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

Mark 9:17-9:31

We have now passed the midpoint of Great Lent. Whether or not you have
kept a strict fast or have been rather relaxed about how you have kept
the fast, almost everyone begins to notice some things about themselves
at this point. It is just the nature of fasting that over time, some of
the usual clutter of the soul begins to clear away and you begin to see
yourself more clearly. As a result you begin to notice more about
yourself than before. Just like standing in front of a mirror you see
the flaws and imperfections and things you wish were just a little
different that normally pass by unnoticed. Even just being exposed to
the atmosphere of fasting for a prolonged period works on the soul such
that you begin to see your own soul in a similar manner. The fast is, as
it were, a spiritual mirror – the more effort and attention that you
have put into the fast, the clearer it is as a mirror and the deeper you
see into yourself, but in any case the mirror effect is still there. So
now, entering the 5th week of the fast, that is standing in front of
this spiritual mirror for an extended period, you begin to notice little
things, little flaws and imperfections and things that you wish were
different about yourself. Its normal that you should do so, and this is,
in fact, one of the purposes of having this fasting season.

When our Lord descended Mt Tabor after the Transfiguration, He found
that a child had been brought to Him for healing which had been
possessed by a spirit which caused him to be unable to speak and which
caused seizures that “cast him into the fire and into the water as if to
destroy him”. The disciples who had awaited Christ at the bottom of the
mountain had been unable to heal this child and were themselves puzzled
at the situation. Jesus, however, after questioning the father regarding
the child’s illness, Himself rebuked the demon and freed the child from
its grasp, healing him. Later on the disciples asked Jesus why they had
been unable to heal the child and Jesus answered them saying, “this kind
comes out only by prayer and fasting.”

What did Jesus mean by “this kind” which is only affected by prayer and
fasting? When He asked the father about His child’s illness, the father
told Him that this illness had been on him since childhood – since the
young one’s earliest days. These are indeed the most difficult sins to
uproot from our lives, those that have been with us “since childhood”.
These ingrained habits that have made a nest in our hearts have, in many
cases, become so integrated into our personalities that we rarely see
them because they seem “normal” to us or a just a part of our own
personality. We may notice some of the effects of these sins and
passions that grip us so tightly, but don’t understand why it is that we
have this effect on people. For example, you may notice that people
around you seem to respond to you with anger and by keeping their
distance – but you do not realize that you have bring this about by
presenting yourself as an angry and aggressive person. Or perhaps you
have a hard time connecting with people, finding and establishing a
close relationship, even with family members – but you don’t realize
that you are pushing them away, not the reverse, because of a fear of
intimacy. These are just two small examples of the kind of passions we
find in ourselves “from childhood” that have a deep and strong hold upon
us and which lead us into sin without realizing it.

Jesus said that “this kind” is only rooted out “by prayer and fasting”.
That is because first we have to be able to see what is there. The first
step to solving a problem is to identify the problem and so it is with
our own soul – the first step toward being freed from a passion is to
identify that passion. Such “identification” requires a mirror in which
we can see clearly. Fasting provides for us that mirror by stripping
away some of the clutter that normally occupies our souls and thus
clouds our vision. The more strictly that we keep the fast, the more
time and energy we invest in the fast, the clearer that mirror becomes.
Is it any wonder that here in the midst of Great Lent, the longest and
strictest fasting season of the year, we begin to notice such things in
ourselves?

The more we see into our own soul and the more we strip away the layers
of sin and passions that bind us and the deeper we get, the more we
begin to perceive those passions that have held us in their grip “since
childhood” These are the ones that are ingrained, the ones that have
truly integrated themselves into our very personality so that they seem
to be “natural” and “normal” and just a part of our personal “style”.
And when we try to grasp them to begin to pull ourselves free from their
influence, they slip away. For this reason the fast comes around again
every year – giving us the chance to chip away at these deeply ingrained
passions a little at a time. These habits did not get established in us
over night and it will likewise take the investment and perseverance of
an extended spiritual struggle to root them out.

Fasting helps us begin the process of this struggle by clearing away the
clutter of the soul that hides these passions. But this is not all that
fasting does. Fasting also helps loosen these passions, making them
easier to grasp and get a hold on them by shaking them ajar through the
process of self denial. By exercising self denial, we exercise the will
as though it were a muscle and so make it stronger, increasing our
ability to deny ourselves further and thus directly address even the
passions that have become part of our own personality and nature. In
this way fasting helps us not only identify the problem, but becomes the
first step in beginning to deal with it.

The second step is the partner of fasting and that is prayer. We cannot
ourselves grapple with these sins that are buried so deep within
ourselves. We need help. That help is at our fingertips, we have only to
reach out and take it. That is the help that comes to us through prayer.
When we pray, we lift up our minds and hearts to God and enter into His
presence. We join ourselves to God through the communion of prayer. Thus
it is God Himself Who is our help; it is He Who helps us in our struggle
against sin, especially these deeply rooted passions in our lives. For
this reason Great Lent isn’t only about fasting but it is also about an
increased diligence in prayer. There are more services and more intense
services during Great Lent so that our corporate prayer may be
intensified. But not only that, our private prayers, our own prayer
rule, should also intensify during Lent. This is the time when you
increase your discipline in daily prayers so that you don’t skip over
them or forget them or let them get crowded out due to the business of
the day. This is the time when you add the extra seasonal prayers, such
as the prayer of St Ephraim with prostrations and bows, to your daily
prayers. In prayer you enter into a kind of communion with God that
allows Him to fill you with the strength of His grace. It is this grace
which is your help in the struggle with these deeply buried passions.
The more diligent and regular your prayers, the more of this grace that
you incorporate into yourself and thus the stronger you become in your
spiritual labors.

Think of these deeply buried passions as weeds with deep taproots
growing in the garden of your heart. We wish only to grow the fragrant
blooms of the virtues, but these weeds of passions grow up. The longer
we let them grow the deeper that taproot extends and the harder it is to
pull out. But with fasting we expose the weed for what it is and we
loosen the soil around the root. And then by prayer, with the grace of
God we grip that weed and slowly but surely pull it out, leaving not
even a little tip of the root to grow back and infect us again with
those passions.

It is best if we root up the passions and sins as soon as they show
themselves (and thus many of you have heard me tell you not to allow
anger and disagreements to pass the night in your heart, but to resolve
them before they have a chance to put down roots and make a nest in your
heart). There are, however, those passions and sins which have been with
us “since childhood” and for these, fasting and prayer are required to
pull them out. For this reason we have the extended fasting season of
Great Lent – to allow us not only to catch a glimpse of the sins and
passions that hide in our hearts, but also to get a clear view of them,
shake them loose and get a good grip on them to pull them out. Prayer
and fasting: these are the tools that our Lord uses to free us from the
slavery of sin, these are the tools which assist us in our climb out of
the depths of sin into the heights of the love of God. Prayer and
fasting are tools with which we work out our salvation and which our
Lord uses to draw us to Himself and so give to us our heart’s desire of
living 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

Mark 10:32-45

In the past couple of weeks as we read the Gospel, we have seen that
Jesus has begun to prepare his disciples for His coming crucifixion,
resurrection and ascension. Gradually He introduces them to the idea
that even though it may appear that He has been taken from them, that
this will not be the case and that even death will not be able to
separate Him from them. As the time of their journey to Jerusalem draws
near, Jesus more and more begins to give His disciples the tools that
they will need in their coming ministry as the leaders of His Church
which will be built upon the rock of His own life and resurrection and
which will be realized by the coming of the Holy Spirit. For this
reason, in today’s Gospel account our Lord takes advantage of an
internal rivalry among the disciples about who is or will be greater in
the Kingdom of Heaven to teach them how they will lead the Church.

James and John had asked Jesus in a moment of privacy for the privilege
of sitting one at His right hand and one at His left in the Kingdom of
heaven. Still seeing the Kingdom of heaven as a worldly institution,
then aspired to the seats of honor next to the Great Lord and King
Himself. Taking this moment to teach them, Jesus pointed out to them
that if they were to aspire to be with Him in honor, that they must also
suffer with Him saying, “Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the
cup of which I drink? and be baptized with the baptism with which I am
baptized?” and yet this by itself did not qualify them to occupy the
positions of honor in the Kingdom of heaven to which they aspired. When
the other disciples heard of this, they began to grumble and complain
against James and John, thinking that these two had tried to push aside
the others and secretly take for themselves the greater honor.

This was the moment that Jesus took to teach His disciples about what it
meant to receive honors and positions of leadership in the Kingdom of
heaven saying, “Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the
Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise
authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever
will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you
will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a
ransom for many.” This saying points out the basic difference in the
order of men and the order of God. Among men, Jesus pointed out, rulers
exercise authority over their subjects, but with God, those who are
given the responsibility to lead do so by serving their subjects. And
the greatest example of this is Jesus Christ Himself, the God/man, the
creator of the world who will voluntarily give up His own life for the
whole world. He does not command the world to follow Him, but rather He
loves mankind and through His own sacrifice and service opens the way
for them to follow Him in love. This is the essential difference between
worldly honor and leadership on one hand and heavenly honor and
leadership on the other. Men lead from a position of authority –
commanding their followers, but Jesus (and those who would follow after
Him) will lead from a position of humility – serving others and leading
by love and compassion.

The disciple of St Silouan, Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov) of Essex,
gave a pair of images to point out this difference. He spoke of worldly
authority and honor as a great pyramid. At the broad base of the pyramid
were the greatest mass of people who would be led. As a person rose to
positions of greater honor and responsibility, they also rose higher in
the pyramid. Each layer supported all those above it and were supported
in turn by those below it. Thus those at the base of the pyramid, those
of the least honor, supported all the rest by their labor and loyalty
while those at the top of the pyramid supported no one and were
supported by all, and yet they were responsible to guide the whole of
the pyramid. With greater honor and responsibility came also a greater
host of people supporting that person. This pyramid looks very familiar
to those of us who have encountered the worldly forms of government and
leadership (whether governmental or in other organizations). Those at
the top have the vision and guide the whole group while they are
supported by all the other members on lower levels who do their bidding
and realize their plans.

The Kingdom of God, however, is a different image given to us by Fr
Sophrony. He describes honor and authority in the Kingdom of God as the
same pyramid, but upside down. The one of greatest honor (our Lord Jesus
Christ Himself) is at the point of the pyramid upon which the weight of
the whole rests. He is not supported by all the rest, but supports them.
Those of greater honor and authority in the Kingdom of God do not lead
from above, but support from below. As one is given greater honor, he
also receives greater grace from God so that he might also participate
in supporting all those who are “below” himself while being supported
only by those “above” himself – and in the end being fully supported and
carried by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. This image is remarkable for
it shows us that in the Kingdom of God those who are called to greater
authority are also called to the greater labor of supporting all those
who are under that authority. This is the image of the truth of the
words, “whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And
whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.”

What then does this mean for those of us here in our own small parish
here in this city. We are not, after all, in positions of great honor in
the world. We do not lead the Church but strive to conform ourselves to
the life of the Church as we are led and taught by others. But that does
not mean that we do not ascend to places of honor in the Church. God
gives to each of us a place and in that place there are those who
support us and those whom we support. Most obvious of this is the place
of parents and children. The commandments speak to us and say “honor
your parents”. But that honor of being a parent comes also with the
necessity and responsibility that the parent has to support his own
child and to care for him and provide for him in every way. Not only do
we see this “upside down” pyramid of honor in the natural order of
parents and children, but we also see it in the relationships of
godparents, (spiritual parents) and their spiritual children. Godparents
step into that place of honor and support their own godchildren in their
spiritual life and growth. In every parish there are those who have the
responsibility to keep order, to teach, to serve in the altar, to sing,
and so on. Each of these roles carries with it its own honor and
therefore also demands that we serve and support others through our
responsibilities.
There are those who simply by their own age and experience in the
spiritual life are honored as elder brothers and sisters – these too are
called upon to support those in the parish who have less experience and
maturity than themselves. At times we elect parish officers and parish
council members – again positions which bring with them some honor and
authority, but which also demand that we serve our brothers and sisters.
There are also the clergy, the priest and deacon and those who are
raised into the minor orders of the clergy. These are positions of
honor, and our traditions about how to treat the priest or deacon and
how to interact with them indicate for us how that honor is expressed.
But this honor also carries with it the responsibility to serve the
parish and the pastor by his labors and prayers supports the whole
parish in its spiritual life. Of course our bishop is greatly honored
and yet he holds not only our parish, but every parish and clergyman in
the diocese in his hand and by his labors and prayers we are supported.
This is how the honor and authority of the Kingdom of God is expressed.

If we have this responsibility to support others, how then do we do so?
First and foremost we do this by praying for one another, but not only
for one another, we pray with one another. When we pray for someone, we
reach out and offer some of our own strength to them in their need. When
we pray with someone, we pick them up and walk together with them for a
little time, supporting them by our own strength. Other means of
supporting one another is to simply offer encouragement – to listen as
one pours out his heart, expressing his frustration, his weakness, his
sorrows, his hopes and dreams and to offer words of comfort and
encouragement along the way. Sometimes no words are needed, but simply
to be present and by your very presence ease the burden of another
person. At times a more active role is needed – to provide for some
physical need or to offer assistance in some labor. To work with one
another is a means of supporting one another. If we work together in all
things, we fulfill the spirit of this Gospel of the vital necessity to
serve one another.

We are here together in the Church, not as a social club or as a service
organization or for some other worldly purpose. We are in the Church
first and foremost to work out our salvation. In doing this we are
supported by others, by our elders, by our clergy, by our bishops. We
are supported by those who have had some experience or who simply have a
greater reserve of strength at the moment. We, in fact, are here to work
out our salvation together. In this undertaking, we are all supported by
our Lord Jesus Christ Who in His hand carries not only you and I, but
Who carries all the Church and Who, by His grace which He pours out upon
us all, enables us to support and help and encourage those around us so
that together we might enter into the Kingdom of God praising and
glorifying Him to whom we are united in love.


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

John 12:1-18

Having raised Lazarus from the dead, our Lord now turns his face to
Jerusalem. Lazarus, along with his sisters Mary and Martha, lived in the
town of Bethany which is near Jersusalem, but just on the other side of
the Mount of Olives. The news of the raising of Lazarus had spread
throughout all the region for it was a great miracle – something never
before seen, even in the ministry of Jesus Christ. Lazarus had been in
the tomb for 4 days – according to the belief of the Jews, the soul
remained near the body for 3days, visiting the places that were dear to
it during life, but at the 4th day the soul had already departed into
the afterlife. While the soul was near the body, it seemed that it could
be enticed, or commanded, to reanimate the body – and this was supported
by Jesus’ previous resurrection miracles for the son of the widow of
Nain or the daughter of Jairus had only just died . But Lazarus had been
dead 4 days and the soul (in the mind of the people) had truly departed
for the next life and could not be recalled. Thus, when Jesus called
Lazarus out of the tomb, it was a greater miracle – one which clearly
demonstrated His divine nature.

But now He began to look toward Jerusalem, and just as He had wept at
the tomb of Lazarus when he saw the unbelief of the people, He wept
again when he saw how the people of Jerusalem were caught up and
enslaved by their passions. There was no anchor, no constancy in them,
for they would praise Him one day and condemn Him the next being caught
up and ruled by their passions. Jesus wept for them and weeps for us for
He sees how we are enslaved by our own passions and swept along by their
whim, powerless to resist.

As Jesus came near to the city He sent his disciples to retrieve for him
a donkey upon which he would ride. This was actually considered a great
honor, for in those days donkeys were too important to be wasted
carrying a person who could just as easily walk – donkeys were needed to
carry things that couldn’t move. The privilege of riding a donkey was,
in the Old Testament, an honor reserved for the King alone. In sitting
atop the donkey, Jesus demonstrated to the disciples and to all the
people that He was indeed the promised King who would come to set them
free and rule over them in peace. But He was not there to establish an
earthly kingdom and to set them free from their earthly rulers – He is
the heavenly king and He has come to set us free from the tyrant of our
passions which rule over us as a harsh and demanding slavemaster.

St Ignatii Brianchaninov expands on this idea saying: “Here is another
meaning of the colt of an ass. It is an image of every person who is led
by irrational desires, deprived of spiritual freedom, attached to the
passions and habits of fleshly life. Christ’s teaching looses the ass
from its attachment; that is, from fulfilling its sinful and fleshly
will. Then the Apostles lead the ass to Christ, place their garments
upon it; the Lord seats Himself upon it and makes His entry upon it into
Jerusalem. This means that the person who has left his sinful life is
led to the Gospels, and is clothed as if in apostolic vestments, in the
most detailed and refined knowledge of Christ and His commandments. Then
the Lord seats Himself upon him by spiritually appearing to him and
spiritually abiding in him, as it was His good will to promise: He that
hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he
that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and
will manifest myself to him (Jn. 14:21). And my Father will love him,
and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him (Jn. 14:23). The
Lord’s coming is accompanied by peace surpassing words and
comprehension; peace that is full of grace, and worthy of the one Who
grants it—the Lord. This peace is not to be compared with the natural
rest of fallen man, who may feel rest and pleasure from fleshly
delights, and who may consider his own insensibility, his own eternal
death, to be rest. The Lord is seated upon the natural qualities of the
person who has submitted to Him and has assimilated His all-holy
teachings; and He leads that person into the spiritual city of God, the
city of peace—into the Jerusalem created by God, and not by man.

“The soul that upholds the Lord is greeted by the Holy Spirit, Who
offers that soul spiritual joy which is incorruptible and eternal.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion, the daughter of the Holy
Church—because you belong to no one but God. Proclaim it aloud, O
daughter of Jerusalem; behold, the King is coming to thee, just, and a
Savior; he is meek and riding on an ass, and a young foal (Zach. 9:9).
You have felt the grace-filled peace of Christ, and become a daughter of
this peace; you have been renewed with spiritual youth and have come to
know Christ’s Kingdom by experience. The passions are tamed in you by
the grace-filled power of the Rider Who steers you; your natural
qualities cannot break their natural laws, they cannot go beyond their
boundaries and be transformed into uncontrolled passions! Taking all
your thoughts, feelings and actions from the Lord, you can and must
proclaim the Name of the Lord to your brethren, and hymn Him in the
midst of the Church (Ps. 21:22). As one born of the Holy Spirit and a
daughter of the Spirit, you are able to behold the spiritual procession
of your King, you are able to behold the righteousness of your King. He
is meek and lowly in heart (Mt. 11:29), and He will guide the meek in
judgment, He will teach the meek His ways (Ps. 24:9). Our God is a
Spirit which is incomparable to any created spirit, as He is in all
aspects infinitely different from all creatures. The holy created
spirits are His thrones and chariots. He is seated and rides upon the
Cherubim; He is seated and rides upon those blessed human souls who have
submitted to Him and brought all their natural qualities to Him as a
whole burnt offering. The King rides upon such souls, and enters the
holy city of God, bringing holy souls into it also. Hosanna in the
highest! Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh. Amen.”

So you see, today, with our palms and branches of willow, we celebrate
the victory of the Great King. We celebrate not a political victory or
some athletic championship but rather we celebrate the victory of our
freedom. Jesus Christ has seen our cruel enslavement to our passions and
out of His love for us He is moved to tears. He weeps not only for those
at the tomb of Lazarus who did not believe, or those in Jerusalem who
were led to and fro by their feelings and passions; He weeps also for us
who are enslaved by our passions and unable to do any good thing on our
own. He not only weeps for us, but He steps in and frees us from our
enslavement to our passions. Having come to us and taken the reins of
our lives instead, He then teaches us by His word and fills us with His
Holy Spirit empowering us to follow Him. He then instead guides us into
His Kingdom leading us into His presence, not as slaves but as His own
sons and heirs to live in His presence, enjoying eternal 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

John 5:1-15

Since the beginning of creation there have always been places in the
world where the grace of God seems to spill over into the world or erupt
into the world from the Kingdom of God. These places have a certain
holiness because of that grace. The greatest of these “natural” holy
places was, of course the Garden of Eden which served as a dwelling
place for our first parents Adam and Eve after their creation. There
they walked with God and communed with Him. After the fall they were
exiled from this place into the world where such grace was less easily
found. In all the various pagan religions of antiquity there have always
been places that have been identified as especially holy or blessed and
on these places temples are built or altars are erected and they become
the center of worship for that community. In the history of the people
of God we find mention of such places – Mt Ararat where the ark landed;
the place where Abraham sacrificed Isaac; the place where Jacob wrestled
with God in a dream; Mt Sinai where Moses met God and of course
Jerusalem where the Prophet and King David established the Tabernacle
and where Solomon first built the permanent temple. In the account of
our Lord’s meeting with the woman Photini at the well in Samaria (itself
one of these sacred places as it was where Jacob watered his flock) she
contrasted the worship of the Samaritans on Mt Gerazim with the temple
of the Jews in Jerusalem asking which was better showing us that there
were many sacred places where God was worshipped in the Promised Land.
Even after the time of our Lord’s sojoun in this world, we still
recognize many holy places – places that have been sanctified by the
prayers and struggles of the saints or springs that emerge miraculously
from the ground by the prayers of saints bearing healing properties for
example – places where Christians go on pilgrimage to worship and
commune with God.

One such place evident at the time of Christ was the pool of Bethesda in
Jerusalem. Here the water would be stirred by an angel on occasion and
the first person to enter the waters after this would receive healing
from the grace which filled the waters. For this reason many sick and
disabled people would gather here at the pool waiting for the agitation
of the waters indicating the presence of the angel so that they might
have the chance of being healed. It was at this place that we find our
Lord Jesus Christ today. He has come to this pool at time when it was
quiet and there encountered there a man who suffered from paralysis.
This man had no one to care for him and no hope of healing other than
the grace of God. Here he waited for the stirring of the water, the
eruption of the grace of God into the world so that He might enter the
water and be healed. But because of his paralysis, he was unable to get
to the water when it was stirred and so had never been able to take
advantage of the miraculous effects of that eruption of grace.

When Jesus came to this man, his long wait to experience the grace of
God was at an end. Because he could not get into the pool of grace on
His own, the very source of grace, the fountain from which it flowed
came to him. Because the paralytic had no man to bring him to the water
when the angel appeared, the God/man Jesus Christ came to him offering
the wholeness that he sought. His hopelessness was changed into hope and
his weakness was changed into strength. So it is when we truly encounter
Christ – all that we lack is filled; we find comfort and our sorrow is
changed into joy; our weakness becomes the means by which His strength
invigorates us; our sickness and death is changed into wholeness and
life. All these things this man experienced and all these things we too
experience when we encounter Jesus Christ.

The Church creates for us a similar “sacred place”, a place where the
grace of God is poured out upon the world. Every time that we enter the
temple we enter into the presence of God and are surrounded by His
grace. But too often we do not experience the benefits of this grace
because like the man in the Gospel today we are paralyzed. Our hearts
are paralyzed by sin and because of this, even though we may enter
physically into this sacred place, we are not touched by the fountains
of grace. Our sins prevent us from being able to experience the grace
that is freely and abundantly poured out upon us and which surrounds us.
We are here in the midst of this sacred place, but we are surrounded by
the hard shell of our sins and so little if any of the grace that is
abundantly poured out upon us here seeps in. In order to access this
grace we have to let go of our sins – by confessing our sins and
repenting (that is turning away from them). Once we let go of our sins
by reaching out to Christ, that hard shell peels away and the grace of
God rushes in. When this happens, the paralysis of the heart, brought
about by our own pride and our sins is healed and we are freed to follow
Christ and to live within the grace that is poured out upon us.

Having brought the healing grace to this paralytic, Jesus then instructs
him to take up his bed and walk. This is also what He does with us.
Having brought His grace to us, having washed from us the hard shell of
our sin which paralyzes us, He tells us to walk – to change the state in
which we have lived up to now. This is a vital part of our healing; we
must leave behind our former ways of wallowing in sin and walk. Not only
should we simply walk, but we must also be careful in how and where we
walk. Jesus came later to this man again and said to him, “Behold, thou
art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” It is
our sin which has separated us from God and if we would continue to live
in communion with Him then it is vital to avoid those things which broke
that communion in the first place. And so He says to us, “sin no more”.
Having received the healing grace of God we now must make use of the
grace and reorder our lives, no longer exposing ourselves to sin and
temptation but avoiding those things in order that “worse thing” will
not come upon us (that “worse thing” would be the eternal condemnation
of our soul which is the result of a life lived in sin).

We have come to the Church, to this sacred place, and here we have
encountered Jesus Christ and received grace from Him. Now He tells us to
“sin no more” and it is here in the Church that we learn how to do that.
Here our Holy Mother Church takes us as little children and teaches us
gently and lovingly how to walk in the ways of Christ’s commandments,
how to avoid sin and choose righteousness instead. She nourishes us with
the grace filled food of the sacraments, and fills our hearts with the
words of the Gospels, with the prayers of the saints and hymns of
worship. She guides our steps that we might learn a new way to live and
a new path to follow: following Christ on the path of salvation.

Your sins have been forgiven and washed away. You have been freed from
the tyranny of sin and healed of its effects. Now it remains for you to
maintain that freedom and wholeness by following Christ, by living in
the way that you are taught here in the Church through her traditions
and customs, through the teaching of the saints, through the words of
the Gospel, the prayers and the hymns of the Church. You have been
healed, and now it is within your ability to change the way that you
live and to follow Christ, ever refreshed in the fountain of grace that
flows from Him. You now stand in the same place as the paralyzed man –
and only this question remains, will you follow Christ or will you
continue in your life of sin?

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

John 4:5-42

Last week, we talked a bit about the idea of a sacred or holy place – a
particular place where the grace of God is especially manifest in the
world. Today in the story of the Samaritan woman we again note that
there are sacred spaces mentioned. The well at which she met Jesus was
blessed by its association with the Patriarch Jacob who originally dug
the well. Also, during their conversation she spoke about Mt Gerazim
where the Samaritan people worshipped the One true God. This too is a
sacred place which is only made more sacred by the prayers of the people
offered there. The woman, who is named Photini (or Svetlana in Russian)
said to Jesus, “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say,
that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” wanting him
to say which was better. Jesus replied, “Woman, believe me, the hour
cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem,
worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we
worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is,
when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in
truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and
they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” In
saying this Jesus acknowledged that the temple at Jerusalem was the
better place to worship, for there the worship of God was offered in its
fullness, but that the true worship of God is not linked to a place, but
rather occurs “in spirit and in truth” that is in the hearts of men. And
today when a Christian visits Jerusalem, he will visit many sacred
places – but he does not always visit the temple. Rather, first and
foremost on his list is the Holy Sepulcher. Here where our Lord rose
from the dead trampling down death by death is the most sacred place for
Christians. No longer do we worship at the temple in Jerusalem, but at
an empty tomb, the place where our Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the
worship of the temple, freed us from sin and death, and lifted us up
with Himself into the presence of God.

We come to this place, this parish church, to worship God together,
however, there are those who worship in other churches and some who feel
that they can worship God at home or in nature and they don’t need any
particular place. It would seem that the answer of Jesus to St Photini
would support this idea that we don’t really need churches, that we can
worship God anywhere and that is indeed true, if, in our hearts, we
commune with God, then we can and do offer Him worship no matter in what
place we might be. Why then is it important to come here, to the Church
and to pray here.

While it is true that we can pray anywhere, the Church is a place built
and designed for prayer. It is a space that is set aside for the sole
purpose of worshipping God and it is made sacred by our prayers that we
offer here. A surgeon, who was properly trained and who was resourceful,
could perform even a difficult surgery anywhere – at his home on the
kitchen table or in the back of a truck or at the scene of an accident.
He could practice his trade anywhere, but he more often than not chooses
to do so in a hospital, in an operating theater, with all the
specialized tools and personnel there to assist him. He does this
because there in the operating room his skill is at its peak, he can
work more effectively there than anywhere else.

An athlete has to continually work out to stay in shape to play his
sport. He can do this work out almost anywhere – in his home gym, out of
doors (I recall reading about a college football player who worked on a
farm baling hay all summer as his off season workout), or almost
anywhere, and yet he most often chooses to work out at the team’s
training facility. There his workout is tuned and focused to develop his
particular skill, there he has the equipment and direction to train his
body to its maximum potential. He has access to his coaches, his
teammates, the playbook, the tapes of his play as well as that of his
opponents and all these things help focus his training to the fine point
enabling him to play his game at its peak intensity.

As Orthodox Christians we can pray and worship God anywhere – out in
nature, at home in our own prayer corner, at any number of other
churches – but our most effective prayer, the worship that we offer God,
is best offered here in the Church. Here is our sacred place, the place
which is dedicated to no other purpose than the worship of God. In this
place we are surrounded by the saints and they pray with us. In the
place we are gathered with our brothers and sisters in Christ and our
prayer is joined with theirs, each one of us fulfilling and
complementing the prayer of his neighbor. In the Church we are
surrounded by the grace that accumulates over the years with the prayers
of generations (and for this reason we always pray not only for
ourselves but also for the founders and benefactors of this holy
temple). Here we have the sacraments offered to us. Here the Holy Spirit
descends upon the Gifts and upon us as those Holy Mysteries of the Body
and Blood of Christ are received by us. Here our worship takes on a
fuller and more complete form. We are not saved alone, but as a part of
the one Body of Christ, united with all those who love God and worship
Him in spirit and in truth. Here in the Church that unity is made real
to us and we join ourselves not only to Christ but to the saints and to
our brothers and sisters who pray with us and together we ascend into
the presence of God.

We have, therefore, this sacred place – this little parish Church. We
can and should pray anywhere and everywhere at all times and in all
places, but it is to this sacred place that we come to pray most
effectively, most deeply, most fully in the presence of God. But this
isn’t just an isolated place for spiritually when we pray here our
worship is joined with the eternal worship of the angelic host before
the throne of God along with the prayers offered in all the Orthodox
Churches throughout the world and through all of time. Here we pray
alongside the Virgin Mary and the Holy Apostles, alongside St Nicholas,
and St Seraphim, alongside those who pray in Jerusalem at the Holy
Sepulcher, or in Russia at the many Churches and sacred places there, or
with the monks on the Holy Mountain of Athos. This place is joined, in
spirit and in truth, to all those other places and our prayers here are
joined to the prayers of all those who pray in all those places so that
with one voice we offer to God our common worship. Here we truly become
the one Bride of Christ, offering ourselves to our Bridegroom and
worshipping Him. This is indeed our purpose, our calling our destiny and
here in the Church that is fulfilled every time we come here to pray.

Jesus told St Photini as she was asking about the proper place to pray
that we who worship God do so “in spirit and in truth”. To worship God
in this way does not mean that we abandon our sacred places or that we
do not gather together in them to pray – but what makes our prayer real
and holy, what makes the place sacred in the first place is not simply
the sacred place, but the prayers of those who gather there without fail
over and over again to pray together to join themselves and the place
that they are to the worship in heaven before the throne of God. In this
sacred place we ascend into heaven and there we are joined with all the
saints and the heavenly host as we offer our prayer with one voice and
one heart glorifying God. This parish Church is our “sacred place” and
it is made sacred by the grace of God which flows into it and permeates
it by our prayers.

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

John 9:1-38

A few weeks ago in the Gospel we hear of a man who was a cripple. This
man sat beside the pool at the sheep gate for 38 years waiting for a
chance to enter the water when it was stirred by the angel of God and
filled with His power for healing. In that Gospel, our Lord came to this
man and took him away from the healing water, granting him health with
only a word, showing that the power was not in the water, but in the
Word of God.

Today in the Gospel, we hear of a different man, this man is born blind
and sits in the temple begging alms of those who pass by. As before, our
Lord approaches him and sets out to heal him. This time however, Jesus
makes from a mixture of dirt and spittle a bit of clay which He then
places on the eye sockets of the man born blind. He then instructs the
man to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. When the man washes the clay
from his eyes, he can, for the first time in his life, see.

Why does our Lord, Who previously disdained the use of earthly cures
such as the water of the pool at the sheep gate, this time use those
same earthly cures, the clay and the washing with water? In the first
case, He granted healing to the man apart from the water in order to
emphasize that the power of God was not in the water itself but that it
came from the Word of God. He wanted to teach the disciples that they
did not need to rely on earthly resources but upon God alone for the
satisfaction of all their needs. This is a necessary and important first
step - learning to place all of our hope in God and not to turn away
from His providence.

However, once we have released our dependence upon the resources of this
world and have placed all of our hope on God, then God can begin to show
us those things in this world which will be beneficial to our salvation.
Once He had demonstrated to the disciples that the water in the pool had
no intrinsic power but that the healing came from the power of God, our
Lord could then send them back to the pool to see how, when the waters
of the pool are combined with the power of God, they are profitable for
the well being of those who partake of them.

In our own life, we know that we depend upon God alone for all of our
needs. We know that He is the One Who sends down His grace upon us, He
is the One Who has won our victory of sin and death, He is the One Who
provides all of our needs. But He also gives us many “worldly” things
which are of help to us. These things are the sacraments and those other
blessed items which we find within the Church.

We look around and we see the holy icons, both here in the Church and at
home. These icons give us a window into heaven, a glimpse at not only
the physical appearance of the saints, but also of their spiritual
stature. The icons help us to focus our prayer and to keep our mind in
the Kingdom of God as we pray. We smell the incense, which constantly
reminds us of our prayers rising to God. All these things in the Church
are worldly things which have been filled with the power of God to heal,
just as the clay and water were filled by the power of God to give sight
to the blind man.

All of the sacraments also have some kind of physical or worldly element
to them. The bread and the wine which become the Body and Blood of
Christ is physical food, which when filled with the power of God becomes
spiritual food. The oil of anointing, the rings and crowns of the
marriage ceremony, the water of baptism and the holy chrism are all
physical things which are filled with the power of God for the spiritual
healing of the soul. The hands of the bishop in ordination and the stole
of the priest which covers the sins of the penitent are also physical
things which are imbued with the power of God for spiritual healing.

Many other things in the Church convey the blessing of God. Holy Water
with which we bless our selves and our homes, oil from the lamp burning
in various holy places, the relics of saints; these are all physical
things which are filled with the power of God for our spiritual benefit.

But this lesson does not only teach us to look to the holy things given
to us in the Church but also reminds us that while the power of God is
the source of all good things, that this power is also made manifest in
a variety of ways in the world. If you are sick, you may also go to a
physician who has studied the science of healing and you may take
medicines or other things that he gives to maintain the health of your
body. Again we see the power of God made manifest in small ways. God has
created the world in such a wonderful manner that if we know where to
look we can find the means by which to aid in our health. Not only
medicine, but nutrition, exercise, beauty, etc serve to encourage the
health of the body and soul. But none of these would have any lasting or
spiritual benefit, if they did not point us to the True God.

Having left the world behind and having attached ourselves to Christ, He
now gives the world back to us, new and changed, filled with His power.
Like the blind man, we have been given spiritual eyes with which to see
things that we have never before seen - the presence and power of God in
even the most mundane things of the world. We see the power of God in
the food that we eat, the water that we drink, the work that we do, the
sunshine that warms us and the beauty of the stars. We see the power and
presence of God in each person that we meet who bears in himself the
image - the icon - of God. We have but to look around with our spiritual
eyes and we see a world filled with God’s grace. Having given everything
up to gain Christ, He now gives us everything in return. Nothing that we
have is not from Him, there is no benefit, no good, no help, no joy in
this world that does not come from Him.

The blind man was given eyes that he might see the world for the first
time and he offered praise, not to clay or to the water of the pool, but
to God, whose power filled the clay and the pool in order to bring him
both spiritual and physical sight. God has given us all these things by
which we experience His grace. We should use them as often as possible
for our physical and spiritual benefit. Receive the sacraments
frequently, take the holy water, the holy oil, the icons and the other
holy things to your home and use them daily to receive as much as you
are able the grace of God made manifest in them. God has given to us
eyes to see and ears to hear his presence in the world. If we but look
around we will see the world filled with the glory of God and we too
will echo the praise of the blind man.

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

Acts 2:1- 11
The feast of Pentecost in the Orthodox Church is also often called the
feast of the Holy Trinity. On this day, fifty days after the
Resurrection, the disciples were gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem,
worshipping God. All of a sudden there is a sound like a “mighty rushing
wind” and tongues of flame descend from Heaven to rest upon the Apostles
and the Holy Spirit descends upon the gathered household. On this day
the promise of our Lord to his disciples that He would send to them
another Comforter Who would enable them to follow Himself was fulfilled.
The Holy Spirit has descended from Heaven – not as an incarnate man, for
that was the place of the Son alone, but entering into and filling the
hearts and souls of all who followed Christ. Unlike the descent of the
Spirit of God upon the prophets in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit
did not simply overshadow the believers, enveloping them for a brief
period from the outside, but rather He entered into their hearts and
souls and took up residence – living within them and joining Himself to
them. This “indwelling” of the Holy Spirit is continued in us even today
in the sacrament of Chrismation where by the anointment of Holy Chrism
(bringing the blessing of the laying on of hands of the Apostles through
their successors the bishops) each new believer is given “the Seal of
the gift of the Holy Spirit” From this moment on, we are joined to
Christ not only by the new birth of baptism, but also by the Holy Spirit
living in us.
Now it is clear to see how the Holy Trinity is made manifest in this
feast, but this is not the only feast wherein the mystery of the Holy
Trinity, one God in three persons, is revealed to us. In the feast of
the Baptism of Christ (Theophany or Epiphany) the mystery of the Trinity
is also very plain and clear, as we learn from the troparion of the
Feast – “the voice of the Father bears witness to the Son .. and the
Spirit in the form of a dove confirms the truthfulness of His words.”
What then makes this feast so closely linked with the mystery of the
Trinity making it more than the others a feast of the Trinity?
To answer this question we have to look at both the nature of God and
the nature of man. God is a unity of persons – a unity that is not just
in name only but also in essence such that these three persons, the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are not three separate beings, but
one being, One God. This mystery of how the One God can be the unity of
three persons and yet not be three beings plays at the very edge of our
ability to understand. We can see some images in nature (such as the
three states of matter or the sun as a unity of light, heat and the orb
in the sky) that present a metaphor, but these metaphors are inadequate
and don’t communicate the depth of the reality of both the unity and the
diversity of the unconfused union of the persons of the Trinity. Truly
this is a great mystery.
There is another unity of persons in the Creation that exists but which
we do not see because that unity has been marred and broken and we can
only see it from inside. That is the unity of mankind. God created man
in His image and likeness. Among the many things that this tells us
there is the fact that mankind was created to be, like God, a single
being manifest in many persons. We see this in the creation of Eve. She
was not created of the dust of the earth as was Adam, but was drawn from
his very essence, and thus shared his essence. They were two persons and
yet united as one being. Had they continued to live in that unity, both
with God and with one another, the unity of persons of the Trinity would
be evident in our very nature, for we too would be many persons, but a
single entity. The joys and sorrows of one member would be born by all
the members together for all were united in essence, and separate only
in hypostasis. But the unity of mankind was broken and shattered when
our first parents sinned. The effect of the ancestral sin was to shatter
that unity and destroy it so that Adam and Eve, who were once two
persons in one entity were now two separate individuals, their inner
unity broken by sin.
That broken unity is with us even today and only shadows of it remain.
The unity of the family, of the husband and wife or of the parents and
children; the unity of the clan or tribe calling itself “the people”:
these are echoes of the unity which we had at our creation but which we
lost through sin. Not only did sin break our unity with God, but it
broke our unity with one another. Now we are caught in the trap of
viewing the entire universe through the filter of the duality of “I” and
“not I” (to use language of the 19th and 20th century philosophers). “In
our direct consciousness, a person is something absolutely separate from
other persons” (Metr. Anthony Khrapovitsky). Our unity is shattered,
broken, destroyed and image and likeness of God in us is marred and hidden.
Now there is a new “unity” which is opened to us – and that is the unity
of the Church. The Church is the Body of Christ and the Apostle speaks
extensively on this idea of this Body in which all the believers are
united. There is only one Body of Christ, not many and all the members
of that body, while retaining the integrity of person are joined in one
entity – in one being. In Christ the unity of the unity of man, the
likeness of God with which we were created, is restored by the action of
the Holy Spirit in us. In joining Himself to us the Holy Spirit joins us
to one another in a dynamic and living way, restoring the unity that was
broken and lost in the fall. “The Church places the manifestation of the
Trinity as the very foundation of such a union of the regenerated: ‘When
the Most High came down and confused the tongues, He divided the
nations, but when He distributed the tongues of fire, He called all into
unity; therefore, with one accord we glorify the All-Holy Spirit.’ (the
Kontakion of Pentecost)” (Metr Anthony). The first Adam by his sin
shattered the unity of mankind and led us all to death, but the second
Adam (Jesus Christ), by His death destroyed death and restored us to the
unity which is our nature in His Body, the One Holy Catholic and
Apostolic Church.
What effect then does this have in our lives. We certainly still do not
experience this unity in its fullness for we are ourselves still
habituated to sin and so we do not perceive the things of the spiritual
life clearly. We can experience that unity in brief flashes, in moments
of our communal joy or sorrow. This is particularly manifest in the
common experience of the Church during Holy Week and Pascha as we share
both the suffering and sorrow of our Lord as well as His victory and
joy. We see the unity of a husband and wife – especially when that
marriage has endured all manner of trial and difficulty and has lasted
throughout many years. We see the unity of parents and their children.
We see the unity of a nation or culture bound together by blood and
centuries and generations of tradition and common life (but this is
becoming less and less as our society destroys these national
differences in an attempt to create a single homogenous culture
throughout the world). These are but brief flashes of the true unity
that exists in the Body of Christ.
We are given the command to love one another and to love our neighbor as
ourself. This kind of love is not possible when I see my neighbor as
separate from myself – as that which is “not I” and therefore opposed to
all that is “I”. In order to love my neighbor as myself, I must reach
out and restore that broken unity so that I see my neighbor as myself –
his joys are my joys and his sorrows are my sorrows. Only when I reach
out and restore that unity with my neighbor can I overcome the
brokenness of sin which separates us and truly love him as though he
were myself. The only way to fulfill Christ’s commandment to love one
another is for us to enter into the unity of the Body of Christ, to be
joined together into one entity by the Holy Spirit, to again be “like God”.
This mystery of the Holy Trinity – the mystery of one God in three
persons – is the mystery of the Church as well. It is the essence of our
healing and of the restoration which is begun in us by the rebirth of
baptism (we are born anew into the new unity of the Body of Christ) and
continued through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and His ongoing
action in us. This mystery of the restoration of our unity with one
another is begun with the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Church on
the day of Pentecost and for this reason we celebrate today not only the
events of this feast but also its inner mystery. Today we celebrate the
unity of the Trinity and the restoration of our likeness to God – the
unity of persons which is found within the Church. Today the Church is
born as the Body of Christ and today we are restored to unity with God
and with one another through the coming of the Holy Spirit to each of
us. The mystery of the Holy Trinity is inseparable from the mystery of
the Church for they are one and the same mystery. For this reason on the
feast of Pentecost we celebrate not only our unity, but also the unity
of the Holy Trinity.

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

Matthew 10:32-33, 37-38, 19:27-30

Brothers and sisters, it seems as though we have been either feasting or
fasting now for quite a long time. 6 months ago we were preparing for
the feast of our Lord’s Nativity, which is followed almost immediately
by the feast of His Baptism. These are the twin feasts celebrating the
incarnation – that God has become man and dwelt among us in order to
reveal Himself to us and call us to follow Him. Heaven descended to
earth on these feasts, He Who dwelleth in the highest has condescended
to take flesh and become like us in order that we might become like Him.
Shortly after these feasts we begin the preparation for Great Lent and
Holy Week. We follow our Lord, the God/man Jesus Christ, throughout His
life and finally through the final week of suffering, betrayal, torture,
death and burial. He goes from earth and descends even further to the
lowest depths of hades in order to confront our enemy death face to face
and there defeat him. Having conquered death our Lord frees the
captives, those who had died and were trapped in hades by the devil,
leading them finally to paradise opening for them the gates which had
been shut and locked by sin that they might enter in. Just in these
short few weeks we have traveled from the highest heaven to the depths
of hell. But death could not hold Him, hades could not confine Him and
He rose again from the dead. Our God having descended from earth to hell
has now ascended again to earth in the Resurrection. His work however is
not done for after briefly appearing again to his disciples, teaching
them and encouraging them, He ascended into heaven opening for us the
same path into the Kingdom of Heaven that we might follow Him. Again, He
ascends from earth to the heights of heaven, but has left for us all the
doors open that we might ascend with Him.

He did not, however, leave us alone to fend for ourselves and try to
walk the path to heaven on our own. He sent to us the Holy Spirit – God
again descending from heaven to earth – that He might guide us and
strengthen us and walk with us as we follow Christ on the path that
ascends from earth to heaven. So here we are, having liturgically begun
in the highest Heaven, descended to earth and again to the lowest depths
of hades, and ascended from there again to earth and on to the highest
heaven. From heaven, our Lord has reached down to us again and sent to
us the Holy Spirit to enable us to follow Him in His ascent.

Today, celebrating finally the feast of all saints, we have set before
us the result of the descent and ascent of our Lord and the indwelling
of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This is precisely what “the saints” are
– they are those who have, in their lives, embraced the One who
descended from heaven and followed Him even to the depths of hell and
ascended with Him in the Resurrection. They then saw before them the
path to Heaven as He ascended and with the help of the Holy Spirit
walked that path. The saints, through their lives, show us the process
and the result of following Christ. All the saints being remembered
today followed the example of Christ. And all of them in their time, in
their circumstances of life, fulfilled God’s commandment of love of God
and neighbor. Occasionally their times were difficult, maybe more
difficult than ours; and not infrequently their circumstances in life
were more dangerous in spiritual terms, and often in worldly terms were
worse than ours. But they still proceeded, struggled, and reached the
abodes on high where they now triumph. As we look at the lives of these
saints we see a wide variety: martyrs, confessors, ascetics, fools for
Christ, educated people, simple people, rich, poor, bishops, monastics,
lay people. The Church is all-embracing, and there is room for each of
us within her arms.

Like us, all of the saints were different people; and their paths were
different. But all of them, absolutely all, had three qualities which
they all possessed identically. These qualities are pointed out to us in
today’s Gospel. They are obligatory for everyone, and this means for us,
too; we cannot escape them. Here they are: ‘Whosoever therefore shall
confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father, which
is in heaven” (Mt. 10:32). This is the first thing. Do you see how
important this is for us modern-day people? It is as if the whole world
around us asks: “Are you Christ’s or one of ours?” We cannot leave this
question unanswered. In our speech, our actions, our thoughts and
feelings (for our feelings are somehow passed on to the others), we must
answer loud and firm: “Yes, I am a Christian! – I belong to Christ!”

Here is the second: “He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not
worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me, is not
worthy of Me” (Mt. l0:37). Here and now, the Lord demands from you and
me this all-consuming love — to love Him more than everyone and
everything. And only through this love for Him will we really be able to
love our relatives, strangers, and even our enemies.

Finally the third: “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth
after Me, is not worthy of Me” (Mt.l0:38). This instance does not even
require explanation. Each of us has his own sorrows and difficulties in
life; they are personal for each of us. It is a difficult and burdensome
cross, but we are commanded to take up our cross and follow Christ; and
this means these are the Will of God for us and work in us for our
salvation.

Here today we stand on the path of salvation, the path to Heaven, the
path of following Christ that He has revealed to us and opened for us.
Here today we have been filled with the Holy Spirit so that we might
never lose sight of the path and that we might be strengthened by His
grace to follow that path as we ascend with Christ from earth to Heaven.
We too are called to be saints and like all those we remember today, we
too must confess Christ with our whole lives, love Him above all else
with an all consuming love, and we must follow Him, even through the
cross and the descent into hell that having descended with Him, we might
also ascend with Him and remain with Him in Heaven.

Today, as we look at the Church we see the whole choir of the saints who
have gone on before us. They have shown us that no matter who we are in
this life, no matter what our circumstances, we can follow Christ and
with them, we will enter into His Heavenly Kingdom to live in the light
of His countenance for eternity.

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

Heb 11:33-12:2

Last week we celebrated the feast of All Saints and today we repeat that
feast, but in a more personal manner by celebrating the feast of All
Saints of Russia and North America. Last week was a global celebration
of the saints while this week we focus more on our own spiritual
heritage – those saints who were shaped by, and in turn, shaped the life
of the Church which we share. One of the common aspects of these
celebrations is that we read the same scriptures for both feasts – an
indication of how they are linked together. In the epistle to the
Hebrews, the Apostle Paul paints a beautiful verbal picture of the choir
of the saints, reminding us of the lives and spiritual labors of those
who have gone before us. He then says a remarkable thing about the
relationship between the saints and ourselves: “And these all, having
obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God
having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should
not be made perfect ….Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with
so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the
sin which doth so easily beset us, …” (Heb 11:39 – 12:1). The saints,
having completed their own struggles in this life do not immediately
enter into their reward, but rather they are waiting for us so that we
might all obtain that reward together. This is only fitting for we are
not separated from one another, we are not just a mob of individuals all
trying to get to a common destination – but we are united to one another
in one body – the Body of Christ. We are linked together just as the
parts of the body are joined and where one part of the body goes, the
rest goes with it. Until the whole body is ready to enter into the
Kingdom of Heaven then the rest of the body waits. The saints are
waiting for us.

But the saints do not wait idly. They encourage us; they pray for us;
they strengthen us, they intercede for us with God in order to help us
toward this goal. They do not abandon us, nor do they ignore us, nor are
they idle spectators patiently waiting – but they are our friends, our
helpers, our co-strugglers in the Christian life, our elder brothers and
sisters. Consider how great is their love for us – the love of Christ
which burns in them and which they hope to nurture in us. Their love for
us is the example for us for how we should manifest the love of God in
our own lives. At the end of his life, St Seraphim, told his followers
that they should come to him and tell him, as though he were alive, all
about themselves. “And I, wretched Seraphim, shall hear you, and
intercede for you with God.” This exemplifies the relationship of the
saints to us – that we should come to them and speak with them as though
they were alive (for they are indeed alive in Christ) and by the grace
of God they will hear us and they will intercede for us before God.

Compare this to how we sometimes act towards our brothers. Sometimes we
are open to those among our friends and brethren who come to us and pour
out their sorrows and sins and we pray for them. However, sometimes,
when it is inconvenient for us or uncomfortable for us, we try to cut
them off. Sometimes we see someone who is in pain in their lives and
because it reminds us of our own sins, we shut them out rather than
reach out to them. How can we do this – we are of one body. Can the hand
say to the foot, “Don’t bother me, we have nothing to do with one
another,” or the arm say to the head, “Oh just keep your aches to
yourself and let me get along with my own business.” How can we who are
joined to one another and who are part of the same body of Christ turn
our backs on our brethren and cut them off?

I know this is indeed the natural inclination that we all have – I know
that I have this inclination to shut out people who are inconvenient or
whom I have judged to be fools and let them suffer the consequences of
their foolishness on their own. I know that I am tempted to shut out and
ignore people who by their own suffering remind me that I too am a
sinner and suffer from the effects of my own sins. I am indeed just such
a wretch myself. It is against this self-centeredness and selfishness
that the love of God works in me. My own love is tainted by these
selfish impulses – but God’s love transcends them and impels me, like
our Lord Himself, to not only forgive and pray for those who harm me,
with whom I disagree, who annoy me, who make my life miserable – but to
sacrifice myself for them, just as our Lord Jesus Christ sacrificed
Himself for the Jews who judged Him, the soldiers who tortured Him, the
people who jeered Him and for me as well.

The saints, as they await us and as they see our foolishness, do not
reject us, do not turn away from us, but they reach out to us and pray
for us and help us whenever we call out to them. Imagine how we offend
them and cause them sorrow. They are joined to us and waiting for us and
we do everything in our power to offend them and to hinder the work of
Christ in us. They know and experience the healing power of the love of
God – and then they see how we deny that power and reject the work of
that love in our own lives. How they must despair that we will ever join
them and be ready to enter with them into our common reward. But no
matter how inconvenient we are to them, no matter how much we sin, no
matter how foolish we are – they do not turn away from us, they do not
shut us out, but they continue to pray for us and intercede for us with God.

So many times we are tempted to cut off our brother, to judge him
because he is annoying or inconvenient or doesn’t live as we think he
should. We see him through the filter of our own selfishness. What we do
not see is his suffering, his pain, his despair, his need – because to
see these things in him is to admit that they also exist in ourselves.
But this is just what the saints demonstrate to us – to set aside our
own selfishness, to replace our self-centeredness with the self
sacrificing love of God and to reach out to our brother, to embrace him,
to help him, to pray for him, to encourage him. My brother is part of my
salvation – just as the saints are waiting for us to enter into their
reward, so I am waiting for my brother and he is waiting for me. How can
I cut off my own arm or my own foot? If I do this, then I cut off myself
from the Body of Christ. The barriers that I raise against my brother
also cut me off from the saints – they cut me off from Christ Himself.
How can I be saved without my brother, how can the love of God fill me
if I turn it away when it is inconvenient or contradicts my own
selfishness. We who are many – separated by our own selfishness – are
made one – united together in one Body by the love of God and we are
saved together.

Brothers and sisters – let us remember that we are part of the One Body
of Christ, that we are united to one another and to the saints. Let us
imitate them as they shine with the light of Christ and are filled with
the love of God. At the Paschal service, and indeed throughout the whole
of the Paschal season, we sing this hymn, “Let us embrace each other!
Let us call “Brothers” even those that hate us, and forgive all…” The
saints, by their own lives and by their love for us even now demonstrate
the fulfillment of this Paschal hymn. Let us imitate them as they have
imitated Christ and do the same. Let us embrace each other – Let us call
one another “brother” – Let forgive one another and be joined to one
another that we might enter into the Kingdom of God together.

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

Matt 6:22-6:33

“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we
drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things
do the Gentiles seek: for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need
of all these things.”
This is the promise of God that He will care for us. All these basic
needs: food and drink, clothing, shelter are necessary for our survival.
And we need not even ask God for these things, He knows our needs and
provides for us. Not only these basic needs, God knows all our needs and
provides all of them.

If this were true then why don’t we all enjoy a full belly and a stocked
pantry? Why is there homelessness? Why are there those who do not have
sufficient clothing? Why are there the poor? Perhaps they don’t trust
God, perhaps they have offended God and He has withdrawn from them and
therefore they are poor. How foolish that is! What a preposterous thing
to think. If God’s provision were somehow dependent on our love for Him,
then we would all be paupers, for none of us love God as we should. No,
God provides for all our needs according to His knowledge of what we
need – it is our task to make use of His provision.
For a moment let us look at some examples of how God provides for the
needs of His people. When the Hebrews were wandering in the desert after
fleeing Egypt, they found it difficult to find food, for they were in a
great desert. After the lush farms of Egypt, it must have seemed to them
that God’s table was pretty sparse. Moses brought the needs of his
people before God and God provided for them – not the banquet of fine
food, but the daily miraculous fall of manna from the sky. This food was
not notably tasty or a gourmet item, but it provided for the needs of
the people. God does not, however, always provide miraculous food. There
are also in the accounts of the lives of the saints many instances in
which God provided food in a much simpler manner. And beyond that there
were those saints (for example the desert dwellers) who required only a
little food and were sustained on a few ounces of bread and a little
water each day. There are those among the martyrs (for example the
martyr Maria of Persia) who were thrown into the dungeon and starved.
There was no food, but they drew their sustenance from God as did the
angels without having to eat. So many ways in which God sees the need of
the people for food to sustain themselves each day and provides that
sustenance according to the needs of each. For some it is the miraculous
fall of manna, for others it is the gift of a stranger, for others it is
to reduce the need for food or even to remove it altogether. And for
most of us, God provides simply by making food available to us in the
normal course of our lives – only our gluttony or desire for “fine food”
or “pure food” or “tasty food” gives us anxiety.

In their 40 year wandering in the wilderness, the Hebrews did not have
the ability to supply all their clothing needs as they would have if
they were settled. But God did not fail them for beyond all reason,
their clothing did not wear out, did not deteriorate for the whole time
of their wandering in the wilderness. And again, this is not the only
manner by which God sees that need and provides for us. St Mary of Egypt
spent the majority of her life in the desert beyond the Jordan river and
saw no man. The desert can be hot in the day and cold at night. The land
is harsh and filled with rocks and abrasive plants. Clothing is
necessary to provide protection from the sun or warmth in the cold and
to cover the skin and protect it from the harshness of the land. When St
Zosima met St Mary, she ran from him at first but when finally he pled
with her not to flee but to speak with him of her life, she asked that
he give her a cloak for she was naked. The clothing she had worn when
she entered her life in the desert had long ago disintegrated and she
had nothing with which to protect herself or to keep warm. But she did
not ask for the cloak because she was cold or as a shade from the sun –
she asked for the cloak only out of modesty to cover her naked body and
hide it from the gaze of another person. God provided for her needs
without giving her clothing, protecting her from the sun and warming her
in the cold and keeping her from injury. Her only need for covering was
for modesty. God provided for the Hebrews by keeping their clothing from
wearing out, but for St Mary He eliminated the need for clothing
altogether providing warmth and shade and protection by the hands of the
angels. And for most of us God provides clothing almost without effort –
it is only our vanity that causes to worry.

Today we also celebrate the memory of the Apostle Barnabas. In the
account of his life it is recorded that he died on the island of Cypress
but no one knew where he was buried. Centuries later, the apostle
appeared to the Archbishop of Cypress in a dream and directed him to the
place of his burial. This was not just so that the saint could be
venerated but rather, at this time the Church of Antioch was attempting
to absorb the Cypriot Church under its administration but the finding of
his burial place confirmed that the Church of Cypress was of apostolic
origin and therefore should be independent. God saw the need of the
Church to resolve this question of order and the need for internal peace
and through the Apostle Barnabas, He provided for this need.

Also today we remember the miraculous revelation of the hymn “It is
truly meet…” (‘Axion esti’ in Greek or ‘Dostoyno yest’ in Salvonic). On
Mt Athos a monk was reading the canon of the Mother of God in the cave
church that he shared with his elder (they lived in caves on the face of
a cliff, almost impossible to get to). The elder had gone to celebrate
the feast at the larger monastery church but instructed his disciple to
sing the service at their own chapel so that it would not be without the
services on this feast day. As he was singing “More Honorable than the
cherubim…” a man appeared at the door of the cave church and began
singing “It is truly meet…” The monk hearing this hymn was struck by
both the words the heavenly singing of the stranger. When he asked about
the hymn, the stranger replied “this is how we sing it at my home.” The
monk desired to learn this hymn and asked the stranger to write it down.
But there was nothing with which to write and so the stranger took a
marble tablet and wrote on it with his finger as though it were made of
wax. Having given the monk this hymn the stranger, who was in truth the
Archangel Gabriel, disappeared. The monk told his elder of this
happening when he returned and the marble tablet was taken first to the
main monastery and then all the way to the Patriarch. The Church
witnessed the truth of this hymn which we now sing at nearly every
service. But to give us this hymn there was a need for a tablet upon
which to write – and seeing that need God provided (as He did with the
Prophet Moses and the tables of the law) a stone upon which the words
were written as though it were wax. Again, God provides in the manner
according to His will and our need.

We have seen how God sees our needs and provides for them in a variety
of ways – He provides for us not necessarily in the manner in which we
think He should or that “makes sense” to us or even what fits our plans
best, but rather He provides in the manner that is best for our
situation and our salvation. The basic fact to remember is that God does
provide for us regardless of how He does it. It is only up to us to
trust Him and to use what He gives to us.

Having thus been freed from the need to spend our time and energy on
acquiring our material needs, what are we to do? This freedom too is not
without purpose for our Lord goes on to give us our primary task: “But
seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness”. Our primary
task is not to make sure we have food or clothing or shelter or any
other worldly need – God will provide all that – our primary task is to
acquire the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. This is what St
Seraphim also tells us, that the purpose of the Christian life is to
acquire the Holy Spirit. The grace of God is our greatest need – not
food nor clothing nor shelter nor any other worldly thing. If we spend
our time and energy pursuing the Kingdom of God then we can be sure that
God will provide for all our other needs. “Seek ye first the Kingdom of
God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.”

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

John 8:5-13
Romans 6:18-23

A centurion came to Jesus to ask that He heal his sick servant. This is
a remarkable event just on its own premise for the centurion was
certainly a Roman and not a Jew and had no reason to ask anything of our
Lord, for to the Romans – especially the soldiers – the Jews were a
conquered people and the Romans, to their minds, had proven themselves
superior to the Jews. Why then would a Roman centurion come to ask
something of a Jew. This occurrence is not unlike the encounter of our
Lord with the woman at the well – however in that case the Jews
considered themselves superior to the Samaritans. The woman was amazed
that Jesus would even speak to her and ask something of her – and in
this case it was just as amazing that a Roman centurion would seek out
Jesus to speak to Him and ask something of Him. However just as our Lord
reached out to the woman of Samaria, so also, demonstrating His great
compassion and love for all men, He reached out to this centurion.

The centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant who was lying at home,
paralyzed and in torment. However as our Lord began to prepare to go to
the home of the centurion to heal the servant, the centurion said a
remarkable thing. “Lord I am not worthy that You should come under my
roof. But only speak a word and my servant will be healed.” The great
faith of the centurion in the power of God was revealed in this
statement – this then was the reason that this Roman centurion sought
out Jesus Christ, a Jew to ask of Him a favor; simply, he believed. And
more than that, this Roman centurion said another remarkable thing to
Jesus, “I am not worthy that you should come under my roof.” This man,
who was the victor, the conqueror, who was counted by all the world as
“superior” says to a person of a defeated, subjected people – “I am not
worthy that You should come under my roof.” What a remarkable evidence
of not only faith but humility here. By his simple statement, this Roman
centurion exhibited two great virtues, faith and humility.

This statement of the centurion is preserved for us and given to us as a
model of prayer by the Church. In the preparation for Holy Communion,
one of the prayers appointed to be read is that of St John Chrysostom.
Like the centurion we come to Christ asking Him to enter into the house
of our body through Holy Communion and like the centurion we begin with
humility, acknowledging our own unworthiness for we say, “I am not
worthy, O Master, that Thou shouldest enter beneath the roof the of the
temple of my soul for all is empty and fallen and Thou hast not in me a
place worthy to lay Thy head.” Here we confess our own unworthiness and
our own fallen and sinful state. In our fallen pride, we consider
ourselves to be the equal of God – or at least that we do not need Him.
But only when we lay aside that pride and approach Him with humility can
we say with the centurion – “I am not worthy that You should come
beneath the roof of my soul.” First, like the centurion we must believe
and have faith that we need the help and assistance that only God can
give, that we are too weak and powerless in ourselves to accomplish the
task of our salvation. The root of all sin is pride, the belief that I
am all powerful and all sufficient, pride in my own ability, my own
strength, my own individuality. This pride separates me not only from
God but from my fellow man, for in my pride I think that I have no need
of anyone else and, even more, that I am better than anyone else. We are
brought up with this pride from our youth and the language of our
popular culture expresses it well. We are taught that we must be
self-sufficient, self-reliant and that we must have self-esteem and
self-worth. However, in order to follow Christ we must first deny
ourselves and become instead reliant upon God, depending on God’s
sufficiency, and we must know that we are valued and esteemed by God. We
must, in short, sacrifice our “self” and take instead that which God
freely provides for us. In so doing, instead of separating myself from
God, I join myself to Him – as we heard today, the Holy Apostle said,
“Having been set free from sin we have become slaves of God.”

Not only have I, in my pride separated myself from God, but in
attempting to order my own life without Him, I have taken this being
(myself) that He has created and ruined it. The house of my soul, which
was built as a fine mansion for a great King has been given to me to
adorn with the virtues and with piety provided by God Himself. But in my
pride and foolishness, I reject that which God has given and instead
make a shambles of my soul with the vulgar and garish passions and now
all is fallen into ruin. In our pride, as the Apostle reminded us, we
have “presented our members as slaves of uncleanness and of lawlessness
leading to more lawlessness … (and) the wages of sin is death” So now,
even though we have repented of our sin, even though we have joined
ourselves to God, we have nothing worthy to present to him, but only the
soul that has been ruined and spoiled by our own self will. And yet even
so we have hope that He will enter in and restore the beauty and
grandeur that was lost.

Throwing all of our hopes upon God and having joined ourselves to Him,
we then recall His great love and compassion such that He has humbled
Himself for our sake and for our salvation. We ask Him once again to
lower Himself and as He once consented “to lie in a cave and in a manger
so also (to) consent to lie in the manger of my irrational soul and
enter into my defiled body.” Here we confess that we have ruined our
soul and that it is now no better than a cave and that we have sunk to
the level of the beasts. “And as thou didst not refuse to enter and dine
with sinners in the house of Simon the leper, so deign also to enter
into the house of my lowly soul, leprous and sinful” And even now our
soul continues to be a place of contagion and uncleanness but still we
have hope that our Lord will enter in and cleanse us by His presence.
“And as thou didst not reject the harlot and sinner like me, when she
came and touched Thee, so be compassionate also with me a sinner, as I
approach and touch Thee.” See now how we compare ourselves to the harlot
who came an anointed the feet of Jesus with ointment and washed them
with her own tears. She did these things out of her own repentance and
sorrow for her sins. Likewise this is what is needed from us – to repent
and to grieve over our sins.

Having set aside our pride and having joined ourselves to Christ and
having confessed our sins and repented of them, we now place our hope
upon Christ and we say with St John in this prayer, “But let the fiery
coal of Thy most holy Body and Thy precious Blood be unto me for
sanctification and enlightenment, for the healing of soul and body,
…unto the application of Thy divine grace and unto the acquiring of Thy
kingdom.” It is the precious Body and Blood of our Lord which eliminates
our sin and burns from us all of the evil which remains and it is the
precious Body and Blood of our Lord which brings to us the divine grace
which heals and repairs the ravages of sin and restores the soul to its
former beauty and brings us finally into the Kingdom of God.

We are not worthy that our Lord has come to us for in our sin and pride
we have separated ourselves from Him and we have ruined the soul which
He gave to us. However, if we set aside our pride, if we place all of
our hope in Christ, if we confess our sins and repent of our sins, if we
make ourselves slaves to righteousness and turn from evil and do good,
then just as the wages of sin is death, so also the gift of God, Who
gives us His own most holy Body and His own precious Blood, is eternal life.

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

Today we celebrate the lives of Sts Peter and Fevronia of Murom. These
saints are an example of what a Christian marriage should be and in
recognition of that their feast is marked in Russia today as the Day of
Family, Love and Faithfulness. This new holiday, celebrating family
values such as love and faithfulness, is important not only for Russia,
but for all people no matter what our origins and culture. These values
and institutions – Christian marriage, the family, sacrificial love and
faithfulness – are at the very foundation of Christian society, and not
only a Christian society, but any society. It is true, that in the US we
have “Mother’s Day” and “Father’s Day” where we remember our own parents
and all who in one way or another become Mother and Father to us, and
these celebrations are important for the core of any family is the
mother and father, and we have many “family holidays” that focus on
being together with our loved ones and family members, however, it is
the recognition of the family itself and the self sacrificing love that
is necessary for a family to survive that is the focus of this holiday
and that is evident in the lives of Sts Peter and Fevronia.
Both Peter and Fevroina were good and God-loving people. Peter was a
prince, the brother of the ruler of the city of Murom and Fevronia was a
peasant. The ruler of Murom, Peter’s brother, the prince Paul, was
married to a woman who had been deceived by a demon and was held under
its power. It was through the prayers and actions of Peter that she was
delivered. This demon appeared in the form of a serpent and like St
George of old who slew a demon appearing as a dragon, so also Peter slew
the serpent demon that had enthralled his sister-in-law, freeing her. In
the course of this battle Peter was injured and searching for healing he
found the maiden Fevronia. Fevronia was also a pious and God loving
woman who, because of her prayers and humility had been given by God the
gifts of wisdom and healing. Through her intercessions the prince Peter
was healed of his injuries and seeing her piety and love of God he also
married her even though she was a peasant. This unequal marriage
demonstrates for us the necessary element of humility in marriage for
Peter, as a prince and nobleman was entitled to marry a princess and not
a peasant of no means – and yet he set aside his rights and his pride
and took as a wife instead Fevronia who was impoverished in worldly
terms but rich in the grace of God.
Sometime after their marriage, Peter’s brother, the ruler of the city,
died and Peter became the ruler of Murom in his place. The aristocrats
of Murom were willing to accept Peter as their ruler but grumbled at his
wife for they saw her as a poor and impoverished peasant, not
recognizing her spiritual stature. They plotted against her and brought
Prince Peter to the place finally where he had to choose to remain in
Murom as ruler without his wife Fevronia – or to go with his wife into
exile and give up his rightful place as prince of the city. Remembering
that in the word of God it was written that “whosoever shall put away
his wife, saving for the cause of unchastity, makes her an adultress” he
chose to remain faithful to his wife and marriage and surrendered the
rule of his city and to go into exile with her. As they were journeying
together away from the city of Murom, Peter was filled with doubt
whether he had done the right thing, for he did not take his
responsibility to the people of the city lightly and to lay down his
authority was a grievous thing for him. His wife, Fevronia, encouraged
him saying, “Do not grieve, my Prince, for the merciful God, our
Creator, who directs our life, will never forsake us to misfortune.” The
very next morning as they were preparing to continue their journey,
representatives of the people of Murom came to Peter asking him to
return and again be their ruler saying that in his absence, the ones who
had plotted against him had fallen into conflict as each strove to seize
power and had been killed. Those who remained desired that Peter and
Fevronia should return and take up again the rule of the city. Hearing
this they returned to the city and ruled it according to the
commandments of God.
Pause for a moment and look at the importance of the value of marriage
and the self-sacrifice and faithfulness that is required by those in the
marriage to preserve it. Too often we forget that marriage is not the
instrument of the fulfillment of our own passions and desires, but
rather it is an instrument of self-sacrifice wherein the husband and
wife sacrifice themselves and their own self-will, desires and passions
for one another. Peter humbled himself and gave up his pride when he
took Fevronia as his wife. When there was turmoil in the city over her
presence, Fevronia agreed to go into exile sacrificing herself for her
husband. He also sacrificed his place and privilege and surrendered even
the rule of his city in order to preserve his marriage. If for nothing
else this should speak to us of the kind of self-sacrificial love that
is at the root and core of a marriage and of a family. Also it is
important to note that when the city of Murom rejected the Christian
marriage of their ruler and exiled the Prince and Princess, the society
fell apart. When the marriage returned to the city order was restored.
This shows us the importance of marriage for the stability of society.
Having returned to the city of Murom, Peter and Fevronia proved to be
loving rulers helping their people at every opportunity through prayers
and alms and treating the people of the city as their own children.
Although they had worldly riches and power, this meant nothing to the
Prince and Princess, but instead the strove to use those worldly things
in order to lay up treasures in heaven. The list of their deeds of
charity, kindness, hospitality and love are beyond counting or enumerating.
When they came finally to the end of their lives, Peter and Fevronia
came together to dedicate themselves to the One Whom they loved above
all and with mutual consent took monastic tonsure becoming David and
Euphronsinia respectively. By God’s grace they were granted by God to
depart this world at the same moment. Although initially they were
prepared to be buried separately, by the miraculous help of God, their
bodies appeared together in a dual casket – joined in the Kingdom of God
as they had been joined in life, inseparably in the bonds of marriage.
We can see from their lives how Sts Peter and Fevronia exemplified the
value of marriage and family in their lives and the value of
self-sacrificing love and faithfulness. Their example reminds us that we
should also strive to express these things in our own lives. Marriage is
not, as we said, simply the means for the fulfillment of desire, nor is
it (as the world says) simply a promise and contract by two people to
join their worldly possessions in joint venture for as long as that
venture remains profitable and desirable. Marriage is much more than
this – marriage is the sacramental joining of husband and wife into one
entity; an icon as it were of the unity of the persons of the Trinity
and the family that results of this joining becomes an image of the
Church, all of us joined together by the bonds of love for one another
and ruled over by Christ. In order for a family to survive and to
thrive, it is necessary for every member to sacrifice himself for all
the others. We have seen an example of self-sacrificing love in the
marriage of Peter and Fevronia. In bringing children into the world the
parents sacrifice the life they have up to this point and give all that
they have for the upbringing and welfare of their children. And children
must also sacrifice their own self will, voluntarily and joyfully
submitting themselves to the authority and guidance of their parents.
Without this self-sacrificial love the family becomes a chaotic mob,
each member scrabbling to grab for himself as much as he can. Children
become demanding tyrants without discipline or limits; parents neglect
their children and each other trying to live their own lives; husbands
and wives seek the fulfillment of their own desires at the expense of
the other. When even one member of a family is without this self
sacrificial love, disruption is brought into the family and its
integrity is threatened.
Within the family it is necessary first for the husband and wife to
sacrifice themselves for each other and to give themselves unselfishly
to one another. When children enter into this self-sacrificing love, it
is the duty of the parents to begin to teach the children to set aside
their own will and to live in peace and harmony with one another in
submission to the loving discipline of the parents. If parents do not do
this firmly from the beginning then with each passing day and year it
becomes more and more difficult to teach children to cut off their own
will and to submit themselves to their parents and to one another. This
learning is vital for it is in the school of the family that we learn
how to deny our own will and submit ourselves to the will of God. If we
as children do not learn this from our parents, then the lessons as
adults become hard and sometimes tragic.
On this day let us recall the example of Sts Peter and Fevronia and
strive to emulate their love of God above all, their self-sacrificial
love for one another and the care and love for our children which they
exhibited in their care and love for the people of the city of Murom.
These values of marriage, family, sacrificial love, and faithfulness
that we see in their lives are anchors that hold not only our personal
lives but the whole of society steady. In our lives, as in theirs, the
unity of the Trinity and of the Church are made manifest and heaven is
revealed. Holy Sts Peter and Fevronia pray to God for us.

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

The Akhtyrka icon of the Mother of God which we venerate today was found
in the Russian province of Kharkov near the city of Akhtyrka in 1739.
The rector of the Dormition Church there, Fr Vassily Danilov, was a
righteous man and fervent in faith. One day as he went out into the
fields to try a new scythe (for cutting grain) he saw lying in the grass
before him an icon of the Mother of God from which shone a great light.
Forgetting all else (including his new scythe), he fell on his knees and
began to pray, singing hymns to the Mother of God. He picked up the icon
and brought it to his home. For the next three years, the icon remained
in his home where it was honored and venerated. Despite Fr Vassily’s
piety, over the years the icon was not cared for as it should have been.
After three years, Fr Vassily, in a dream, received a command from the
Mother of God that he should clean the icon (as it had become covered
with dust) with water and that he should then embellish it (with a
riza). Immediately he awoke and cleaned the icon as he had been
directed. The next night, again in a dream, he saw himself going down to
the river to pour out the water that he had used to clean the icon, but
he was stopped by the Mother of God who instructed him to save this
water and give it to those who were sick for they would be healed. At
that time, Fr Vassily had a daughter suffering from malaria and after
drinking of the water from the icon she was immediately healed. Others
who were suffering from malaria were also healed as well as those who
suffered from other illnesses. Fr Vassily took the icon from his home
and enshrined it in the Church. As the word of these healings became
known, the Holy Synod ordered an examination of the authenticity of
these reports. Three times an investigation was made and each time the
miraculous healing power of the icon was upheld. Finally, in 1751, the
icon was proclaimed to be wonderworking by the Holy Synod . The Empress
Elizabeth (Petrovna) had developed an interest in the icon and caused a
stone Church to be built for the icon in the town of Akhtyrka.
Before this official proclamation, in 1748, the Baroness Vedel came to
pray before the icon asking for healing for herself. She had two young
daughters who would be orphaned if she died and so she prayed ferevently
to the Mother of God before this icon for help. That night in a dream
she saw the Most Blessed Lady who told her that she would not be healed
and that within a few days time she would die. The Virgin instructed the
Baroness to distribute all of her worldly possessions to the needy in
preparation for her death. The Baroness pled then for her daughters who
would be orphans and without any means, but the Virgin promised her that
she herself would care for the children. Trusting in the care of the
Virgin, the Baroness did as she had been instructed and through her alms
and charity built up for herself treasure in heaven in preparation for
her death. Within 5 days she died. When the Empress heard of the death
of the Baroness, she herself took the girls into her own household and
raised them, arranging for favorable marriages with pious noblemen.
At the beginning of the Bolshevik revolution, the icon was stolen and
its whereabouts are not known, however, many copies had been made and
were distributed throughout the whole world. One of these copies was in
Harbin China and has been kept by the Russian Church Outside Russia as
the protectress of the Committee of the Russian Orthodox Youth and today
remains in Australia (where it is present at all youth conferences and
other Church functions involving the youth of the Church).
Many of us have had an experience similar to that of Fr Vassily when he
discovered the icon. We go about our lives doing the best that we can,
praying and living righteously, but suddenly we are confronted with a
great spiritual treasure. It may not be a miraculous icon, but may
simply be a miracle that occurs in our life, a great blessing that
befalls us, a moment of spiritual enlightenment when we sense clearly
the presence of God with us or see the spiritual life clearly, or some
other great spiritual event in our lives. And in that moment we are
inspired to pray and to worship God forgetting all else. But as the
years go on, we continue to treasure that memory but it fades ever so
gently into the background. We don’t “care for” the gift of God as we
should so that it remains an inspiration to us and we begin to take for
granted the blessings that God gives us daily.
For Fr Vassily, the Mother of God came to him in a dream to awaken him
out of his complacency and send him back to the icon to wash away the
dust that had collected and to restore it again as an inspiration not
only to him but to others. We too need to awaken from our complacency –
look back again on your life, remember those moments of great
illumination and blessing that God has given to you. “Dust them off”
removing the layers of complacency and renew them to their proper place
as encouragements and blessings in the spiritual life. Were you
delivered from some great trial? Did you receive some great blessing? Do
you have a parent/sibling/spouse/child/friend who has inspired you to
draw nearer to God? Were you enlightened with some great spiritual
insight or understanding? Were you granted to go on a pilgrimage to some
holy place where you received a blessing? Did some holy relic or icon
come into your home or life? Renew these memories, refresh them daily in
your life, thanking God for his great blessings. Let these moments of
great light, which shone in your life as the icon of the Mother of God
did in the life of Fr Vassily, again enlighten you and refresh the grace
of God in you.
After washing the icon, Fr Vassily was instructed by the Virgin Mary not
to discard the water for it was filled with the grace of God. We too
must open our eyes and hearts and begin to see how those things around
us that appear “ordinary” also bear the grace of God and can be used for
the healing of the soul. Not just the memory of a great blessing, but
all of those small acts in our lives become instruments of blessing. To
speak a kind word, to do a favor for a friend, to forgive a wrong, the
giving of alms, extending hospitality – all of these things and more
serve not only to benefit oneself with the grace of God, but also
benefit the ones to whom you offer them.
Open your eyes, look around and see the many blessings that God gives
you each moment. Some will be obvious and great (such as the discovery
of the Akhtyrka icon) and inspire a great response of prayer and
spiritual blessing. Others are ordinary parts of our lives which, when
we look at them with spiritual eyes, also bring blessings not only to
ourselves, but to those around us (not unlike the water with which the
icon was washed).
Today we have a copy of this wonderworking icon before us and we see in
it nearly 300 years of blessings brought about by its presence. In just
a few weeks we will be visited by another wonderworking icon of the
Mother of God – the Myrrhstreaming Hawaii icon of the Virgin. Here again
we will have a chance to experience the mercy and grace of God in a
special way. Do not let these memories fade into complacency, but keep
them alive so that day by day they might become a fountain of the grace
of God pouring into your soul.


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

Rom 15:1-7

One of the virtues that we frequently hear about, but rarely think
about, is hospitality. How can entertaining and hosting friendly
gatherings be considered a spiritual quality – hospitality seems to be
much more a social quality. But indeed, true hospitality is much more
than just having a great party, or getting friends together for a good
time. Hospitality, as a Christian virtue, is described by the words we
heard today in the Epistle. “We then that are strong ought to bear the
infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of
us please his neighbour for his good to edification. For even Christ
pleased not himself;… Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also
received us to the glory of God.” When we consider hospitality in this
light, it becomes an act of self denial. When someone is invited into
our home, their needs and comfort becomes more important than our own.
We don’t expect a guest to cook a meal, or to wash clothes or dishes, or
to run the vacuum cleaner. When we open our home to a guest, we provide
for their needs before our own. The widow of Zarepheth, when she gave
hospitality to the prophet Elijah in the middle of a famine, had only a
handful of meal and a little oil – she had planned to make a little
cake, share it with her son and then die as they had no other food. But
before she fed herself and her son from this final morsel of food, she
fed her guest, giving him literally all the food she had for herself. (1
Kings 17:10ff) In many cultures and eras, hospitality even overruled
personal grudges. Not only friends, but enemies were extended
hospitality in times of need – and when one was a guest of another, all
personal antipathy was set aside and no one would dare raise his hand
against either the host or even another guest, for such behavior would
violate the hospitality of the house and insult the host.

If we are Christians, then the name implies that we are people of
hospitality. We are to open our homes to guests and pilgrims and to
properly provide for their comfort and care. We should, as the apostle
said, “receive one another as Christ also received us.” In doing so, we
do not please ourselves, but we strive to please our neighbor. The
second great commandment of the law, after loving God is to love one’s
neighbor as one’s self and when asked who is my neighbor Jesus responded
with the parable of the good Samaritan, pointing out to us that all men
are our neighbors. The Apostle John tells us that if we do not love our
neighbor then we do not love God. (1John 4:20,21). Hospitality for our
neighbor then is simply a manifestation of our love for God.

The first one to Whom we offer hospitality then is Jesus Christ. I want
Jesus to enter into the house of my soul – this is in fact the very plea
that I express in the prayers as I prepare to receive the Holy
Mysteries. But my soul is in ruin, the roof is fallen, there is dirt and
grime and disarray everywhere. How can I receive the King of all into my
house when it is so ill prepared. I am concerned with my own affairs,
with my own comfort, with my own pleasure. I am self centered and self
absorbed. How can I open the door of my soul to Christ. He has come to
me and knocks on the door and is ready to enter in, but leave Him
standing on the threshold because I am not ready to deny myself, I am
not ready to change my selfish ways, I am not ready to give up even my
surplus, let alone the last morsel I have for Him. I am, in fact, still
consumed by my own sin. And yet He continues to knock and seek entrance
to the house of my soul.

How then can I receive Him? What must I do to open the doors of the
house of my soul that I might let Him enter. Certainly, I must “clean
house” and begin to set aright all that is in disarray. Must I then
become perfect – no this is not possible for any man and certainly not
for me. It is enough that I am willing to begin to deny myself and to no
longer please myself, but to please Christ. He asks only those things of
us that we are able to provide – and as we get more apt at denying
ourselves, so He then increases little by little what He asks of us,
until we are able to completely set aside our love of self and instead
love God and our neighbor.

As we open the house of the soul to Christ, He shows us little by little
where our sin still holds us captive and invites us, through repentance,
to turn that sin over to Him that He might free us from its hold. When
we repent of our sins, He forgives our sins and His forgiveness begets
love for Him in us. The more we repent, the more we are forgiven, and
the more we are forgiven, the more we love Him.

There is a tale of a man who desired to have the Lord come bodily to him
that he might receive Him in his home. Seeing his fervent desire, the
Lord said to the man that tomorrow He would come. All the next day the
man waited, but only his neighbors came to visit – this one needing some
help, that one in sorrow, another with some problem. This went on all
day, many visitors, but the Lord did not come. As the man poured out his
sorrow in prayer that the Lord did not come, he recalled all those that
did come to his house that day and in each person, by the grace of God,
he saw not the face of his neighbor, but the face of Christ. And here he
learned that indeed the Lord did come to him, and just as he received
his neighbor so he had received Christ.

After forgiveness and the love of God which is born of it, this then
shows us that as we receive others, so we receive Christ. As we invite
them into our homes and into our lives, so also we invite Christ into
the house of our soul. As we please them instead ourselves, so also we
have made that first step on the path to follow Christ – to deny myself.
By receiving others, we receive also Christ as He has received us to the
glory of God.

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

Matthew 14:14-22

Hearing of the death of John the Baptist at the hand of Herod, our Lord,
Jesus Christ withdrew from Jerusalem. He did this to keep from being
arrested Himself as the time appointed for His crucifixion had not yet
come. He departed from Jerusalem into the wilderness where there were no
resources, but even so the people followed him. Not only did the men
follow Him to hear His teaching, but also they brought their families,
wives and children – such was their devotion to Him. Jesus had
compassion on them and healed the sick who were brought to Him. As the
day passed, it was apparent to the disciples that there was no food for
the people and spurred by their human compassion, they implored Jesus to
send them all home that they might be able to get their own food and
drink. Jesus, wishing to teach His disciples an important lesson,
replied that they should feed the people. The disciples were at a loss
for they themselves had very little food – just a few loaves and a
couple of fish. There was no way that this little bit could even begin
to provide for the crowd that had followed Jesus. Jesus instructed them
to bring the food they had to Him. He blessed it and broke the loaves in
pieces and gave it back to the disciples, instructing them to distribute
it. And here there was a great miracle for those 5 loaves and 2 fishes
were sufficient to feed the whole crowd – 5000 men plus the women and
children who were with them – with 12 baskets full of remnants; more
than they had had in the beginning.

  From this miracle, we see an example of how God bountifully provides
for us, however, it is not just an example of God’s provision, but also
a lesson in how we come to God seeking His assistance. First we look at
the people who came – they left everything behind, taking no thought for
their personal needs. The only thing they desired was to be near Jesus
Christ. These people lived out the teaching of Christ in the sermon on
the mount, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or,
What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all
these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth
that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of
God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto
you.” (Matt 6:31-33). When we seek help from God, we leave behind all
our worldly concerns and focus only on that which is important – to seek
the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. If we seek this, then all of
our other needs will be provided by God. What does this mean then in our
prayers? There is no need to constantly ask God for that which we need
(or think we need) in this world – He knows our needs and will provide
them. We should instead focus on our spiritual needs. Thus we need not
ask for a house, a car, riches, clothes, possessions – God will give us
what we need. But that is hard sometimes for we are surrounded by our
worldly needs. How then should we pray? It is sufficient to tell God our
needs, our woes, our worries, our anxieties, our concerns and then to
simply release them into His care by saying, “Thy will be done” or
simply “Lord have mercy”. Having unburdened our hearts to Him, then we
continue in prayer by asking for those things which only He can give –
the grace of the Holy Spirit, the establishment of the virtues in our
hearts, strength to fulfill His will in our lives and to work out our
salvation. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness…”

Having taken this example from the crowd that followed Jesus let us turn
now to the disciples. When they first saw the problem, they came to
Jesus asking Him to act according to the only solution that made sense
to their worldly reasoning. Jesus, however, in order to teach them,
turned the request around and told them to feed the crowd. This was
certainly not what they were expecting. Here was their Lord refusing to
even consider the reasonable course of action and instead asking them to
do the impossible. What was He saying, how could He expect them to feed
all these people. When they asked how they were to do this impossible
thing, Jesus asked them to give Him what they had – the obviously
inadequate loaves and fishes. He blessed it and gave it back to them so
they could hand out this inadequate provision to the people. Now we have
to credit the disciples with incredible faith here for instead of
complaining, they took the few pieces of bread and fish and began to
hand them out. And instead of running out, the bread and fish kept
coming and coming and coming until all the people were fed.

We come to Jesus seeking salvation and we do the things that seem right
to us. We try to be “good” (whatever “good” is) and to be a nice person.
But Jesus asks of us the impossible – to be perfect as our Father in
heaven is perfect. He does this to point out to us that our perspective
is flawed, we are reasoning with our fallen worldly wisdom – but He is
calling us to a whole new place, the Kingdom of God. By asking the
impossible, He shocks us out of our complacency and self satisfaction
that we are “good enough”. Our response, like that of the Apostles, is
basically, “How? How can I do what you ask? Its beyond my ability,
beyond my resources”. But Jesus doesn’t leave us there, stunned and
helpless. He asks of us what we can give – our 5 loaves and 2 fishes. He
asks us to give Him what we do have and accepts it from us. He then
takes our imperfect, inadequate lives from us and bestows on us His
blessing. Then He gives it all back to us and tells us to go do that
impossible thing again – this time with His help.

At this point we are faced with a decision. Will we throw up our hands
in despair and give up or will we act with the same faith of the
disciples and take what He has given us (even though we don’t see how
its going to work out yet) and begin to do as He asks? The disciples
took the blessed bread and the two fishes and began to feed the people.
They didn’t understand how it would work and didn’t even see it happen,
but somehow the whole crowd was fed. For us this is the key – to act in
faith, trusting that even though we can’t see beyond our next step, that
Jesus knows the whole path and will carry us through to the end, one
step at a time. When the prophet Moses following the instruction of God
to go and bring the people of Israel out from Egypt was stopped at every
turn by Pharaoh, he turned to God in prayer saying that he couldn’t do
it. God’s reply to Moses is something that we can all take to heart
“"Now you will see what I will do...I am the Lord and I will bring you
out from under ... I will take you to me for a people and I will be to
you a God and you shall know that I am the Lord your God..." All we have
to do is to act in faith and then we too “will see what [God] will do”
in our lives.

Here in this feeding of the multitude we can learn lessons about seeking
help from God both from the crowd and from the disciples. From the crowd
we learn the necessity to set everything of this world aside and to set
as our top priority to seek the Kingdom of God, trusting that our God,
Who loves us and knows all that we need, will provide for us. “Seek
first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness…” From the disciples we
learn the next lesson – that even when we are asked to do the
impossible, that we need only turn to God in faith and trust that He
will make up for our own inadequacies and shortcomings. All we need to
do is to walk with Him one step at a time, trusting that He knows the
way. When faced with the impossible task of working out our salvation,
we just need to trust God when He tells us "Now you will see what I will
do... "

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

Today we have with us the miraculous Hawaii Iviron icon of the Mother of
God. Today also we celebrate feasts of the Pochaev icon of the Mother of
God and the icon of the Mother of God, the Joy of All Who Sorrow.
Recently we celebrated the feasts of the Akhtyrsk icon and the Kazan
icon of the Mother of God. There are so many different icons of the
Mother of God and each has its own special story and character. The
Pochaev icon tells us of the miraculous intervention of the Mother of
God protecting the Church from harm; the Akhtyrsk icon shows us the
Mother of God grieving before the Cross; the Joy of All Who Sorrow icon
shows us how the Mother of God prays for each of us who ask help of her.
The Iviron icon is also known as the Portiaissa or “Keeper of the Gate”
and shows us the Mother of God who is the gateway by which God took
flesh and dwelt among us. These are only a few of the many miraculous
and wonderworking icons of the Virgin Mary.
What is it that makes the Virgin so important to us that we should have
so many different icons? And what is it that makes us so important to
the Virgin that she should grace us with the many miraculous icons that
have appeared throughout the world and throughout time? The Virgin Mary
was not just a randomly chosen person who happened to be in the “right
place at the right time” for the incarnation. She was, in fact, the end
product of God’s preparation throughout all of time for His own
incarnation. When Adam and Eve sinned and were cast out of Paradise, God
Himself promised the coming of the Messiah, God incarnate, who would
come to free mankind from our captivity to sin and to heal our spiritual
illness, returning us to the place of our first parents on the path of
salvation. From that moment, God began to prepare the way for His
incarnation. He called out Abraham to be the father of a chosen people
from whom the Messiah would be born. He chose Isaac over Ishmael and
Jacob over Esau, the direct descendants of Abraham as the carriers of
this blessing and destiny. By His servant Joseph, He guided His people
into the land of Egypt preserving them from the famine that was in the
land. By His servant Moses, He guided His people out of Egypt,
delivering them from the slavery into which they had fallen. By His
servant Joshua, He brought His people into the promised land and gave
them victory over all those who were their enemies. By David the King
and his lineage, God established the Hebrew nation and by the words of
the prophets guided their spiritual development. By the prophet Daniel,
the chosen people were preserved while in captivity in Babylon and later
were delivered from that captivity and returned to the promised land.
All of this was done, perfecting the chosen people so that at the proper
moment a young girl was born to the Joachim and Anna who was the
pinnacle of the Hebrew people, the one who was the perfect vessel for
the incarnation, the true Ark of our salvation, the doorway prepared by
God throughout the ages by which He would come into the world.
The Virgin Mary lived a perfect life, from the moment of her miraculous
birth (for her parents had been childless throughout their lives and
were old past the normal age of the childbearing) to her dedication to
the service of God and entry into the temple at the age of 3 years. She
lived in the temple and having been revealed to the High Priest
Zacharius as the true Ark and the ladder by which God would come down,
she was brought as a perfect offering into the place of the lost Ark of
the Covenant, the Holy of Holies, there to commune with God and to weave
the curtain which separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the
temple (and this curtain would later be torn from top to bottom at the
moment of our Lord’s death opening the door between earth and heaven).
Even into her womanhood, against all social and cultural convention, she
chose to live a virginal life and was given into the protection of the
righteous Joseph her protector. There could be no other person from
among men who was as perfect as she. But even as perfect as she was, she
still could not open the gate between heaven and earth – that could be
accomplished only by God incarnate, the God/man Jesus Christ, the son of
the Virgin. She could not open the gate, but in giving birth to the
God/man Jesus Christ, she became the gate and now holds the door of
heaven open for all of us.
Having seen the exalted nature of the Virgin Mary, let us then ask the
question why do we matter to her that she should bestow such grace as
this miraculous icon upon us. Just as she is the mother of our Lord
Jesus Christ, so she has become the mother of us all for we are all the
adopted brethren of Christ. She looks upon each one of us in the Church
with the same motherly love and compassion that she felt towards her own
Son. We are her spiritual children and so she bestows upon us all the
care and love of a mother for her children. By the virtue of her Son,
she has taken us as her own children and lifts us up towards heaven just
as she raised her own Son our Lord Jesus Christ. The love that she has
for Him, she now showers upon us as well. It is because of this love for
us that she bestows upon us the great gift and grace of a multitude of
wonderworking icons, each one showing us a different side of her love
and care for us.
This icon before us today, the Iviron icon of the Mother of God is an
exact copy of the Montreal Myrrhstreaming Iviron icon which was given
into the care of Br Jose Munoz. Throughout his life Br Jose took this
icon throughout the world and the Virgin bestowed her love to us through
it. Now that the Montreal icon was hidden through the tragedy of Br
Jose’s martyric death, the Mother of God has brought forth this icon,
the Hawaii Myrrhstreaming Iviron icon to remind us that we are not left
alone, we are not bereft of her care and presence – she remains with us
and cares for us now as ever and holds the door of heaven open for us
that we might enter into the divine life of union and communion with her
Son and our God our Lord Jesus Christ.
Spend a few moments today before the icon, open your heart to the love
of the Mother of God and our own spiritual mother. Listen for her voice
as she prays for you, breath in the fragrance of heaven surrounds her,
let the myrrh of her motherly love touch you and be strengthened by her
care. The Mother of God is here with us today, and even when her icon
departs from us and continues on its travels, the Virgin herself will
not leave us and will not abandon us, but will continue to open for us
the gates of heaven that we might enter into the joy of our Lord.

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

Matthew 17:14-23

Faith is the basis of our life. We have faith in many things – we have
faith that the “laws of physics” will always apply, for example if I
drop something it will fall. We have faith that people will act in a
certain way, we have faith that the laws by which we live will create a
more secure society. We believe these things and we act upon them
without even a second thought. Faith is the basis of our spiritual life
as well. We believe certain things to be true and act upon them. First
and foremost, every person has a belief about God, whether or not there
is a God and how that God does or does not affect our lives. We have
these beliefs and we act accordingly. As Christians, we have chosen to
believe that there is a God and that God created us for His own
purposes. We believe that God loves all of His creation and especially
mankind as the pinnacle and crown of His creation. We believe that God
knows and loves each person and desires not our death or destruction,
but rather that we might come to live in union and communion with
Himself. We believe that God provides for us the means to accomplish
that purpose and that He helps us as we work out that purpose in our
lives. We believe all these things to be true and we act accordingly. We
call this connection between belief and action our “faith”. The problem
for us is that there is sometimes a disconnect between what we say we
believe and what we do. I don’t always act as though there is a God Who
knows and loves me personally and provides for me – in other words my
faith, that connection between belief and action, is sometimes weak.
Because of my weak faith I don’t always realize the presence of God in
my life and I become anxious and worried or sad and depressed or angry
and demanding. Only by strengthening my faith – by increasing the link
between belief and action – will I find peace and joy.

Our Lord Jesus Christ looked out at His disciples and those who followed
Him and saw this same weak faith. They said they believed, they wanted
to believe – but their actions did not match up to their beliefs. In
this case a demon possessed child had been brought to them, but they
were unable to heal him. Seeing this weak faith, Jesus cried out, “O
faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How
long shall I suffer you?” In the Gospel of Mark, this same event is
recorded and the evangelist recalls that Jesus said to the father, “If
thou canst believe, all things are possible.” and the prayer of the
child’s father, “Lord I believe, help Thou mine unbelief.” In our Lord’s
words to His disciples, He answers the father’s question. When His
disciples came to him later He said to them, “If ye have faith as a
grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to
yonder place; and it shall removed; and nothing shall be impossible to
you.” Then as if to explain the weakness of their faith, He tells them
why they were unable to expel the demon from the child saying, “This
kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”

In this portion of the Gospel we see the weakness of our faith – and we
are told how to strengthen our faith. How do we strengthen our faith?
The twin actions of prayer and fasting are the key. Notice first that
these things are always brought together, prayer and fasting are an
inseparable pair. In order to experience the effects of either prayer or
fasting, they must always be brought together. Prayer, by itself, or
fasting, by itself, only touches a part of our life and so is only
partly effective. In order to truly grow strong and progress in our
spiritual lives, we have to do both things.

Prayer, at its most basic, is the state of being in communion with God.
We use words to help shape our prayer and to bring our hearts into the
place where it can begin to sense the presence of God, but the words of
the prayer are not the essence of the prayer. Prayer is an internal
spiritual labor, bringing our whole being before the throne of God and
there communing with Him. Because truth is not the product of our reason
or invention, but rather it is revealed, the direct result of our
interaction with the source of truth, God Himself, by prayer we acquire
that truth. In prayer we interact with God – we commune with Him – and
we see all that which is true. It is this truth that forms the basis of
our belief. If we have a false belief, even if we are consistent in our
actions, then that belief is of no value for we are going in the wrong
direction. In order to have an effective spiritual life, we must first
have a true belief – we have to know where we are going and how to get
there. If we have a false faith then we have a false goal and a path
that leads nowhere. Prayer then is necessary for our faith for it sets a
correct and true path for us, leading to the source of all Truth, to God
Himself.

But it is not enough to know where you are going and how to get there.
Having a correct belief is useless if you do not act on it. Fasting is
an external activity – it is action that is based on belief. Fasting is
the primary exercise of self denial – breaking us off from the false
urges and desires of our fallen nature so that we might be able to
follow instead the true path that our belief has shown to us. Fasting is
more than just abstaining from certain foods and certain times – rather
it is cutting off our natural fallen passions and desires and weakening
their hold on us. Therefore when we fast, we do not only fast from
certain foods, but we also cut off and weaken our other desires,
abstaining from entertainments, pleasures and amusements. When we fast
strictly we cut off everything (not just food) that interferes with
following the path to God laid out by our belief.

If you wish then to strengthen your faith, that connection between
belief and action, there is a two pronged prescription given to you by
our Lord: prayer and fasting. Our spiritual discipline or “rule” should
consist of these two things held in balance with each other. The
tradition of the Church gives us guidance in how to do that. This
tradition is not something assembled by chance but is the best course of
action worked out by the lives and experiences of the saints. Your rule
of prayer, to pray every day for a set period both in the morning and in
the evening, is the basis of how we pray. Of course the Apostle tells us
that we should pray without ceasing, however, as beginners we are not
yet able to fully fulfill that expectation. As a beginning make sure
that you pray every morning and every evening. Don’t wait until its
convenient in the morning or for the last moment of wakefulness at night
but rather set a time – a specific and regular time like an appointment.
At the appointed time, always come to your place of prayer and begin to
use the rule of prayer that is given to you. That rule will vary
according to your ability and strength, however, for most of us the
collection of morning and evening prayers in the prayerbook is
attainable. Your spiritual father will give you a rule of prayer that is
within your strength and increase or decrease it as your strength waxes
and wanes.

Likewise fasting has a regular routine. On Wednesday’s and Friday’s
throughout the year (with a few notable exceptions) we fast. In addition
to this there are four major fasting seasons thoughout the year to give
us a prolonged workout. Of these four seasons, there are two that are of
moderate intensity – the Nativity fast and the Apostle’s fast – and two
that are very intense and strict – Great Lent and the Dormition fasts.
On these fasting days, we cut off our desires and passions to a certain
degree – refraining from certain foods or from various entertainments
and pleasures as is appropriate to the day and the strictness of the
fast. Like the prayer rule, the regular routine of fasts is within the
strength of almost everyone, however, there are provisions for the fast
to be relaxed or even strengthened according to the needs of the
individual (most obvious are the relaxation of the fast for small
children or for those who are ill). Still we should strive to keep the
fast as best as we can.

When we have these two elements – prayer and fasting – then we will be
able to strengthen our faith. When we cry out with the voice of the
distraught father of the Gospel, “Lord I believe, help thou mine
unbelief!” He answers our prayer by giving to us that help – prayer and
fasting. Prayer is the inner work of standing before the presence of God
in communion with Him and fasting is the external work of modifying our
actions and behavior to conform with the belief that results from our
prayer. Prayer without fasting is nothing but theory and fasting without
prayer is nothing but the empty exercise that goes nowhere. We must have
both together, prayer and fasting, so that with their help we might
fulfill the purpose for which we were created, to live in union and
communion with God in His eternal Kingdom.

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

Matthew 17:1-9

Our Lord took His three closest disciples, Peter, James and John and led
them to the top of a mountain where He was transfigured before them and
shone with the uncreated light of His divinity. This light is not seen
by the physical eye for it is not part of the physical creation, but it
is perceived by the spiritual senses of a man that reside in his soul
for it is the uncreated spiritual light which shines eternally from the
divine nature of Christ. At that moment the Holy Spirit opened the eyes
of the three apostles in order that they might be able to see this light
and perceive the divinity of Christ. The Evangelist Luke tells us that
“His face began to shine as the sun” telling us that just as the sun
lights the physical world enabling us to perceive all of the physical
creation, so also Christ is the light of the spiritual life, enabling us
to see the spiritual nature of all things.

This divine and uncreated light also fills all those that are united to
Christ, for inasmuch as He lives in us, so also His light shines through
us. Anyone who gazes upon the divine light with the eyes of his soul
also partakes of that light to some extent. When Moses descended from Mt
Sinai after receiving the tablets of the commandments from God, he was
radiant with the reflection of that light and had to cover his face in
order for the people to even look at him. In the Church, the saints have
also manifested this light in themselves. One such example, well known
to us, is Saint Seraphim; in the account of his conversation with his
disciple Nicholas Motovilov we are told:

“Then Father Seraphim took me firmly by the shoulders and said, ‘We are
both in the Spirit of God now, my son. Why don’t you look at me?’
“I replied: ‘I cannot look, Father, because your eyes are flashing like
lightning. Your face has become brighter than the sun, and my eyes ache
with pain.’
“Father Seraphim said: ‘Don’t be alarmed! Now you yourself have become
as bright as I am. You are now in the fullness of the Spirit of God
yourself; otherwise you would not be able to see me as I am.’”

This account tells us then why this light not evident in us who have put
on Christ and so are also filled with the uncreated divine light. In
order for this light to shine in us and in order to perceive it, we must
also be “in the fullness of the Spirit of God.” Certainly we are all
filled with the Holy Spirit through the sacrament of chrismation,
however, our souls remain, as it were, encrusted with our sinfulness
which blocks the realization in our lives of the Holy Spirit Whom we
have received. In order for the light of Christ that is within us by the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit to shine through, we must remove this
crust of sin which hinders it.

St Gregory Palamas tells us about this condition of our life and speaks
of the warring nature of two loves within us. He says, “Whereas love for
God is the source and staring point of every virtue, love for the world
is the cause of all evil. For that reason these two loves are at enmity
with each other and destroy each other.” In these few words, he both
tells us the source of the crust of sinfulness which covers our soul and
its remedy. The love of the world is the cause of all evil in us. This
love was implanted in us by the evil one as a consequence of the sin of
Adam. It is therefore at the root of the sinfulness which infects us and
separates us from God. It can be destroyed only by the love for God
which is planted in our hearts by the grace of God. Thus these two loves
are at war in our hearts – the love of the world which pulls us away
from God and the love for God for which unites us with Christ.

“The foundation, origin and cause of these two opposing roots, love for
God and love for the world, is another pair of implacably opposed loves.
Love for the world springs from love for the body since we love the
world because of our body’s well-being. On the other hand, love for God
comes from love for our spirit, our soul, for we love God on account of
the comfort and good fortune our souls will have in the world to come.”
(St Gregory Palamas). These two loves, for the body and for the soul
then form the foundation of the struggle in us to wipe away the crust of
sin the prevents the light of Christ from shining out of us.

The body yearns for the fleeting pleasures of the present which are
sensual, that is they work through our senses and thus are focused only
on the physical world which is the domain of our bodily senses. When we
pursue these pleasures to excess and cultivate them we subject and
enslave ourselves to the domination of all the various passions. These
passions act on us through our senses: our sight, hearing, smell, taste,
touch. Some of these passions focus on the pursuit of pleasure beginning
with the stomach: gluttony, the pursuit of taste and delicacies, and
drunkenness for example. These pleasures of food then lead to other
lower passions such as fornication, adultery, immortality, the pursuit
of pleasure through drugs and other bodily impurity and perversion.
These passions enslave us and make us long for all manner of sensual
pleasure no matter how it defiles the soul and darkens the heart. “Once
our senses have been subjected to evil from within and without, from far
and near, they attract filth and deadly sin goes in and out through
these natural windows of our (senses).” (St Gregory Palamas).

There is another avenue of this love of the world expressed as
acquisitiveness – the desire to possess all that we can. We begin by
desiring to possess that which brings delight and pleasure to the senses
and then the passion of acquisitiveness and love of money is kindled in
us giving rise to theft, extortion and every form of greed. We desire to
possess all and yet the world is itself transient and finite and we can
truly possess nothing for all things must pass away. Therefore we are in
a race with ourselves to constantly acquire more and more while at the
same time that which we think we have acquired constantly passes away.
Our acquisitiveness also drives us into competition and warfare with
others for what they possess we cannot have and so we are driven to
strife and even to war and murder in an attempt to take from them what
we desire for ourselves.

Finally there is another means of the perception of the world which
becomes an avenue of this destructive love. It is our imagination, which
produces other pleasures and passions of the soul such as conceit,
pride, arrogance and vanity. By excessively indulging in our imagination
we enter into a world of our own creation – a world of fantasy and
escapism – in which we construct a false reality that not only separates
us from God, but also separates us from reality. Nothing in this world
of fantasy can satisfy our passions for all is a false illusion and in
the end we have nothing but the pain of our broken dreams.

The antidote and cure for this love of the world is the love of God
which comes from the love of our own soul. When we raise our mind and
heart to the spiritual realm we see the consequences of sin and
separation from God. We see that there are torments which are very real
and yet which we do not experience in this life. These torments of the
soul are the result of our separation from God and thus we are spurred
initially towards the love of God by the fear of punishment. We love God
to avoid the torments of separation from Him. But such love born of fear
cannot last and it must transform itself into love which is born out of
service to God – knowing that by serving God we will receive the eternal
joys of paradise. But even this is an imperfect love and it must pass
away. We must finally begin to love God for Himself alone and desire not
those things which He gives us, but desire Him. This love is the
foundation of all our joy and of our union and communion with Him. The
pleasures of the soul which we receive from God are eternal and
limitless. There is no boundary or end to them. They do not pass away
and so we are not caught in that hopeless race of trying to constantly
trying to replace them.

The delight of the soul originates from God and things divine. It is
pure, free from passion and not mixed with suffering. It does not pass
away and there is no illusion or lie or falsehood in it. How do we then
acquire this love of God and nurture it in ourselves. The apostle Paul
instructs us, “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever
things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any
virtue, and if there be any praise think on these things.” (Phil 4:8).
Here is the key for us – to turn away from the things of the world that
damage the soul and to fill our minds and hearts with those things which
are from God and which build up the soul. Ascetic labor breaks the hold
of the passions on us and helps us overcome the love of sensual
pleasure. Having broken away from the passions, we fill our lives
instead with those things which are from God and thus feed and nurture
the love of God in our hearts. It is this constant work that we do, to
break away from the passions that seek to rule our lives and instead
fill ourselves with the things of God. In this way we peel back the
crust of sinfulness that hides the light of Christ in us and allow that
light to shine through us. One step at a time we move closer that state
of being “in the fullness of the Spirit of God” and entering into the
brilliant uncreated divine light of the Transfiguration that shines from
Christ into our souls and from thence into the world.

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

On Tuesday, we will celebrate the Great Feast of the Dormition (death)
of the Virgin Mary. Although the Virgin lived a perfect life without
sinning, because she was born into mortality, she, like all of us, would
face death; so that, like all of us, she might also be resurrected to
eternal life by Christ. Although we hear very little about her in the
scripture, this does not mean that she faded into obscurity and
unimportance after the Ascension of her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The
Virgin Mary, as we shall see, was beloved not only by the 12 Apostles,
but by the whole Church and was considered to be the spiritual mother of
the Church. By her very presence, holy sayings and loving words, she
offered to the Apostles and indeed to all the believers strength and
consolation filled with the grace of God.

The Mother of God did not fear death, nor did she seek it, however, as
the years passed her desire to depart this life and to again see her Son
grew. This same desire we hear in the words of the Apostle Paul who
exclaimed, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain … I am hard
pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ …”
(Phil 1:21). She begged her Son to reveal to her three days prior to her
death so that she might prepare and so that all those whom she loved
could be present. Our Lord, out of His great love and affection for His
earthly mother granted her prayer. During her life, the Virgin Mary
would often go to the Mount of Olives where she last saw her Son as He
ascended into heaven in order to pray. It was there that she felt
closest to Him. There are many holy places associated with the Mother of
God preserved on the Mount of Olives. The stone where she stood as her
Son ascended into Heaven is enshrined at the corner of the entry to the
Church of the Ascension in the Ascension convent at the top of the Mount
of Olives. Nearby is a garden refuge called “Little Galilee” which in
the time of Christ served as a hostel for travelers from Galilee to
Jerusalem for the Holy Days. Here the Mother of God would come to pray
and there is a Church built over the place where she was met by the
Archangel Gabriel who as sent by our Lord in answer to her prayer and to
warn of her that in three days she would die and be translated into life
eternal. He also gave to her a branch of palm from paradise which shone
with the light of heavenly grace. This branch was given to her as a
token that death had no power over her and that to be absent from the
world was to be present with Christ.

Today it is the third day before the death of the Virgin and so it was
on this day that the archangel appeared to the virgin. Upon hearing the
welcome news that the day of her departure from this life and the
reunion with her Son was imminent, the Virgin Mary began to prepare for
her death and burial. After receiving this message her first response
was to pray giving thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ for His great
benevolence and His answer to her prayer. She also desired to see the
Apostles again, even though they were scattered throughout the whole
world preaching the Gospel.

Returning then to her home, the house of the Apostle John on Mt Zion,
the Virgin revealed the message of the archangel to the Apostle John who
had taken her into his home as his own mother. She also showed him the
palm branch from paradise and instructed him to carry it before her bier
in the funeral procession to the place of her burial. She also spoke to
the rest of the household and to the virgins who were her companions
(Mary Magdalene, Sepphora, Abigail and Jael). Her companions wept at the
news, bewailing their orphanhood. The Virgin comforted them and then
arranged her bed and room for her funeral. The Apostle John began to
call all the believers to gather at the bed of the Virgin. St James, the
brother of the Lord (the Virgin’s stepson), also began to gather the
faithful. Seeing the assembled faithful, the Virgin told them of the
words of the archangel and showed them the palm branch from Paradise
which radiated heavenly glory. Seeing their grief, the Virgin asked them
all not to mourn, but to rejoice, for she would be standing nearer to
her Son and would be able to pray with greater boldness for them all.
She promised that she would not leave them orphans, but that even after
her death she would pray for the them and for the whole world
interceding for all and helping all who would call upon her for assistance.

While she spoke with those gathered, there was a noise like a clap of
thunder and a cloud surrounded the house. By the command of God, angels
had brought the apostles who were scattered throughout the world and
miraculously transported them on clouds to Jerusalem: Peter from Rome,
Mark from Alexandria, Matthew from a boat on which he had been traveling
and all the others. Not only the twelve Apostles gathered to say
farewell to the Virgin, but also the apostles of the seventy, the Holy
Apostle Paul and many others of the godly hierarchs who cared for the
Church assembled in the presence of the Virgin. All were struck with
sorrow that they would be deprived of the presence of the Virgin Mary
and saw themselves as orphans bereft not only of the Mother of the Lord,
but also as if bereft of their own mother, for such she was to them and
to the whole Church.

Many words of sorrow were spoken by the assembled apostles and hierarchs
and many words of consolation and comfort were offered by the Virgin.
Finally, seeing that all were gathered she spoke to them in a parable,
offering some parting instruction, saying: “My children, do you see this
world? It is a festival. God is as a king, and you, His servants, are
the merchants of my beloved Son. Now listen to this parable: There was a
great and powerful king who had two servants. The king then heard that
there was a great fair where there would be very many goods and products
offered which would bring great gain. Therefore, the king summoned these
two servants and said, ‘Make great haste to go into this country where
the festival is being held and, for one month, do business. If any of
you delay, he will lose his life!’ Straightway, the two servants took
money and went to the fair. However, one of them was senseless and
foolish; he purchased things that were useless to the king, such as
houses, shops and fields. Of all these things the king had no need, nor
would they bring him any gain. Moreover, the undiscerning servant
delayed in returning because it took time to sow the fields and to
refurbish and complete the shops and the houses, because they were in
disarray. Thus it took him about three or four months to return to the
king. Now the other servant was prudent and purchased precious stones
and returned punctually to the king. The king honored and glorified this
servant, for he found him trustworthy. As for the other servant, an
order was issued that he be executed as one who was an enemy of the king.

“The same situation is also before you, O Apostles of my Son. My beloved
Son has sent you as merchants into the world of deceived mankind, to win
those souls who will hearken to His name. Whichever of you, O my friends
and children is a friend of Thy Teacher and my Son, He will honor in His
Kingdom. Those that will not obey the commands of the Teacher, he knows
what he will suffer. …

“Always have love and peace among you, and rejoice and be glad for great
will be your reward in the Kingdom of the heavens. And though, my
friends, I go to the Kingdom of my Son and God, I am ever with you, and
I will strengthen and comfort you in your afflictions.”

The words of the Virgin remind us to follow closely the words of our
Lord and to live within the tradition of the Church which gives us
guidance to gain that which is most valuable and which brings to us the
greatest measure of the grace of God. There are many good things in the
world, but even so we must be discerning and desire not that which is
simply good – but rather that which brings to us the riches of grace
from our Lord and Master.

Just as the Apostles and hierarchs of the whole Church gathered in the
presence of the Virgin and heard her words, so also we are gathered
today with them. We grieve with the Apostles at the loss of our mother
but we are also comforted with them by her final words of encouragement
and promise. Just as she departed this life and was received into the
Kingdom of God and she now dwells with Him in Paradise, so also
throughout the years, each in their own turn, the saints have departed
this life to enter the Kingdom of God. And just as we are not orphaned
by the death of the Virgin or abandoned by her departure, nor are we
orphaned or abandoned by the saints. Just as she watches over us, so
also all the saints, following her example and promise, also watch over
us and like shepherds care for us and call to us with the voice of the
Great Shepherd. Today the Virgin prepares to enter the Kingdom of Heaven
– let us also prepare ourselves for that same journey for like her we
too are mortal and must die so that we might be raised by her Son and
our God to eternal life in His Kingdom.

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

Often we hear in the scripture a particular story that catches our
attention and influences our lives. Sometimes that story will stay with
us and become a touchstone of our lives. For me, the childhood of the
Prophet Samuel is just one of those stories. The child Samuel was born
in answer to the fervent prayers of his mother Hannah, who had been
barren and without children. She promised to God that if He would grant
her a child, that she would give the child to the service of the Lord.
God heard her prayer and she gave birth to the infant Samuel. As soon as
he was weaned, she sent Samuel to serve the priest Eli in the temple of
the Lord. Now Eli had two sons of his own, Hophni and Phineas who also
served as priests in the temple. These two young men, however, cared
only for their own pleasure and abused their place as priests, stealing
from the people who came to offer sacrifice and taking whatever pleased
them for themselves. Eli begged his sons to repent and to cease their
evil ways, but they did not listen. The child Samuel, on the other hand,
grew and pleased both God and man.

As Eli grew old, he lost his vision and on his behalf, Samuel cared for
the lamp in the temple so that it would not go out. For this reason
Samuel slept in the temple near the ark of the Lord. One night he awoke
to hear a voice calling his name. Samuel got up and ran to Eli saying,
“You have called me, here I am” But Eli replied that he had not called
and sent Samuel back to sleep. Again Samuel awoke hearing a voice
calling his name – but again Eli denied that he had done so and sent him
back to sleep. A third time, Samuel awoke hearing the same call. At
this, Eli recognized that it was the voice of the Lord and that God
Himself was calling to Samuel. Eli then instructed Samuel to go back to
sleep and if he should again hear this same call to remain where he was
and reply, “Here I am. Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth.”

Indeed it happened again as before and when Samuel awoke hearing the
voice, he replied as Eli taught him saying, “Speak Lord for your servant
heareth.” At this the Lord gave to Samuel a prophecy concerning the fate
of the priest Eli and his household. God said that because Eli knew that
his sons did evil and served only themselves but did not stop them, the
household of Eli would come to an end and another would be set in his
place as the priest for there would be no male in his household to take
his place. The next morning Eli asked Samuel what the Lord had told him
and Samuel related the prophecy of the failing of Eli’s household. Eli,
accepting the word of the Lord said simply, “It is the Lord: let Him do
what is good in His sight.” From this time on Samuel was marked as the
chosen prophet of God and throughout all Israel he became known as such.

There came a time that the enemies of the Hebrew people attacked. The
Hebrews advanced to fight against their enemies and with them the Ark of
the Lord was brought by the sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas. Despite the
presence of the Ark, the Hebrews were defeated and the sons of Eli were
both killed bringing an end to his line. Upon hearing this news, Eli,
already 98 years old was striken with grief, fell over and died.

Now let us consider the call of the Lord to the child Samuel. He heard a
voice which he mistook for Eli and came running saying, “Here I am”. He
did not hesitate and even the third time, still he came to Eli, ready to
serve. When finally Eli instructed him to stay and respond to the voice
of God, Samuel again did not hesitate, but as soon as he heard the voice
of the Lord he responded, this time saying “Speak Lord for thy servant
heareth.” We are all called to serve God. We may not hear an actual
voice as did Samuel, but each of us are, in one way or another, called
by God. When we recognize this call, do we respond as did Samuel –
responding with the willingness to follow God saying, “Here I am, speak
Lord for thy servant heareth” or do we put off our response, trying to
fulfill our own desires first and so neglect the call of God. Or perhaps
we willingly respond, but soon get distracted and lose our way. Or even
like the priest Eli who lost the place of his family in the temple
because he could not discipline his sons, we serve God, but are unable
to fulfill our service because we are unable to discipline our own human
will.

The sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas were called by God through their
forefather Levi to serve as priests before the altar of the Lord in the
temple. They were called, but chose not to serve God but to serve
themselves instead. They used their position to take whatever they
wanted for their own pleasure, indulging themselves rather than serving
the Lord. For some, this is how we respond to the call of God. They hear
the call and perhaps even pretend to follow that call – but choose
instead to serve themselves. Instead of saying to God, “Here I am, speak
for thy servant heareth,” they pushed aside the call of God, listening
instead to the call of their own passions and desires.

As the prophet of the Lord, Samuel was sent by God to anoint the chosen
king of the Hebrew people. First he sought out Saul and set him as king
over all the people. King Saul began as a good and God-fearing ruler,
however, he was distracted by his place as king and forgot the service
of God. King Saul was overwhelmed by the rule of his kingdom and forgot
that just as it was by the hand of God that he had received his kingdom
so he could only rule by relying on the help of the Lord. Instead he
began to depend upon himself and he lost his way. As a result, God
called Samuel again to anoint a new King, the Prophet and King David.
Although David as a man was far from perfect, he never forgot that he
was the servant of God and because he depended on the help of the Lord,
he was blessed by God throughout his life.

In these men, the priest Eli, his sons Hophni and Phineas and King Saul
we see those who were called by God but who failed to respond to that
call. In the Prophet Samuel we see their antithesis – the one who was
called and who responded without hesitation or reservation and who
served God throughout his life.

When God calls you, how will you respond? Will you be like Eli and fall
short because you are unable to discipline your own will? Will you be
like the sons of Eli and serve God only in appearance, but in truth
serving only your own base desires and passions. Will you be like King
Saul – starting out to serve God but losing your way by depending upon
your own strength rather than on the grace and strength of God. Or will
you be like Samuel, constantly alert to the voice of the Lord,
responding without hesitation or reservation. If we take one thing from
the life of this prophet, let us take his unfailing response to the call
of God, saying to God, “Here I am. Speak for your servant heareth.”

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

Matthew 22:1-14

Last night and this morning both we witnessed the baptism of two new
members of the Body of Christ. Like the guests in the parable who came
to the feast they were given a new garment. Both have earthly garments
of white as symbols of the garment of grace that has been bestowed upon
each by Christ. We have, each of us, been given a new garment – a
baptismal robe as it were – at our own baptism. God has bestowed His
grace upon our soul and clothed us with His glory. Dressed in this new
garment, we enter into the marriage feast of the Son in the heavenly
Kingdom.

It was the custom at such feasts as our Lord described for every person
invited to be given a new garment which they then wore at the feast.
These garments were freely given to all who responded to the invitation
– all they had to do was put it on and enter in to the feast. With
everyone clothed in the same garment, there was no longer any division
amongst the guests. Rich and poor, free and slave, rulers and subjects –
all were, for that brief moment the same and all the differences between
them were erased. Their unity was perfect.

In the parable, however, there was one guest who was not wearing this
festal garment. He preferred his own finery to that provided by the
host. His presence disturbed the unity of the feast and the host noticed
this. He confronted the ill clad guest and because he had chosen his own
finery over that which the host provided, the host had him cast out of
the banquet hall and deprived of the light and joy of the feast.

This ill clad guest is the one who depends not on the grace and
provision of God, but who insists on using his own righteousness to
enter the Kingdom of Heaven. It doesn’t matter how beautiful his garment
might have been, how costly or how elegant it was – it still lacked one
vital thing. It was not provided by the host and therefore the wearer
was not joined to the unity of the other guests and the host. He was “on
his own” and being on his own he ended up deprived of his place in at
the feast. So also the man who strives to enter heaven depending on his
own righteousness rather than the grace of God. No matter how “good” he
might be or how exemplary his life – without the garment of God’s grace
that goodness does not unite him to the Host.
Our salvation does not depend on our good works or on how well we
perform. Our salvation depends upon the grace of God which unites us to
Christ and enables us to share in His life. Without the new garment of
God’s grace, we cannot be united to Christ and if we are not united to
Christ then we will have no place in the Kingdom of God. This garment
has been given to each of us at our baptism. Having received this new
garment of grace, it is necessary now for us to wear it and care for it.

What does it mean to wear this garment of grace? First of all it means
that we cease depending on ourselves, on our own righteousness, on our
own goodness, and instead begin the work of living in dependence upon
God. This is an easy thing to say, but a very difficult thing to do.
When we depend upon God, we have to trust Him completely. We have to set
aside our own fears which drive us and push us this way and that and
instead focus on the love of God which drives out our fear. The moment
you begin to fear anything in the world – whether it is fear of a
tragedy, fear of another person, fear of losing some possession, fear of
not having enough, or whatever fear attacks you – then you know that you
have to increase your love for God. The more you love God, the more you
become aware of His love for you. But if His love seems distant and
unreal, then your own love for Him needs to grow.

I recall once when I spoke to a spiritual father at a monastery I was
visiting. I laid out before him a sinful habit that I had been
struggling with and I had hoped that he would give me some guidance in
how to fight that temptation. Instead he simply said that I fell to this
sin because I did not love God enough. If I loved God more than the
pleasure I derived from this sinful habit, then this temptation would
not have any power over me. I asked him then how is it that I can love
God more and his reply was simple – pray and ask God to give you that
love. Pray this way on a daily (or even more frequent) basis and God who
desires to give us every good thing will kindle the flame of love for
Himself in our hearts. This I did and though I cannot say that I love
God as I ought, I do know that as my love for Him has grown, that sinful
habit has grown weaker and weaker. To love God is to depend upon Him and
in this way we put on the new garment of grace which unites us to Him.

Not only must we put on this garment, but we must also care for it.
Whenever we sin, a stain or a tear appears on the garment. It is
necessary then to first avoid those things which stain or harm the
garment of grace and secondly when something does happen we must quickly
clean and repair that garment. We avoid staining and tearing the garment
of grace by living according to the will of God, filling our lives with
the righteousness that attracts and holds onto His grace. The more we
live a Christ like life, the less our garment is damaged. When, because
of our weakness we sin and a stain or tear appears in the garment of
grace, we repair it by repentance. By confessing our sins and truly
turning away from them with all our heart, that stain of sin is washed
out of our garment and it is again clean. If we fall into a grave sin
then the garment of grace is torn and we must not only confess our sin
and turn away from it, but also work to reverse the effects of sin in
our lives – abstaining from those things which caused us to sin and
replacing them with those things which attract the grace of God. The
more diligent we are in not allowing the stain and tears of sin to
remain, the closer we stay to Christ.

We have all been invited to the feast in the Kingdom of God and when we
accept that invitation and enter the feast through baptism, we are given
a new garment – the garment of grace which adorns the soul. This garment
of grace is necessary because it is through this grace that we are
united to Christ and share in His life. We wear this garment of grace in
our hearts by setting aside our own efforts, desires, and
accomplishments and instead rely on what God has given us. The more we
love God, the more aware we become of His love for us and we are drawn
nearer and nearer to Him. We keep this garment in good repair by living
a righteous Christ like life and when we do sin, we can erase the stain
of that sin by confession and repentance and turning away from our sin.
The Great King, our God, has invited us to live in union and communion
with Him in His heavenly kingdom. All we need to do is to receive from
Him the baptismal garment of grace and wear it.

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

Matthew 22:35-46

It is fashionable today, especially in the business world, to talk about
“multi-tasking” - that is to encourage people to develop the talent of
dividing their attention and energies so as to accomplish a greater
number of tasks in a shorter time by working on them simultaneously. And
yet when there is a task that is particularly difficult or which
requires a particularly high level of quality, we are expected to set
aside everything else and focus only on that one task to make sure that
nothing is missed and that every step is done, not only correctly, but
as perfectly as possible. There is one task in our lives which
supersedes all others, which is more important than anything else and
which requires all of our energy and all of our attention. That task, as
we heard in the Gospel today, is to love God.

The purpose of the law of Moses was to provide the chosen people of God
with some direction of how to accomplish this task of loving God without
yet knowing Him fully. Although they were the chosen people and so given
a greater knowledge of God than the rest of mankind, even the Hebrews
were not yet ready to receive the complete self revelation of God and so
He gave to them commandments, laws, which were an external mold that
allowed them, even with an incomplete knowledge of God, to love Him. It
is interesting to note that of the 10 Commandments none of them
explicitly direct us to “love God” - rather they tell us how to act when
we do love God. No one can command us to love, because love is not a
rule, it is a state of being. If we love something or someone, then that
love defines our attitudes, our behavior, our thoughts, our emotions;
that love influences every aspect of our lives. The Jews, however, took
the law, which were directions about how to love God, and by fracturing
it into thousands of tiny pieces, and then dissecting each one to find
every small implication, they lost the love of God and replaced it with
dry and regimented obedience to a rule. Loving God had been divorced
from the commandments. To love God became less important than to follow
the rules.

As they had always done, the Jews came to Jesus with a “trick” question,
hoping to trap Him into saying something with which they could condemn
Him. They did not come to learn, nor did they come with honest open
hearts; they had already made up their minds about Him. Now they only
wanted something which would confirm their already certain prejudice and
so justify them in their own desires. They hoped that by forcing Him to
choose one commandment as most important, they could then accuse Him of
belittling the others. But our Lord Jesus Christ turned the “trick”
around on them. Rather than falling into the trap they set, a trap born
out of the fracturing of the law, He showed them the true meaning of the
law in its unity. He reminded them of the over-riding purpose and nature
of the law - its single purpose was to enable man to love God.

In His answer to the Jews, our Lord also teaches us about the central
necessity of loving God by the statement that we love God with all our
heart, with all our soul and with all our mind. Mankind, created in the
image of the Triune God, is a trinity of heart, soul and mind. If we
would love God then we must do so with our whole being - we must imitate
in ourselves the unity of the Trinity. God, Who is three Persons in one
Essence, loves us not partially but completely. We are loved the same by
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. One Person of the Trinity does
not love us more or less than the other Persons of the Trinity. God
loves us wholly and completely in the entirety of His being. In the same
way we must love God with our whole being. We cannot love God with just
our heart, but not our mind. We cannot love God with our soul and not
with our heart. Our love of God is not limited to an emotional explosion
which is separate from our reason and understanding. We must love God
wholly, with the unity of our whole being. Loving God is not something
that can be “multi-tasked” rather it requires the whole of our
attention, the whole of our energy, the whole of our being.

Not only is it necessary to love God with our whole being - but it is
also only possible to love God in His whole being. We cannot love the
Father and hate the Son and ignore the Holy Spirit. We cannot ignore the
Father and adore the Son. We cannot love the Holy Spirit but not the
Father and the Son. If we love God, then we must love God in the unity
of Essence. God cannot be fractured or torn apart - and neither can our
love of God be fractured or torn apart.

Loving God requires our whole being, our whole attention, our whole
energy. Once we embrace this, then the question again presents itself
(as it did of old with Moses and the prophets) - *how* do we love God?
How do we accomplish this all important task? In answer to that unspoken
and unasked question, our Lord Himself instructs us saying that to love
God is the greatest and first commandment and the second is like unto
it, to love your neighbor as yourself. Just as it is impossible to love
“part” of God and not another part - so it is also impossible to truly
love the Creator without loving His creation. Our love for God is
expressed in our love for our neighbor - we love our neighbor because we
love God. Not only that, but because we are united to Christ, because we
partake of His Divine energies and so have become members of His Body,
then not only do we express our love of God by loving our neighbor, but
we also become the expression of God’s love for our neighbor in as much
as His love and life become one with our love and life.

To love our neighbor is to love God and more than this we are the
expression of God’s love towards our neighbor. In this we see a further
healing of the fractured nature of worldly love. Not only is the
fractured law drawn together into a single whole by the commandment to
love God, and not only is our own fractured love drawn to a single
object, and not only in loving God is our fractured being united in
itself - but also in loving God and being loved by Him we, the creatures
who have been fractured from our Creator are reunited with Him and are
joined to Him. The fracture created by sin between man and God is healed
by this union of God’s love for us and of our love for God.

To love God is the single most important task of our existence. If we
truly love God then we are united with Him. Our imperfect and created
love is joined to His perfected and uncreated love. This is our
salvation - to be united to the One God. It is our love of God and His
love for us that is the cement that bonds us to Him and which makes the
union possible. Love God - not part time, nor with only a part of your
attention and energy, nor with only a part of yourself; Love God with
all of yourself, with all of your attention, with all of your energy -
not just a part, not even just 99% - but with all of yourself with 100%
of your being. Let the love of God permeate your whole being so that it
defines your thoughts, your emotions, your life, your interactions and
relationships with others. The whole of your existence is defined by
loving God. Love God with *all* your heart, with *all* your soul and
with *all* your mind.

--
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

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world…” This is one of the most oft
quoted verses of the Bible. We see it everywhere: on billboards, on
signs held up in camera friendly places at sporting events (including in
the eye black of athletes at those games), on posters and tracts. This
verse seems to pop up everywhere. And there is a good reason for that –
because these words proclaim in a very succinct manner the abundant and
limitless love of God for us. God, our Creator, loves us, His creatures,
to such a degree that He did not send to us a servant or an angel or an
archangel, but He sent to us His only-begotten Son. God does not have
many sons but rather there is only one Son who is of the same essence
and being as God and thus in sending His only-begotten Son, God Himself
has come to us.

As much as we see this particular verse referenced in isolation, it does
not stand alone. In order to truly grasp the truth that it reveals to
us, we need to take it as a part of the greater context in which it is
found. The Gospel reading today does this for us, it gives us not just a
Bible verse in isolation, but gives us instead a whole saying that works
together to express God’s love and provision for us in a profound manner.

First it is made clear to us that Jesus Christ is indeed God incarnate
for He says to us: “no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came
down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven” In very clear
terms here, Jesus told His listeners, as well as us, of his origins
answering the question posed by the Psalmist (as we pray when we prepare
the lamb), “Who shall declare His generation?” He, Himself, tells us
here that His “generation”, His origin, is in heaven and has claimed for
Himself the messianic title “Son of Man”. In calling Himself the “Son of
Man” He also proclaims the mystery of His incarnation by applying these
words that describe His divinity also to His humanity. The One Who is in
Heaven, has descended from heaven and has taken flesh of the Virgin Mary
and has become man. He did not bring His flesh from heaven, taking
nothing from the Virgin – but rather He joined Himself to our nature,
fusing together the divine nature with humanity. In addition by using
the words “ascend” and “descend” He tells us that this was a voluntary
act for He was not “cast out” or “sent” or “pushed out” but rather of
His own will He descended to us from Heaven.

Having established that He is God and that of His own will He has come
to us, Jesus then restates everything in a different form saying, “God …
gave us His only-begotten Son…” By using the words “only begotten Son”
we have a clear message: the Son is of the same essence as God for this
is indeed the meaning of “begotten”. The Son is not made; He is not a
creature – but He is begotten, that is He shares the very essence of
God, just as an earthly son is not “made” by his father, but is
generated from the essence of his father. Not only is the Son “begotten”
but He is the “only-begotten” that is there is no other – there are not
“Sons” of God but only one unique “Son” which shares His essence.
Therefore in order for a man to become a “son of God” he must be joined
to this “only-begotten” Son for there are no other “sons” of God. In
speaking this way of His generation, our Lord does not again use the
word “descend” but this time says that God … gave His … Son”. Now this
does not negate or contradict what He just said before about the
voluntary nature of His coming, but rather this affirms that the Father
and the Son are in complete harmony of will. God sent and the Son
descended – no force was applied, no coercion can be assumed, but rather
a description of the complete unity and harmony of will between the
persons of the Trinity.

See the greatness of this act? God has given us not a servant, not an
angel, not a prophet – but a son. And again not just “a son” but “His
only-begotten Son” – the only Son of God, of one essence with the
Father, Who has voluntarily come to us, joined Himself to our flesh
which He received from the Virgin Mary and has become man. To what end
has God done all this for us?
The answer to this final question is revealed to us in the next moment
by Jesus Christ saying, “God sent not his Son into the world to condemn
the world; but that the world through him might be saved” Consider for a
moment the import of this statement. Remember that this is being said to
those same Hebrew people for whom to see God is to die. God has come to
us, not to cause us harm, not that we might die, but instead that we
might be saved, that is that we might live. Although Jesus Christ did
not come to condemn us, by not receiving Him, by opposing Him, by
crucifying Him, we have indeed justly brought condemnation upon
ourselves. And yet, despite our own rebellion, despite our own
sinfulness, despite the darkness of our own souls, He still does not
condemn us, but offers to us salvation.

What is this salvation that He gives to us? For this we must step back
and finish out the previous statement, “God … gave His … Son that we
might not perish but have everlasting life” Here is the salvation that
He offers us. When He created us, He gave to us the breath of life and
His life coursed through us. But by sinning, Adam and Eve (and all who
share their essence by being begotten of them) were cut off from the
source of the life that filled them. We, as a race, are dying as that
life expires and inevitably seeps away. It cannot be renewed in us for
we are no longer connected to the source of that life. But God, the
source of that life, out of His great love for us, has come and joined
Himself to us that we might once again, through the God/man Jesus
Christ, be able to draw upon that life and have it renewed in us. Our
salvation then is “everlasting life”, but it is not this earthly life
that we receive, but rather, through Christ we partake of the divine
life of the Trinity. Thus our salvation is to be joined (or re-joined)
to the One Who is the source of all life. Our salvation is to be united
to Christ.

In discovering the great love of God and the salvation that He offers us
through His love, we have not yet mentioned what this has to do with the
cross (for indeed this Sunday stands apart as the prelude to the
Exaltation of the Cross). Remember that our Lord also invoked the memory
of the Old Testament narrative saying, “And as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life.” In these words we see how it is that the God/man Jesus Christ
will accomplish this bestowal of life. The lifting of the serpent in the
wilderness was a remedy for the plague of serpents that afflicted the
Hebrew people as they wandered in the deserts. These poisonous serpents
would bite the people and as a result many were sick and dying. But God
instructed Moses to lift up a brass image of a serpent on a pole in the
midst of the camp instructing those who were suffering to look upon it
with faith and be delivered from the poison of the serpents. This is a
clear image of the crucifixion. The God/man Jesus Christ would be lifted
up upon the cross because of the sickness of our own sin in order that
those of us who suffer from this poison might be healed. In the
wilderness the serpent was the source of the poison that afflicted the
people and it was the brass serpent (a representation of all the
serpents) that was the source of the healing from that poison. In this
world it is our flesh which is the source of the poison of sin and it is
the flesh of the God/man Jesus Christ lifted up on the cross that is its
antidote. Thus, just as the source of the poison in the wilderness
became the source of its healing so also our flesh, the source of our
sin and death, has been assumed by God and has been transformed by Him
so that His divine flesh is the source of our healing and life.

Moved by His love for us, our Creator has descended from Heaven and has
joined Himself to us by taking our flesh from the Virgin. He has joined
Himself to us so that through Him we might be reconnected to the source
of life and through Him we might share in the life of the Trinity. He
took on our flesh and transformed it, so that His Body has become for us
the antidote of the poison of sin that infects us, healing us and giving
us life. Indeed God has loved the world – has loved us – and has come to
us joining Himself to us that through the God/man Jesus Christ we might
also be joined to Him and share in the everlasting life that is His.

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

Gal 2:16-21

“For if I build again the things which I destroyed…” Very often
salvation is spoken of as something to be obtained, like a commodity or
a status. But the Apostle uses a better image of salvation for us, he
speaks of it as “building”. Indeed that’s what our salvation is – the
sum total of what we have built with our lives. Now immediately the
objection arises that we are not saved by works, but by grace and indeed
this is true, there is no contradiction here. The confusion is in
understanding what grace is. Grace is not some ethereal environment that
somehow surrounds us and magically transforms us. Grace is a spiritual
commodity – something God gives to us and our lives are spent acquiring
that grace and using it to build our lives according to the plan of the
image and likeness of God with which He created us. That image and
likeness is spoiled, marred and distorted by our sin and therefore in
order to begin again we have to “tear down” and “destroy” that misshapen
“life” that we have already begun to build and restart again from the
foundation and build using the grace with which God provides us.

This “destruction” of the false start of the fallen life is accomplished
through the Cross. When He ascended the Cross, our Lord took with
Himself all of our sin and destroyed it by His death and Resurrection.
When we ascend the cross with Him, when we embrace his death and
resurrection, when we “put on Christ” and are “crucified with Christ” so
that “nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me” The old
life, founded upon sin, which I lived by my own efforts is destroyed by
the Cross – now I have a new life, the life “by the faith of the Son of
God…” Having destroyed the old, it is now our task to build the new.

When building, the first and most important element is the foundation.
The foundation upon which we now build is Jesus Christ (1Cor 3:11) and
it is necessary that having acquired this foundation, as the Apostle
tells us, “…let every man take heed how he builds thereon.” It is
necessary that we do not build again the same old misshapen life of sin
upon this new foundation. “If I build again the things which I
destroyed, I make myself a transgressor” If we take up the same life
that we crucified on the cross, then we have gained nothing. If we are
to build a new life, we must do so with new materials and in a new manner.

What are these new materials with which we are to build? The foundation
is Christ, however we build upon this foundation, as the apostle says
with “gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble” and then he
warns us that “the fire (of God’s presence) will try every man’s work of
what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he has built … he shall
receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer
loss:” (1Cor3:12-15). Thus it is important to choose those materials for
building which will withstand the fire and not be burnt. The material
which God has made available to us for building is grace. His grace,
coming from Him, will withstand the fire of His presence and will not be
consumed. It is, indeed, gold and silver and precious stones for it is
more valuable than all. But there is also another material that we can
use to build – that is the wood, hay and stubble of our sins. We can
(and often do) choose to build with these old materials, which will be
consumed in the flame of God’s presence, because they are easily
obtained and familiar to us. But in doing this we only build that which
we have already destroyed. Having begun with the new foundation of Jesus
Christ, let us eschew the “old” materials of our sins and seek to
acquire the new building material of grace that is provided for us by God.

How do we acquire this grace then and work with it? St Seraphim takes up
this analogy of the acquisition of grace by telling us that our task in
this life is just this, “the acquisition of the Holy Spirit.” He tells
us of many ways of making this acquisition: by self denial, giving alms,
attending the services of the Church, receiving the sacraments, doing
works of mercy and compassion. But he reminds us that there is one means
by which we can acquire this grace which is always available to us in
all places and at all times and that is prayer. By making our lives a
constant act of prayer, we open the gates to continually receive the
stream of grace with which we then build the house of the soul.

Rather than choosing the old familiar material of our sinful life; those
materials born out of self: self love, self regard, self dependence,
self worth; and the works of the flesh: adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance,
emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders,
drunkenness, revellings and such like (Gal 5:19-21), we can choose
instead the materials born out of the grace of God; love, joy, peace,
patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (Gal
5:22,23). By building with these materials that are born of the grace of
God, we build our lives as though with gold, silver and precious stones
and when we enter into the fire of God’s presence, the work of our life
is not consumed, but it is joined with the fire and begins to glow with
the glory of God.

Brothers and sisters, having passed through the cross, having been
crucified with Christ, let us now begin to build profitably on the new
foundation of Jesus Christ. Let us build with the materials of grace,
the fruits of the spirit and the virtues which are born of them. Let us
build our lives in the image and likeness of Christ, rather than in the
image of our sinfulness. Let us prepare that we may enter into the fiery
presence of God and not be consumed but rather be filled with the glory
of God and joined to Him in eternity.

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

Luke 6:31-36

The Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God celebrates the day,
over a thousand years ago, when St. Andrew, the Fool for Christ, and his
disciple, St. Epiphanius, stood in church during the Vigil Service and
beheld the Most-pure Virgin standing above the people with her veil
spread over her stretched out hands as though to protect them with this
covering. Accompanied by St. John the Baptist, the Holy Apostle John,
and other Saints, she stood tearfully praying for the people. Seeing
this, St Andrew asked Epiphanus, “Do you see how the Queen and lay of is
praying for the whole world?” This Feast of the Protection reminds us
that Heaven reaches all the way to the earth and of the constant
protection of the Mother of God for us .

There are some who might ask why it is we look to the Virgin Mary for
help when we can ask Jesus Christ Himself. But this is a foolish
question because asking the help of one does not exclude asking the help
of the other. In fact to call out to the Mother of God is in reality one
of the ways that we depend on the help that our Lord Jesus Christ
provides. Even during the time of His life here in this world, our Lord
sent others to assist in His work. He chose the 12 Apostles who were his
closest helpers in all things, and He chose 70 apostles who He sent into
the countryside to proclaim the Gospel. At His Resurrection He did not
come to the Apostles directly but sent others, the myrrhbearing women,
to tell them that He had risen from the dead.

Especially after His ascension into heaven, our Lord relied on the help
of the Apostles and the other believers to spread the Gospel throughout
the world, to work the same miracles that He worked, to heal the sick
and feed the poor. But some might still object, “Yes, but they were
still alive and in the world – now they are dead and so they can no
longer help us.” And we say to them, “Have you not heard the Good News?
Christ is Risen! and death is overcome.” Those who have fallen asleep in
this world remain alive in Christ and a part of the Church. They are as
active now as they ever were in this life – and even moreso for they are
no longer bound by the limitations of their mortality.

In the Gospel reading we heard the commandment of our Lord to love
others, to be kind to others and to be merciful. He tells us to do these
things not only for those who respond to us in kind, but to love all men
even if they hate us and are our enemies. He instructs us to do good
even to those who do evil things to us and to be merciful as He Himself
is merciful towards the whole world. One thing we know about the Mother
of God is that she lived a perfect life, fulfilling the law of God
without any lapse or flaw. During her life, she did love and do good to
all men and was merciful towards all. During her life she fulfilled this
commandment perfectly (as she did all the commandments). Now that she is
in heaven standing before the throne of her Son, how can it be any
different? Even now, she continues to love all mankind, to do good even
to those who hate her and to be merciful. She stands before Jesus Christ
as the perfect example of mankind and the pinnacle of the human race and
thus her love and care and mercy extend to the whole world and the whole
of humanity. This vision of the Virgin holding out her arms and
protecting the whole world witnessed by St Andrew and his disciple
attest to the fact that she continues to care for us today even as she
did in her life. She continues to pray for us standing now face to face
with her Son and our God. She holds out her protecting arms clothed with
the veil of the grace of God to shield us from evil and the attacks of
the one who would destroy us (that is the devil). Thus when we turn to
Christ for our help, we see the one whom He has chosen to bring Himself
into the world standing with Him, pouring out the grace she has received
from Him upon the whole world. To call out to the Mother of God for help
is to call out to Jesus Christ Himself – there is no difference for she
has given herself over completely to Him and is perfectly united to Him.
And she is not alone, but with her are all those who have learned to
fulfill perfectly the commandment of Christ to love all men without
limitation or reservation – that is the choir of the saints – and they
too pour out the grace they have received from Him upon us. To call out
to them for help is to call out to Christ Himself for like the Virgin,
the choir of the saints have also given themselves over completely to
Christ and they are perfectly united to Him.

This feast today of the Protection of the Mother of God reminds us of
her care and of the care of all the saints for us. They pray for us
before the throne of God and through the power of God, in which all
things are possible, they reach out to us in our need to help us ascend
to the heights which they have already attained that we too might stand
before the throne of God and be united to Him and perfectly love and do
good and be merciful towards all mankind thus fulfilling the commandment
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us then reach out to them to receive the
help that they offer and call out to the Mother of God and all the
saints, for to call out to them is to call out to Christ. Let us also
strive to allow the love of God for all men to work in us that being
united to our Lord we might also do the work of Christ bringing mercy,
compassion and love to all mankind.

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

Hebrews 13:7-16

Our Lord Jesus Christ did not leave us alone to figure out the Christian
life for ourselves. He, Himself, is our first and best example. In
becoming man, He not only taught us through His words how to live so
that we might be saved, but also He showed us how to live through His
own life. He knew, however, that He would not be with us all forever and
so He prepared for that eventuality by choosing the Apostles who He
appointed as His witnesses along with many others of His disciples that
followed Him throughout His ministry. What we could not learn from
Christ directly, we could learn from them. But the Apostles and those
who lived with Christ also would come to the end of their sojourn on
this earth and so they in turn chose others to teach the faith both by
word and by deed. Primary among these are the bishops who oversaw each
local group or congregation of Christians as well as the other clergy
and faithful. In addition to these we are also given the whole choir of
saints, who the Church holds up for us to see how to live the Christian
life. We are not alone, but we have the words and life of Christ, the
words and lives of the Apostles and of the clergy and of the saints by
which we are instructed and led along the path of salvation.

We heard today the direction of the Apostle to us to “Remember them
which have the rule over you (that is the bishops and other clergy) who
have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow (that is
imitate), observing attentively the end of their conduct.” He points out
here to us this very truth that the example set before us is the bishop
and other clergy and that we should remember to pray for them. He also
points out that they teach us both by speaking the word of God and then
by living out that which they have spoken in their own lives. This is
the true and living faith – a faith that is consistent not only in what
is said, but in the way it is lived out. This, at least in part, is why
the Apostle tells us to pray for those “who have the rule over us”, who
are given the task by God to instruct us by their words in the faith and
lead us by their actions into the Kingdom of Heaven. This is not an easy
thing, and especially when one is held up as an example. Therefore we
among the clergy, the bishops, the priests, the deacons and all the
other clergy are in great need of your prayers – do not forget to pray
for us every day that God may strengthen us to live in the same way that
we speak and that we might always live and speak the word of God.

However, we clergymen are not the only ones who are called to live
according to our faith. We are all called to do this. St James writes
that faith without works is dead and here the Apostle also tells us that
works done without faith are useless. This is what he means when he
says, “It is a good thing that the heart is established with grace; not
with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied
therein.” He refers here to the dietary laws of the Jewish people (that
is keeping kosher) and again reminds us that it is not the strict
following of laws that saves us but rather grace and any action done
without grace will “not profit” those who do them. For this reason
everything we do must be done in such a way that it is consistent with
the Gospel so that it brings grace to us.

How do we live like this? How do we live in a grace filled manner? The
answer to this is that we live according to our faith, that is we use
our faith to govern and shape our lives. We say that we love God. That
is good, but we must also act on that love of God and demonstrate that
we have God’s love in us by also loving our neighbor. We say that we
trust God – and yet more often than not we are consumed with worry and
anxiety that maybe things won’t work out or that we won’t have what we
need (actually we worry more about having what we want) despite God’s
promise to us that He sees all of our needs and provides for us just as
He provides for the flowers of the field or the birds of the air. We say
that we love our neighbor – but we are quick to judge and to be angry at
our neighbor. We want to make sure that if we love our neighbor then he
better love us back. But what kind of love is this – even the heathen
and sinners love those who love them. We are called to a higher love –
to love our enemies and to do good to those who hate us. But do we? We
say that we believe that God is our creator and that we worship Him in
spirit and in truth – and yet we find excuses to neglect our prayers
every day and we avoid coming to the services of the Church (well maybe
on Sunday mornings I’ll come, but any other time, forget it, I have more
important things to do). We say that we believe in a spiritual world and
in eternal life and that what we do in this life impacts life in the
Kingdom of God – and yet we choose the “short term” comforts and
pleasures of this life every time over the self denial and suffering
that prepares us for the life to come. How do we live a grace filled
life? We have to live according to our faith – we have to act on what we
say we believe.

Every day in the morning prayers, it is appointed to recite the symbol
of faith – the “I believe”, the Nicene Creed. This creedal statement is
a summary of all that we believe (or at least all that we say we
believe). If we want to live according to our faith, then every moment
of our lives for the rest of the day should express in some way what we
have already confessed to believing. Do we really believe in one God,
the Father Almighty and in one Lord Jesus Christ, Light of Light, True
God of True God Who for us men and for our salvation became man and was
crucified, died, was buried, descended into Hades and rose again and in
the Holy Spirit, the Lord the Giver of Life, of one essence with the
Father and the Son. Do we believe in the Church, the Body of Christ of
which we are a part, in the life changing power of the sacraments, in
resurrection from the dead, the Great Judgment and eternal life? Do we
believe these things? Then we have to act on that belief. We have to
constantly be mindful of God’s presence with us and commune with Him in
prayer – if not constantly, then as often as possible. We have to
imitate Christ in all that we do, we have to remember that we are bought
with a price and no longer belong to this world. We have to avail
ourselves of the help and power of the Holy Spirit, in the grace filled
sacraments. We have to prepare ourselves for death, for resurrection and
for the life to come. Every moment of our lives has to be shaped, guided
and directed by our belief.

We are given by God the teaching of the faith and we are also given the
examples of how to live that faith. We have to have the right faith, the
true belief, and this we have preserved for us in the Church. However,
we also have to make that faith real in our lives – we have to live it.
For that we have the examples of our teachers, of the saints, of the
Apostles and of Jesus Christ. Let your faith come alive in you – don’t
just believe it, but live it as well. This is way to live a grace filled
life – a life that will bring you great profit in eternity and lead you
into the Kingdom of Heaven.

--
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 & Gal 2:16-20
Later this week comes the worldly festival of “Halloween”. Many of the
customs associated with this festival come from the depths of the past,
mostly from pre-Christian pagan practices and possibly even from demonic
worship. There are many stories about how these customs came to be
practiced in a multitude of cultures and for each of the stories there
are many others which are completely different. It is impossible to
construct a single “true” account of the festival we now call “
Halloween”, however, it is without doubt a festival that draws its
origins from the pre-Christian pagan past of countries that later were
brought the light of Christ. Another thing that can be said about the
customs of “Halloween” is that these customs are all rooted in the fear
of death and of the dead. For this reason alone, setting aside all the
other theories about spiritism and demonic worship, it is inappropriate
for Orthodox Christians to engage in this festival. It is inappropriate
because we do not fear death, nor do we fear those who have died. We
know that death has been conquered and that it no longer has any power
or hold over us. We know that to be absent from the body is to be in the
presence of Christ (which can be fearful in its own right). We know that “Christ
is Risen from
the dead, trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs
bestowing life.” Those who have died in Christ we now lift up in prayer
that their souls may find rest in the choirs of the saints. Some of
those who have died in Christ are those very saints to whom we turn in
prayer seeking help and assistance in working out our own salvation. Why
should we fear them? Instead we honor them with our love and friendship.
Therefore a festival which is rooted in the fear of death and of the
dead has no place in the life of an Orthodox Christian.
What then should we do? Halloween is such a pervasive event in our
modern society, an event that on one hand seems to have divorced itself
from its pagan roots, but which on the other hand continues to draw upon
the fear of death and the dead, that it seems we can’t avoid it.
Children enjoy the excuse to dress up and to get candy from the ritual
of “trick or treat”. Pumpkins are there for the carving; corn mazes and
haunted houses abound; the thrill of being scared by horror stories and
films is hard to avoid. We cannot run from Halloween for it is all
around us. If we look at the response of the Church to these festivals
and customs in a time when they were a more overt response to the fear
of death can be instructive to us. The very name of this festival,
“Halloween” is a clue to our best response. The word “Halloween” (or
perhaps the full term “hallowed evening”) is a reference to the term
“All Hallows Eve” for that is what the Church did with this festival.
Throughout history the Church has taken in pagan festivals and adapted
them to her own purposes – converting them if you will. Christmas and
Theophany – the twin feasts of light in the Church – are laid over on
top of the pagan rituals surrounding the winter solstice when those who
worshipped the sun, seeing the shortening of the days, sought to entice
it to return for another year. The created light of the sun was replaced
and overpowered by the coming of the eternal light of the world, Jesus
Christ. The same approach was taken with this festival of the dead. The
dread of those who had died was replaced by the Church with the
celebration of all the saints (and so in the west the day after
Halloween is All Saints Day). The eve of the feast (Halloween) would be
celebrated in the Church with the vigil of All the Saints – the perfect
love of Christ which shone in the lives of the saints casts out the fear
of death and of the dead. On Halloween, we can choose to be in the
Church, celebrating the memory of the saints rather than participating
in the remnants of ancient rituals designed stave off the fear of death
and of the haunting of the dead.
The Fathers frequently exhort us to be mindful of our own mortality and
to always keep before our awareness the thought of one’s own death. This
remembrance of death is not to implant fear in us of the coming of our
own death, but to keep us vigilant for we know that when we do die, we
will stand before the throne of God. Therefore, by recalling our death,
we protect ourselves from the temptations to the indulgence of the
passions and desires of our self will and fallen nature and are inspired
rather to prepare ourselves so that we will have “a good defense before
the dread judgment seat of Christ.”
In the readings today we heard the parable of the sower and the seed.
This image of seeds falling to the ground and growing, taking root and
producing fruit also calls to mind the words of the Savior that unless a
grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains alone, but if it
dies, it produces much grain. Also in the epistle we heard the apostle
tell us that he has been crucified with Christ and so has died to the
law that Christ might live in him and that he might live with Christ.
The life which he now lives is the life of Christ. When we come to
Christ we sacrifice our own lives, we die to the world and to ourselves
and in return we receive the life of Christ that lives in us. We have
died with Christ and are raised with Him. By sacrificing our own lives,
we have passed through death and death no longer can hold us, for the
life that we now have is the eternal life of Christ.
Many times over the next week we will be confronted with fearful images
of death. But these images need not disturb us, for death no longer has
power over us. Rather than fear the dead, we now pray for them and ask
for the intercessions and help of the saints who stand before the throne
of God. We are filled with the life of Christ and this festival of fear
and death has no place in our lives.


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