20081123 Holding on to the Rope
www.stmichaeluoc.org
www.orthoanalytika.org
Ephesians 2: 4-10
St. Luke 10: 25-37
Homily: Holding on to the Rope
What does it mean that “by grace you have been saved?” What is the role of “faith?” What is the role of “good works.” What, exactly, do we need to do to be saved? Just believe in Christ? Just be a good person, doing “good works”?
There have been many answers to this question over time, and much of seminary is spent studying the course corrections that some Christian groups have made as they bounce from heresy to heresy. As with so many things, the answer is not found in one extreme or the other, but in balance. This is the balance that traditional Christianity – Orthodox Christianity – has preserved and taught from the beginning.
St. Nicholai Velimirovich explains it with this parable (from the Prologue from Ochrid, November 9th):
A child was on a journey by night, and it fell from hole to hole, from ditch to ditch, until at last if fell into a very deep pit, out of which there was no way it could clamber. When the child had abandoned itself to its fate and thought that this was the end, suddenly there was someone standing above the hole, letting a rope down to it and calling to it to take a firm hold on the rope. This was the king’s son, who rescued the child, washed it and clothed it and took it to his court, keeping it with him. Was this child saved by its own act? In no way. Its only action was to grab the passing rope-end and hang onto it. By what, then, was the child saved? By the mercy of the king’s son. In God’s dealings with man, this mercy is called grace. ‘By grace ye are saved.’
Let us also know and understand, my brethren, that we are saved through grace by the Lord Jesus Christ. We were held in the jaws of death, and have been given life in the courts of our God.
Like I said, there is a dry way to approach the question of faith and works – and that is through study of the dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Reformed Protestant churches. But I am less interested in teaching you about history than I am guiding you to salvation through Jesus Christ Our Lord; so I am going to tell how this teaching relates to us as Orthodox Christians working out our lives here and now. So while the divisions I will describe do not match up with their historical precedents, they are quite real am important.
First of all, there is a significant number of people who do not really feel the need for salvation at all. They think that they are good enough already. To use St. Nicholai’s parable, it is as if they had managed to avoid falling into any hole from which they would ever need to get out. It was to such as these that God Himself referred when He walked this earth two thousand years ago, saying; “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick… for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (St. Matthew 9: 12-13). If you are already perfect, then you obviously don’t need anyone’s rope. How many people do you know that avoid Confession because they don’t have any sins to confess? You don’t need Confession and you don’t need Communion if you are already perfect. So those of you who are perfect, please pray for the rest of us. J Because the rest of us are like the child in the story, falling from hole to hole and from sin into sin.
And just in case there really are people out there who think they have no sin, let me point out an unavoidable fact that is described both in Scripture and our everyday experience: “the wages of sin is death...” (Romans 6: 23) Those who are perfect do not die – it is sin that brought death into the world (Romans 5:12); [and] death is a pit that no amount of work or self-righteousness can pull you out of; nor that event the most stubborn and hard-headed person can ignore. Death awaits us all, because we have all sinned (Romans 3: 23). Why not grab hold of that rope now, while you still have a chance? Because only the perfect get out of the pit of death, and it is only in Christ that we can become perfect and inherit eternal life.
Secondly, there are those who think it is their good works that save them: they have replaced faith in God for faith in themselves. These are folks who, when asked if they are saved, reply that they have done some things wrong, but on the whole they are pretty good people; after all, they haven’t killed anyone and they do the best they can, given the circumstances. They admit that they are not perfect, but think that their sparkling personalities and great sacrifices will tip the balance in their favor at the dread judgment seat. While I know Christians who act as if they believed this, it is irrational and heretical madness. Christ died for our sins. For all of our sins. He made this sacrifice because without it they [our sins] would condemn us to death and eternal darkness (Romans 5:1-11). If you think that you can make up for your own sins, then you have replaced Christ’s propitiary grace with your own, offering up your own goodness in place of His perfection. If that is really what you want, then “good luck… cause you’re gonna need it.” After all, [as today’s lesson of the Good Samaritan points out] the Judge will not be using your personal standard of right and wrong when he renders his verdict, but the eternal and changeless standard. And in that balance, our deeds will undoubtedly condemn us. That is why we need Christ to tip the scale in our favor (2 Corinthians 5:10, 21).
Lastly, there are some who are humbly holding on to that rope. They recognize the hole they are in and that they cannot get out of it themselves. They not only have faith in the rope to pull them out, they hold onto it as a force much greater than their own pulls them skyward. For most of us, it is hard to hold onto that rope. The effort of forgiveness, of “loving God” and “loving our neighbor” seems too much at times. We have to concentrate and make the rope the focus of our attention, despite all the many distractions. Sometimes we slip. Sometimes we lose our grip through the sins of “self-righeousness [pride], greed, adultery, envy, impulsiveness, anger & laziness” (list of major sins from the “Short Catechism”); we slip down that rope, but even if we were to let loose of it completely and wallow once more in the pit of our depravity, the rope is there. And Christ strengthens us and pulls us back to Him through His Mysteries of Confession and Communion.
And don’t forget who the parable of the child ends: once he pulls the child out of the hole, he takes that child to his court and keeps him there in splendor.
You are indeed in a hole, but the rope is here before you. It is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, offered to you for the forgiveness of your sins, for life everlasting, and an acceptable answer at the dread judgment seat. Will you reach for it? Will you hold it? Will you recognize it for the lifeline it is, making it the center of your attention? Salvation and an eternal life in the mansions of glory await all those who do.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
20081116 Healing on the Way
20081116 Healing on the Way
www.stmichaeluoc.org
www.orthoanalytika.org
Galatians 6: 11-18
St. Luke 8: 41- 56
Today we have a foretaste and proof of something that you must always keep in your mind. Something that will bring comfort to you in sorrow and strength when you are weak: that Christ is coming to resurrect all the dead, that He comes to restore everyone to complete health of soul and body, and, at the same time, to restore us to perfect health in community with one another. Just look at today’s Gospel: the pious man Jarius’ daughter was ill; Jarius petitions Christ to heal her; she then dies; but Christ restores her spirit to her body, and her to her parents’ love. Christ revived her and brought her back into loving union with her family. This is what God promises to all of us: as He Himself said: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even through he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (St. John 11:25)
And the coming resurrection is more than just a restoration of spirit to body, it is a perfecting recreation. The moments of physical vitality and mutual love that we treasure so dearly are just hints and shadows of the vitality and love that await us. St. Paul shares this Good News in his letter to the Romans:
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory”. (Romans 15: 51-54)
This is the road that Christ travels, and that we travel through Him. But what is it that happens on the way? Today’s Gospel describes two things that happen on the road to the restoration of Jarius’ daughter. They can help us as we walk this same road toward the General Resurrection.
First, there is the healing of the woman with the issue of blood. She had been suffering from this infirmity for twelve years. She was destitute from her search for a cure. She was suffering. So she sought out Christ. She found Christ on the road, as He was on his way to Jarius’ house. She reached out to Him, and the combination of His physical presence and her faith healed her. He saw her, blessed her, and gave her peace. What a beautiful encounter! Wouldn’t you like to see such a thing? Last week, Archbishop Antony reminded us that we are to be the Gospel; that we may be the only Christ that people see and hear. The woman received healing because she was able to find Christ.
This area is full of people in need of healing. Full of people who have spent their fortunes on false cures. People who are looking for an authentic cure. Seeking out the real Christ. Would they find Him in us? Would they recognize Christ in us? What kind of Gospel do we share? I don’t mean the one that stands on the center of the our altar, or the one that sits in your prayer corner, but rather the one that we really share; the one we share with how we live our lives, with how we treat one another, with how we treat strangers. Christ is self-sacrifice and love: are we? Christ is the “New Adam”, the one that exhibits and shares every “fruit of the spirit” (e.g. love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control – Galatians 5: 22).
Are we like that, or do we still walk in the flesh as did the old Adam (with adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like – Galatians 5:19). If we want to witness Christ, both as individuals and as a Church, then, as St. Paul says “let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5: 26) If we gossip about one another, if we provoke one another, if we refuse to forgive one another, if we bring anything but love and longsuffering to our relationships with one another, then we are not the real Gospel, but an abomination.
Christ brings healing to all He encounters on the road to the Resurrection. Abomination brings pain and suffering to all he encounters on the road to damnation. St. Michael’s is called to be Christ to the world: this requires our mutual love and sacrifice. Otherwise we are like all the other charlatans that the woman met in her twelve years of suffering.
The Second thing that happened on the road was that Jarius’ daughter died. Jarius was a faithful man. He expected Christ to heal his daughter from her illness – what else would a loving God do? But instead, she died from her illness. This is a vital lesson: Christ brings the one thing needful, but it isn’t always what you think it should be. Later in the Gospel lesson, Jarius understands. He understands when he holds his living daughter in his arms. You have the fullness of the faith at your disposal, so you should already understand.
Let me paint the picture of this at its most dire; at its most difficult: this week we have been commemorating the 75th year since the tragedy of the Holodomor, a time when one out of every four Ukrainians was purposely starved to death, when those who survived watched helplessly as one out of every three of their children died a slow and agonizing death. When abomination, under the guise of progress, did its best to destroy the love and test the longsuffering of Christian people. How can sanity endure such a thing? How can faith possibly persevere?
There is only one true answer to the havoc that abomination wreaks in this world: that through the suffering and resurrection of Jesus Christ; “The body is sown in corruption, [but] it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, [but] it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, [but] it is raised in power.” (1 Corinthians 15: 42-58). We preserve our sanity in the midst of suffering through faith in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And through living in His love, we like Him; we AS HIM; will bring healing, comfort, and peace to those we meet along the road.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
=================
Some thoughts on this past week - and on the Holodomor
It was another busy week here at St. Michael’s. Here are some highlights:
Monday
While I spent most of Monday on administrivia, the highlight came in the evening with the opening of the Holodomor exhibit at the Rhode Island Community College (Knight Campus) Art Gallery. As part of the commemoration, Professor Cheryl Madden (who teaches history at CCRI and was recently awarded the “Order of Princess Olha” by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko) gave a talk on the tragedy, and a local playwright (David Eliet) discussed and shared his short film on the subject. Afterwards, we toured the exhibition compiled from the work of various local artists and groups (to include one from our parish - you can see it on the bottom left of the flyer linked above).
Wednesday
On Wednesday we usually pray the Moleban intercessory prayer service and then move into our Adult Education class. Instead of a Moleban, this week we continued our commemoration of the Holodomor with a Panakhida prayer service for the more than ten million souls who were starved to death in 1932-1933. It was an incredibly moving service [an aside: to save money on oil this winter, we are holding weekday classes and services in the rectory office. I learned this week that even a little incense will create enough of a cloud to make it impossible for all but the most hardy to stay. Thankfully, I learned this early enough before the service to allow things to clear out a bit!]. After the prayer service, we watched a short film on the Holodomor and then discussed it for a while.
After that, we had a parish board meeting where we conducted an AAR (after action review) of the bishop’s visit (it went very well), the patronal feast (some would prefer that we went out to celebrate, others prefer to keep it in the hall), and the possible incorporation of another Orthodox cemetery (St. John’s - a Ukrainian Orthodox parish in Providence that closed many years ago).
Friday
At 2:30 AM, my oldest son (Nicholas, 13) and I headed down to our seminary/consistory in S. Bound Brook, New Jersey. We got there at about 6:30 AM (it was an easy drive - we didn’t even have to slow down much to cross the George Washington Bridge!), just in time to prepare to celebrate Divine Liturgy in the seminary chapel with Bishop Daniel and our full-time seminarians. What a blessing! Then I headed across to the Consistory to check-in with Archbishop Antony and all my friends there. There, Fr. Bazyl (the rector of our seminary) asked if I was available to teach a class on “Kyivan Spirituality” for our weekend seminarians next semester. Of course I enthusiastically agreed. This will mean spending one Friday a month there (and a whole lot of time in preparation). On the way home, we stopped at Chipotle (Nick’s favorite restaurant and in my top five) and to see Fr. Taras in Cartaret (he gave us some new Divine Liturgy books for the pews). We got home at about 6 PM. Not everyone understands why I like to make that trip, but it really is a treat for me.
Saturday
I slept in a bit on Saturday morning, then helped out the Ladies’ Sodality do some last minute preparations for our “Ukrainian Kitchen”, which ran from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The Kitchen went VERY well - not only did the Ladies raise some money, we got to meet lots of people in the local community (I like to play the role of greeter). The Ladies make incredibly good varenyky (cabbage and potato dumplings), perohy (stuffed rolls), holobtsi (cabbage rolls), fried cabbage, soup, etc. But even more amazing is their dedication to the Church. You would not believe the amount of time and energy they put into their efforts.
At 3PM, we had our weekly chanting class. At 4PM we celebrated Vespers. Then at 5PM we celebrated a crowning service for a couple who wanted to “renew their vows” within the Orthodox Church. I cannot describe the joy shared there. It was a beautiful thing. The couple invited us to the reception, which was everything a reception should be (good fellowship, food, etc.).
Sunday
Sunday was my “one morning of work” as a priest, and I followed my usual routine in preparing and the like. The service was beautiful, despite the fact that there were only about 45 folks there to enjoy it. After a coffee hour and a short nap, my family took me out to a local Mexican restaurant for my birthday. It was really nice. We finished up the day with swimming and ice cream. Happy times.
The coming week looks to be no less busy than last, with the biggest additions being a new weekly service on Wednesday afternoon (daily Vespers), a presentation on immigration at the “Faith and Order Commission”, and a new graduate-level class I am teaching down at the Naval War College in Newport. Daily Vespers and the immigration thing should be a snap, but I am a bit stressed out about the new class. [One more thing: I have a dear friend and mentor undergoing surgery on Friday (please pray for Ihumen Gregory).]
============================
What was the Holodomor?
Holod: from the word for hunger; Mor: from the word for plague/murder
It occurs to me that not everyone who reads this may be familiar with the Holodomor. Here is the basic context: Stalin was trying to centralize control over all industry and agriculture. He was also trying to Sovietize the various nations under his rule. The Ukrainians resisted both of these efforts, so Stalin used starvation to force them into submission. The main mechanism that he used was the enforcement of impossible grain quotas. How does this work? Central planning runs on quotas: the government determines how many of every commodity should be produced, the price that will be offered for them, and the price that they will be sold for. In the case of Ukraine, Stalin demanded ALL of the grain (and other foodstuffs) produced and offered nothing in return (at least to those who refused to join the oppressive collective farm system).
Recognizing the danger to their very lives, some Ukrainians hid grain to feed their family, so Stalin sent in forces (both “professional” soldiers and deputized mobs) to look into every nook and cranny. He then put more forces at the borders of Ukraine to keep people from leaving and goods from coming in, and then he watched as over ten million Ukrainians slowly starved to death. This was about one in every four Ukrainians, and one out of every three Ukrainian children. The official party line was that there was no famine (artificial or otherwise), but that there may have been isolated suffering due to poor harvests. This was a lie that has now been publicly and clearly outed (despite the early efforts of the New York Times). To this very day, there are government officials in Russia who deny that the Holodomor ever occurred and to commemorate those who perished in it (I will never understand why anyone would feel the need to ignore or defend Soviet attrocities).
Some folks wonder how it is that such a thing could happen to such a large and civilized country in this day and age. Most assume that it could not happen today; that it could not happen here. I am not so sure. As I wrote last week, all it takes is a large government supported by people who value “progress” (or any other ideal) more than human lives. The Communists in Russia and Ukraine (and the Nazis in Germany) were not martians - they were sinners with the same temptations we have. It was easy for them to believe that the people dying were less important that what was being achieved; that the victims stood in the way of a brighter and more just future. I would argue that not only could it happen here, it is happening here; but instead of sacrificing peasants and farming families to the God of progress, we sacrifice babies to the God of comfort and sinful self-indulgence. You cannot tell me that anyone with a moral bone in their body doesn’t look at the slaughter of the unborn through abortion with the same abhoration and disgust as we do when we study the atrocities of the Nazi Holocaust or the Soviet Holodomor.
Yes, it can happen here. It is happening here. And like before, the apologists for our sin (such as the New York Times and every pro-abortion politician and activist) propagandandize to convince us that there is “nothing to see here”, that “everything is okay.”
But everything is not okay. People are being slaughtered. And just as the covering lies damaged the souls of the Soviet survivers, so to do our own lies kill our souls.
May God grant Memory Eternal to all the souls who departed this life during the Holodomor, and may God grant mercy to the souls of those who perpetuated and supported it.
www.stmichaeluoc.org
www.orthoanalytika.org
Galatians 6: 11-18
St. Luke 8: 41- 56
Today we have a foretaste and proof of something that you must always keep in your mind. Something that will bring comfort to you in sorrow and strength when you are weak: that Christ is coming to resurrect all the dead, that He comes to restore everyone to complete health of soul and body, and, at the same time, to restore us to perfect health in community with one another. Just look at today’s Gospel: the pious man Jarius’ daughter was ill; Jarius petitions Christ to heal her; she then dies; but Christ restores her spirit to her body, and her to her parents’ love. Christ revived her and brought her back into loving union with her family. This is what God promises to all of us: as He Himself said: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even through he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (St. John 11:25)
And the coming resurrection is more than just a restoration of spirit to body, it is a perfecting recreation. The moments of physical vitality and mutual love that we treasure so dearly are just hints and shadows of the vitality and love that await us. St. Paul shares this Good News in his letter to the Romans:
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory”. (Romans 15: 51-54)
This is the road that Christ travels, and that we travel through Him. But what is it that happens on the way? Today’s Gospel describes two things that happen on the road to the restoration of Jarius’ daughter. They can help us as we walk this same road toward the General Resurrection.
First, there is the healing of the woman with the issue of blood. She had been suffering from this infirmity for twelve years. She was destitute from her search for a cure. She was suffering. So she sought out Christ. She found Christ on the road, as He was on his way to Jarius’ house. She reached out to Him, and the combination of His physical presence and her faith healed her. He saw her, blessed her, and gave her peace. What a beautiful encounter! Wouldn’t you like to see such a thing? Last week, Archbishop Antony reminded us that we are to be the Gospel; that we may be the only Christ that people see and hear. The woman received healing because she was able to find Christ.
This area is full of people in need of healing. Full of people who have spent their fortunes on false cures. People who are looking for an authentic cure. Seeking out the real Christ. Would they find Him in us? Would they recognize Christ in us? What kind of Gospel do we share? I don’t mean the one that stands on the center of the our altar, or the one that sits in your prayer corner, but rather the one that we really share; the one we share with how we live our lives, with how we treat one another, with how we treat strangers. Christ is self-sacrifice and love: are we? Christ is the “New Adam”, the one that exhibits and shares every “fruit of the spirit” (e.g. love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control – Galatians 5: 22).
Are we like that, or do we still walk in the flesh as did the old Adam (with adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like – Galatians 5:19). If we want to witness Christ, both as individuals and as a Church, then, as St. Paul says “let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5: 26) If we gossip about one another, if we provoke one another, if we refuse to forgive one another, if we bring anything but love and longsuffering to our relationships with one another, then we are not the real Gospel, but an abomination.
Christ brings healing to all He encounters on the road to the Resurrection. Abomination brings pain and suffering to all he encounters on the road to damnation. St. Michael’s is called to be Christ to the world: this requires our mutual love and sacrifice. Otherwise we are like all the other charlatans that the woman met in her twelve years of suffering.
The Second thing that happened on the road was that Jarius’ daughter died. Jarius was a faithful man. He expected Christ to heal his daughter from her illness – what else would a loving God do? But instead, she died from her illness. This is a vital lesson: Christ brings the one thing needful, but it isn’t always what you think it should be. Later in the Gospel lesson, Jarius understands. He understands when he holds his living daughter in his arms. You have the fullness of the faith at your disposal, so you should already understand.
Let me paint the picture of this at its most dire; at its most difficult: this week we have been commemorating the 75th year since the tragedy of the Holodomor, a time when one out of every four Ukrainians was purposely starved to death, when those who survived watched helplessly as one out of every three of their children died a slow and agonizing death. When abomination, under the guise of progress, did its best to destroy the love and test the longsuffering of Christian people. How can sanity endure such a thing? How can faith possibly persevere?
There is only one true answer to the havoc that abomination wreaks in this world: that through the suffering and resurrection of Jesus Christ; “The body is sown in corruption, [but] it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, [but] it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, [but] it is raised in power.” (1 Corinthians 15: 42-58). We preserve our sanity in the midst of suffering through faith in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And through living in His love, we like Him; we AS HIM; will bring healing, comfort, and peace to those we meet along the road.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
=================
Some thoughts on this past week - and on the Holodomor
It was another busy week here at St. Michael’s. Here are some highlights:
Monday
While I spent most of Monday on administrivia, the highlight came in the evening with the opening of the Holodomor exhibit at the Rhode Island Community College (Knight Campus) Art Gallery. As part of the commemoration, Professor Cheryl Madden (who teaches history at CCRI and was recently awarded the “Order of Princess Olha” by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko) gave a talk on the tragedy, and a local playwright (David Eliet) discussed and shared his short film on the subject. Afterwards, we toured the exhibition compiled from the work of various local artists and groups (to include one from our parish - you can see it on the bottom left of the flyer linked above).
Wednesday
On Wednesday we usually pray the Moleban intercessory prayer service and then move into our Adult Education class. Instead of a Moleban, this week we continued our commemoration of the Holodomor with a Panakhida prayer service for the more than ten million souls who were starved to death in 1932-1933. It was an incredibly moving service [an aside: to save money on oil this winter, we are holding weekday classes and services in the rectory office. I learned this week that even a little incense will create enough of a cloud to make it impossible for all but the most hardy to stay. Thankfully, I learned this early enough before the service to allow things to clear out a bit!]. After the prayer service, we watched a short film on the Holodomor and then discussed it for a while.
After that, we had a parish board meeting where we conducted an AAR (after action review) of the bishop’s visit (it went very well), the patronal feast (some would prefer that we went out to celebrate, others prefer to keep it in the hall), and the possible incorporation of another Orthodox cemetery (St. John’s - a Ukrainian Orthodox parish in Providence that closed many years ago).
Friday
At 2:30 AM, my oldest son (Nicholas, 13) and I headed down to our seminary/consistory in S. Bound Brook, New Jersey. We got there at about 6:30 AM (it was an easy drive - we didn’t even have to slow down much to cross the George Washington Bridge!), just in time to prepare to celebrate Divine Liturgy in the seminary chapel with Bishop Daniel and our full-time seminarians. What a blessing! Then I headed across to the Consistory to check-in with Archbishop Antony and all my friends there. There, Fr. Bazyl (the rector of our seminary) asked if I was available to teach a class on “Kyivan Spirituality” for our weekend seminarians next semester. Of course I enthusiastically agreed. This will mean spending one Friday a month there (and a whole lot of time in preparation). On the way home, we stopped at Chipotle (Nick’s favorite restaurant and in my top five) and to see Fr. Taras in Cartaret (he gave us some new Divine Liturgy books for the pews). We got home at about 6 PM. Not everyone understands why I like to make that trip, but it really is a treat for me.
Saturday
I slept in a bit on Saturday morning, then helped out the Ladies’ Sodality do some last minute preparations for our “Ukrainian Kitchen”, which ran from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The Kitchen went VERY well - not only did the Ladies raise some money, we got to meet lots of people in the local community (I like to play the role of greeter). The Ladies make incredibly good varenyky (cabbage and potato dumplings), perohy (stuffed rolls), holobtsi (cabbage rolls), fried cabbage, soup, etc. But even more amazing is their dedication to the Church. You would not believe the amount of time and energy they put into their efforts.
At 3PM, we had our weekly chanting class. At 4PM we celebrated Vespers. Then at 5PM we celebrated a crowning service for a couple who wanted to “renew their vows” within the Orthodox Church. I cannot describe the joy shared there. It was a beautiful thing. The couple invited us to the reception, which was everything a reception should be (good fellowship, food, etc.).
Sunday
Sunday was my “one morning of work” as a priest, and I followed my usual routine in preparing and the like. The service was beautiful, despite the fact that there were only about 45 folks there to enjoy it. After a coffee hour and a short nap, my family took me out to a local Mexican restaurant for my birthday. It was really nice. We finished up the day with swimming and ice cream. Happy times.
The coming week looks to be no less busy than last, with the biggest additions being a new weekly service on Wednesday afternoon (daily Vespers), a presentation on immigration at the “Faith and Order Commission”, and a new graduate-level class I am teaching down at the Naval War College in Newport. Daily Vespers and the immigration thing should be a snap, but I am a bit stressed out about the new class. [One more thing: I have a dear friend and mentor undergoing surgery on Friday (please pray for Ihumen Gregory).]
============================
What was the Holodomor?
Holod: from the word for hunger; Mor: from the word for plague/murder
It occurs to me that not everyone who reads this may be familiar with the Holodomor. Here is the basic context: Stalin was trying to centralize control over all industry and agriculture. He was also trying to Sovietize the various nations under his rule. The Ukrainians resisted both of these efforts, so Stalin used starvation to force them into submission. The main mechanism that he used was the enforcement of impossible grain quotas. How does this work? Central planning runs on quotas: the government determines how many of every commodity should be produced, the price that will be offered for them, and the price that they will be sold for. In the case of Ukraine, Stalin demanded ALL of the grain (and other foodstuffs) produced and offered nothing in return (at least to those who refused to join the oppressive collective farm system).
Recognizing the danger to their very lives, some Ukrainians hid grain to feed their family, so Stalin sent in forces (both “professional” soldiers and deputized mobs) to look into every nook and cranny. He then put more forces at the borders of Ukraine to keep people from leaving and goods from coming in, and then he watched as over ten million Ukrainians slowly starved to death. This was about one in every four Ukrainians, and one out of every three Ukrainian children. The official party line was that there was no famine (artificial or otherwise), but that there may have been isolated suffering due to poor harvests. This was a lie that has now been publicly and clearly outed (despite the early efforts of the New York Times). To this very day, there are government officials in Russia who deny that the Holodomor ever occurred and to commemorate those who perished in it (I will never understand why anyone would feel the need to ignore or defend Soviet attrocities).
Some folks wonder how it is that such a thing could happen to such a large and civilized country in this day and age. Most assume that it could not happen today; that it could not happen here. I am not so sure. As I wrote last week, all it takes is a large government supported by people who value “progress” (or any other ideal) more than human lives. The Communists in Russia and Ukraine (and the Nazis in Germany) were not martians - they were sinners with the same temptations we have. It was easy for them to believe that the people dying were less important that what was being achieved; that the victims stood in the way of a brighter and more just future. I would argue that not only could it happen here, it is happening here; but instead of sacrificing peasants and farming families to the God of progress, we sacrifice babies to the God of comfort and sinful self-indulgence. You cannot tell me that anyone with a moral bone in their body doesn’t look at the slaughter of the unborn through abortion with the same abhoration and disgust as we do when we study the atrocities of the Nazi Holocaust or the Soviet Holodomor.
Yes, it can happen here. It is happening here. And like before, the apologists for our sin (such as the New York Times and every pro-abortion politician and activist) propagandandize to convince us that there is “nothing to see here”, that “everything is okay.”
But everything is not okay. People are being slaughtered. And just as the covering lies damaged the souls of the Soviet survivers, so to do our own lies kill our souls.
May God grant Memory Eternal to all the souls who departed this life during the Holodomor, and may God grant mercy to the souls of those who perpetuated and supported it.
Monday, November 10, 2008
20081109 Orthodoxy and Your Budget
20081109 Orthodoxy and Your Budget
http://www.smichaeluoc.org/
http://www.orthoanalytika.org/
In deference to my bishop, I did not prepare a homily on this week’s lessons. So this week I would like to share the class I gave on Wednesday and some thoughts on the events of the past week.
Orthodoxy and Money
Our God is more than idea: He took flesh for us. He lived among us. He continues to live among us through His continuing Incarnation in the Holy Orthodox Church. He did this out of love for us, so that we would not suffer in this fallen world alone; so that through Him we can live life in abundance now and forever. Some think of God as something abstract or someone far away, but God is not really like that. He does more than watch us – He offers everything He has so that we can live better lives. This includes offering His death and Resurrection for us, revealing Himself through the Sacraments/Mysteries, and teaching us. His teaching is found in the Scriptures and, thanks to the gift of the Holy Spirit, in the teachings of the Holy Fathers and Mothers of the Church.
Living a Christian life involves more than confessing Christ as your Saviour. It even involves more than partaking of the Mysteries and prayers that He offers us through His Church. It involves developing and routinizing a way of life that is thoroughly grounded in His teaching, how else are we to become Christ-like if we do not implement His teachings? What kind of belief would we have if we did not take what He teaches seriously? What good would the Sacraments/Mysteries be if we did not take advantage of their deifying power to change our lives to the better?
Christ teaches us how to live. Not just in church, but in our marriages, our relationships, our jobs… in everything. This is not to say that there is a “one size fits all” solution to every problem, but rather that there is an approach that leads to sanctifying choices no matter what the circumstances. This is less a roadmap that it is a holistic worldview that leads one inevitably towards the only destination worth reaching: perfection and unity in Christ.
So what does God teach us about money?
The first thing is to recognize that money is not separate from anything else in our lives. It, like our time and our relationships, is to be treated according to basic Christian principles.
http://www.smichaeluoc.org/
http://www.orthoanalytika.org/
In deference to my bishop, I did not prepare a homily on this week’s lessons. So this week I would like to share the class I gave on Wednesday and some thoughts on the events of the past week.
Orthodoxy and Money
Our God is more than idea: He took flesh for us. He lived among us. He continues to live among us through His continuing Incarnation in the Holy Orthodox Church. He did this out of love for us, so that we would not suffer in this fallen world alone; so that through Him we can live life in abundance now and forever. Some think of God as something abstract or someone far away, but God is not really like that. He does more than watch us – He offers everything He has so that we can live better lives. This includes offering His death and Resurrection for us, revealing Himself through the Sacraments/Mysteries, and teaching us. His teaching is found in the Scriptures and, thanks to the gift of the Holy Spirit, in the teachings of the Holy Fathers and Mothers of the Church.
Living a Christian life involves more than confessing Christ as your Saviour. It even involves more than partaking of the Mysteries and prayers that He offers us through His Church. It involves developing and routinizing a way of life that is thoroughly grounded in His teaching, how else are we to become Christ-like if we do not implement His teachings? What kind of belief would we have if we did not take what He teaches seriously? What good would the Sacraments/Mysteries be if we did not take advantage of their deifying power to change our lives to the better?
Christ teaches us how to live. Not just in church, but in our marriages, our relationships, our jobs… in everything. This is not to say that there is a “one size fits all” solution to every problem, but rather that there is an approach that leads to sanctifying choices no matter what the circumstances. This is less a roadmap that it is a holistic worldview that leads one inevitably towards the only destination worth reaching: perfection and unity in Christ.
So what does God teach us about money?
The first thing is to recognize that money is not separate from anything else in our lives. It, like our time and our relationships, is to be treated according to basic Christian principles.
- That we are stewards of the things we have. God entrusted them to us to further His purposes (and our growth). This means charity and sacrificial giving (what about tithing?).
- That we should work hard (e.g. Proverbs 10:4), but not love money (1 Timothy 6:10), or be jealous of the prosperity of others (Exodus 20: 17).
- That we are more than consumers, and that relationships with others are more than contracts and transactions. We are made in the image of God, designed to be in community with others (look at how the Church lived in Acts!).
- God provides what is needful (not just the “lilies of the field”, but especially the “One Thing Needful” of salvation and perfection through Christ.
- What about debt? Debt is at the center of our current economic problems. Would it have been avoided if we had followed God’s advice?
Proverbs says that surety is foolish (6: 1-5 & 11: 15). Many Christian counselors advise against loaning money or cosigning. Does this counteract our Christian virtue of compassion?
- Going into debt makes you a slave to the lender (Proverbs 22:7). It also makes presumptions about the future (James 4: 13-15) and limits your maneuverability.
- Regarding the current crisis, debt has enabled us to satisfy artificially inflated wants. We confuse things we want/like for things that we need.
Questions to ponder: Why should the Christian work hard? What is the obligation of people with disposable income (i.e. more money than they need)? What is the obligation of the poor?
Some Commentary on the Past Week
This was another busy week here at St. Michael’s, culminating with the visit of our archpastor, His Eminence Archbishop Antony. While much of the business was pretty mundane, there were some things you might be interested in.
Tuesday was election day, one of my favorite times.
I love election day not just because it means politicians will stop trying to oversell themselves and their differences, but also because it is a reaffirmation of our commitment to the ideals of freedom and democracy. I’ve studied the theory and practice of democracy quite a bit, and, while I don’t buy into Rousseau’s ideas about the “will of the people” or the notion that democracy will lead us to some utopian future where individuals and communities are perfected through self-governance, I do buy into the more limited (but still quite grand) belief that democracy is the best institutional defense against tyranny. Anything else (like useful policies) is pretty much gravy compared to that.
As for this particular election, I think the contrast between the profiles of the two candidates was striking, and reckon that it was as much a rejection of an unsustainably aggressive foreign policy as an investment in charisma, optimism, and trust in government solutions. As someone born and raised in the South, I love the fact that we elected an “African-American” president (I put that in quotes because he is, as he has pointed out, as much a mutt as just about every others American; if we were being objective, he could be called “white” as much as “black” if it weren’t for the questionable and vestigial way we categorize race).
I also love that President-elect Obama admits to be driven by his Christian faith. Conservatives complain about double standards in the media (as when they point out that Conservative politicians who admit to being driven by their faith get mocked while liberal ones are embraced for their enlightenment); and they can argue that President-elect Obama interprets the implications of his faith incorrectly; but they should still recognize and appreciate (as Frank Schaeffer has written) that his popularity shows the limited reach of the new atheism and that we have not been entirely cut off from our Christian roots. I could not personally support Senator Obama because I know abortion to be a great evil, but I do like what his election says about America and Americans (very, very few of whom voted for him because they want to see the slaughter of innocents to continue).
On Wednesday, I got to visit a brother priest in the hospital.
Ihumen Gregory was in good spirits. Not only is he a wonderful pastor to his flock in New Britain and a liturgical scholar of the highest ordes, he is a kind heart and a generous mentor. I know that you will join me in praying that he is back in the pulpit and before the altar soon. Until then, we are doing what we can to help him and our sister parish.
Later on Wednesday, our adult education class joined our brothers and sisters from St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church across the river in Blackstone, MA for a tour of the local mosque/masjid. It went very well. The men at the mosque were friendly and hospitable. Their imam gave us a nice ecumenical “introduction to Islam” and tour. We were also able to watch them pray their evening prayers. I was relieved that there was no awkward invitation to participate: they, like us, believe that understanding and tolerance can be maintained despite fundamental theological differences (this, as opposed to some who try to create false toleration by papering over our differences). I think that simultaneously understanding and tolerating difference is the civic equivalent of “walking and chewing gum” at the same time. We should really teach (and trust) everyone to do it.
On Friday, His Eminence, Archbishop Antony Arrived (and stayed through Sunday)
He had spent all day Friday on the road, from Ohio to New Jersey, and arrived in Massachusetts (where he was staying with old friends) around midnight. I met him there to pick up the two seminarians he had brought with him. This was a real treat: Ivan and Andriy had both stayed with us for a month or so during their breaks from seminary, and we enjoyed hosting them again. On Saturday morning, Archbishop Antony and I visited Ihumen Gregory, then (after sitting in Boston traffic) worked our way back to Woonsocket for the evening’s celebrations.
At four o’clock we celebrated Vespers. It was a wonderful occasion. Heirodeacon Vasyl and Seminarian/Reader Ivan came down from our sister parish in Boston; our own Subdeacon John came home from Chicago; and lots of folks came to celebrate the arrival of Arcbishop Antony.
The service went well (our cantors have been working hard to prepare, and it really showed), as did the reception thereafter. During the latter, Archbishop Antony affirmed his desire to keep me here in Woonsocket for many years to come; an announcement that allayed the concerns of many. In addition to parishioners and our board, several clergy from the community came to pay their respects.
On Sunday, we celebrated the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy and our Patronal Feast
The high point of every Orthodox Christian’s week (and life!) is Communion with God and His Community through the Holy Eucharist, and this week was no exception. While every Eucharist manifests the fullness of Christ and His Church, it is most evident and natural when presided by the bishop. It is within this context that you can begin to understand how exciting this past Sunday was for us. As icing on the cake, we had the “setting aside” and tonsuring/ordination of two men, one to serve as the leader of our cantors (“Dyak”) and the other as the leader of our altar servers (subdeacon). Vocations are an indicator of a community’s vitality, and this weekend was testimony of the vigor of St. Michael’s. Another indicator was the wonderful turnout and all the volunteer work that went into the preparations and execution of the myriad events this weekend.
The visit by a bishop is bit like having the commanding general come in the sense that his delegates (especially the priest, but also the parish board) are called to present and account for the state of the parish. Formally, this means that the bishop “inspects” the parish books and meets with the parish board (both of these went fine), but there is so much more involved. He is our archpastor, and has the discernment and responsibility to ensure that the needs of his flock (those entrusted to him by Christ) are being met. There is also the matter of making sure that the services are being conducted in a satisfactory manner (i.e. prayerfully and correctly), that the sacred grounds and articles are being tended, etc. All of this went well (Glory and thanks to God).
Conclusion and the Coming Week
And now? Now it is recovery time. This week we will commemorate the tragic events of the Holodomor, a testimony to the evil that can be committed against the alleged “enemies of progress”. It (and the broader soviet/communist experience) is also one of the many reasons I do not trust government, especially the “perfect storm” of a government that is 1) large 2) committed to “progress” 3) lacking in real Christian morality 4) unfettered by institutions that would protect its people from tyranny [political commentary: an Obama administration combines numbers one and two and a mixed bag on number three; leaving only four to act as a levee against the ravages of “good intentions”.
Monday, November 3, 2008
20081102 Why should we trust St. Paul?
20081102 Why Should We Trust St. Paul?
www.stmichaeluoc.org
www.orthoanalytika.org
Homily on Galatians 1: 11-19
Why should we listen to St. Paul? Wasn’t he “just a man”? There are lots of teachers out there, many of whom teach a different, easier, version of the Gospel. Why treat his opinions as any more valuable than these others? Our generation is not the first tempted to trade St. Paul’s teachings about the Christ for others. The Galatians were tempted to do this. As St. Paul writes to them:
“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:6-9)
Clearly St. Paul puts a lot of stock in what he is confessing, but conviction alone should not persuade us; those who “trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ” also present their versions of the truth with conviction. So how do we know that we can trust what St. Paul tells us? How do we know that he is right, and that what he teaches us is True and useful?
This is a big question, and it doesn’t just have to do with St. Paul. One of the great challenges of our present age is that we have become so jaded. Politicians and advertisers are incredibly good at marketing themselves and their products. So good that we sometimes give in to the hype and invest our money and our hope in what they offer, only to learn that they and their products were oversold; that they could not deliver what we hoped they could. When this happens enough times, we end up where most of us are now, refusing to believe or invest our hope in anything. The present presidential campaign has been run so well that many of us have once again opened ourselves up to new promises; but this says more about the deep yearning within us all for something better than it does about the candidates’ ability to actual make a lasting difference. No matter who wins, we are bound to be disappointed. We are bound to be disappointed because the government cannot satisfy the deeper yearning within us. This yearning can only be satisfied through loving communion with one another and God through Jesus Christ.
Which is why the question of St. Paul’s authority is so important: we need to be united to one another in Christ Jesus. This isn’t just about which political platform will improve our economy, our schools, our security, or even best protect the unborn (although these are obviously important); it is about how to bring ourselves and this world to salvation. People are teaching different Christ’s; how do we know that St. Paul is right? How do you know that I am right? Whom can you trust to tell you the Truth?
On a personal note, it was just this question that ultimately led me here, to the Holy Orthodox Church. I grew up knowing that the Truth was found in the Holy Scriptures, and that the Holy Spirit would lead the believer to the Truth through earnest study and prayer. This is a wonderful theory, but what do you do when earnest believers interpret the Scripture differently? When they come to different conclusions? Who is right? Which teacher, which denomination, which interpretation should we follow?
The dizzying array of choices and their impressive ability to market themselves make it easy to give up. I suspect that many people have left organized religion altogether because the number of choices made it seem unlikely that any one of them was any more real than the others. Some don’t give up, but rather, select their version of the truth based on which one fits other opinions that they hold. So, for example political conservatives might move towards a more fundamentalist theology and political liberals might move towards a more liberal theology. By the way, you can do this without ever changing churches – I am sure there are even people here who are tempted to modify the Gospel in this manner. But neither of these options is satisfactory: you need to worship and study in community, and you need to worship and study the Truth. Your own brand of theology may match all your other lifestyle choices, but unless it actually matches the Truth, it isn’t going to move you any closer to perfection.
Let me give you the short answer to the questions I posed earlier:
You can trust that St. Paul is telling you the Truth because, as he says, he received from Jesus Christ. You can trust that he really did receive it from Christ because what St. Paul teaches is perfectly consistent with everything else that the Holy Orthodox Church teaches. You can trust the Orthodox Church because it was founded by Christ Himself. He taught and empowered the Holy Apostles (to include St. Paul) to continue His ministry. In turn, they taught and empowered bishops who have done the same down to this very day. Every bishop is taught and teaches the very same Truth first given to the Apostles. This Apostolic Succession, preserved in word and sacrament, is the ultimate “proof of authenticity”. It is what makes Orthodoxy the standard, and variations of Orthodoxy simple shadows and even perversions (no matter how well they are marketed or how much easier it would be if they were true).
Our bishop, His Eminence Antony will be with us next week. He is part of the Apostolic Succession. This means two things: first, that he maintains the very same Truth that has been proclaimed from the beginning, and second, that he is part of the chain of bishops going all the way back to the first Apostles. When we greet him, kiss his hand, and ask for his blessing, we are expressing our appreciation to God that He has revealed Himself to us in such an immediate and approachable a form as His Holy Church; that He has blessed us with bishops through whom He is given to us through the Holy Mysteries.
I was and remain convinced that Orthodoxy is the answer, that it and the Truth it proclaims can be trusted. And like St. Paul and his conversion, I am immersing myself in it and continue to change my life around it. I am overjoyed that all of you are doing the same. May the Lord grant us the strength of our convictions.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of Holy Spirit. Amen.
www.stmichaeluoc.org
www.orthoanalytika.org
Homily on Galatians 1: 11-19
Why should we listen to St. Paul? Wasn’t he “just a man”? There are lots of teachers out there, many of whom teach a different, easier, version of the Gospel. Why treat his opinions as any more valuable than these others? Our generation is not the first tempted to trade St. Paul’s teachings about the Christ for others. The Galatians were tempted to do this. As St. Paul writes to them:
“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:6-9)
Clearly St. Paul puts a lot of stock in what he is confessing, but conviction alone should not persuade us; those who “trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ” also present their versions of the truth with conviction. So how do we know that we can trust what St. Paul tells us? How do we know that he is right, and that what he teaches us is True and useful?
This is a big question, and it doesn’t just have to do with St. Paul. One of the great challenges of our present age is that we have become so jaded. Politicians and advertisers are incredibly good at marketing themselves and their products. So good that we sometimes give in to the hype and invest our money and our hope in what they offer, only to learn that they and their products were oversold; that they could not deliver what we hoped they could. When this happens enough times, we end up where most of us are now, refusing to believe or invest our hope in anything. The present presidential campaign has been run so well that many of us have once again opened ourselves up to new promises; but this says more about the deep yearning within us all for something better than it does about the candidates’ ability to actual make a lasting difference. No matter who wins, we are bound to be disappointed. We are bound to be disappointed because the government cannot satisfy the deeper yearning within us. This yearning can only be satisfied through loving communion with one another and God through Jesus Christ.
Which is why the question of St. Paul’s authority is so important: we need to be united to one another in Christ Jesus. This isn’t just about which political platform will improve our economy, our schools, our security, or even best protect the unborn (although these are obviously important); it is about how to bring ourselves and this world to salvation. People are teaching different Christ’s; how do we know that St. Paul is right? How do you know that I am right? Whom can you trust to tell you the Truth?
On a personal note, it was just this question that ultimately led me here, to the Holy Orthodox Church. I grew up knowing that the Truth was found in the Holy Scriptures, and that the Holy Spirit would lead the believer to the Truth through earnest study and prayer. This is a wonderful theory, but what do you do when earnest believers interpret the Scripture differently? When they come to different conclusions? Who is right? Which teacher, which denomination, which interpretation should we follow?
The dizzying array of choices and their impressive ability to market themselves make it easy to give up. I suspect that many people have left organized religion altogether because the number of choices made it seem unlikely that any one of them was any more real than the others. Some don’t give up, but rather, select their version of the truth based on which one fits other opinions that they hold. So, for example political conservatives might move towards a more fundamentalist theology and political liberals might move towards a more liberal theology. By the way, you can do this without ever changing churches – I am sure there are even people here who are tempted to modify the Gospel in this manner. But neither of these options is satisfactory: you need to worship and study in community, and you need to worship and study the Truth. Your own brand of theology may match all your other lifestyle choices, but unless it actually matches the Truth, it isn’t going to move you any closer to perfection.
Let me give you the short answer to the questions I posed earlier:
You can trust that St. Paul is telling you the Truth because, as he says, he received from Jesus Christ. You can trust that he really did receive it from Christ because what St. Paul teaches is perfectly consistent with everything else that the Holy Orthodox Church teaches. You can trust the Orthodox Church because it was founded by Christ Himself. He taught and empowered the Holy Apostles (to include St. Paul) to continue His ministry. In turn, they taught and empowered bishops who have done the same down to this very day. Every bishop is taught and teaches the very same Truth first given to the Apostles. This Apostolic Succession, preserved in word and sacrament, is the ultimate “proof of authenticity”. It is what makes Orthodoxy the standard, and variations of Orthodoxy simple shadows and even perversions (no matter how well they are marketed or how much easier it would be if they were true).
Our bishop, His Eminence Antony will be with us next week. He is part of the Apostolic Succession. This means two things: first, that he maintains the very same Truth that has been proclaimed from the beginning, and second, that he is part of the chain of bishops going all the way back to the first Apostles. When we greet him, kiss his hand, and ask for his blessing, we are expressing our appreciation to God that He has revealed Himself to us in such an immediate and approachable a form as His Holy Church; that He has blessed us with bishops through whom He is given to us through the Holy Mysteries.
I was and remain convinced that Orthodoxy is the answer, that it and the Truth it proclaims can be trusted. And like St. Paul and his conversion, I am immersing myself in it and continue to change my life around it. I am overjoyed that all of you are doing the same. May the Lord grant us the strength of our convictions.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of Holy Spirit. Amen.
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