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Matt 18:23-35



Parables teach us about the truths of God's Kingdom in images that are
familiar to us in our earthly lives.  In this parable, each of us is
represented by the debtor who owes his master a huge sum of money.  His
indebtedness is so great that he has no hope of paying it off and all of his
life is ruled by this debt, it influences his every decision.  He is, in
fact, enslaved by his debt.  In the same way we could be said to owe a great
debt to God - a debt so great it is impossible to repay.  This debt is the
result of our fallen and sinful nature, for because of our own sinfulness,
we have taken the great bounty that God has provided for our salvation and
squandered it on satisfying our own pleasures and passions.  As a result, we
are now enslaved by this unrepayable debt, we are caught in a deep pit out
of which we cannot climb.



In the parable, the indebted servant goes to his master seeking to have
"more time" to repay the debt.  He is focused on repayment and his solution
is to somehow bargain with his master to enable him to repay that which is
unreapyable.   How often do we do the same thing.  We try to bargain with
God, offering this or that good deed or some kind of offering if only He
will give us some good in return or prevent some harm from befalling us.  We
even try to bargain for our salvation, somehow working out what *we* can do
to somehow gain credit with God.  But this is impossible and it is foolish
even to consider it.



The good news, however, is that God does not require from us the repayment
of this debt - He does not even desire it.  What He wants, what he desires
is our salvation, for us to enter into union and communion with Him and to
share His life.  Instead of demanding repayment for that which we have
squandered, God simply overlooks the "debt" and pulls us out of the pit
which we have dug for ourselves.  This is exactly what happened to the
indebted servant in the parable - unexpectedly, without any "strings
attached" the master freely forgave the debt.



Rather than force us to "get back" to the starting line for our salvation on
our own, God Himself lifts us up and restores us, resupplying us with
everything we need and showing us the path to take.  There is no repayment,
no appeasement, no bargaining, no "satisfaction" - He freely and simply
gives us a new start.  This is what happens at our baptism - all of the
effects of sin which have enslaved us and determined our behavior are
eliminated and we are again free to choose to follow Christ with no
impediments, nothing holding us down.



Our salvation, the purpose for which we were created, is to be like God, to
enter into His life and to live in union and communion with Him.  It is this
state of union with God that we call "deification" or "theosis' and it is
our destiny.  While we are enslaved by our sin, everything that we do is
determined by that enslavement and we are not free to choose to embark on
the path of salvation.  Only once we are freed from our enslavement are we
able to choose to follow Jesus Christ, to choose to be like Him, to choose
to be filled with His grace and to cooperate with its power.  In His love
for us, God wipes away our indebtedness and gives us all that we need so
that we are no longer enslaved by the necessity of sin.  For the first time
in our lives, it is possible to freely choose to love God, to follow Him and
to serve Him.  For the first time, we no longer are required to act
according to our sins, but we can now choose to act according to the will of
God.



In the parable, the indebted servant comes away from his master and
benefactor no longer bound by his unpayable debt.  He no longer lives in the
shadow of that debt and it no longer controls his every action.  He is truly
free to act in any manner that he chooses.  The first thing he does, the
parable tell us is that "he went out...(and) took (his fellow servant) by
the throat saying, 'pay me what you owe' ... and went and cast him into
prison until he should pay the debt".  This action might be understandable
if the first servant were still enslaved by his great debt.  He would have
need of every penny in order to pay off his master.  But he had been freed
from that debt, he no longer needed every penny, he had the freedom to be
merciful, as his master was merciful towards him.  But this was not the
case.



Blessed Theophylact points to the small phrase, "he went out" and invests it
with great significance saying that this indicates what happened.  As soon
as the servant "went out" of his master's presence, he forgot the great
mercy that was shown him, gratitude and thanksgiving no longer filled him,
he "went out" of the presence of his master and abandoned every impulse to
imitate his master's actions.  This is a warning to us, that even though we
have been freed, we still must use our freedom well and choose to follow
God.  When we are no longer constrained by our sin, it is still our choice
to follow Jesus Christ or not.  We can (and often do) choose to lapse back
into our old sinful behavior, choosing to go our own way, to appease our own
desires and to fulfill our own will rather than to follow Christ, to live
according to His will, to be like Him.  Whenever this happens, this is sin
and in order to be free of it, it is necessary to repent and turn away from
that old pattern of behavior.  To sin means that we have abandoned the
pathway to salvation and fallen again into our old enslaved habits.  The way
out of this fall is through repentance.  To repent does not mean merely to
be sorry for what you did, it means much more, it means to leave that
behavior behind, to turn the other way and strive never to go back there
again.  To repent means to exercise your free choice and to choose not to
repeat that sinful behavior.  When we repent, God comes and rescues us from
our misstep and sets us back on the path of salvation and again showers His
grace upon us that we might not be lacking in anything that we need.  By
remaining on the path of salvation, we never "go out" of the presence of God
but are filled continually with the remembrance of His mercy and love for
us, we are filled with the constant awareness of His presence.  This
remembrance and awareness of God's love enables us always to choose to
follow Him, not out of necessity, but out of love.



In the parable, when the master discovered his servant's wicked choice,
showing no mercy to his brother, then the master reinstates the debt and not
only enslaves but imprisions the unmerciful servant.  Some might interpret
this as the act of a vengeful God, but that is not so.  It is simply a
reminder that if we use our freedom to choose to re-enter our former
slavery, then we are no better off than we were before.  It is not the
master who imposes the punishment, but the wicked servant who chooses to
reenter his life of enslavement.  Others might interpret this as "karma" or
as the saying goes, "what goes around, comes around"  This too is not the
case.  The wicked servant is not the victim of some blind fate or some blind
"justice".  He freely chose to re-enslave himself and so he alone bears the
responsibility for what has happened to him.



By our sin, we have become enslaved.  We are so overcome by sin that we can
only act in accordance with that sinfulness.  We can no longer freely choose
to follow God, we can no longer choose to embark upon the path of salvation,
we can no longer choose to fulfill the purpose and destiny for which we were
created (that is to be like God and live in union and communion with Him).
But God by His great love and compassion is merciful to us and does not
demand repayment of any kind for all of His gifts that we have squandered in
our enslavement, but rather He forgives us, He frees us and restores us
again to a state and condition where we can freely choose to follow Him.
This is the great love and mercy of God.  It is now up to us to choose Him,
not just "once and for all" but also to choose to follow Him constantly each
and every moment of our lives.    The only way that we fall back again into
our former slavery is if we "go out" of God's presence, if we reject Him and
freely choose instead to submit ourselves again to our former slavery to
sin, death and the devil.  If we stumble and slip back into sin, it is only
necessary to repent and He will restore us again.



My brothers and sisters, you have been made free, you have been restored to
the path of salvation.  Use your freedom well and choose to follow Jesus
Christ, choose to walk the path that leads to your deification, to your
union and communion with God; choose to be like Him and that choice will
lead you into the Kingdom of Heaven.

On this day, Sept 11, just 4 years ago, a great tragedy befell this nation,
terrorists attacked this nation flying hijacked passenger planes into the
World Trade Center and other targets.  Thousands of people were killed and a
we experienced a tragedy like no other in our lifetimes.  This year, just a
few weeks ago we experienced another great tragedy, this time a natural
tragedy as a hurricane hit the gulf coast and destroyed the city of New
Orleans and the surrounding areas.  Again, thousands of people lost their
lives.  Again, we experienced a tragedy more extreme than any other in our
lives.



These events make us look at Divine Providence - where is the hand of God in
these events?  Some might (and do) say that this is God's punishment for our
wickedness.  But that is ridiculous, outright foolishness!  God desires that
no man should perish and that all men should be saved.  Did He not extend
His mercy to Lot in order to save the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah if
only there were 10 righteous men to be found?  Surely there were more than
10 righteous men to be found in New Orleans.  Is this the hand of God? No.



What then *is* Divine Providence.  If God did not bring the storm then why
did it happen, how can we find meaning in this tragic event?



Divine Providence is not fate. God does not control every event of our
lives. God does, however, provide for us all that is necessary for our
salvation.

Divine providence is not about controlling what happens to us, but rather it
is the fact that in every event of our lives an opportunity is provided
whereby that event can be used to acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit (see
St Seraphim of Sarov's conversation with N.A. Motovilov on the Acquisition
of the Holy Spirit). Divine Providence is not about what happens to us, but
rather how we respond to the events of our lives. It is Divine Providence
that always gives us an avenue of response that is Godly, that brings us
closer to God, that fills us with divine grace.

The Optina Elders often speak about the necessity of accepting everything in
our lives without complaining and with thanksgiving to God. This is true,
however, it is also necessary to realize that this instruction is not about
"resigning to fate" but rather finding in each event the path of salvation
and joyfully following that path rather than wasting time bemoaning our
personal misfortune (or wasting time indulging our pride, love of pleasure
and passions when we are "fortunate").

So Divine Providence is not about fate - but rather about seeking and
finding the salvific and grace bearing elements in the events of our lives
and pursuing that rather than getting lost in the cares of the world.



When we look at these tragedies in this light we begin to see where to look
to find divine providence.  In what has happened, how will you respond to
acquire more of the grace of God, to draw nearer to God.  Perhaps this
tragedy brought home to you the transience of earthly things, of possessions
and pleasures and reinforced those things which are of true importance -
family, friends, and our spiritual life.  Perhaps this tragedy gives you an
opportunity to give alms to those who have lost so much - for the giving of
alms brings the grace of God.  Whatever Godly response Divine Providence has
provided for you (and it will be different to each person), take that path,
draw nearer to God, acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit, work out your
salvation.  In this we will find meaning in all the events of our lives from
great tragedy to great fortune.

Matt 19:16-26



It is said that one way to trap a monkey is to put some food at the bottom
of a large jar with a narrow mouth just big enough for the monkey to get his
hand into.  The monkey will put his hand into the jar to get the food, but
when he grabs it, his hand is now too big to pull out of the jar through the
narrow mouth.  Rather than let the food go and pull his hand away, the
monkey will stubbornly, even irrationally, hold onto the food and remain
trapped.



Today in the Gospel we heard of a similar situation.  A young man came to
Jesus asking, "How can I be saved".  First our Lord told him that he must
keep all the commandments and when the young man assured Him that he had
done so from his youth, our Lord then said to him, "Only one thing you lack.
Give all that you have to the poor and come and follow me."  The Gospel
tells us that the young man went away sad for he had great riches.  He was
unable to let go and get his "hand" out of the jar and so remained trapped.



Today our Lord offers us the same opportunity, to let go of our worldly life
and to receive instead His eternal life.  All we have to do is to follow
Him, to turn from our worldly ways, our worldly priorities, our worldly
desires, our worldly pleasures and instead to follow the heavenly path, to
receive heavenly riches and pleasures and to share in the life of the Holy
Trinity.  This, in fact, is the purpose for which we were created - to share
in the life of God, to enjoy the heavenly pleasures, to live forever with
our creator.  But because we have sinned we have turned aside from that path
and gotten lost in the distractions of this world.  We have worldly
possessions, worldly ambitions, worldly careers, worldly desires, worldly
priorities, and so on all holding us back from gaining the true fulfillment
and joy of our union with God.  Our Lord Jesus Christ, by His death and
Resurrection has set us back on the right path and now all we have to do is
to follow Him.



But we are trapped, as it were, by this world.  Each person has something
that holds him back - for this young man in the Gospel it was his wealth -
something that keeps him from pulling his hand out of the "monkey pot" and
freeing him to follow Jesus Christ.  Now that something might be wealth, or
it might be the simply the enjoyment of worldly pleasures or it might be
pride and the desire for worldly esteem.  For some it might be the demands
of a career or some other achievement.   Each person has at least one thing
keeps him from following Christ, that has him trapped as long as he holds
onto it (some people, indeed most of us, probably have more than one thing).
We come to the Church, to our Lord, saying "What must I do to be saved" and
He replies to us first that we must live the life of the Church.  Even if we
are able to do this, however, He still says to us, "Give up those things
which hold you back - let go of the food in the pot and take out your hand -
and then come and follow me."



To let go of our prized possession, whether it be wealth, pride, our own
ideas, pleasure or whatever, is a difficult thing.  For this reason we hear
elsewhere in the Gospel, "If any man would come after me, let him deny
himself, take up his cross and follow me"  Here the act of "letting go" of
these worldly things is equated with self denial and crucifixion.  That's
the kind of effort that it takes.  But rather than look at the effort,
rather than focus on what you lose, let your mind and heart settle on your
goal, on what you will gain.  Our Lord offers us immortality in the place of
mortality; He offers us eternal bliss in the place of mere happiness that
fades after a moment; He offers us true fulfillment and purpose in place of
searching and emptiness.  All these things He offers to us and ultimately He
offers us Himself - to live in intimate union with Him throughout eternity;
to share in His life, to participate in the life of the Holy Trinity.  The
scope and depth of these eternal riches and joys is unimaginable,
unthinkable and unspeakable.  We don't even have the ideas or the words to
describe the heavenly life - and it is all freely offered to us.  All we
have to do is to let go of what we think we have in this world and empty our
hands and hearts so that we can accept this great gift of grace and be
filled with this new life.



Even when we fully comprehend what God offers to us, to let go of what we
have is still hard.  But Glory to God, He does not require that we
disentangle ourselves all at once or even by ourselves.  He stands ready to
help us gently, carefully, step by step to let go of this world and grasp
the heavenly life.  He doesn't even show us everything all at once, but only
shows us the steps that we are ready to take.  As we take those steps, He is
there with us to strengthen us, to guide us, to support us so that there is
no danger of a misstep or a fall of any kind.  We are surrounded by our
friends in the Faith, by those who share this life here on earth with us as
well as those who have completed their course on this earth and who now
stand before the throne of God in a foretaste of the heavenly life we all
hope to obtain together.  Not only that but the whole company of the angelic
host is with us, aiding us and encouraging us as well.  We are not left
alone in this, but we are united to one another as we are all united to
Christ.



This is the love and compassion of Jesus Christ towards us that even while
we were still trapped by our worldly life, He comes to us, He shows us the
great life and destiny that awaits us and when we express our desire for
that heavenly life with Him, He helps us step by step, moment by moment to
let go of the things that hold us back, that have us trapped until we can
let go, slip our hand out of the trap and instead take His hand as He leads
us into His kingdom.



Constantly remind yourselves of the heavenly joys - take every taste you
can; in the heart, contemplate heavenly things, nurture and develop in
yourself the desire for those things.  Here in the Church, surrounded by the
hymns and prayers of the services, the icons of the saints, the smell of the
incense which reminds of our prayer and God's great grace that surrounds
us - here we experience a little bit of heaven.  But this is only a
foretaste, a preview of the unimaginable joy, the incomprehensible pleasure,
the unbounded life that awaits us in heaven.



To each of us, our Lord says "Come, let go of the worldly things that hold
you back and come follow Me and I will give to you rest from your labors, I
will give you great and unbounded joy, I will give you Myself that we might
be joined and share in the eternal life that is the life of the Holy
Trinity."  Keep this goal before your eyes, before your mind, before your
heart that you might always orient yourself away from the world and towards
Jesus Christ.

Matt 21:33-42



Our God is so merciful and loving to us.  In this parable we see the care
that He has taken to prepare a place for those who love Him in this world.
God, is of course, "a certain man" and the vineyard He planted is the
Church.  Just in the use of the word "planted" we see the care that He has
expended upon us.  We have all at one time or another planted something - a
garden, a flowerbed, or even a potted plant.  Think of the care that goes
into planting.  To plant something implies that first the ground is cleared
and prepared.  All the competing  weeds are removed, plowed under or pulled
and the stones are removed as the soil is dug and broken up.  We add
fertilizer to make sure the soil is rich and healthy.  Then we carefully
plant the seeds or the seedlings into the soil, making certain that they are
the proper depth, not so deep that they will be unable to sprout nor too
shallow so that they will be eaten by the birds or uprooted at the first
gentle breeze.  The new plants are watered abundantly so that they don't dry
out but continue to be strong and to grow



All of these things God does for us as well.  He has planted His vineyard -
that is the Church - and we are the young seedlings that He has planted
here.  He clears the wild soil of our hearts, removing the weeds, that is
the cares of the world, and the stones, the temptations and obstacles to our
growth.  He adds the fertilizer of His love and compassion to us that we
might be nourished by His grace and then plants each of us in the perfect
place - in a parish where we might grow together, helping one another.  And
we are watered with His grace that flows to us freely in the sacraments
beginning with Baptism and continuing on with all the others, especially the
Holy Mystery of His Body and Blood by which we are united with Him.



The parable then goes on to detail some of the additional care that God has
taken for us.  He puts a hedge around the vineyard.  This hedge separates
the vineyard from the rest of the countryside, making it a separate place.
It defines the limits and protects the vineyard from those who would intrude
into it.  Likewise God sets us apart from the world, calling us out of the
world as a peculiar (or special) people.  We are set apart from the world by
our way of life, that is the life in Christ, whereby our outlook, our
priorities (the things that are important to us), our goals, our standards
and our actions are different.  We look to those things which are of Christ,
of heaven for our hope and our reason for living rather than to the things
of the world.  Because we live within the boundaries of the heavenly
kingdom, we are set apart from those who live only according to the world.
Another way by which we are hedged about is by the canons or rules that
govern the life of the Church.  Now notice that the hedge is only around the
outside, it is not a maze that determines every move and path or a skeleton
that forces a certain structure.  Because it is around the outside it simply
shows us what the outer boundaries are but allows complete freedom within
those boundaries.  This is the nature of the life of the Church which
defines for us the boundaries of belief and practice, but which also allows
for a great deal of variety and freedom within those boundaries as God
provides for each of us different opportunities and situations.  Just as the
hedge also protects the vineyard from the outside world, so also our way of
life protects us from the sinful and spiritually unhealthy influences from
outside the Church.  That "hedge" of canons and rules show us clearly what
things we will turn away from and avoid, what things will lead us astray,
what things will foster greater temptation and difficulty in our spiritual
life.  We are both separated from the world and protected from the dangers
that are found within it.



In this vineyard is also built a tower.  This tower is for protection as
well, it is the place from which a watchman can see over the whole of the
vineyard, noting any disorder, anything that is out of place or that
threatens the well being of the vineyard.  This tower for us in the Church
is the heavenly choir of the angels and the saints.  We are constantly
protected by the cover of the angelic host who shield us from every demonic
attack and who come to our aid at every step of our life.  We are also
protected by the prayers of the saints who stand now before the throne of
God interceding for us still in the world.  As the scripture tells us "the
prayers of a righteous man availeth much" so the prayers of the saints are
powerful for our protection and to bring to us God's mercy.



Finally, the planter of the vineyard brought in caretakers, those who would
faithfully take care of the planting and nurture the vines by every means
(by weeding, watering, fertilizing, pruning and so on) so that in due time
they might bear good fruit.  In the Church those caretakers are our pastors
and hierarchs.  These are the ones that Jesus Christ has placed in the
vineyard of the Church to care for the Church and nurture her that those
within her loving arms might mature, grow strong and bear the fruit of
grace.



Now the parable goes on to describe a tragedy, whereby the caretakers of the
vineyard try to rebel against the master and seize the vineyard for
themselves.  This part of the parable of course is told to the leaders of
the Jews (God's chosen people) as a warning that they might repent of their
rebellious ways and return to serving God.  But it also serves as a warning
to those who are called to be pastors and hierarchs in the Church not to
misuse or abuse the position that we have been given, but rather to act as
faithful servants of the Master.  Our Lord has taken an even greater measure
in the Church in that the caretakers, like the whole vineyard are constantly
in the presence of the Master through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit for
at Pentecost this great new treasure and characteristic was given to the
Church.  Not only is she planted and established by God, but He dwells
within her constantly by the coming of the Holy Spirit.



And so my brothers and sisters, we are here within the vineyard of Christ,
lovingly planted by His gentle hand to be showered with the grace of the
Holy Spirit and to grow and bring forth the spiritual fruit.  We are bounded
and protected by the life of the Church and the canons and rules which guide
that life.  We are watched over by the angelic host and the choir of the
saints.  We are cared for by the loving hand of our pastors and archpastors.
Greatest of all we live and abide in the presence of the Master Himself,
through the outpouring and indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  What a great
mercy God has provided for us, what an outpouring of His love and compassion
for us.  How great is His provision, how great is His love for us that He
has established this vineyard, this Holy Church in which we are able to
establish spiritual roots, to grow, to draw strength from the grace of the
Holy Spirit by which we are watered and fed and to mature and spiritual
persons, bearing the fruit of grace in due time.  God has given to us this
great treasure, this great opportunity - we have but to make use of it and
live in His Kingdom according to His provision for us.

John 3:13-17



A portion of today's Gospel is perhaps one of the most well recognized
quotations from the Scripture in our society.  We see it on billboards, on
license plates, on bumper stickers, held up on banners at sporting events,
and quoted by every salvation monger on the street.  It is almost impossible
that someone who lives in our society today has not heard of "John 3:16".
The popularity of this quote is not surprising, nor is it unfounded for it
tells us of something very important, something profound and remarkable,
something that brings hope and joy to our lives.  It tells us that "For God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever
believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life".



The very first words of this portion of the Gospel, "For God so loved the
world..." is in itself quite profound.  In these words we are told and
reminded that God, the Creator of all things, the only-existing One, Who is
above the heavens, uncontainable and incomprehensible, considers us, His
creation, and loves us.  He loves us even though we are of a different and
inferior nature than He.  He truly loves us, not as a man loves a pet, but
rather as a parent loves a child or even as a husband loves his wife.  This
is in itself a remarkable statement for often when we think of God - even in
today's culture overwhelmed with the self gratifying permissiveness and warm
fuzzies that passes for love - we tend to fear Him rather than love Him.  We
tend to think of God either as someone who is so distant that He doesn't
care, or as someone who is bigger and stronger and therefore someone who we
must avoid offending and who is in need of placating.  God, as we often
perceive Him, is some great celestial judge who plays favorites and we need
to figure out how to get on His good side.  But this false image of God is
wiped away in just the few words - "God so loved the world".  He does not
favor just a few, but He loves the whole world.  This is confirmed elsewhere
in the Scripture where we are told that God loves all men and desires that
none should perish but that all should be saved and come to a knowledge of
Himself.  God loves us - he does not wait for us to do something that makes
us worthy in His sight - He simply loves us without qualification.  God
loves us - He is not offended, waiting for a suitable apology, angry and
demanding of servile self deprecation - He loves us as His own child,
opening His arms to us, embracing us.  God loves us.



These words also remind us that God does not limit His love to one certain
group of people, one nation, one class, one culture.  He loves the world,
the whole world, without exception.  He loves all men and desires that none
should perish.  He does not limit His love to only those who find favor, who
placate Him, who achieve first some level of righteousness - no, He loves
each of us with that unbounded, unconditional love.



God loves the world so much, in fact that "He gave His only begotten Son."
In these words are encompassed the great truths of the incarnation and our
redemption.  God did not send a servant, an angel, an archangel.  He did not
send another creature, but He Himself took on human flesh and dwelt among
us.  God, the second Person of the Trinity; the Son begotten before all
ages, light of light, true God of true God; the logos, the Word; the
expression of God became as one of us.  The Creator of all became as one of
His own creatures, fully man and yet never ceased His divinity and so is
also fully God at the same time.  God loves us so much that He Himself came
to  us.  Not only did He come to dwell among us, but in the course of His
life He gave of Himself completely, living as we live, suffering as we
suffer, even experiencing death as we die.  All this He does for a reason,
that we might share in his life, that we might be restored to union and
communion with Him.



"That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life".
This is the purpose of the incarnation, of God's coming to us.  God loves us
and wants us to share His life.  This is the reason for which we were
created - to share the life of God.  This is what was lost in the fall - our
participation in that life.  This is what is restored to us in Jesus Christ's
life, death and resurrection - the ability to be reunited with Him.  He does
not will that any man should perish but that all might be saved and come to
a knowledge of the Truth.  We were created to live within the life of the
Holy Trinity - to share in the life of God Himself.  By sin, we have not
only lost that life, but we have also lost our way to finding that life.
God, in His great love, comes to us that we might be restored.  He teaches
us, instructs us in the path of salvation.  By His life, our Lord Jesus
Christ, shows us the path of salvation.  All we have to do is to believe
that He is True, that what He tells us is true and act on that belief by
following Him, by fulfilling the instructions He gives us - not so that He
will love us (because He already does love us) but so that we might love Him
and be joined to Him thus sharing in His life as He originally intended.



Now it is easy to see why this verse among all of scripture is so well
known - in just a few words it proclaims to the world God's love and care
for each and every person from the greatest to the least and describes how
He opens to us the path of salvation.  However it is not enough just to
recognize this - we must of course embark on that path; we must of course
live the life that He provides for us; we must acquire the grace that
transforms us and changes us into His likeness.  Just as it is not enough
just to hear these words and stop there - it is also necessary to hear the
words of the Gospel that follow this.



"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that
through Him the world might be saved."  When we see the greatness and love
of God, when we become aware of His great holiness and His condescension to
us, we are faced with our own unworthiness, our own sinfulness, our own
dirtiness.  But this awareness is not given to us to judge us, but rather as
a spur to embark on the path of salvation.  God, Whom we are told is an all
consuming fire - upon Whom a man cannot look and remain alive, does not come
to us in the bright hot purity of His essence that we might be consumed.
Rather He comes to us as a man, incarnate, taking on flesh and blood as we
have.  He comes to us as one of us that we might touch Him and speak with
Him, and learn from Him without being consumed and burnt by His purity and
holiness.  In this we see His mercy, we see His compassion, we see His love
for us.  The true purpose of His coming is to enable us to be saved - not to
destroy us, but to restore us to His image and likeness so that we can see
Him and hear Him and touch Him and be united with Him and not be burned or
consumed as a wax melts in the fire or as a piece of wood is burned to ash.
Rather it is His desire that we might become as gold and silver and precious
stones that take the fire into themselves and so shine with its luster and
brightness.  This is God's desire for us, that we might be saved, that we
might be united with Him, that we might take Him into ourselves and so burn
and shine with the brightness of His purity and holiness.



God loves us, God comes to us that we might love Him and that we might come
to Him.  He does not desire our death and destruction, but rather He desires
that we might be united with Him - that we who are grass might be united
with He Who is fire and behold we are not consumed but bedewed as the bush
of old burned and was not consumed.  Such is the great love of God for us,
such is His desire for us - let us then follow Him on the path of salvation
that we might be united with Him, that we might be made one with Him and
share in His life and in His love.

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Description : read only reminder

Matt 25:14-30; 2Cor 6:1-10



How great and wonderful our God is.  Even to the least of His servants He gives
gifts, no one is left without, but His grace is showered upon all of us.  To
each of us He gives gifts that are appropriate to our nature and state.  God
gives to each one according to his strength, as much as each can carry and use
so that we each work according to our capacity and to the utmost limits of our
strength.  It is only required of us that we use the gifts that He gives.  This
we see from the Gospel today and the parable of the talents.  The master gave to
each of his servants different gifts according to the abilities of each one and
each servant was expected to use the gifts that he had been given to his own
profit and to that of the master.



St Nikolai Velimirovic describes it this way:

"So then what did the servants do with what they had received?  The one who had
received five, took and traded with what he had and made five more - likewise
the one with two.  These servants used their talents.  This image of "trading"
and commerce that we find in the parable is an image of that which exists, or
should exist in the kingdom of human souls.  Of anyone who inherits lands it is
expected that he will expand them; of anyone who has acquired fields it is
expected that he work them; of anyone who has learned a skill it is expected
that he use it, both for his own profit and that of his neighbour; of anyone who
has a craft it is expected that he pass it on to others; of anyone who has
invested money in commerce it is expected that he increase it.  Men move, work,
beautify things, collect, exchange, buy and sell.  Each strives to acquire what
is necessary for daily life and each strives to improve his health, to take care
of his daily needs and to ensure his physical well-being in the longer term. 
And this is only a rough sketch of what a man must do for his soul, for the soul
is the more important.  All our external needs are an image of our spiritual
needs, and a reminder and teaching that we must exert ourselves on behalf of the
hungry and thirsty, the naked and sick, the impure and the miserable, both in
body and soul.



"Every one of us who has received from God five measures or two or one, of
faith, wisdom, benevolence, fear of God, yearning for spiritual purity and
strength, or meekness, or obedience to God, must strive at least to double the
measure, as the first and second servants did and as men generally do when
engaged in commerce or some craft."



How then do we work with these gifts that God has given us so that they might
increase.  Let us turn for a moment to what we heard today in the epistle:
"...in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God,... By pureness,
by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love
unfeigned..."  These are just some of the means by which the Apostle tells us
that we use what God has given us.  Let us consider just a few of these.



"By purity".  When we strive to keep our lives pure and holy, when we live the
life of Christ, when we conform ourselves to the likeness of God, keeping
ourselves from all sin and evil - then we live a life of purity, we live a life
by which the grace of God is increased in us.  This is the same struggle that we
all face on a daily basis, to live a pure life, to resist temptation and sin. 
This daily effort that we put forth to live according to the Kingdom of God in
and of itself doubles and redoubles the grace with which we have been gifted by
God.  We do not live lives that are inattentive, letting the world go by us
without a thought for heavenly things.  Rather we live attentively, remembering
God's presence with us and His love for us with each passing moment.  This
realization of God's love and the resulting desire to please Him and to serve
Him results in a life of purity and righteousness - that is a life in
conformance with His will.  This life of purity is one way in which we increase
the gifts that are given to us.



"By knowledge".  Knowledge is not simply knowing about God, though that is an
important part of it.  Knowledge is much more - it is knowing God.  As we put
forth the effort to know God, to come into a relationship with Him, to become
friends with Him as it were and to draw near to Him, we receive in return an
abundance of grace.  Each time we read the Gospel attentively, each time we read
some spiritual writings by the saints (who are the friends of God), each time
that we pray and talk with God, sharing with Him our hopes and dreams, our
difficulties and sorrows and our desires, we get to know Him a little more and
we gain a little more knowledge of Him.  As we gain this knowledge of God, we
increase the gifts of grace that He has given to us.



"By kindness, by love unfeigned".  In the Gospel we are reminded that in order
to love God whom we cannot see, it is necessary to love men who we can see.  And
again we are called to "love your neighbor as yourself".  In these sayings the
importance of how we treat others is brought out.  Whenever we interact with
others, as Christians we are Christ to that person at that time in that place. 
Just as Christ has shown love, mercy, compassion and kindness to us, so also we
show His love, His mercy, His compassion, His kindness to others.  In the
showing of kindness and love of God to others we grow in the grace and love that
God has given to us, we increase the gifts that we are given.



"By the Holy Spirit". Of course in all these things, God does not leave us
alone, but rather gives us help.  He Himself comes to us and dwells in us in the
person of the Holy Spirit.  It is by the prompting of the Holy Spirit that we
are motivated to act in purity.  It is by our contact with God in the Holy
Spirit that we come to know God more deeply.  It is the Holy Spirit Who gives us
the love and compassion to act towards others with kindness.  It is the Holy
Spirit Who, in response to our love of God, increases the grace that has been
given to us.



In this parable, there is mentioned the master, who is the image of God, and the
servants who are the image of each of us.  These servants act out of the desire
for gain, they have been given something by the master and hope to be rewarded
for their stewardship.  There are indeed many different motivations for living
the Christian life and for increasing the grace of God in us.  Initially some
people act not as servants, but as slaves; that is they act out of fear.  They
are afraid of what might happen to them, of the punishment for their sins, of
the wrath of God.  They fear God and so seek to appease Him and by doing so to
turn away His wrath.  Sometimes this fear of God is what brings us to Him
initially, however, fear is not eternal and therefore cannot serve as a solid
foundation for our life in Christ.  When these slaves begin to realize that God
loves them and that He desires to give to them all that is good and desirable,
they begin to act out of a different motive - that is the desire for gain.  The
slave has become a servant or an hireling willingly working for God to receive
the fruits of his own labors.  This is a much better condition than serving God
out of fear for it is based in the love of God for man and can indeed begin to
provide a foundation for eternal life.  However, in the household of God there
are slaves and servants, but there are also sons, the children of God.  The
children of the householder are not motivated by fear, for they live secure in
their Father's love.  Nor are the children motivated by desire for gain, for as
children they are the heirs of the Father and possess all that He has.  The
children of the household are motivated by their love for their Father and so we
as Christians have been adopted into the household of God, not as slaves to be
fearful, nor as servants to act in self interest and the desire for personal
gain, but rather as children to act out of our love for God.



When we love God as He loves us, we will live in purity, in love, in kindness,
in knowledge, not because of what we can gain from it, but rather because we
love God and wish to become like Him.  This is the highest and greatest type of
the Christian life - to simply act out of love for God.  Because this love must
grow and develop, because there are times when we are not yet perfected in this
love, then we are given by God the additional opportunity to increase that which
we already have, to act for a time as though we were servants.  But we do not
remain in that state forever for as love grows in us we ascend to our place as
sons and heirs.  When we fall away completely and forget ourselves entirely,
giving ourselves over to sin, then there is the fear of God to call us back into
His household - but even this leads not to enslavement, but rather back to
sonship.



God has given to us great gifts of love and grace and we use these gifts and
increase them in our soul so that we might become like Him, so that we might be
called the sons of God and enter into His kingdom as His children and heirs.






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Acts 17:16-34; Matt 15:21-28; Matt 13:44-54



St Dionysius was a Greek of noble birth and born to pagan parents in the
city of Athens.  Throughout his life St Dionysius sought for truth, he
investigated all the great philosophies of his time and became a scholar of
them.  In his pursuit of truth he left the city of Athens as a youth to
study in the city of Heliopolis in Egypt which was at that time a center of
philosophy.  While there, St Dionysius experienced one day when the sun went
dark at midday and the saint, even then in his ignorance, exclaimed that
surely the world is coming to an end or God Himself must be suffering.



Having completed his studies St Dionysius returned to his home in Athens,
where, as the highly educated son of one of the noblest families, he was
given the task of governing the city.  About this time the Holy Apostle Paul
came to the city of Athens preaching the Gospel of the Resurrection of
Christ.  His hunger for truth unsatisfied by his study of philosophy,
Dionysius invited St Paul to speak with him.  The Apostle asked Dionysius
what gods were worshipped in Athens and in reply Dionysius took Paul into
the city and pointed out the various temples of Cronos, Aphrodite, Zeus, and
so on.  As they walked through the city, they came upon a temple dedicated
to "the unknown god"  When St Paul asked Dionysius who this unknown god
might be, Dionysius replied "It is he among the gods, Who has not yet
manifested Himself but Who shall come in his own time.  He is the God who
shall reign over heaven and earth, whose kingdom has no end."



When the Apostle heard this he began to tell Dionysius of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Word of God Who was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became Man.
St Paul told how he had been nailed to the cross and died and how a great
darkness had come over all the earth at that moment as the sun hid its face
for three hours.  St Paul also told him how Jesus Christ rose from the dead
and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father.  Hearing
all this, St Dionysius recalled his studies in the city of Heliopolis when
the sun was darkened and he recalled his own words that God Himself must be
suffering.  He realized the truth of his own words in the preaching of St
Paul.  He who had sought the truth all his life had now found it.  St
Dionysius, the philosopher had studied and sorted through all the wisdom of
mankind as through a collection of the finest pearls and here he had found
the one pearl of great price.  His hunger and thirst for the Truth was
finally satisfied, he had found that for which he had sought.



St Dionysius from that moment on believed on Jesus Christ and having been
baptized with all his house, he left his city, his home and his possessions
all behind and followed Paul in all his travels that he might learn about
the One True God.



St Dionysius became the living embodiment of the parables that we heard
today in the Gospel.  Having found a treasure buried in a field, he went and
sold all that he had that he might purchase that field.  Having sorted
through the marketplace of the pearls of human wisdom and philosophy, he
found the one pearl of great price, the Truth of God Incarnate, Jesus
Christ.  This pearl of great price he purchased giving the whole of his
life.



We today have this same treasure before us, but it is not buried in a field
or hidden within a host of human philosophies.  This treasure, the great
treasure and pearl of great price: God Who came to us and God Who redeemed
us with His own suffering and blood and God Who nourishes us with His very
own precious and most holy Body and Blood and God Who defeated death and
freed the captives and Who leads us to the gates of paradise and has opened
for us the doors of heaven - this treasure is here before us in the One Holy
Catholic and Apostolic Church.  We are already the possessors of this great
wealth. However, we are also too often like those who are accustomed to
great wealth, we forget the great value of that which we have and so neglect
the treasure which we have been given.  We are used to the treasure house of
prayer; we find the exquisite beauty of the divine services to be "ordinary"
and everyday; we take for granted the abundant riches of the Orthodox Faith;
even the Holy Mysteries seem to have become for us commonplace.  We
constantly must remind ourselves of the greatness of what we have.  Before
us is set a great banquet, and even the crumbs which fall from the table are
of such great value that even a single crumb would sustain us.  But to us it
is just a crumb and we let it fall.



We have become like the apostles when our Lord was approached by the
Canannite woman.  The apostles had become accustomed to the spiritual wealth
that they enjoyed because of their Hebrew heritage and the teaching of
Christ.  Therefore when this woman came to Christ begging not to be admitted
to the banquet, but rather to have only the crumbs that fall from the table,
our Lord prolonged this encounter, emphasizing for the apostles just how
great a treasure they had so that they might not take it for granted.  Then
to show the surpassing value of even the "crumbs" that had fallen from the
table, by His power according to the faith of the woman, He healed the
daughter of the woman, giving her the "crumbs" which she so earnestly
desired.



This is for us, to wake us up, to remind us how great a treasure we possess.
Every time you pray even the simplest of prayers, recall the great privilege
you have been granted to be able to call on God as your Father.  Every time
you come into this Holy Temple and participate in the Divine Services -
remind yourself that you have been brought into the presence of God and that
His house is your house.  Every time you approach the Holy Mysteries, think
how great and wonderful it is that you who are dust and grass have been
admitted to touch and be touched by God Who is fire and yet behold you are
not consumed but like the bush that burned and was not consumed you are
covered with the dew of divine grace enabling you to touch God and by that
touch to become filled with that fire that is His presence and His love.



Recall the words that we sing at the end of the Divine Liturgy: "We have
seen the True Light, we have received the Heavenly Spirit, we have found the
True Faith, worshipping the undivided Trinity..."  Pray these words with
your whole being; with your whole mind, understanding the greatness of what
you have received; with your whole heart, full of the love for God and
gratitude for His abundant mercy; with your whole strength, giving
everything that you have and are over to the pursuit of holiness.



You have received the greatest treasure possible, you have been given the
pearl of great price, God Himself has come to you and touched you - live in
the reality of His presence and in the realization of His Kingdom.  Do not
take Him for granted, letting your faith lapse into ignorance or
superstition, but rather keep the memory of His mercy to you fresh in your
mind and heart and continue to pursue a greater and deeper knowledge of Him
all the days of your life.

John 17:1-13



When I lived in the Colorado mountains, there were many beautiful things to
see around me.  One of the things I particularly remember are the fields of
wildflowers.  A mountain meadow, beginning in the early spring and
continuing all through that season and the next, is filled with flowers of
many colors.  It is truly a beautiful sight.  There are small subtle flowers
which are low to the ground and there are others which grow tall.  Some are
bright and catch your eye quickly while others are simply a part of the
background until you notice them up close.  The bright sunshine brings out
their colors and the gentle breezes cause them to move creating a symphony
of shape and color for the eyes.



The Kingdom of God is like such a meadow filled with such flowers.  The
Light of God shines upon it bringing out the colors and shapes and the
breath of the Holy Spirit gently moves each blossom.  The flowers themselves
are the saints, each one manifesting in his life the beauty of God which he
nurtured and developed throughout his life.  Some of these blossoms in the
meadow of God's Kingdom stand out brighter and more noticeable than the
others and these are the ones that even we, in this darkened world, can
recognize as saints.  One such bouquet of saints is that of the Optina
elders whose memory we celebrate today.  Among the blossoms of God's garden,
these elders stand out as bright blooms from the same root, all moving in
harmony with one another.



What is it then that makes these men to be saints, why do we look at them as
blossoms in the garden of God?  In the Gospel today, one of the things that
we heard was the prayer of our Lord for his disciples in which he asks the
Father to keep them, "For I have given them the words which you have given
me and they have received them."   It is this that is at the heart of being
a saint - to have the words of God.  All those who are among the choir of
the saints have been given the words of God and have received them into
their hearts so that those words, like seeds in the ground, took root, grew,
brought forth life and the blossoms of the beauty of grace. Those saints
which appear brighter and more noticeable are those who not only have
blossomed with the words of God, but who in turn have spoken, either by word
or deed, the words of God for those of us still in this world to hear.  Such
are the Optina elders.  Each of these saints, beginning with the fathers
Leo, Moses and Anthony and continuing on in unbroken succession throughout
the years ending with the elder Nikon who was exiled after the Bolshevik
revolution, heard the word of God and kept it in their lives so that it took
root and grew and coming to maturity, it bloomed in them.  At the right
moment, each one was brought to the forefront, to speak, by word and deed
this word and to share it with others, planting in turn innumerable divine
seeds in the hearts of their hearers.  We too, today, still hear those words
through their lives, their letters, their talks and sayings which survive in
the memories and hearts where they had been planted.  And so in our own turn
those seeds are being planted in us and will grow and bring forth the same
blossom of grace that grew from the root of Optina.



How does this work in us, how do we become saints to bloom in the meadow of
God's kingdom?  In the world, we have all become "experts" at something.
Many of us have careers in which we have trained and studied some skill and
so have become expert enough to use that skill in a manner that provides our
livelihood.  Not only do we study and practice skills for our livelihood,
but we also do so for our own recreation.  We practice various sports or
games and become "expert" to varying degrees.  We engage in hobbies and
become "expert" in those topics which interest us.  Each of us has become
expert in one or more areas of life.  The saints are those who, having
received the Word of God, have kept it and studied it and practiced it until
they become "experts."   The saints are "experts" in the words of God.  By
their lives, they put these words into action, conforming themselves by
practice over and over again to the life that the word of God teaches.  They
study the words they have received from God through the Holy Scripture and
other spiritual reading, through the lives and sayings of the saints and
through the Tradition and services of the Church, becoming acquainted with
those words and their meaning and adapting their own way of thinking and way
of life to the truth that they have found in those words.  In this way they
become experts, both in word and deed, in the Word of God - that is what
makes a saint.



We too have this opportunity to become experts in the Word of God by making
the same choices as the saints to receive the words of God, to find their
meaning and to incorporate them into our lives.  If we wish to become
beautiful flowers in the meadow of the saints, then all that is necessary is
to hear the word of God and keep it - to become expert in it.  The elders of
Optina have not only become experts in keeping the word of God, but they are
also eloquent speakers of those words, planting their seeds in the hearts of
others.  Even today as we read their lives and their sayings those seeds are
planted in us.  Even today as we conform our lives, even a little bit, to
the kind of life in Christ that they led, we practice, as they did, the Word
of God which they received.  Even today we can go to visit the elders at the
Optina monastery as did countless thousands during their lives and we too
can pray at their graves asking them to pray for us, to console us, to
direct and instruct us - even as so many have before us.  And if we do, we
will find that although the field had been mowed and it seemed all the
flowers disappeared, that the root still lives and that again there are
saints blossoming from the same root as the Holy Elders of Optina there.
Not only there, but here too, in your very heart, that same seed of the Word
of God is planted and as you nurture it and cause it to mature in you, as
you become "expert" in that Word - you too will become a saint, walking the
same path and blooming in the same beautiful meadow of the Kingdom of God.

Luke 6:31-36



There is an old fable about a man named Androcles who was an escaped slave
in the old Roman empire.  He was hiding in a cave when all of a sudden he
heard a loud roaring.  The roaring grew louder and he saw a lion enter the
cave looking furious.  Androcles was afraid for his life and tried to hide
in the back of the cave, but it was small - there was no way the lion could
have missed him.  But rather than hunt the poor man down and have him for
lunch, the lion simply lay on his side and the roaring became whimpering as
he licked his paw.  Androcles saw that in the paw of the lion was a large
thorn which must have been causing the beast great pain.  This was his
chance to escape - the lion could not get to his feet without pain and
Androcles could run right past him and out of danger.  But this he did not
do, for Androcles was a compassionate man and the sight of this hurt and
suffering beast stirred that compassion to life in his heart.  He approached
the lion moving slowly and talking softly so as not to startle the beast.
The lion looked at him with hope and longing in his eyes as if to implore
Androcles to help him.  The man boldly reached out and took the lions paw
and very gently and carefully drew out the thorn.  The lion immediately
jumped up and began leap about for joy, rubbing his great head against the
man who had helped him and licking his hands and feet out of love and
gratitude.  That night the lion and the man lay down together and each slept
without fear or pain.  In the morning both arose and each went his own way.



The fable goes on to describe how Androcles was caught and sent to the arena
to be punished as a runaway slave.  It was the custom that a captured
runaway slave was to face a hungry lion in the arena and perhaps be maimed
or killed or even eaten.  Androcles awaited his fate. When the lion was
released he looked up and saw not a ferocious beast, but his old friend the
lion from whom he had taken the thorn.  The lion recognized his benefactor
and rather than kill and eat the man instead came to him and rubbed his head
against Androcles and licked his hands and feet as before.  Such was the
enduring strength of their friendship born from Androcles' compassionate
act.



In the Gospel today we are told that we as the followers of Jesus Christ are
to act in a similar manner.  We hear the so-called "golden rule" which tells
us "As you wish that others should do to you, do ye also to them likewise"
or as it is more often phrased, "Do to others what you want them to do to
you"  This is then elaborated by our Lord when he says, "But love your
enemies, and do good and lend, hoping for nothing again"  In this we see the
love, not of man, but of God acting in us and that this love is an active -
even one might say a *proactive* - force in us.  St Nikolai (Velimirovic) of
Ochrid comments, "Men become unloving in waiting for others to show
themselves loving to them and others await this of them.  In this reciprocal
waiting (for love from one another) all men, as a general rule become
unloving ... He who grasps that love is is an active virtue, not a passive
one and begins to fulfill it in this manner ... will soon come to know both
God's love and man's.  Love is the striking of stone with stone, that always
produces a spark.  He who strikes this blessed spark and he who receives it
will both feel God's presence with them.  At that moment they feel God's
caressing hand on both their hearts."



Many people ask how it is that we can nurture the love of God in their own
hearts and here is the answer.  We gain the love of God by loving others as
He loves them.  When we love those who love us, that is human love which,
while good, does not have the transforming nature of God's love.  God's love
transcends human love, it is greater and more powerful than human love.
With God's love not only do we love those who love us, but we also love
those who hate us.  It is this love that goes beyond the bounds of human
nature that works in us to change us into God's likeness.



"Christ's command that we do to others as we would that they do to us is so
natural and so clearly good that it is a wonder and a shame that it has not
long ago become a daily habit among men.  No man desires that others do him
evil: let him therefore do no evil to others.  Every man desires that others
do good to him: let him therefore do good to others.  Every man desires to
be forgiven when he sins: let him therefore forgive the sins of others.
Every man desires that others be sad in his sadness and rejoice in his
rejoicing: let him then be sad in the sadness of others and rejoice in their
rejoicing.  Every man desires that others speak good of him and give him
honor, feed him in hunger, visit him in sickness and protect him in
persecution: let him do the same to others." (St Nikolai)



If we want to love others, if we want to love God - we must act on that
love.  Love is not a feeling, but an action and an attitude. If we wish to
love others we must first act towards them as though we love them
(regardless of feelings).  From this seed, God's love will grow and develop
in your heart and you will begin to learn how to love others, not as a man,
but as God loves them.  When Androcles approached the lion with boldness to
pull the thorn from his paw, he did not treat the lion as an enemy, to kill
him or run from him, but rather as a friend to help him in his need and
relieve his suffering.  In turn, the lion became his friend, offering not
his natural ferocity, but love in return for love, affection in return for
affection, friendship in return for friendship.  And this friendship endured
even past the moment and just when Androcles was himself in great need, that
friendship came to his aid and his friend, the lion, returned to him the
same love and compassion that had been given in the first place.  Here we
see an example of the Gospel truth "love your enemies, and do good, and
lend, hoping for nothing again: and your reward shall be great and ye shall
be the children of the Highest...Be ye therefore merciful as your Father is
also merciful."

File        : read only.doc
Description : read only reminder

The Gospel gives us a beautiful picture of a mother's love for her child.
This woman, a widow, had only one child.  This child, her son, must have
been the joy and love of her life.  Imagine how she cared for him, how she
nurtured and protected him, how she comforted him and struggled to give him
every advantage and chance to grow and mature and to make the best life for
himself.  Truly the love of a mother for her child is a stronger force than
almost anything else in the world.  By the nurture and care of her children
a mother can have a profound influence, not only in this life but in the
life to come as well.  Many of the great saints had parents, especially
mothers, who took great care to raise their children in the love of God.
They themselves were saints (and are sometimes recognized to be so by the
Church).  The saintly mothers of these saints gave of themselves, not only
to their children, but to the worship and service of God.  They taught their
children by their example as well as by their words.  From watching their
own mothers as they lived a Christian life, a life of prayer both at home
and by regular attendance at the services of the Church; a life filled with
the virtues, generosity, hospitality, charity, patience, mercy, love, joy,
peace; a life of sacrifice and self denial, giving of themselves for God,
for their spouse, for their children - in this way these future saints
learned not only the importance of loving God, but also *how* to love God.



But the love of a mother, strong though it may be, cannot protect her child
from every misfortune and in the Gospel, this child, despite his mother's
great love and care was overtaken by death.  As the funeral procession left
the city the mother, still filled with love for her now departed child, torn
with grief and sorrow, clung to the lifeless body of her son.  So great was
her love for her son that even when all appeared to be lost, she did not -
could not - give up her love.  And when the grief and sorrow and loss of the
mother and her son, filled with death crossed the path of the One Who is
Life and Joy and Love Himself, death could not prevail, sorrow and grief
were swept away and her son arose from his funeral bier and his mother
embraced him with unbounded joy, her love now fulfilled by the Love of Jesus
Christ.



Today we also remember another mother - the Mother of God in her icon the
Joy of All Who Sorrow.  The Holy Virgin Mary is revered and honored as the
Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, but she is also the icon and image of our
Holy Mother Church.  Her natural love for her Son is overtaken filled and
enhanced by the Divine Love of God and is extended to the whole Church so
that she cares for each one of us who belong to Christ and who are filled
with the Holy Spirit as though we were her own Child.  Thus she become for
us all the things that a mother is to her own child.  The Holy Virgin Mary
is the one who nurtures us, who cares for us, who comforts us, who protects
us.  Her love for us as her own children is nowhere more evident as in the
icon the Joy of All Who Sorrow.  Here we see the nurturing caring comforting
nature of the Mother of God as she embraces all who call out to her Son for
help.  She becomes the instrument of God's love to us, bringing to us that
care, that comfort, that help in time of trouble when no one else could
reach us.  She is the cup which brings to our lips the healing and soothing
grace of God.  She is the brush by which the oil of God's grace and blessing
is applied to our head and hands. She is the caress that with just the
barest touch communicates the full wealth and depth of God's love.  She is
the instrument by which God's love and mercy and compassion is applied to
us.



When we look at this icon we see the Mother of God standing as though in a
garden full of flowers.  These flowers show us the beautiful and bountiful
mercies of God's love.  Amidst these flowers we also see many people crying
out telling the Mother of God their sorrows, their sufferings, their pains.
And to all these sufferers she hold out her arms as if to embrace them all,
as if to touch each one with God's all merciful grace.  In her hands she
holds the symbols of Christ's sovereignty the scepter and orb by which we
can see that she offers not her own human help and compassion, but the all
powerful grace of God which is greater than any sorrow, any suffering, any
pain.  This sovereignty of God which she offers also reminds us of God's
providence by which we receive all that is necessary and good for the
healing of our soul.  Along with the Mother of God we see in the icon the
Holy Angels, who have been her companions and servants throughout her whole
life in amongst those who suffer bringing them comfort, solace, strength,
aid and assistance.



In this feast, in this holy icon of the Joy of All Who Sorrow, we see that
the Mother of God is also our own mother and that she cares for us and
nurtures us and comforts us.  She hears our prayers and is quick to answer.
She is our protectress, she is the spiritual garden which encloses us on all
sides, she is our help in time of trouble, our comfort in time of sorrow.
She is one to whom we can turn always for help, even as we turn to our own
earthly mothers.



It is in this icon that we see depicted before our eyes the most ancient
prayer to the Mother of God:



"My most gracious Queen, my hope, Mother of God, shelter of orphans, and
intercessor of travelers, strangers and pilgrims, joy of those in sorrow,
protectress of the wronged, see my distress, see my affliction! Help me, for
I am helpless. Feed me, for I am a stranger and pilgrim. Thou knowest my
offence; forgive and resolve it as thou wilt. For I know no other help but
thee, no other intercessor, no gracious consoler but thee, O Mother of God,
to guard and protect me throughout the ages. Amen."

Luke 16:19-31; Gal 6:11-18



As we come into the holiday season there are many things that we "must do".
We all have traditions that we must follow.  On Thanksgiving day there are
certain foods that we must have - turkey or ham or pumpkin pie or cranberry
sauce or something like that, usually with someone's name attached - Aunt
Beth's cranberry sauce, Aunt Ruth's pie, all with a recipe that has been
handed down in the family for ages.  There are various activities that you
must have to have a good thanksgiving - a party, a family gathering, a
special family game, Christmas parades, Christmas shopping, a special movie
or television show.  All these traditions become like rules that we must
follow to have a "good holiday".  Then as we go towards the Christmas
holiday there are more traditions, more rules.  We have a certain way that
the house is decorated, we have a party on a certain day with certain people
who must be invited, we set up the tree on a certain day and must have these
particular ornaments on it.  We have certain songs that we must sing, we
have certain foods that we must eat.  When the Christmas and New Year
holiday come again there are more traditions or rules that we follow to make
the holiday "just right" and whether or not it was a "good Christmas"
depends on whether or not we followed all those rules.



In the life of the Church we have also the Christmas fast that begins soon
and sometimes we get all caught up in the "rules" of the fast - what we can
and can't eat, what parties we can go to and which ones we can't and so on.
Then, added to all the family traditions, there are the many traditions of
the Church around this holiday.  So even though it is a spiritual holiday,
there are rules that we must follow in order to feel like it was a good
holiday.



In today's epistle (Gal 6:11-18) St Paul also speaks about rules, but in
this case it was the rules of Jewish society.  Because Christians were seen
as a "sect" of the Jewish religion, there were those who insisted that all
new Christians also adopt strict adherence to the Hebrew law, especially
that they submit to the rite of circumcision.  These legalists taught that
in order to become a Christian one must first become Jewish and must take on
the responsibility of following all of Jewish law.  They insisted that the
path of Christ necessitated that one strictly adhere to this law and the
without such adherence, one could not follow Christ.  But St Paul responds
that this is not the case.   He reminds them and us that the law has been
fulfilled or completed in Christ and that the only necessary or even
possible path for the Christian is the Cross of Christ.  Through the Cross
we have died to the world and to the law that governs the world - we have
become new creatures in Christ and so subject to a new law - the Law of God
which transforms us into His image and likeness, not be adherence to earthly
laws, but rather by the acquisition of divine grace.



The Apostle very succinctly tells us that "In Christ Jesus, neither
circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And
as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them and mercy... let no
man trouble me for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus."  This
statement puts the law as a set of rules in its proper place.  It is not the
keeping of the law, nor the ignoring of it, that saves us.  What saves us,
the thing that is important, is that we become a "new creature"   The law is
no longer the arbiter of our salvation, but rather it is a tool by which we
work out our salvation, a tool that is used so that we might acquire the
grace which transforms us into that new creature.



An example of this truth, we read in the Gospel today.  The parable of the
rich man and Lazarus shows us the impotence of the law and the necessity of
becoming a new creature.  The rich man was successful and well thought of in
his society.  He had many friends enjoyed the respect of his peers.  In
order for this to be the case, he must have been at least outwardly
observant of the "rules" of his society, in this case observant of Jewish
ritual law.  Because he was wealthy, it was easy for him to fulfill all the
regulations of the law in his household, with the proper procedures and so
on for preparing food, for washing and personal dress and care, for giving
of gifts and sacrifices when required and so on.  But Lazarus, the poor
begger had no such ability.  It was all he could do simply to find food to
eat so that he wouldn't starve.  He couldn't concern himself with the finer
details of the law, because he simply needed to find a way to live.  He had
only the company of the unclean dogs.  Certainly from the perspective of the
law, the rich man would have achieved paradise long before the poor beggar
Lazarus.



But this was not the case for when they both died, the rich man ended up in
torment, while Lazarus was to be found resting in the arms of Abraham.  How
could this be, for the rich man had kept all the law, and yet he ended up in
torment.  Lazarus lived among the dogs and had no ability or opportunity to
keep any kind of law and yet he ended up in paradise.  The truth of the
situation is laid out for us by the Holy Apostle Paul - neither circumcision
nor uncircumcision (that is the law) has any effect, but what is necessary
is that one becomes a new creature.  Lazarus, through his struggle and
suffering developed the virtues of humility and dependence upon God alone.
Lazarus, by not complaining but accepting all that God gave to him as a
blessing, was conformed into the likeness of God.  The rich man by contrast
only gathered for himself pride and self assurance.   Even with the law, he
was not changed inwardly into the likeness of God, but rather used the law
to mask his own self will and self dependence.  Thus he remained the old
sinful creature bearing the stamp of sin rather than the likeness of Christ.



As we pass into this time of the year where rules seem to be paramount, let
us recall that while many of these rules are beneficial and create for us a
happy life, the purpose of the rules, especially the rules of the Church,
are only to be tools which help us to acquire the grace of God and become
new creatures, transformed by the grace into the image and likeness of
Christ.  Above all else, acquire humility, setting aside your own pride and
self will - acquire peace and patience, depending upon God's provision
rather than your own design and being driven by your own desire.  Love
others more than you love yourself by this means bringing both self denial
and joy at the same moment.  Thank God for His many gifts to you and in so
doing realize your dependence upon Him and your poverty before Him.  Prepare
yourself to greet the incarnate Christ as we move towards the celebration of
His Nativity - His birth into the world.  This holiday season, as we prepare
for the feast of our Lord's Nativity, focus your efforts on acquiring the
grace of God and so becoming a new creature bearing upon yourself, as the
Apostle says, "the marks of the Lord Jesus".

Luke 8:5-15



At this time of the year we enjoy the many fruits of the past harvest.
Indeed we look forward to the traditional Thanksgiving holiday in which we
celebrate the generous bounty that we have gathered in the past year and
give thanks to God for His goodness.  But as we take these mature and
ripened fruits, let us recall that each one began as a small seed and
through the whole spring and summer growing season that seed developed and
grew and yielded the bounty, multiplied 10, even 100 fold, that we now
enjoy.  Such is the potential that lies dormant ready to be awakened and to
grow and ripen in each seed.



In the Gospel today we heard the parable of the sower and the seed.  The
sower of the seed, of course, is God and the seed is His grace which is
planted in the soil of the human heart.  As the seed falls into different
soil, it meets a variety of conditions, some of which are hostile to its
growth, while others are favorable for the seed to grow and come to maturity
and fruition. This seed of God's grace has been planted in the heart of each
one of us here today, and it grows in the heart according to receptive
nature of each heart.



Some hearts are hard, completely unreceptive to the grace of God.  They are
this way because they are negligent, because they are proud and full of
their own self will.  This hardness of heart does not allow the seed of God's
grace even to penetrate, to begin to take root.  The only way to begin to
break this hardness up is to develop and nurture the virtue of humility.
This is done by setting aside one's own self as the measure of all things
and instead recognizing that there is One greater than himself.  Rather than
cultivate the worldly values of self esteem, self confidence, and self
worth, it is necessary to draw esteem from God, to be confident in His love
and to find worth in His eyes.  God desires to do all these things for us
out of the great love and compassion that He showers on us continually,
however in order to allow this to affect us, we must willingly put aside our
own defensive walls of self and rely instead upon God.  Just as the sun and
the rain have little effect on a concrete roadway so also the love of God
has little effect on a heart that is guarded and walled about by the
defensive mechanisms of self.  Only by breaking up the roadway and allowing
the sun and the rain to penetrate the surface do they begin to have an
effect and similarly in order for God's grace and love to penetrate the
heart, we must begin to break up the defenses of the self so that we are
open to the gifts of God.



Other hearts have begun to break up a little, but still are filled with the
stones of sin.  This stony ground allows the seed of grace to sprout and
begin to grow, but the stones prevent it from really being able to take root
and grow.  These stones must be removed and broken up before the plant
really has a chance, otherwise at the first storm of wind and rain or the
first blast of drought, it is uprooted and withers away.  The heart that is
filled with the stones of sin may bring forth a sprout of the seed of grace,
but the sins do not allow that sprout to take hold.  When difficulties come
the heart does not depend upon God's mercy and compassion, but instead
reverts to its own self will and self dependence choking out the action of
the grace of God.  In order for the seed planted in such a heart to survive,
the stones of sin must be rooted out and broken up.  This is only possible
through repentance - not just the formal admission of sin and expression of
regret, but true repentance where the sin, once recognized, is rejected and
set aside.  This removes the stone, and lest it fall back into the soil of
the heart, it must be thrown away by a change of life, by the consistent
struggle against the temptation to return to the sin as a dog returns to its
vomit.



Even when the soil is clear of stones, the seed still competes with the
weeds that grow alongside it, stealing the nutrients from the soil,
monopolizing the sun and the rain.  These weeds are the cares and
distractions of the world - they are fostered by our own passions, our love
of pleasure and desire for the "good things" of the world.  Here the seed of
grace has begun to grow and to set down roots but it is stunted because all
of the resources of the heart are given over to the weeds of the passions.
Such is the heart where the spiritual life is neglected and relegated to
"second place".  Many of us find ourselves in this place for we often find
it easier to allow the pressures of our worldly life, the importance of
worldly things, to take up the time we might otherwise spend in prayer and
spiritual reading.  All of a sudden we are unable to pray in the morning
because things are too rushed, too many demands on our time.  When we return
for the day's labor, which has monopolized all our time and attention,
leaving little room for the remembrance of God, we have to "recharge" and so
again any spiritual activity is pushed aside.  By the end of the day we are
"too tired" to pray and all the resources which might have produced even a
small amount of spiritual growth is consumed in the daily rush of worldly
activity.  To uproot these weeds of worldly care and human passions, the
normal asceticism of the Christian life must be applied.  We begin by simply
self denial, simply forcing the self to set aside even one of those
distractions and establishing instead a small simple routine of daily
prayer.  Having this foundation, we do not stop but continue to expand on
that going from prayer to reading of the gospel and adding in other
spiritual reading.  Add on to that acts of mercy and charity and by this
gradual process the worldly cares are pushed aside and edged out by the good
seed and plant of the spiritual life.  But like weeds these passionate
distractions grow back in an instant whenever the guard is let down,
whenever we no longer make the effort to uproot them.



What does all this accomplish, the humility, the repentance, the asceticism?
In the end the seed of grace that is planted in your heart grows and matures
drawing both upon the sustenance of God's love and mercy which constantly
rains upon us as well as on the nutrients found within the willing and
receptive heart.  From this plant of God's grace is born the fruit of the
spirit - and not just in small quantity but in great measure, multiplying
even a hundred times the smallest effort of the soul to cooperate with God.
From this plant we reap the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control in abundance.  This
plant of grace growing in our hearts connects us with God and becomes a
conduit of grace, a living link between the human heart and the love of God.
This is the place and means by which we truly touch God and in turn are
touched by Him.



The seed of grace is planted in you, in your heart.  It is now up to you
whether this seed can find a home and sprout, take root and grow and
flourish and bear good and abundant spiritual fruit. or whether it will
instead be stolen by the evil one or uprooted dried and withered by the heat
of sins or crowded out and stunted by the cares of the world and a
neglectful heart.  If you want this spiritual life, this intimate connection
to the Living God, it is within your grasp, the seed is planted in your
heart.  Begin to act even from this very moment to break up the hardness of
the selfish heart, remove the stones of sin and uproot the weeds of the
passions.  Cooperate with the grace of God, turning your energies and
resources to the task of nurturing within yourself the spiritual life, that
all these good things, all this fruit of the spirit will be yours.  Then you
will have within yourself that living conduit of grace, that vital and
vibrant personal connection with the Living God.

Eph 2:4-10



"God, Who is rich in mercy, even while we were yet dead in sins, hath made
us alive together with Christ."  Thus the Holy Apostle Paul begins his
wonderful description of our salvation in this epistle.  However, this
beautiful statement "begs the question" of how the need for this salvation
came about, why was it that we were "dead in sins" and what does it then
mean to be "alive together with Christ."



We were created by God in order that we might love Him and come be united to
Him.  This union of love is brought about by grace - as we acquired the
grace of God we become more filled with Him.  Our only task was to continue
to be filled with His grace which was and is endlessly poured out on us.  In
order to be vessels of this grace, it was necessary for us first to be
alive - that is connected to God Himself - and that He accomplished by
giving to us an immortal soul, a spirit - that part of us which touches Him
and by which we are touched by Him.  Through the spirit mankind is able to
access God's grace and in this way we become the vessel or container of that
grace.  But then the great tragedy of the fall occurred.  In order for
mankind to truly love God it was necessary that we freely choose to love
God.  But that same free will by which we could choose God also meant that
we could choose to rebel against God - and this is the great tragedy of the
fall.  Our first parents, Adam and Eve sinned, they chose to disobey God and
in doing so the connection between their spirit and the Holy Spirit of God
was broken, the flow of grace was no longer able to continue and our souls
died.  From that moment on, mankind, who had been immortal by communion of
Gods grace, became mortal and physical death, which is but an image of the
spiritual death, began to take hold. But God, in His great love for us, did
not give up, but rather began the endeavor to restore us to life and to heal
the damage that had occurred.



In taking on flesh and suffering death, even as we do, God Himself, our Lord
Jesus Christ, was able to free us from our captivity to sin and death, he
restored our ability to be connected to God (which had been damaged in the
fall) and offered to any who wished the opportunity to again enjoy the
fountain of God's boundless grace.  This reconnection between our spirit and
the Holy Spirit of God is what is meant by becoming "alive together with
Christ."  But, this is not the fullness of our salvation, we have only then
been restored to the environment of God's grace - there is still the
necessity to become filled with that grace, to have it permeate every atom
of our being so that we, like Christ, will be transfigured and we will live
in union with Him.  During the time that we were cut off from God's grace,
our soul atrophied for lack of its proper nourishment and the damage of sin
was unable to be repaired and simply got worse.  Also the dirt of sins
accumulated and in some cases became hardened and encrusted in the soul.
Although we are now reconnected to God through baptism and the flow of grace
is restarted by our chrismation, now we must seek to be healed of our
atrophied condition, to have the damage of sin repaired and the dirt of sins
to be cleaned.



This healing process requires a course of treatment in which the damage to
the soul, inflicted by sin, is repaired.  The Orthodox Church is the
spiritual hospital where this healing occurs and our Orthodox faith that we
live is the therapeutic process by which the newly enlivened soul is healed
and purified and illumined and perfected by grace.  These three conditions
or stages of healing - purification of the heart, illumination of the nous
and divinization - define the process of our salvation.  First is the
purification of the heart, begun by the washing of baptism and continued by
our ascetic labor of self denial and the taking up of the cross.  By this
means the dirt of sin is removed from the soul and the injured and atrophied
parts are laid bare.  Having accomplished this, the newly cleaned parts of
the soul are bathed in the grace of the Holy Spirit, illumined by that
grace, renewed and rejuvenated so that they become fully alive, with the
grace of God coursing through them as blood courses through the body
bringing life and nourishment.  When the whole body is cleansed and it is
filled with the grace of God then that grace begins to draw us into an ever
closer union with God so that we share in His life.  This indeed is our
salvation.



In order for a religious faith or spiritual discipline to be effective it
must facilitate and address all three parts of this process.  A faith that
only recognizes the "reconnection" of the human spirit with the Spirit of
God  is incomplete.  Nor can it simply wash the wound and then leave it
untreated (only cursorily addressing the purification of the heart by
washing away the surface dirt) nor can it even stop at illumination or the
filling of grace.  In order to truly effect our salvation our Orthodox Faith
must first make us alive by reconnecting us with God and then even though we
are still ill, injured and immature it must heal us, fill us with grace and
bring us to maturity.  Only the Orthodox Faith is complete, only the
Orthodox Faith gives the unerring therapy to the soul.  In order to truly
and effectively work out our salvation we must make use of our Faith.



How do we do this, how do we make use of our Faith to effectively work out
our salvation?  This is accomplished first through the sacraments of baptism
and chrismation which reconnect us with Christ and which begin the process
of cleansing and purification.  To continue this process is the command of
Christ that those who wish to come after Him should deny themselves, take up
their cross and follow Him.  In this manner we break apart the sin that
clogs our being with its dirt and expose our soul to the sweet, pure,
healing balm of God's grace.  This is all aided by the sacrament of Holy
Confession by which our sins are stripped from us and we are given
therapeutic grace to overcome them. Then we must cooperate with that grace,
making it our own, incorporating it into our whole being becoming in all
ways like Christ, being filled piece by piece, step by step, moment by
moment with the grace of the Holy Spirit, being truly illumined by that
grace.  This grace comes to us in many ways (by prayer, by works of mercy,
by compassion, by love, by forgiveness of sins - both our own and those of
others against us) and especially it comes to us through the Mystery of our
Lord's Most Holy Body and Most Precious Blood by which we are physically,
spiritually, and really united with our Lord Jesus Christ, even while we are
still only in the process of divinization.



As the Apostle so urgently reminds us - we are saved by grace.  And we have,
in our Holy Mother Church the fountain of the grace, the never ending flow
of grace and the means by which we can access that flow, by which we are
cleansed and healed so that we  can contain that grace within ourselves.  It
is the Orthodox Faith, within the Church that provides for the therapy by
which our souls, deadened, injured, dimmed and polluted by sin, are
enlivened, healed, purified, illumined and divinized.  We are saved and
united with Christ and share in the life of the Holy Trinity, not by our own
works, nor by our own wisdom or design, lest any man should boast - but by
the grace of God

File        : read only.doc
Description : read only reminder

Today is the feast of the Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple.  On
this day, we remember that as a child of three years old the Holy Virgin was
brought to the Temple by her parents Joakim and Anna so that she might be
especially dedicated to the service of God.  As was the practice of the time
she would be given over to the care of the priests of the temple and would
be raised and educated there until she entered her adulthood at which time
she would leave and return to her parents home and be married. Her entire
childhood would be spent serving God in the temple.



She was brought to the Temple by her parents and they were accompanied by
her young female relatives carrying candles.  At the steps of the temple the
procession was met by the High Priest, who at that time was Zachariah, and
he would receive the child from her parents, and take her to her place
within the temple where she would then live and work.  As we know, the High
Priest Zachariah was a prophet of great spiritual stature and would himself
be given by God a child in his old age.  That child would grow to become
known as the Holy Forerunner and Baptist John.  Even at this time, however,
Zachariah was sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and as this young
girl and her parents approached the temple, God gave to him a great and
mysterious revelation about her.  When Zachariah met Joakim and Anna along
with the child Mary, he began the prayers and hymns which would accompany
her into the temple.  But the child did not wait for the ceremony to end but
rather began climbing the 15 steps into the temple herself.  Zachariah
seeing this desire for the holy places evident in the young child knew that
the word of God he had been given earlier was true and so inspired by the
Holy Spirit he did something heretofore unheard of.  He took the child not
only into the temple - as was expected - but he led her into the Holy of
Holies, where the ark of the covenant had set before its loss and where
still the priest went only once a year with the sacrifice for the sins of
the people.  This was the prophecy that he had been given - that this child
was the ark of God and so would come to sit in the place of the ark of the
covenant.



Here the Virgin Mary remained until she reached her womanhood at about 13
years of age.  By this time her parents, already old when she was born, had
died.  The Virgin Mary herself had made a vow to God to offer her whole life
to God and so live in virginity the rest of her days.  Even though this was
a novel idea, the temple priests saw the love of God and devotion in the
Virgin Mary and so sought to help her keep this vow.  Rather than simply
arranging for her to be married to someone who would take her as a wife and
expect her to bear children, they sought for someone who would be her
protector and who would enable her to fulfill her vow to God.  This person
was chosen by and miraculously revealed by God to be the pious elderly
widower Joseph.  She was betrothed to him so that she could become a part of
his household and there would live out her life in fulfillment of her vow to
God under Joseph's protection.



The core, the center, of this feast is the miraculous revelation to St
Zachariah, the high priest who received the Virgin into the temple and who,
in accordance with that revelation, took the child and brought her into the
holy of holies.  In the days of the exodus of the people of Israel from
Egypt, God revealed to the Prophet Moses the nature of the tabernacle - the
portable temple - which would serve as their place of worship.  This
tabernacle had three special areas set apart - the exterior courtyard into
which all the people were admitted.  The temple itself where only the
priests were permitted and within the temple, the Holy of Holies where only
the High Priest could go once a year with the sacrifice for the sins of the
people.  Within the Holy of Holies was kept the Ark of the Covenant which
symbolized the throne of God called "the mercy seat".  Within the Ark were
kept the holy things given by God to the people - the tablets of stone on
which were written the 10 Commandments, a jar of  manna, the budded rod of
Aaron.  Atop the Ark were carved two cherubim with the wings outstretched in
such a way as to create a seat - the throne of God.  This Ark went at the
head of every procession, whenever the people moved from one place to
another and when they stopped and set up their tents, the Ark rested in the
Holy of Holies.  At that time, God had appeared to His people as a pillar of
cloud and fire, leading them out of their captivity in Egypt and into the
promised land.  This cloud would go before them as they traveled and when
they stopped it would stand over the Holy of Holies as though sitting upon
the mercy seat, the throne created by the wings of the cherubim on the Ark.
Thus the Holy of Holies was God's place.



Now someone once said to me, "Father, I just don't get it, I don't
understand.  God is everywhere in the whole world - how can we say that this
He is just in this little room?"  And that is a good question.  God is
indeed present in the whole of creation and yet this is the only place in
all of creation that He called out to be special for Himself - this Holy of
Holies is the place in all of creation that God claimed for Himself - it
becomes the focus of His presence in the world and the Ark of the Covenant
is the focal point, the throne of God for all of creation.



Later on, after their arrival in the promised land, the tabernacle of tents
was replaced by a stone building, the Temple in Jerusalem.  As we know there
were many wars fought and the nation of Israel was punished for its sins and
carried off into captivity.  But before the Ark could be captured it was
take away and hidden and to this day no one knows for sure what happened to
it (although the Ethiopian Church claims to be in possession of this great
treasure).  When the Israelites returned from their captivity and the temple
was rebuilt, the Ark was nowhere to be found and there was no one who
remembered where it had been taken and so from this time forth the Holy of
Holies sat empty.



Now on this miraculous day, the prophet and High Priest Zachariah was given
a prophetic vision from God that this young girl, the Virgin Mary would
herself become the living Ark - the throne of God - the focus of God's
presence in all of creation.  And as a prophecy of her role in God's
providence, he placed her, who would be the living ark, in the place of the
old Ark of the covenant which had been lost.  This prophecy looked forward
to the miraculous annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel and to the Virgin's
miraculous conception of the incarnate God, the Christ Child.  She would be
the living throne of God, bearing Him in her womb for 9 months and bearing
Him in her arms as an infant and a child following that.  She would
literally be the throne of God incarnate in the world.



Just as the Virgin Mary became the bearer of God so we too are called to
this same destiny.  We are called to bear God in our heart and soul, to be
filled with the Holy Spirit and to be transformed by His grace.  Just as the
flesh of the Virgin gave birth to the incarnate God so also we offer our own
flesh, our own souls to the Holy Spirit that we might be transformed into
His image and likeness.  This miraculous prophecy which brought the Holy
Virgin into the Holy of Holies reveals to us the new life in Christ.  No
longer is God's presence something outside of us, but rather He now is
present within us, just as He was present within the Virgin.  Just as she
became the bearer of God so we too bear God in ourselves.  Just as He was
united to her flesh, so also we are united to God in our whole beings.  The
Virgin Mary was the living Ark, the living throne of God and we are called
to that same destiny - to be the living throne of God, the presence of God
in the world.  It is only by the miracle of God's grace that this can come
about, but it also requires our cooperation for God will not force us.  He
did not force the young Virgin Mary into the temple - she climbed the steps
herself, willingly, eagerly.  He did not force her to bear His incarnate
self - but waited until she voluntarily acceded and agreed.  Nor does He
force us to follow Him, but He calls us to Himself, He shows us the path and
showers us with His grace which makes it possible for us to be united to
Him.



This feast is not only the remembrance of events long past - but it is a
calling to us today to follow the example of the Holy Virgin, who even as a
small child, willingly followed God, willingly devoted herself to His
service and by her willing cooperation with the grace of God became the
God-bearer.  So we too are called by God to follow Him, we are called by God
to give our lives over to Him, we are called by God to cooperate with his
grace and so become God-bearers.  You are called by God - all that is
necessary for you is to agree and to willingly follow Him and to cooperate
with His grace in your life so that like the Virgin Mary you too may be
united with Christ and become a bearer of God in your soul.

Luke 10:25-37   Eph 4:1-6



"What must I do to inherit eternal life?"  This is the question that the lawyer
asked our Lord and yet it is also our own question.  Sometimes it's good to go
back to the basic questions to remember why we are here in the Church, why do we
do the things we are doing.  What must I do to be saved? What must I do to
inherit eternal life? These are our starting point on the path of salvation. 
When we look at these questions we are reminded of what it was that led us to
the Church, what it was we hoped to find here.  These questions remind us of
where we are going, of the goal of our Christian life.  It is good to think on
these things and to ask again; What must I do to inherit eternal life?



This question, which is answered by our Lord in the Gospel, also leads us
directly to the epistle which we heard today.  The Holy Apostle Paul encourages
us to "walk worthy of the calling with which you were called." Here rather than
ask a question, the apostle reminds us that we are called to the Church that we
have a destiny which leads us to eternal life - a destiny which is fulfilled in
becoming a part of the Church.  That destiny is, of course, to be united to
Christ and to participate in the life of the Holy Trinity.  We begin to
accomplish this by being united to the Body of Christ, that is to the Church.



In order to inherit eternal life we must become part of the Body of Christ and
once part of the Body it is necessary to work to preserve the unity and
wholeness of the Body.  The Apostle tells us to approach our destiny with
humility, gentleness, longsuffering, and love for one another.  This is the
cement that binds us together as the Body of Christ.  Just as our Lord said in
the Gospel, in order to inherit eternal life we must love God and love one
another.  The essence of loving is to be bound together and united to the object
of our love - is it not the love between a man and a woman that unites them in
the sacrament of Holy Matrimony?  So also our love for God unites us to Him and
our love for one another unites us to the Body of Christ, that is to the Church.



And so the Apostle reminds us, "there is one body and one Spirit ... one Lord,
one Faith, one Baptism..."  We all enter into eternal life together as the one
Body of Christ, mystically united to one another and to the One Lord Jesus
Christ, Who is the Head of the Body, by the Holy Spirit.  This is accomplished
through the one Faith that all hold and through the grace given us in the Holy
Mysteries, beginning, of course, with Baptism by which we are reborn into the
life of Christ.  This is a marvelous vision of our destiny, of our calling - to
inherit eternal life by being united to one another and to the One Who is Life
Himself.



Now the Apostle also tells us that we should strive to "keep the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace" and this is the heart of our Christian struggle -
not only to remain united to Christ ourselves, but also to strive to preserve
the unity of the whole body.  This is where the struggle to love our neighbor
comes in.  Back to the Gospel and to the answer given to our question by Christ,
He teaches us through the parable of the Good Samaritan how it is that we
fulfill this commandment to love our neighbor and thus to love God.  To love our
neighbor and thus to preserve the unity of the whole body, we must take every
opportunity to meet the needs of others.  The Samaritan, saw the need of the man
who had been beaten and robbed.  He did whatever was needed - he cleaned the
wounds with both oil and wine to cleanse and then soothe them - he took the man
on his own donkey and brought him to a place where he could rest.  There he
stayed with him and even when he had to leave, he provided for the man's well
being in his absence.  This is how we must act towards our brothers and sisters
- this is how we preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.



In the Church today, because of our many sins, we see that there is more often
strife and ill will expressed rather than love for one another.  This
characteristic is not only found between members of a single parish, but it is
even more evident when we look at the relationships between different parishes
and jurisdictions.  This kind of strife divides us and hurts the Body of Christ.
When we compare our little parish here with some other place and say "we are
better than they" then we wound the body of Christ.  Is it not better that we
instead act as did the Samaritan.  When we see our brothers and sisters
suffering we should go to every extreme to help them, to heal them, to take care
of them.  We must act with humility and compassion - forgiving every wrong (both
real and imagined).  We should look not for the slightest excuse to condemn but
rather like Christ we look for the slightest reason to forgive.  Even when we
ourselves have been hurt by the words and actions of others (as the Samaritan
must have been hurt by the words and actions of the Jews) it is necessary, for
the love of God and of our neighbor, to set that aside and to embrace them with
love, forgiving even the slightest injury and accepting even the weakest of
apologies.



I point out these things today because there is a very important event coming in
the life of our Church.  Soon, the 4th All Diaspora Clergy and Laity Assembly
will convened in San Francisco.  People from all over the world, from every
diocese of our Church will be gathered in one place to consider the future path
of our Church.  Extremely important questions will be considered such as our
relationship with the Russian Church inside of Russia as well as such things as
missionary work and questions of modern life and our relations with the other
national Orthodox Churches.  As these things are considered by the delegates, we
will give our opinions our suggestions over to our bishops who will then take
the voice of the Church into consideration as they lead our Church, making the
decisions that will set the conditions of our Church life.  In all of this it is
vital that we all remember these words of Christ to love our neighbor with the
example of the Samaritan.  It is also vital to remember the admonition of the
Holy Apostle Paul to "walk worthy of [our] calling ... endeavoring to keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."  This we begin by striving here in
our own parish to love one another, to preserve the unity we have with one
another.  We continue this by looking outward to other people, other parishes,
other national Churches and striving to embrace them, even as the Samaritan
embraced the man who had been beaten and robbed.  Now is the time for
forgiveness, for the setting aside of all wrongs, for humility and longsuffering
and compassion.  Now is the time for us to show the world the overpowering love
of Christ - for only in this manner will we be able to preserve the unity of the
Body of Christ which is the hope of our calling.



We ask, "What must I do to inherit eternal life" and the answer is given to us
in one word - love.  We must first love God and in loving God we also love our
neighbor as the expression of that divine love.  In loving our neighbor it is
necessary to live with humility, compassion, gentleness, longsuffering and
forgiveness.  Let nothing stand between you and Christ, let nothing disrupt the
unity of the one Body of Christ, our Holy Mother Church.  United with our One
Lord, Jesus Christ and with one another in One Faith and One Baptism, we will
then enter into eternal life.






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Luke 12:16-21



At this time of the year it is almost impossible to read your mail, watch
television, go shopping or even just go for a walk without seeing or hearing
some request for charitable contributions.  One of the things that is often
attached to those requests is some kind of information about how you will
benefit on your taxes for such contributions so that it might become easier to
give.  As Orthodox Christians it is our duty to give alms to the poor and to
care for those in need.  This has not only a tax benefit for us but also a
spiritual benefit beyond calculation.  St Seraphim discusses the many ways by
which we can "acquire the Holy Spirit" and one of the important things that he
tells to us is that we acquire the Holy Spirit by almsgiving.  This is and
should be a regular part of our Christian life - not only to give of our
substance to support the Church (such as by tithing our income), but also to
give alms above and beyond that which we give to the Church to those who are in
need around us.



The Gospel parable that was read for us today reminds us of the necessity of
sharing with others that which God has given to us.  God has given to each of us
worldly possessions not so that we will hoard them and use them only to gratify
our passions and desires, but rather that we might in turn give to others,
distributing our own wealth (whatever that might be) among those who are in
need.  If we neglect the giving of alms and hoard that which we have, not only
is there no spiritual benefit, but our lack of charity will condemn us in the
judgment of the world to come.



In addition to the Gospel, we have also the example of the saints to show us the
importance and spiritual benefit of charity.  Tomorrow, we celebrate the feast
of St Nicholas of Myra and Lycia.  St Nicholas was the son of a well to do
family and while he was yet a young priest, he set an example for us of
charitable giving.  Discovering that one of his families was in great need - so
great in fact that the father was preparing to sell one of his daughters into
slavery so that the rest of the family could eat - he came to their house in the
middle of the night so that he would not be seen or recognized and tossed a bag
of gold in over the wall so that they might survive.   This he did three times
in all - each time saving the family from crisis and allowing one of the
daughters to be married rather than sold into slavery.  When all the daughters
were out of the home and cared for, the father liquidated the rest of his
possessions, gave all to the poor and himself entered a monastery.  This
tradition of anonymous giving has continued among Christian people to this day
associated with the feast and person of St Nicholas and the feast of our Lord's
Nativity.  Even in our "post-Christian" world, the tradition of giving gifts to
one another and of giving alms at this time of year has continued.



Another example, perhaps less well known outside of the Orthodox Church, is that
of St Philaret the Merciful whose feast we also celebrate this month.   St
Philaret was a very wealthy man with many farms and estates from which he
derived a great deal of income.  Unlike the rich man of the Gospel parable, St
Philaret used his wealth to give alms and to care for the poor orphans and
widows and to provide hospitality to strangers and travelers.



Through a series of misfortune and evil events, St Philaret lost his great
wealth - thieves stole a large portion of his wealth at the same time that
disease and drought decimated his herds and ruined his farms.  The saint and his
family were plunged into poverty with only one field, some bees, a yoke of oxen,
a single horse, an ass, and s cow with her calf.  Of his great fortune of herds
and fields and money - only this small remnant was left to the saint to provide
for his family.  But still St Philaret continued to give to others.  When he saw
a neighbor lose one of his oxen - St Philaret gave one of his own.  Another
time, he gave his only horse to a poor soldier.  When he was given 40 bushels of
grain, he divided it among all the poor families, keeping only an equal portion
for his own family.  Even the clothing off his own back he gave to a poor man. 
Although even his family were tempted to despair at their poverty and at the
saint's almsgiving, he constantly reminded them, "Hope on God, God will
provide..."



It came to pass at that time that the Christian empress was looking for a
suitable bride for her son.  Word came to St Philaret that the empress and her
delegation would come to his home (for although he was now poor, he was still
among the aristocratic class).  When he heard the news, the saint, instructed
his wife to cook a feast.  when she replied that they had no food with which to
do so, he simply answered, "God will provide" and began to pray fervently to
God.  And this is just what happened.  All of those people who had seen the
saint's generosity and who had themselves received help from his hands, turned
around and contributed each a little bit to his household for the feast - some
eggs and cheese and meat and bread - even fine wine was provided to the saint so
that he might properly honor his noble guests.



When the empress and her officers had eaten, St Philaret introduced his family -
his wife, his children and grandchildren who were living with him.  One of his
granddaughters, Maria, was chosen by the empress to be the wife of her son - the
Emperor Constantine and another daughter Evanthia was married to King Argoses of
Lombardy.  The saint himself was given an imperial appointment to the rank of
consul and his wealth was restored.  Even this turn of good fortune - or rather
of God's good provision - did not affect the saint's almsgiving for he continued
his practice of giving to the poor, to the widows and orphans and of providing
hospitality to strangers and travelers.  This practice he continued to the end
of his life - setting the example for all of us of charity and almsgiving.



Such a great tradition has been given to us by the saints - to give alms to the
poor and to freely share the wealth that God gives to us.  Not only do we gain
material benefits - as did St Philaret - but more importantly we gain spiritual
benefit for we acquire the grace of God through our almsgiving.  Remember that
all you have in this life is the gift of God and use it wisely, laying up for
yourself treasure - not on earth where moth and rust corrupt and where thieves
break in and steal, but rather treasure in heaven where you will enjoy it
throughout all eternity.  Remember the examples of St Nicholas and St Philaret
and like the saint always remember, "Hope on God, God will provide"




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Today we celebrate the feast of St Herman of Alaska, one of the first Orthodox
missionaries to North America.  He was part of a group of monks sent by the
Church to preach the Gospel to the native Alaskans.  Fr Herman was a simple monk
and lived isolated on a small island where he labored to preach the Gospel not
only with words but by every moment, every action of his whole life.  Even
though he was isolated, he became well known to the merchants and naval officers
who frequented the area.  There is a well known incident of his life which
demonstrates the lesson of the parable that we heard today in the Gospel.



Once they invited the Elder to the frigate that came from St. Petersburg. The
captain of the frigate was a rather learned man, highly educated. He was sent to
America according to the imperial decree for observation of all the colonies.
There were at least twenty-five sailors with the captain who were also educated
people. In this society sat a rather short-statured man with worn out clothing -
a desert-dwelling monk. who with wise conversation brought all these educated
people to such a state that they did not know how to answer him. The captain
himself related: 'Before him we were at a loss what to answer, like fools!'
Father Herman asked one common question to all of them: 'What do you, gentlemen,
love more than anything else, and what would you wish for your happiness?'
Various answers began to pour out. Some wished for riches, others glory, others
a beautiful wife, and others a wonderful ship on which he would be captain, and
so on in the same vein. 'Isn't it true.' said Father Herman to them, 'that all
your various wishes could be summed up into one, that each of you wishes that
which, according to his understanding, he considers the best and more worthy of
love?' 'Yes, that is true!' answered all. 'But still, tell me,' continued he,
'what could be better, higher than all, more superlative and most worthy of love
if not the Lord, our Jesus Christ Himself, Who created us, adorned us with such
perfections, gave life to all, upkeeps everything, nourishes, loves all, Who
Himself is love, and most wonderful; more so than all people? Shouldn't one
therefore love God more than every­thing, and in everything wish and seek Him?'
All began to speak: 'Well, yes! That is self-evident! That is true in itself!'
'But do you love God?' asked the Elder. And all answered: 'Of course we love
God. How can we not love God?' 'And I, a sinner,' answered Father Herman 'have
tried to love God for more than forty years, and I cannot say that I perfectly
love Him," and he began to explain how one must love God. 'If we love someone,'
he said, 'then we always think of that one, we strive to please that one; day
and night our heart is preoccupied with that object. Is it in this way,
gentlemen, that you love God? Do you often turn to Him, do you always remember
Him, do you always pray to Him and fulfill His Holy commandments?' We had to
admit that we did not. 'For our good, for our happiness.' concluded the Elder,
'at least let us give a vow to ourselves, that from this day, from this hour,
from this minute we shall strive above all else to love God and to fulfill His
Holy Will!' What a wise and wonderful talk Fr Herman conducted in this society:
without a doubt this conversation must have been impressed in the hearts of the
listeners for the rest of their lives.



In this conversation, just as in the Gospel parable, we see that the love of men
for the things of this world distracts from the love of God.  It is easy to say
that we love God and yet our hearts turn first to the things in this world that
we hold dear. And then when we consider what it means to truly love someone, we
must admit that we do not love God in that manner.



What more can we add to the words of the Saint which apply so well to each of us
today.  All we can do is repeat the challenge that he gave to the officers of
the ship with whom he spoke and take it for ourselves, "For our good, for our
happiness, at least let us give a vow to ourselves, that from this day, from
this hour, from this minute we shall strive above all else to love God and to
fulfill His Holy Will!"






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

File        : read only.doc
Description : read only reminder

Matt 1:1-25



When the Virgin Mary received the news that she would bear the Christ Child, her
reaction was not one of confusion or doubt, but rather she only asked how this
would happen since she was a virgin and had vowed to remain so for the remainder
of her life.  Of course the archangel Gabriel was himself mystified as to how,
he could only say that she would be "overshadowed by the Holy Spirit" and that
her conception would be a miracle.  Having heard this news, she humbly gave
herself over to the will of God.  At that time, the righteous Joseph, to whom
she had been betrothed in order that he might be her guardian and caretaker, was
away from home, working at his trade of carpentry.  When he returned, many
months later, he found the Virgin Mary to be with child and assuming that she
had faltered in the fulfillment of her vow of virginity, moved by human
weakness, sought to deal with her as privately and compassionately as possible. 
But before he could act, an angel came to him as well to reassure Joseph that
the Child which Mary bore in her womb was not the result of Mary's weakness, but
that this was a miracle.  Joseph, being a pious man, also recognized the truth
of the word of the archangel, and so continued to fulfill his role as the
guardian and protector not only of the Virgin Mary, but of the Child she was to
bear.



In his message to Joseph, the archangel speaks of the nature and destiny of the
Christ Child, bringing to mind the prophecy of Isaiah who proclaimed that a
virgin would conceive and bring forth a Son who would be called "Immanuel" which
means "God is with us".  The archangel also spoke to Joseph about the purpose of
the coming of Christ, saying that the Child would be named "Jesus" (or Joshua)
which means "Savior" for He would "save His people from their sins."  So here,
even before the birth of Christ we have clearly set before us the dogma of the
incarnation for this Child is "God with us" and the dogma of redemption for "He
will save His people from their sins".



When God created mankind, His purpose was that we would enter into union and
communion with Him and this was exactly what happened in the Garden of Eden. 
Adam and Eve "walked with God", communing with Him and as they grew and
developed, they become closer and closer to God, growing into that union with
Him.  But when sin entered into the Garden and Adam and Eve fell to the
temptation of the evil one, that sin ruptured their communion with God and
blocked their ongoing union with Him.  Where once existed that closeness with
God where God was with man and man was with God, now God came to Adam and Eve
and found that they had moved away from Him.  God was with them, but they were
not with God.  This is the effect of sin for it is what separates us from God. 
This separation, wrought by the ancestral sin of Adam and Eve resulted in their
departure from Paradise and their exile in the world where they were subject to
the consequences of sin - that is alienation from God, corruption and death.



Because God loves us so greatly, He began even at the moment of our exile to
restore our union and communion with Him.  He began to prepare the human race
for the restoration of communion with Him.  Throughout the centuries He began to
act in lives of His chosen people to bring about the perfect moment for Him to
restore that communion.  Today we commemorate all those Holy Fathers and Mothers
who came before Christ who were part of that preparation.  That preparation
culminated in the Virgin Mary who was the one chosen to bear a son who would be
"Immanuel" that is "God with us" thereby restoring God's presence with us and
who would be "Jesus" the Savior who would "save His people from their sins"
thereby restoring us to God.  In the person of the God/Man Jesus Christ the
original purpose of God for us was restored.  Again, through Christ, God is with
us and through the saving redemption of Christ we are with God.



"God is with us".  What a wonderful thing to behold.  God, our creator, the all
powerful master of all that is, the One Who covers the heavens with the blanket
of the stars, Who gives the sun and the moon for light and the counting of days,
Who established the seas and the dry land, Who brought forth all variety of
living things, Who made us as His own companions - this great and wonderful God
has come to us even while we were yet lost and held captive in our sins.  And
then so that we might be able to be with Him, He Himself freed us from our
captivity, breaking the chains of sin, defeating death, overthrowing the devil
and opening for us again the gates of paradise and setting us again on the path
of salvation.  God is with us - this is a statement of God's love for us that is
greater than all the world.  And this is not all, for not only is God with us,
but He has made it possible that we might again be with Him.



As we approach the feast of our Lord's nativity, let us recall that by His birth
He became Immanuel, "God with us." He came to us when we were helpless to come
to Him.  Live this whole week in mindfulness of this one thing, that God has
come to us.  Let your heart be filled with the love of God that is expressed in
this one statement.  Let that love fill your whole being.  God is with us.



And even more than this great love which God expressed in His incarnation, in
coming to us, is the equally great act of love contained in His name - Jesus -
for by saving us from our sins He has made it possible for us to come to Him. 
God is with us so that we might be with God.  God has come to us - God has come
to you.  Will you now respond to His love and come to Him.  Will you set your
foot upon the path of salvation and walk with Him returning to the communion and
union with God that our first parents Adam and Eve had in the Garden before the
disruption of sin?  God is with us - are we with Him?


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The birth of Christ is a wonderful reminder to us all that our Lord came not
just to one nation or people or group, but to the whole world.  Everywhere that
the birth of Christ is celebrated, there are different customs that go along
with the celebration.  We have the American Santa Clause, the British Fr
Christmas, the Serbian Yule Log, the Russian Ded Moroz, the German Christmas
tree.  We have Christmas parties, Yolkas, "Three King" parties.  There is no end
to the various customs that are encountered - all surrounding the celebration of
the birth of Jesus Christ.  Here in the United States, we have the fortunate
situation where this is a melting pot of many nations and so we get to see and
experience many of the customs sometimes all at once.  There is no greater
reminder that Christ came to the whole world.



In the epistle today, St Paul, describes his own calling to preach the Gospel of
Christ and again he emphasizes that he was called to preach not to the Jews only
but to the gentiles as well and to go into the whole world with the Gospel. 
Indeed as a result of his efforts and the efforts of the other apostles, there
were many Churches which were established outside of Jerusalem and outside of
Palestine.  Because of St Thomas, the Church began to grow in India; because of
St Philip witnessing to the Ethiopian eunuch, the Church grew in Ethiopia; the
Church began to grow in England and northern Europe and through the efforts of
Sts Kyrill and Methodii the Church was planted in the Slavic lands.  The
Orthodox Church has always been a missionary Church, spreading to new places,
preaching the Gospel at the very limits and frontiers of civilization.  And the
particular "genius" of the Orthodox Church is that each new culture, each new
land, each new people that is encountered absorbs the Gospel in its own unique
way.  Thus we have a Church with one faith, one belief, but many different
expressions of that belief.  We have Greek customs, Serbian customs, Bulgarian
customs, Russian customs, Alaskan customs, even American customs.  Each of these
customs - these different ways of doing the same thing - are part of the Church.
Each of these customs are part of the great wealth of the Gospel which we are
given.  Each of the customs proclaim loudly that the Gospel is for all men in
all places.



Along with this great wealth, comes also a responsibility to love one another
and to respect the customs of each people.  There is a Russian folk tale which
makes just this point.



A Bishop was appointed to a new diocese in the north of Russia.  Part of his
journey to his new cathedral was by ship.  As the ship was sailing, it passed an
island that was far off the main course.  The bishop asked the captain of the
ship about the island and whether they would be landing there. The captain
replied that it was a deserted island and that the only people known to occupy
it were three old monastic hermits.  Now the bishop was himself a pious monk and
he desired to meet these hermits to see their life and to converse with them
about spiritual matters and so at his request the captain altered course to stop
at the island.  The bishop took a small boat and landed on the island where he
found the three hermits.  Recognizing a hierarch of the Church the hermits
received him as well as they were able.  In their conversation the bishop asked
them about their prayer.  These men were all basically illiterate and so had not
been able to read even the Gospel for themselves, nor had they learned the
prayers of the Church.  Their only prayer was to the Holy Trinity in which they
said, "You are Three, we are three, have mercy on us."  The bishop was amazed
that these men did not even know the simple prayers of the Church and so
endeavored to leave them with something.  He asked if they knew the "Our Father"
and was surprised to learn that they did not. He undertook right then to teach
them the "Our Father".  It took some time and a great deal of repetition, but
finally they all three seemed to be able to remember the prayer.  They were so
grateful to their bishop that he had given to them this great gift of a new
prayer and as he prepared to return to the ship, they thanked him profusely for
his spiritual gift.



Having returned to the ship, the captain returned to his original course and
they sailed on to their destination.  As the day ended, the bishop was standing
on deck looking back towards the island that was now out of sight remembering
his visit with the three hermits and how warmly they had received the knowledge
of the "Our Father".  Looking out over the water, he happened to see something
on the surface of the water - a small speck that shone brightly.  This speck
came nearer and nearer the ship and as the sun set it was clear that the shining
got brighter. The bishop called the captain who also saw this light but it was
not anything he had seen before either.  As they waited, the light came closer
and finally it was near enough the they could make out that in the light were
the three hermits walking on the water toward the ship.  The bishop was
overwhelmed at seeing such a miracle.  The three hermits caught up to the ship
and were brought aboard where they sought out the bishop.  When, trembling at
their holiness, the bishop asked what he could do for them, the hermits said to
him simply, "O Master, we so want to pray correctly and you so graciously taught
us the correct prayer of the Church, but we in the weakness of our mind have
forgotten part of the prayer you taught us.  Could you remind us so that we can
again pray correctly and so please God?"  The bishop, struck by their evident
holiness and purity which enabled them to walk on the surface of the water as
did our Lord and seeing that they shone with the light of Tabor as only the
great saints did, was humbled by their presence and said to them.  "Return to
your life of prayer, continue to pray as you know for it is apparent that you
have found true prayer, even without the prayers the I can teach you.  It is I
who must learn to pray from you."



Now this little tale is a remarkable example of the fact that it is the inner
life of the Church that is life-giving and transforming, not the outer customs. 
It was the prayer itself, not the words of the prayer, that gave these three
hermits the life of Christ.  In their simplicity and faith, even the "Our
Father" was equaled by their simple prayer.  Although the bishop did not
recognize their "custom" of prayer - he did soon see and recognize their
holiness.



When we see the many and varied customs of the Church, especially here in the US
where these customs all appear together, it is vital to look, not for external
conformity, but conformity of the heart.  Before we try to correct or teach
those who have different customs, we must first strive to see the truth behind
those customs and to perceive how the Holy Spirit is acting in their heart.  It
is not our task to make them "like us" but rather to join with them in the unity
of heart - the unity of Christ.



Our Lord has come to the whole world and in each land, each culture, each
people, each language, there is a multitude of differing customs and expressions
of the one faith that we share.  Let us strive to see and value the richness and
beauty that the flowering of God's love brings in the hearts of others.  Let us
rejoice that here in the Church we are united in the bond of the One True Faith
and of the love of God and that that union has brought about a multitude of
flowers, each one beautiful and each one a unique expression of the Truth of
Jesus Christ which lives and grows in our hearts.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Eph 4:7-13 & Col 3:12-16



The Holy Apostle Paul sets out for the Church a particular order.  All through
his letters we find this emphasis, that there is a particular order to the
Church and that we all have different abilities, different callings, different
gifts, different roles but that we use all these differences to work together as
the one Body of Christ.  We work together towards the one goal of the
"perfecting of the saints... in the unity of the faith [and] the measure of the
stature of the fulness of Christ".  Toward this end, he tells us, there are many
different gifts and callings - some apostles, some prophets some evangelists,
some pastors, some teachers and so on, each according to his calling.   It is
obvious to him and to us that not everyone in the Church has the same function
or the same role.  Even when we look at the Church as it exists today we see
this in many ways.  We have those living in the world and those who live a
monastic life - we have those among the laity and those set aside by the
sacrament of Holy Ordination - we have those who sing and those who serve and
those who pray - we have the rich and the poor, the healthy and the ill, and
many other different groups.  Each of us, despite our differences is necessary
for the functioning and well being of the Church.  Each of us brings our own
gifts, abilities and talents to offer to God so that when all are brought
together, there is a complete and whole offering.



In this parish community, we have many different people from a variety of
backgrounds.  We bring to the Church what we have and here we offer it to God. 
Now you may think that it is just chance that you are here, that there was just
some strange confluence of events that ended up with you being a part of this
particular parish community.  You might as well be anywhere.  But this is not
true, for this community, like the whole Church has been gathered together by
God's providence.  He has brought us together for a purpose - that is for the
working out of our salvation together.  There is no one who is or who becomes a
part of this parish that is unnecessary to this work - we all need one another. 
You might think that you bring no special quality to this parish - but God
looking deep within your soul, sees what you are, and those qualities, those
strengths, those gifts that He finds within you are what you bring to this
community.  But it is not just about what you bring - it is also about what you
receive.  When God looks at your soul He sees not only what you have, but also
what you need and brings you together with those others here who can fulfill
those needs.  Here we are each valuable to one another, giving and taking freely
so that being united together we are united to Christ.



Bishop Kallistos (Ware), a well known writer and speaker on matters of the
Orthodox faith, talks about salvation as "sharing".  He begins by reminding us
that our salvation consists of sharing the life of the Holy Trinity through
being united with Christ.  We enter into and participate in the life of God and
as His life flows through us - as we share His life - this is the end and
purpose of our salvation.  But this sharing does not stop with God, but it also
applies to the various members of the Church.  Our salvation rests in the life
that we share together with God and with one another.  There is only One Church,
One Body of Christ, and we are united in the life of this Body by sharing with
one another.  Thus we enter into our salvation by sharing - sharing with one
another the life that Christ gives and by this sharing we are united to one
another and to Christ.



Anytime there are many different people together each doing something different
there is bound to be friction.  Just as in an engine with a multitude of moving
parts; if there is not something to smooth the friction between the parts, the
engine will heat up, malfunction, and freeze or even explode.  So in the Church
and especially in the parish community, there is frequently friction, frequently
there are those who "rub the wrong way" or who seem to make life difficult. 
Just as an engine needs oil to smooth the friction between its parts so it can
run - so also we in the Church require some kind of oil to smooth the friction
between so many varied and different persons.  The Apostle also sees this and he
prescribes for us a remedy.  We also heard today the admonition to "put on
mercy, kindness, humbleness, meekness, longsuffering (that is patience).
forbearing and forgiving one another even as Christ forgave you.  And above all
things put on charity (that is love) which is the bond of perfectness."  Here we
have the prescription for the inevitable conflict, the inevitable friction that
will arise in this parish and in every parish.



First we are to act with mercy, kindness, humility, meekness and patience.  How
often do we forget this and begin to act towards one another with judgment,
pride, authority and harshness.  Our first task is for each to adjust his own
outlook, his own approach.  Nurture within yourself those qualities which the
Apostle mentions to us.  If we could just remember mercy - that one thing - and
bring a merciful attitude to every interaction that would go very far.  Then if
we can only try to be a kind as possible - be gentle with one another - be nice
to each other.  Remember also humility and meekness - putting others before
yourself.  And bring as much patience as you can bear into your relationships. 
If we all act in this way towards one another, much of the friction will be
eliminated.



Then there is the second step - forbear and forgive.  Do not remember wrongs,
but forgive them as soon as you are asked.  Remember forgiveness is a choice,
not a feeling.  When you choose to forgive, you set aside any effect that an
offense may have had on you and you act as though that offense no longer
existed.  No matter what we do, no matter how merciful, kind and patient we are
there will always be some offense (because not one of us is perfect in these
virtues).  When that offense occurs we must strive to be first to forgive, first
to reconcile, first to set aside any and all ill will.  We can even choose to
forgive regardless of whether we are asked to forgive.  If someone offends you,
work to forgive them before they even ask to be forgiven.  Be an aggressive
forgiver - look for the opportunity to forgive as soon as possible.  The longer
you wait to forgive someone else, the more difficult it becomes.



Thirdly, the Apostle tells us to love one another - for this is the bond of
perfection.  The only perfect love comes from God - for it is part of His being.
Therefore in order to love one another we must love God and we express our love
of God by loving those whom He loves - that is our "neighbor", those around us,
those with whom we work out our salvation.  Love your neighbor as yourself, love
your neighbor as you love God, love your neighbor in the same way that God loves
you.  When we are bound together with one another in such perfect love, then
there will be no friction, no offense, no difficulty of any kind.  This is the
prefect bond for which we strive.



The Church is full of variety, full of many different people who are brought
together by God that we might work out our salvation together.  Because of our
differences there will be "friction" and if we do not somehow smooth out that
friction, the work of the Church will freeze up in us, perhaps even bring about
an explosion.  But we are given the means by which to lubricate that friction,
to make all the parts work together.  That oil which smoothes the friction of
our different lives is brought about by acting with mercy, kindness, humility
and patience.  It is maintained and spread throughout by forgiveness.  It is
perfected in love.  If we work to acquire these qualities in our interactions
with one another, in our "sharing" of the life of Christ together, then we will
also be able to work out our salvation together, coming to "the unity of the
faith, the knowledge of the Son of God and to the measure of the fulness of the
stature of Christ"

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

File        : read only.doc
Description : read only reminder

Having just finished the festal season, it is good to look back and see it as a
whole.  The twin feasts of our Lord's Nativity and Theophany are sometimes
called feasts of Light because they both are concerned with the coming of the
One Who is the Light of the world.  At the birth of Christ the Light comes into
the world, but it is hidden so that the God/Man might grow to full maturity. 
This  in itself is an important consideration for by the fact Jesus Christ was
born into this world as an infant and that He needed time to grow and develop
protected by His Most Holy Mother and the Righteous Joseph until finally He
Himself reached maturity and the time for His public work came near.  That need
for protection and growth and development and maturity reminds us that God did
indeed become fully man for us - He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, He was
recognized in the womb as God by the Forerunner, He was known to be God from the
moment of His birth, in His childhood (when he remained at the temple teaching)
and finally He is revealed as God as an adult in His Baptism - the feast of
Theophany.  The Light comes into the world on Nativity, and is revealed to the
world on Theophany.  Then last week, on the Sunday after Theophany we heard in
the Gospel how our Lord went from the environs of Jerusalem where He was
baptized by John in the Jordan into Galilee of the gentiles where the prophecy
of Isaiah was fullfilled that those who sat in darkness were shown a great
Light.  Thus we see that these feasts are about the coming of the Light and the
enlightening of the world.



Today in the Gospel we heard of an enlightening of a more personal nature.  (And
this too is important that Jesus Christ is not only the Light of the World - but
He is also the Light of each one of us.)  As Jesus was traveling to Jericho, a
certain blind beggar heard Him pass by and began to cry out "Jesus, have mercy
on me!"  When Jesus stopped and asked the man what he wanted, the blind man
answered that he would like to receive his sight.  And immediately He Who is the
Light of the world became also the Light of this man and to the blind man who
had sat in darkness all these years, came a great Light which drove away the
darkness and he could see.



When the Light comes, darkness flees.  When Jesus Christ comes to us, the
darkness flees from our souls and we see ourselves as we are.  This is a
difficult thing, for in Christ we must confront our own sinfulness and this is
not a very comfortable or easy thing.  When the Light comes, then that which was
hidden by darkness is revealed and we are confronted with those things in
ourselves which weigh us down, which hold us back from the Kingdom of God, which
prevent us from following Christ.  Our response to the light is critical here. 
Do we look at ourselves and confess our sinful state and begin to work, through
repentance to get rid of the sin - or do we look for excuses, reasons, blame to
cast and other means by which we can pretend to ignore those unpleasant and evil
things which the Light reveals.



The Holy Apostle Paul wrote to his spiritual son Timothy, "This is a faithful
saying and worthy of all consideration that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners; of whom I am chief."  Here the Apostle models for us the proper
response to the Light of Christ which illumines the soul.  When he sees his own
sinfulness - he confesses his sin saying not only that he is a sinner, but that
he is the chief or worst of sinners.  In this he does not look for excuses or
reasons for his sin - he simply admits it and turns away from it.  Our Lord said
that He came into the world to save sinners and not the righteous, for those who
are well have no need of a physician.  When His Light comes to us, our sins, our
illness is revealed - but we cannot be healed until we admit our own illness and
appeal to the One Who is the Great Physician.  This to the apostle showed us for
in confessing his sinfulness - he also puts himself into the hands of Christ
Jesus Who "came into the world to save sinners" and "for this cause obtained
mercy."  By confessing his sin - rather than excusing it or putting the blame on
others or rationalizing it or simply denying it - the apostle says that he has
"obtained mercy."  This is necessary for all of us,  to confess our own sin, not
to point out the sins of others to make ourselves look "better" by comparison,
rather to take responsibility for that which Christ shows us about ourselves and
put all of our hope on Him for when we do so, He will grant us mercy and
forgiveness and we will enter into His Life which is everlasting.



The blind man came to Christ Who is the Light of the world and he received that
light into himself by confessing his blindness.  St Paul also received this
light into himself and this light revealed his sinfulness - and he received
mercy and forgiveness for he confessed his sin and repented, putting all his
hope on Christ.  And now Jesus Christ, the Light of the World comes to us and
His light shines on us and reveals to each his own sin.  What then will you do
with this Light, how will you respond?   Will you hide from the Light, denying
all that it reveals in you?  Will you rationalize and excuse your sins?  Will
you use the light to point out the sins of others so that you don't feel so
responsible?  These are all the natural reactions of fallen man - and these are
the responses to the Light that prevent our cleansing, that prevent our healing
that prevent us from being filled with the Light and being united to the Light. 
The one reaction that opens the door for us to the Kingdom of Heaven is to
confess our sins, recognize that we are chief among sinners and seeing the
hopelessness of our condition to put all of our hope instead on Christ Jesus Who
came into the world to forgive sinners like us.  And if we do this - abandoning
our own sins by repentance and embracing instead the One Who is the Light,
placing all our hope on Him - we too, like the Holy Apostle will receive mercy
and forgiveness.  We too will be united with the Light that fills us
participating in His Life as our own.



The Light of Christ has come into the world; the Light of Christ has come to
you.  Embrace the Light and let He Who is the Light fill you and enlighten you
to the very core of our soul.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Zacchaeus was a man who had great wealth according to the world.  He was in a
position to accumulate whatever possessions he desired, and he used that
ability.  As a tax collector, it was his right to collect not only the taxes
required by the Roman government, but also to collect a little extra from each
person for his own personal needs.  Zacchaeus, like most other tax collectors
collected not just a little extra, but he collected as much as he could and thus
he became a wealthy man.  No one could just refuse to pay - for to refuse to pay
him was a refusal to pay the Roman government and the payment of taxes was
enforced by the Roman army.  As a result Zacchaeus was not only wealthy, but he
was also feared and that fear translated into a sort of grudging polite respect
in society for no one wished to offend him.



But Zacchaeus also had something else besides his wealth and his position in
society - he had a conscience.  As he grew older his wealth became less and less
satisfying to him and his conscience began to torment him more and more.  He
could no longer turn a blind eye to the fact that he had cheated nearly every
person he knew, he had offended widows, he had treated orphans unfairly, he had
caused torment to many people.  He had all the worldly possessions that he
needed, but he did not have peace in his soul.  And this, above all he now
desired.



When Zacchaeus heard of the coming of a new teacher and rabbi - Jesus of
Nazareth - he resolved that he would go and ask this prophet how to find the
peace that he did not have.  But he was also ashamed of his behavior and knew
that he was not loved by the people of his town and that their respect was only
a "show" and so he felt he must speak to this prophet in secret.  In order to
see who this was that he might more easily find him later at a private moment,
Zacchaeus climbed a tree on the fringe of the crowd just to get a glimpse of
Jesus without being seen himself.  But our Lord, Who knows the hearts of men and
Who sees that which is hidden did not allow Zacchaeus to hide, for He stopped,
turned to the tax collector in the tree and drawing the attention of all to him,
instructed Zacchaeus to come out of the tree and return home in order to prepare
to received Jesus as a guest.



Zacchaeus hurried to do as he was instructed and received Jesus as a guest in
his home.  Jesus had seen within the heart of this tax collector the burden of
his sins and He saw also the desire to repent and to find peace.  This
repentance was just the response that Zacchaeus had to the coming of Christ - he
relinquished all of his worldly wealth, restoring all that he had taken
unjustly, making reparations to those from whom he had stolen even up to 4 times
as much as he had taken.  In doing this Zacchaeus divested himself of much of
his own wealth and he who had impoverished others, now impoverished himself that
he might gain something greater - the Kingdom of God.



We too live in relative comfort and wealth.  We may not have obtained this
wealth by cheating and stealing as did Zacchaeus and so have not the same
"prick" of the conscience that drove him to repentance - but the same question
also stands before us.  What is the Kingdom of God worth to you?  To Zacchaeus,
to gain the Kingdom of God, he sacrificed all that he had including his pride
and place in society.  Would you do the same, or is there something you value
more than Christ.



It's easy, I think to say that we could give up this or that possession, or that
we could do without many of the "things" we have - but it is harder to give up
some of the less tangible possessions of the soul.  It is harder, to relinquish
our pride, our own self perceptions, our own ideals, our hopes and dreams.  It
is difficult to humble yourself and to say that "I am a sinner" - not "he is a
sinner" or "you are a sinner" but "I am a sinner".  To say this is the first
step in relinquishing the one thing that keeps us separated from Christ - and
that is our own pride, our own self centeredness, our own personal ideal.  It is
natural for each of us to say, "I have done no wrong or at least if I have, then
I'm no worse than anyone else, in fact I'm not as bad as most others"  In our
fallen natural pride we deny our sinfulness, we minimalize it and rationalize it
away.  But to enter the Kingdom of God it is necessary to set down this pride
and to say, "I am a sinner" with no comparison, no excuses, no rationalizations.
This is the beginning of repentance and repentance is the first step on the path
to salvation.



Zacchaeus repented of his sins, he said not only to Jesus, but to the whole
world - "I am a sinner" and having made that statement, he then turned away from
his sin.  This is the second step.  Once we can recognize our own sin, the next
thing is to turn our backs on it and to never again allow that sin to enter our
lives.  Zacchaeus, seeing the effects of his sin around himself, reordered his
life so that instead of causing sorrow and grief to others, he began to make
restitution, giving back that which he had taken unjustly, comforting those who
were in distress, and helping those who were in need.



It is one thing to say "I am a sinner and I repent", but that statement must
then be put into action.  Our repentance must show in our lives, we just turn
away from our former sin and choose instead to live according to the
righteousness of the Kingdom of God.  Our actions must demonstrate the truth of
our words.  Again, just as it is easier to shift the responsibility for our sin
onto others rather than admit our own sins - so it is also easier to correct the
lives of others than it is to correct our own lives.  But this is what we must
do.  We must repent - both in word and in deed - of our *own* sins and correct
our *own* lives.



But we do not do all this alone - we do this together.  While we do not accuse
or correct one another, we do encourage and help one another.  Is your brother
or sister struggling, then offer them a word of encouragement, offer to help
them in their struggle.  Our Lord does not leave us alone, to struggle alone, to
repent alone - but He has brought us into the Church that we might help one
another, encourage one another, work together with each other.  When one slips
and falls, there is no judgment, only a helping hand.  When one begins to lose
hope and becomes discouraged, there is no condemnation, but a chorus of
encouragement and sympathy.  In this way we journey together into the Kingdom of
Heaven.



Like Zacchaeus, we are called to repentance, to leave behind all of our sin, all
of the worldly clutter that blocks our spiritual progress, and to follow Christ
on the path of Salvation.  We are called to do this, not by ourselves, dependant
only upon our own resources and strength, but we are called to repent together
as a community, as part of the Body of Christ.  We are called to help one
another, to encourage one another and to walk with one another on the path of
salvation.  We are moving toward the beginning of Great Lent - let us do so
together.  Let us pray together, let us repent together, let us walk that path
of salvation together.  Let us encourage one another, help one another,
strengthen one another so that no one is lost, no one is left behind, no one is
neglected but that together we enter into the Kingdom of God.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Luke 15:11-32



"If you keep doing what you have always done, you will keep on getting the same
results that you have always gotten"  This saying seems to be found in one form
or another in many different aspects of our popular culture.  It is applied to
everything from corporate business to personal self help and therapy.  It is so
ubiquitous because it is basically true and can be applied to so many different
aspects of life.  Not only does it apply to our "worldly life", but it also can
apply to our spiritual life.  In our spiritual life, when we talk about changing
what we do, usually the word we use is "repentance".   Repentance is not
"feeling bad" for having done something wrong - repentance is recognizing that
what you have been doing does not bring you closer to God and so choosing to
turn your back on your old behavior (sin) and instead doing something different.



While we are constantly seeking to turn away from sin and turn towards God, the
Church sets aside a time of the year when we can focus more fully on repentance.
That time is, of course, Great Lent and the weeks leading up to it.  Last week,
with the Sunday of the Pharisee and the Publican, we began this pre-lenten
period, when we begin to focus more and more on our own repentance.  We heard in
that parable of the futility of self-justification of the Pharisee and the
benefit of the self-emptying confession of sin of the publican.   Today, in the
second pre-lenten Sunday, we have set before us the parable of the Prodigal Son.
Here we see clearly the moment and nature of repentance.



This son, took from his father the whole share of his inheritance - his
birthright - and moved away from home to live solely as he chose, indulging his
own passions and desires, squandering the wealth that he had received from his
father.  In this, we see the essence of sin - for when we "move out" from our
Father's house and begin to live according to our own desires rather than
according to His rule, then we have separated ourselves from Him and drift
further and further away from Him.  Rebellion against God always brings the same
result - it always distances us from God and leads us further and further into
despair.  This rebellion, that is to self-centeredly live according to our own
desires and passions instead of living according to God's provision, is the
essence of sin.



This kind of behavior always has the same result - it pulls us away from God, we
constantly lose our spiritual wealth until we have become (as it says in our
prayers of repentance) like a beast and even worse than a beast, ruled by our
own passions, forgetting our divine calling and purpose.  The prodigal son had
that same experience.  As he squandered his inheritance, he drifted further and
further from his father and he began to forget whose son he was.  In the end he
had so abased himself that he lived with the pigs, as one of them, having
completely forgotten his heritage.  He did not change what he had been doing,
and the result was always the same - to distance himself more and more from his
father and his heritage and to become more and more like the brute beasts.  As
long as he continued to choose to live according to his own will and his own
passions - he would continue to get the same result, to sink deeper and deeper
into the bestial pit of his own making.



Now at this point there might be some that say, "But I am not so foolish as this
young man - I have not wasted my income - I am not living with the pigs."  And
to those I would say to look at your own soul, not at your worldly possessions,
but at those possessions which you have laid up in the Kingdom of God.  Do you
see in your soul the riches of the virtues - the gems of humility, compassion,
mercy, forgiveness, patience, (spiritual) courage and meekness?  Do you
consistently and without hesitation or variation choose to love God and to love
others?  Is your every word, your every deed, a prayer, offered up to the glory
of God?  Do you perceive God's presence in your life every moment of every day? 
If this is not the case, then you are, at least to some extent impoverished; you
are still infected with sin.  You are moving away from God, not towards Him.  It
is said that those whom we revere as saints always have, as a basic
characteristic, a profound sense of repentance.  This is because as a person
draws nearer to God, he sees his soul and his own heart more clearly - he sees
that he is still very far from God, he sees that he still has a long way to go
to become like God - he sees that he will never be able to accomplish this on
his own - and so he constantly repents, he constantly abandons his own
self-justification and personal righteousness and throws himself instead on the
mercy of God (just as the publican did).  The mark of a saint is this clarity of
vision, seeing the great gulf between himself and God Whom he loves and
constantly realigning himself and his life, shedding those things which pull him
away from God and embracing those things which bring him closer.  He empties
himself completely of his self righteousness and his self centered focus.  He
empties himself so that he can receive God Himself into his soul.



God loves us, He comes to us and knocks on the door of our hearts.  When we open
to Him, He comes in and fills our soul with His presence and His grace.  But our
souls are cluttered with the relics of our self love, our self regard, our self
will and so in order to be filled with God's grace we have to toss out the trash
that is taking up the room.  As soon as we make more room for Him in our soul
(by repentance, that is turning away from our selfish sin) He floods in and
fills that space.  He does not wait for everything to be perfect, but takes
every inch and more that we give to Him immediately.  Neither does He leave this
task of repentance to our own resources, but He helps by showing us how to
remove the clutter of self, by shining the light of His grace on our sin so that
we can see, by encouraging and strengthening us by His grace so that we can
truly turn our backs on those sins.  And as the soul is cleared of the trash of
our sins - He fills it and cleanses it and transforms it into His dwelling.  God
constantly empties Himself to fill us, all we have to do is change what we have
been doing, abandon our old ways and make room for Him to flood us with His
grace.



The prodigal, having sunk to the greatest depths possible, was driven by his
despair to recall who he was, who his father was and what he had lost.  He saw
his previous self centered rebellion for what it was and changed.  He rejected
his old self centered behavior and embraced a new path. He made a new choice -
he repented.  The moment he made this choice, the moment he repented, he began
to reverse his course.  Instead of falling further and further from his father,
he began to draw nearer and nearer.  And his father, who never stopped loving
him, who never stopped looking for him and waiting for his return did not wait
for his son to get to him, but instead ran out and embraced his son and
immediately began to restore him to his place in the household.



If the prodigal represents each of us in our sin and rebellion and in our
repentance from those things - the father then represents God Who never ceases
to love us and pour Himself out for us.  He patiently awaits our repentance and
when He sees us abandoning our rebellion and returning to Him - He rushes out to
meet us, to embrace us, to fill us with His love, His mercy and His grace.  He
begins at once - even before we can get the words of our repentance out - to
cleanse us and restore us to our place in His Kingdom.



Great Lent is the season of repentance.  This is the time to focus on turning
away from those things, no matter how seemingly small or insignificant, that
take us away from God's presence.  This is the time of self-denial where we turn
our back on the selfish fulfillment of our passions and instead work to empty
ourselves and to filled with the grace and presence of God.  Begin now, begin
today, begin this very moment to look into your heart, examine your life, see
those sins that hold you back that pull you away from God and choose from this
very moment forward to reject those sins and to repent - turning away from what
you have always done that leads you away from God and to choose to do something
new that will instead bring you nearer to Him.


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(This homily by Metropolitan Anthony of Sorouzh was given in place of a homily
by Fr David today)



In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.



Today, on our preparation journey towards Lent, we have come to an ultimate
stage: we are confronted with judgement. If we pay attention to it, next week
our spiritual destiny will be in our own hands, because next week is the day of
Forgiveness.



The link between these two days is too obvious. If we only could become aware
that all and each of us stand before the judgement of God and the judgement of
men, if we could remember and realize with depth, wholeheartedly, in earnest
that we are, all of us, indebted to each other, all responsible to each other
for some of the pain and the heaviness of life, then we would find it easy, when
we are asked to forgive, not only to forgive, but, in response to this request,
to ask for forgiveness ourselves.



It is not only by what we do, not only in a way by what we leave undone, it is
by this extraordinary lack of awareness, of our responsibility, of all we could
be to others, and to do to others, that we do not fulfill our human vocation. We
could, and we should, on all levels and for all men, and beyond men for the
whole world which is ours, be a blessing and a revelation of things great, of
things so great, so deep that people, ourselves first of all, could realize that
we are on the scale of God Himself, that our vocation is not only to be morally
good, but to be as great as God. A mystic of Germany said in one of his poems 'I
am as great as God, God is as small as I.'



If we only could remember this, and that this is why the judgement is not only a
moment when we are confronted with a danger of condemnation; there is in the
very notion of judgement something great and inspiring. We are not going to be
judged according to human standards of behavior of decency. We are going to be
judged according to standards which are beyond human ordinary life. We are going
to be judged on the scale of God, and the scale of God is love: not love felt,
not an emotional love, but love lived and accomplished. The fact that we are
going to be judged, that indeed we are being judged all the time, above our
means, beyond all our smallness must, should reveal to us our potential
greatness. And the parable which we have read today can be seen in those very
terms: men are judged by Christ, in His parable, on humanity. Have these men
been human or not? Have they known how to love in their hearts first, but also
in action, in their very deeds because, as Saint John puts it, one who says that
he loves God and does not love his neighbor actively, creatively is a liar.
There is no love of God if it is not expressed in every detail of our
relationship with men, with people and with each person.



And so, let us this week prepare ourselves for the final stage of our journey by
asking ourselves in the face of this divine judgement, 'Am I human? Am I human
within myself, in my behavior - not my general attitude, but my ways: are they
human? Is my life an expression of a fine, a thoughtful, a perceptive, a
creative, and at times a generous and a sacrificial love? Am I like God my
Creator?' The object of love is the test of this love, and so it must be my
neighbor; for to love God, who asks for nothing, is too easy.



And if in the course of this week we find where we belong, we find both our
shortcomings and the greatness of our vocation; if we make our peace with those
to whom we are indebted, then, when the time comes to forgive, when someone else
will have made the same discovery, we will be able with joy to give peace and
forgiveness out of a sense of responsibility and of the creative joy of
repentance. Amen.



13th February 1972

* All texts are copyright: Estate of Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh Library
http://www.metropolit-anthony.orc.ru/eng/


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