Today we celebrate the feast of the opening of the relics of St Seraphim
of Sarov. St Seraphim is the patron and protector of our temple and by
his prayers this parish was established and has not only survived but
grown and prospered. This summer feast of St Seraphim marks the
anniversary of his glorification which he himself prophesied as a
“summer Pascha”. Indeed it was a truly a summer Pascha for there was a
great and continual outpouring of grace evident in uncounted healings,
an atmosphere of brightness and joy and the fragrance of unceasing
prayer rising from crowds gathered there.

St Seraphim was a man of prayer and of deed. In living a life of prayer
he was granted the grace of the Holy Spirit in large measure and as his
God-pleasing life became known, it was obvious that his every word and
deed was filled with that grace and was focused on the glory of God.
Although he wrote little, some of his words were recorded and have been
handed down to us. Perhaps the most well known of these is the record of
his conversation with his close friend and disciple, Nicholas Motovilov.
(http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/wonderful.aspx) The entire conversation
was centered on the question of the purpose of the Christian life and St
Seraphim summed that purpose up in one short phrase, “Acquire the Holy
Spirit”

In answer to the question “what is the aim of the Christian life?” St
Seraphim gave this answer, “Prayer, fasting, vigil and all other
Christian practices, however good they may be in themselves, do not
constitute the aim of our Christian life, although they serve as the
indispensable means of reaching this end. The true aim of our Christian
life consists in the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God. As for
fasts, and vigils, and almsgiving, and every good deed done for Christ’s
sake, they are only means of acquiring the Holy Spirit of God. But mark,
my son, only the good deed done for Christ’s sake brings us the fruits
of the Holy Spirit. All that is not done for Christ’s sake, even though
it be good, brings neither reward in the future life nor the grace of
God in this.”

In these words we see both the path of our salvation and a warning
against a false path that looks the same but does not lead to life. In
order to acquire the Holy Spirit, we must not only do those good deeds,
but we must do them in the proper spirit. It does nothing for us to
fast, keep vigil, tithe, even to be loving and kind to our neighbors and
our enemies alike if we do all this for our own sake, hoping by them to
prove ourselves worthy of God’s gifts to us (or even less commendable,
if we do these things to gather the praise, honors and benefits of the
world). We do these things simply out of love for God, because He asks
them of us and because we know that by this we can come closer to Him.

Providentially, N. A. Motovilov was like many of us, still a novice in
the spiritual life and so he began to ask St Seraphim questions about
the meaning of his words. First he asked, “What do you mean by
acquiring” and St Seraphim explained that acquiring is the same as
obtaining. He then demonstrated the meaning of this through the parable
of the wise and foolish virgins. He explained the foolish virgins did
not lack good works, for what good work is greater than virginity, but
what they lacked was the grace of the Holy Spirit. He said “I think that
what they were lacking was the grace of the All-Holy Spirit of God.
These virgins practice the virtues, but in their spiritual ignorance
they supposed that the Christian life consisted merely in doing good
works. By doing a good deed they thought they were doing the work of
God, but they little cared whether they acquired thereby the grace of
God’s Spirit. … The acquisition of the Holy Spirit is, so to say, the
oil which the foolish virgins lacked. They were called foolish just
because they had forgotten the necessary fruit of virtue, the grace of
the Holy Spirit, without which no one is or can be saved. … This is the
oil in the lamps of the wise virgins which could burn long and brightly,
and these virgins with their burning lamps were able to meet the
Bridegroom Who came at midnight, and could enter the bridechamber of joy
with Him. … the oil is not good deeds, but the grace of the All-Holy
Spirit of God which is obtained through them and which changes souls
from one state to another – that is, from corruption to incorruption,
from spiritual death to spiritual life, from darkness to light, from the
stable of our being … into a temple of the Divinity, into the shining
bridechamber of eternal joy in Christ Jesus our Lord, the Creator and
Redeemer and eternal Bridegroom of our souls.”

Here we can see more clearly the full meaning of the simple words of St
Seraphim, “Acquire the Holy Spirit.” This is quite simply the whole and
entire meaning and purpose of our earthly lives. In this life, our only
goal, our only purpose is to acquire the Holy Spirit – to fill our souls
with the grace which He gives, which transforms us from corruption to
incorruption, from death to life.

Let us then brothers and sisters in Christ, diligently go about this
labor of acquiring the Holy Spirit. Evaluate everything you do in this
light – “will this bring me the grace of the Holy Spirit?” Do everything
that you do to the glory of God. Everything that you do in this life –
even the mundane tasks of your daily life and work – can be done to the
glory of God and thereby become a source of the grace of the Holy
Spirit. Those things which cannot be done to the Glory of God then have
no place in your life for they are dead and useless and even if they do
not hinder your acquisition of the Holy Spirit, they will at least rob
you of the grace that you might have obtained in the same moment.

It is good that you pray; it is good that you are compassionate and love
your neighbor; it is good that you attend the services of the Church; it
is good that you fast and keep the vigils; it is good that you confess
your sins and repent and receive the Mysteries. All these things are
good – but if you do them for any reason other than the glory of God, if
you think that these things in and of themselves will benefit your soul,
then you are sadly mistaken. Do all these things, and do them not for
your own gain or benefit but solely for the glory of God.

We spend our whole lives acquiring things. We acquire money, and homes,
and cars, and families, and careers, and reputations, and possessions
and a host of other things. Most importantly though we should spend our
lives acquiring the grace of the Holy Spirit – nothing else matters.
Hear the words of our batisuhka (dear father) Seraphim and “Acquire the
Holy Spirit of God”

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website:http://stseraphimboise.org

Matt. 14:14-22
1 Cor. 1:10-18

The Kingdom of heaven is often described as a banquet in the parables of
our Lord. Today in the Gospel we see the same image, but this time not
as a parable but as a miracle. Many people followed Jesus as he taught
and they gathered where ever He might be found. In this case as Jesus
was teaching his disciples, a crowd of 5000 gathered to hear him. He was
in the wilderness – in the countryside far from any town or city. Here
the people gathered and listened as He taught them. As the day grew to a
close, the disciples began to become concerned that there was such a
great crowd of people but no provisions for them. They began to ask
Jesus if they should begin to send the people to their homes so that
they might eat. But Jesus said to His disciples that they should feed
them. At this, the disciples were at a loss for they had no food to give
to the people, and even when they gathered up what little was available
they had only 5 small loaves of bread and 2 fishes – not enough to feed
5000 people. But Jesus took those loaves and fishes and blessed them and
then distributed among the disciples who took them out to feed the
people. Miraculously there was not only enough food to feed everyone,
but also there was much more left over than their had original amount.
Jesus had miraculously provided food for the people.

When they first noticed that the people were getting hungry, the
disciples said to Jesus, “Send the mulititude away that they might go
into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus replied, “They
do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” Everything that
we need – all of the spiritual nourishment we could possibly desire – is
available in Christ. Sadly there are those who insist on looking
elsewhere for spiritual food, thinking that there is something better,
something undiscovered, something more exotic “out there” and leaving
behind the spiritual banquet provided by Jesus Christ. But here we see
that when the disciples suggested that food might be better found
elsewhere, Jesus said, “They don’t need to go away” emphasizing that
everything they needed was to be found right there with Himself. We
don’t need to go looking here and there for spiritual nourishment –
everything we need is provided in Christ. There is no need for other
spiritual teachers, or other spiritual exercises, or the insights of
other religions. We don’t even need to go out to find God in nature.
Everything we could possibly need or want is already here in Christ for
He encompasses all Truth and He is the complete and perfect revelation
of God to man.

Now Jesus didn’t just say, “They don’t need to go away” but added on to
that saying to the disciples “You feed them”. In this Jesus showed them
the structure of the Church, how, they, the disciples received the food
from Christ and in turn gave it to the people. This is the way that the
Church is arranged even for us today. The grace of “rightly dividing the
word of Truth” is bestowed upon the successors of the apostles, that is
on the bishops of the Church. They in turn, having received the grace
from God, give it to the people of their flock. In this work of
providing spiritual nourishment the bishop is assisted by his clergy
(the priests and deacons and other members of the clergy). We are all
fed not from the hand of Jesus Christ directly, but from the hand of
those whom He has chosen to care for the flock, the Apostles and their
successors. From this it is apparent that we need look for all our
spiritual needs and nourishment nowhere else but in the Church and from
the hand of our own bishop. We do not need to investigate other
Churches, other confessions or other preachers – for we have the One,
Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church in which the whole revelation of the
God/man Jesus Christ is preserved for us untainted, unchanged, and
uncompromised by any error. Why would we go looking for spiritual food
elsewhere when we already have the tastiest, most nourishing, heartiest,
most complete food already. In the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ has
prepared a banquet for us and provides it to us through the hands of His
chosen servants, the Apostles and their successors. Why would we leave
this banquet and go rummage through the trash or through the fields
thinking to find something better.

There is one more quality that we need to look at here and that is how
all were at peace, all received their food together and there was no
quarreling, no dispute, no struggle for precedence. This is how it
should be when we are together in the Church, following the instruction
we heard from the Apostle today, “that you be perfectly joined together
in the same mind…” Jesus provides a banquet that is sufficient for all
of us and we need only come and dine. We do not need to dispute or fight
over who gets which morsel for all that we need is already provided. It
is important that when we are gathered together as the Body of Christ
that we set aside our personal ideas and desires which separate us from
one another and distinguish us. Instead we should be perfectly joined
together in the same mind – that is the mind of Christ – sacrificing our
own will our own ideas our own desires and embracing instead the will of
Jesus Christ. In this way we come into the Kingdom of God not as a
collection of individuals, but as many persons joined in the One Body of
Christ, perfectly joined together in Him.

Our Lord Jesus Christ sees our hungers, sees the needs of our body and
soul and He provides for us all that we need from the great bounty of
His providence. He gives us a spiritual banquet that is not only
sufficient for our needs but that provides for us in abundance. He gives
us everything that is necessary and provides for us every spiritual
delicacy that can be had. We need look nowhere else but to Him to
satisfy our needs. He gives us this banquet in the context of the
Church, at the hands of His chosen servants, the Apostles, and their
successors the bishops and clergy of the Church. They are the ones who
have received this banquet on our behalf and who give it to us freely
and without reservation. As we are fed from this spiritual banquet
offered to us by Christ in the Church, we are “perfectly joined
together” in the one Body of Christ, having, through self denial, set
aside our own mind and will and having embraced instead the mind and
will of Jesus Christ. Together then we approach the Kingdom of Heaven
where we are joined not only to one another but to our Lord Jesus Christ
Himself.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

Our God is the Victor, and all good and lasting victories, from one end
of time to the other, belong to Him. He is victorious over the disorder
among men that is made by sinners, bringing order. When the worst among
men rise up to the first place, and the best fall to the lowest, He
reverses that disorder, and makes the first last and the last first. He
is victorious over the malice and scheming of the evil spirits against
the human race, and scatters them as a strong wind disperses a vile
stench. He is victorious over all want: where there is little, He gives
increase; where there is nothing, He gives in abundance. He is
victorious over sickness and suffering; He only speaks the word, and
sickness and suffering vanish away: the blind see, the deaf hear, the
dumb speak, the paralysed get up and walk, the lepers are cleansed. He
is victorious over death: at His command, death looses its victim from
its jaws.

He reigns over a kingdom of heavenly powers - angels and saints - that
has no end; a heavenly kingdom in comparison with which the kingdoms of
this world are as dark and confining as the womb. He commands the
elements and creatures of this world, and nothing is able to withstand
His commands without disintegrating in eternal ruin.

Day after day; victory after victory. The history of this world is a
series of God's victories, the revealing of God's power and
irresistibility. He is meek as a lamb, but heaven and earth tremble
before Him. When He allows Himself to be humiliated, His greatness is
thereby most strikingly revealed. When He allows His face to be spat on,
He thereby reveals the foulness of all that is not He. When He gives
Himself to be slaughtered, then His life shines forth.

God has revealed His light through the sun, like some pale shadow of
Himself. He has shown His power through the innumerable fiery bodies in
the universe, His wisdom in the order of creation and created beings
from end to end of the universe, His beauty through the beauty of
creation, His mercy through His careful nurturing of all He has created,
His life through all that lives. But all this is only a pale and
ephemeral image of Him; it is only letters of fire written in thick
smoke. All these characteristics of the living God have been revealed,
in the greatest radiance in which it was possible for them to be seen in
this world, in man. Not in every man; not in ordinary, created men, but
in the uncreated Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. All came together in Him;
in Him shone forth in the flesh both light and power, wisdom and beauty,
mercy and life.

What does light mean but victory over darkness? What does power mean but
victory over weakness? What is wisdom but victory over madness and
insanity? What is beauty but victory over ugliness and monstrosity? Is
not mercy victory over evil, malice and envy? And life - is it not the
divine victory over death?

What do you think, you who follow Christ and are baptised in His name?
Did Christ not reveal all these victories as no other ever has from the
foundation of the world? Do you not feel every day that you are
following the greatest Victor since the beginning of the world and of
time; that you are baptised in the name of Him who knows and can do all
things, who adorns all creatures with His beauty, caresses them with His
mercy and vivifies them with His life? If you do not feel this, it will
be of little help to you to follow Him and call yourself by His name.
Only through the Lord Jesus can you, without the least doubt or
hesitation, believe in the utterly victorious power of the living God
over every creature, every element and all the evil in the world. Only
the Lord Jesus can give you the courage to live and the courage to pass
through death. Only He can justify hope in a better life than this
transitory life that is subject to decay. And only He can arouse in you
a love for all that is good, for He is God's living and incarnate
victory over the world. "Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world"
(John 16:33), said Christ to His disciples, and He says it through them
to us all. Let us not be afraid: our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has
overcome the world. The Gospel is the book of His victories, the
testimony to His almighty power. The Church's history to this day - and
to the end of the world - is an even more detailed book of His
victories. Whoever doubts this will be denied their fruit. …” (St
Nikolai of Ochrid)

Today as we celebrate the feast of the procession of the cross we are
reminded again of the victorious might of our Lord Jesus Christ. This
feast was established to remember the victories of both Russian and
Greek armies who went into battle to defend against invasion carrying
the banner of the Cross. By the power of the Cross they were victorious
over their enemies. Even in more modern times there are accounts of
Orthodox Christians in Greece defending their homes and cities against
Moslem invaders beneath a banner emblazoned with the image of the Cross
and the letters IC XC NIKA (which stand for “Jesus Christ, the Victor”).

We know, however that all is not triumph in the Christian life. “The
Christian suffers in this world, and suffers perhaps even more than
other men do, because, apart from sufferings, which are the common lot
of our nature, he also inherits and bears a special cross, the cross of
faith, by which he becomes like his Teacher, Christ. How unfortunate
would be the believer in his suffering, if he had not all his faith in
Christ, who entered into His glory through sufferings, and who will come
again to clothe in glory those who suffer for His sake. This hope causes
man to rejoice in the sufferings of this present time, and to regard
them but as small and unworthy "to be compared with the glory which
shall be revealed in us" (Rom. 8:18). All the saints of the last twenty
centuries, from the time of Peter, the Leader of the Apostles, down to
our own times, through their hope in Christ, regarded sufferings as a
sign of (salvation) and as an indispensable prerequisite ‘for the spirit
of glory and of God’ to rest in our hearts (1Peter 4:14)” (Archim.
Zacharias of St John the Baptist Monastery, England)

It is no conincidence that the Victory of Christ is linked so closely
with the cross, for in order to enter into the victory of Christ we must
also enter into the Cross of Christ. We must, as He teaches us, deny
ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him. The suffering and struggle
that we endure in this life is simply the process of dying to ourselves
that we might live to Christ. We voluntarily and indeed joyfully endure
all that comes to us in this life for we know that no matter how great
the suffering, no matter how intense the struggle that our God Who does
not abandon us and Who desires only that which is good for us is greater
and stronger and victorious over whatever might come our way. He
protects us, He provides for us and if we rely on Him we will never be
left wanting. Sometimes the cross that we carry seems too heavy, too
difficult, and it threatens to overpower us. But our Lord, in His mercy,
compassion and loving-kindness does not lift the cross from our
shoulders but rather grants us the might and strength to bear it a
little longer until its work on our soul is finished and we are no
longer focused on the cares and pleasures of this world, but instead
“seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” knowing that “all
these things (necessary for our temporal life) will be added unto (us)”.

“In His victory, then, we see with joy our victory, and His in ours. He
alone is the Victor over every evil, and He alone does not allow Himself
to be overcome by any evil. We therefore take refuge under His mighty
wing, where there are no storms or winds, nor ghosts, "nor pain, nor
sorrow, nor sighing, but life everlasting" (from the Kontakion of the
Departed), and where we shall find all good things in abundance: good
things no longer temporal, destroyed by moth and rust; where we shall,
together with the angels and saints, glorify the victorious acts of
Christ, the greatness of which we cannot grasp in this mortal life, in
this confined perspective. But there, all will be revealed to us, and we
shall rejoice, and our joy shall have no end. May praise and glory be to
the Lord Jesus, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit - the
Trinity consubstantial and undivided, now and forever, through all time
and all eternity. Amen.” (St Nikolai)

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

Matt 19:16-26

Last week we celebrated the Great Feast of the Dormition or “Falling
Asleep” of the Mother of God. This feast is like a little Pascha for we
remember the death of the Virgin Mary and then also that the promise of
the Savior was accomplished in her as a surety for us – her body was
resurrected and she was taken up body and soul into heaven to there live
the eternal life in the presence of Jesus Christ. She is the first of
all mankind to follow Christ even after death and in her first is
fulfilled the promise of Christ that “I am the resurrection, and the
life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:”
(Jn 11:25).

The Dormition also reminds us of the inescapable truth that we shall all
face death. The most perfect human being who ever lived, the fruit of
centuries and generations of God’s care for the chosen people, the
Virgin Mary herself did not escape death. How can we who are full of
sins and who are far from perfect hope to surpass her fate. We will, one
day, (maybe tomorrow, maybe many years from now, God knows) all die. Our
life in this world is temporary.

Not only is our life temporary but it is also brief. The psalmist tells
us that the span of our life is “three score years and ten, perhaps four
score years”. Seventy, eighty or even a hundred years might seem like a
long time, but when we put it into the context of eternity it is a mere
spark, a flash. This life that we experience is the brief beginning of
our whole existence for God created us to live in eternity. The purpose
of this brief time that we live is to prepare for the rest of eternity.
It is essential that we gain this perspective for it puts everything
else in the proper context. We must realize that we are destined to live
in eternity and what we accomplish in this life will lay the foundation
of that life. The purpose of this life is to prepare for the next.

When the rich young ruler came to Christ asking how to be saved, he
heard, “if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. … Thou
shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not
steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy
mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. … If thou wilt be
perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou
shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” For what purpose
did He tell the young man these things? What good does it do us to
follow all these commandments when even these are not enough. Was not
the Mother of God herself the perfect follower of the commandments and
the first and most perfect follower of Christ – yet she did not escape
death? What is the purpose, then of following the commandments and of
following Christ?

We are born into this life spiritually blind and deaf and unable to
move. Although we can perceive and react to the physical world, the
spiritual world remains for us a dim concept at the edge of our
awareness. We know that it exists and that we are a part of it, but we
do not know how to properly perceive it and react to it. The necessary
purpose of this life is to develop our spiritual senses, to learn to see
and hear clearly and to move purposefully in that world. The proper
healing of our spiritual senses is possible only by applying to them the
grace of God. How many healings our Lord performed in His earthly life –
and each one is a lesson for us, declaring to us the need that we all
have for such healing in our souls. We are blind and so need the healing
of our spiritual eyes that we might see – we are deaf and so need the
healing of the ears of the soul that we might hear (Remember the words
of the Lord “seeing they do not see and having ears they do not hear”?
We need to avoid falling into this unfortunate condition.). We are mute
and cannot pray and so we need One to open our mouths and teach us to
pray aright. We are paralyzed by sin and death and we need Someone Who
will release us from those chains, Who will heal and strengthen our
souls that we might be able to move and so follow Christ. This healing
and strengthening is accomplished only by the grace of God and while
that grace is poured out upon us freely and without condition, it is the
keeping of the commandments that are the tools by which we capture and
properly use that grace.

Christ is Risen! He has passed through this life – the same life that we
live. He has passed through death and defeating death, breaking the
gates of hell, and freeing the captives and He rose again victorious. He
ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father and calls us
to join Him. Our only task now is to follow Him. To pass through this
life, to pass through death, to be raised from the dead and to ascend
into heaven. This is our destiny and calling. In order to do this we
need to be whole and strong of soul, so that we might see and hear and
cry out to God and get up from our bed and walk after Him. For this, He
pours out His grace upon us and through the teaching of the commandments
and the beatitudes gives us the tools to collect this grace and to use
it that we might be healed and being whole and strong might be able to
follow Him.

The Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary is the first to follow Jesus, and
she is the one who leads us all as we follow Christ. She shares the love
and care of her Son for us and so she too lends and hand to lift us up
and to intercede for us before the throne of her Son with the power and
clarity of a mother’s prayers. But just believing all this won’t make a
difference to us – we have to follow Christ ourselves, we have to put
forth the effort. We have to use this brief and temporary life to its
greatest benefit so that we might enter into the next life whole:
seeing, hearing, speaking and with strength. Seeing Jesus Christ;
hearing His voice to call us and guide us; calling out to Him in prayer
and walking the path that He sets before us – we take the same path as
the Mother of God and follow our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven there to
live throughout eternity in His light, His joy and His love.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

Mark 6:14-30

John the Baptist was the last and greatest of the prophets. His message
was the same as that of all the other prophets for he announced the
coming of the Messiah and called out to the people to repent. It was
this call to repentance that was the cause of his greatest difficulty.
Everyone looked forward to the coming of the Messiah with anticipation
for His coming signaled the deliverance from their afflictions, however,
repentance was something very different.

Repentance is a dangerous idea that demands of us that we do something
both difficult and unpleasant. In order to repent, we have to admit to
ourselves and to others that there is something in our lives from which
we must repent – we have to admit that we have sinned. This is something
that challenges the self-centeredness of our fallen nature and thus it
is something that our self resists with great energy. To admit that I
have sinned means to admit that I am flawed, that I have erred and made
mistakes; I am not perfect and fall short of my own delusions of being
the equal of God. Against this admission, the self pride fights with
great vigor because it strikes at the very base and foundation of my
idea of who I am. All kinds of “ego defense mechanisms” born out of our
pride come into play here to defend the self from this dangerous thing
called repentance. First we tend to simply deny that we have sinned at
all, or that if it appears that we might have sinned, it is minimized to
make us feel like it is “nothing” and “not at all important”. This kind
of denial sometimes works, but since it is nothing more than a weak
attempt at self deception, it is not always effective. If we are honest
with ourselves, we see through our own lies and realize that there is
something to the idea that “I have sinned.” When the self delusion
begins to break down, then the self begins to seek to distract us from
the truth, presenting to us this or that distraction with which to
engage ourselves. But if we remain firm in our intention to attend to
our own errors, then the next “ego defense mechanism” kicks in.

This next defense that we face is that of anger born our of our pride.
If we can no longer ignore the awareness that we have sinned, then the
self stirs up anger against the source of the threat to its own delusion
of perfection. The person that confronts us with our need to repent must
then, from the perspective of the self, be destroyed or at least driven
away and silenced. Thus thoughts and feelings of anger against this
“other” person who calls us to repent begin to rise up in the heart. By
becoming angry we often drive away or silence those who attempt to call
to our attention something in our lives that needs changing. This is so
pervasive that it has been encoded into the ethics of our modern and
enlightened society; it is considered rude or ill mannered to speak of
such things to others, and we are encouraged to “mind your own
business”. The anger which is generated by such confrontation drives
away the source of that confrontation, or even prevents it from
approaching in the first place.

But such passive anger is not always effective and very often, that
anger is expressed in many ways. Sometimes we simply denounce the person
speaking to us by recounting their sins and attempting to discredit what
they are saying. Sometimes we complain and gossip about that person to
others attempting to gather a group of sympathizers who will shore up
our anger by adding their own criticisms to ours. Sometimes we lash out
directly at the person with words of anger, shouting, accusing, and
threatening them. With our fury we cut off any further intrusion into
our self deception. In some cases, our anger might become so great that
we go beyond words and physically attack the person in an attempt to
stop the perceived “attack” on our pride.

This kind of anger and fury describe the reaction of Herod and his wife
against the prophet John the Baptist. He had denounced Herod for taking
as wife, the wife of his own brother. Herod reacted by imprisoning John,
attempting to shut him up by removing him from sight and sound.
Herodias, however, could not even bear this silent unseen presence and
her anger went even further. She demanded, through her daughter, that
Herod not only imprison John, but that he silence John by killing him.
Due to his own weakness, Herod was trapped into acceding to her demands
and commanded that St John be beheaded and that the head be brought to
the daughter of Herodias on a platter as a reward for her dancing. Even
Herodias, however, having achieved the silence of her accuser, was still
faced with the evidence of her sin – the head of the Baptist – and so
she took it out of the palace and outside the walls of the town to the
top of the Mount of Olives and there she buried it in the ground so that
it might never again disturb her. By God’s grace, however, this deed
done in secret was in the proper time brought to light and the head of
the Forerunner was found and was venerated with great honor by the
Church. The place where it was buried was initially marked with a Church
and the remains of that Church is now found on the grounds of the
Russian Convent of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives where the hole
from which the head was removed can be venerated by the faithful.

On this day, we also remember the tragedy of the terrorist attack on the
twin towers in Manhattan and other symbolic places in the nation’s
capitol. These attacks were perpetrated by persons who, for many
reasons, hate Americans and the idea of the American nation. They sought
and continue to seek to inflict suffering and damage on the citizens of
this nation. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 are symbolic of this ongoing
terrorist assault and has become a symbol for our nation. We hear many
things on this day – one of the most poignant and enduring perhaps is
the simple phrase, “Never forget”.

This phrase begs the question however, “What is it that we must never
forget?” Certainly the tragedy, the sorrow, the fear, the pain of that
day remain with us – but what is it that we must draw from these things.
These attacks act as our “John the Baptist” and they point out to us
that as a people, we have our own faults and failings which should then
draw us to repentance. But like every situation that demands of us that
we face our own shortcomings, we are tempted by our pride to respond
with denial of our own weakness and shortcoming and to strike out with
anger and hostility towards those who point out to us that we have
sinned. But we must resist that temptation. What must we “never forget”?
We must never forget that we are sinners and that we are called to
repentance.

Having recognized and confessed our sins, then it is necessary to
complete our repentance by turning away from our sin – rejecting them
and pushing them out of our lives. The anger that we would turn against
the light which reveals our sin is misplaced for it is more properly and
truly given to us that we might direct it against the sin itself. This
goes against our pride and thus requires humility – humility to admit
first that I have sinned and humility to set aside my own will and to
follow instead the will of God that leads to eternal life. This is true
repentance, to confess our sins and then to turn away from them and
reject the way of sin that leads us away from God.

The Forerunner is a fitting image on this day of national tragedy. As
the last and greatest of the prophets even today he continues to call us
to repentance – to admit that we have sinned and to turn away from our
sins – and to point us towards the God/man Jesus Christ, the One Who
opens the doors of eternal life and Who, if we will follow Him, leads us
into His Kingdom.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

Matt 22:1-14

In this parable, our Lord compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a wedding
feast given by a king to celebrate the wedding of his son. He invited
his chosen friends, but each one gave an excuse as to why he could not
come and the king in disgust sent his servants out to fill the banquet
hall with everyone they could find, no matter who they might be. In the
culture of the Middle East at that time it was the custom at a banquet
not only to serve food but to provide festal clothing as well. The
result was that all the guests were clothed alike so that at the feast
ordinary “reality” could be suspended and all the social distinctions
were temporarily erased. The guests were free to associate with one
another regardless of their social status. This practice promoted a
greater sense of unity between the various guests and in turn made the
whole feast (which could last for days) a more enjoyable experience.

But there was one guest who was not wearing his festal garment. Rather
than put on the clothing provided by the host, he chose to wear his own
clothing. This act of selfish pride brought a note of discord and
disunity into the feast which the host quickly noticed. He had the
offending guest thrown out and being the king also punished this
offender for disrupting the unity of the guests and disrespecting the
festival.

This parable speaks to us of our own salvation. The wedding feast is, of
course, the Kingdom of God, and the great king is God Himself. His
chosen friends who were the first to be invited to the feast represent
the chosen people, the children of Israel. But they had become too
wrapped up in the world to come at the invitation of the King. Despite
the fact that they were the ones, who through Virgin of the house of
David, served to bring into the world the messiah, God incarnate, the
God/man Jesus Christ, they were looking instead for a worldly king, a
political leader who would lead them to throw off the yoke of those who
had conquered them and reestablish the kingdom of David and Solomon. But
a messiah who came not to bring earthly freedom but to free them from
their sins and to bring them into the heavenly kingdom was not what they
expected, and so the God/man Jesus Christ was rejected by the leaders of
the people. They were the first invited to the feast but were distracted
by the pleasures of the world and so turned away from the heavenly
kingdom. And so the great king opened His arms to the whole world –
those who were poor in spirit (who did not have the riches of the law
and the prophets) and those who were blind and lame (who were led astray
by the false religions and held fast by their sins) so that the feast
might be filled. Those of us who have responded to the Gospel of Jesus
Christ are the ones who have come to the feast and who are given food
and clothing that we might rejoice in the Kingdom of God.

This food and raiment that were given to the guests are meant to
instruct us in the gifts of God to us. Upon entering the feast we are
given new clothes, festal clothing given to us by God. But it is not
enough just to possess these clothes, we must cooperate with the gift of
God and put on this new garment. This garment is the garment of grace
given to us in baptism. When we are baptized, our old clothing is
removed before we are immersed in the water reminding us that we leave
behind everything of this world and we are washed by the waters of
baptism, removing the stains of sin, cleansing us from all
unrighteousness. But this is not all, for when we descend into the water
this is also the image of death and burial. We die to this world and are
laid in the tomb (as Christ was laid in the tomb) and as He rose from
the dead on the third day so we are also raised out of the water after
the third immersion to new life in the Kingdom of God. The newly
baptized at this point is clothed in a new, clean, white garment –
representing the new garment of the grace of God which is bestowed upon
us at baptism. The newly baptized and newly clothed servant of God is
then received by the priest who says, “The servant of God, N. is clothed
with the robe of righteousness…” and the choir sings, the troparion,
“Give unto me a shining robe, O Thou Who clothest Thyself with light as
with a garment, O greatly-merciful Christ our God.” All together, we
sing then, “As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on
Christ.” as we process around the baptismal font signifying the course
of our new life in Christ. This garment of grace is the festal robe of
the Kingdom of God that we are given by God as we enter the feast
through baptism.

The food that is served at the feast also symbolizes the food with which
we are nourished in the Kingdom of God. It is not the ordinary food of
the world, but it is the supernatural food of the most Holy Body and
most Precious Blood of Christ. This mystical food, is offered to us in
the sacrament of Holy Communion that we might be properly nourished for
our life in the Kingdom of God. With this mystical feast we are
strengthened and nourished to live the life of Christ.

But there are those who, even having received these great gifts, neglect
them. The Kingdom of God is not a magical place that somehow
automatically makes us worthy to be united to Christ, but rather our
union and communion with God requires our cooperation. We are given the
new festal garment of grace in our baptism, but we must put it on and
wear it and maintain it. If we neglect the gift of this new garment and
rely on the covering of our own righteousness, then our disunity will be
noted by the host and we will not only be put out of the feast but will
be punished for our pride and self love. We have to wear the garment of
God’s grace, setting aside our own righteousness which no matter how
clean and beautiful it might appear to us is, in the sight of God,
nothing better than filthy rags. To wear the garment of grace means that
we utilize the grace of God and incorporate it in our lives. We depend
upon Him for all that we need and give thanks to Him for all that we
receive. We cultivate in our lives the virtues and fruit of the Holy
Spirit while keeping ourselves free of the dirt and stain of sin. We
give up following our own desires and ideas and impulses and instead
follow the path of salvation set out before us by Jesus Christ. We must
not only possess the garment of grace given to us in baptism, but we
have to put it on and wear it and maintain it in order to enter into the
Kingdom of heaven.

In the same light it is not only necessary to come to the feast but once
there we must partake of the food offered to us. How often do we neglect
the Holy Mysteries, thinking that we only need to receive them once or
twice a year. How often do we think that it is too much trouble to
prepare to receive this mystical food of grace which nourishes the soul
by coming to the services, making our confession, keeping the fast and
coming to receive the gifts of God that are bestowed upon us? How often
are the Holy Things brought out to us at the liturgy and we ignore them
and let the opportunity to receive this gift of God pass by. Yes, most
of us know that it is important and we do our best to make sure that the
children come and receive, but we ourselves neglect this gift as if it
were no longer necessary for adults. In fact it is even more necessary
for us who are grown to receive these gifts for we are attacked by
temptations day and night and we struggle with our own willfulness and
the memories of our past sins and the pressures of the world. How much
more do we need the nourishment of the Mystical Food! If you were to
neglect worldly food and only eat once or twice a year, you would surely
starve and become so weak that you could not move. Is it any wonder that
you feel spiritually weak and unable to live the Christian life when you
neglect the spiritual food offered to you? Like the garment of grace
given to us in baptism which we must then wear, it is also necessary to
eat the spiritual food provided for us in the Holy Mysteries.

We have been invited to a great feast, the banquet of Jesus Christ,
offered to us by God. He calls us, He clothes us, He feeds us, He
receives us into His kingdom. This feast requires our participation as
well. We must respond to His call; we must wear the clothing of grace
that He gives to us. We must partake of the spiritual food which He
gives to us. Let us not despise and ignore the provision of God by
neglecting these great gifts, but rather let us come to the feast, put
on Christ and feast on His Most Holy Body and His Most Precious Blood.
In this way we are received by God and incorporated into His Heavenly
Kingdom.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

John 3:13-17

On this Sunday before the Cross, we are reminded of the crucifixion. We
are reminded of the true scope and purpose of the crucifixion in the
arena of this world. This passage, or at least part of it, John 3:16, is
well known thanks to the efforts of some groups of Christians who
recognize it as a summary of the work of Christ. But as we hear today,
this one verse does not stand alone but fits into a context that
illumines and explains the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

“No one has ascended into heaven but he who has descended.” This play on
words seems, at first hearing to be a bit obscure and difficult to
understand – but it is no less than the declaration of the divinity of
Jesus Christ. In order for Him to ascend into heaven He must have first
descended from heaven. Only God originates in Heaven and thus for Jesus
to have descended from heaven, He must be “true God of true God”. He
descended to this world by His incarnation, was born in a miraculous
manner of a Virgin, and assumed every aspect of our life, including
death, that in the end He might again ascend into heaven and take us
with Him. This simple statement then sets the stage for Who it is we are
talking about. This is not just some superman or demigod (as the Arians
would have it) nor is this an angel or other creature – but this is God
Himself Who had descended from Heaven and Who having assumed flesh will
ascend again, taking with Himself those of us in the flesh who embrace Him.

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness…” And here we are
reminded that Jesus Christ has come to fulfill all of the law and the
prophets. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent, so Jesus Christ is lifted
up. When the Hebrew people were wandering in the wilderness leaving
behind Egypt and traveling to the promised land, they were attacked by a
horde of venomous snakes. Many were bitten and fell sick and even died
from the venom of these snakes. God instructed Moses to make a brass
serpent and lift it up on a pole so that those who were bitten could
lift up their eyes and look upon this brass serpent and so be healed.
This Old Testament miracle, just like the miracles of the Gospel, serves
to teach us about our spiritual lives. The serpents that afflicted the
people in the desert are the same as our own passions which war against
us. We are “bitten” by our passions and so fall sick and some even die
due to the venom of sin that affects us when we fall under the power of
our passions. The healing from the effects of the passions is beyond us
and so we must look to the One Who is without that venom – to the One
Who is without sin. In looking to the God/man Jesus Christ and placing
our hope and faith in Him, we are delivered from the deadly effects of
our sins and are healed from the bite of the serpent. Just as the brass
serpent was lifted up for the healing of the people in the wilderness –
so is the Son of Man, that is Jesus Christ, lifted up on the Cross for
our healing.

When Jesus began His teaching, showing Himself as God to the world,
teaching the apostles (and through them teaching us) the path of
salvation and the way into the Kingdom of God, at first He was tempted
by the evil one. At that time, on the Mount of Temptation, Jesus
rejected the temptations of the devil which were linked to the passions
of pride and love of pleasure. But the devil does not just go away when
we reject him once, but continues to tempt us in various ways and with
various passions. In causing Jesus to be lifted up upon the Cross the
devil was tempting Him, this time with the passions of grief and anger.
But again Jesus rebuffed the temptor and rather than despair and turn in
anger towards those who had tortured Him and would kill Him, Jesus
forgave them. The temptation of the Cross which had been meant as the
means of Jesus’ defeat was instead conquered by Christ and became not
the means of defeat, but the means and symbol of His victory – the
victory over sin, death and the devil which He in turn bestows upon
those who believe and put their hope in Him.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
those who believe on Him should have eternal life.” This is the crown on
the previous two verses which remind us Who Jesus Christ is (i.e. the
incarnate God) and what He came to do (to fulfill the law and the
prophets, to ascend the cross and so defeat sin, death and the devil and
open the way for us to enter into the Kingdom of God) The reason that
God became man and dwelt among us and assumed our flesh as His own; and
the reason that He then ascended the Cross and suffered death for our
salvation; is summed up here for us. God loved us – that is the reason
for all that has gone before. God loved us to such a degree that He
Himself descended from heaven and came into the world. He Himself was
afflicted with our passions and being without sin Himself took on the
venom of our sins that we might be healed. He Himself suffered death on
the Cross and by doing so destroyed death making the Cross the symbol of
our victory that He won for us and making the Cross the key that opens
the path to the Kingdom of Heaven.

“God sent His Son into the world not to condemn the world but that
through Him the world might be saved.” We know that any encounter with
God is a small judgment. Whenever we enter into His presence, whenever
we see His hand in our lives, we are made aware of our own sinfulness
and our own unworthiness before Him. And so in order for Him Who is
All-Holy to come into the world and not immediately bring judgment
required a great measure of gentleness and meekness. He had to become
like us so that we could approach Him without fear. He had to lower
Himself and assume our flesh so that He could then walk the path of life
with us and show us how to avoid the pitfalls of sin and how to be
healed of those times when we did fall. He joined Himself to us, even
though we were still sinners, and assuming our sins, He pulled the
poison of sin from us that we might be healed. He joined Himself to us
that we might join ourselves to Him. Having joined ourselves to Himself,
then, when He ascends to heaven, He takes us with Himself so that we
might live in His eternal presence.

The Gospels tell us that God is love. They also tell us that God is an
all consuming fire. Thus to experience God’s love is to be in the midst
of an all consuming fire. See how gentle is the coming of God to us in
His incarnation. He has set aside His nature as an all consuming fire,
and taken instead our nature as His own so that we might approach Him
and be joined to Him. The only way that we can survive the encounter
with the all consuming fire of God’s love is if we have ourselves taken
on the same nature as the fire. By joining Himself to us that we might
be joined to Him, Jesus Christ has made this possible. By becoming man
like us, He has made it possible that we might become like Him. Thus
when we enter the fire of His love, we are not consumed but as the bush
of old burned and was not consumed so we also have become like the fire
Himself and so burn but are not burnt. How great is love of God, but
also how great is His gentleness, His meekness and His compassion.

Because of His great love for us, so that we might approach Him, He
descended from Heaven and became like us, taking on our flesh. And
finding us filled with the venom of sin, He was lifted up on the Cross
that we might be healed and delivered from that venom. Defeating sin,
death and devil through the Cross He has turned our mouring into dancing
and that which was meant for our defeat has become the symbol of our
victory. He has joined Himself to us and so opened the way into the
Kingdom of Heaven so that we who join ourselves to Him might in turn
ascend with Him into Heaven. So great is the love of God which has left
us with the Cross, the key which opens the way to live with Him in His
love throughout eternity.



--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

Gal 2:16-20
Mark 8:34-9:1

“What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose
his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

When we hear this question from the Gospel, it is easy to quickly think
that we would indeed choose Christ and that there is nothing in our life
that is more important to us. Jesus had just reminded his disciples, and
us, that if we wish to come after Himself, that we must deny ourselves,
take up our cross and follow Him. Then He challenges us with these
questions. What is it that we are trying to bring along from ourselves
as we seek to follow Him. When we deny ourselves, what exceptions do we
allow? or when we ascend the cross and die to the world, what little
things do we allow to remain alive within our hearts; when we follow
Christ what baggage do we drag along? What is it that is more valuable
than the salvation of our soul?

It is easy to think, “of course I will deny myself – except of course, I
have to keep some cash in reserve, just in case” or “I need to make sure
I maintain my job/health” It’s easy to let some exceptions creep in when
we follow Christ, “I will follow Christ, but I’ll take a break for my
job/a movie/this football game” in this way, we allow something to sneak
in and become more valuable than pursuing the path of salvation –
something that we are willing to keep in exchange for our soul.

Jesus shows us the path of salvation and then asks us to set aside
everything else to follow that path. He asks us to choose Him
unconditionally over anything else. And in order to help us make this
choice, He puts it in terms of our own self interest – of what value to
you is saving your own soul. So when we are faced with these
distractions, we have to ask ourselves, “Which is more important, my own
soul, or this other thing?” Is it better to have this pleasure, this
security, this thing and neglect my salvation? Or is it better to do
what is necessary to follow Christ?

If we choose to follow Christ, then, of necessity we ascend the cross
with Him and die not only to the world, but to ourselves as well. To
choose to follow Christ is to choose Him above all else. How then does
this work out in our daily lives, what does it mean to “die” to ourselves?

“I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am
crucified with Christ: neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of
the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

Here is the secret, we no longer live our lives, driven by our own
desires, our own priorities, our own values, our own ideas, but instead
we live the life of Christ which is determined by His desires, His
values, His priorities, His ideas. Once we make this choice then we are
given that new life in Christ by baptism, and we are given the grace of
that new life. But our old life constantly seeks to reassert itself, it
doesn’t die easily. This is the reason that we need to deny ourselves,
because it is the self that keeps rising up to try and pull us away from
the life of Christ and follow instead the old life.

What then does it mean live the life of Christ? How do we know what are
His desires, His values, His priorities and His ideas? Again in the
epistle we are given the answer to that question for the apostle brings
to mind the law. He says that we are no longer under the law and that
through the law we have died to sin that we might instead live with the
life of Christ. Note that although we are dead to the law, the law does
not become irrelevant. Rather the law was given to us to shape and mold
us in to the image of God from the outside. It is imposed upon us as a
form restricting us here and allowing us to move there so that if we
follow the contours prescribed by the law, we will develop in our lives
an external resemblance to Christ. What remains is only that the
external image might be filled with life and become animated so that it
is no longer something imposed from the outside by the law, but rather
the image created by the law becomes a reflection of the nature and
essence of the internal being. We are freed from the confines of the law
which is imposed upon us from the outside because the life we now live
allows that very image to flow from the inside. The law describes for us
the life of Christ and thus it informs us about the desires of Christ,
the values of Christ, the priorities of Christ, the ideas of Christ. It
tells us how to live the life of Christ.

In the law we are commanded to love God with all our heart and soul and
mind, but when we live the life of Christ, we no longer love God because
we are commanded to do so, but rather because it is our nature. We are
commanded to love our neighbor as ourself, but when we live the life of
Christ, we no longer love our neighbor because we are commanded to do
so, but because it is our nature. We are commanded to refrain from
lying, from envy, from stealing, but when we live the life of Christ,
truth, contentment, and honesty are part of our nature. We no longer
need to be constrained by the law, because we live the life of the One
Who is the fulfillment of the law.

As a child we lived under our parent’s law. They enforced their ideas,
their desires, their values upon us by discipline and reward. But when
we became adults, we no longer lived under our parents rule, but we
retained the shape of those desires, values and ideas that they
instilled in us as children. So it is with Christ. The law instilled in
us a particular shape and form – that of Christ. But now that Christ
lives in us, we no longer need the external constraint of the law for it
is now a part of our inner being and essence – it is our own nature to
live according to the law. That shape and form imposed upon us by the
law from the outside has become, by the grace of God, our nature,
flowing out from our inner being. This is what it means to live the life
of Christ.

What shall we give then in exchange for our soul? The answer, of course,
is that we give everything, we give our entire life, our hopes, our
desires, our values, our ideas. We give up everything, even our very
life, into the hands of Christ, and in return He gives us Himself – His
own life that we live as our own. It is this life that enlivens the
soul, that preserves it, that fills the soul with grace so that we
thrive and grow and reach our destiny. The reason that we were created
with such a soul is to enable us to join our lives to the life of Christ
and to live in union and communion with Him. When we do this, when we
give up our own life in exchange for the life of Christ, then the soul
is freed to ascend into the presence of God and is freed to be joined to
the life of Christ. This is our destiny – this is the purpose for which
we were created. To live the life of Christ, to live in union and
communion with Him, to share with Him all that He is.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1
1 John 4:12-19

The history of man’s relationship with God is marked by the promise
expressed in the prophecy of Ezekiel which is reiterated by the Apostle
Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. “I will dwell in them and walk
among them. I will be their God and they shall be my people” This
promise is confirmed and indeed intensified in the prophecy of Samuel
also quoted by the Apostle where God promises His people “I will be a
Father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters says the Lord
Almighty.” This is the promise of God to us – the covenant that He makes
with His people. That He shall be our God and Father and that we shall
be His people and children. This covenant defines the relationship
between God and man throughout the ages. It is expressed first to the
Hebrews, the Children of Israel, the Chosen People by the prophets. Then
in his letter to the Cornithians, the Apostle Paul tells us that this
promise applies not just to the Hebrews of old but it applies to all the
people of God that is to the whole Church. This is the promise that we
have from God, that He will be our God and that He will be our Father.
In response we are become His people and His sons and daughters.

Because we are His people and His children, the Apostle also draws upon
the prophets that further God will “dwell among (us) and walk among
(us)”. This promise is indeed brought to its greatest fulfillment
through the coming of the Holy Spirit who not only “overshadows” us,
descending for a brief time as an exterior force, but rather He has come
to dwell within us permanently, joining our lives to the Life of the
Trinity. We are His people and He has come to dwell among us, and not
only among us but within us that we might share in His life. Is this not
the very definition of a father and child, for as children, we share the
life of our parents, drawing it from them; and as parents we give of our
life to our own children that they might share in it with us. Now God
Himself offers to us that we might share in His life and thereby become
His children.

There are those who say that all men are “children of God’ and indeed
because God is the Creator of all things and the sustainer of all that
exists (for does not the Apostle and Evangelist John, whose memory we
celebrate today, tell us in His Gospel that “all things that were made
were made by Him and without Him was nothing made that was made” – Jn
1:3) there is a certain truth to that. However in His Gospel, the
Apostle goes on to clarify and address this very idea saying, “He was in
the world … and the world knew Him not. He came unto his own and his own
received him not. But to as many as received Him, to them gave He power
to become sons of God.” To be a child of God is a two way relationship.
We are all creatures of God, but in order to become children of God we
must enter into a relationship with Him. This relationship is defined by
God’s promise, “they shall be my people and I will be their God” In
order to become children of God we must first bind ourselves to Him and
have Him living within us, sharing His life with us.

In order to be the child of God we must have Him dwelling within us as
He promised. The Apostle John elaborates on this necessity as we heard
today in the reading from His epistle, “If we love one another, God
dwelleth in us.” and again, “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the
Son of God, God dwelleth in him and he in God.” (1 Jn 4:12&15). It is
this that instructs us how it is that God dwells in us and how His
presence affects us. There are two elements here that are necessary to
God dwelling in us, that we “love one another” and that we “ confess
that Jesus is the Son of God”. More simply these two elements can be
defined as works and faith. We must have both the works of righteousness
as well as the confession of the Truth – we must have a right way of
life, that is to love our neighbor as ourselves, and we must have a
right faith – that is to confess the incarnation of God and the
revelation of the God/man Jesus Christ. Without either of these two
elements we do not have God dwelling within us, we do not share His life
and we are not the children of God.

The Apostle and brother of the Lord James tells us that “faith, by
itself, if it does not have works is dead” (Jas 2:17) and indeed the
converse is also true that works without faith are empty and without
substance. If we only “confess that Jesus is the Son of God” but do not
“love one another” then this confession is dead, it has no life in it
and cannot bestow the life of God dwelling in us. It is not enough
simply to have a right faith, but that faith must be expressed in what
we do – we must love one another. If, on the other hand, we love one
another, but do not have these works anchored in the right faith, then
our deeds become empty and without spiritual benefit. They too are dead
and cannot bring to us the life of God dwelling within us. We must have
both – we must truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God (and therefore
accept and follow all that He taught us) and we must also love one
another, expressing the love of God for the whole world in our own
lives. St Gregory Palamas encourages his flock (and us) to remember that
the Apostle John, the “beloved disciple … made perfectly clear that love
for God and our neighbor was the culmination of these works and capable
of bringing salvation. … Let us not brethren, do the opposite of what he
has told us. And let us not show love and faith in our speech and
gesture, while disobeying him in our actions … If we too love and honor
him who was loved by God above all (i.e. the Apostle John), let us show
our love for him in deed and in truth, becoming not just hearers of his
words but also doers. Thus we shall attain to the eternal life and the
kingdom that he promised, in Christ Himself, the King of the ages…” who
dwells within us.

This is the promise of God to you, “I will be your God and you shall be
my people… I will be your Father and you shall be my sons and
daughters.” He dwells with us and walks among us, how then can we turn
away from Him. In order to act on this promise and make it real in our
lives we have only to confess that Jesus is the Son of God and to love
one another as Christ loves us. This is the life to which we are called,
this is our destiny, the purpose for which we were created and for which
we live upon this earth, that we might become the children of God and
have Him dwelling within us so that He might join our life to His life
and that we might share that life with Him.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

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 a day when
the sun went dark at midday. The saint, even then in his ignorance,
exclaimed that surely the world is coming to an end or that 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.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

Luke 8:5-15

This parable of the sower and seed is one of the most easily understood
parables on the surface, for it was explained by our Lord Jesus Christ,
Himself. The sower, is God Himself; the seed, the Gospel; the various
soils are the hearts of men and so on. Every where the seed falls it has
the potential to grow and bloom and bring forth fruit, but in each place
it faces obstacles. It is these the removal or avoidance of these
obstacles that is the primary focus of our spiritual life. If we wish
the seed of the Gospel to sprout in our own life, then we must prepare
the way for it to take root and grow and thrive there.

If you travel through the countryside, you will see a number of tactics
used to foil the natural instinct of birds to feed on the seeds of
plants. Fruit trees may have nets over them to keep the birds out, or
perhaps reflective strips hung in the branches to blow in the wind and
flash in the sun to scare them away. In a small garden, newly sown with
seed, you might see a scarecrow or plastic owl to fool the birds into
thinking there is a danger there they need to avoid. Where these things
are not used, it is not uncommon to see birds gathered on the ground
looking for seeds to eat. It is this common sight that our Lord first
used to describe what happens when the seed of the Gospel falls on the
soil of the heart. If it is not immediately taken in but remains exposed
on the surface, the seed is snatched up by the demons, just as seeds
sitting on top of the hard ground at the edges of the field or on a
roadway are snatched up by the birds. This occurs when the soul is so
overwhelmed by sensations that there is no place for the Gospel. We are
constantly surrounded by a sea of sensations, conversations, sounds,
music, pictures, colors, images, smells, tastes, and so on. And as if
there weren’t enough naturally occurring sensations in the world, we
also are bombarded with sensations imported into our lives through
radio, television, computers, mp3 and cd players, movies, and the like.
These sensations, and the thoughts and ideas that they carry or that are
associated with them in our minds flood the soul on a moment to moment
basis crowding out anything that isn’t as loud or demanding or that
isn’t immediately captured and saved. I have, in my house a large clock.
During the day, when there are constant noises around, I don’t usually
notice it - it gets lost in the background - but at night when
everything is quiet, the ticking is clear and loud. The sound is there
during the day, but it is overwhelmed and lost in the cacophony of other
noises. Only when the surrounding noises subside, does the clock come
through. But if I listen for it during the day, there is the ticking of
the clock, just as clear and loud as it is at night. So it is with the
word of God. The awareness of God’s presence, the awareness of His love
and provision, the promptings of the conscience are there all the time,
but unless I attend to them, unless I listen to them, they are easily
lost in the rush of other sensations and thoughts and images that wash
around me constantly through the day, and they are lost, snatched up by
the demons, never having had an effect on my life.

Then there is the seed that falls among the rocks. This seed finds
shelter and begins to sprout and grow, but it never comes to fruition
for it has no root and therefore in the heat of the day it withers and
dies. I remember as a child doing an experiment in elementary science
with a glass jar, some paper towels and a bean seed. We took the seed
and set it by the side of the jar and wedged it into place with paper
towels. The paper was soaked with water and then we put the seed in a
warm place. After some days, the seed began to sprout and as long as it
was watered that sprout continued to grow and we could see the stalk
coming up and the rootlets developing and the stalk would grow above the
top of the jar and put out leaves, but as soon as the experiment was
over and we stopped watering the seed, it had no resources left and
began to wither and die in the heat of the sun. So also with the Gospel
that falls in the heart and begins to sprout. We see that it is a
beautiful plant and it begins to grow - but the moment it makes demands,
the moment the Gospel begins to try to put down roots in the heart and
to make changes and to influence the life - we turn away from it,
preventing the roots from taking hold and there is no longer any
nourishment and the plant withers and dies. It is not enough just to
hear the word of God or to recognize it and attend to it - but if it
will be profitable, we must also allow it to put roots into our lives -
to affect our way of life, to change our attitudes, our priorities, our
thinking, our wants and desires. If we hold the Gospel at arms length
and keep it in its own little jar separate from the rest of our life,
then it will have no affect and eventually will wither and die from
neglect as our attention is torn away by temptations, difficulties, and
the demands of our worldly passions and desires and other “more
important” matters.

But even if the word of God finds a place in our heart and begins to
take root and grow and to have an effect on us, there is still the
danger that it will end up like the seed that grew among weeds. Such a
plant is stunted in its growth by all the competition and the weeds are
much better at grabbing all the best nutrients and water and sunshine so
that there is very little left for the good plant. These plants, because
they have to compete with the weeds don’t grow well, and are under such
stress that they often aren’t able to develop any flower or fruit and so
even if they survive are barren and bring no benefit or profit. These
weeds are the cares of life that demand our time, our attention our
energy on a moment to moment basis. And like weeds, these cares grow and
multiply overnight. Where today there is one care, tomorrow there will
be a dozen and by the end of the week, you won’t be able to find
anything but a bunch of weeds where there was once a bed of flowers. How
often our best spiritual intentions are crowded out and drowned in a sea
of worldly cares. We resolve to pray, just a little each day in the
morning and in the evening - and then we get up late, or have an early
meeting and the morning prayers go unsaid in the rush to get ready and
out the door and on to the day’s business. Then in the evening one thing
piles on another, chores to do, bills to pay, tv to watch, dishes to
wash and whatever else and then by the end of the evening we are so
tired that we only mumble a few words of prayer as the head hits the
pillow and the eyes close. And so the cares of the world have stolen all
of our time, our energy, our effort and nothing was left for the
important task of this life - our spiritual growth and development and
preparation for the world to come.

It is only on the good soil, the soul that is open and attentive to the
word of God, from which the stones that prevent the seed from implanting
its roots and in which the weeds of worldly cares are pulled as soon as
they show up so that the seed of the Gospel has ample time and energy
and attention to grow, that the Gospel has its intended effect and
begins to transform the person into the likeness of God. It is this
seed, in this good soil that sprouts, grows and bears fruit which is in
fact the grace of God by which we are saved.

Into each heart and life, the seeds of the Gospel fall - for each heart
has the potential to allow them to grow and bring forth fruit. It is not
by our effort, by our ability, by our skill that these seeds grow - that
is their nature, they will sprout and grow given the chance. It is not
by our worthiness or cleverness that the sun and the rain fall on these
seeds or that there are nutrients in the soil, God will provide all of
this. The only thing that is necessary is that we prepare the soil of
our soul to receive the seed of the Gospel, that we might be attentive
to it and capture it as often as it appears in our life. And we must
remove all the barriers of pride and self will that prevent it from
implanting in our heart and then keep our lives free of the weeds of
worldly care that choke out the Gospel as it grows so that our souls
might prove to be fertile fields, covered with the beautiful flowers of
the Godly virtues bearing an abundant harvest of grace by which we are
transformed into the image and likeness of God.

Brothers and sisters, let us embrace the word of God, let us lay aside
our pride and self will, taking on instead humility and the will of God
and let us lay aside all earthly cares giving all our time and energy
and resources to living the life of Christ that we might live with Him
in His Kingdom for all eternity.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

Luke 16:19-31

We live in a wealthy society. By the standards of some in this world,
even the poorest of the citizens of this country are among the wealthy.
We have food, shelter, clothing all in abundance. Luxuries such as
computers, televisions, and so on seem to be found in every home no
matter how poor. Our diets are rich in nutrients and varied beyond
belief. Yes, we have our poor but they are provided for in a myriad of
ways with resources that just don’t exist anywhere else. We are wealthy.

In today’s gospel we heard the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
Lazarus, though poor, died and was received into heaven whereas the rich
man, whose only distinction, it seems, was that he was rich, suffered in
the torments of hell. Does this mean that we who are wealthy cannot
enter the kingdom of heaven. Must we become poor, must we forswear all
the wealth that surrounds us and live in a voluntary squalor just to be
saved? No that is certainly not the case.

In the parable, we note that while the poor man was named, the rich man
never was identified. This is because it was not the generic condition
of being poor that brought Lazarus into heaven, but rather the spiritual
wealth he had accumulated during his life made him rich in the Kingdom
of God. How he acquired this wealth, we are not told, but that he did is
unmistakable. He is identified by name to show us that his situation
applies only to him and not to every poor man. The rich man, however, is
not named because his condition is generic and applies to all of us. His
sinfulness touches each of us in a way and thus because he is not named
we can each identify with him.

What was the sin of the rich man then. In the parable he was not named
as an extortionist or a cheat or even a tax collector. No sin was
attributed to the acquisition of his wealth. Rather he was simply rich.
Where then was his sin? Was it in his wealth alone? St Gregory Palamas
responds to that concern saying, “It was not, however, on account of his
wealth that he failed to be saved, but because of his love of pleasure,
hard-heartedness and lack of hospitality. Abraham, too, was prosperous,
but by means of his love for God, his compassion, and his hospitality to
strangers, he was not only saved but became a place for others being
saved.” Here in the words of St Gregory we see the true failing of the
rich man – that which led him to torment. It was not his wealth but that
he used his wealth improperly to indulge his passions rather than to
exchange it for the grace of God through hospitality, compassion and
love of neighbor.

How then can we, who are wealthy just by our circumstance and accident
of birth, be saved? God has given to each of us the circumstances of our
lives. Whatever we have is given to us by God to be used in such a way
that we acquire the Holy Spirit. If we have financial wealth, let us
then give of the money that God has given us that through charity and
generosity we might exchange our worldly wealth for spiritual riches. If
we have time, let us then occupy that time in service to others so that
we might earn more of the riches of God. If we have skills, let us use
them for the glory of God, if we have an abundance of food and drink let
us feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty. If we are poor let us
not grow proud in our poverty but use that as well to the glory of God
by developing our trust in God’s providence and bearing the difficulties
of our lives without complaint or grumbling. If you can give, give
graciously and if you receive then receive also giving thanks to God.
The important thing is to use whatever you have in such a way that you
will receive in return the grace of God.

Lazarus, the poor man of the parable, used his poverty in such a way
that he became rich in the grace of God. We are not told exactly what he
did or how he did it, but we can make some assumptions. Although he had
nothing, it is possible that he learned to put all of his trust in the
provision of God, accepting all that came to him with thanksgiving,
trusting that God would give to him all that he needed. In this manner
despair is avoided for our hope is not in princes and in the sons of
men, but in God alone. Although it was not mentioned one way or another,
it is also certainly possible that Lazarus had learned to bear his
trials in this life without complaining or grumbling and thus developed
within himself humility, seeing the true state of his soul. We cannot
know everything that Lazarus did, but we do know that whatever he did
was profitable in the acquisition of the Holy Spirit.

The rich man’s failings are laid out before us. He loved pleasure, and
therefore indulged himself in every little whim. He allowed that passion
to rule his life and never even thought about struggling against it. The
love of pleasure is a trap for many of us because we are surrounded by
pleasure. We cannot endure even a moment of discomfort and we seek to
constantly provide ourselves with pleasurable experiences. This pleasure
seeking behavior can lead us in many paths from the flagrantly sinful –
such as self centeredness, to lustful indulgences, to gluttony, to
miserliness, etc – to the subtler sins of stinginess, acquisitiveness,
lack of hospitality, vanity and neglect of our neighbor. The rich man of
the parable was noted as suffering particularly from lack of compassion
(hard heartedness) and from lack of hospitality. He was not really a
“bad man” but rather he was the slave of one passion, the love of
pleasure. That one passion brought about in him a multitude of other
sins either through indulging his passion to excess or through neglect
of the demands of compassion and love of neighbor. In all these sins he
was blinded because he didn’t really seem to be “bad” on the surface –
he just wanted to enjoy all that his wealth could provide for him.

This parable gives to us two examples, that of the rich man and of
Lazarus. The rich man is the example to avoid; of what enslavement to
even one passion can lead – a multitude of other sins to which we are
blinded and finally torment in the life to come for we have failed to
acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit. Lazarus on the other hand is the
example which we should follow; to use every circumstance in this life
as a means of working out our salvation. No matter what we have in the
way of worldly possessions, how much or how little, all can be used to
acquire the Holy Spirit. There is a way that everything in this life can
be “traded upon” to acquire spiritual wealth and the grace of the Holy
Spirit.

The path of Lazarus then is ours – not the path of poverty, but the path
of using all for the sake of Christ. The path that shows us that it is
not what we have in this world that is important in the eyes of God, but
what we do with it – how we use it. What do you have? What has God given
you? How do you use what you have been given? Stop and think how it is
that you use the gifts of God in this life. Use what you have in the
manner that will best enable you to draw near to God and to acquire in
your heart the wealth of grace of the Holy Spirit which transforms you
into the image and likeness of God.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website:http://stseraphimboise.org

Luke 7:11-16

In the 17th century, the religious life in Russia in many ways seemed to
have lost its inner life. Rather than the belief which had animated the
lives of such such saints as the princely martyrs Boris and Gleb or the
warrior St Alexander Nevsky or the monastic saints such as St Sergius of
Radonezh or St Nil Sorsky, the Orthodox faith for many had become simply
a system of rituals and rules. In the lives of many, the Christian faith
had descended into phariseeism (that is keeping rules for their own
sake) or superstition (doing things by rote without understanding why
they are done). The living mystical element seemed to be missing from
the lives of pious Christians. That life was not gone however. Baptism
still bestowed the new life in Christ. The Holy Spirit still was
received in the sacrament of Chrismation. The Holy Mysteries of the Body
and Blood of Christ were still offered to all who would come. The true
and living faith was still there, but it was hidden, lost in the lack of
a living communion with God. Even these great sacraments through which
the life of the Church was propagated among the faithful had become
shrouded in layers of superstition and the rote following of the ritual
forms.

In the early 18th century, St Paisius Velichkovsky, a Russian youth who
was fired by the love of the Holy Fathers and a childhood filled with
fervent piety, came to see that “even in the best Orthodox schools of
Russia, he was not being given the pure teaching of Holy Orthodoxy from
the patristic source, but rather something second-hand and accompanied
by useless pagan learning; and further that an over-emphasis on the
formal side of the Church’s existence, greatly furthered by the
government in its attempt to make the Church a department of the State,
promoted chiefly the idea that church-minded people, the clergy, and
even the monks occupied a definite place in the apparatus of Church
organization. This … tended to obscure the primary aspect of (Church
life): the love and zeal for true faith and piety which are what inspire
every genuine Orthodox Christian.” (from “Blessed Paisius Velichkovsky”
published by St Herman of Alaska Brotherhood) St Paisius therefore left
his homeland and was nourished in his spiritual life from the fonts of
true faith on the Holy Mountain of Athos. There he found that love and
zeal which animated and brought life to the rituals and traditions which
had before seemed lifeless and empty. This love and zeal had its source
in the communion of prayer with God and the living and active presence
of the Holy Spirit brought out by that prayer. St Paisius brought that
love of the patristic fathers and their teaching about prayer back to
Russia with him and began to teach others how to enliven their faith
through living prayer, especially utilizing the most powerful tool of
hesychastic prayer, the Jesus prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
have mercy on me a sinner.”

This revival of the life of faith was the spark that brought out the
life of Christ in the rituals and traditions of the Church in Russia.
Saints who had given their lives over to prayer and communion with God
began to arise and communicated that life to those around them. These
saints were recognized as spirit-bearing elders or “startzi” who lived
and spoke completely in synch with the Holy Spirit, who through
spiritual labors and the ascetic life of self denial had come to see
Jesus Christ more clearly and to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit speak
in their hearts. This clear vision of Christ and love for Him, they then
communicated to the people who would come to them for spiritual
direction and advice through their teaching, the sacraments and often
through miracles wrought by their hands. This tradition of eldership was
found in many places throughout Russia especially in the monasteries. St
Seraphim was one such elder. One of the greatest sources of this living
faith was the Optina monastery where this tradition was planted by the
elder Leonid and then continued through the years by the succession of
his close disciples in prayer known collectively as the Optina elders,
whose memory we celebrate today.

This revival is modeled for us today in the Gospel of the miraculous
resurrection of the child of the widow of Nain. Her life had been
deprived of its zeal and meaning by the death of her only son. The empty
and lifeless form of his body remained, but it had been deprived of the
life which animated it. But Jesus Christ, coming upon the funeral
procession with His disciples restored child to life – reanimating his
lifeless body and bringing back to it the life that had fled. The Church
in Russia had become the lifeless young man, the form of the spiritual
life was still there, but the life had fled or in this case was
obscured. But the life of the Church is restored just as the life of the
young man was restored by the word of Jesus Christ. This revival of life
was accomplished in the Church by prayer and was maintained by prayer.
It was manifested in many ways and one of the most visible ways was the
guidance of the elders communicating the living faith to the faithful.

In ancient times, the Hebrew people, the chosen people of God, would
lose sight of their first love and begin to wander away from the worship
of God. In these times, God sent to them prophets who were overshadowed
by the Holy Spirit and spoke words of warning and guidance to bring them
back through repentance and piety to the worship of the One true God.
These prophets unerringly pointed to the coming of the Messiah – to the
coming of God incarnate – for this was the task of the Hebrew people, to
prepare the way of the Lord and to provide the instrument for His
incarnation (the Virgin Mary). Through her and by extension through the
whole Hebrew nation, God took flesh and became man and dwelt among us.
The last and greatest of the prophets, the Forerunner, John the Baptist
introduced as it were the God/man Jesus Christ to the world.

In the Church, the prophets no longer were needed to point to the coming
of Christ for He had come. The need for those who exercised the ministry
of prophecy, however, remained for like the Hebrews of old, Christians
would sometimes loose sight of Christ and begin to wander away from the
path of salvation. In the Church the prophetic ministry – that of
guiding wandering people back to Christ and pointing them towards Him is
manifested most brightly in the lives of the Holy Elders. They exhibited
the life of Christ through their own lives of sanctity and holiness.
They taught others how to follow this same path and to live lives of
true and living piety and communion with God. By their guidance and
prayer, they showed how to make this life of Christ real and vital in
the everyday lives of the people who came to them for guidance. The
basis of this spiritual life, this prophetic ministry, is prayer.

Prayer in its essence is not just talking to God, or a list of requests,
or reciting the beautiful prayers and hymns of the Church. Prayer, in
its essence is communing with God – it is a living relationship with
God. It is this living relationship with breaths life into the rituals
and traditions of the Church. By living in constant prayerful communion
with Jesus Christ, His life becomes our life. It is the traditions of
the Church which give form and shape to how that life is worked out and
applied to our daily routines in the world. Our guides in this life are
the elders of Optina and elsewhere in the Church who by their teaching
and instruction communicate to us the life that they have experienced
and guide us in attaining that light. They are our guides, the one’s who
see more clearly the light of Christ through the darkness of this sinful
world. Through their lives, their instructions, their teaching, their
letters, their words preserved for us by those who knew them, these same
elders lead us in our daily lives and show us the way to ever deeper
communion with Jesus Christ.

The lives of the Optina elders are well known and documented. Many of
their sermons, their letters, their instructions, are available now to
read. Certainly there are other elders, even contemporary elders (many
of which today can be found in Russia, on Mt Athos and in many other
Orthodox cultures and societies). All of these elders, those of Optina
monastery, or their contemporaries, such as St Seraphim of Sarov or
their modern successors do one thing – the same thing as did the
prophets of old – they point us towards Jesus Christ and show us the
path to follow Him and to live in union and communion with Him.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

Luke 8:26-39
Eph 2:4-10

“The heavens declare the glory of God!” (Ps 19:1) Thus the Psalmist
reminds us that everywhere we look in creation we see declarations and
reflections of God’s glory. Because of this St Nikolai of Ochrid can
speak to us, saying, “When the sun’s rays touch a rock, the rock begins
to shine. When a flame touches an unlit candle, it begins to burn. When
a magnet touches a metal object, the object becomes magnetized. When an
electric wire touches an ordinary wire, they both become electrified.
All these physical phenomena are only an image, or parable, of spiritual
phenomena. All that takes place on the external plane is only an image
of what happens on the internal plane. … The soul is the consciousness
of the body and God is the consciousness of the soul. When God touches
the soul, it is vivified and given sight; when the soul touches the
body, it does the same thing. The body receives light, warmth, magnetism
and electricity, sight and hearing and movement from the soul. All this
is lost by the body when the soul parts from it. The soul receives from
God a special light, warmth, magnetism and electricity, sight and
hearing and movement, and all this is lost to the soul when it separates
itself from God. A dead body is an image of a dead soul, a soul
separated from God.”

In the Gospel today we heard of such an image, the dead body of a girl,
the daughter of Jairus, a leader of the synagogue. Jairus came to Jesus
seeking help for his daughter was dying. In His compassion and love for
mankind, Jesus began to go with Jairus to his home. But along the way
there was a woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years. No treatment
had been able to stop this flow of blood and so she approached Jesus in
desperation – wanting just to touch the hem of His garment believing
that this was all that was needed to bring about healing for her. In
these two people, the young girl and the woman with an issue of blood,
we see two people whose life was leaking out of them – they were dying
and their only hope to stop this process was in the One Who is the
source of life, indeed Who is Himself Life.

Blood signifies our life. St Basil the Great makes a very close link
between the blood and the soul. This link is apparent throughout the
history of the people of God, from the blood sacrifices of the Jews for
the remission of sins to the spiritual laws regarding bleeding and
ritual cleanliness. Our Lord gave His life for us – shed His blood for
our salvation. He also gave to us the sacrament of Holy Communion – His
most precious Blood – which by receiving we receive His life and join it
to ours.

This woman with an issue of blood was loosing her life – it was leaking
out of her a little at a time. And so she came to Jesus seeking to stop
this slow and gradual loss of her own life. Just as the sun touches the
stone and it glows or a flame touches and candle and it burns so also
when the woman who was losing her life touched the One Who is Life, the
leak was plugged, it was stopped and she was healed. Not only this but
all the life that she had lost slowly, drip by drip was restored to her
for she had touched the source of all Life and that Life was
communicated to her.

By the time Jesus reached the house of Jairus, his daughter had already
died. Her body had emptied of life and there was nothing left to do but
mourn. But Jesus is the source of all life. When He reached out his hand
and took that of the girl and called to her, the life that was His
flowed into her and restored her. It was as though an empty glass had
been filled instantly and she who had been empty of life was now full
and bright and alive for she had touched the source of life and so had
been filled again.

These accounts of healing and resurrection – the restoration of the life
of the body – are given to us not only that we might know that Jesus is
truly God and glorify His love and compassion and unlimited power, but
that we also might learn from them a spiritual truth. This spiritual
truth is expressed for us by the Apostle Paul as we heard today in his
letter to the Ephesians, “Even when we were dead in sins, (God) hath
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath
raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus” Just as the God/man Jesus Christ restored life to the body
of these two by His touch, so also He restores our spiritual life by His
touch as well. We are touched by Him both figuratively and literally as
we live our Christian lives. He touches us with the water of baptism,
with the oil of chrism, with the hand of the priest in blessing and in
confession, with the bread and wine which are changed into His most holy
Body and His most precious Blood. He touches our eyes and ears and minds
and hearts in the words of the Gospel, in the icons, in the lives of the
saints. Everywhere we turn in the Church we are touched by His hand.

The physical principle of the transference of energy of which St Nikolai
spoke is the image of the spiritual truth of the transference of life.
Just as the unlit candle begins to burn when it is touched by flame, or
metal is magnetized when touched by another magnet or a wire is charged
when touched by electricity, so also in the spiritual world, when the
soul is touched by Jesus Christ, the source of Life, it is filled with
life. The magnetism, the electricity, the flame of the natural world
tell us that there is also something which communicates life to us in
the spiritual world. That “something” is grace. God bestows His grace
upon us. Grace is not simply an attitude of God towards us, nor is it
something that changes God in His relation to us. Grace is a spiritual
force, a spiritual energy that comes from God and fills us and changes
us. It enlivens the dead soul, it transforms the mortal to become
immortal, it takes the earthly and makes it heavenly. It is indeed grace
which is the agent of our salvation, as the Apostle sayes, “For by grace
you are saved.”

Grace is the gift of God to us which in turn acts upon us for our
salvation. But one vital thing remains, the one element of our being
which has always been key in our salvation and that is our own free
will. In this, we are not like the unlit candle or the piece of metal or
wire. God gives us grace, but He does not force us to change; He expects
us to choose to cooperate with the action of that grace in us. Not only
do we consent to the operation of grace, but we actively work with it,
conforming our lives to the life of Christ, conforming our will to the
will of God, conforming our thoughts our actions our feelings into those
which work in full and complete harmony with God. Grace is given to us
as the free gift of God – we need do nothing to earn it – however, once
having it we must use it, we must actively cooperate with hand of the
Holy Spirit through the good works of prayer, righteousness, charity,
compassion, hospitality, love of God and neighbor. We must set aside our
own life through self denial, and with ascetic labor ascend the cross so
that we might die to the world, and then having set aside the old life,
take on the new by following Christ.

Flame touches the unlit candle and it burns, a magnet touches metal and
it too is magnetized, an electric wire touches another wire and both are
charged. God touches us and His life, His grace, flows into us and fills
us. Our only task is to set aside our old life and cooperate with the
new life that flows into us so that we might truly become like Him and
be filled with His Holy Spirit and thus live in union and communion with
Him.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website:http://stseraphimboise.org

Luke 8:41-56

The parable of the good Samaritan is given to us as the answer to a
question. One of the scribes asked Jesus, “What must I do to gain
eternal life” and then when Jesus told him to keep the commandments to
love God and love his neighbor, the scribe, seeking to justify himself
(for he was stricken by his conscience that he had done neither of these
fully) asked, “Who is my neighbor?” In response to this question, our
Lord gave us this parable to demonstrate what it is that truly defines a
neighbor and more than that what it is that truly unites people to one
another.

Before we think about what it is that unites us, let us consider what it
is that divides us. Just as physician must learn about the disease
process before he can learn how to cure the disease, so before we
attempt to restore the unity with God and one another, it would be
helpful to find out what it is that separates us. When God created the
world and all that is in it - including mankind - all things were in
complete harmony with one another. Even today we see the remnants of
that original harmony. Astronomy and physics reveal the intricate dance
of the smallest and largest particles of the universe and how even the
smallest and furthest subatomic particle is connected to the largest and
nearest star. All things that have mass also exert a gravitational pull
and even the weakest gravitation field is considered in the balance of
the entire universe. Closer to home, when we study ecology, we are
looking at the inter-relationships of the vast spectrum of life and how
each microbe and each cell has a role to play in maintaining the
viability of life on this planet. Biologists study the intricate inner
workings of living things - how within the body there is a wonderful
diversity of cells and structures and yet each is knit together in a
single body. But within these wonderful and beautiful examples of unity
there are forces which intrude and create dissonance and which bring
destruction and death. These forces break apart the unity and sew the
seeds of discord and death. This destructive force comes when something
pushes the harmony of creation out of balance by emphasizing its own
strength and type at the expense of the diversity around it. In the
body, when there is disease, that disease is the result of the action of
a bacteria or virus that attacks the cells of the body destroying them
that the disease might itself take root and grow. In modern medicine,
one of the most prevalent but least controlled processes of this sort is
cancer. The cancerous cells grow rapidly and aggressively pushing other
cells out of the way and seeking to make all the cells cancerous. In
ecology, the destructive force is often exemplified by the effects of
man on nature - destroying the balance of nature in order to meet his
own needs with no regard for the place and needs of other creatures in
the ecological balance. Even in the far reaches of the universe there
are disruptive forces that reach out and consume everything around them
such as black holes from which not even light can escape.

All this destruction comes about because one element in the natural
balance sets itself above everything else and puts its own needs and
wants and its own existence above everything else. In the soul, this
same disruption can be seen and it is called sin. It is sin that
separates us from God and from one another. It is sin that destroys the
unity and perfect spiritual balance that existed in Paradise before the
fall. The root of all sin is pride, that is the inflated self regard
with which a man considers himself more important than anything else in
the universe, including God. When a person places themselves at the
center of all things rather than God, then the whole balance of the soul
is damaged. First this pride breaks the unity that we have with God and
then it breaks the unity that we have with one another. All of the sins
are born out of this original sin of pride. It is therefore sin that
destroys the harmony of creation, it breaks the unity of man with God
and distorts the unity of man with his fellow man. Sin is the cause of
the spiritual disease and disorder of the soul. In order to restore the
soul to health, in order to restore the unity of God and man and the
unity of mankind, we must find a way to overcome sin and its effects.

In the parable of the Good Samaritan we see first a man robbed, beaten
and left for dead. Three men pass - the first two are related to the
beaten man by blood - being Jews. St Nikolai of Ochrid speaks of these
two Jews, a priest and a Levite, as representing the law and the
prophets. Indeed the law cannot heal it only diagnoses the illness. Nor
do the prophets heal, they can only warn us away from a dangerous path.
And then the Samaritan comes along. He is not related by birth, not in
the same social class, not part of the same tribe, and yet it is the
Samaritan who shows himself to be the neighbor, to be the one bound
closely to the injured one for he shows something not found in the law
and the prophets, something more powerful, that can heal and restore the
soul. That power manifested by the Samaritan is compassion. The
beginning of healing sin is compassion. Compassion is born out of love -
love of God and love of others and so we end up back at the beginning of
the Gospel. What must one do to gain eternal life, in other words what
must one do to restore the unity of himself with God? He must first love
God and second that love of God must be expressed by the love of others.

The Holy Apostle Paul expresses similar words of how the healing love
that restores the unity of God and man is expressed. “Humility,
gentleness, longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, working to
keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Eph 4:2&3) Not only
is that healing and unifying love expressed in compassion, but it also
expressed in these qualities of humility, gentleness, patience – which
are also among the fruits of the Holy Spirit working in us. Just as
pride is the father of all sins – so humility is the mother of all
virtue. Wherever you find pride in your life, counter it with humility.
When you find that you build yourself up, then it is the time and place
to bow yourself down. The natural inclination of the fallen man is to
set himself above all others, to be proud and so in order to counteract
this pride, we must choose to set aside our pride and we must choose,
with the grace of God, to act in a humble manner. Humility sets others
before self, seeing others as more important than oneself; humility sets
aside personal credit giving glory and honor only to God; humility does
not insist on its own way and its own self, but instead it freely gives
of itself for the benefit and welfare of others.

If the core of this disease is sin, then it is obvious that sin itself
needs to be removed. When we approach God and seek to be united with
Him, we confess our sins, we repent of them, we turn our back on them.
And in return we receive from God forgiveness. Forgiveness wipes away
sin, it removes sin’s power. In order to eliminate the root cause of
sin, we must counteract it with repentance. By repentance, we seek
forgiveness from God for we know that we have sinned against Him, and He
freely grants us His forgiveness. However it is not against God alone
that we sin - but out of our pride and self importance we sin against
each other as well. And so once we have repented of our sins before God
and asked His repentance so also we must then turn to one another and
ask forgiveness. If we would overcome strife and division and disharmony
between ourselves – even within the confines of the Church, then we must
first seek forgiveness from and in turn forgive one another. Our Lord
said to His disciples, “freely you have received, freely give” and this
applies to forgiveness. God has freely granted to us forgiveness – now
we too must forgive one another. Forgiveness is a choice, it is an act
of the will. You don’t have to wait until you “feel” forgiveness in
order to make the choice to forgive. You can forgive right away, at the
very moment of the insult. You can offer forgiveness even before the
other person has a chance to repent – in fact you can forgive them even
if they never repent. Forgiveness is in your power, you choose to
forgive or not to forgive. God has forgiven you, even before you know of
your own sins – in the same way, you can forgive others. Only by
forgiveness is sin overcome. Only by forgiveness is the strife and
separation that plague us in this world overcome. Only by forgiveness
can we ever hope to restore our communion with God and with one another.

Sin separates us from God – but forgiveness destroys sin. The
consequences of sin are then overcome by humility, compassion,
gentleness, patience, meekness, and most importantly by love of God and
love of others. We see around us a world torn apart by sin, a world
ravaged by pride and revenge and selfishness. We even see our Church
attacked by these same destructive forces. Only by forgiveness can this
sin be overcome and done away with. Only by love , humility and
compassion can the ravages of this sin be healed. Let us then love one
another, let us have compassion on one another, let us forgive one
another - for by these things the separation of sin is overcome and our
unity with God and one another is restored.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website:http://stseraphimboise.org

Luke 12:16-21

We live in a culture which places a premium on working and providing for
yourself. A person who is able to take care of his own needs by his own
labor is considered to be a success and highly esteemed; while a person
who cannot seem to make ends meet and who must depend on the charity of
others (as well as the state) is seen as a failure and is often looked
upon with scorn. The rich man in today’s Gospel parable was one of those
whom we would consider a success. He did not depend on anyone else for
his welfare and in fact worked so diligently that he was able to amass a
surplus of goods – more than he could need. Now, he thought to himself,
it would be possible to take a well earned rest and to enjoy the fruits
of his labor and sacrifice. But that very night, he was called to stand
before the throne of God and what words did he hear? He was not
congratulated for his hard work or for his success. He was not
complimented on his work ethic or his thrifty ways. He only heard, “Thou
fool”. Indeed he had worked hard and had gained much – but he worked
hard for the wrong thing and gained that which had value only in this
transient and short life. He completely neglected the needs of his soul
and did not collect any spiritual wealth and so was found wanting. He
was a fool not because he did not work hard, but because he worked hard
for the wrong thing.

Side by side with this parable, we also celebrate today one of the great
feasts of the Virgin Mary, her entry into the Temple. As a child, she
was brought to the temple to be dedicated to God. She would live in the
temple, work there and learn to love God. Then upon her womanhood, she
would return to her parents house and become eligible for marriage. This
was not an uncommon practice for pious parents who wished to give a gift
to God for His mercy and for the gift of children. But with the Virgin
Mary it was different. When they arrived at the temple and were met by
the high priest at that time (Zechariah – who would be the father of the
Forerunner, John the Baptist), she ascended the steps of the temple on
her own and the spiritual eyes of Zechariah were opened and he saw that
she was truly chosen of God. He broke all convention and took her into
the temple itself and even there did not stop but took her into the holy
of holies – the place where the ark of the covenant had been kept – for
her saw with the eyes of his soul that she would become the living ark,
the dwelling place of God. There she worked to acquire not a worldly
fortune, but a spiritual fortune amassing for herself the grace of God
which would enable her to become the temple of God incarnate, that
ladder by which God descended from heaven and the font from which He
took our flesh and became man.

The Virgin Mary worked hard and worked hard at acquiring the right kind
of wealth. St John of Kronstadt describes her labors saying: “How did
the most blessed Virgin spend her time in the temple? … She spent her
time in prayer, reading of the word of God (as you can see on the icon
of the Annunciation), in divine contemplation, and handiwork.”

St John then holds the Virgin up for all of us as an example of how we
should labor to acquire the riches of the grace of God, “What an
excellent example for fathers, mothers, and their children; for
Christian maidens and youths!...we should also have the same thoughts as
She has. May her children by grace be of one spirit with Her! Let them
learn from her how to love the Lord, our Creator, more than anything
else in the world, more than father and mother, more than anyone dear to
us; how to avidly study the word of God…; learn with what warmth of
heart and love we must pray to the Lord; how we must dedicate ourselves
to him wholeheartedly; how to entrust our fate to His wise and all-good
Providence; with what purity, meekness, humility, and patience we must
always clothe and adorn ourselves and not with the vain embellishments
of this adulterous and sinful world which knows no bounds of luxury and
elegance in bodily clothing; how to love a life with God and the saints
more than to dwell in the tents of sinners (Ps. 83:11).”

“Who will show us what makes up our Christian calling and duty, of what
spirit we must be, and how we should behave ourselves in various life
situations? Who will give us the strength to live in the spirit of
Christ—holy? The Church gives us all this. We can receive these
spiritual powers in the temple of God through the Sacraments. Here a
heavenly, unearthly spirit hovers; here is the school of Jesus Christ,
in which future heavenly citizens are educated. Here you will receive
heavenly lessons from the Divine Teacher, Jesus Christ, and the Holy
Spirit in the Gospels. Here is heavenly food and heavenly drink,
spiritual, heavenly garments, and spiritual armaments against the
enemies of salvation. Here you will receive the peace that is a
foretaste of heaven, so necessary to our spiritual activity and
education, and strength for spiritual labors and struggle with sin. Here
we partake of sweet conversation with our Heavenly Father and the Most
Holy Queen and Mother of God, with the angels of the Lord and saints.
Here we learn how to pray, and for what to pray. Here you will find
examples of all the Christian virtues in the saints who are glorified
each day by the Church. Here, gathered together in the house of God, as
children of one Heavenly Father, as members of the mystical body of
Christ, we learn how to love one another—member loving member, as
members of Christ, as Christ Himself.”

This is how we should spend our lives and how we should labor to acquire
the riches of the kingdom of God. Too often, however, we get distracted
by the wealth of this world. St John described this tendency by pointing
out a storehouse, saying, “For example, here in this building were kept
fabrics of every sort and color. Those fabrics are the object of
adoration of the daughters of men. They lived for them, were inspired by
them, rejoiced over them, but not over God. Here the sparkle of various
items of silver and gold stunned and enticed the gaze of those who
worship everything glittering and beautiful. In a word—no matter where
you direct your attention in the world, you will see only decay, vanity,
and sin; everywhere is the earthly and worldly. Empty, vain
conversations, vain activity that gives almost no reminder of heaven,
God, and the other life.” In contrast, he points out the environment we
find in the Church and in the homes of pious Christians, “Only in pious
homes do the icons of the Lord Jesus Christ, His Most Pure Mother, and
His saints remind the thoughtful that we, Christians and members of
Christ, members of His kingdom, look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the age to come, in which we shall unite with the Lord
and the saints, having cleansed ourselves of all defilement of flesh and
spirit.”

Should we all then give up on the world, leave everything behind and
spend our whole lives inside the Church building as the Mother of God
did in the temple? No, we are not all called to such a life of
withdrawal from the world. For the most part those of us here in the
parish are called to live in the world, to have jobs and houses and cars
and bills. We have husbands, wives, children, coworkers, friends, and
acquaintances. We are surrounded by the world. But this makes it even
more necessary for us to be alert and attentive to our spiritual lives,
to guard against the distractions that surround us and seek to pull us
this way and that. It is a matter of priorities – do everything to the
glory of God, seek to use every activity, every task, every moment, no
matter how worldly it may seem, in such a way that you are reminded of
the presence of the Holy Spirit in your heart. Create for yourself a
haven in your home, a place where you are surrounded not by the
distractions of the world but by the reminders of the Kingdom of God. We
should take every effort to be in the Church as much as possible for
here we are surrounded by the saints, here we live even if for a brief
moment and for just a little bit in the Kingdom of God. Here we have the
Gospel in our ears, we have the incense to lift our hearts to pray, we
have the prayers and hymns to constantly pull us toward the Kingdom of
God and to describe for us the riches of God’s glory. Here in the Church
we receive the sacraments, those fountains of grace which inundate us
with the power and mercy of God.

Brothers and sisters, let us imitate the Virgin Mary rather than the
foolish rich man. Let us work to acquire the riches of the Kingdom of
God. Let us focus our efforts on using the things of this world as the
means by which we acquire the things of heaven. Let us constantly trade
and work and sacrifice, not to amass a worldly fortune, but to store up
for ourselves treasures in heaven. As our Lord said, “where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Let your treasure be found
not in earthly barns, but in the mansions of heaven.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

Luke 13:10-17

Last week was the feast of the Entry of the Mother of God into the
Temple. When the Virgin Mary turned 3 years old, in accordance with
their vow, her parents brought her to the temple where she would grow up
dedicated to the service of God. This was an established practice that
some children were brought to the temple at an early age and that there
they would grow in the service of God until they became adults at which
time they would return to their parents homes, be married and begin to
live their adult lives. What was different and miraculous about the
entry of the Virgin into the temple was that the High Priest at that
time, Zachariah, was inspired by the Holy Spirit to do something
extraordinary. It was revealed to him by God that this child was the one
who would bear the Messiah, God Incarnate. She would become the “living
ark” of which the ark of the covenant was but an icon. God would dwell
in her and through her God would come to save His people. Seeing this,
Zachariah took the young child and in recognition that here was the ark
of God set her in the place of the long lost ark of the covenant in the
Holy of Holies. This was something that was just not done, it was out of
the ordinary and contrary to all law and custom - but this the High
Priest did at the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as an act of prophecy.
(Is it any wonder that the father of the last and greatest of the
prophets was himself a prophet?)

The Holy Virgin Mary lived there in the temple and was given the
greatest task - that of spinning the purple thread that would be woven
into the cloth which would be used for the curtain separating the Holy
of Holies from the rest of the temple. She lived a life without willful
sin, always choosing to serve God and never choosing to act in any way
contrary to the law of God. Certainly she was subject to the corruption
and sinfulness which is our common heritage as the result of Adam’s
ancestral sin, however, in as much as it was possible, she herself never
willfully sinned. In this state of exalted purity the Virgin grew and
matured while working in the temple, praying constantly. Because of her
piety and righteous life, she was visited frequently by the angels and
by God’s will and provision, taught by them of the mysteries of the
Kingdom of Heaven. She did not as yet understand that she would be the
one to bear God Incarnate, however, knowing that the coming of the
Messiah was promised and knowing that His mother would be a woman of
great blessing, the Virgin desired that she might someday serve that
chosen woman who would be the instrument of the coming of our salvation.
Little did she realize that she was to be that woman. Is it any wonder
that God would choose such a pure and holy person as His earthly mother
and would come to her and dwell within her?

We have, by contrast, today in the Gospel another woman to consider.
This woman was afflicted by a bent and twisted spine such that she was
bent double, unable to straighten herself for eighteen years. She was
ugly and twisted and no one could bear to look at her without being
repulsed. She herself could not look into the faces of men, but only at
the ground in front of her. She could not raise her eyes to heaven to
see the sun and moon, the stars and clouds or any of those lofty
testaments to God’s greatness. She could only see the earth, and only a
small patch of that earth. In appearance, this woman was everything that
the Most Pure Virgin was not; she was not perfect, she was twisted; she
was bound by a demon in this deformity and unable to raise even her
eyes, let alone her arms and hands and her whole body to heaven in
prayer. While angels came and spoke to the Most Holy Virgin, not even
men would speak to this woman. While the Most Holy Virgin occupied
herself with the lofty task of making the curtain for the Holy of
Holies, this woman could do no task and was dependant on the charity and
care of others. While the Most Holy Virgin was brought into the Holy of
Holies, the heart of the temple and the heart of the worship of the One
True God, this woman was barely tolerated in the synagogue, far away
from the temple. These two women were worlds apart, there was no
likeness between them.

But to each of them, something common happened. To each of them God
Himself came. Certainly we can understand how God would come to the Most
Holy Virgin for she had been prepared by centuries of history to be the
one chosen for the incarnation of God. But how was it that God would
come to this twisted and deformed woman held captive by a demon and
despised by men?

God came to the Most Holy Virgin out of love and compassion for all
mankind. He came that He might free us from our enslavement to sin,
death and the devil. Even though the Most Holy Virgin lived a life that
was as pure and free of sin as possible, still she had within her the
seed of corruption, that sinful kernel rooted in her soul that kept her
bound to sin and death. Despite her pure and holy life, she needed the
coming of the Savior as much as anyone else, in fact perhaps more for
she is the pinnacle of human spiritual achievement and yet all she
accomplished was not sufficient to free her from sin, for that she
needed the help of the Messiah – God incarnate. And so out of love and
compassion for her and for all like her, God came to her and became man
through her. She became truly the ark of God, bearing within herself Him
who bears all, containing in her womb the Uncontainable, and from her
God took flesh and became man and dwelt among us.

But our Lord did not only come to those of ultimate purity and holiness.
He did not come only to save the “beautiful people”. He came to seek and
to save the lost, he came to heal the sick, free the captive, give sight
to the blind and raise the dead. He came even to touch and save the most
lowly and despised person in the world. And in the course of his life,
he came to this woman. Having entered into the synagogue, He saw her and
was not repulsed, did not turn away in disgust, but was instead moved by
compassion and love. Rather than drive her away, He called her to
himself. Rather than insult her, He spoke to her with respect and honor.
Rather than turn her away, He reached out and touched her and raised her
up and healed her. Just as the Most Holy Virgin needed a savior, so also
this woman, bent over and enslaved by the demon needed a savior - and to
both of them the Savior came.

It does not matter whether we are pure and holy, like the Virgin Mary,
or whether we are bent double with a load of sin as was the crippled
woman we too need a Savior. And just as God came to both of these women,
He also comes to us. He sees our righteousness, but He sees beyond our
righteousness to the seed of corruption that rests in our soul and
applies to it the balm of grace that we might no longer be enslaved by
it. He sees our sin and the distorted and disfigured appearance of the
soul, but looks beyond our sin to see the desire to be freed, the desire
to love God, the desire to follow Him - and He frees us, bidding us to
come after Him. Whether we are “righteous” or sinful, whether we are
good or evil, whether we are naughty or nice, whether we are beautiful
or disfigured, no matter what or who we are in the world, we all need a
savior - one Who will free us from our sins, one Who will set us on the
paths of righteousness, one Who will shower us with His grace that we
might be transformed into the image and likeness of God. We need Christ.
And to each of us Christ comes.

We spoke of these two women, but there are also two men to compare. We
have first the holy prophet and High Priest Zachariah, who contrary to
all law and custom receiving the divine vision - recognized God’s voice
and hand and took the Most Holy Virgin Mary and placed her in the Holy
of Holies signifying that she was chosen to become the living ark of the
covenant. On the other hand we have the ruler of the synagogue who
seeing that this suffering woman had been healed and freed from her
torment on the Sabbath, berated our Lord Jesus Christ, not recognizing
the voice of God or His hand, for not abiding by the law and custom. One
man saw God and recognized Him, the other saw God and did not recognize
Him. One man broke the “law” to follow God and the other kept the law,
but did not follow God.

Christ came to each of the women who were in need and Christ came to
each of the men and Christ comes to us. Each time that we encounter
Christ, whether it be in the Church, in the sacraments, at home in our
prayers, in the world in those that we meet, the question before us is
how will we respond. Will we say, as did the Most Holy Virgin - “let it
be unto me according to the word of God” - or will we turn away from God
as did the ruler of synagogue - saying to God, “how dare You act in a
way that is not according to my expectations.”

Today we see the great compassion and love of God which encompasses all
mankind from the greatest to the least. Today, and every day, we also
are faced with the choice to follow Him or to follow our own
expectations and our own will. This is the choice that we each face from
moment to moment, to live according to this world and our own
understanding, or to live according to the Life of Christ. Which will it be?

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

Luke 17:12-19

Today we recall the memory of St Sava the Sanctified. St Sava is
considered to be the father of the ascetic hermits of Palestine. His
monastery in the Judean desert is the oldest continually occupied
Orthodox monastery in the world. St Sava lived a life completely
dependant upon God for everything. There is very little in the Judean
desert (what today is called the West Bank of the Jordan) except for
rocks; it is a hot and dry land with few natural resources. St Sava,
already formed as a monastic in a cenobitic monastery, was given a
blessing to withdraw into the life of a hermit and so ventured out into
the desert to live a life completely devoted to prayer in the presence
of God alone. One thing that is abundant in the desert are caves which
are cut into the sides of steep ravines and cliffs. In one of these
caves St Sava took up residence and began to pray. His life is full of
examples of how God provided for him but we will only visit a few of these.

As his presence in the desert became known, other monks wishing to live
a similar life of withdrawal and solitary prayer began to seek St Sava
out for guidance and took up residence in caves that were nearby. As
this monastic brotherhood grew, St Sava noted that the only source of
water was far away and simply bringing water for their needs took up an
inordinate amount of time away from the life of prayer. As with
everything else, St Sava took this need for water before the throne of
God and put the matter in God’s hands. Rising from prayer, he noticed a
donkey in the bottom of the ravine where his cave was located. It kicked
the ground with his hoof and then seemed to drink from the place where
his hoof had made a depression. St Sava went to this place found that
although there was no flowing water there, it was possible to get water
from the ground in this fashion. He built a shelter and a small cistern
there which allowed the water to collect and remain rather than be lost
through evaporation in the hot sun. This well provided a source water
for the monks that was nearby, therefore allowing them to devote more
time to prayer. That miraculous well remains even today as a source of
water to the monastery. It does not flow with water but droplets of
water seep from the rocks and are collected in the cistern.

Another need of the brotherhood was a place to gather for their common
prayer. There was nothing with which to build a Church there in the
desert and so St Sava laid this need too before the throne of God.
During his prayer he noticed a vision of a pillar of fire on the
opposite side of the ravine. This pillar of fire remained and St Sava,
upon investigating the place where it touched the earth found a
previously unknown cave which is shaped exactly as a Church should be –
with rooms in exactly the right place for the nave and the altar and a
sacristy. This cave was established as the Church for the monks and
remains so even today.

When we see how it is that God provided for St Sava, we are moved first
by the great faith of St Sava, who depended upon God for everything,
even water and shelter; and second by the faithful provision of God,
giving to St Sava all that he needed. Noting the providence of God in
the life of the saint, we are able then to begin to look for the
providence of God in our lives. One of the ways by which we can see the
providence of God in our lives more clearly is by giving thanks for all
that we do see. By giving thanks to God for the blessings that He gives
to us, we begin to focus on God’s intervention in the events of our
lives. Once we do this, we begin to see more and more ways in which God
is present in the way that we live and we see His hand touching our
lives in more and more places.

In the Gospel we heard of the leper who, being healed by our Lord Jesus
Christ, returned to give thanks to Him. Despite this clear and
unmistakable miracle received from the hand of the God/man Jesus Christ,
only one of the ten that were healed thought to give thanks. This is
often how we find ourselves; completely surrounded by the evidence of
God’s miraculous care for us, we begin to take such things for granted
and neglect to thank God even for His outright miracles. We should take
the example of the one leper who returned to give thanks for this
miracle. As soon as he realized that he had received this gift from the
hand of the God/man Jesus Christ, he stopped what he was doing (going
with the others to fulfill the requirement to “show themselves to the
priests” that they might be declared disease free and permitted to
return to live among society) turned around and went back to give
thanks. He did not wait until later, he did not even finish this
required inspection – but stopped what he was doing right in the middle
and gave thanks to God. If we would learn to give thanks to God then we
can do the same: stop right where you are, no matter what you are doing,
and give thanks to God in the instant that you become aware of His
blessing. In doing this you begin to train the eyes of your soul to see
the hand of God more clearly and so will notice other blessings for
which to thank God.

Over time you begin to see more and more of God’s providence in your
life. Seeing the providence of God in your life, this will prompt you
also to trust God more. He has provided in the past and so you will be
able to have confidence that He will not stop His love for you and will
provide your needs today and tomorrow as well. By practicing
thanksgiving to God, one result is that our trust in God is strengthened
and we can begin to rely on Him for even the small things in our life as
did St Sava.

Seeing God’s abundant provision and care for us through the lens of
thanksgiving we are inspired as well to a greater love for God. Our
gratitude begets love for the Giver of all good things in the soul. The
more that we give thanks to God, the more love for Him will grow in our
hearts. When the love of God lives in our hearts and burns brightly,
then it also becomes for us a protection and help from the temptations
to sin. We will resist sin not because it is a rule or a law or even
“the right thing to do”, but we freely choose to turn away from sin
because we choose instead to turn towards God. The attraction and allure
of sin fades and falls away when compared to bright and burning love for
God.

When we see how God provides for us every good thing; when we see His
hand in every event of our lives, then we also become aware of how
little we are able to do on our own and how utterly dependent we
actually are upon God. This awareness leads to humility and the poverty
of spirit for we recognize that we have nothing in ourselves, but that
we receive all things from the hand of God. To be poor in spirit is the
first of the beatitudes and promises that he who possesses this poverty
will receive in return the kingdom of God. Humility is called the mother
of all virtue for from its seed all the other virtues will spring up in
the heart. These things are the result of our awareness of God’s
constant and complete care for us which is in turn the result of
thanksgiving. Therefore, if you wish to receive the kingdom of God and
if you wish all the virtues to sprout from your heart, begin with
thanksgiving.

Very few of us are called to the life of a desert hermit such as St
Sava, but all of us are able to imitate his complete dependence upon the
providence of God. The way that we do this is by practicing thanksgiving
in our daily lives. Inasmuch as we are able, we can begin to stop and
thank God whenever we see His hand in our lives. The more that we thank
God, the more that we see His hand. The more we are aware of His
intervention and care for us, the more we trust Him and love Him. As our
trust and love grows then we begin to depend upon Him more and more,
allowing the poverty of spirit and humility to grow in our lives and
thus bringing forth the fruit of the virtues and opening the doors to
the kingdom of heaven.

Here, my brothers and sisters, we see that there is a simple path laid
before us, a way for all of us to imitate the God pleasing life of St
Sava and to enter with him into the kingdom of heaven. That path is the
path of thanksgiving in all things. To stop at the very moment we become
aware of the blessing of God in our lives and to give Him thanks. In
this way we too can become God pleasers and companions of the saints –
and together we will enter into the Kingdom of God.


--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

Matthew 1:1-25

Every year on the Sunday before Nativity, we read this litany of the
ancestor’s of Christ, those who were the physical forebears of Christ.
We hear how Abraham begat Isaac, who in turn begat Joseph, who begat
Judah and his brothers and so on until we reach the Righteous Joseph,
the husband of the Virgin Mary. And then the Gospel turns its attention
to the events surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ. In doing so it
says, “The birth of Christ was after this manner”. This simple
transition draws our attention to many things, including the fact that
our Lord’s generation and birth was not the same as all those just
mentioned beforehand. All of the ancestor’s just listed were born
according to the fallen nature, according to the curse of Adam and Eve,
in the midst of toil and in pain, the same as the animals. But the birth
of Christ was not subject to that curse for he was born as men would
have been born if Adam and Eve had not sinned but remained righteous -
pure and innocent and without toil and pain more akin to the angels than
to the beasts.

The birth of Christ is not only different in terms of toil and pain, but
it is also different in terms of humility and obedience. The Holy Virgin
Mary had grown up placing her trust fully and completely in God. She
lived a life which radiated obedience and its direct fruit, humility.
She put her trust completely in God and obeyed His will without fail.
This complete trust allowed her to live a simple life - God commanded
and she obeyed without question, without understanding, without fear,
without worry or concern. Even the most fantastic thing was normal for
her. The Holy Archangel Gabriel came to her from God and announced that
she, a virgin, would conceive and bear a Son Who would be God incarnate.
Even the Archangel was amazed that such a thing could happen, but Mary’s
response was simple, pure acceptance and obedience. She did not question
why or how (beyond ascertaining that God Himself would intervene) but
she just obeyed. With simple and complete trust she accepted the Word of
God, despite the impossibility of what had been given to her. Hence the
birth of Christ, a truly amazing miracle, was accomplished by her
without worry or fear by simple obedience born of trust.

The righteous Joseph, on the other hand, was not quite so trusting and
that made his life a bit more complex. Upon hearing that the Virgin Mary
was with child, he began to plot according to his own understanding. He
figured out for himself that she must have violated her vow of chastity,
which he had promised to preserve in her betrothal. This was evidence,
in his mind, of adultery and would subject the Holy Virgin to the
punishment of stoning. He then began to plot how he could quietly
preserve her life and so formed a plan to “put her away privately” that
is to divorce her without any public fanfare. Joseph, took this simple
act of obedience and made it complex. But God intervened and sent an
angel to Joseph prompting him in the right direction, telling him not to
fear and to take the Virgin Mary as his wife for she had not sinned but
that she was the instrument of God’s miracle. And Joseph, at this gentle
prompting, dropped all of his complex plans and schemes and embraced the
simplicity of obedience. The greater one’s trust and obedience, the
simpler life becomes.

We who live in this world tend toward complexity. Our life is complex
with many different sometimes conflicting things going on all the time.
We have to constantly juggle all of our responsibilities and desires and
make decisions about what is more or less important and how to
coordinate things. Even as very young children we begin to ask “why?”
and the answer “because I said so” does not suffice. We think: I want to
be the master of my own life, because only I know what is best for
myself and so I have to understand all the various implications and
results of each decision I face. I am perfectly willing to obey someone
else, if what they are asking of me “makes sense” and when their
requests begin to go against my common sense, I begin to question until
either I understand or I no longer am willing to cooperate. This is the
kind of complexity that we bring into our lives so easily that it seems
natural and unavoidable.

The simplicity of obedience is still available to us, however, it
requires that we trust God. The more we trust Him without question or
doubt, the simpler life becomes. It is the common reaction to any adult
in the Church to wants to understand everything that is going on so that
he can guide his own spiritual life to its greatest profit. But that
still leads to complexity, for the desire to understand is born of the
desire to be in control and master of my own fate. What God asks of us
is to let go of our desire for self mastery and replace it with
obedience and trust. Rather than understand all of His instructions to
us, He asks that we simply obey and leave the “why”s up to Him. This
requires that we trust Him more than we trust ourselves. And that kind
of trust is born of love. We trust ourselves more than anyone else
because we love ourselves more than anyone else. If we follow Christ,
then we have to love Him more than we love ourselves which in turn will
lead us to be able to trust Him more than we trust ourselves.

The path to a life of simple obedience, like that of the Holy Virgin
Mary, rests in the love of God. If we wish to be able to live the kind
of life that the Virgin lives then we must develop within ourselves this
same love of God. When we love God, we will trust God and when we trust
Him we will obey Him. This process, however, also works in reverse. If
we obey God, then we will grow to trust Him and as we trust Him, we will
also love Him. The easiest path to developing within ourselves the love
for God is simple obedience. This path is not always easy for we will
continually be struggling with our own passions and our need for mastery
and self determination. But these are needs of the fallen nature and the
transforming grace of God can help us to overcome those fallen desires.
We have all, with our first parents Adam and Eve, fallen into
disobedience and pride. The path which is opened before us by Christ is
that of obedience and humility. It is not a path without struggle for to
walk this path means that we must deny ourselves, it means that we must
take up our cross and crucify ourselves, it means that we must follow
Christ rather than ourselves. But this path of obedience and humility
leads to the love of Christ and to the simplicity of life in Him. This
is the path of the Virgin Mary, of the Righteous Joseph and of all the
saints, and this path is open now for us too.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

Matthew 2:13-23

The feast of the Nativity of our Lord is just past and we have welcomed
the incarnate God into our midst. This event is the greatest of all
blessings, there is nothing that can compare; that our God and Creator
should deign to take flesh and become man for us and for our salvation.
The life of Christ is the pivot upon which all of time and space and the
whole of creation turns. The birth of Christ is one of the greatest
outpourings of grace in all of creation. This is truly one of the high
points in the whole history of the world.

And yet, this great event is followed by a horrible tragedy. Herod the
King, instead of welcoming the newborn Messiah as did the Magi, sought
instead to destroy the Child and ordered the murder of every child under
the age of two just to be sure he got the right one. The great joy of
the incarnation is followed by the grief and sorrow of “Rachael weeping
for her children.”

We all experience this pattern of joy and sorrow in our own spiritual
lives for this is the warfare of the evil one. Whenever there is a time
of great blessing, it seems that it is closely followed by a time of
great temptation. Whenever we receive a gift from God, it is as if the
evil one seeks to snatch that gift away, or at least compromise it and
make it useless by some equally great temptation. In the life of Christ
we can see this same pattern occurring and at least three different
responses from Christ Himself that we can imitate in our own lives.

The first of these instances in the life of Christ is that which we just
read – the slaughter of the innocents. Even at the very time of our
Lord’s birth, He is threatened by the actions of the servants of the
evil one. His response at this time was to flee – to avoid the
temptation and to get away from the danger. Joseph, being warned by an
angel in a dream, took the Virgin and her child and fled from Bethlehem,
indeed from the whole province governed by Herod the king, and traveled
into Egypt where they would be safe. Here we see the first kind of
response to the threats and temptations that we face in our spiritual
lives which is simply avoidance. The newborn Christ Child was not yet
strong enough to resist so great and violent a temptation and so in
order not to fall prey to the actions of Herod, He ran away from it – He
removed Himself (through the action of His protector, the righteous
Joseph) from exposure to the temptation. For us, when we are tempted by
the evil one, our first line of defense is to simply remove ourselves
from the environment of the temptation and seek out a safe place. That
“flight into Egypt” can be as simple as getting up from your chair and
going to another room; or perhaps changing your environment, stop
reading that book or listening to that music, or watching that TV show,
or surfing the internet, or doing whatever it is that has put you in the
path of temptation and do something else that is, if not spiritually
beneficial, at least neutral and which takes you away from the source of
the temptation. As spiritual strugglers, we can also be proactive about
this by guarding our senses as the doorways into the soul – being
careful about the things to which we expose ourselves, what we see, what
we hear, the situations into which we put ourselves and avoiding those
that we know will bring us into temptation. It is also worthy of note
here that those around Christ, the righteous Joseph and the Ever Virgin
Mary protected Him by their actions – and in the same way we are often
protected by the prayers and actions of our fellow Christians who are
stronger than us in the life of Christ. Simple avoidance, fleeing
temptation, is the first and most basic means by which we can overcome
the temptations and attacks of the evil one.

Of course we cannot avoid all the temptations all the time. Again we
look to the life of Christ for inspiration when we find ourselves in the
midst of an attack by the evil one. At the beginning of His earthly
ministry among those who had known Him, our Lord revealed Himself as the
One whose coming was prophesied in the Scriptures. The Jews had been
awaiting the coming of the promised Messiah for thousands of years and
as we heard last Sunday through at least 42 generations from Abraham
(Matt. 1:1-17). And yet, when He appears in their midst they do not
welcome Him with joy, but seek to kill Him (Luke 4:16ff). In the city of
Nazareth where He had been raised, after his baptism and temptation in
the wilderness, Jesus entered into the synagogue and began to read from
the book of the Prophet Isaiah about the coming Messiah. Closing the
book He told the people that the prophecy had been fulfilled before
them. Realizing that Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah, the people
rose up and took Him to a precipice in order to throw Him off and stone
Him. But Jesus, walked calmly through the midst of the crowd leaving
their desire unfulfilled. In this case He faced the attack of the evil
one and it was powerless to harm Him due to His unwavering faith and
because He did not stray from the path that the Father had laid out for
Him in the world. He had the full and complete confidence in the
Father’s deliverance and protection that He was able to face the
temptation and trial head on and then walk right on by it. There are
times when we also must face temptation and the attacks of the evil one
and cannot avoid them. At those times we hold onto our faith in God’s
protection and care and walk boldly and firmly in the path that He sets
before us never turning to the right or to the left, never wavering to
one side or the other , strengthened and protected by our faith in Him.
At these times we are strengthened by prayer, by the reading of the
Gospel and by obedience to the will of God (as Jesus demonstrated in his
response to the temptations in the wilderness). The second response to
the temptation and attack of the evil one is that of strengthening our
faith and standing behind that shield of faith which protects us from
the fiery darts of the evil one (Eph 6:16).

The third example of the attack on Christ by the evil one is the
crucifixion. Finally the enemies of God were able to confront Christ and
bring Him into the contest. Again our Lord relied on prayer and faith in
the providence of the Father as tools to confront this temptation, but
rather than use them as a shield, this time they became weapons by which
He contended with and confronted this attack. Knowing that the attack
would come, Jesus first strengthened Himself through intense prayer in
the garden of Gethsemene on the Mount of Olives. Having, through
communion with the Father in prayer, prepared Himself, He stood up to
the deceiver and those with him who brought the temptation to Him.
Throughout this struggle (the betrayal, the arrest, the trial, the
beatings and finally the crucifixion) the virtues of humility and
meekness were in great evidence, Jesus never becoming overtly violent
nor struck out against His persecutors. He remained strong in His
confidence and faith in the will of the Father despite His outward
situation. He did not answer with cross words or insults or rudeness and
even upon the cross He poured out love and forgiveness for those who
tormented Him as well as those who were tormented alongside Himself. He
faced this temptation and actively fought against it by using the
weapons of virtue (humility, meekness, longsuffering, love, compassion,
etc). He went the “the valley of the shadow of death” as it were and
transformed it from a place of fear to a place of great victory and even
greater joy. Death was defeated by death and the joy of the resurrection
replaced the turmoil and struggle of the attack of sin. Jesus met the
temptation and attack of the evil one head on and transformed it from a
cause of sorrow and sighing into the greatest joy and rejoicing.

For those of us who find that we must face temptation and contend with
it, here again we have the example of our Lord, Who fought against the
evil one, not returning evil for evil, but rather by answering
temptation and suffering with love, compassion, humility and the other
virtues. This is the nature of spiritual warfare, to counteract
temptation not with violence, but with the power of God in us – the
grace of God active in our lives and expressed through the virtues. This
kind of answer to temptation grasps it and grapples with it and
transforms it from an occasion to sin into an occasion for the glory of
God.

Today, we heard of the great temptation and attack on Jesus Christ that
followed the great moment of His birth and entry into the world. This
same pattern of great temptation following great blessing we can also
find in our own lives. We saw that the life of Christ provides us with
three different responses to the attacks of the evil one: First to flee
from temptation and avoid it whenever possible; Second to face
temptation and to defend ourselves with the shield of faith and
unwavering trust in and obedience to the will of God; Third, when we
must actually contend with temptation to prepare ourselves with prayer
and then answer each attack of the evil one with the grace of God
expressed by the virtues in our lives thus transforming a temptation to
sin into an occasion of great spiritual joy and triumph by the grace of
God.

Whenever we receive a great blessing from God, whenever we experience
Him in a real and meaningful way, the evil one will seek to steal that
gift of grace from us through some equally great temptation. But
following the example of Christ we can overcome that temptation and not
only keep the great gift that God has given, but also gain even greater
blessings and even greater joy by resisting that temptation.

God has come into the world, He has become man and dwelt among us, He
has given us Himself – let us therefore in return give ourselves to Him
and by the transforming power of His grace be joined to Him that we may
ever dwell with Him.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

2Timothy 4:5-8

Many years ago I had a friend who was a runner. This friend decided to
run in a marathon and I thought it would be fun to run as well. I
started to run a little, but not much and convinced myself that I could
do this even if I walked a little bit. When the time came to sign up for
the marathon, I filled out the form, paid my entry fee, got the T-shirt
and a number and a place in the race – along with a lot of other people.
On the day of the race my friend and I started running together, but
pretty soon, I realized that this race was a lot of work and I hadn’t
really realized how hard it would be. I tried to stay with my friend for
a while, but her superior training was soon evident and she left me
behind to struggle on my own. After not much distance, I moved over to
the side of the course, stepped off and walked back to the car and
waited for my friend to finish. I started this race, but I really didn’t
have an idea of how hard it would be to finish. I didn’t really have
anything to keep me in it once the going got tough and I didn’t really
have a vision for the rewards at the finish to inspire me to keep going.
After all, I had the t-shirt already so it didn’t matter whether I
finished the race, right. My life was just fine without running the
whole race. I was short sighted and so I dropped out and I missed out on
whatever joy and satisfaction might have come at the end. To this day I
don’t really know what might have been if I’d taken my training
seriously and gotten into the kind of condition needed to run the race;
I don’t know the benefits of forcing myself to endure the hardship of
going the distance and reaching the goal. I can still tell myself that
it really didn’t have an impact on my life, that running that race
wasn’t important to the rest of my life. But I don’t know for sure
because I never really held on long enough to get a vision of why I was
running in the first place. My friend who did finish the race had that
vision and it kept her running all the way through the race to the end
no matter how difficult it got in the middle. In the end she did see the
rewards of finishing race and its importance to the rest of her life.

In his letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul writes as one who has endured
throughout the whole race and who sees the finish line in front of him.
He has suffered for his confession of Christ, sometimes even at the
peril of his own life. He sacrificed many of his own dreams, hoping
instead for the rewards of the Kingdom of God. He “stayed in the race”
throughout his whole life because he knew there was something more that
was awaiting him at the end of his earthly life. This vision of the
rewards of the kingdom of God spurred him on and enabled him to follow
Christ throughout his whole life no matter the cost and the difficulty –
he saw the reward and continued to run the race in order to obtain them.
Now in his letter to Timothy, nearing the end of his life, the apostle
sees clearly the winner’s crown that awaits him and he encourages
Timothy, who is still in the beginning of his race, reminding him that
this same crown awaits all who follow Christ.

We, who are Christians, are also enrolled in the same race as the
Apostle Paul and Timothy and all the saints. In our baptism, we are
entered in the race, the application is filled out the entry fee is paid
and we get the t-shirt (that is we can now call ourselves Christians).
But all this is just the beginning and in order to make all these
beginning things come profitably to their endpoint, we have to run the
race – that is we have to follow Christ throughout our whole lives. One
of the things that keeps us on the course of the race and that enables
us to get through the difficulty and go through the race to the end is
the promise of the reward at the end, the crown that awaits those who
love Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven.

As Christians following Christ we are faced with many temptations to
move to the side of the track and step out of the race. We may have made
a good beginning, but then we are faced with the difficulties of denying
ourselves and of taking up our cross to follow Christ. If we don’t have
that promise of the eternal life in front of us, we begin to wonder why
in the world we are going through all this difficulty. Wouldn’t it be
easier just to set everything aside and enjoy living our life our own
way. Without the vision of eternity with Christ before us we begin drift
toward the sideline and slow down until finally its just easier to stop
running altogether and step aside, off the course and into the crowd of
spectators who get to watch the race but who don’t have to do all that
work themselves.

Another danger that we face is simply distraction. We are running the
race, but we get distracted by all the other things we could be doing
instead. We drift off course because we take our eyes off the prize and
begin to get pulled this way and that by other hopes and goals and
ideas. The life of Christ begins to drop off as the life of the world
takes over. All too often we forget that this life is only temporary,
that it is only the preparation for the life of the world to come. When
we take our eyes off of Christ, when He is relegated to secondary
status, when we are no longer actively following Him, then the things of
the world, our careers, our hobbies, our pleasures and all those things
that seem so important in this life begin to take the place of following
Christ. Following Christ no longer seems to be important because our
attention and priorities have been diverted and redirected to the things
of this world. We have lost the vision of the Kingdom of God and
eternity and substitute a vision of our own making that is limited only
to this world.

If we do not recall that this life is only the preparation for the world
to come and that a reward awaits us when we enter the Kingdom of God
that we have prepared in this life, then we forget why it is that we do
the things we do and our Christian lives lose value and importance. This
reward is why we pray and come to the services of the Church and receive
the sacraments. This is why we endure the routine of the life of the
Church, the fasts, the feasts, the rule of prayer. This is why we strive
to quell the passions and encourage the virtues. All of these things, in
the eyes of the world are just extra trouble, they just make life of
more difficult. But that point of view is the result of forgetting
Christ, of forgetting that this world and all that is in it will pass
away and we will live for eternity in the presence of God.

At this point it is also necessary to mention the mercy of God. He knows
that we will be faced with all these difficulties and distractions. He
knows that we will be tempted to leave the race, to step off the course.
He knows all these things and yet He loves us and desires that we will
indeed finish the race and receive our reward. For this reason He always
holds out to us the opportunity to repent, to get back in the race, to
return to the course. Even if we have given up or have been distracted
and wandered off the course, the opportunity to return is given to us by
our Lord as often as we need it. All we need to do is to step back into
the race, to again engage in the pursuit of the rewards of the Kingdom
of God and we are restored to the path of salvation. This is the mercy
of God that holds all men as beloved and Who desires that no one perish
but that all might be saved.

Those of us who have “entered the race” through the sacrament of baptism
have engaged upon a path that leads through this life into the Kingdom
of God. Before us is the promise of “the crown of righteousness, which
the Lord … shall give me on that day” Everything we do in this life
leads us to that moment when we shall stand before Christ to receive our
reward. But in order to realize that reward in the Kingdom of God, we
have to run the race in this life, follow the path set out before us by
the Church, endure through the difficulties and trials that tempt us to
give up, resist the distractions of this world. If we remember that this
life is nothing and that the rewards and life of the Kingdom of God are
the only thing that endure eternally, then we can push through to
complete the race and we can resist the distractions that would pull us
off the course. If we hold that moment when we will stand before Christ
and receive from Him the heavenly crown, then that thought, that vision
will hold us to the path of Christ, that we may finish the race and hear
the words of our Lord Jesus Christ as we enter into His Kingdom, “Well
done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”
(Matt 25:21)

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

Ephesians 4:7-13

We have all seen fireworks displays especially around Independence day
or on the New Year. Specially constructed rockets filled with different
explosive compounds are fired into the air and there detonated, each one
creating a unique pattern of light and color in the night sky. Each
rocket is different in composition and yet each one is the same in
essence. The different colors and patterns are created by applying heat
and flame to the different combinations of chemicals and powders inside
the rocket as it ascends into the heavens. The fire that touches the
rockets is the same, but each separate compound responds in a unique way
to the touch of that fire. That variety of reactions is what produces
the beautiful patterns of light and color that we see in the sky.

The Apostle Paul today tells us that in the Church there are a variety
of gifts and functions within the Church. He says that “unto every one
of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. …
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists;
and some, pastors and teachers …” Like the skyrockets which paint
patterns in the sky, we are all touched by the same fire – the grace of
God – but each one of us then responds in a unique manner depending on
our own personalities and characteristics. The list of these various
responses given by the Apostle is, of course, not exhaustive – there are
more than 5 kinds of people in the world – but it does serve to give us
an example of some of the different responses to the touch of God’s
grace. The important lesson here is not to pour over the various lists
of the gifts and callings of God listed in the scripture in order to
determine which ones are yours, but rather to recognize that you do
indeed have a unique response to the grace of God and knowing this to
use your gifts in the best manner possible for your salvation.

How then are our gifts to be used? Again we return to the words of the
Apostle, “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” These gifts are given
to us “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work … for the …body of
Christ”. Here the English language is a bit unclear in that the wording
implies that these are three equal purposes – the saints, the work, the
Church. In fact the implication in Greek is that these gifts are given
to the saints, in order that they might accomplish the work of the
ministry and that they might edify (build up) the Church. This is an
important distinction because it places the responsibility for using our
gifts directly upon us and makes us responsible for fulfilling the work
of Christ in the world and the building of up of the Church. God has
given us the tools, now it is up to us to use them.

Here we are returned to our first question with a bit of direction –
what are my unique gifts, what are those tools that God has given me
with which to do His work and to build up His Church? As an answer to
the question, the Apostle gets us started with his list, “some are..
apostles … prophets … evangelists … pastors … teachers …” Indeed this
does get us started but the list does not stop here for these aren’t the
only ones in the Church. There are administrators, organizers,
financiers, cooks, bakers, singers, readers, cleaners, welcomers,
friends, builders, artists, and on and on. How do you know which is your
calling? Simply look around and do that which God puts in front of you
each day. Do you have an opportunity to teach someone else today? then
be the best teacher that you can. Do you have an opportunity to organize
some good work today? then create the best work that you can. Do you
have the chance to finance the Church today? then give from what God has
given you. Do you have the chance to sing? then sing. Do you have the
chance to serve? then serve. Do you have the chance to cook and clean?
then cook and clean. Do you have the chance to be a friend to someone
today? then be a friend. Look around and see what God has put in front
of you today. What opportunities do you see? Do those things. In this
way fulfill the calling of God for you today. Perhaps tomorrow you will
have the same opportunity, or perhaps another will present itself to
you. Take advantage of every chance that God brings to you each day to
fulfill His purpose for you – that you might use the gifts that He has
given you for the work of the ministry and for the building up of the
Church.

For our encouragement, the Apostle also reveals to us the ultimate goal
of all this work. He says that we do these things, “Till we all come in
the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:”
Our goal is to come together (in unity) and through knowing the Son of
God to become ourselves the perfect man which is measured against the
standard of Jesus Christ. In other words, through the grace of God, we
are becoming perfect, we are becoming one with the god/man Jesus Christ.
This is why we have this grace and all these various gifts – that we
might be united to one another and so also be united with Christ. This
is our final goal.

We are each touched by the fire of God’s grace and from the essence of
our being we each respond differently to the touch of that grace – with
different colors and patterns – resulting in a variety of different
expressions of the Holy Spirit in us. We use these gifts in a variety of
ways, each having a different ministry within the Church. But we all
work towards the same end; using these gifts of God and working
according to the opportunities which He provides for us each day, that
we might together administer God’s love to the world and build up the
Body of Christ, that is the Church. In this way we fulfill our common
purpose that being united to one another we are also united to Christ
and perfected in Him. Together then we will enter into the Kingdom of
God – together with one another and together with Christ – and together
we will stand before the throne of God and together we will hear the
words from God, “well done thou good and faithful servant, enter into
the joy of your Lord.”


--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

Luke 19:1-10

The Sunday of Zacchaeus is often considered to be the beginning of the
pre-lenten period as it always falls just as we begin our preparation
for Great Lent. But this is not the case. This Sunday is not the
beginning of our preparation for Lent, but rather it is the end of the
whole cycle of readings which are centered on Pascha. The Sunday of
Zacchaeus is the end of our life as it has been and the segue into our
life as it will be. We have welcomed our Lord Jesus Christ into the
world at the feast of His Nativity. We have been baptized with Him in
the Jordan and the light of His presence has shone upon us. We have
heard Him teach, we have seen His miracles and now He comes to us.

Zacchaeus was a tax collector – a profession considered by most to be
nothing more than a legal means of thievery, for a tax collector would
gather not only the taxes owed to the empire, but always extra for
himself. He grew rich at the expense of others and so was despised and
even hated by all. Zacchaeus had heard of this Jesus Christ; he had
heard of His teaching and the report of His miracles was known to all.
Hearing that Jesus was coming to Jericho, Zacchaeus wanted to see this
teacher and miracle worker for himself. Since he was small of stature,
Zacchaeus could not see over the crowd and since he was not honored by
the people, no one would make way for him to get to the front of the
crowd and so Zacchaeus found a tree and climbed into its branches in
order to at least see above the crowd. As Jesus passed by He stopped,
looked at Zacchaeus and called to him to come down out of the tree and
to receive Him as a guest. Zacchaeus had heard of Jesus; he had observed
Jesus from afar; but now he would encounter Jesus face to face.

This is the place in which we also find ourselves today. We have heard
of Jesus; we have heard Him teach; we have seen His miracles; we have
observed Him from afar. But now we encounter Him face to face. He has
come to us and has called us to follow Him. The time has come to leave
our old life behind – a life of watching Jesus from afar – and to begin
a new life – the life of following our Lord Jesus Christ into His Kingdom.

This is the end of our lives, and it is the beginning of a new life;
this is the point of transition from an observer to a participant. We
have heard of Jesus Christ, we have seen Him, we have listened to His
teaching, but now it is time to act on all that and heed His call to
follow Him.

Considering the Gospel we heard, St Nicholai of Ochrid has said, “He who
wants to see Christ must climb up in spirit high above nature, for
Christ is greater than nature…Zacchaeus was a small man and, seized by
the desire to see Christ, he climbed into a tall tree.

“He who desires to meet Christ must purify himself, for he will be
meeting with the Saint of saints, the Holy of holies. Zacchaeus was
defiled by the love of money and lack of compassion, and so, when he was
to meet Christ, he hurried to cleanse himself by repentance and works of
mercy.”

Desiring to see Christ, we have lifted our eyes from the dust of the
earth and have climbed in spirit as high as we can. We have seen Christ,
and more importantly He has seen us. Not only does He see us but He has
come to us and now stands before us waiting for us to welcome Him into
our lives. If we wish to respond to the call of Christ to follow Him, we
must like Zacchaeus disentangle ourselves from the love of this world
and ending that life, embark upon a new one.

Zacchaeus was held back by his love of money and lack of compassion, for
he had extorted riches far beyond that which was necessary with no
concern for the needs and suffering of those from whom he stole. And
now, in order to follow Christ, he had to disentangle himself from the
holds of his former sinful life and leave them behind. In order to do
this, he undertook to practice those works of righteousness which were
the exact opposite of his sins. He stole from others and so now he gives
to the poor and restores not only what he stole, but with generosity
returns that amount fourfold. In doing this, he begins the work of
untangling himself from the chains of sin which have bound him to this
world and to his former sinful life.

Such a turning away from sin and setting out upon the paths of
righteousness we call repentance. “Repentance is the abandoning of all
false paths that have been trodden by men’s feet, and men’s thoughts and
desires, and a return to the new path: Christ’s path.” (St Nicolai)
Repentance is the gateway to this new life. It is marker on the path of
salvation that Jesus Christ sets out before us. By repentance we end our
old life – we abandon the false path of our own thoughts and desires. By
repentance we begin our new life – the life of Christ. We have been
lulled by our own self delusion that we are “good people”, that we are
not as bad as those other “bad people”. We live in the delusion that we
have not done anything really bad, that God certainly must see that we
really mean well. Certainly God knows that we “like” Him (and by “like”
we mean that we approve of God) so how could He not “like” us. This self
delusion continues in us until finally we feel its pain – the awareness
of our own worthlessness, our own hypocrisy, the futility of our own
lives. This pain by itself leads to despair and self-destruction. But if
this pain is accompanied by the fear of God with shame and sorrow for
our sins then it becomes for us an agent of healing, leading us to
repentance. This pain of self-delusion awakens us to the need to change.
But how to change?

And here we see the new path, the path set before us by Christ. He says
to us, “if any man would come after me, let him deny himself, take up
his cross and follow me.” Here is the path, the path of self denial, the
path that begins with the ascetic labor of Great Lent. We continue on
this path right up to Holy Week where we suffer with Christ, we ascend
the Cross with Him and with Him die to this world. But death is no
longer the dead end that we fear, but has been transformed by the
Resurrection. We are raised with Christ and with this new life we follow
Him, living according to His commandments, according to His love,
according to the path that He has set out for us. This path leads to the
doors of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Today, with Zacchaeus, we come to the end of our old life. We stand at
the nexus between our old life of self-delusion in the world which leads
only to pain and suffering and self-destruction on one hand and our new
life in Christ which leads to the heavenly Kingdom and the eternal life
of union and communion with Him. Are you ready to leave your that old
life behind? Are you ready to follow Christ? Today is the end of the
life of sin, today is the end of the life of watching Christ from afar.
Today is the day that we step out of that life and encounter Jesus
Christ face to face. We pass through the threshold that leads into our
new life – the life we begin by repentance. When we repent, we begin
disentangling ourselves from the passions and sins that have wrapped us
in their chains. These chains hold us back, they prevent us from
following Christ. But repentance is the key that unlocks those chains
and that cuts the knots the bind us. Repentance is the end of life as it
has been and opens the door to life as it will be – the new life in Christ.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

Rom 8:28-39

The Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia shine as a beacon for us
of the faithfulness of God. These men women and children, nobility and
peasant, clergy and laity, young and old, strong and weak, are all
together glorified by God for their steadfast faith and confession. They
experienced and withstood every difficulty, every struggle, every
calamity that a person could face and still trusted that God would
deliver them. In them are the first words of the epistle today
demonstrated: that “all things work together for good to those who love
God...” (Rom 8:28) Each one of the New Martyrs loved God above all else,
sacrificing their comfort, their homes, even their lives keeping only
their faith in God. Each loss, each struggle, each difficulty combined
to bring each person to the point of martyrdom, to receiving the crown
of the heavenly kingdom. How did they get to this point, how were they
able to endure, how was it that their faith was so strong?

When we hear this portion of the epistle, often we only think of the
present, of our own difficulties and we lean on the promise that God
will bring good out of whatever difficulty in which we might find
ourselves. But there is much more here. The apostle says that “all
things work together” not just one or two things, not just the bad
things, not just the present - but *all* things. Everything in every day
of your life is part of the whole, a piece of the puzzle. Every event in
your life has made you who you are today and even today you are
incomplete, you are like an unfinished composition of music or work of
art, for “all things” also includes the future. Even up to the last
moment of your life, you are not yet complete, for there is still
missing the final note, the final chord, the final resolution of all the
various strands of your life - that is your own death. Physical death is
not to be feared and avoided, it is rather something to be anticipated,
and for which to prepare. Physical death is the completion of your
earthly labors and as such can bring everything to a glorious finish, no
matter what went before. Only after one’s death can the whole of the
life be fully grasped and properly understood.

The New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia understood this - knowing that
suffering and death were nothing to be feared but were rather an
essential part of the whole of the life that they will offer to God when
they stand before Him. God will see their lives as a complete whole,
from beginning to end - He will see each success, each fall, each
misstep, each bold confession, each blessing, each sin, each event in
life not individually, but rather as an integral part of the whole - He
will look at the end result, at the final compilation of the whole life,
even including the death. It is this whole tapestry of our earthly life
that we offer to Him and which sets the course of our eternal life. This
eternal perspective is what allows the New Martyrs to endure, to have a
strong faith that they can trust in God’s help and provision, even in
the face of suffering and death. They knew and firmly believed that
everything in their lives was given to them by God for the good
completion of their lives, for the final working out of their salvation
and so rather than avoid the struggle, rather than turn away from God,
they were able to embrace and use everything that came to them as a
tool, as a means of strengthening and expressing their faith in God even
further.

The apostle also emphasizes the fact that once we have placed ourselves
in God’s hands there is nothing that can pull us away from Him. “For” he
says, “I am persuaded that neither life nor death, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor
height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:38&39)
Consider this promise for a moment. Nothing can separate us from God -
neither life nor death - that is there is no condition of the soul or
body where God is not present, where God is not with us and where He
does not love us. Whether in life or in death it makes no difference,
God is there, God loves you. He continues, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers. These are three of the ranks of the angelic
hosts - there are angels, archangels, principalities, powers, virtues,
dominions, thrones, cherubim and seraphim. The apostle doesn’t name them
all but only three, not to imply that there are some who can separate us
from God, but rather the three stand as a representation of the whole.
The angels are those who are closest to us and from their ranks are
drawn the guardian angel that is given to each of us by God at the
moment of our baptism. The principalities are those angelic beings who
are responsible for maintaining the order of the whole universe and the
keeping of all earthly kingdoms. The powers are those angelic beings who
are primarily engaged in battling the demonic forces and protecting us
from their fury and destructive force. They repulse the temptations and
strengthen those who struggle in self denial and spiritual labors and
who struggle with the passions of the soul and body and with the evil
thoughts suggested to us by the devil. He names these three angelic
orders for they represent the whole of our spiritual struggle - the
guardian of our soul and body, the keepers of the kingdoms of the earth
and the order of the universe and the warriors against the demonic
forces of the devil. By this he indicates that nothing in heaven or on
earth, no angel nor demon or any spiritual being can separate us from God.

The promise goes on to say that not things present nor things to come
can separate us from God. There is no event of our life that can keep us
from God. The past is washed and healed in our baptism and so cannot
keep us from God - the present and the future are subject to our faith
and trust in God and so by themselves cannot separate us from God. No
event in our lives will be able to prevent us from being united to God.
Not only the events of our lives, but neither height nor depth - that is
any condition in our environment and the world around us - can separate
us from God. There is no place where God is not able to be found,
whether we ascend into the heights God is there or descend into the
lowest depths, God is there. God is with us in every place and
circumstance - He never abandons us. There is nothing in the world
around us that can separate us from God. And in case he missed anything
the apostle finishes by saying that not any other creature is able to
separate us from God. No other being, whether spiritual or physical,
whether known or unknown, whether strong or weak, no matter who it may
be - no other creature is able to separate us from the love of God which
is in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is the confidence of the martyrs and
this is our confidence as well - that God has chosen us and He has
become as a Father to us, taking us as His sons and daughters. Having
embraced us, there is now nothing that can come between us, nothing that
can tear us out of His hands, nothing that can pull Him away from us or
us away from Him.

There is in fact only one means by which we can be separated from God
and that is by our own choice. If we were to be foolish enough to turn
away from God, then, He would not hold us against our will and would
allow us to separate ourselves from Him. But even then the love of God
is great and without limit for if we should regret our rebellion and
repent of our error and even at the last moment of life, with the last
breath return to Him and confess Him again, He forgives us, He receives
us, He embraces us as if we had never been apart from Him. This is God’s
great mercy that there is no sin so great that God is unable to forgive
and unwilling to receive us back into His arms, into His family, into
His eternal kingdom. And it is this confidence that the martyrs took
with themselves into the struggle of their lives. Nothing could separate
them from God, nothing could tear them out of His hands and away from
His love as long as they remained steadfast in their faith and their
confession of Him, He would welcome them into His presence saying, “well
done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into your rest.”

Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia pray for us that we too may
finish the course of this life in the love of God without stumbling,
without fault and with boldness and confidence and unwavering faith.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website:http://stseraphimboise.org

“All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all
things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of
any.” (1 Cor 6:12)

As a child, we had many rules; things like, “don’t touch the stove” or
“don’t cross the street”. As we grew older those childhood rules fell
away as we gained understanding and skill so that we understood that you
could touch the stove, but that it could be hot so you had to be careful
or that you could cross the street, but you had to look out for cars and
other dangerous situations. As we grew, our childhood rules fell away,
replaced by adult understanding. This is how it works for all of us as
we become adults. But imagine for a moment what might have happened if
our parents had said, “Well its OK to go out into the street, but just
be careful so you don’t get hurt” without telling us what to watch out
for or how to avoid danger. The rule is in place as a means to give us
time to learn these things, to give us time to adjust to a situation
with potential danger. If we don’t yet have the ability to deal with the
various dangers of a situation, then our parents are wise to forbid it
to us until we can remain safe.

Just as we have rules to protect us in our physical life, so also we
have rules to protect us in our spiritual life. We have the ten
commandments and a rule of prayer and a rule of fasting and all kinds of
rules. For someone without understanding it might seem like the
Christian life is one of rules and more rules. But this is not really
the case. These rules are in place so that as spiritual children we are
prevented from getting into a situation of spiritual danger. The rules
help to shape our developing spiritual life and understanding so that we
know how to cope with the various situations in which we find ourselves.
The ten commandments help us to order our lives so that we can develop
good habits (to honor God) and to avoid dangerous situations (“Thou
shalt not…”). The rule of prayer helps us to develop a good and
effective prayer life and teaches us how to pray (for we do not know
this naturally). The rule of fasting teaches us how to deny ourselves
(the first step on the path to salvation) and how to subdue the passions
and resist temptation. The rules are there, even once we reach an
understanding of them, however, they are not there are requirements
which are to be fulfilled as a goal in themselves, but as an aid to
living a profitable Christian life, enabling us to embrace that which is
good and avoid that which is harmful.

Therefore the Apostle says to us, “All things are lawful, but not all
things are profitable” He immediately follows this saying with another
which serves to provide even more clarity, “All things are lawful to me,
but I will not be brought under the power of any.” Here is a key to why
we follow all these “rules”. We are created to serve God alone, however,
as a result of the fall, we have become subject to the temptations of
our own passions. While the passions might have an element of good, if
they get out of control, then they can enslave us and turn us away from
serving God to serving the passion. It is good to be hungry and eat for
this sustains our physical life and health. Not only that but the
variety of tastes and smells of the food we eat can be pleasurable. None
of this is wrong in and of itself. However when our tongue and our belly
bring us under their power, the sin of gluttony overwhelms us and we eat
more than we require or we eat only that which pleases us. Food, whether
in quantity or quality, has become our god and we live as slaves to
appeasing our hunger. When we tire, it is good to rest and regain our
strength, however, if we allow ourselves to “rest” too much then we
become addicted to a life of ease and fall prey to the passion of sloth.
Ease and rest become our god and we are robbed of the inclination to
follow Christ.

There are many passions and with each one we could show an example of
how we could become enslaved to that passion, placing the object of the
passion in the place of God in our lives. It is this of which the
Apostle speaks saying, “I will not be brought under the control of any.”
This statement of the Apostle brings us back to the very first
commandment where God tells us, “I am the Lord your God and you shall
have no other gods before me.” This is not only about idolatry, but
about what enslaves us in our lives, what we place in priority above all
else. We must avoid being brought under the control of any thing, and
maintain the state for which we are created –serving only the one true God.

Fasting is a part of the routine of our lives as Orthodox Christians. We
fast on Wednesdays and Fridays; there are various isolated fasting days
as well and we have 4 major fasting seasons during the year. Of those
fasting seasons, the most important, the most intense, is Great Lent.
Once a year we reacquaint ourselves with the rigors of the strict fast
for an extended period. Once a year we shed all the extraneous luxuries
and excuses and rationales that have accumulated in our lives over the
year and renew our commitment and dependence on Jesus Christ alone. Once
a year we set aside this time to focus on the labor of self-denial so
that we might cut off any tendency to be enslaved to any passion and
desire, freeing us to focus instead on following Jesus Christ alone.

The fasting rule of Great Lent is quite strict. We are instructed to
abstain from all meat and animal products including fish and other cold
blooded animals. We also abstain from wine (which makes the heart glad)
and oil (which enhances and carries the taste of most foods). This
leaves us with only the most simple fare, eating only those things which
are necessary to sustain our lives. Not only do we abstain from certain
types of food, but we also limit the amount of food that we eat – always
remaining a little bit hungry. To this end it is good to eat only a
limited amount and not continually refill our plates until we can eat no
more. Not only do we limit the food we eat, but we also abstain from
other things. Our entertainments and amusements during Great Lent are
limited, keeping our focus on the spiritual life, on repentance from our
sins, on gaining those things which are spiritually beneficial and
profitable, on filling our eyes, our ears, our minds and hearts with the
images, words, and thoughts which lead us to Christ.

Abba Dorotheus of Gaza puts it this way, "Not only should we observe
moderation with food, but we must also abstain from every other sin so
that just as we fast with our stomach, we should fast with our tongue.
Likewise, we should fast with our eyes; i.e. not look at agitating
things, not allow your eyes freedom to roam, not to look shamelessly and
without fear. Similarly, arms and legs should be restrained from doing
any evil acts. " It is clear in this that the rule of fasting isn’t
simply about food – but about a means of self denial and is meant, in
the end to include our whole being.

All things are lawful to us – but not all things are profitable, nor do
we allow ourselves to be enslaved by anything. All things are lawful,
however only some of those things are useful in our Christian life and
will lead us nearer to Jesus Christ. All things are lawful, but we
should avoid those things which have the potential to enslave us and
pull us away from Jesus Christ. All things are lawful, and it is the
fasting discipline of the Church which teaches us by self denial to keep
any of those things from enslaving us and how to discern that which is
useful. All things are lawful to us, but only those things which lead us
to Christ are useful and beneficial to us. It is then up to us to avoid
those things which distract us and lead us away from Christ and to fill
our lives only with those things which bring us closer to Him.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

Matt 25:31-46

Every year, it seems, or perhaps even more frequently these days, we
hear that the world is going to end. For the most part, when we hear
these things, we just laugh a little and go on with our lives. But
somewhere in the back of the mind there is that nagging little thought,
“What if they’re right this time?” And so even imperceptibly as the “big
day” approaches there’s a little kernel of anxiety that builds up, and
then, after its all over and the world is still here, a big sigh of relief.

This whole sense of anxiety comes over us because we know that indeed
the end of the world is coming, but we don’t know when or even how. Such
knowledge is beyond even the most intelligent of men for this is an
event ordained by God and He alone knows what will be. It is built into
the soul of men that one day we will stand before God who will judge us
and call us to account for our lives. This judgment, we know, will
indeed be the end of the world.

In the Gospel there are a number of different descriptions of what the
“end times” and this final judgment will be like. Because the whole
picture is beyond our ability to comprehend, these descriptions only
provide a limited idea, or even just a metaphor of what that time will
be like. We do know, however, that our particular judgment after death
is only a precursor of the Great and final Judgment when all of mankind
will be resurrected and stand before the throne of God the Son, Who will
descend from heaven with the whole angelic host. This Great Judgment
will occur, tradition tells us, in the valley of Jehosephat which is the
valley that runs right through modern Jerusalem and out into the Judean
desert. Located in this valley overlooked on one side by the Temple
Mount and on the other by the Mount of Olives we find the tomb of the
Virgin and further out in the wilderness the ancient monastery of St
Sabbas the Great. At this Judgment, all mankind will be separated
between those who love and serve God on one hand and those who have
rejected Him on the other. Those who love God are established in the
mansions of the Kingdom of Heaven and those who have rejected Him will
be consigned to the torments of hell designed for the devil and his
demons. But what all this will actually look like and what the
experience will be is given to us only in faint images. Therefore we
know that indeed the end is a reality and it is coming. On that day we
will have to give an account for the whole of our existence.

Today in the Gospel we read one such account of the Great Judgment. Our
great Lord Jesus Christ will sit upon His heavenly throne and looking
into the heart will see if we gave food to the hungry, drink to those
who thirst, clothing to the naked and comfort to the sick and
imprisoned. Those who acted with compassion and love toward their
neighbor will be set on His right hand, and admitted to the Kingdom of
Heaven, for they have demonstrated that they are like Christ full of
mercy and compassion and love for mankind. Those who have turned away
from love and compassion towards others and who are not like Christ will
be set on His left side and condemned to torment. The key here is not
simply the weight of the works that were done but rather whether or not
the life of Christ lives in each person.

There are, as St Nikolai of Ochrid tells us, both an outer and an inner
meaning to this judgment. The outer meaning is clear – that by our
actions we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked
and comfort the suffering. If we do these things as an expression of our
nature, then we show that Christ, who is Himself love and compassion,
lives in us.

The inner meaning, however, does not deal with others but with our own
soul. In this case as we look at our own soul and see that it hungers
and we feed our soul with the food of Christ. The soul thirsts and we
quench that thirst by giving to it the grace of God. The soul is naked
and we clothe it with the virtues which are the shining raiment of
Christ. The soul suffers with the sickness of sin and captivity to the
passions; and so we comfort the soul and encourage it to hold fast to
the hope of salvation in Christ. We see the neediness of our own soul
and how we meet those needs will determine whether or not we have “put
on Christ” and so have His life living in us.

For what does the soul hunger? The soul hungers for spiritual food which
gives meaning and purpose to life. There are many religions that claim
to provide such spiritual food, however it is only from our Lord Jesus
Christ that we receive the true food that not only satisfies the craving
but also provides life to the soul. If we take the analogy of the soul
and the body, the food of Christ which comes from the Gospel, which
comes from prayer, which comes from communion with Christ, is a full,
nutritious meal which brings health to the body while satisfying the
hunger. Other religions provide only “junk food”, empty calories which
give the illusion of food in that the hunger is dulled but which do not
nourish the soul and contain no life.

Therefore when you see the hunger of your soul, feed it with that food
which is full of life. Read the Gospel and live it in your life. Commune
with Jesus Christ the giver of life in prayer each day. There is a
spiritual banquet set before you through the reading of the Gospel and
prayer. Feed the hungry soul with this banquet that the life of Christ
may grow and flourish in it.

For what does the soul thirst? The soul thirsts for the true life that
comes only from the grace of God. In order to give the soul true drink,
we must therefore seek out the fountains of grace and drink from them.
First and foremost are the fountains of grace that are the sacraments;
baptism and chrismation, Holy Communion, repentance (confession), and
the others that bring grace to our lives. We should come and drink from
these fountains of grace as often as possible so that the soul is filled
with the life-giving grace of God.

How do we clothe the naked soul? When our first parents, Adam and Eve,
sinned, they realized that they were naked before God. They had not been
naked before but were clothed with the shining garments of the glory of
God which reflected the Life that was in them. But when they turned away
from God and rebelled against Him, they no longer had that bright
clothing and were naked. How then can we now clothe this soul that
stands naked before God? This we do by acquiring the wardrobe of the
virtues and clothing the soul with this glorious clothing. We clothe the
soul with those same acts of love and compassion that make up the
“outer” meaning of this judgment, to feed the hungry, give drink to the
thirsty, clothe the naked and comfort the suffering. We also nurture
within ourselves the greater virtues of humility, love, joy, peace,
patience and those other “fruits of the Holy Spirit” which are the
result of the life of Christ in us. These clothes for the soul, these
virtues, are the shining garments of grace which we lost in our
sinfulness, but which our Lord Jesus Christ makes available to us again
that we might no longer be naked, but clothed in His glory.

The soul also suffers with the sickness of sin and death and is
imprisoned by the temptations of the passions and of the demons. How do
we bring comfort to our suffering soul? We do this by removing those
thorns which cause the soul pain, and which aggravate the wounds of sin
preventing them from healing. This we do by the ascetic labor of fasting
and self denial. By this ascetic labor we undertake the slow and
difficult task of extracting from the suffering soul those thorns of sin
which dig into the soul and cause it pain, which pull the soul away from
Christ, which are the barriers to the life of Christ which we desire.

Though we don’t know the time or the season (for this is known only to
God) that the world will end, we do know that when that time comes we
will stand before the throne of God and be judged. He will seek to see
His life in us. Did we feed the hungry by nourishing our own soul with
the healthy food of the Gospel and through the communion of prayer,
imparting to it the life of Christ? Did we give drink to the thirsty,
bringing to our soul the living water of grace poured out upon us in the
sacraments? Did we clothe the naked soul with the garments of virtue?
Did we comfort the sick and imprisoned soul by removing the torments of
temptation and sin by the ascetic labor of fasting and self denial? If
we have indeed done these things, we will hear the words of joy from our
Lord who will see His own life in us and who will set us on His right
hand, give us His eternal life and establish us in His Kingdom.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website:http://stseraphimboise.org

Matthew 6:14-21

A psychological study on the nature of willpower discovered that at any
given time 50%-75% of the people will consciously be experiencing some
kind of desire and that at least 25% of the time any one person is
engaged in the mental activity of resisting some desire. The most common
desire that people reported resisting was the urge to eat followed by
the urge to sleep. There were many other desires reported by the study
which I am sure would be familiar to each one of us. Our desires are
with us constantly and this is actually very natural for desires arise
from the will which is a component of the soul. However, these natural
desires too often are out of control and rather than instructing the
will into what the needs of the body are (e.g. hunger indicates the need
for nourishment) too often the desires dominate the will demanding their
fulfillment. Such fallen desires are what we refer to as passions and
their demands are the temptations that arise from the passions.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, when laying out the path of salvation gives three
steps – to deny yourself, to take up your cross and to follow Him. The
process of resisting these passionate temptations (and indeed of
resisting all temptation) is at its core, self denial. The beginning of
the process of following Christ is to stop following ourselves and
living under the domination of our passions and desires. In the life of
the Church there are particular times that we dedicate to strengthening
our own will in order to deny ourselves and thee are the fasting
seasons. Great Lent is the most strenuous of those times when we really
struggle to begin to deny ourselves and follow Christ.

Today, on the threshold of Great Lent, we hear in the Gospel a teaching
on self denial. Jesus points out three areas in which we need to
exercise self denial. He speaks about forgiveness, fasting and laying up
treasure in heaven. We will look at each of these in reverse order.

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, … But lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, … For where your treasure is, there will
your heart be also.” This is the final injunction in today’s Gospel and
it speaks to the passion of acquisitiveness (which is also related to
such passions as greed and envy). Acquisitiveness is the passion of
simply wanting to possess things. This passion is something that
afflicts us all, for we all experience the desire to get this or buy
that and to collect all manner of things. We all want to own or possess
things. Sometimes this passion becomes so dominate in a person that they
begin to hoard all manner of things (and this condition has now even
become the topic of reality TV). While we are not all hoarders, we are
all acquisitive. What is it that is behind this passion? Behind
acquisitiveness is self reliance and the preservation of independence.
By acquiring things we seek to make sure that all our needs are met and
we do this on our own power. Acquisitiveness pushes us to lay up for
ourselves not only treasure but also every possible item that might
someday meet some need we could conceivably have. In doing this we seek
no longer to be dependent upon God’s providence, but rather to construct
our own providence upon which to draw to insure our continued health,
safety and comfort. And so our Lord tells us “lay up not treasures upon
earth…” , in other words, deny the temptation to acquire worldly things,
but instead redirect that desire back to its proper purpose and seek to
acquire (lay up) heavenly treasure. Earthly treasure is transitory and
in the end is not only worthless but also subject to corruption and
passes away. Heavenly treasure, on the other hand, is eternal and beyond
worth.

These heavenly treasures are the virtues such as humility, love,
compassion, patience, and so on. These treasures we acquire by following
Christ, and not ourselves; by fostering dependence upon Him and not on
ourselves. This passion is driven by our fallen nature which seeks to
supplant God and become god instead. But to deny this passion is to
reject the drive of our fallen nature and instead seek to fulfill our
original purpose to be the servants and children of God – united to Him
in love and completely dependent upon Him for all our needs. Thus we
deny ourselves and do not lay up treasures on the earth and instead put
all our hope on our Lord Jesus Christ and so lay up treasure in heaven.

“Moreover when ye fast…” The most obvious of the exercises in self
denial of which our Lord speaks is fasting. The most basic and strongest
of the passions is that of the belly. We desire to eat food – not only
food which supplies our bodily needs, but food which is tasty and
pleasurable to the palate and such quantities that we might never feel
any unpleasant pangs of hunger. Remember that in the study of desires,
the psychologists found (what the Church has always told us) that the
most common desire is the urge to eat. This passion too has its roots in
the self. In this case it is not only the general desire to acquire
things that will meet our needs, but more specifically the desire to
make sure that we never run out of the “life energy” which comes from
food. Rather than depend upon God, the source of life, for the
sustenance of our own lives, we seek constantly to find some other
source of life that we can control and own and possess. When we deny
ourselves in this area and begin to fast – turning away from foods that
are in excess and foods that are full of pleasure and restrict what,
when and how much we eat – we directly confront this passion. Rather
than seek out the foods we want, we take the food that God gives. Rather
than seek out that which is tasty and pleasurable, we eat only those
foods which provide basic nourishment. Rather than eat as much as we
desire, we eat only a minimal amount. We seek to depend more upon God to
give us life than upon our own labors to sustain the life in us. We seek
to derive our pleasure from God rather than to take pleasure in the
aromas and taste of food. We seek our comfort and security from God
rather than finding it in food. Food is such a basic vehicle and focus
for so many of our desires – not just nourishment – that when we fast,
we confront much more than hunger and the “urge to eat”. Fasting is a
powerful tool to turn our dependence away from self and place it firmly
upon God.

“…forgive men their trespasses…” Before fasting and before
acquisitiveness our Lord speaks of forgiveness. This is the first of the
areas of self denial. Forgiveness is, as we know, an act of the will, a
choice that we make. By forgiving, we forgo any attempt to gain justice
and instead seek mercy. By forgiving, we sacrifice justification for our
own actions and instead embrace our brother. By forgiving we deny
ourselves the opportunity to explain our actions and vindicate ourselves
in the eyes of our neighbor. By forgiving, we deny our desire to get
even and instead acquire compassion. We love to be heard, to have others
recognize the rightness (or at least the reasonableness) of our actions.
We love to be vindicated and not at all responsible or at fault in any
situation. We love to prove ourselves better than others by pointing out
their faults. But when we forgive, we sacrifice all these things.
Forgiveness is an act of self denial. When you forgive someone else, you
set aside the justification of determining who is right and who is
wrong. That is no longer an issue and justice falls away to be replaced
by reconciliation and the unity of love of one another. When you
forgive, you set aside reason and rationality and seek in its place love
and unity. When you choose to forgive, you choose to step down off your
pedestal of justice, of rationality, of immunity from guilt and instead
seek out the destruction of barriers between yourself and others, and
the mutual flow of love for others and the compassion of bearing one
another’s burdens. Forgiveness is an act of self denial that opens the
doors of the heart and soul to receive the love and compassion that God
pours out upon us.

Great Lent is a time when we especially practice that first step on the
path of salvation – self denial. This step allows us to turn away from
all our dependence upon “self” (self justification, self defense, self
reliance, and so on) and instead put all our dependence upon God,
looking to Him to give to us love and life and all our needs. Let us
then forgive, fast and lay up treasure in heaven so that we might
receive from God forgiveness and blessing and that our hearts might rest
in the Heavenly Kingdom.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

Hebrews 11:24-26 & 32-12:2

When you undertake a difficult task, it is always helpful to hear the
stories of others who have overcome similar situations and gained some
great prize. When we undertake to follow Jesus Christ, we have the same
kind of encouragement, we have the lives of the saints. It is good, of
course, to read the Gospel and to have the life of Christ as our
example. By meditating on the life of Christ, we learn to make decisions
about how to live our own lives. As a spur to remember the life of
Christ and to imitate Him, we have all heard the saying, “What would
Jesus do?” It is indeed a good thing to imitate Christ in all things,
for surely we must if we would follow Him. The whole journey of Great
Lent is to follow our Lord as He approaches the Cross; to die with Him
and to be buried with Him that we might also rise with Him to the new
life of the Kingdom of God.

Sometimes, however, we need more than simply the life of Christ.
Christians have lived in so many different eras, cultures and societies
that it is helpful to see how the life of Christ is lived out in a
variety times and places and circumstances. Recognizing this the Apostle
today gives us the example not of Christ but of the saints. This reading
from the eleventh chapter of Hebrews is a short reminder to look at the
lives of the saints and to see how they lived the life of Christ so that
we might be encouraged in our own struggle to follow Him. Even in this
short excerpt there are so many of the saints mentioned, that to
consider the life of each one would take not just one sermon, but many –
and what we have read is just a small portion. This short reading is
given to prompt us to consider on our own throughout the coming week and
throughout all of Great Lent, the lives of these saints. To that end
each of us, when we return home, should re-read the entire eleventh
chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews in the New Testament and bring to
mind the lives of the saints which are presented for us there. For
today, however, we will look at the life of just one of those saints,
the Holy Prophet and God-seer Moses.

Moses was born at a time when the Hebrew people lived under captivity.
As a people, they lived in a foreign land (the land of Egypt) and they
were forced to work not for their own welfare, but to fulfill the whims
of the Pharaoh. The Egyptian rulers, seeing that as a group the Hebrew
people were a threat, sought to remove at least some of that threat by
mandating that all newborn boys would not be allowed to live. This, they
thought, would create a weak nation without a generation of young men
who would fight in a rebellion. It was into this danger that the prophet
Moses was born. His God loving mother disobeyed the edict to drown the
newborn boys and instead placed him into a basket which had been treated
to float on the surface of the water. By God’s great mercy, her child
was found by a princess, the daughter of the Egyptian Pharaoh who took
the child as her own. Thus Moses was born a slave, but raised as a
prince, with all the pleasures and advantages of the world given to him.
As he grew, however, the young man always knew that he had been born as
a slave. The two aspects of his life, that of an Egyptian prince and a
Hebrew slave, came to a point of decision when he saw the beating of a
Hebrew slave by an Egyptian slavemaster. Moses could no longer live in
both worlds, he had to choose who he would become. As a part of his
upbringing, his natural mother who had been engaged as his nanny had
taught Moses the worship of the one true God and at this moment of
crisis, Moses chose to follow the true God and to identify himself with
the slaves rather than act the prince and follow the idols and false
Gods of the Egyptians. He deemed that it was better to suffer in this
life and to gain the riches of God in the next than to enjoy the
pleasures of this life and to suffer in the torments of the next. Moses
chose at that moment to follow God, but this was not the end.

Because of his choice, Moses had to flee his former life, to leave
behind all the pleasures of the world that he had known. He lived in
exile and took up the life of a shepherd. In that time of exile and
struggle, he found his comfort in the worship of God and when the time
came for him to return and help his own people, He was granted the
vision of God in the unburnt bush. From this point we remember the
contest of wills with the Egyptian Pharaoh to win the freedom of the
Hebrew people and then we remember the trials of the flight across the
Red Sea into the desert of Sinai and wandering in that wilderness for 40
years leading a stubborn and recalcitrant people toward the goal of
entering the promised land. All of this Moses underwent because he
counted the spiritual riches of God of greater value than the comforts
and pleasures of the world.

This life is important for us to remember as we are at the beginning of
Great Lent. We are at the start of our own journey in the wilderness
which we endure not for 40 years, but for 40 days. We leave behind the
pleasures and joys of this world – the rich foods, the amusements and
diversions, the small comforts that have become a part of our lives –
and voluntarily take upon ourselves a strict life of self denial. We do
this, not for some perverse love of suffering, but rather we know that
the small suffering of self denial that we undergo now will lead us into
the greater and eternal joys of the Kingdom of Heaven. We choose to pass
up the immediate reward of worldly pleasure and ease in order that we
might obtain the greater reward of the joy of the Resurrection.

Like Moses, we are faced with a choice. Who will we become. Will we
follow the easy path of worldly pleasure and indulgence offered to by
going along with the flow of life in the world, or will we instead take
up the life of self-denial, of which Great Lent is a symbol, and follow
Christ. How often during Lent are we faced with the temptation to
compromise just this once, to take the easy way out, to break the fast,
excusing ourselves for any number of reasons? This is something that we
all face daily. When we come up on this temptation, we are faced with
the choice of Moses – to follow along with the ease and comfort of the
world such as it is or to renew our choice to deny ourselves and follow
Christ. Standing alone, this choice is hard and sometimes beyond our
strength – but we do not stand alone. For this very reason we have the
life of Moses and of the other saints, not only those of the Old
Testament brought to mind in the epistle to the Hebrews, but also those
of the Church who have lived in the time since the Resurrection until
now. They are with us; they are praying for us; they have faced this
same choice and chose to follow Christ. We are not alone, for as the
epistle goes on to remind us the saints stand round about us as a great
cloud of witnesses cheering us on, shouting encouragement, offering a
hand to draw us past the trials.

Moses chose at a moment to follow God, but his life did not end there.
He faced many further struggles and difficulties on the path of
following God, but at each step along that path, each new trial and
crisis, he was given the strength to continue by God and he was given a
glimpse of the reward awaiting him as an encouragement. Having chosen to
follow Christ, we too will face many further struggles and difficulties
as we strive to live the Christian life. Great Lent is only a symbolic
step along that path. Along the way we are continually strengthened by
the grace of God which we receive in the Holy Mysteries. We are
encouraged by recalling the lives of the saints who not only preceded
us, but who also now walk with us giving us encouragement and help along
the path. As we approach the great feast of Pascha, of the Resurrection
of the Lord, we will experience a glimpse of the joy and blessing
awaiting us in the Kingdom of God. All these things are our
encouragement along the path so that in the end we do not give up but
that we endure to the end and that we obtain the reward of the labor of
following Christ along with all those saints who await our coming. They
are the witnesses and sharers of all our struggles and they are waiting
for us to claim their reward that we might all enter into the heavenly
kingdom and the joy of the Lord together.

Fill your mind with the lives of the saints. Re-read this entire part of
the epistle to the Hebrews remembering all the saints therein. Read and
recall the lives of the saints that have lived since then. Fortify your
thoughts with the memory of the great strugglers who have finished the
course that you now follow. Remember that they are all there at the end,
at the threshold of the kingdom of heaven, waiting for you so that they
will not receive their reward without you.

All you holy saints of God pray for us!

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org

Mark 2:1-12

Last week on the first Sunday of Great Lent, we celebrated the “Triumph
of Orthodoxy” marking the last of the seven ecumenical councils. This is
a “Triumph” because throughout the centuries the Orthodox Faith faced
many different heresies and one by one set them aside, maintaining pure
and without fault the true faith delivered to us by the Holy Apostles
which they received from the God/man Jesus Christ. But the attacks on
the Church did not end with the era of the councils and throughout each
age there have always been those who would challenge the true faith and
so seek to destroy the Church. And each time that challenge has been
raised, the Church has been protected and maintained by the power of the
Holy Spirit in accordance with the promise of our Lord who said that
even the gates of hell would not prevail against her (Matt. 16:18).

Recognizing that, in this world, the Church will face again and again
her enemies and that each challenge to the life of the Church will
result again in a “triumph of Orthodoxy”, this second Sunday of Great
Lent commemorates another of the champions of the Orthodox faith, St
Gregory Palamas. St Gregory stood against the teaching of the
philosopher/theologian Barlaam and his disciple Akyndinos who declared
that God is not manifest in the world through His uncreated energies,
but that the light of the Transfiguration, which is sometimes also made
manifest in the saints, was created by God and not a direct experience
of His energies. This sounds like a little detail, however, it goes to
the heart of whether or not we are able to truly experience God directly
in prayer and the sacraments or whether we simply experience a different
aspect of creation that we mistake for divine. If there is no direct
experience of God by man, then we cannot participate in His life and
thus our salvation (i.e. union and communion with God) becomes
impossible. But St Gregory stood against this heretical teaching and
explained through his teaching that indeed we can experience God
directly, pointing out that although the Divine essence is beyond our
ability to perceive, the Divine energies are not. This understanding
explains to us how man, a creature, can directly commune with the
Creator without compromising His unknowable essence. Simply put, we know
that God remains God and yet we, His creatures, can also directly
commune with Him without any “intermediary” between us. And so today we
celebrate, as it were, a second “Triumph of Orthodoxy” in the
remembrance of St Gregory.

In that light it is appropriate to attend to what St Gregory, who was
the bishop of Thessalonica, taught his flock on this day. He was capable
not only of speaking of lofty spiritual things which are in the
experience only of the most experienced monastics, but he also spoke to
the common man in his flock, telling us about those things which are
part of our own everyday lives. On this Sunday, we hear in the Gospel
the account of the healing in Capernaum of the paralyzed young man who
was brought to Jesus by his friends and lowered through the roof to get
through the crowd. After leaving the area around Jerusalem following the
beheading of St John, Jesus returned to the regions around the sea of
Galilee where he had lived as a youth. Sometimes He would go out into the
wilderness to pray, but when he would enter one of the towns in the
area, invariably many people would gather to hear Him teach and to
receive miracles from His hands. In Capernaum, a city that He visited
frequently and where He was especially known and loved, it was no
different; the people gathered around the house where He was staying in
such great numbers that when the paralyzed man was carried by his
friends, they couldn’t get through the crowd. The people had gathered
from all around the area, including some of the scribes and Pharisees in
order to hear Jesus teach.

St Gregory points out that teaching was the primary activity of our Lord
during this part of His life in accordance with His own teaching in the
parables (e.g. “the sower went out to sow his seed…” Luke 8:5) and his
own purpose (“I am come to call sinners to repentance” Matt 9:13)
because, as the apostle tells us “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by
the Word of God.” (Rom 10:17). But while “everyone heard (the word of
the Lord), not everyone obeyed. For although we all love listening and
watching, not all of us love virtue. By nature we all long to know about
salvation as well as everything else. So people in general are not only
pleased to listen to sacred teaching, but also enjoy passing their
opinions on the words, each one apparently scrutinizing what is said,
according to how ignorant or wise he may (see himself to) be. Putting
words into actions, however, or reaping from them the fruit of
beneficial faith, requires…” that we not only hear the words but that we
also act on them.

We, today, are no different from the hearers of our Lord’s words. We
like to come to the Church and hear the words of the Gospel and the
teaching of spiritual things. We like to talk about the lives of the
saints and their instructions and offer our own opinions on the
spiritual life (whether or not we have any experience in it). But when
it comes to actually putting into practice what we have heard; when it
becomes necessary to change our lives, then we all don’t do so well. We
like things they way they are, we don’t want to give up this or that or
inconvenience ourselves. Of course, we want to follow Christ, but only
so long as doing so makes no demands upon us.

What is it that prevents us from acting upon what we hear; what is it
that prevents us from following Christ? In answer to this question,
first we have the example of the scribes and Pharisees who had come to
listen to our Lord teach. They heard the words of Christ but were unable
to grasp them because they insisted on reinterpreting those words
according to their own preconceived ideas and prejudices. When the
paralyzed man was set before our Lord, He first said, “Your sins are
forgiven” for he saw the repentance and faith in the man’s heart. But
the scribes and Pharisees, hearing this, “reasoned in their hearts
saying ‘Why does this man speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but
God alone?’” (Mark 2:6-7). Because of their limited reasoning, they were
unable to make the final leap of reason in faith that here before them
was the promised Messiah, God incarnate and for that reason He forgave
sins. They were held back from following Christ by their own ideas and
thinking. They could not look “outside the box” of reasoning based on
the law which they had created for themselves and so could not take that
final step of faith that their reason demanded to make sense of what
they heard. Therefore their only other option was to reject what they
heard and the One from whom they heard it. In like manner we too are
sometimes confounded by our own ideas and preconceived notions of the
spiritual life and what we think it “should” be like. Therefore when we
hear something in the Gospel or see something in the life of the saints
that challenges our ideas, rather than setting aside our own reasoning
and embrace with faith the word of God, we allow our ideas and
prejudices to trump the word of God and set it aside.

Another person who was unable to follow Christ was the paralytic
himself. He believed; he had faith, but he was prevented from acting on
that faith by his paralysis. We too are paralytics, our souls paralyzed
by the sins and passions which dominate us. We have faith and desire to
act on that faith but are prevented from doing so by our sinful habits
and the demands of the passions which burn within us. But our Lord sees
the sickness of our soul, just as He saw the sickness of the body of the
paralytic and He says to us as He said to the paralytic, “Your sins are
forgiven”. He sees to the very heart of our inability to follow Him and
eliminates the chains of sin that bind us with that forgiveness,
overcoming the sins which afflict us and paralyze us.

Finally, however, there is one more thing that prevented the paralytic
from following Christ. Having received the forgiveness of his sins and
hearing the word of the Lord saying to Him, “Arise, take up your bed and
go your way…” there was yet one thing that prevented him from doing so.
In order to follow Christ he had to trust the word of the Lord that he
was indeed able to do that which had been beyond his strength and
ability before. He was being asked to “do the impossible” and to get up
and walk. He had faith that Jesus would be able to heal him, but now
does he trust that Jesus actually did so and was not asking of him that
which was not possible? When we have faith in the word of the Lord, and
when we receive from Him forgiveness and healing, we need yet one thing
– trust. We need to trust that He will not lead us astray and that the
path He lays before us is indeed the path of salvation. Sometimes we see
what He gives us and think (reasoning to ourselves) “this can’t be
right”. Sometimes that path leads directly counter to our own desires.
But in order to follow Christ we have to trust Him over ourselves and
conforming our will to His, step out to do the impossible and follow Him.

We all love to come and hear the words of Christ. It is not, however,
enough to hear the word of the Lord, but we must also act on it. We
cannot let our reason get in the way but at times we have to allow
Christ to enlighten our minds and supplement our reason with faith (even
when reason demands a step of faith, too often we resist). Even when we
have faith, however, we also have to shed the chains and shackles of our
sins which hold us back. This we do through repentance, seeking
forgiveness of our sins. Our loving and compassionate Lord freely
forgives our sins, if only we turn to Him in repentance and so makes it
possible for us to follow Him. Now we have faith, and all the obstacles
have been swept away, and we have only one thing left – to trust our
Lord and conforming our will to His to step out on the path He sets
before us. Even when it seems that we must do the impossible, we can
trust the word of the Lord that “with men this (might be) impossible,
but with God all things are possible.” (Matt 19:26)

We have come today to hear the word of the Lord, but it is not enough
just to hear. In order for that divine word to have an impact on us, in
order to touch God and be touched by Him, we must also act on that word.
Set aside all your excuses and reasons that you cannot follow Christ.
Let Him sweep away all obstacles and step out in faith trusting in His
help and power and follow Him.

--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website:http://stseraphimboise.org

Today is the Lenten feast of the Precious and Live-giving Cross of the
Lord. Last night, towards the end of the vigil, the Life-giving Cross
was brought out for veneration and it remains in the Church for the
whole week for our help and encouragement. In this Cross there is a
particle of the true Cross upon which Our Savior was crucified. Thus
when we venerate it here this week, we are mystically transported to the
Holy Land, to Jerusalem, to Golgotha where the cross once stood. And
from Golgotha, it is only a short walk, a few hundred feet, to the tomb
of the Lord where He rose from the dead. The Cross is brought out now to
remind us that we have completed the first half of Great Lent. For those
of us who have not started fasting as of yet, the Cross is a stern
reminder that now is the time to get our act together and start, or
Pascha will come and we will have missed this opportunity. For those of
us who are fasting but may be feeling that we are weakening, the
sanctity of the Cross strengthens us. And even for us who are not
weakening but doing well, the Cross rewards us with Grace. After all,
the Cross is our spiritual sword against the dark enemies that we
encounter every day.

That the Cross is our weapon of salvation shows us how incredibly
merciful the Lord is. In the Old Testament Scripture we see that the
Cross was considered to be a curse. It was the diabolical invention of
Satan to be used in the most horrific way for men to destroy each other.
The Savior takes this diabolical tool and sanctifies it with His blood
by dying on it. The Cross then becomes for us a sacred, holy relic that
frees us from the influence of the devil if we use it as Christ did.
What incredible mercy of the Savior to take something that was developed
to horrifically destroy us and make it our ladder into the kingdom of God!

How then can we use the Cross as our Lord did and gain this benefit?
When our Lord prepared Himself for the ordeal that He would face in
giving His life for us, He went to the Garden of Gethsemene to pray.
There He poured out His heart to the Father and felt, as God, the full
force of the struggle that we face as His fallen creatures. He knows our
weakness, He knows our pain, He knows our shortcomings, He knows the
temptation that we face both from our own fallen nature and from the
demonic forces who confront us. He knows these things first hand for
having taken on our flesh, He experienced all that we experience, from
moment of our birth to the instant of our death. All of this He poured
out in prayer and then, seeing the extreme suffering that awaited Him on
this path of self sacrifice for us, He fell on His face saying, “O my
Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not
as I will, but as Thou wilt.” And rising from His prayer He found the
disciples sleeping and He roused them instructing them to watch and pray
that they might not fall prey to temptation. He returned again to His
own prayer and again a second time said, “O my Father, if this cup may
not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.” (Matt
26:39-42) In these two prayers we see the core of how He approached the
cross and how we should likewise do so. Jesus Christ is God incarnate –
God the Creator of all that is took our flesh and assumed our whole
life. He saw joy and sorrow, He experienced everything that we do in
this life. He had a human will that reacted to all these things as would
our own will. At this moment in the Garden of Gethsemene, that human
will was brought out and seeing what was ahead He cried out, “Let this
cup pass from me.” And then comes the key moment of the Cross where He
says, “and yet not my will but Thine be done.” At that moment the human
will of Christ is in perfect harmony with the divine will, even though
that harmony will result in temporary suffering and death.

Here it is, the very thing that we need to adopt in our own lives in
order to fully ascend the Cross with Christ in such a way that it
becomes for us a sacred, holy relic that frees us from the influence of
the devil. The Cross is an altar of sacrifice and on that altar we offer
the one thing that we have to offer – our will. Coming to the Cross we
can cry out with this very prayer, “not my will but Thine” sacrificing
the one thing that separates us from complete harmony with God. The
Psalmist himself saw this a millennium before and cried out in the 50th
Psalm, “the sacrifice for God is a broken heart, a heart that is broken
and humbled God will not despise.” Our own will, the very heart of our
being as a free person and the pivot upon which we choose to follow
Christ or not is the very thing that we must sacrifice.

By offering up your own will you renounce what “I want” and instead
embrace what God gives. This is the essence of the Cross as the symbol
of our victory. If we can do this, then we can walk the path of
salvation in harmony with Jesus Christ.

Offering up the will means that we set aside our own desires and accept
with joy that which God gives to us. Until we set aside our own will, it
is difficult, perhaps even impossible to see what God gives because we
are so focused on what we want that we are unable to perceive anything
else. Everything that we see is colored by the lens of our own desires.
If something is good to us it is because that thing conforms to our
desire and if it is bad, it is because it goes against our desire. While
still wrapped up in our own will, its hard to see things from any
different perspective (and if we happen to be able to step out of
ourselves for a moment and see something different, it remains
impossible to act on it without first denying ourselves.) In order to
take this step of acceptance with joy of all the God gives, we first
must bring our will into harmony with His. That means giving up our own
hopes and dreams and desires and goals and directing our will to only
one goal – that of being with our Lord Jesus Christ. If He is our only
desire, then to follow Him instead of ourselves becomes the natural
thing to do.

But such self sacrifice requires that we love God above all else and
secondly that we trust Him to love us and to bring us to Himself. That
trust is important because what we are doing when we sacrifice our own
will is that we are putting ourselves fully and completely in the hands
of God. We trust that He loves us and desires that we come into
communion and union with Him. Because He loves us, He also arranges our
lives in such a way that everything works together for the purpose of
bringing us to Himself. For this reason the Apostle was able to say, “we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them that are called according to His purpose.” (Rom. 8:28) That “good”
is the fulfillment of the one desire of the will that has been
sacrificed to God – to be with Him. Our all-powerful God brings every
thing in our lives into the service of this one desire, to be with Him.
Knowing this, we can have confidence that every event, every joy, every
sorrow, every moment of our lives is part of the path to be with God.
Thus no matter what happens, whether “good” or “bad” from a worldly
point of view, we can embrace it and rejoice in it for that moment has
brought us one step closer to Christ – our one and only true desire.

Here then is how we sacrifice our will on the altar of the Cross and
offer it to our Lord Jesus Christ. The prayer, “not my will but Thine be
done” is the key to transforming the Cross from an instrument of torture
and death into the symbol of our victory and the font of joy. Sacrifice
your will, set aside your own desires, your hopes and dreams and goals.
Replace your will with the will of God and embrace all that He brings to
you in this life. When your only love, your only desire is to be with
Christ, then every moment of your life becomes one more step closer the
realization of that desire. Our Lord arranges every step of the way so
that it brings us nearer to Him and having that confidence we can then
embrace all that comes to us and accept it with joy for we are coming
ever nearer to Jesus Christ.

This then is the path of the Cross; the path not of suffering and
torture, but of joy and rejoicing. Abandon yourself into the arms of
Jesus Christ outstretched to receive you on the Cross and you will
receive your desire for just as you have embraced Him, so will He
embrace you.



--
Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website:http://stseraphimboise.org