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Missing Old Friends

Posted on by Fr. Peter

I will admit, and I am not ashamed at this admission, I like television.  After a difficult day, I like to veg out in front of the television and watch some show.  I am not sure if I prefer one genre over another but I do like reality TV shows.  I have been watching Survivor since the show began and I find it just keeps getting better.  But, I also like cooking shows and the cooking shows that are also competitions.

With that said, recently I watched a television show called Army Wives.  I had heard of the show before but never watched it until I saw it was available on Netflix so I began to watch it.

I really like programs that pull you in and in a way make it so you can identify with the characters.  Now, I have never been an Army wife but I have been in the Army and I do understand how difficult the transition can be from civilian to military life and back.  Army Wives does justice to this as well as bringing great credit upon the US military.

The show follows the lives of four women and one man who are all married to people in the Army.  At times it can be boring and predictable but I was hooked from the first show until the last episode of season 6.  The problem is, with the exception of a few characters, season 7 has introduced and entire new cast of characters.

The benefit of watching a show on Netflix or on DVD is that you do not have to wait between episodes and I found myself, on several occasions, staying up until the wee hours of the morning watching the show.  It is my belief that this is drama and comedy at its best and if you have time I recommend watching it.

But, the strangest thing happened while I was watching the show.  Like all good television, the show has its high points and its low points.  At times it makes you laugh and at times it makes you cry, and I am not afraid to admit it.  Like I said, this is good television.

But, as season 6 drew to a close, and the characters started to change, I felt like I was losing friends.  I know this is really stupid and it is only a television show, but I feel strange, like there is something missing.

I used to watch Law and Order, the original not the spin offs, and the best part of that show was that it was not really about the characters but about the particular case they were working on.  The cast completely changed during the long run of that program and it continued in popularity I am not sure I can say the same about Army Wives.

I am watching season 7 and it is very difficult trying to get used to new characters.  Seeing new people in the same sets and what not that the previous 6 seasons did it not an easy shift, like I said it is silly I know but it is what it is.

So, happy television watching and if you do not watch TV that is fine I like this form of entertainment.

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Independence Day

Posted on by Fr. Peter

declaration_of_independenceToday, like many of you, I will be gathering with family to commemorate the foundation of our country.  This day should be about more than hamburgers and hot dogs, although spending time with family is a great American tradition.  Today should be a time of reflection, reflection of where we have come from and where we are going not just as individuals but as a nation.

The last few days I have been engaged in research in Boston.  Yesterday I walked across town, through the Public Gardens and Boston Common and started to think about all that these two places in Boston had seen over the years.  Boston Common was the place where the Militia trained and continues to be a place where protests are held for a variety of reasons, and area of true freedom and democracy.

I was also struck by the variety of people walking around Boston.  I have always liked to people watch, I find people fascinating to watch, and yesterday was no exception to the rule.  Boston has become a very international city and it was certainly reflected in the faces that I saw walking around.  I am certain that some of those had escaped their homeland with a desire to breathe the air of freedom that America offers.

I stopped in at the Granary Burying Ground on Tremont Street, the third oldest cemetery in Boston.  This is the final resting place of Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and other Patriots of the Revolution.  Standing there, among all of those who sacrificed so much for our freedom, I started to ask myself where today’s patriots are.

Some of you may disagree with me, but we are losing more and more of our freedoms every day.  Air travel has become a hassle, email and other online communication is being read, secret courts, laws against protesting, laws restricting the use and ownership of fire arms, uncontrollable taxation from Washington and other places.  Some of these are the very same things that drove the Patriots to the uprising against the government of the day.  I am not suggesting armed conflict; in fact I am suggesting just the opposite.  The Patriots used their minds, their pens, and their voices to exact change in America and to bring forth a new nation.  The Revolution in armed conflict, it was actually a Civil War, was a last resort.

There were great gatherings, right here in Boston and other great cities, where both sides would argue the situation of the day.  Great orators would speak with eloquent terms and have real debates all we have today is intolerance from both sides and 140 character statements online.  We need real debate, adult debate; in America we have real problems that need real solutions!

Again, some of you will disagree with this, but religion, specifically Christianity is also under attack here in America.  Certainly not in the way it is in Syria and Egypt and other countries in the Middle East, but in much more subtle ways.  Last year’s ruling by the Health and Human Services that corporations, even religious institutions need to provide free contraception to their employees flies in the face of this freedom.  Sure, churches continue to be exempt for now, but hospitals, schools, and other such organizations run by churches must provide this type of insurance even if it means violating our beliefs.  Some would say, well you take federal money, I am would say that there have always been religious exemptions in many areas.  The Quakers and the Amish are exempt from the draft and registering with Selective Service because of their strong objection to war.  I fully support the right of anyone to use contraception, but why should I have to pay for something that I object to on religious and moral grounds.  This is just one example.

Freedom is a precious thing and freedom is something that thousands have given their lives for.  Freedom is not easily gained but it is easily lost.

This week also saw the 150th Anniversary of the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War at Gettysburg.  We can argue over the cause of the Civil War and to reduce it down to one issue does a disservice to those who fought, but the chief issue was freedom.  Freedom of a people enslaved and freedom from the tyranny of a central government run amuck.  America, since it’s very founding, has always been a free nation.  Those who hate us hate us for that very reason, our freedom.  We have sent our military around the globe because we believe that it is an inalienable right that all people are free and created equal.  We believe in freedom of speech, of the press and of religion, not just here but everywhere and many have died on the beaches, deserts, and hill tops of other nations to protect that very sense of freedom.

Walking the streets of Boston, the very cradle of our freedom, got me to thinking about all of this.  How the signers of the Declaration of Independence feared for their lives and snuck in and out of Philadelphia to place their names on a document that was considered treasonous and a document that had never before been written, setting the course of a new form of government where freedom was the watchword!

On this day, this day of Independence, take some time to reflect upon the great cost of our freedom.  The ability for me to write these words and the ability of some to object them is enshrined in that freedom.  We need to keep freedom alive as so many others are looking toward us as an example of freedom like the people of Egypt and Syria.  Let us celebrate that freedom today and never forget what it has cost us.

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Southbridge and the Battle of Gettysburg

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Harrison Bond

In the first week of July, 1863, the Armies of the North and South were marching toward a small southern Pennsylvania town called Gettysburg.  The 22nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was one of those units on the march.

By July 1, 1863, the 22nd had reached Hanover Pennsylvania unaware that the Army of the Potomac had engaged the enemy a few short miles away.  They had marched 10 miles and were bone weary tired so they bedded down for the night however, their sleep would not last long.  They were required to get back on their feet and continue the march to reach the battle field early the next morning.  They were able to catch a few hours of sleep while they awaited orders.

Around 4pm on July 2nd they were ordered, along with elements of the 5th Corps to fall in and support the 3rd Corps.  The marched just north of little round top, made famous by the 20th Maine and it’s commander Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, but they would not stop there.  They were deployed just south of the Wheatfield within sight of the Rose farmhouse.  Knowing that they would have to hold that small section of ground for the foreseeable future, they began to pile their paper cartridges in front of them for easy access during the fighting.

The 22nd was formed on September 28, 1861 in Boston for a period of service of three years.  Of the 1,100 men that mustered in only 125 would return home at the end of their three years of service.  More than 300 were killed in action and another 500 were discharged due to their wounds or other illness.  11 men from the Central Massachusetts town of Southbridge enlisted in Company K of the 22nd regiment and were present in the Wheatfield on the afternoon of July 2nd.

Southbridge sent more than 400 men to fight in the Civil War and I have embarked on a project to located and identify the graves of all 400 of these men, many of whom did not return to Southbridge.  One of the names that on that list is Harrison Bond, and he plays a crucial role in this story.

Harrison Bond was 20 years old when he enlisted in the 22nd Regiment.  He lived in Southbridge and was employed as a weaver.  Harrison Bond was present in the Wheatfield in fact he was wounded in the battle there.  He was transported to Camp Letterman, an Army Field Hospital set up on the George Wolfe Farm and it was there, on August 22, 1863 that Harrison Bond died of the wounds that he sustained during the Battle of Gettysburg.

His body was returned to his home and he is buried in the Cemetery in Brimfield, Massachusetts.  A few weeks back I traveled to that cemetery in search of the grave and found it, among graves of Revolutionary War Veterans, with a Grand Army of the Republic Flag Marker to denote his service, and his sacrifice, for his country.  Not much more is known of him as I cannot find any other information about him.

There is nothing remarkable about Harrison Bond by all accounts he was an ordinary guy that enlisted to fight to preserve the Union.  Who know why he answered the call in September of 1861 but like the thousands of others he did his duty.

It is easy to remember the names of Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant but the names like Bond, Calvert, Parkhurst are all but lost to history.  It was the Private soldier, the ones who left their families and their occupations, men like Harrison Bond, that fought the good fight and their names will be lost in time.

This is the second of what I hope will be several essays on the American Civil War.  The first essay can be found here.

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Patriarch Kirill’s appeal regarding tragic events in Syria

Posted on by Fr. Peter

PatKirill

25/6/13

Your Graces the archpastors, all-honourable fathers, dear brothers and sisters!

Syria has been suffering from ongoing hostilities for nearly two years. Tens of thousands of people have died, many of them were civilians – old people, women and children.

Our brothers in faith constitute a considerable part of the Syrian people: the centre of an oldest Orthodox Patriarchate, Patriarchate of Antioch, is located in the city of Damascus. At present human blood is being shed in the streets of this city which remembers St Paul and heroic deeds and labours of ancient saints. Orthodox Christians and Muslims used to live side by side in peace in this Biblical land where the shrines are being desecrated, churches are being profaned, and Christians are being driven out of their houses, persecuted and often tortured and killed.

Houses are ruined, infrastructure is destroyed, people lack for food and medicaments; and many are homeless. Some people have gone to their relatives, others have found shelter at special centres, still others had to flee to neighbouring countries with nobody to welcome them there.

Our people endured similar hardships not long ago. Thousands of our compatriots, many bishops, priests, monks and laypeople among them, were killed in the years of revolution, civil war and persecutions against the Church. We venerate the exploit of the Russian new martyrs and confessors, and we must not be indifferent when we see innocent blood being shed.

We cannot stop this war, but we can pray zealously for its soonest cessation and help the suffering people, including our Christian brothers.

Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us in His Parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:29-37) who we should regard as our neighbor: the one who needs help, even if he or she has another views, confesses another faith or lives in another place. Such was the man, who had suffered at the hands of robbers, for the Good Samaritan.

I ask you to respond to Christ’s appeal and help our neighbours, who are now in particular need of support and sympathy.

For this purpose, I give my blessing to organize a fund-raising on the next Sunday in all churches of the Russian Orthodox Church to help the needy in Syria. Money should be transferred to accounts of the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Service which is charged to coordinate this good initiative. The money collected will be transferred to the Patriarchate of Antioch.

I am praying for the end of bloodshed and for peace in the land of Syria. I hope that our offerings will be pleasing to God.

+KIRILL
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
June 25, 2013

Source

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Orthodoxy and Marriage

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Please forgive my imperfect words.  I have struggled to write this.  I have gone between not writing something and writing something and just what to write.  I have started and stopped many times over the last twenty-four hours and my words seem to be incomplete but I feel I need to write something.  I have not struggled with my belief on the issue but I am struggling with what our response should be.  Does this change anything?  How will this affect what we do as church, if at all?

I have many friends who have chosen a lifestyle that I do not agree with.  Some of them are involved in life long relationships and some are not.  As an Orthodox Christian I cannot support the lifestyle they have chosen for themselves as Homosexuality is incompatible with Orthodox Christianity and that is a case that was decided by God.

The Orthodox position on marriage is very clear, and was stated by our bishops in 2012:

The Orthodox Christian teaching on marriage and sexuality, firmly grounded in Holy Scripture, 2000 years of church tradition, and canon law, holds that marriage consists in the conjugal union of a man and a woman, and that authentic marriage is blessed by God as a sacrament of the Church. Neither Scripture nor Holy Tradition blesses or sanctions such a union between persons of the same sex. Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in North and Central America, Statement on Marriage and the Moral Crisis in our Nation, May 16, 2012 (This is the official Orthodox Position)

I will say this again just so I am clear, same sex marriage is incompatible with Orthodox Christianity.  Homosexuality is incompatible with Orthodox Christianity.  Sex outside of marriage is incompatible with Orthodox Christianity and I believe that this statement makes that abundantly clear.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States, redefined marriage for all eternity.  They redefined marriage in a civil context and not in a religious context.  Now, some of my brother priests will disagree with me on this point, but I don’t really care what the government or the court says about this because for me it is not a civil issue it is one of theology.  Orthodox Theology teaches that marriage is between one man and one woman as God ordained with the first marriage of Adam and Eve and there is no court in the land that can change that.  For now, I am not forced to perform marriages that my faith does not allow me to perform.  I have issues with signing a marriage license but that is for another discussion.  Yesterday’s decision did not affect my belief in marriage at all.  I also believe that this is a slippery slope and that the definition will continue to change to make room for all sorts of marriages and that is also very dangerous.  Again, I am sure that there are some of my brother priests who disagree with me on this point.

I believe that trying to legislate morality is a dangerous position.  I ask, whose system of morality are we going to use?  Sure it would be nice if everyone had the Orthodox system of moral teaching, but the fact is we are less and 1% of the US population and not all Orthodox agree on a system or moral teaching.  Since the majority of the people in this country now do not attend any Church, will we use that system of morality?  What about the Muslim system or morality and Sharia Law?  Would that be acceptable?

Morality is taught from the pulpit and it is our job as authentic teachers to teach those that God has given us charge over, to teach just that.  How do we change society?  One person at a time.  If we teach and preach what our Church believes, not our version of what the Church believes, but what the Church believes, that is all we can do.  If we change the hearts and minds of people then the laws will not matter.

For me it all comes down to love.  We are commanded to love everyone, we do not have to love what they do, but we have to love them as people created in the image and likeness of God.  In the secular, pluralistic society we live in we have to make room for the opinions of others.  We do not have to agree with them but we have to make room for them.

I have said before that the Orthodox Church is open and affirming of everyone, not of their behaviors but of them as people.  It is our job to help people change their lives and to walk with Christ.  When Jesus met the woman at the well, he did not dismiss her as a sinner, He accepted her and pointed out where her life was not right and he helped her to see that for herself.  He did not scream that she was a sinner, He did not refuse conversation with her, but just the opposite He sat with her and taught her with love, not hatred.  This is at the very essence of Orthodoxy.

Preaching the Gospel truth, as we Orthodox understand it, is not easy in a world that is hostile to what we want to preach.  The truth, as revealed to us through God’s Holy Church, makes people uncomfortable and if we are not willing to make people feel uncomfortable then we have no business standing in the pulpit.  The problem with most religious thought of the day is we confuse theology with politics.  We use terms like liberal and conservative within the Church and these are political distinctions that should not be used in the Church.  We also cannot decide theology on what is popular, it is not about being popular it is about being faithful to what has been revealed to us through God’s Holy Church.  Our faith is unchanging and if that makes us unpopular so be it, Jesus did not preach what was popular, He did not say, your lives are just fine the way they are so go about your business, no He called us to look at what we are doing in light of the unchanging Gospel message.  We are all sinners and have all fallen short of the glory of God but that does not mean He loves us any less and that is what we have to do, love everyone.

I am not 100% happy with these thoughts but writing helps me to come to terms with issues that I am working through.  Yes we have black and white stands on issues and we are unmoving on all of them, but I always try to approach them with love and understanding.

Feel free to disagree with me but I ask that you do so with respect.  I reserve the right to delete any comments that I feel are disrespectful.

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The Absolution at Gettysburg

Posted on by Fr. Peter

One Hundred and Fifty years ago, two great armies were marching toward the small Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg.  The inhabitants of this small town numbered only 8,000 souls and they were going to be in the middle of the one of the greatest battles of the United State Civil War.

From July 1st until July 3rd the Army of Northern Virginia with almost 72,000 men, commanded by General Robert E Lee and the Army of the Potomac with almost 92,000 men, Commanded by Generals George G Meade and John F Reynolds, battled it out on this field that left more than 7,800 dead, 27,000 wounded, and more than 11,000 captured or missing.  The ground literally was read with the blood of both blue and gray.

Although this battle has gone down in history as one of, if not, the bloodiest battles in American history, there is one little known event that took place on July 2nd in the middle of the battle.

Fr. William Corby, Chaplain of the 88th New York Infantry Regiment of the Irish Brigade, had been with his men since the start of the war.  He was living at Notre Dame University when the war began and became chaplain of the Regiment serving until the end of war.  What was remarkable about this is that the average service of a Chaplain was 18 months as most of them were in their 50’s and could not adjust to the life in the field.

The role of the Chaplain in the Army at the time of the Civil War was unclear.  They were appointed by the regimental commander after being elected by the field grade officers.  They were paid at the rank of Captain of Calvary $100 per month and $18 for rations, a tent, and forage for one horse, which they had to provide for themselves.  Chaplains in the Confederacy did not fare as well.  Most of them did not get paid at all.

But the most extraordinary thing happened on the afternoon of July 2, 1863.  The Irish Brigade was preparing to engage the enemy and Fr. Corby proposed to give the General Absolution to the men because, in his words, “the men had absolutely no chance to practice their religious duties during the past two or three week, being constantly on the march.”

In his book, Memoires of Chaplain Life, Fr. Corby quotes Major General St. Clair Mulholland on his experience at this point:

There are yet a few minutes to spare before starting, and the time is occupied by one of the most impressive religious ceremonies I have ever witnessed.  The Chaplain of the Irish Brigade, whose members were mostly Catholic, proposed to give a general absolution to all the men before going to fight.  Father Corby stood on a large rock in front of the brigade. Addressing the men, he explained what he was about to do, saying that each one could receive the benefit of the absolution by making a sincere Act of Contrition and firmly resolving to embrace the first opportunity of confessing his sins, urging them to do their duty, and reminding them of the high and sacred nature of their trust as soldiers and the noble object for which they fought.  As he closed his address, every man, Catholic and non-Catholic, fell on his knees with his head bowed down. Then stretching his right hand toward the brigade, Father Corby pronounced the words of the absolution:

Dominus noster Jesus Christus vos absolvat, et ego, auctoritate ipsius, vos absolvo ab omni vinculo, excommunicationis interdicti, in quantum possum et vos indigetis deinde ego absolvo vos, a pecatis vestris, in nomni Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, Amen

May our Lord Jesus Christ absolve you; and by His authority I absolve you from every bond of excommunication or interdict, so far as I am able and you have need. Moreover, I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

All of this took place within ear shot of the Peach Orchard and Little Round Top with canon and musket fire all around them.  Father Corby did what he could to prepare the men under his care for battle that day and for what would face them in the next world.  There exists now a statue of Father Corby perched upon the very rock where he gave this absolution in the Gettysburg National Battlefield.

To quote again from Father Corby’s book;

I do not think there was a man in the brigade who did not offer up a heart-felt prayer.  For some, it was their last; they knelt there in their grave clothes. In less than half an hour many of them were numbered with the dead of July 2nd.

As I write these words, thousands of people are heading toward Gettysburg, many of them traveling on the same roads that those soldiers did 150 years ago.  They go to reenact one of the bloodiest days in American history.  They do this to honor those who fought on both sides for what they thought was right.  Those who wore blue and those who wore gray were fighting for their version of America, for their rights and the rights of others.  Some believe the war was inevitable and sooner or later it would happen.  I cannot help but this of the priest from Notre Dame who stood on that rock and gave what comfort he could.

Father Corby has been quoted as saying that he meant this absolution not only for those assembled before him but for all of those fighting on that day that they fight the good honorable fight.

Father Corby died in 1897 after serving as President of Notre Dame University.  The men he served with loved him very deeply and always invited him to speak at reunions and other gathers that he was able to attend.

We must never forget our history and we must never forget those who gave so much for America.

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Sermon ~ Overflowing Your Banks

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Arriving in my email each day is an email from the Massachusetts Historical Society with a little story about something that happened on that particular day in history.  Very often I pass over these as they title does not always catch my eye but yesterday it was very interesting.  Yesterday’s email was about the filling of the Quabbin Reservoir and the completion of the project that has begun years before.

Construction of the Reservoir took 20 years to complete and it involved the removal of four towns, Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott, all of their homes, stores, churches, and more than 7,600 graves.  The amount of work that was needed is mind boggling today let alone in the 1940’s but the project was complete and the citizens of Boston and 46 other towns have water.

While reading this story I was reminded of an essay I had recently read on the spiritual life.  In the essay, the author quotes the 12 century Theologian Bernard of Clairvaux from his seminal work on the Song of Song;

The man who is wise, therefore, will see his life as more like a reservoir than a canal. The canal simultaneously pours out what it receives; the reservoir retains the water till it is filled, then discharges the overflow without loss to itself.

Our Spiritual life is like the bodies of water that Bernard is talking about.  Far too many people in the Church will read one book and think they are experts on the faith.  They go around quoting this or that saint but have no real understanding of what the quotes actually means, in other words it flows out as fast as it flows in.

St. Benedict, who the Orthodox Church considers the father of Western Monasticism, taught his monks a way of reading that he called Lectio Divina, divine reading.  St. Benedict taught that by slowly reading Scripture, and letting it wash over us, we would come to a better understanding of what the Scripture was trying to tell us.  The slow, methodical study would lead to understanding.

Sticking with the water theme here for a minute, a canal is not as deep as a reservoir.  Orthodoxy Spirituality has depth to it and that depth requires work.  It took 20 years to complete the construction of the Quabbin, and to this day it has not ceased to provide water to millions of people, if a canal was used, the water would have run out years ago.  The deeper we go the longer it will last.

We have talked a lot, these last few weeks, about our mission in the world.  Christ compels each of us to love our neighbor and part of that love is to share the Good News of the Resurrection with them.  In the Gospel passage selected for yesterday’s Liturgy for Saturday of the Souls, was a dialogue between Peter and Jesus.  Jesus was asking Peter if he loved Him.  When Peter responded yes, Jesus responded by saying feed my lambs.  The conversation continues and Jesus asks Peter again, “Do you love Me?”  Again Peter responds yes, and Jesus asks Him to care for His Sheep.  If we love Jesus, then we have to care for the lambs, our neighbor, we have no other choice.  If we do not desire to care for them, then we truly do not love Jesus to the depths of our soul, and that is the love that is necessary.

A few weeks back we celebrated the Great Feast of the Ascension.  This feast signifies the end, if you will, of the earthly ministry of Jesus.  Prior to this time, Jesus spent three years with His Apostles, teaching them about the life that is to come.  He talked with them, prayed with them, ate with them, and witnessed to them by His life, the kind of life that He requires of all of us.

Today we celebrate the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, this is not the end of the story but really only the beginning of the story.  Up to this point, Jesus was filling the vessels with water, the water of truth, knowledge, love, ministry, etc.  He filled them right up to the brim and today He drops a stone in the vessel and the water overflows and runs down the side of that vessel and out to nourish others.  It was not until this point that the Apostles were ready to engage the world in the ministry that Jesus had called them too years before.  It was not until they were literally overflowing their banks, that they could go out and witness to others, and we hear that story today.

If they had gone out before they were ready, they would have failed.  They had not stored up enough, enough of what they would need for the journey, enough of the Spirit, and they would burn out before they even began.

Last week I mentioned that Church has to be about more than making us feel good.  It would be easy for me to stand here each week and tell you what you want to hear, that we are okay and our lives are perfect just the way they are.  We could sing a few clap happy songs and feel good and go from here with a warm fuzzy and say that was great!  The Church is not about entertainment, the Church is about change.  We are not just a river that flows quickly by a spot, no, we need to dam up one end of that river so that it flows and grows and makes us strong, so strong that we overflow our banks and share that with others, that’s what we are about.  We are about a spirituality that is so deep we can spend an entire lifetime studying it and still not be ready.  Even after the Apostles received the Holy Spirit, they still had work to do.

Some years back, I lead a college team to Guatemala City to the Hogar Raphael Orphanage in Guatemala City.  I had seen poverty before, but nothing like what I witnessed on the streets of Guatemala City, it was devastating to see, hear, smell, and experience.  In the middle of all of this poverty and despair, is the Orphanage that is simply known as the “Hogar” an oasis in the middle of chaos.

Each day we would work with the children there who ranged in age from infants to 18 years of age, all orphans, many of them had been there since their own infancy.  Each evening we would gather as a tam to talk about the day, pray, and read Scripture together.  You see after we spent the day emptying ourselves, we needed to put a little more back.  We see this in Scripture as well.  We hear of Jesus retreating to a quiet place to pray, sometimes he takes His Apostles off and teaches them alone, away from the crowd, he dams up the river and allows the water to gather again, so it will be available to everyone.

If we do not have this deep abiding faith, a faith that is at the core of our very being, then our faith is just superficial and superficial faith is false.  Sure we can play the game and maybe even do some good, but we are required to do more than just “some good” we are called to a radical change, not just on the surface, but all the way to the center of our being.  We need to be converted, and have our heart of stone replaced with a heart of flesh, before we can ever hope to really love our neighbor and to help them.

The time has come for us to begin the work of damming up one end of river.  The time has come for us to remove all of those structures that will pollute the water and prevent the fullness that we need to have.  The time has come for us to open the graves of our past and remove from them the things that keep us from truly loving God and truly loving our neighbor.  The time has come to let go of all of this and allow the Holy Spirit to come into our lives and penetrate the surface and go all the way, all the way to the core of our being.  Will it be easy, no if fact it will be extremely hard and painful, but in the end there will be enough clean, clear water flowing from each of us to bring that love to millions.

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Every Christian is to Become a “Little Christ”

Posted on by Fr. Peter

cs_lewis

Now the whole offer which Christianity makes is this: that we can, if we let God have His way, come to share in the life of Christ. If we do, we shall then be sharing a life which was begotten, not made, which always existed and always will exist. Christ is the Son of God. If we share in this kind of life we also shall be sons of God. We shall love the Father as He does and the Holy Ghost will arise in us. He came to this world and became a man in order to spread to other men the kind of life He has – by what I call “good infection.” Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else.

C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

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Sermon ~ Communion with God

Posted on by Fr. Peter

We talk a lot about Communion; after all, communion is central to what we do as Orthodox.  At each Divine Liturgy we come into communion with the living God when we approach the chalice and receive communion.  This is not some mere symbol or reenactment of an event that happened thousands of years ago, we Orthodox believe that when we come forward we are approaching the “real presence” of Jesus Christ.  We believe that Christ is truly present in the chalice not just a memory of Him, but him, actually present.

We have spoken of this before.  Our entire Christian journey is one of communion with God.  We move in and out of this symbiotic relationship each and every day.  In his great book, “On the Incarnation” St. Athanasius says that “God became man so that man might become God.” He is speaking of the process of divinization, or theosis as it has become known is the slow, deliberate process where each and every day we move closer to God.  This is an awesome thought, God took on our flesh, our frailty, our humanity, to show us the way for us to take on and share in His divinity.  That is why we are here.

This process is deeper and much more intimate than simply “taking Jesus in your heart” this is actually becoming Jesus.  Just as the bread and wine are transformed into the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ, we are called to transform our lives, not just on the outside, but all the way through to our very core.

But aside from that how do we come into communion with God?

In today’s Gospel from St. John we hear Jesus praying.  This is not just any prayer, for the first time we hear Jesus praying for Himself.  In this prayer He says, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ who You have sent.”  This is eternal life knowledge of the only true God and His Son Jesus Christ.  We get to know God by knowing the Son and all that He has said and done.

The Orthodox Church teaches that there are three ways we come into, and maintain, our communion with God; prayer, Liturgy, and our neighbor.

It has been said that communication is the key to any relationship.  If people are not communicating with each other than knowledge of the other breaks down.  We cannot know someone better if we do not understand them and that is hard to do if we are not communicating with them.  Sure we can learn some things about them from others and perhaps what they have written, but if we truly want to know people, really know them, we have to have a discussion with them.  This is prayer.  Pray, put simply, is communication, conversation, talking and listening.  It is through this process, an intimate process if you will, where God reveals Himself.  God knows us, the psalms tell us that He knew us before we were born when He knit us together in our mother’s womb.  God knows us better than we know ourselves, but do we know Him, His will and His desire for our lives, not our version of His will, but His will.

Knowing the will of God is not easy.  Sometimes, and I put myself in this category as well, we think we are doing God’s will when in essence we are doing our will.  Discerning the will of God is not easy.  Our Church teaches that before we undertake any, life changing event, we need to seek the advice of our spiritual father.  We believe that everything we do needs to be in the will of God, from marriage to buying a house or a car, to choosing the college that we attend, changing jobs etc. each life altering event needs to be taken to God in prayer.

Liturgy is another way we come into communion with God.  The Liturgical services of the Church, and by this I am not simply talking of the Divine Liturgy, but the entire public Liturgical cycle of the Church brings us closer to God.  This building is not just some building, this building, the walls, the floor, the windows, the physical structure, has all been consecrated by the bishop to God.  This is a Holy Place, not just a place that is set aside to be holy, but an actual holy place.  This building has been anointed with oil, just as were at our baptism and our Chrismation.

The Church teaches that each time we gather, be it formal Liturgy or a less formal time like a meeting of the parish council or a general assembly that we are meeting as Church and in a way this is a liturgical function.  We being with prayer and we ask that the Holy Spirit is present with us to guide us in the work that God has called each of too.  We sit here in the very presence of God.  Sure God exists in all of creation, but this is where He dwells, we believe that God is physically present in this place and it is here that we physically and spiritually come into communion is a very real way, with God.  This is a special place.

Finally, and I think is one of the hardest, we come into communion with God through each other.  We have talked about this before but it bears repeating, we must love our neighbor.  During the priestly prayer in the Liturgy of St. Basil, the priest prays for “those who love us and those who hate us” that is who our neighbor is.

Let us not forget that each and every human being is created in the image and likeness of God.  No human is born evil, evil is a learned trait, no human is evil, their actions are evil, but not the person.  If we ever forget that all of humanity is given as a gift from God, then we simply reduce that humanity to a thing, and when we do that we dishonor the image that is in each and every person.  People, no matter where they are or what their background, deserve to be treated with dignity.  No matter what the person has done to you the fact remains, they are human.

We disrespect people when we reduce them to things, liberal, conservative, rich, poor, black, white etc. we need to move past the outside and toward the inside.  We need to move from the intellectual knowledge of people to a more intimate knowledge of them.  Some of us show more respect for the icons in the Church then we do for the living icons that walk among us each day.  We come into communion with God when we come into communion with His creation, all of it.

Jesus challenges us today to come into a deeper communion with Him and His Father.  He is asking each of to take that step of faith and move closer to Him.  This relationship will cost us, it might even cost us our lives, but it is the reason we have been created.

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We Need to Rethink Our Approach to Poverty in America

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Recently, St. Vladimir’s Seminary and the Acton Institute teamed up to offer a conference on Poverty in the United States.  The recordings of the sessions are available on Ancient Faith Radio and I am presently working my way through them.  I have not listened to all of them yet so I am sure I will be posting more as time rolls on.

In the Key note, Dr. Jay Richards, who I met last year at Acton University in Grand Rapids, laid out the plan for the conference.  What I have been able to glean thus far is we need a new way of thinking about poverty because the old one is just not working.  What is the best way to solve the problem of poverty, create wealth that is the best way.  How we do that is the question.

Unlike most people who like to weigh in on poverty, I work with a population that is actually poor.  I live in a community that one would not call wealthy, where the poverty rate continues to grow.  There are all sorts of people who are willing to place the blame on this group or that group, but no one seems to be willing to have the difficult discussion about the root cause of all of this.

When you study poverty, and the effects of it, once quickly realizes that it is usually the cause of most of the other problems that we face.  The current welfare system, although necessary, is broken and all it does is enslave people to the system.  There is no incentive to get off the system, but rather than have a discussion about that we sit back and complain about what people are buying with their food stamps.  Rather than try and figure out how to get folks off of the system, we keep reforming the system meanwhile we enslave another generation.

This may sound cruel but it is true.  I sit with people all the time who are victims of the system and listen to their stories.  Some time back there was a discussion about poverty and welfare going around on social media.  I challenged those who were holding the line that people on welfare just need to work, to come to our community meal and talk with the folks who come.  I was not surprised when not one of them came, not one of them came to talk to the people they love to scorn for political points.  Both sides use the poor for their own political gain, meanwhile the gap between the groups continues to grow.

What we need is a conversation where we are not afraid to talk.  The problem today is if we talk about getting people off of the system we are seen to be insensitive and in some cases racists, this is not helpful.  We need a new way of looking at poverty and a new way of finding a solution and the Church needs to play a large role in that.

In 369 St. Basil the Great was a newly ordained priest in Cappadocia.  The situation in Cappadocia was grim.  The city and the surrounding area had been hard hit by famine as all of the crops had dried up.  St. Basil developed a vision for a new community based on simplicity of life and what he called an engaged monasticism.  St. Basil’s idea was simple, people need to help people.  He had a vision where the poor could come and receive medical care, food, clothing, and rest.  This would be a place to truly live the Gospel of loving of one’s neighbor.

The monks would practice trades such as carpentry and blacksmithing, but would also practice the medical and healing arts.  There would be a worship space, but the Gospel would be preached in action not just in words.  The hope would be that it would be a self-sustaining ministry for all.

Now, I am not saying this is the answer but what I am saying is that we need to recapture the vision of St. Basil and make it new for the 21st century.  The Church certainly is not is a position to take over what the government has been doing, although I believe the Church shirked it’s responsibility and that is why the government had to step in.  How many of our churches have programs for those in our own community that are less fortunate than us?  How many of our clergy live like kings and drive big fancy cars and live in big houses, while the people they have been given to serve, live in poverty?  How many festivals do we have where the money is used to build larger and larger temples while very little, if anything, goes to help those in their own community?  This is what I mean when I say we need a new way of thinking about poverty and we cannot be afraid to have the conversation.

I have much more to learn and much more to think about and maybe in the end, the current system will be the best but we have to have the conversation.  We need all voices to be heard and listened too and I believe the Church can be the place where this conversation takes place.  We just need to be willing to start the conversation.

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