20090125 Chief of Sinners

20090125  Chief of Sinners

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1 Timothy 1: 15-17 

St. Luke 18: 35-43 

1 Timothy 1: 15 – 17.  This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.  However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.  Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.  

I am a sinner
I am a sinner.  In fact, I am the chief of sinners.  I am not exaggerating.  I am proud; I am vain; I get passionate about things that do not matter; I am lazy about things that do matter; I do not properly guard my thoughts, my eyes, or my tongue.  I judge others; love no one but myself; blame those around me (to include even God) for my problems; claim credit for my successes; and generally order my life in a way that discourages the growth of peace and love in me and those around me.  I sow confusion and fear in the garden of my heart and in the fields around me.  I say that I love others, but only care for them when it suits my own interests.  I turn away beggars and seek praise from the fallen.  My life is a mockery of virtue.  Faith, hope, love, wisdom, justice, patience, and moderation have no home in me.

I am the first of sinners
So believe me when I tell you that I am the first and chief among sinners.  My sins all but consumed me in my younger years.  They were threatening to destroy me and my family, and to turn my very presence into a blight on my community.  I had no hope for true happiness; my only hope was that I might be able find enough diversions, enough hobbies, enough forgetfulness, to allow me to stumble towards death without losing my mind.  

I would still be there were it not for Jesus Christ.  He did more than tell me of God’s plan for my life: He gave me His love.  He showed me that life was something that could be embraced and enjoyed.  He demonstrated that love could be trusted; that faith and hope were rational responses to the reality of a perfect God.  And He enfolded me within a virtuous family and community that allowed Him to continue to bring out the best in me.  In short, He brought me peace.  He brought me love.  He brought me salvation.

God offered me mercy (so obviously he will offer the same to you)
Now I offer my story and my life to you, so that God might work the same transformation in your life.  Many of you suffer so much. This world can be so cruel, and we can be so hurtful to ourselves and to one another.  But we were not made to live in such pain; we were not made to spread confusion.  

Christ is offering you another way.  He came into the world to save people like you and me.  Accept His longsuffering mercy.  Immerse yourself in His prayer, in His Sacraments, in the fellowship of His Church. Allow Him to dispel your dread and bring you His peace now and for all eternity.  

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

20090118 Baptizing the World

20090118  Baptizing the World

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2 Timothy 4: 5-8 

St. Mark 1: 1-8 

Today we have a lot going on.  Before the Liturgy, we celebrated the Baptism into Christ of his servant, Ronn; then he was mysteriously sealed with the Holy Spirit through the Church’s sacrament of Chrismation; thus marking his formal entry into Holy Orthodoxy.  

Now we are in the midst of our Divine Liturgy, when Ronn will partake of his first Communion as an Orthodox Christian, joining us in the sacramental act that stands at the very center of every Orthodox believer’s life.  Communion is when we who have “put on Christ” through Holy Baptism, who have been sealed with the Holy Spirit through Chrismation, who have confessed our faith in the Holy Trinity and in salvation through the death and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, accept His transforming power not just into our hearts and minds, but into our very bodies through eating of His Body and drinking of His Blood.  For as the God-man Himself said (St. John 55-56); “for my body is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed; he who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.”  All of our prayer life, our relationships with God and with one another, all of our hopes and dreams are strengthened and enabled by this healing and sanctifying mystery.  This act is so important that our bishops encourage us to prepare and receive it at every opportunity; and that the Canons of the Church point out that those who refuse to partake for more than three weeks have excommunicated themselves and should return through the sacrament of repentance.  

But just as the Divine Liturgy and taking Communion has become a part of every event within our lives, so has it become enmeshed within the regular events of the Church.  So it is that the pattern of every Sunday’s Divine Liturgy; the primary purpose of which is to celebrate and participate in the Lord’s Resurrection; is shaped by other events in the Liturgical calendar.  For example, last week the Lord’s Resurrection was celebrated within the Liturgical context of the Nativity.  Today, the Lord’s Resurrection is celebrated within the Liturgical context of Theophany; so whereas last week we combined the themes of Christ’s birth, the visit of the wise men, and the Holy Family’s escape into Egypt with that of Christ’s death and Resurrection; this week we join the events surrounding Christ’s baptism with those of His death and Resurrection.  And you must admit that this is a very powerful combination: through immersion in water, we join Christ in his death; through immersion in water, the sins of the “old man” are washed away; and through being brought up again out of the water, we are symbolically brought out of the death of sin and into a new life in His Resurrection.  Baptism is such a beautiful celebration.

We are reminded of the importance of baptism every time we enter this temple.  Look at the South wall to your left.  That huge iconic mural of Christ’s baptism (the Tehopany) was put there for a reason.  But now look across at the North wall to your right: the matching iconic mural of the baptism of Rus’-Ukraine was not put there for just for the sake of artistic symmetry, or even to remind us of the role baptism played in the development of the Ukrainian Church and culture.  And while I think it is useful to think of yourself as one of those being baptized into Christ there in the Dnepro River, you are not getting the full effect if you stop there, either.  

Notice that we did not put the icons of Baptism at the front of the Church, we put them on each side: they are not the goal of our worship, but milestones along the way to other things.  First, they encourage us as we move towards participation in what the icon that is placed at the front of the Church demonstrates: the icon of the Mystical Supper which stands atop the Royal Doors draws us toward our own participation in the Holy Eucharist.  But if we stop there, I think we are still missing an important point.  Having come forward and partaken of the Body and Blood of Christ and accepted His deifying grace in our lives, as we are on our way out of the Church and back into the world, the baptismal icons are there to remind us of something else: the final words Christ gave to His Disciples as He was ascending into glory; ”Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

This is called the Great Commission, and fulfilling it is at the core of our identity as a Christians, as a parish, and as a Church.  May today’s delicious fruit - the entry into Orthodoxy of God’s servant Ronn, be the first of bountiful and unending harvest here. 

20090111 Following the Star - what will they find?

20090111 Following the Star - what will they find?

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I believe that honest seekers will always end up at Christ. His presence, indeed the reality of the entire Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), are so foundational that they cannot help but infiltrate every system of philosophy, every religion; and pull on every human heart.

Example 1:
Even a religion whose founder designed his scripture to undermine faith in the Trinity, the Incarnation, and salvation through Christ, could not help but have that very same scripture point towards these very same things. Many of the verses Mohammad came up with to support his own position attack Christianity, attack the Trinity, attack Jesus Christ, and attack His role in our salvation. But the Truth is still visible through the clouds of blasphemy: Muslims are taught to place their trust in the pre-eternal Word, the Word that God gifted mankind to bring them to true wisdom and understanding. They are deceived in believing that the pre-eternal Word is incarnate in the classical Arabic Koran rather than in Jesus Christ; but the guidepost is there for those who wish to follow it beyond the bounds of Islam and into the fullness of the truth.

Example 2:
The same was true two thousand years ago for the wise men. They were astrologers. Like Islam, astrology is a flawed religion, something unbefitting and harmful for Godfearing people. It can lead either to a strong sense of fatalism (as when one believes that the relative position of the stars and planets determine events) or occultism (as when people attempt to see things or alter outcomes using such knowledge). But it was God Himself who placed the stars and planets in the heavens, and honest study of them – as of all His handiwork – will point people to Him. Moreover, the Lord – through His angels and our god-like consciouses – is always trying to move us towards Him and a deeper understanding of the Truth. As we learned on Wednesday, St. John Chrysostom taught that the very star that led the wise men was an angel, perhaps even the Archangel Gabriel, who had worked his way into the visions of the wise men in order to lead them to the ultimate source of Truth and salvation: Jesus Christ.

Example 3 (and segue):
On a personal note, it was this same search for Truth that led me here. This time, the Lord did not have to work through the delusion of astronomy. I already knew Him as the Christ. I knew of His love for all of us and His plan for our salvation. But seeking for a fuller and deeper understanding of these things led me here. I am not the first, nor will I be the last to make this same journey. There are so many people who are seeking the Truth. They will eventually follow that star to Orthodoxy. But what will they find?

What will they find?:
The wise men and shepherds saw the Light of Divinity shining from the Incarnate Christ child. The bowed in adoration and offered the best of themselves to Him in result. But what will this generation find when they follow that star here? Will they see the Light of Divinity shining through the Incarnation of Christ in us and in our Church?

One of our Communion prayers (the second of St. John Chrysostom) captures my concern when it says;

Lord my God, I know that I am not sufficiently worthy that You should come under the roof of the house of my soul, for it is entirely desolate and fallen in ruin and You cannot find, in me, a worthy place for Your head. but, as you humbled Yourself from on high for our sake, humble Yourself now to the measure of my lowliness. As You took it upon Yourself in the cave to lie in the manger for dumb animals, so take it upon Yourself now to enter into the manger of my ignorant soul and into my defiled body.
(page 48, UOC-USA Prayer Book)

The wise men saw the divinity of Christ despite his meager surroundings, so it is possible that people will see beyond our obvious shortcomings and see Him in us and in what we do. [By the way, it is to cover my obvious shortcomings that the Church puts me in such fine vestments, as if even pure gold and brightest diamonds could ever manage such a thing!] But seekers who are not as diligent as the wise men may not be so charitable. It is heartbreaking how many honest seekers fall away from Christianity and from Orthodoxy. Why is this? Trust me, it is not the theology; nor is it the worship. It is me. It is us. We have turned them away. We have posted guards at the entrance to the cave with our hard-heartedness and sloth. And as a result they seek Him elsewhere.

Can you imagine a greater tragedy that someone leaving Orthodoxy to find true spirituality, or to find true charity, or to find true love? It is tragic because Orthodoxy is the fountain of true spirituality, of true charity, and of true love! It is tragic because the imitations and shadows of these things found elsewhere will not satisfy as well as does the primal version that springs from Christ.

People should not feel the need to leave Orthodoxy to find spirituality, or charity, love. These things are at the center of Orthodoxy, at the very center of who God calls us to be. They do not need to go any further east to find mystical union: it is here. It is here in our ascetic practices, in our prayers, and in our worship. They should not need to go to a Salvation Army soup kitchen or a government welfare office to find and offer charity: it is here in our prayers and in our missions. They do not need to turn to pornography, hook-ups, or secular societies to find love and fellowship: the greatest love and fellowship is found here, where we are united in one another and with Christ in a single, healthy, and joyous body.

People should not feel the need to look elsewhere for such things, but if we do not share these treasures with them, then they will.

There is a warning in today’s Gospel reading and it is echoed in our own experience. In the Gospel, the Christ could not stay in His home of Israel. He could not continue to bless the meager cave with His presence. So He left and went to Egypt. There was a time in Ukraine when Christ was persecuted, when Christians feared that the faith – and the faithful – would be exterminated in the Communist “slaughter of the innocents”. So the founders of this parish and of our diocese fled their homeland for a new home. Here there is no real persecution, but we can still follow Herod’s example and drive Him out. We can still leave Him with no “worthy place to lay [His] head”. We could still end up with an empty manger. And an empty manger is, at best, a historical artifact, incapable of sustaining adoration and faith.

[An anecdote: I am reminded of a story another priest told me. He wanted to start a Ukrainian Orthodox mission in the South. He thought he had found gold when he found a small Ukrainian Orthodox parish that continued to meet without a priest. He thought that they would welcome him and assist him in his efforts to spread the Good News. But they rejected him, preferring to gather once a week to listen to recordings of the liturgy rather than actively worshiping with a living priest.]

I can’t tell you how many people have told me how much joy they see and feel here at St. Michael’s. They recognize the life and the vitality. Many of you have noticed and remarked on the “new spirit” here. Let me tell you what it is you see and feel: you see and feel the love and hope of the Christ child. You feel the reality of His love and the possibility of salvation through your relationship with Him. As long as we embrace this; as long as we bow down in adoration before Him; as long as we continue to order our lives around this Truth; [as long as we exhibit true Orthodox spirituality, charity, and love] the star will continue to shine over Woonsocket; people will come to worship the King; and they will find Him here in us.

20090104 Saying the Names

20090104 Saying the Names

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Hebrews 11: 9-10, 17-23, 32-40
St. Matthew 1: 1-25

Keeping Tradition [Saying the Names]

Today is the Sunday before the Nativity in the flesh of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. On this Sunday, which we call “The Sunday of the Fathers”, we remember the lives of all of our God-pleasing predecessors, from Adam to St. Joseph the Betrothed. In our reading from Saint Paul to the Hebrews, we get a reminder of the faith that united them; of the earthly trials this faith often brought them; and of the common reward that await all who put their faith in God first and foremost in their lives. The reading from the beginning of the Gospel of St. Matthew is the genealogy of Christ; from Abraham to Joseph, the betrothed of the Bohoroditsa and the stepfather and protector of Jesus Christ. Amongst the 39 some-odd “begets”, this reading gives the names of the patriliniage of Christ, according to the Flesh. [I say “according to the flesh” because Christ is God-Incarnate; the patriliniage of His Godhead is quite short. It is proclaimed in our Creed. He is the “Lord Jesus Christ, begotten of the Father before all ages.”]

Names in reading
Let me share some thoughts that some of you may have been having during these readings. You may be wondering; “why bother with all those names?” Couldn’t we shorten the Gospel reading a bit and get right to the ‘good stuff’ about the actual birth of the baby Jesus? After all, no one can remember all those names from year to year?”

Brothers and sisters, the Church included these names, both in the Gospel itself, and in the Lectionary for this Sunday. I reckon it did so for a reason, and for the next few minutes, I want to reflect on why.

We Don’t Forget our Family

We have public Panikhidas for our departed loved ones on the anniversary of their repose. We have public Liturgies committed to their memory and blessed repose on “Soul Saturdays”. The priest is responsible for keeping the records of the departed and commemorating all of them, regardless of whether they have blood relatives remaining in this parish or even on this earth. He commemorates the names of the departed before every liturgy and in his daily prayers. Why do we bother to do this? Why commemorate people who are already gone? Why should the parish – through its priest – bother keeping the memory of long-forgotten people alive? In fact, why do we bother visiting and caring for the graves of loved ones? Why do we ask a dedicated committee to look after our cemetery in Blackstone?

We remember loved ones who have gone on to their reward before us because they are family. They were and remain a part of who we are. The instinct to do this is blessed, formed not just out of blood and genes, but a subconscious recognition of an even greater truth: there is only one Body of Christ. Last week we learned that His Body is not divided into Gentile or Jew; Male or Female. Now we learn that it is not divided by time. Everyone who has “put on Christ” does so for all eternity. His robe of incorruption is not removed by the decay of the grave. It is not just their memories that live on, it is their eternal souls.

Segue: Our Traditions
We take the time to list the ancestors of Christ because they are part of us. Saying their names is part of our tradition, as is going to visit the graves on St. Thomas Sunday, commemorating the dead on their anniversaries with Panikhida’s and koliva or kutia, and praying for (and with) them in our daily prayers. Like all good traditions, they teach and reinforce fundamental truths, not just in our minds, but in our hearts.

America is often chided for being a land devoid of tradition; and Americans for being more interested in the immediate future than caring about the past. At best, this part of our American culture tells us to look to the past in order to learn from its failures and build on its successes. Many will say that this is why we teach our children history. This is true as far as it goes, but for Christians, we preserve our traditions for even greater reasons that go beyond such superficial rationality.

When we took our youth caroling yesterday, it was not just to bring joy to people who cannot join us here in worship; nor was it just to make sure that our youth know more about the “blessed founders and benefactors” of this God-protected parish. These reasons are important, and these goals were met; but the fact is that we these things like caroling because they are part of our tradition. They reaffirm the very best of who we are. And yes, they do this by showing how to share joy with the disadvantaged, and yes they do this by teaching us more about our history. But our traditions should not just be thought of and valued simply as “tried and true methods” to meet specific “learning objectives”; any more than our praise of God should be summarized as a way to meet the goal of salvation. It does this, but it also does so much more. We do these things because they make us more human; and because when we do not do them, we become less so.

The Need for Roots

A rose plucked from its roots will only remain beautiful for a brief time. Or, to use a more timely metaphor, a tree shorn of its roots will soon lose its vigor (followed by its needles). A metaphor like this can be scary for a parish formed by immigrants radically separated from their roots. There may be a fear that assimilation will make this community like the plucked rose or cut Christmas tree. Our decline in numbers over the last couple of generations might further this fear. But this is a mistaken understanding. The deepest roots of this community are not in Ukraine; but in Christ. Ukraine was “good soil”, but there is good soil here, as well. We foster our good traditions and the memory of those gone before us because this keeps us connected with these deepest roots. They strengthen this community and they strengthen us with the faith that preserves through all times.

And by keeping our traditions and naming all these names, we are better prepared and more able to celebrate the thing that they have offered up to us: the Nativity of Christ in the flesh, and the Nativity of Christ in our hearts.