and not provoking others through harsh and unthoughtful words.

We are given choices in this life, through the freedom God has given us.

 For example, we chose to come here to Church this morning.

 While others chose to be somewhere else.

 We made our decision out of a love of God and appreciation of what He has given us as Church.

 And as we dwell here we may consciously or subconsciously choose to be attentive, to actively participate, or to let our minds wander, to think of other thing.

 The choice is ours.

 And so throughout life, we have the choice of following God or going some other way.

 If we focus on that idea, we will see that in our lives the choice is there in all the things we face, and in how we will proceed.

 A decision at work; an effort at school; a relationship with another…each can be looked upon as providing a choice in following God or going some other way.

 In the Gospel we see that the rich man given the choice, selected a path leading away from the Lord.

 And He departs.

 And Christ lets him, for again He has given us the gift of freedom.

 The good news, besides the ability to choose God at the moment, is that the Lord allows for us to change our mind.

 We call it repentance, literally a change in mind and heart.

 And it is available to each of us…

 We are not locked in to a life of sin, a life alienated from God.

 How we finish can correct how we started or traveled.

 A good follow through in our actions can bring us to God, and so to our salvation.

 We would do well in considering this to reflect on the words from St. Nicodemus, in Today’s Bulletin.

 He writes:

 “Those who have realized how dangerous and evil is the life they lead, the devil succeeds in keeping in his power mainly by the following simple but all powerful suggestion: ‘Later, later; tomorrow, tomorrow.’” 

  The choice rests with us…for God so loves us…

 Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages…

 Glory Be To Jesus Christ!

 Glory Forever!

 

 In the Name of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit!
   We need to make an effort not to simply go through the motions of worship, without any growth spiritually.
   Not to do so, is to waste the precious gift of the holy days, and life in the church that has been given to us.
  It is important, thus, to contemplate and understand the meanings of our celebrations.
  First and foremost they bring us closer to God, and it is in His company that we triumph over all the adversities, ill feelings, despair that may plague us.
  Holy Days intensify our experience.
  If they were simply something that happened a long time ago, something we notice by the change in color on our calendar, they come and go without real lasting impact.
  They become like the day after Christmas sales--forget the holiday and move on to something else.
   They can be so much more.
  This past week we commemorated the Dormition of our Holy Mother, the Theotokos.
   In light of the meaning of Feasts we can ask what does her death and entrance into the Kingdom mean to us and for us.
   First we learn something of death in this post Resurrection time in which we live.
   We speak of the Dormition as a celebration, just as we see in Christ’s Crucifixion the joy of the Resurrection.
   In the Dormition we see the Holy Mother’s death as bearing the fruit of that Resurrection.
   We note that the soul of the Theotokos is carried to heaven by her son after she was buried in Gethsemane.
   It is this journey from the grave to the Kingdom that we aspire to in our own death, as is noted by St. John of Kronstadt.
   At death, we can share in the Resurrection of Christ, which we in fact celebrate at our funerals--for it is His Resurrection that delivers us.
  With this in mind and in heart, we can face death and through the sadness of separations, cling to the hope and joy found in Christ.
  St. John says we can do this if we embrace the virtues of meekness, humility, gentleness, chastity, mercifulness, abstention, spiritual contemplation.
  And with these traits we too need to have a burning love for God and for each other.
  We see these traits and approach in Mary.
   St. Ambrose describes her as someone humble, wise and prudent in her speech.
   Her rule of life was not to offend, intend well for everyone, respect the aged, not to be envious or bragging, be healthy of mind and love virtue.
   Her movements and her speech reflected her purity.
   She fasted often, slept sparingly, and guarded her character.
   She left her house to go to Church in the company of others.
    Her life is a model for us, and her death and Her being carried to the Kingdom is a model to which we aspire as our lives unwind.
  Inspired by the Mother of God, may we lead  a life similar to hers  in our struggle, and may we attain to that prayer we hear in our petitions at Liturgy:
 That our death may be painless, blameless, and that we may offer our very lives as a good answer before Christ in His judgment of us for all eternity.

Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages.
Glory Be To Jesus Christ!

Matthew 9:27-35

 

 We are quick to criticize others.

 We don’t like the way something is done.

 We May criticize a parent or president, a child or co-worker, a fellow student or acquaintance, even a friend and certainly an enemy.

 Nor does our criticism end even in the Church for we see criticisms of each other, of a priest or Bishop, of a worshipper or choir member.

 And all of this is a form of judgment.

 We seem to be wired to find some satisfaction in looking more at what is wrong than what is right.

 And perhaps, in a positive way, we criticize because we want and expect something better.

 St. Paul deals with similar behavior in his writing to the Romans in today’s Epistle, which we just heard.

 He admonishes us that if we are among the so-called stronger, we should not put down or degrade those weaker, but rather need to help them and build them up.

 He notes how Christ treated others and the help he gave to the weakest persons.

 It is up to us to learn and follow Christ’s way as we react with others, even those whom Paul calls weaker than us.

 A story is told of a young Christian girl had just got her first job after graduating.

 It offers a good lesson for the students we have at our parish as they enter college and the workplace and different environments, as well as for those past their years of formal learning.

 The graduate realized after her first day of work that she was not prepared for the things she saw and heard.

 The language used was shocking, as it often is around us.

 The lifestyles discussed were not familiar to her.

 She was saddened and despairing over where she had been placed.

 After work, she told her parents that she would not go back for she could not tolerate the sins she had witnessed.

 Amidst her complaints, her father asked:

 “Where do you place lights?”

 She didn’t understand what meaning that had for her predicament and persisted with her complaints.

 And again her father asked,

 “Where do you place lights?”

 “What do you mean,” his daughter replied. “You know you place lights where it is dark.”

 “Exactly” her father replied.

 My sisters and brothers in Christ, God asks us toO,

 “Where do you put your lights?”

 We answer by not returning anger with anger, by showing love to even those who are disagreable or would harm us.

 by offering a hand to those in need, both physically and spiritually.

 For in such things we allow Christ’s light to shine through us to illuminate the lives of our sisters and brothers.

 Now and ever and unto ages of ages.

 Glory Be To Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ

 

 Demons come in a variety of shapes and sizes—people and things.

 And they work in different ways to entrap and to snare us—with the goal of taking us away from Christ, weakening our faith, sowing doubts and divisions.

 They work to convince us that their way is the best thing for us, that it offers rewards.

 They may seek to make us believe that what they offer is somehow of god.

 They can get into our minds and corrupt our thoughts.

 that is why Church elders warn us not to depend solely on our own thoughts and ideas to come to god, but to trust the teachings of Christ and his Church.

 St. Theophlact says those portrayed in today’s gospel as possessed by demons represent persons outside the Church.

 Outside the church not necessarily always physically but in mind and heart.

 They are among those who are evil in deed and word toward others; who forget and neglect the meaning of being Baptized in Christ—losing their baptismal garment

 Our best defense against such persons, such demons, is to put on the garment or armor of Christ.

 We do this through a devotion to Him and a focus on Him.

 We express this in our worship, in our prayers, and in our actions toward our sisters and brothers.

 Actions that reflect love, for in reflecting love we emulate God who is love.

 Christ triumphs over demons and evil as we read today and throughout the Bible.

 When Satan offered him some of those earthy rewards if he obeyed him, christ turns him away.

 So empowered, the Lord goes on to conquer Satan’s army of fallen spirits even unto death and the abyss of hades.

 He does all of this with love and with forgiveness, showing mercy and kindness.

 He does this now for us and is here amongst us as we gather as church, his body, making salvation possible for each of us.

 Such is the Good News of the Gospel.

 Amidst the seemingly disarray and disharmony of society, there is order and harmony with Christ.

 Among the doubts and despair, there is faith an hope with christ.

 We need to be aware of him always as He travels with us on our earthly path, and strengthens us to face any evil, to cope with any demon.

 With Him as a fellow traveler we need not fear our next steps.

 We can be confident that we will find sure footing with him.

 And when we do stumble, we can be confident that he will reach out his hand to help us rise and to continue our journey to eternity.

 All of This In Him, through Him, and because of Him…

Always, NOW AND EVER AND UNTO AGES OF AGES.

 GLORY BE TO JESUS CHRIST!

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,
Glory Be To Jesus Christ

          Last week we celebrated the Sunday of All Saints. Today we add the words of America, or of Russia or of Greece, depending on the countries we are in and the ties we have to them.
   The Church in her wisdom brings us closer geographically  to saints so we may be further inspired by the lives of persons who in some cases were almost our contemporaries.
  We no longer speak of just Constantinople, or Asia Minor, or Lycomia, or other places with foreign sounding names, or of centuries long ago passed.
  Now we can speak of our saints as being of New York, Wilkes Barre, Alaska, South Canaan--places to which many of us have been, or at least of which we know.
   The lives of saints here or abroad, though, both offer us the same inspiration of which we spoke last week--lives dedicated to God.
  They came to live lives of prayer--constant prayer--by which we mean not just recitation of certain words over and over again, but living a life reflective of holiness.
  Our Lord directs us in our prayer life and cautions us not to be wordy, but to be faithful, humble, and reverent.
  And we are called to live in a spirit of constant prayer.
  Related to constant prayer, I came across some thoughts in the book, In The Spirit of Happiness, written and published by Monastics of New Skete in New York, and thought it would be worthwhile to share their and other thoughts to help us to such a life.
   I know some of us have had informal discussions about this book in our parish.
   Prayer can be seen as  not just being a recitation of words, but of an interior attitude.
    It is our goal to combine what is inside of us with our exterior similar to what Jesus did in his earthly life.
   Christ spoke and acted teaching that both formal liturgical participation, what we do in and as  Church, and prayer when we are alone was both needed and valuable.   
  “His whole life is prayer,” it is noted, “because he is always conscious of the heavenly Father, in whose presence he lives...
  “Every act and gesture, no matter how seemingly insignificant, is a movement of adoration, an offering of prayer.
   We seek to attain such wholeness in our lives.
   Of this St. Paul writes “Everything you do, do heartily as for the lord and not for man.”
   “For those with eyes to see, “ and I quote now, “liturgy nurtures the whole of life, as incense pervades the Church.
  “Through our liturgical life we meet our need for support from the presence of others with like mind, and our own witness, service and support of others.
  We see an ideal example of such community among the angels who act with one purpose in giving Glory to God.
  And while we sometimes forget or neglect it, our purpose too as persons is to likewise give Glory to God in all of our endeavors.
   Today as we commemorate the saints of our land, we can see their lives as living prayers, like Christ’s life was.
  To emulate the saints and Christ in this regard we need to discover and recognize God’s presence in every situation in life...
   And we need to offer him thanks and worship and praise and prayer...in such a way that what we pray becomes our reality.
    My sisters and brothers in Christ, as we noted, we are familiar with the towns and cities in which the saints commemorated today lived and worked.
   Let us become equally familiar with the lives they led--that we may be inspired to follow Christ throughout our days on this earth-and eventually into His Heavenly Kingdom...
              Now and ever and unto ages of ages.
    Glory Be To Jesus Christ.

Matt 10:32-33, 37;19:27-30
In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,
Glory Be To Jesus Christ

      We are surrounded by our saints, with whom we grow in Christ.
  St. Paul calls them our cloud of witnesses.
    Of them, St. Augustine says we will come to resemble that which we love.
      Our Church is a witness of such love as it was dedicated to all the saints--the feast day we celebrate today.
   Each of us bears the name of a saint given to us at our Baptism or Chrismation.
     Our Church is adorned with the images in icons of saints.
      We read the names of saints on our calendars and hear their names in many of our prayers.
      We look to the saints to inspire us.
  And we learn about them through our reading.
     St. John of Kronstadt says we need a spiritual union with the saints...as both we and they are part of the same Church, the body of Christ, adding that it is in union with the saints that we make spiritual progress.
  And St. Paul calls the saints citizens of the Heavenly Jerusalem--which must be our citizenship.
   Christ Himself spoke of this when He said that His Kingdom was not of this world--
   As true Christians, we respond, neither is ours.
   Earthly kingdoms and, as we pray at Liturgy, earthly princes will pass; only the Lord will not.
   The feast of all saints itself dates to the fourth century in the eastern church, when it marked the many martyrs who died for their faith in christ.
   It was observed, too, in the western church with the date changed in the eighth century to Nov. 1 to commemorate the dedication of a cathedral to All Saints.
   In today’s Gospel we hear our Lord’s description of a saintly life.
    And Archbishop Andrei says  that before we say that we could not possibly attain to this description, we need to remember that the saints were called as we are, and responded in their way with faith and devotion.
  They did this despite obstacles in their way; despite the problems they faced; and despite what they were forced to endure for their faith.
  Christ speaks of three qualities shared by the saints.
  He says those who confess Him, who witness for Him, and proclaim their faith in Him are those Whom He will confess before His Father.
  The archbishop notes that our confession of faith needs to be shown in our speech, our actions, our thoughts and our feelings.
  These things say to others, “I am a Christian.”
  Christ also calls upon us to love Him first and foremost--to put Him first before everything and everybody.
  It is through such a total love for Him that we will be able to truly love--in the best meaning of the word, those around us, our relatives, acquaintances, strangers and enemies.
  And the third thing, as we heard in the gospel, is to take up our Cross and follow Christ.
  By this is meant to bear sorrows and difficulties without great complaint, trusting in the will of God as being always the best path for us.
   Let us continue to look to God to attain to all of this, and let this feast day of remind us that we can ask the Saints to intercede that the things christ teaches become a reality in our lives.
   Always Now and Ever and unto ages of ages.
   glory be to Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!
 

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ

 At each Liturgy, the celebrant in a prayer asks that our Lord not take the Holy Spirit, which He has sent upon his apostles, away from us.

 On Pentecost, which we celebrate today, we celebrate that sending of the spirit, which gave us the church on this earth.

 It is this spirit which enlivens the church and which inspired all those who followed God.

 It is the spirit, one of the Holy Trinity, that manifests Christ’s presence in the Church.

 And Just as God delivered the people of israel from the captivity of the Egyptians so now Christ delivers us from the wilderness of sin and death.

 And he gives us a new promised land—the Church—which we embody through his grace.

 Here we enjoy the renewal or realization of the spirit in our daily lives, together as a community of believers, mystically composing his body.

 From Here we can go forward, energized by the spirit, and bring Christ to those with whom we have contact.

 When the apostles received the Holy Spirit, they shed their fears and acted to spread the word of Christ.

 These men—fishermen—then went out and witnessed for Christ in word and deed, and their message of him now reaches 100s of millions.

 We too can continue this work, this legacy, reaching out to others in various ways through the spirit with which we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit at our Chrismation into the church.

 To do this, to bring Christ to others, We need not travel as far as did the apostles, nor necessarily engage in large efforts. 

 The smallest acts in which we engage out of love and kindness can greatly impact those around us.

 A prayer, a kind word, a smile, a gentle touch, a bit of food; these seemingly little things do make a difference.

 Each one of us in our unique way can be a witness for Christ, for we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

 St. Seraphim spoke of a quiet soul changing and converting thousands.

 We can possess that quiet soul.

 Isn’t it wonderful and such a gift that empowered by Christ, doing his work, we can even change the life on one person…

 We might recall the parable of the talents and how they were distributed to three persons.

 The first two who received the most took theirs and through work increased what they had been given.

 The third feeling the gift he had been given was meager, worried about losing it, and so buried it in the ground.

 We too have the choice of what we will do with the gifts of the spirit given to us, and the gifts that flow from Christ through the spirit.

 May God give us the strength, the will and the wisdom to put them to good use…

NOW AND EVER AND UNTO AGES OF AGES…

 GLORY BE TO JESUS CHRIST

John 17,1-13

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ

 

  Today may seem like a bit of an interlude on our Church calendar.

 Last Sunday we completed the liturgical celebration of Pascha; Thursday we celebrated the Ascension; next Sunday comes Pentecost.

 And today the calendar reads a dedication to the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council.

 The commemorations are harmonious for they all deal with christ’s saving mission, the establishment and faith of the church, and our lives as orthodox.

 The first council occurred in the fourth century, in the early part of our history as a church.

 As did the other Councils it was called in the face of a heresy—this particular heresy being perpetuated by Arius.

 

 He taught that God alone is the Creator, and only He is uncreated, thus challenging the belief in Christ as we know Him—as God the Son, uncreated, and part of the Holy Trinity.

 Those gathered at this Council declared Christ to be the Son begotten of the Father but not created, existing for eternity.

 They reaffirmed that this uncreated person was born of the Virgin Mary, becoming man.

 This belief makes real for us, God’s saving acts.

 In Christ the human and divine are combined—you and I can become part of the divine as we were intended to be.

 St. Athanasius summarizes this in his often quoted statement that God became a person to that persons could become like God.

 

 It is part of the work—an essential part—which Christ came to do, and which He accomplishes in His obedience, and His subjecting of his human will to His divine will.

 In this unity we find restoration of the creation, and healing of the fall in unity with the Lord.

 This unity is seen vividly at the ascension when His human form ascends as part of Him to God.

 Even the angels are amazed at this new manifestation in the Kingdom.

 This oneness of Christ in himself, and the oneness of the trinity, are desired for us by the Lord as we hear his prayer in today’s gospel.

He seeks for us the life he led.

 He calls us to follow Him and emulate this united life of God and Man, and God as the Trinity.

 And Our Lord in the Gospel summarizes His earthly mission as one accomplished.

 I would like to share some words of St Irenaeus on this subject.

 The saint was a student of the well-known St. Polycarp, who learned from the Apostle and Evangelist, St. John.

  St. Irenaeus writes:

 “How could the human race go to God if God had not come to us?

 How should we free ourselves from our birth into death if we had not been born again According to faith by a new birth generously given by God, thanks to that which came about from the Virgin’s womb?

--------

This is the reason why the Word of God was made flesh, and the Son of God became Son of Man: so that we might enter into communion with the Word of God, and by receiving adoption might become Sons of God. 

 Indeed we should not be able to share in immortality without a close union with the Immortal.

 How could we have united ourselves with immortality if immortality had not become what we are, in such a way that we should be absorbed by it, and thus we should be adopted as Sons of God?”

 My sisters and brothers in Christ, this gift of restoration of which saint iraeneus speaks, is given to us.

 May we use it wisely unto our salvation….

 Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages.

 Glory Be To Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!

John 9:1-38

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Christ is Risen!

 

  There was a song, quite some time ago, entitled everything is beautiful.

 In it were the words, there are none so blind as those who will not see.

 They remind me of the words of Christ regarding those with eyes that do not see, and ears that do not hear.

 He is speaking to us of not seeing His Truth; not hearing His Word; and not  comprehending all he offers.

  St. Macarius compares the eye and the heart—both small vessels that can see so much.

 He notes that while we can see evil things, we also can see God, and the angels, the life and the kingdom, the light and the Apostles, the treasures of grace…

 And it is these latter things that Christ calls us to see, and to share with others.

 For example, the Church in this Paschal season put before us—the color of the Resurrection—as a reminder of what we celebrate and proclaim.

 That season comes to an end with the leave-taking of Pascha Wednesday.

 The Church then begins to change her appearance as Pentecost draws near.

  Have we really seen the church in this season.

 Have we interiorized what we have enjoyed in these weeks of Pascha?

 St. John of Kronstadt says that holy days, such as Pascha, are not meant to simply pass by, or to give us some idle time.

 Rather he says they are given by God to call us from these earthly cares, to free us from earthly concerns.

  We speak, especially at Pascha, of overcoming darkeness with the light of Christ.

 Has it done this in our lives?

 If not, what hampers us?

 Are sin and a fallen nature such great obstacles to  a life lived as eager and attentive participants in the Church?

 Is  sin and a fallen nature working against us being true sisters and brothers in Christ. .

 Interfering with our relationship with Christ.

 With A vision of the Holy we can overcome such obstacles.

 We can pray for our will to be in sync with God’s.

 We can examine ourselves daily to check for growth, and seek ways through prayer and meditation and the Bible to nurture any progress we have made.

 Just as we plan meals daily; we need to do likewise for spiritual nourishment as well.

  St. John Chrysostom once wrote,

 “The whole essence and effort of the devil is to separate and remove our attention from God and entice it toward worldly concerns and pleasures.

 And He continued, that spiritual combat consists in keeping the mind fixed on God.

 My sisters and brothers in Christ we need to be warriors in this cause, in this combat.

 To strengthen us, Christ instituted the Church, a gift to us.

  We might think of it as the gymnasium for the exercise of our souls, our spirit.

 Let us lift ourselves up in our worship.

  Let us exercise a love for one another.

 Let us share with  those in any type of need; in any sorrow; in any joy.

 And let us work to build up His Holy House, so that it in turn always will be there to build us and others up.

 There is much to be enjoyed in life, all gifts from God.

 There is much to see with eyes of the heart…

 May we find our sight uplifted and restored through jesus Christ.

now and ever and unto ages of ages.

 Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!!

John 4:5-42

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

 

 CHRIST IS RISEN!

 The first words of Christ’s ministry were a call for us to change—to repent.

 He saw this need for change in each one of us—a change rooted in our way of thinking with our minds and our way of feeling with our hearts.

 And not only did He call on us to come to a new way of living, He exemplified this in His saving mission.

 For our Lord who embodied two natures, two wills in one body in one person, subjugated the earthly or human body to the Divine.

 And in doing so He opened the door to the divine for each of us, and so could call on us to change, to follow Him, in a way that God becomes the ultimate being, force, focus in our lives.

 And so that all we do would flow from the divine spark that He planted in each of us.

 The call to something different was not lost on the Samaritan woman in today’s Gospel.

 She was a woman who lived with several husbands, several men, and as a Samaritan, did not enjoy respect in her community.

 And she was a woman, viewed at the time as something less of a person.

 Yet, Christ stops and talks with her—despite her being a Samaritan, who were not in accord with traditional judaism;

 Stops and talks with her despite her being a woman, for He recognized in her one of His Creation—and so worthy of His attention.

 And how she changes.

 She acknowledges Him as a prophet, and will come to realize him as the messiah.

 she calls on others to come see Him, to come know Him…

 And the Samaritan woman is no longer nameless in her new life but we know her as St. Photina, Svetlana in Russian.

 A name derived from the word Light, and it was the Light of Christ who from that day at the well shined through this blessed saint.

 The encounter with Jesus, fueled the spark of the divine in her, and gave her the fire of a follower of Christ; giving her a new life.

 What is possible for St. Photina is possible for us.

 It took the Samaritan awhile do come to Christ, to know Christ, so neither need we be discouraged in our progress.

 The Fathers of the Church teach that perfection lies in the struggle, in the life-long pursuit of Theosis—of seeking to become like God.

 Progress comes with prayer, focus, faith, worship, acts of kindness and all those things we can identify as good fruits.

 We can be encouraged in this pursuit, knowing that in calling us to change, Christ sees in us the capacity to do just that.

 He returns the faith we have in Him, with a great faith in us as His children, as sisters and brothers in the Lord.

 He is telling us that we can be more than even we may imagine we can be.

 More not in terms of earthly glory or riches, or society’s notions of success and fame.

 More in the humble following of Christ, to do His work on this earth of which we were made His stewards.

 That is after all what St. Photina did, as well as other members of her family.

  They eventually would endure torture, and a variety of temptations, but they would not waver from their devotion to Christ.

 And eventually as so many of the early followers of Christ they were martyred by the emperor.

 The change that they made that wrought this in their earthly sojourn, was a change they would again enjoy in the never ending day of God’s Kingdom.

 My sisters and brothers in Christ, we receive Him in the Eucharist, we voice our love for Him in our worship, and we reflect Him in our conduct toward each other.

 Is there is a better, more fulfilling way to live than as a follower of Christ?

 Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages.

 Christ is Risen!

 

 

John 12:1-18

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ!

 Today we join with those in Jerusalem on the day our Lord entered—

 We hold palms, willows, branches in our hand hailing Him as the King.

 It is a day of celebration.

 What is it we celebrate and what do we mean by calling Christ our King?

 The dictionary defines king as someone who rules, who is supreme.

 And also call Christ blessed—as one coming in the name of the Lord.

 Do we recognize Christ as such, and if we do, are we willing to obey Him—in all things.

 Or do we seek other kings—earthly beings with their secular adornments.

 Even the people of Israel once did this as they begged God for such an earthly king, and came to be disappointed when they received one.

 They were again rescued by God and eventually would be given Jesus Christ, Whom many would reject then, just as some do now.

 Christ is again mocked by some, spit upon with blasphemous comments and so-called jokes, ridiculed by the pseudo-wise of our day. He is insulted by the way we interact with each other, often with anger, vitriol, gossip—and not as Christians.

 And He, showing His Godliness, reacts by continuing to offer love and forgiveness.

 He wants for us so much to dwell with Him in true joy.

 He knows the suffering we endure.

 And has experienced the exaltation in the Resurrection that He hopes for us.

 Today when we hold our branches, we are not waving at a distant figure, a simply historic person, we are not waving goodbye, or waving some one away.

 We are instead welcoming Him into our lives as One to Whom we are pleased to be obedient, as One Whom we follow with joy; as One in Whom we know abides all truth.

 As the true King of our lives.

Now and ever and unto ages of ages. Glory Be to Jesus Christ!

 

 

 

 

 

Mark 10:32-45

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ!

 The greatest gift we receive is the gift of life.

 Life not just during this earthly sojourn, but life into eternity.

 It is a gift that comes from God.

 It is a gift that pours forth from His overwhelming and awesome love.

 And to effect that gift—to make it possible—He gives us the gift of repentance.

 He provides us the way, and the potential will, to change in ways that allow us to experience eternal life as the Heavenly Kingdom with Him.

 And he makes it possible through our repentance to experience his presence as joyful, and not as some hell, something to tolerate, something to endure as it can be for some.

 Throughout the Gospels we hear our Lord forgiving persons.

 Go and sin no more, your sins are forgive you.

 Your faith has made you whole.

 If there is no one to condemn you, neither do I.

 These words assured those to whom they were addressed, welcoming them back from sinful acts.

 They assure us today that we too can be welcomed back—welcomed home to the glory of our Creation.

 Today we see the vivid example of someone made whole in her humility and desire to lead a new life.

 St. Mary of Egypt.

 We are familiar with her life of sin; her life as a prostitute;

 Just look at her now.

 She occupies a place in the center of our Church, we venerate her image, we sing about her, we celebrate her.

 We do this because she found Christ and through her and her example we can find whatever of Christ is missing in our lives.

 If we lack humility, we can find it in Mary’s.

 If we lack the desire or will to change, we can learn from Mary.

 If we are stuck in place, we can be taught by her.

 It is for us to complete our Lenten examination of ourselves, noting our deficiencies, finding ways to change, seeking a regenerated life—all and through Christ.

 St. Mary of Egypt did just that, and has a special place in the Church with God.

 My sisters and brothers in Christ, in all that we celebrate today, we take joy in the knowledge, in the fact, that there too is a special place reserved for us, offered to us, by our Lord and Our Savior Jesus Christ.

 Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages.

 Glory Be To Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!

St. Gregory Palamas--Mark 2:1-12
In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,
Glory Be To Jesus Christ

   Don’t we live in a noisy world?
   TVs, radios, CDs, horns, traffic, sirens, yelling, shouting—just the thought is unsettling.
  And thoughts too race through our minds--noisy in themselves.
   and we participate in the production of noise.
  An alternative is found in the Psalmist’s words that we hear at the Liturgy of the Presanctified:
   Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord, keep watch over the door of my lips.
   It is a holy way to say keep quiet.
   We are warned that words like a sword can damage persons, as St. John and others have noted.
   We need to work to control the noise around us, and to avoid contributing to it.
   we Especially must be careful about the noise of  gossip, slander, idle talk, defaming others, anger, and the like.
  These things pollute ourselves and pollute each other.
   Truly we need to turn down the sound—all the sound.
   We ourselves can lower our voices and speak a bit softer in our communications with persons.
   And then we need to try to tune out that which we cannot turn off.
   Indeed we need quiet to mediate, to hear God’s knock and softer voice to us.
   And we need quiet to pray.
    To regain balance.
    Today we commemorate St. Gregory Palamas whose  icon occupies the center of our Church.
   St. Gregory escaped the noise of the world through monasticism.
   He championed hesychasm, a Greek word meaning to be quiet and at rest.
   Through this quietude Gregory and his followers taught that we could be in touch with the very essence of God by our experience with His energies—His activities toward us, as we meditate.
   They came to use the Jesus Prayer—Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me as sinner.
   It is a prayer used by many today as they meditate and seek the Lord’s forgiveness.
   This approach my sisters and brothers in Christ would do us well.
   And while most will not withdraw to the desert or be totally isolated in some way, we can find our own spiritual oasis in the places we occupy.
   Indeed, the elder Macarius of Optina tells us that a life lived in the world can be as good, in the eyes of God, as one spent in a monastery.
   It is only the keeping of God’s commandments, love of all, and a true sense of humility that matter, wherever we are.
    We can stop the noise and listen in silence if that is our will.
  And in those moments, silent and alone with God, we can hear Him speak to us, not with a roar but a whisper:
   God speaks to us addressing us as his children.
  And as St. Tikhon of Zadonsk reminds us:
    “What is more astonishing than this—
    “That a sinner should become a child of God.
    “God’s love wrought this.”
    And This is very special for us.
Now and ever and unto ages of ages.
      Glory Be To Jesus Christ.
       Glory Forever.

Glory Be To Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!

 We celebrate the joyful message of forgivness today.

 Joyful to be forgiven by Christ.

 Joyful to forgive others and be forgiven by them.

 And joyful to anticipate the fulfillment of having grown spiritually through Great Lent.

 In one of our hymns, we sing:

 “Let us begin Lent, the Fast, with joy”

  It is a joy of increased prayer, fasting, worship, which opens us to christ’s teaching about forgiveness.

  he tells us if we want god’s forgiveness we need to forgive others.

 He lived this forgiveness and in fact died forgiving others.

 We are familiar with His words from the Cross:

 Father forgive them for they know not what they do.

 They are words we can offer as a prayer of forgiveness of others, regardless of what they have done or to whom they have done it.

  From the nuns of Ellwood City comes a recipe for making Christ’s act of forgiving our own.

 They speak of three steps:

 The first is to  repent for the only person we can change is ourselves.

 We repent in seeking to eliminate evil in our thoughts, our words our actions.

 And they remind us of the words of St. Seraphim: “Acquire the spirit of peace and thousands around you will be saved.”

 Second they direct us to pray for others who are involved in evil.

 Instead of judging others and focusing on their sins, we can pray for them.

 We are here reminded of the words of the Lord, “By this all will know that you are My disicples, if you have love for another.”

 And the nuns offer us this prayer as an aid:

 “Remember O Lord, and have mercy upon all who hate and oppose us. Let them not perish through us sinners. Give us grace and power to love them with all oour hearts.”

 Third is to pray for all who are suffering, and ask that any suffering endured will not make persons bitter but will work for salvation.

 When we see persons impacted by tragedy,  we can support them with prayers, and through any acts of kindness that we may be able to do.

 They conclude by writing,:

 “Christ warned His disciples that they would be hated by the world:

 "In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

  “His own death on the Cross is for the salvation of all mankind.

 “Let us become true followers of Him by imitating His love, humility and forgiveness.

 “We can fight evil by loving as Jesus loved.

 We can have the most powerful weapon of all in our hearts--the weapon of love.

 And with God's help – entrusting all judgement to Him -- we can make Jesus' words our own, "Father, forgive them…”

Now and ever and unto ages of ages. Glory Be To Jesus Christ

 

Matthew 25:31-46

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ

 

  In the last two weeks of the Gospel we have been given lessons on how to come to Church, and how God receives us.

 We have been taught by Christ to come to Church humbly, repentant, reverently.

 And we have been taught by Christ that our Father will receive us lovingly when we come in that spirit.

 We too are taught in Orthodoxy that we are made in the image of God, each one of us.

 And that our work in this life is to develop the likeness of Him in ourselves, and thus draw closer to Him.

 Today Christ reinforces that message when He calls on us to love others.

 To love others as we claim to love Him.

 To live this love in our actions toward each other.

 We hear in the epistle of St. John—which we may call an epistle of love-- the question of how could we love God Whom we cannot see, if we do not love our sisters and brothers whom we do see.

 To claim this, St. John says, is to be a liar.

 In AA and other similar addictive behavior groups, we hear the slogan of walking the walk.

 Of not just proclaiming our beliefs in words but showing them in our action.

 Today Christ tells each of us to walk the walk.

 That if we truly love Him than we will give of ourselves to others.

 We will feed the hungry, visit the widowed, show caring to even those in prisons.

 Let us be re-energized as we gather in His Holy House, as we worship Him, to show kindness toward each other and all those around us.

 St. Anthony of blessed memory said that we will indeed be judged as humans by God’s standard, knowing how to love in our hearts, but also in our actions and in deeds.

 He says we need to ask ourselves:

 Am I human in my behavior; is my life an expression of a fine, thoughtful, perceptive, creative, and at times a generous and sacrificial love.

 He notes that the love we show must be toward neighbors, for to love God who asks for nothing is too easy.

 In that spirit conveyed by this saint, May we dwell together in harmony, and may our love permeate all of our activities in this world, living as Christ teaches us to live.

 remembering His words recorded in the Gospel of St. John:

 …Love one another; as I have loved you…

 NOW AND EVER AND UNTO AGES OF AGES.

 GLORY BE TO JESUS CHRIST.

Prodigal Son Luke 15:11-32
In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,
Glory Be To Jesus Christ
  Today’s Gospel lesson and Sunday itself is titled the Prodigal Son.
    It might very well be called the Prodigal Sons.—using the plural.
 For just as the prodigal was separated from his father’s love by traveling away from him, the son who stayed home also was estranged.
   Where his father showed love, compassion, joy in the return of someone lost, the elder did not.
  Rather he harbored resentment.
 We too can harbor the feelings of either or both sons.
   And we can do so as members of a church, or as some who have distanced themselves, straying afar.
   Christ’s lesson today is that God wants us home with Him.
   He wants us in the home He provides as church.
   He wants us in the home He offers in the mansions of the kingdom.
   He wants us home not just physically but in all ways.
   He shows us the example of a loving father--symbolic of our heavenly father--and how he welcomes us warts and all, despite our sins.
    It is that welcome that beckons us to true repentance, a humble change of heart and mind.
    And it is that welcome and the admonition to the elder son, that calls us to love each other--and all persons as daughters and sons of christ.
   There is no room to condemn another.
   We are called to love all persons and show compassion toward all persons.
     We do not categorize, or label, or find exceptions.
   And we are called to that proverbial teachings of loving the sinner while hating the sin.
   And in condemning the sin, we begin with our own sins and not with those of others.
   We saw this illustrated in the gospel of the publican and pharisee.
   How the one humbly aware of his sin went away justified--or forgiven.
   And that the pharisee did not, in christ’s words.
   Just as we are not true followers of christ just because we occupy a seat or place in his church.
   We must rather come alive in his church, and follow his teachings.
   It is following those teachings that we become disciples of Christ, and as St. Gregory Palamas notes, actualize our baptism.
   Let us then acknowledge that each persons has a few steps they can take to draw closer to God, be it in body, mind, heart, or all three.
   May this prayer of St. Ilia assist us in our journey, in our efforts:
   Our Father Who art in Heaven!
  With tenderness I stand before Thee on my knees;
   I ask for neither wealth nor glory;  
  I won’t debase my holy prayer with earthly matters.
   I would wish for my soul to rest in heaven, my heart to be radiant with love heralded by Thee;
  I would wish to be able to ask forgiveness of mine enemies, even if they pierce me in the heart:
   Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they do.
Now and ever and unto ages of ages.
     Glory Be To Jesus Christ.

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ

 

 If we don’t feel sick we seldom seek a cure for what ails us.

 We may not even be aware that we have a problem.

 Likewise if we feel justified, if we are self-righteous and prideful, we seldom would turn to Christ for the cures He offers.

 What we need to advance spiritually is humility Christ teaches us, and illustrates in today’s Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee.

 The Pharisee, following the rules of the synagogue, did not think he needed to change anything.

 We was sure that he was right and that his course was proper.

 Many who even inhabit Churches may feel the same way.

 They adhere to some standard they set for themselves, and see no need to change.

 They lack the one thing which Christ shows us can lead to a healing of both soul and body—humility.

 Humility to look at oneself first, and find one’s own shortcomings and sins.

 The humility to be willing to take Christ’s teachings, given us through His Church to heart, and seek to follow them.

 We see such a humble attitude in the Publican, a tax collector looked down upon by many.

 He comes to the synagogue to worship God and to seek forgiveness for his sins.

 He is humble enough to acknowledge to himself and in front of others that he needs God’s mercy.

 That God was the One Who could make a difference in his life if he was willing to sincerely and humbly follow Him.

 And that is the approach we need in our mind and our heart.

 St. Anthony Bloom of blessed memory, says that with this Gospel Christ is asking us, Who are You?

 And he calls on us to ask ourselves whether we are like the Pharisee, outwardly faithful to the tenets of the Christian faith? And beyond this, do we allow our faith to transform our heart, rule our will, enlighten our mind?

 Or do we embrace God humbly, knowing that it is only through God’s love and mercy we can be saved and attain to a new life in Him.

 Our Lord make clear the future to which each attitude leads:

 He says, “I tell you, this man (the publican) went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

 

  Now and Ever And Unto Ages of Ages

 Glory Be To Jesus Christ!

 

Luke 15:35-43

Glory Be To Jesus Christ

 

 Christ warns us of ears that do not hear; of eyes that fail to see.

 What He is warning us about is faith to perceive Truth, failing to grasp what is lasting, ignorance to what is Truth.

 In other words living in the darkness of a fallen world, stumbling around, and being separate from the Lord.

 The remedy Christ’s offers is the restoration of sight in His way, as we see in today’s Gospel.

 He confronts someone who is physically blind and gives him physical sight, but He does more than that.

 St. Cyril notes that the blind man received spiritual sight for he could now recognize Christ as God, and become one of His followers.

 And while his physical sight at most could last a earthly lifetime, his spiritual vision will be with him in the eternal Kingdom.

  And what a sight it was to gain for this man.

 The first person he gets to see with his vision restored is God the Son.

 And He acknowledges Him as that Son.

  For us too when our spiritual vision is working properly we too see God.

 Do we acknowledge Christ also as that Son.

 We may quickly says yes and on the surface of it appear to do so.

 But we need to ask do we respond to Christ’s message.

 He calls on us to be loving.

 He calls on us not to judge.

 He calls on us to be charitable.

 He calls on us to Repent, to worship, to treat properly the Church—His Body—which He has given to us.

 We can use His teachings and calls as a checklist, seen in Christ’s light, with eyes that truly comprehend what is truth.

 It is His truth set before our eyes that we must keep in focus, and that we must cling to.

 Writing in the 7^th Century, St. Isaac said:

 

Be mindful of God, so that in every moment He may be mindful of you.

   If He is mindful of you, He will give you salvation.  Do not forget Him, letting yourselves be seduced by vain distractions. 

 Do you want Him to forget you in your times of temptation? 

 Stay near Him and obey Him in the days of your prosperity. 

 You will be able to rely on His word in difficult days, because prayer will keep you safe in His continual presence. 

 Remain constantly before His face, think of Him, remember Him in your heart. 

 Otherwise, if you only meet Him from time to time, you risk losing your close friendship with Him.

 May we so remain through God’s Grace,

NOW AND EVER AND UNTO AGES OF AGES.

Glory Be To Jesus Christ!

 

Matthew 4:12-17 In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit, Glory Be To Jesus Christ The writer, Emerson or Elliot, wrote that the sunset is only the way to another sunrise. It is a good image of darkness being turned into light. They are applicable words today as we hear in the Gospel the words of the prophet: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,        And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death        Light has dawned."   In the beginning, Adam and Eve dwelled in God’s light, in perfect harmony with the divine, in obedience to Him.    Through their defiance of God, through having it their own way, they plunged themselves and Creation into darkness.   And from that time persons were still engulfed in the darkness, with only partial visions of the Divine, until Christ.   With Christ, the Sun of the Light, came restoration.    Today even after the coming of christ some still find the darkness and dwell in it.       They seek their own way, stumbling on a path with which without Christ leads  to ruin.    Our Lord addresses this when he calls on each of us to repent--to change-- for the kingdom of God is at hand or in reach.     change can be difficult.   Hearts become hardened, ears close, eyes fail to see all that has been put before us.    We become set in certain ways.   We become prideful, arrogant, close minded.   Yet christ tells us change is needed.   He does this not to make life unpleasant, but rather to open to us all that life can be.             The good news for those who desire a relationship with God  is that he does prick our conscience.   He doesn’t desert us.   He shines His beautiful light in the darkness and exposes all to what is Holy and divine.   And He invites us to be partakers of these good things in which we find real joy in His love.   He tells us the door is always open to His Kingdom if we wish to enter.   A  kingdom that is lasting, that is founded on love and truth, and that has no place for false pride, unbridled selfishness, harsh sentiments.       He seeks to lead us into that joyful abode in eternity,   and has given us the Church now to carry out His mission.    If we seek the Lord and open ourselves to Him if we remind ourselves that we have put on Christ in our Baptism as we sing in Church, of which we are reminded at Theophany,  then our weaknesses will be overcome and we can be transformed.    The light that shines in darkness will then be a beacon for us.    Leading us to the One Who loves, the One Who saves--our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.       LET US then REPENT FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND….            Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages.. Glory Be to Jesus Christ.

Matthew 1:1-25
In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,
Glory Be To Jesus Christ

    In today’s Gospel we hear the long line of the ancestors of Christ.
    They are part of generations who had waited for the kingdom of God--waited for the prophesized Messiah.
   The people long ago chosen by God, a people who endured suffering under various rulers and kings.
    At times they rejected even their own faith--or waivered--turning to pagan symbols, and away from the One God, Yahweh.
  But God persevered and they returned to Him again and again.
   The names we heard today represent a progression through those years, and a people from whom the Messiah would come.
   The generations of Christ’s ancestors culminate with Mary and Joseph.
   Two humble persons of faith, whom God would call in a special way.
   Our Lord in his earthly ministry would say many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see and did not see it.
  And to hear what you hear and have not heard it.
  He spoke then to His followers of His day, and He speaks to His followers today--we in His Holy Church.
  Christ came in His own special way--surprising the people--
  He would come humbly, not to build an earthly Kingdom, but to establish one that would never end.
  That is the gift He offers us on the Nativity--in His Incarnation.
  This is the unity of the human--us--and the Divine--God.
  This makes possible our place in eternity; our resurrection.
  His birth was not in a palace but in a cave in which animals dwelled.
  The offering acceptable to God from Mary was not slaughtered lambs, sacrifices,  not incense, but rather a simple “yes, ” from a young woman.
  She became our offering to God--the offering of humanity.
  Our Lord in his ministry would speak of flowers being arrayed in more glory than even Solomon.
  We can see this in Mary.
  Not earthly glory.
  Not the robes of an earthly  queen.
  And yet through her would come glory that the world had never seen.
  In her would come the greatest revelation of God--our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
  Yet given all this there would still be some who could not see or hear.
  That divide between people of faith and those without it remains today.
  Some still pursue earthly kings and kingdoms, and find more glory in them then in the dwelling places of God and eternal life.
   To the people then and the people of today who travel on those paths not treaded upon by the Holy, Christ says,
     O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her winds, but you were not ready.
     My dear sisters and brothers in Christ--with all that we have witnessed from God.
    With all that we have experienced in God.
    With all that we have received through God--
      Will we allow ourselves to be gathered as one in Him, for Him and through Him?
    Will we be as baby chicks through the arrival of the baby Jesus?
   For truly He is Immanuel...
  Truly He is God with us...
         NOW AND EVER AND UNTO AGES OF AGES…
     GLORY BE TO JESUS CHRIST.

Luke 14:16-24
In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,
Glory Be To Jesus Christ

      We speak of catching a train, not being late for a flight, the time a bus is departing.
   All so we are not left behind, while others move on.
   To this we can add, don’t be left behind when it comes to God.
  He has invited us.
  He has given this time to ride with Him.
  He has also given us direction and purpose in that invitation.
  And He awaits patiently.
  We need to respond and travel with Him through our life--so we can arrive with Him at our ultimate destination--the Kingdom of God.
  Christ’s parable today speaks of those who miss the journey--those invited to His table, His banquet, but who fail to come.
  And He reminds us that others will continue to be called and we may find that they left without us and are on their way with Him to the glories of God.
  The loss will be suffered by those who failed to respond positively to the Lord’s message--His teachings.
  It is they who are deprived of the peace, joy and fulfillment that can be found in Christ.
   We pray, help us Lord to respond.
   Strengthen us to follow You.
   We have seen people throughout history who when called either responded yes, or turned away.
  The Bible records this over and over.
  The scattered people of the Old Testament--
  Assembled by God into the tribes of Israel and forged into a nation.
   Those who remained loyal to the true message of God, became ancestors of the Lord whose Nativity we soon will celebrate.
  And those who turned away--whose places  were filled by others--Jews and Gentiles were united as followers of Christ, as the new Israel.
  St. Paul says there is no longer distinction between these people and with us--no national, racial, ethnic barriers...
  All who are willing to follow Christ are welcome.
  Christ invites us, as we sing, come taste and see...and know that the Lord is good.
  My sisters and brothers in Christ, may we respond with a resounding yes to this call, whether we be whole or infirmed, maimed physically or spiritually.
  Let us simply come ourselves and invite others to join us.
  There is room at the table for all.
  St. Gregory says,                                   
              “Our Lord invites us to feast...through Himself, through his angels, through the patriarchs, the prophets, the apostles and the pastors of the Church, and He invites also through us.”
    Let us as the Nativity approaches, share the message, that God is calling, sharing His invitation with others, announcing His birth to friends and acquaintances and bringing to all of them the good news of salvation as realized through the incarnation.
  Now and Ever unto ages of ages.
 Glory Be to Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!

Fr. William DuBovik

Luke 13:16-17

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,
Glory Be To Jesus Christ

     Some of us recall how special the Sabbath was treated even in secular life.
      Few businesses were open; it was difficult to even buy a newspaper if one did not get to a drugstore by early afternoon.
   Schools and clubs and athletic teams did not schedule activities for the morning of the Sabbath.
   Life paused--took a time out from ordinary activities--
 Persons could replenish themselves and renew their relationship with God through participating in services at His Holy House.
  Thus The Sabbath was a gift from God to each of us, and it remains a good gift if we accept it.
   We do need time to pause, rest and turn our attention to God, to do good things and observe special moments as family.
   To spend some time focusing on Christ’s teachings and actions.
   While we need this each day, at least in honoring the Sabbath, a commandment by the way, we avoid crowding out God at least on one day.
   And Christ thought enough of this day to teach about it.
  And to activate its healing power in his healing of the woman.
  It was not  not a restraint but a gift of freedom.   
  And Christ opens to us  the deeper meaning to this gift from God.
  He tells us to use the Sabbath to do things God’s way and not our way.
   We must choose.
  My sisters and brothers in Christ, we suffer and lose something when we ignore the sabbath.
  Worshipping God, praying to Him, offering Him glory and especially offering Him our love, uplifts us spiritually and awakens the Holy in us. It heals us.
  It can absorb the icky earthly stuff crowding us.
   Just look at how we treat a birthday or anniversary that we share with others.
   Imagine telling a wife or husband when reminded of an anniversary or other special day.
   Oh yes, but I have to go out and do other things.
   I have to leave you behind.
   Hopefully we do not treat someone we love like this.
   And we should not leave God behind in our love for him.
    We are the worst for it if we do. Both now, and dependent on God’s mercy, later into eternity.
   Let us pray for the will  to make the Sabbath a reality in our lives.
   A time to worship, to love, to listen to care, and to heal.
 A time to care for ourselves, too, spiritually and physically, as we have needs, and to care for those around us.         
  Let the Sabbath strengthen us, and give us a way to be Christians in the true meaning of the word.
NOW AND EVER AND UNTO AGES OF AGES.
                   GLORY BE TO JESUS CHRIST!

Fr. William
 Luke 10:25-37

    In the Name of the Father, the Son and The Holy Spirit. Glory Be To Jesus Christ!
   
    I heard a clergyman ask are you a spiritual snorkler or a spiritual scuba diver?
    He explained that a snorkler goes under water skimming the surface with a mask.
   They look at the beauty surrounding them, but they are limited by the length of the tube through which they breathe.
  A diver in contrast is equipped to go deep, further than just skimming the surface.
  Rather they plunge into deep water and can feel and touch their surroundings.
  He used this analogy to ask how do persons experience and practice their faith.
  Are we content to skim the surface--spending an hour or so at Liturgy--and not really participating here?
  Such a person is content to squeeze God in here and there, where He won’t bother their other affairs.
  They keep Him at a distance, away from their daily lives.
  Such an approach does not make one a Christian, and is not what Christ taught.
  Christ says dive deeply, immerse yourself  in Him and His Church.
  And thus become part of the beauty that we see.
  We need to come to Church with awe, deeply, enthusiastically for our worship of God, our love for Him.
  Do we pray each word with the celebrant?  focus on god and the Holy?
  Do we sing and hear and join in our hymns with words that are prayer and more than sounds and notes.
  Do we come prepared as we can in responding yes to the Lord’s invitation to His Banquet?
  And once outside of Church do we quickly return to skimming, avoiding the thoughts that God is present with us, as we join in gossip, malicious talk and acts, seeking revenge and avoiding kindness toward others?
  Christ teaches another way as He makes clear in today’s Gospel of the lawyer.
  Christ says do not just skim the surface limiting our acts of giving of ourselves to others.
   And it is not always about giving money, although that has a place,  for we give of ourselves in other meaningful ways.
   St. Justin writes that the sign of purity is to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep;
   To be in pain with the sick and in anguish with the sinners; to rejoice with the repentant and to participate in the agony of those who suffer...
   To criticize no one, and in the purity of one’s own mind to see all as good and holy.”
  Christ tells the Lawyer to extend such treatment to all persons. 
     Be a Diver and find salvation, find unity with Christ, find life as His Body the Church, the precious gift He gave to us.
  The Church is His acting in the world even while he is not physically present, and He gives us the honor of being that Church.
  In other words always seeking to act as He did and does--
  Healing, loving, forgiving, worshipping--practicing those acts of kindness which while not the goal of doing them--reap great rewards.
  St. Ambrose of Milan said,  If you clothe the naked, you clothe yourself with righteousness; if you bring the stranger under your roof, if you support the needy, he procures for you the friendship of the saints and eternal habitations. That is no small recompense. You sow earthly things and receive heavenly.
  And that is what our life is about--attaining to the Kingdom through God’s Grace with which we work, and through which we worship.
   Our worship indeed summons us to dive deeply and teaches us to do so throughout all of our activities in this world.
   It is here that we assemble as the Body of Christ and for which we prepare for our eternal life. Some day we will be brought here for our own funeral and persons will pray for us on our journey to the Kingdom.
   This is a serious matter for each of us.
  For it is in the Church that we are strengthened as Christians, that we experience more fully God, that we are not restricted in showing our love for God.
  Fr. Alcividis Calivas writes that prayer is the most sublime experience of the human soul and worship is the most profound activity of the people of God.
  And prayer and worship is the reason for All Saints Church, and is paramount in our lives.
   May it bring us from skimming the surface of the spiritual life, to diving deeply in the presence of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
   Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages. Glory Be To Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
 
 

Luke 16:19-31

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,
Glory Be To Jesus Christ

     What do can you give to one who has everything?
   In God’s wisdom, such a person is given someone who has little or nothing.
     God gave the wealthy man in today’s gospel parable,  someone poor.
   In this gift of Lazarus, the wealthy man was given the means to salvation.
   This is so for Christ tells us that what we do to and for the least among us we do to and for him.
  The question for us is what do we do to and for Christ in our witness and mission to all of our sisters and brothers in Christ.
   Last week we heard of the seeds, the word of God, planted among people.
   He described persons in whom the seeds fail to grow or last and fall away from the church;  and then those who have faith and goodness in their hearts in whom the seeds sprout.
   The seed he plants today is one of caring.
   The lesson contained in this parable served as an inspiration for Albert Schweitzer, the renowned physician and surgeon, as well as a deacon, and musician.  
   The seed of caring grew in him.       
   Despite Schweitzer’s  controversial and false ideas of Christ and of minorities, it is said that in hearing the parable, he saw the wealthy man as wealthy Europe, and Lazarus as representing the sick and helpless people of Africa.
   He established a hospital in africa which treated thousands of persons over the years.
  We need to decide who or what represents the wealthy one for us, maybe even realizing it is at times  ourselves.
   And we need to determine who or what are the Lazaruses before us, and to pray that we may have the will and strength to help them.
   Then we need the humility to realize that one day Lazarus might be us.
   God’s love is never exhausted, and we can spend it helping those around us without depleting it.     
  Missing  the opportunities before us to give and to help is tragic.
    St. Basil commented that this love we need and which we share is not taught.
    He says just as no one taught us to love our parents, so too we did not learn to love God from some outside instruction.
   Rather in each of us the seed of the ability to love has been planted.
   And he adds, “you and I ought to welcome this seed, cultivate it carefully, nourish it attentively and foster its growth by going to the school of God’s commandments with the help of his grace.”
    That love and grace needs to energize our repentance, so that we can truly join with god in welcoming the Lazaruses among us.
    NOW AND EVER AND UNTO AGES OF AGES
           GLORY BE TO JESUS CHRIST!      

Fr. William DuBovik

Luke 7:11-16

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,
Glory Be To Jesus Christ

        Our Lord visited the temple throughout his life.
     We see Him being brought there as an infant and being held by Simeon and Anna, an event we celebrate at the Presentation of the Lord.
    Later we see him as an older child, a teen-ager, sitting in the Temple and instructing the elders there about God.
   In adulthood we read of Him praying often, and of His literally ridding the Temple of the money changers, who were seeking to use God’s house for business and commerce.
   Today our Lord visits this temple, as He says, where two or three are gathered in My name, there I will be. And we proclaim this at our Liturgy and services--Christ is Among Us.
   Our Lord’s presence goes deeper--it goes into our hears.
   St. Paul writing to the Corinthians speaks of another visit to the temple.
   That is of God dwelling in us--through which we are living Temples of what is Holy.
    We are a temple not of the world with its idols and false gods, that beckon us, but rather are the sons and daughters of the One God, Who dwells among us, and we become His temple.
   To the Ephesians, Paul speaks of us as citizens with the saints and with those of the household of God.
   Good company for us.
   Paul notes that our foundation as Church are the apostles and prophets and that Christ is the chief cornerstone. A strong foundation of all that is Holy.
   St. Paul goes on to say that as God’s people, belonging to God, we must resist things that are unclean, and separate ourselves from those who reject God and all that is Holy.
   This journey to unity with God is one of true love, true kindness, of true life.
   Through these things we are cleansed and we benefit ourselves.
   Failing to do this can result in a false comfort in the way things are; a comfort that clouds the vision of what a life lived in God really is.
   Misguided priorities, poor outlooks, following the ways of the fallen, while ignoring God’s word are all part of the darkness obscuring the light of Christ in our hearts and minds.
   St. John Chrysostom says that these things which we fill ourselves are often suffocating.
   Pursue that which is in the Bible and in the Church for in these things are found eternal life.
   My sisters and brothers in Christ, the antidote to suffocating is breathing.
   We speak of the Holy Spirit as blowing where it will, and we truly need to feel that breeze--the Spirit blowing in our lives.
   And we speak of a cleansing breath in labor, as well as part of an ancient meditative technique.
   We need a spiritual cleansing breath, a deep breath with a resolve to rid ourselves of that which is fallen and decayed, and to be renewed in Jesus Christ.
   St. Paul calls us citizens of the saints.
   That is a very special calling, which we need to always realize in our lives, reflecting Christ in our conduct with each other and in our reverence for and worship of the Lord.
   Earthly kingdoms come and go. History teaches us that.
   Earthly leaders rise and fall. And history again attests to that.
   Our Kingdom is not of this world, but is an eternal dwelling with God.
   It is in and with God that we find this Kingdom and it is through Him that we can make it our eternal dwelling place.
   Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages.
   Glory Be to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
   
 

Luke 5:1-11
In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,
Glory Be To Jesus Christ.
     The best advice we can offer and receive is trust in the Lord.
     We see this message in many ways in the life of Christ.
      In today’s Gospel, we witness the apostles, unsuccessful at fishing, willing to trust in the Lord, and be rewarded with a plentiful catch.
     And our Lord responds and notes that through Him, the apostles will witness and participate in greater things, catching not just fish, but also persons.   
   This ability will come through their faith or trusting in Him, from which they will open themselves to receive the Grace of God.
    St. Paul notes the power of god in his writing to the Corinthians.
 He says that all the forces arrayed against them, and likewise us, will not overcome us if we have Christ on our side.
    It is with Christ that we are not crushed.
    He goes on to eloquently write:
  We are persecuted yes, but not forsaken.
 Struck down, but not destroyed.
    Perplexed but not despairing
    And all of this is possible because Jesus Christ is in our life, and because we have faith and trust in Him.
   My sisters and brothers in Christ, he is the difference in our life--the Lord brings us through difficulties, tragedies, fallen acts, and offers us forgiveness, love and mercy, founded in Truth.
    All is renewed in Christ.
   It is for us to feel this, and to act knowing of this renewal.
   For it is out of His love that we were created, and in His love that we are preserved and made whole again.
   As. St. John of Krondstadt wrote:
    “Jesus Christ with the Father and the Holy Ghost is an unfathomable abyss of love to all.”
     May we return that gift with our love for Him.
   Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages...
    Glory Be To Jesus Christ. Glory Forever.

Matthew 19:16-26
In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,
Glory Be To Jesus Christ


   He went away.
     And he was sorrowful.
     For he had great possessions.
   We hear this description of one who cannot tear himself from some worldly things so that he can more fully attach himself to that which is holy.
    He was someone for which life was very good in terms of wealth.
   He obeyed the teachings of his faith as he understood them.
   Yet, when given an opportunity to have a true and lasting treasure—a relationship with the Lord, he turns away.
    He cannot take that last step—that so important final commitment that can change one’s life.
   Don’t we too hesitate and hang on to what we feel is comforting, those things with which we are familiar.
 St. Paul when writing to the Corinthians says that things which are seen are temporary but the things which are not seen are eternal.
   We like the man in the gospel often cannot live accordingly to that fact.
   What Christ calls him to do is to realize the faith that he lives in a true commitment to the Lord.
    Coming to a house of worship, following the practices, crossing ourselves, in doing all of these things we can still fall short of a true and intimate relationship with Christ.
   He calls us too, to take the step to a real commitment—translating what we do here to our activities everywhere.
    We need to sincerely ask ourselves—literally take some time during the day to do this—examine ourselves seeking to find what small or large thing keeps us away from the Lord.
   It is there and we can find it if we seek God’s help.
 We may not like what we find, not wanting to give up what we are comfortable with.
   But it is there.
 This week we will celebrate the life of one who did have an intimate relationship with Christ—the Theotokos.
   As we celebrate her birth we celebrate her parents Joachim and Anna.
     All of them knew a life of commitment to God—total commitment.
    Parents dedicating their daughter to God, bringing the child they longed for to the temple, and leaving her there.
   And the child turning her life over to God, giving birth to Christ—completing joining her will to God’s.
   In thinking of this i recalled how I am at times saddened going through papers in my office.
   Amongst them I sometimes find a baptismal certificate that was never  received.
   These were parents who promised to come to church, to bring their child to church if i only would baptize them.
   And for a few, I never saw them or their infant again.
   We pray for them
  That is why we in the church look for a commitment from persons before administering the precious sacraments of the church.
   For us, we would do well to learn from Mary and her family.
   We need her humility in relating to God and each other.
   We need the dedication shown by Mary and her family.
   We need to live in the faith they showed.
  We need to struggle to take that next step—that step toward a fuller commitment to our Lord.
   The man in today’s gospel encounters God and says no to him.
   Mary encounters God through his angel and says yes.
   Mary, as life-changing, bewildering, amazing the message of Gabriel sounded to her, selects the path opened to her by God.
   We witness and enjoy the fruits of the results.
    Indeed, many are called, but few are chosen.
   Now and ever and unto ages of ages.
   Glory be to Jesus Christ!
Glory forever!

  Fr. William
Sunday After Dormition
 In the Name of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit!
Glory Be To Jesus Christ. Glory Forever!
We continue our liturgical observance of the Dormition of our Holy Mother, which we celebrated Monday.
We can speak in terms of her death as celebration in the same way we can speak of celebrating Christ’s Resurrection at our funerals.
In death, we are delivered by Christ and receive the fruits of His Resurrection as we observe with our Holy Mother.
St. John of Kronstadt in contemplating the Dormition notes the similarities with our own death, as well as the lessons the Dormition offers us for our own salvation.
    At the Dormition we note that the soul of the Theotokos is carried to heaven by her Son, and her body, having been buried in Gethsemane by the Apostles, is brought to Heaven after three days.
    This is the translation to which we aspire in our own death.
    In fact we speak of death as a falling asleep, as passing away, for as St. John notes, our Lord has conquered death on the Cross for each of us.
   And our souls go to another place, another age, another world, as we enter eternal life.
   It is like a dream, notes the saint, from which we are awakened by the Lord.
   And from the awakening we go to the Resurrection of life or of condemnation as we read in the fifth chapter of St. John’s Gospel.
   We, of course, seek to attain to the Resurrection of life and so must prepare throughout our lives--always struggling to repent from sinful conduct that may take us away from the Lord.
   In our repentance, St. John adds, we seek to embrace the virtues of meekness, humility, gentleness, chastity, mercifulness, abstention, spiritual contemplation, along with having a burning love for God and for our neighbors.
  In acting this way, God comes to dwell in us.
   The Dormition thus calls us and leads us to call others to prepare ourselves for God’s dwelling, the saint notes;                 
    and to seek for  ourselves a  death that is unashamed, peaceful;
  and which will serve as the pledge of a good answer at the dread judgment seat of Christ.
Amen.
Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages.
Glory Be To Jesus Christ!

Fr. William
Matthew 9:27-35

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Glory Be To Jesus Christ!

    We read and hear our Lord speaking of ears that can hear and eyes that can see.
    In today’s Gospel from the ninth chapter of Matthew, we read of our Lord’s restoration of sight to two who were born blind.
    As we read, we need to comprehend that it is not just physical sight that our Lord is able to restore, but importantly for each of us, spiritual sight as well.
    What good, in fact, is physical sight if we use it to see sordid things; if we look with anger and hatred at others; if we have visions of fallen things.
   If it is the Satanic and not the Holy in our sight.
   The sight our Lord gives, physically in today’s Gospel, goes much deeper.
   He gives us the ability and inclination to look at others with love and with compassion.
   To see His Creation and all the Beauty He offers us in the sky, the Sea, the intricacies of all living things, and in each other.
   Truly to behold all of this and to also embrace the vision we have of the Lord Himself, his angels, His saints, His Church.
    And that is the vision for which we pray for ourselves and for each other.
    One can be physically blind and yet perceive God in His Glory, can be sensitive to all the things around oneself.
    That is the vision which is a gift from God and one for which we can be thankful.
    And it is a gift that the Lord calls us to share with others.
    Through such sharing and participating in the good works to which God calls us, we will help to shine Christ’s light for those who see only darkness.
    In this way we can with Christ open hearts and minds of those unable to perceive the Holy, the beautiful, the meaningful in life.
   Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages...Glory Be To Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Glory Be To Jesus Christ.
    Last week we celebrated the Sunday of All Saints.
    Today as we look at our calendars and hear our hymns, we find that the Church has put before us again many of the saints.
    She does this because in her wisdom she knows that speaking of all the saints may seem distant as many of them have lived in far off lands at distant times.
  Now we we can speak of celebrating All Saints of America and mentioning too All Saints of Russia, where we find our ancestral roots as the Church.
    Our saints have come closer to us, in geography but also many in their time upon this earth.
     St. Alexis was a priest in the latter half of the 1800s and early 1900s who served in Wilkes Barre, PA.
    St. Raphael served the Arab Christian community in Brooklyn, New York.
    St. Nicholai of Zhicha, resided at St. Tikhon’s monastery
 And we have those in alaska who we associate with missionary work and the advancement of the Orthodox Church in North America. Names like Herman, Innocent, Peter, Jacob, Juvenaly and John.
   We pray too for St. Tikhon, the first bishop of New York, who later would become patriarch of Russia in difficult times.
   The saints indeed are close to us.
   St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco once said.
   Saints retain all that is characteristic of the human condition; they know everything
that pertains to us. They are near to God, but they are also near to us; they walked and lived among us.
   Close to us too is their message and inspiration as followers of Christ.
   As we see in the words of many who themselves had been recognized as saints.
   St. Augustine wrote that we shall come to resemble that which we love--
   We seek to resemble the saints and come to grow in their and our likeness of God.
    In writing to Philip, St. Paul says:      
“Imitate me and pay attention to those who walk in the same way, for you have us as examples…For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philip. 3: 17,20).
  Truly our ultimate Citizenship is In Heaven, our destination after this earthly sojourn as we seek to unite with Christ.
         St. John Chyrsostom continues this theme with the words,
  “If anyone wishes to imitate me, if anyone wishes to walk the same road, [let him] know the manner of my walk, that is, my conduct in life.”
   When we look for persons to emulate, we only need look at the lives of the saints for a proper perspective...and resist the glamor of a fallen world with its fallen idols.
  We also ask the saints for their intercessions, and read about the saints for inspiration.        
    St. John of Kronstadt,  says:
      “We ought to have the most lively spiritual union with the heavenly inhabitants: all the saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs, prelates, the venerable and the righteous, as they are all members of the single Body, the Church of Christ, to which we sinners also belong, and the living Head of which is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
       The Saints are our friends, our guides to salvation, who pray and intercede for us.”  
     And it has been written by an elder on Mt. Athos (Agapios Landos0 that a person is touched more profoundly by reading one beautiful life of a saint than by all discourses and philosophies.   
    As we spoke about last week, in the saints we find Humility, a love for others, a caring for others and a passion for the Lord.
     It is this life to which the apostles are called in today’s gospel.
    And it is this life to which we today continue to be called.
   May we find strength, wisdom and the humility to respond to this call in all of our activities in all of our relationships and in our life in Jesus Christ, our Lord.                                   
              Now and ever and unto ages of ages.
    Glory Be To Jesus Christ.

In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Glory Be To Jesus Christ!

When persons here of someone getting promoted at work, or getting some benefit in earthly terms, we sometimes here the phrase that they have a friend in high places.
   As Christians, followers of Christ, we too have a friend or friends in very high places.
   That friend is the saints who inspire our life in and as the church, and whose works, repentance, humility and reverence are examples for each of us.
    On this patronal feast day of our parish, we commemorate all the saints.
   Remembering and honoring and venerating those who through their lives encountered Christ and reflected Him in their conduct.
   It is Christ we see when we look at a saints, and it is this image of Christ that we look upon each other when we are united with the Lord.
     I would like to share anew some words of Dimitri Stanaloe as he discusses what a saint is:
     He writes that in saints there is nothing trivial, coarse or base or insincere.
    Rather we find in them delicacy, sensibility, transparency, purity, reverence.
     That saints avoid upsetting others, rather trying to help persons in their weaknesses, and in overcoming loneliness.
    Saints he says give of themselves and sacrifice themselves
 Saints are humble and they avoid theatrics and hypocrisy.
    They are whom God created and do not desire earthly glory.
    They are true servants of God and not of this world, which does not glorify them.
and most important for us they are that friend in a high place—God’s Kingdom—as they help us overcome our difficulties, and help us realize the meaning of being a special creation of God.
      My sisters and brothers in Christ, in realizing who we are—special children of God—we too can take our place among the saints.
       St. Augustine  said that we shall come to resemble that which we love.
     We ourselves need to emulate the saints in their love of God—And so become more like him in our lives.
      Let us  struggle in our own lives to live among the examples that the saints give us....                 
     Let us pray that we may be strengthened in loving others, caring for others,  and in our passion for the lord.
     Let us pray that our lives may be turned toward peace and understanding of all persons, loving rather than hurting.
     Let us remain faithful to Christ in all circumstances, regardless of the obstacles before us.
     May we seek to always do battle with our sins, and to always rise and steady ourselves through God’s grace when we stumble and at times fall.       
    And let us, as Christ calls us today to do in the Gospel—put him first in every circumstance, in every activity, in every relationship, in every situation...
    Knowing that through Him all things are made possible, and our lives are made eternal...
      Now and Ever and Unto ages of Ages...
     Glory Be To Jesus Christ...

In The Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit! Glory Be To Jesus Christ!
    Then will I sprinkle clean water upon your and you will be clean from all your uncleanliness and from all your idols will I cleanse you.
     A new heart also will I give you.
    And a new spirit will I put within you.
   And I will take away the stony heart of your flesh And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes
   We hear those words of God from the prophet Ezekial in the Old Testament.
    They especially ring out today as we celebrate Pentecost and acknowledge that we are enlivened by the sending of the Holy Spirit to us as a community--His Church.
   We sometimes refer to Pentecost as the birth of the Church, but we need to recognize that the Church--as the Body of Christ--was eternal.
  So what we see today is the Holy Spirit descending upon the special gathering that would comprise the Holy Orthodox Church, in which we gather today.
  Nor is it the first time that the Holy Spirit, which also is eternal, has come upon the earth.
   We know as the Church the Spirit coming upon the Theotokos, and conceiving in her the Christ child.
   And we likewise have seen the Spirit manifested as a dove at the Baptism of Christ.
   But even in earthly terms we see the Spirit acting throughout the history of persons.
   In the Old Testament we read of the Spirit moving the earth, as we read in Genesis.
   The spirit garnished the heavens we read in Job.
   The Psalmist writes of the Spirit being sent forth upon us.
   Moses speaks of the Spirit dividing the waters.
   Samuel relates:
   The spirit of the Lord spake by me and His word was in my tongue.
   The power to receive Divine Revelation through the Spirit is reflected too in Numbers as we read that the Lord gave the spirit to the elders and from then on they could prophesy.
   And those are but a few of the references to the Spirit.
   The importance is that the Spirit guides persons to the actions of God, receiving His Word through the action of the Holy Spirit coming upon them and us.
   How special then is today.
   As we pray we feel God’s hand upon us, comforting us in His love; guiding us in His truth.
  We are renewed by the Spirit which came upon the Baptismal waters of in our own rebirth in Christ.
  May today’s celebration of Pentecost renew us and may it rekindle in us the awareness of the spirit in our lives, as we live the miracle of life in Christ’s Holy Church.
       Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages.
    Glory Be To Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!

Life is relational for us.
 That is, we live life in relationships with others, with all the persons with whom we interact on a variety of levels.
    We interact with spouses, children, family, friends, those with whom we work, those with whom we attend school, those with whom we turn to for business or personal needs, and those with whom we participate in and as Church.
     Today’s Gospel lesson gives us a prescription or call to improve our relationships through the prayer of Christ that we may all be One.
    And it does so calling us to that special relationship in the Church--His community--from which all else flows, or should flow.
     We say this because the Church Can be life-changing and is life sustaining, and thus Feeds all of our relationships and activities.
     The Oneness Christ prays for us, is reflected in the Oneness of the Trinity--three persons operating  in complete synergy; in a harmony of wills, in a perfect relationship.
 That prayer for Oneness manifests itself in the Church--in the Eucharistic banquet:
Our participation in this mystery is a communal act, which draws us into an intimate relationship with the Lord--and brings us together as common partakers who together taste of the Kingdom.
    Indeed that taste and experience of the Kingdom permeates our entire Liturgy.
    We proclaim it in fact at the opening doxology--Blessed is the Kingdom.
    And we journey through the Liturgy as One, with each other and especially with God--from our petitions through which we express a common vision of all that is good and all that needs unity with God...
    To our praises as we join with the saints, seen in our iconography, to offer our love to God.
    Then through hearing our Lord’s teachings to each of us in the Gospel.
    Through our expression of our faith in the Creed...
     Through the musical poetry of our hymns, inspired by our choir, with which we join.
     And through our final prayers and our veneration of Christ’s Holy Cross through which we attain to salvation as persons in this community of His Body--the Church.
    This taste of the kingdom and this feeling of Oneness needs to be carried forward with us--in our fellowship with each other, in our meetings at Church, and as we go out into the world--One in Christ--and deal with others in a spirit of love, forgiveness and caring.
   And further with understanding, patience, compassion.
   It is through such a mindset that we will acquire the peace of Christ, the Gift of the Holy Spirit.
   St. Innocent noted that Christ bore every kind of offense and insult with meekness and love.
   He did not complain of His offenders, and even did not get angry with his most open enemies who slandered Him and wanted to kill Him.
   Instead of striking back, as Christ easily could have done, He wished them all good, He did good things to them, and He prayed for them, and Wept for them.
    My sisters and brothers in Christ--in our Oneness, let us do likewise.
    Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages.
    Glory Be To Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!

 

 Memorial Day 2011

This weekend, actually Monday, we observe Memorial Day, remembering all who have died who have served this country in the military.
We will offer a prayer for them at the end of our Liturgy.
I did want to share a sobering and sad thought.
I read recently that more than 1.3 million American service men and women have died on our shores and abroad in service to the country.
Of that total, 600,000 died on fields of battle in the Civil War alone--all Americans fighting each other.
Now through the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan 5,000 Americans have been killed, and are still being killed.
And these are just totals for Americans.
So many more serving foreign countries have lost their lives.
Clearly we need to do better in human relations, in relations between countries.
We pray that God will make us strong enough to seek and find peaceful solutions to our conflicts.
May we grow in His love.

Christ is Risen! Indeed He Is Risen!
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
Easter sermon, April the 11, 1999
  After reading St. John Chrysostom's Easter message
If I may I wish to add just a few words of my own.
    Christ is life and the victory of life.
   In the world in which He came, death was prevalent and seemed to be all-powerful over men;
    When He came, He defeated death by His Resurrection.
   And nowadays we live in a world which is full of torment, of pain,
of fear, of murder, of death, and we may say,
   “But where is the victory?”..
   The victory is in each of us, the victory is in all those of us who believe that death cannot separate us from God, that death is no longer a victory of evil
over us, but a triumph of us through our faith, because death is no longer separation.
   Saint Paul says that for him death is a meeting with Christ; as long as he lives in the flesh he is separated, partly, from God. But with his death he enters in full unity and communion with Him.
   This is our faith, but there is more to it in a sense, because life is triumphant in our midst. 
   However frightening and dark the world is nowadays, we know that victory has already been won, that God has won and that we who believe in Him partake
together with Him in His victory.
   And therefore, let us bring, to all around us, this message of life and glory!
Christ is risen!
Now and ever...Christ is Risen!

Mark 2:1-12
In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,
Glory Be To Jesus Christ

      What will we do to draw closer to Christ?
      To open ourselves to His healing of both body and soul?
      What efforts will we make this Lent and beyond?
      As Orthodox Christians, we know some of the efforts made for us on our behalf.
     Parents cared enough about us and Christ to bring many of us as infants to Church to be Baptized.
     We thus enjoyed an initial cleansing in the waters prepared for us through the Holy Spirit.
    And our cleansing continued as youth and into adulthood as we participated in the Mysteries of Repentance, of the Eucharist, becoming one in the Body of Christ, sustained by our worship in His Holy Church.
    Again parents brought us, and teachers taught us.
    And today we hear of the paralytic whose friends were unwilling to sit back, to allow him toremain paralyzed by the ills of the fallen world.
     Neither was he.
    They came to Christ as must we again and again--each time we stumble, fall, get setback or seek to move forward.
    Our Lord’s initial response to the paralytic is to forgive His sins by which he demonstrates that fallenness can be seen in not only physical maladies but also in our spiritual sins.
   In other words, the cure we seek from Christ is truly holistic--of body and soul.
   Last week we spoke of remaining on the path that Christ has prepared and walked Himself.
   It is important that we advance spiritually, toward Christ, and not remain paralyzed unable or unwilling to move or improve.
   My sisters and brothers in Christ, we can use this Lenten period this present time to do just this.
   to be enthused by our worship--not seeing it as empty ritual--not avoiding it as simply an extra in life--but welcoming it as that intimate encounter with God to which He invites us and out of His love envelops us.
   We need to come to the Chalice mindful of the meaning of our act, proclaiming as He says, His Resurrection when we partake of His Body and Blood, humbly, reverently and with proper preparation.
   If these things become habit, if our mind strays, we need to adjust.
 perhaps using a service book if our mind is wandering;
  other times putting it away, if we are reading but not truly hearing the words.
  We can join in singing at times with some of the simpler melodies offered-- from Lord Have mercy to amen.
    Beyond our life in Church we can reflect on our relationship with Christ with those around us.
    When we leave our Church we do not leave God behind, closing the door and telling Him to stay in here. That He belongs in the Church but not the outside--so then persons can be free to live in animosity, to do evil, to seek revenge because we know that we are right and everyone else is wrong.
   We are rather called to be stewards of all that God has given us and this means working in our society as His helpers, opposing evil, improving things.
   Smiling at others; offering acts of kindness; filling some need or helping to heal some hurt    be it in our homes, our schools, our places of work, our communities and, yes, yes, even in our Churches.
   Let us remind ourselves of the words and thoughts we have shared before:
   There truly is no weakness in caring; no shame in sharing tears; and no futility in being God’s helpers here on earth.
   As the writer penned: Little things mean a lot.
   And little things can be life-changing for us and bring us closer to Christ.
   The paralytic in today’s Gospel benefited from the kindness and effort of friends; and the kindness and effort offered by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
   He offers to us that kindness, He has made the effort to finds us and invite us to His Church--
   He cares--
   And so can we.
   Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages.
   Glory Be To Jesus Christ
   Glory Forever!

"Do we forgive our neighbors their trespasses?” St. Tikhon of Zadonsk asks. And he continues that if we do, “God also forgives us in His mercy.

    Do we refuse to forgive? God, too, will refuse to forgive us.

    As we treat our neighbors, so also does God treat us.  

  The forgiveness, then, of your sins or unforgiveness, and hence also your salvation or destruction, depend on you yourself. 

     For without forgiveness of sins there is no salvation.

   In hearing the words of St. Tikhon some may have questions or have reservations about forgiveness.

    Some may find actions by others simply too reprehensible to forgive.

   They need to recall that sin is the absence of God in our lives through some acts on our part.

 the acts may vary but the manifestation of sin is the same.

 some also may question what it is that they have done that requires being forgiven.

  Fr. Alexander Schmemann commented on this, noting that one may not have committed obvious wrongs against another, show hatred and animosity, yet we offend God and others through indifference and selfishness.     

       He sums this up as a wall we erect around ourselves, thinking if we are simply polite and friendly we fulfill God’s commandments.

    He goes on to say that what we need to do is experience each other as one child of God encountering another.

    My sisters and brothers in Christ, it is in such an encounter that we experience true love for each other.

     And it is this love that allows us to taste of the Kingdom of God even now--in the present moment.

     Finally, if we still have doubts about forgiveness, we only need to turn to the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Who taught:

       “If you forgiven men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

           Now and ever and unto ages of ages.  Glory be to Jesus Christ! Glory forever! 

Luke 18:10-14

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,
Glory Be To Jesus Christ

     For many persons Halloween is more than a one day event, it is a lifetime of acts.
    By this I mean that as we associate costumes that hide who we really are and the true us on Halloween, so some throughout their lives seek to posture as something they think will be glorified, exalted, respected or perhaps feared.
   They fail to connect to their real selves and to expose their real self to others.
   Perhaps some are fearful of hurt, ridicule.
   Others may have in fact become so much like who they pretended to be that they have lost their selves.
   We see examples throughout society.
    We might meet some who because of their work or wealth fashion themselves above others--trying to create themselves as some sort of mini-god.
   Their goal is the praise of others. To be thought of as superior to others because of some status they have attained to.
    We even see this at the heart of racism--when persons decide that one’s skin color makes one superior to someone who is of a different color.
    We might at some quiet moment in our life, some time when we are open to prayer, and to receiving the word of Christ, what does all this matter?
    All of these things, all of the posturing, all of the pretense, stem from things temporal...those passing things which occupy so many for most of their lives.
   The One lasting thing in our lives is our relationship to Christ through His Holy Church.
   And Christ’s example to us is humility.
   Over and over He speaks of humility and we see it today in the contrast of the Publican and Pharisee--one seeking status, and exalting himself; the other humble and repentant.
   We know who Christ sets as the example for us.
   And that example from Christ is not reserved for just His words, for He lived his teachings and His admonitions.
   In Christ we see the awesome God, the Creator of all things, descending to earth to become like us in everything but sin.
    He accepted a lowly place in society; accepted humiliation; and accepted death on the Cross at the hands of those He created.
    One would think that such a life would not draw followers, would not be respected, and yet He is followed by hundreds and hundreds of millions throughout the world, who rightly recognize Him as God.
          And so do we.
      Let us in recognizing Him seek with all of our heart and mind--literally to grow in Him, through Him and like Him.
    As we approach the Great Lent, let us recommit ourselves to Him through increased worship, prayer, mediation and so important good works toward others offered by a humble heart.
   In Christ, St. Paul wrote that there are not distinctions based on earthly circumstances and accidents.
   We are all One.
   It is up to us to realize this and live accordingly,
    Now and ever and unto ages of ages.
    Glory Be To Jesus Christ!
    Glory forever.
 

 

Luke 19:1-10
In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,
Glory Be To Jesus Christ

   From Zacchaeus we learn a lesson in relating to Christ.
   He is moved to turn from sinful behavior and the mistreatment of others and to come to Christ.
   Do we hear that voice within us?
   We see Zacchaeus with a desire to see Christ and yet his view is blocked.
   What things or persons block our view?
   Zacchaeus, as the Caananite woman of whom we heard last week, perseveres.
Do we?
    To rid himself of the obstacles, he climbs a tree.
   And his efforts result in not only seeing Christ but being seen by Him.
 ushered in for this tax collector is a new life with Christ.
    Do we seek such a new life?
     Would we welcome the changes to get it?
  Will we remove the obstacles that may block our view and our unity with Christ?
  They come in many shapes and sizes.
    The voices of false prophets that bombard us.
    These are obstacles.
 The actions of those who fall short of Christian behavior.
   These are obstacles.
 The daily problems we may encounter.
    These are obstacles.
  Like Zacchaeus we can climb above them and not yield to fallen voices and messages from wherever they may come--   We need that clear view of Christ that Zacchaeus sought.
and we must seek to live the life of a Christian, a follower of Christ.
     St. Ignatius of Antioch when he was to be martyr'd said,  "It’s one thing to call one self a Christian, an entire different thing to be a Christian.
   Our life as a true Christian begins in His Church, and that is why it is so joyful to welcome the newly Baptized Andrew here through the Mysteries of the Church.
    We pray that his vision may always include Christ, as we also pray for his sponsors, parents, grandparents and friends-- and as   we do for each other.
    My sisters and brothers in Christ, there is simply no time too early or too late to turn to Christ,  be it as an infant or on our death bed, to renew ourselves in him, seeking to dwell with Him now and into eternity.
    The climb is worth it.
    The joy is great. And there is no greater joy, nothing more fulfilling than a life in Christ through His Holy Church.
     There is no greater calling than to be a Christian in all ways, at all times, with all persons.
    May God forgive us for the times we are not.
 
Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages
Glory Be to Jesus Christ.

 

ARCHPASTORAL MESSAGE OF HIS BEATITUDE METROPOLITAN JONAH
 FOR SANCTITY OF LIFE SUNDAY 2011

January 23, 2011

Sanctity of Life Sunday

To the Venerable Hierarchs, Clergy, Monastics and Faithful of the 
Orthodox Church in America
Dearly Beloved in Christ:
The Orthodox Church is like St John the Baptist crying out in the wilderness, or Jesus baptizing by the Jordan.
   We, like them, preach a message of repentance and the remission of sins in the new desert, 
the decadent culture of the modern West, mired in the chaos of moral collapse.  
     The Orthodox Church's message is a message of hope, of healing, of the transformation of one's life, of attaining to the fullness of personhood, of the realization of the divine potential in each human being.
 Yet, this message requires not only acceptance, but a voluntary cooperation by those who accept this message.
  The Church demands a serious discipline of all who would be members, all who would follow this straight and narrow difficult path that leads to salvation.
   It is a way that demands that we be crucified to the world and its desires, dead to the flesh and its demands, so that we can be focused solely on God.
  The culture of this world cries out for "justice." It demands vengeance, and it despises the forgiveness of God.
  It cries out for bread in the wilderness; and when it is not satisfied with bread, it demands meat.
  It ignores the radiant Presence of God, and laments the fleshpots of Egypt.
  Nothing can satisfy its endless lusts for money, 
sex and power.
  In terror it refuses to even stand in silence and 
contemplate the abyss of death, ever trying to distract itself from the ultimate annihilation it so boldly preaches.
  This complete denial of death thus leads it to the kind of decadence that has overtaken us: greed, hedonism and licentiousness, which have led to gender confusion, depersonalization, and the loss of value of human life.
  A culture of hedonism leads only to the narcissism of a solitary individual, enslaved by his/her lusts, using others for the gratification of the passions.
The world validates abortion, the sacrifice of the life of an innocent child for the convenience of the mother, oblivious to the suffering it will cause that very woman.
  It depersonalizes the child, as a "fetus;" while at the same time developing technologies to save nearly identical fetuses in troubled pregnancies.
  The criterion is not the life of the child;
  the criterion is simply the desire of the 
parent:
 whether the parent wants the child or not.
  If so, no expense is spared.
  If not, it is a useless bother, a mass of flesh to be excised like a tumor.
  What is left, however, is a lifetime of regret, 
guilt, self-hatred and self-loathing.
 This is not just an act, but a state of sin.
The last thing the world wants to hear about is sin.
  And if it refuses to admit sin, neither can it receive forgiveness.
  Often rightly it cries out against the injustice of the hypocrisy of judgment and condemnation by those who are righteous in their own 
eyes.
  But no matter how loud the outcry, the reality of the sin remains, the broken lives and broken hearts.
  What it needs is to hear the call to repentance, and to heed it.
  It is the bitter medicine that alone will bring healing.
  But it is only bitter in that it is the toxin that destroys pride, which is the cancer at the heart of the illness.
  The Lord Jesus cries out through the Church, Repent and receive the remission of your sins!  
  Whether those in the Church heed it or not, 
it is this good news that gives hope.
  To receive it is an act of  humility.
  To accept the message of repentance, to transform one's life in obedience to Christ's teachings, is the means of life itself. 
  It demands that we accept responsibility for our sins.
  But by accepting this responsibility, we overcome them and their effect through repentance.
  For having accepted responsibility for our own 
sins, we are no longer controlled by them, but rather, we gain control over our own lives.
  We can no longer live by following our mindless passions and desires; rather, we must live deliberately, in a disciplined way, denying the passions of the mind and of the flesh.
  The Church's discipline of life is strict, but ultimately, it is the path to true freedom.
  It is a path to salvation and sanctity, shown 
again and again in the lives of the saints; it is the path to true personhood and true maturity.
  Those who would try to change it, so 
that it accords with the values and standards of the world, miss the point that the Church's discipline, morality and life is not of this world, and calls us above and beyond it.
  The Church's discipline, the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Apostles passed on through the 
Fathers, is not judged by this world, but in fact is the conscience of the world, judging the world. The
  Church's discipline is the only way out of the morass of sin and brokenness, bitter self-enslavement and self-condemnation, and cycles of abuse.

 The discipline of the Church brings us to freedom, because it not only is a code of behavior, but heals our souls, and allows us to 
give and accept forgiveness.
  This forgiveness, through repentance, cleanses and purifies, and allows us to accept ourselves and others without judgment.
  Thus, we are free!
  We live in God's freedom, and the fullness of his love.
  Thus, however we have sinned, we can be forgiven.
  Whether we have aborted a child, or consented to it, we can be forgiven.
  If we bear a child as a single mother, we can be accepted in the community of the Church with love.
  If we have judged and condemned others, and burn with resentment, we can be freed through repentance.
  No matter what we have done, no matter how broken we are or how completely we have messed up our lives, we can be healed, forgiven, accepted and loved. 
  And then maybe we can forgive ourselves, and attain to that true freedom.
The Lord said, "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
  How true these words are! They are freedom and they are life. No matter how much the world has pulled us down, how deeply it has had us in its grasp, if we accept this light burden and easy yoke of the Orthodox discipline of life through repentance, He is faithful to forgive us our sins.  
  And thus with Christ and in Christ, we overcome the world.

With love in Christ,

+ Jonah
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada


Luke 13:10-17

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,
Glory Be To Jesus Christ

          We celebrated Thanksgiving in the past week and there is much for which to be thankful for God.
     this very day, the Sabbath, the Lord’s Day, is given to us by God as a gift.
     And we celebrate on Sunday, when we come together in worship, in commemoration of the Resurrection.
     The Sabbath was given to us to free us from enslavements.
     Free us as it did the ancient Israelites from burdens imposed in many ways by worldly things.
    It was not a day given to the freedom to do the work of God’s Holy House--the Church--in our worship, prayer, singing, and it is how we gather.
    Christ makes clear that it is not a day of a new type of enslavement as some in today’s Gospel would have it, those who admonished Him for helping someone on this day.
    He makes clear the gift was for our good.
    Indeed we remember that all good things we receive are from God as we pray in the prayer before the Ambon near the end of each Liturgy.
    Today I wanted to share a sermon of thanks from Fr. Alexander Schmemann.
    Some of you may be familiar with these words, read them or heard them.
   They are inspiring and especially so given they were the last words of a homily delivered by Father in the last Liturgy he would celebrate before his death.
    They are a good reminder of all that we are given:
     Thank You, O Lord!
Everyone capable of thanksgiving is capable of salvation and eternal joy.
  Thank You, O Lord, for having accepted this Eucharist, which we offered to the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and which filled our hearts with the joy, peace and righteousness of the Holy Spirit.
Thank You, O Lord, for having revealed Yourself unto us and given us the foretaste of Your Kingdom.
  Thank You, O Lord, for having united us to one another in serving You and Your Holy Church.
   Thank You, O Lord, for having helped us to overcome all difficulties, tensions, passions, temptations and restored peace, mutual love and joy in sharing the communion of the Holy Spirit.
    Thank You, O Lord, for the sufferings You bestowed upon us, for they are purifying us from selfishness and reminding us of the "one thing needed;" Your eternal Kingdom. 
    Thank You, O Lord, for having given us this country where we are free to Worship You.  
     Thank You, O Lord, for this school, where the name of God is proclaimed.
   Thank You, O Lord, for our families: husbands, wives and, especially, children who teach us how to celebrate Your holy Name in joy, movement and holy noise. 
     Thank You, O Lord, for everyone and everything. 
    Great are You, O Lord, and marvelous are Your deeds, and no word is sufficient to celebrate Your miracles.
     Lord, it is good to be here! Amen.
     May we join with him in the same spirit.
     Now and Ever and Unto ages of Ages.
     Glory Be To Jesus Christ!
     Glory forever!

Fr. William
Luke 10:38-42, 11:27-28

In the Name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit...Glory Be to Jesus Christ

We celebrate today a special commemoration of faith and dedication to God.
On this Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos in the Temple we witness first the dedication to God of Joachim and Anna.
They were holy elderly people who prayed fervently for a child and promised if their prayer was granted they would offer her to God.
And so they did, bringing her to the temple at age 3.
Not unlike parents today who in their faith bring their children to the Church, this holy temple, to be baptized.
And true to their word Joachim and Anna left their child in the temple dedicating her to God.
We read in Church tradition that they visited her as their years went on, and that she busied herself with weaving and prayer--or in other words work and worship.
We hear about these two things, work and worship in today’s Gospel in which Martha is busying herself, making things ready, with work around the house; and in which Mary chooses to set at the Master’s feet, hearing His word.
And Christ reminds Martha that while her work is not to be condemned, she must not be so consumed with earthly activities that she neglects what is most needed in life--worship, prayer and devotion to God.
This too reminds us of many situations today in which people with good intentions busy themselves to a frenzy, to the exclusion of all else, in their earthly work and tasks, forgetting that all the good that we can do or accomplish flows from our relationship with God and our worship of Him.
We can see this in Churches in which some forget that all the activities that we can do flow from and are dependent on worship, and that worship is not dependent upon them.
For ultimately the good that we can accomplish is of God.
     Stephen Graham, a gifted English writer, who visited Russia in the early 1900s wrote a classic book, The Way of Martha and the Way of Mary, in which he describes a truly Christian approach.
    He notes that without the spiritual good seen in Christ we lack the personal character and spiritual beauty to lighten up and the landscape and the people around us.
   In other words, we can feed someone earthly food, raise money for a cause, clothe another--and these are all good works--the ways of Martha--but what will persons gain with only such gifts--a temporary deliverance from suffering?
And yes this is good.
But think how much more is gained if in our devotion to God we witness for Him through our works and open the lives of others to Him.
Is this not good?
Cannot people through such efforts and witness gain eternal life?
 That then is the course for us--the way of Martha in tending to the needs of others, in accomplishing our works; but always grounding these efforts in the way of Mary--dependent on and sustained in the Lord.
    Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages...
   Glory Be to Jesus Christ...Glory Forever.

Fr. William
Luke 8:41-56

In the Name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit...Glory Be to Jesus Christ!
Throughout history persons have invented for themselves many gods--or concept of some greater being.
Such beings breathed fire upon the earth, were seen in stars, were all powerful and as far as the earth was concerned largely remote.
The knowledge of Who the one real God really was began with the people of Israel, in God’s contact with them.
And yet if we restricted our knowledge of Who God was to the Old Covenant, the Old Testament, we would frequently see an image not totally reflecting the God we know today through the total Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Through the gift of Christ we have come to know God as one of great compassion, of forgiveness of patience, of caring and of healing.
Little wonder that he shocked some of those around Him whose view of God was somewhat different as we read throughout the New Testament.
This God, the only God, living in Trinity, is a compassionate God.
And we see this throughout the Bible in the examples of His healing of persons, physically and spiritually.
We see it in today’s Gospel of Luke, when he heals the woman and returns another to life.
Metropolitan Anthony of blessed memory sees in Christ’s healing all encompassing acts in which not only the body is healed, but that the total person is made whole, physically and spiritually.
Those who benefited from healing were those who were ready to accept a new life in Christ.
They were open to surrendering old ways, which had left them lost, and to be truly reborn.
They had come to the point in life where they grasped that the teachings of God, which we proclaim in the Church He established, were paramount, and thus could unlearn all of their former false notions.
Metropolitan Anthony leaves us with two questions that I would like to share with your today as we journey in this life together, and as we often pray for healing for ourselves or another.
     He writes, let us ask ourselves:
     Can I say to the Lord, I believe Lord--help my lack of belief, my inner hesitation born of the experience I have of a broken personality and of a distorted world.
     Help be believe that wholeness and harmony are possible.
    And let us also ask ourselves whether we are prepared to accept new life, wholeness on God’s own terms: to remain in this world as Christ lived in it, possessed of sacrificial love, renouncing ourselves, caring only for the other person’s salvation, and every other person’s life.
     If we are, he continues, then we turn to God and say, I believe Lord; I open myself to wholeness:
     I may not achieve it at once, but I will struggle for it, give all my life for it, and serve everyone possessed of Thine Own sacrificial love.
...Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages...
   Glory Be to Jesus Christ...Glory Forever.

Luke 16:19-31
In the Name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit...Glory Be to Jesus Christ!

The change of which Christ speaks when He calls on us to repent is one of love for God and for each other, and in fact for all others.
    He stresses how important this is when He speaks to us of the rich man and Lazarus.
    We see in the narrative how important are our thoughts and attitudes, for they color our activities--how we behave.
    The behavior God calls us too is one of love and caring for each other, and in that spirit of love, reverence and worship of God.
   He says to us that with such an attitude, such actions, we will rejoice with God always, here and into eternity.
   St. Macarius  speaks of the soul being totally faithful to God, losing attachments to earthly things, and coming to know a total love of the Lord.
    Being faithful means to be completely loyal, devoted and obedient to the Lord.
    And our Lord calls us to remember those among us who suffer.
    Suffer from hunger.
    Suffer from depression.
    Suffer from being alone.
    Suffer from a lack of kindness.
   Attend to them He tells us, as the rich man in the Gospel wished he had done to Lazarus, one of those in need in this earthly life.
   In attending to those at our gate or door, or in our community or world, we thus emulate God.
   For did not God see a suffering people--lost, alienated, perishing--us.
   And did He not send His son to attend to our wounds?
   My sisters and brothers in Christ, we can join Him in saving acts, a prayer, a gift, a meal, a pair of shoes, a smile, a hand...
   In so doing we will grow in the love He offers us and to which He calls us to share with each other.
    We will then find that place in the Kingdom, carved out for us, and we will find peace and comfort their with God, and all His children, our sisters and brothers, in eternity.
   That is worth changing for...
   Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages...
   Glory Be to Jesus Christ...Glory Forever.
 

Today we celebrate the birth of our nation, commemorating the issuing of our Declaration of Independence.

    It is a monumental day in history for it began the journey of this young country into a democratic nation that would come to lead the world in the recognition of the freedom of her people.

     We are truly thankful for this gift of freedom, that has made it possible for our Church like many others to have a place without fear of suppression.

    We are also thankful as persons that the freedom we were given reflects the freedom that was bestowed upon us by God, and so we can work out our salvation in Christ.

    We would do well to ask what are our responsibilities as people free through God’s gift, and free in this country.

    You might remember the words of the Elder Cleopas who in speaking about our responsibilities as persons says that each one of us needs to have the heart of a child toward God, the mind of a judge toward ourselves, and the heart of a Mother toward our neighbor.

   His words echo those of  St. Paul who while giving a picture of a community of the Church, offers us good teachings toward being in community in this country.

    We live in relationship to others, and see ourselves in God and each other.

   God ordained such an existence from the beginning when in seeing Adam, He created Eve, so that they would not have to dwell in isolation.

   We are called to live in harmony with each other, as the Psalmist notes when he speaks of how good it is when persons dwell together.

    The opposite is strife, animosity, division, hate, war.

    St. Paul pictures a community like a body with each part working together for the whole.

    Each of us in community is part of one body and each of us can use the gifts given to us by God for the common good.

    In doing so we also are strengthened living in harmony for we recognize our dependence upon each other and God, and this chases away pride, envy and so many things that contribute to discord as a people.

    It allows us to look upon ourselves more realistically and understand our unity with God and each other.

    The light of Christ illumines us as persons living in community, sharing stewardship for all we have been given, including this country, which continues to offer so much to the world.

   My sisters and brothers in Christ, may we live as the words of St. Cleopas declares:

    Mindful of our dependence on God as children are on their parents;

       Aware of our strengths and shortcomings that keep us faithful to a God who gives and forgives;

      And bearing the heart of a mother in sacrifice and caring for each other, who all are truly our sisters and brothers in Christ.

that those around us are truly our sisters and brothers in Christ

   Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages!

   Glory Be To Jesus Christ!

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ

 

     Writing about the saints, John of Kronstadt,  says:

   “We ought to have the most lively spiritual union with the heavenly inhabitants: all the saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs, prelates, the venerable and the righteous, as they are all members of the single Body, the Church of Christ, to which we sinners also belong, and the living Head of which is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

     “This is why we call upon them in prayer, converse with them, thank them and praise them.

          It is urgently necessary for all Christians to be in union with them, if they desire to make Christian progress;

     for the Saints are our friends, our guides to salvation, who pray and intercede for us.”

    And while St. John speaks of  the universal Church, we know that for each parish, the Catholicity, or fullness, of the Church is present.

   We are blessed in worshipping at the Church we call and compose—All Saints Church.

    But the Church and our life here is not just about a building on

Scarborough Street

.

    All Saints is about an uplifting, a dedication to  life lived differently as followers of Christ.

    And in living that life we look to the saints for inspiration and intercession.

     Metroplitan Anthony of Blessed Memory said of today:

       “we are keeping the Day of All Saints, of all those who have heard Christ speak, whose hearts and minds have been set afire, and went out into the world to bring to the whole world the good news:

         

    As witnesses for Christ,  It is  our responsibility to bring to the world  the good news of Christ.

    The good news not only that he has come, but that he has shown the way to new life, and offers to each, life eternal lived in him.

   The Good news that we are loved by our heavenly father, and that our sins are forgiven by him—loved even when we may stumble and fall.

   loved despite our imperfections, our misdeeds.

    The good news that he transforms us even now, as he did the lives of the saints whom we today commemorate.

    My sisters and brothers in christ, we are in good company at this holy house—the company of all the saints.

     St. Dimitry of Rostov describes them saying,

      The lives and praises of the saints are like the stars in brilliance.

    Because of their number, we do not know the names of all the saints; still, they amaze us by their radiant majesty, as do the stars, which while fixed in their position in the heavens, illumine all that is below... shining upon the land and guiding by their light those at sea.

     Similarly, the radiance of the saints, though their relics be entombed in sepulchers, is not bounded by the ends of this earth here below.

    Therefore, we marvel at their lives and are amazed at how God has glorified them that please Him."
    May they intercede for us bringing us ever closer to Jesus Christ, so that we too will please God and find glory in Him.

    Now and ever and unto ages of ages.

    Glory Be To Jesus Christ.

 

John 17,1-13

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ

 

     It is good to be here.

    The apostles new this feeling when they were with Christ, and especially at the revelation of His Divinity.

   We taste it too when we assemble as Church—His Body—in the presence of His Divinity.

   It is good to be here when we immerse ourselves in the Lord—in His goodness, in His love, in His truth.

   It is a joyful time to dwell with each other, among One Who embodies goodness—and Whose desires for us are grounded in that goodness.

    We hear our Lord’s prayer for us in the Gospel, that we may be One—that we may share in a life with each other and God, as He does with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

   Such life is special.

   And such life is one to cherish.

   In this mystical assembly we probably experience it to the fullness given to us.

   Doing so, we  pray that what we  experience here as community, in a special Oneness, in an envelope of holiness—will stay with us.

    If only we could continue this experience—the experience of being close to God with such intensity—throughout the days of our lives.

   If the words we uttered each day, were prayerful words.

   If the sounds we heard, were of Heavenly hymns.

    If the food we ate, lifted us as does the Eucharist.

   If the sights we saw were in his image.

   No doubt this is the life attained to by saints and ascetics, who lived each moment in the light of Christ.

   And we pray that we in some way may participate again and again in such moments, as God wills for us, and as He gives us the Grace to do.

     In the Book of Revelation we read that no one is worthy to open the Book of Life except One—and that One is the Lamb, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

      May we with reverence, through prayer, through focus, through love, in some way, assist in turning at least one of the pages as One with each other and with Him.

    For this He prays. And we do too.

    Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages.

    Glory Be to Jesus Christ!

Great Lent is a time for dying.

Death to sin.

Death to lukewarm faith.

Death to pride.

Death to lust.

Death to greed.

Death to gluttony.

Death to laxity in worship.

Death to hurtful words,

 deeds, acts and thoughts.

Death to the demons

 that seek to invade our minds and hearts.

Death to false gods

and pagan notions.

Let us so die to the old man

So we may cling to the new--

our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Great Lent is a humbling time,

 and humility is what we so need

 in a world that worships too often

 and too much celebrity, riches, pride and power.

St. Andrew of Crete guide us through your Great Canon.

Lead us to understand

 who we were intended to be,

 who we are and

 who will we become through God’s Grace.

We die with Christ and so we will live with Him.

--Fr. William

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