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The Good Samaritan

Posted on by Fr. Peter

The Gospel of Luke 10:25-37

At that time, a lawyer stood up to put Jesus to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered right; do this, and you will live.”

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed mercy on him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

We all know this story; we have heard it on many occasions.  But the question is to we know it on an intellectual level or do we know it in our hearts?

I have said before that Orthodoxy is not a religion that we can engage in our heads, Orthodoxy is a religion that has to be part of us to our very essence of who we are.  When we say we are Orthodox Christians then that has to mean that we think with the mind of the church.

Today we read the story of the Good Samaritan from St. Luke’s Gospel.  The commentary in the Orthodox Study Bible has this quote from St. Cyril of Alexandria regarding the priest in the story, “the dignity of the priesthood means nothing unless he also excels in deeds.”  The priest in this story certainly did not excel in deeds.

Yesterday I wrote some thoughts about clergy discipline and what I think should happen to clergy who stray.  Some may think my words were rough but, and I wrote this in yesterday’s essay, clergy should be held to a much higher standard.

Years ago I was introduced the BBC Drama Ballykissangel.  The show takes place in a small village in rural Ireland and follows the daily lives of villagers at the center of which is the parish church.  In the first episode, the old priest is talking to his new young curate about what he expects of him in his new assignment.  He goes on to tell him about all of those who have come before him and how his most recent predecessor was here only for the suit.  You see too many times the clergy are only interested in the suit.  All they want is to dress up and take the place of honor at the table and to be called father!  Sadly, I know clergy who are like this, and it is something that needs to stop.

I am not sure what our priest in today’s Gospel had going on.  Maybe he was rushing off to hospital to anoint someone who was dying.  Maybe he got a call that his child was sick at school, and he needed to fetch her and bring her home.  St. Luke does not go into much detail about the priest, but, as St. Cyril says in the quote I used before, he has to show compassion as we all do, but as leaders in the community we need to set the example.

But for us the story does not end there, and we see what happens to the poor man in the end.  Another came by, a layman, a Samaritan, and he stopped and helped this man.  He bandaged his wounds and brought him, at his own expense, to an Inn and asked the Inn Keeper to care for him until her returned.  He gave the Inn Keeper some money and told him if it costs more he will pay him on his return journey.  So not only was the Samaritan compassionate but the Inn Keeper as well.  He had to care for this man, and he did not know if his further expense would ever be paid.  But he did it out of love for his neighbor.

Part of the office of the priest is to sanctify, he is to bring the Sacraments to the faithful, he is bind their wounds by aiding in the Sacramental Grace of God poured out through the Sacraments of the Church.  We see that in today’s story as well.

The man binds his wounds with bandages and anoints them with oil, just as in baptism the new garment we put on delivers us from our sins and the oil of Chrismation gives us new life in the Holy Spirit.  The man placed the wounded man on his own animal indicating Christ bearing our own sins.  The Inn the man is brought too is symbolic of the Church the ideal place for healing and the price he pays is the price that Jesus paid on the cross to reconcile us from our sins.

In the opening verses of the Gospel Jesus tells them to love God and love neighbor.  At the end of the story, he asks them who they thought showed the love of God to their neighbor and then tells them to go and do likewise.  Jesus was speaking to each of us in this passage, but he is also speaking to the church.  The Church needs to be the place from which we are sent out to minister to those we find along the highways and byways of our life.  The Church needs to be the place where we are taught the skills necessary to bind up the wounds of those who are in the world and hurting.

Another aspect of the office the priest is teaching.  We clergy need to teach the faithful what they are supposed to do.  How will they be equipped to go out into the world and serve their neighbor if we do not teach them and then stand side by side shoulder to shoulder with them and do the work that is required?  We are not to come in at the last minute, work the room, and then leave.  The faithful need to see us getting our hands dirty and working to bring the love of Christ to everyone.

There is much work to be done in this world that so desperately needs us.  Read this passage today and as Jesus so boldly proclaims, “Go and do likewise.”

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On Clergy Discipline

Posted on by Fr. Peter

I was recently involved in a discussion regarding the discipline of clergy who have, as they say, gone off the reservation.  I take a rather hard stand on this as I believe that those of us who have been blessed with Sacred Holy Orders need to be held to a higher standard.  I also believe in mercy, compassion, and healing but that can be done without wearing the collar of the cassock of the ordained clergy.  If you “fall” then that has to come with a consequence.  For far too long clergy have been causing scandal in the Church with their actions and it is high time that this comes to an end.

I also take a hard stand against those who cover this up.  As most of you who read these pages know, I am a convert to Orthodoxy coming from the Roman Catholic tradition.  I began seminary the same year that the clergy sex abuse scandal broke in the Archdiocese of Boston.  I lived through some pretty bad times in seminary that still haunt me to this day.  This of course does not compare to the absolute horror of those who were victimized by the clergy and in fact does not compare at all.  For me, standing on the sidelines watching, the victims were victimized multiple times, by the accused priest and then by the institution of the Church.  To watch a senior hierarch on TV talk about a “Chron” file and delay tactics was just sickening.  As with the offending clergy, the people involved in a cover up or attempted cover up need to go as well.  There is no place in the church, any church, for this kind of behavior.

I came across an essay written by Fr. Thomas Hopko on the topic of the discipline of the clergy and I feel it is helpful to us in putting in perspective the serious office that we clergy have been given.  Never forget that we will be held accountable on the day of judgment for all of our actions involving not only our own sins, but in how we lead the people that we have been entrusted with.

Being called from the people to serve the people in the ranks of the ordained clergy is a sacred responsibility and those who chose, for whatever reason, to treat that responsibility with such disregard need to no longer be able to call themselves clergy.

Excerpt from a September 2011 letter of Fr Thomas Hopko, “Discipline of Clergy Accused of Serious Crime: Applying Church Canons Today”: (Emphasis is mine)

Fr. Thomas Hopko

A clergyman guilty of a transgression and/or crime who genuinely repents may be allowed to continue in Communion. He may, with true repentance, be blessed to partake of the Holy Mysteries under the conditions required of all faithful communicants. However, every effort must be made to see that the guilty man’s repentance is genuine and long-lasting. Thus there will always have to be a time during which the guilty clergyman refrains from partaking of the Holy Mysteries as a normal part of his process of repenting. How long this time is, and what is required of the guilty clergyman during this time to prove the genuineness of his repentance, is decided by the responsible bishop (with the knowledge and approval of the Synod), or the Synod as a whole.

Under no circumstances whatsoever, however, may a guilty clergyman whose sin and/or crime would preclude him from being ordained in the first place, or to remain among the active clergy if he is already ordained, be allowed ever again to serve at the Holy Altar or to perform any episcopal, presbyteral or diaconal duties. Clergy sin and crime is a serious matter, and it must be treated seriously. The integrity of the Church, the success of the Church’s mission and witness, and the respectful treatment of the Church by its own members and those outside it demands this, for nothing so undermines the Church’s image in the world and trivializes its divine message than clergymen convicted of transgressions and crimes being allowed to continue in their ministries.

An essential element in the guilty clergyman’s genuine repentance is his voluntary cessation of all clerical functions. He may perhaps be permitted to “stand among the clergy” when partaking of the Holy Mysteries, but under no circumstances whatsoever may he lead, celebrate, serve or assist in Divine Services according to the office to which he was ordained. Although it may be argued that “oikonomia” in this matter under very exceptional circumstances may be applied for the salvation of souls (other people’s souls, not the soul of the guilty clergyman), it is virtually impossible to imagine what these circumstances could possibly be.

The application of such a rule, never to be violated or dispensed with for any reason, is not excessive punishment. In fact, it is not “punishment” at all. It is rather the appropriate procedure to protect the Church and all its faithful members from confusion, offense, accusation and scandal. The repenting clergyman himself should insist upon this action, and accept it as an unambiguous sign of his genuine repentance, and of his gratitude for the “oikonomic” blessing to continue as a Communicant of the Holy Mysteries because of his repentance, and of his unqualified love for the Church. His failure to do so proves that he does not truly repent for his sin and cares nothing for the well-being of the Church, the success of its mission and the salvation of the souls for whom the Church exists. Indeed, no clergyman – bishop, presbyter or deacon – is so necessary to the Church’s life and work that he has to keep functioning in office after having been proven guilty of an act, or many acts, that would preclude his ordination in the first place. The repentant clergyman’s contribution to the Church’s well-being and the salvation of souls, beginning with his own, is exactly his cessation, not continuation, of ordained service.

A repentant clergyman may, perhaps, be blessed to continue wearing clerical dress, especially at church services, after being reinstated to Communion in the Holy Mysteries. But under no circumstances may he be permitted to wear the sacred vestments of his office since he is no longer an active servant. He is, on the contrary, a penitent clergyman. Once again, this is not a punishment. It is an appropriate action for the sake of the Church’s integrity, well-being and peace.

I don’t believe that quibbling over the nuances of various terms for cessation of service — suspension, deposition, unfrocking, etc. – is helpful. Indeed, I believe that it should be avoided because it obfuscates rather than clarifies. It seems to me that basically only two actions are in order. One is that the transgressing clergyman is excommunicated for failure to repent. The other is that he may be blessed to receive Holy Communion after properly repenting, but never again to function in office because of his genuine repentance and sincere love for Christ and the Church.

The argument that a clergyman who has sinned in a way that precludes his serving may be reinstated in office by “pastoral oikonomia” as an expression of God’s mercy to sinners is unacceptable. Indeed, it is simply wrong and foolish. God’s forgiveness, mercy and compassion have to do with Church membership and Communion in the Holy Mysteries. They have nothing to do with ordination and ordained ministry. A man is not ordained, or allowed to continue in active ordained ministry, as a sign of God’s forgiveness of sins, or His mercy and compassion toward sinners. Nor is the guilty man’s repentance demonstrated by his continuing to serve in his ordained ministry. In fact, as we emphasized, just the opposite is true.

To repeat this point another way, mercy and compassion are certainly in order in all circumstances. In the case of a “fallen clergyman”, mercy and compassion are demonstrated in two ways. In regard to the guilty clergyman they are demonstrated by permitting him, after deep and serious repentance, to participate in the Holy Mysteries. In regard to the whole body of the faithful, they are demonstrated by not subjecting the Church’s members to confusion, scandal and a necessity to explain why a clergyman guilty of egregious transgression and/or crime is still serving at the Holy Altar and exercising clerical duties.

Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko
Church New Year 2011

Source

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First Snow Fall

Posted on by Fr. Peter

I do not usually get taken by surprise by the weather, but this morning I woke up, and we had eight inches of snow on the ground.  I usually pay pretty close attention to the weather but for some reason yesterday I just tuned it right out.  The last report I saw said 2 to 3 inches and then turn to rain.  I did not prepare at all, and I was caught with all that snow and the snow blower buried in the shed.  Well it all worked out just grand and we are well on the way to digging out.

But it got me to thinking.  I like the snow, I like it best of course when I don’t have to go anywhere, and I can stand in the window, with a hot cup of tea, and watch it fall.  I think I like it because, for a short period of time, it covers up all of those things that I did not have a chance to take care of before the snow falls.  The ground is covered with a white blanket that hides all of the mistakes and other such things underneath it and for a short time it’s as if they are gone.

Sometimes our spiritual life can be like that.  We find something that we can use to cover over the bad bits of our life so no one can see them.  We put on a happy face and go about our lives, and no one is aware of the hurts and disappointments that lurk right beneath the surface.  We are all broken people, and we all have those things that we do not want anyone to see.

Years ago, when I was a monk in a Benedictine Monastery, I had a spiritual father who could see right through that blanket that I was using to cover over that stuff.  I can recall one time in confession, I was holding something back.  I am not sure what it was, but he mentioned to me that I was holding back, this is how well he knew me.  So whatever it was I confessed it, and that thing came out from under the blanket.

The funny thing about that snow that is on the ground right outside my window is in a few days or maybe a week, it will all be gone, and all of that stuff will be visible again, and I will have to deal with it straight away.  There is nothing I can do about it now, but there is something you can do about what lies beneath your blanket of snow.

Seek the healing that Christ’s Holy Church has to offer.  We are not here to judge you for whatever it might be, we are here to bring the healing presence of Jesus into your life and to help you on your road to recovery.  Take the time to seek out this healing so when that blanket of snow melts all of that stuff will be gone.

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Sermon ~ Costly Grace

Posted on by Fr. Peter

In 1937, the Lutheran Pastor and Theologian Dietrich Bonheoffer wrote a booked with the title The Cost of Discipleship.  Bonhoeffer’s Germany of 1937 had become secularized and was spinning out of control.  People had stopped going to church, and Hitler’s party was on the rise to power.  This was the dawn of the 2nd World War.  Through this small book, Bonheoffer attempted to call the people back to a sense of what it means to be Christian in what was considered the modern world.  Bonhoeffer would be executed by the SS for his role in the attempted assassination of Hitler, but his work lives on for us today.

What can we learn from these words written so long ago?

There is a cost to being a follower of Jesus Christ, and that cost is our very lives.  For some, it is our physical life, but for the vast majority of us, it is surrendering our will to that of Christ, to be a follower of Jesus we must change the way we think and act.

Bonhoeffer writes of something he calls “cheap grace”

“cheap grace,” Bonheoffer writes,  “is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.”

Sadly the church of his time had fallen into the trap of cheap grace.  People wanted religion, but they wanted it on their own terms.  They wanted to dictate to the church what they will believe, and they will dictate to the church the discipline they are willing to follow.  We see much of the same thing happening today.  Some have watered the faith down so much that there is not much of what the Apostles taught.  There are more than 40,000 Christian denominations today.  That boggles my mind.  We have taken the basic message of grace and reconciliation and love and turned it on its head.  We have taken something so straightforward and made it complicated.  By watering down the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we have cheapened it, and in that it has lost all of its meaning.

Faith comes from obedience to something that is outside of us something that exists in spite of everything we do to try and make it go away.  We cannot have it both ways, we cannot do what we want to do but still call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ.  To be a follower requires obedience to Jesus and His Gospel.

When Jesus called His Apostles they had to leave their possessions and their lives to follow Him.  We see Saint Peter, the future leader of the Apostles, leaving his fishing nets to go and follow Jesus.  St. Matthew, the tax collector, left his coin box at the gate and followed Jesus.  These are concrete examples of how the lives of the followers of Jesus need to change if they are going to be authentic followers.

In the story of the man who comes to Jesus and asks to follow Him but he has to go and bury his father, who has just died, first.  Jesus says to him, “let the dead bury the dead.”  He tells the rich young man to go and sell everything that he has and follow Him.  Lives need to be transformed if we are to be authentic followers of Jesus.

In sharp contrast to “cheap grace” or what I like to call the easy way, Bonheoffer advocates for “Costly Grace.”

“Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. It is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” “

Faith comes with obedience and obedience comes with faith.  It was not easy for the Apostles to leave all they had behind, and Jesus is not even asking us to do that, He is asking us to think and act in a certain way, and that way is His way.

Our world is not much different today than it was in Bonheoffer’s day.  Organized religion has done a terrible job, and for that, we are paying the price.  When the leaders go off on a tangent and seem to be more interested in legislation than transformation of lives there is a real problem.  When the concern is more for the institution of the Church then for people who are the church there is a real problem.  When the shepherds forget their job is to protect their sheep and to lay down their lives for them, it is no wonder we see less and less people in the church.  If I require you to be an authentic follower of Jesus, then I need to be an authentic follower of Jesus otherwise I should just shut up!

Obedience to not an easy thing for us.  We are not designed for it if you will.  We have been given free will, but that freedom comes with a cost.  We have the ability to choose the narrow way, the way filled with rocks and crooked paths, the way where the bushes grow over the route and where sometimes we cannot see the road in front of us, the way of Christ, or the wide open, easy way, the way of the smooth way with plenty of pit stops, the way of the world. Jesus never promised His followers that life would be easy.  Jesus told us, clearly told us, that we would be persecuted.

In the 15th chapter of the Gospel of St. John, Jesus tells His followers, “If the world hates you, you know it hated me before it hated you.”  This fallen world we live in hates everything that Christ stands for and will do everything to destroy it.  Evil and hatred exists, but we bring love and compassion to the world, Christ and His Church, are all about love, that is the simple message of Gospel.

“Costly Grace” is the call of all of us, me and you, the call to follow in the footsteps of the Apostles and in the footsteps of Christ.

But what it is not is a throwing off of whatever we have.  Jesus is not calling all of us to sell all we have and give it to the poor.  He is not calling all of us to live in a monastery or something like that.  No, these are not bad things, things are not bad, it is how we use them, and they use us that is bad.  We have been given the capacity to think and to discern those thoughts and beliefs and then we have to choose which way we are to go.  There is a cost associated with being a follower and that cost is not being a slave to our passions.

The fathers and mothers of the church write about how we need to get our passions under control.  Anger is a passion.  We have all been angry, some of us maybe angry right now because I keep going on and on…  But anger is a passion and it can lead us to do some pretty nasty things.  Psychologists will tell us that the passion are irrational, all of the passions and we should not make decisions from a passionate point of view.  When we are angry we are not thinking straight, and we might say or do something that is harmful to ourselves or another person.

But is anger always bad?  No, anger used in the right way can lead to change.  It is all in how we use the passions.  Do they control us or do we control them?

As followers of Jesus, we are called to obedience to the Gospel of Christ.  We are called to obedience to His church, not just the parts we like, but to the whole program.  We cannot have a foot in both the church and the world we need to make a choice between the easy way of cheap grace or the difficult way of Costly Grace.

Let us decide right this minute that we will endeavour to be obedient to What Christ is calling us too.  Let us decide at this moment that we will endeavour to follow the path of Costly Grace and not that of cheap grace.

St. Herman of Alaska summed up our lives as followers of Christ this way, “From this day forth, from this hour, from this minute, let us love God above all, and strive to do His holy will.”

Let us make that our daily prayer!

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Massachusetts Question 2

Posted on by Fr. Peter

On Tuesday, November 6th voters around the country will be heading out to the polls to elect leaders for the next few years in our country.  In Massachusetts we will be voting on several questions as well as voting for people.  Question 2 deals with the right of people to kill themselves.  This is erroneously called death with dignity or physician assisted suicide, it is neither.  If you are undecided on this question I have listed below some links to references that might help you make a decision.  Some are strictly Orthodoxy but most of them are op ed’s from local newspapers.

Boston Globe Editorial Board Recommends a ‘No’ Vote on Question 2

E.J. Dionne: “Liberals Should Be Wary of Assisted Suicide”

The Springfield Republican: Vote NO on Question 2

Western MA Pharmacists Association Opposes Question 2

Recap: Vicki Kennedy Against Question 2

Physician Assisted Suicide and the Orthodox Church

Massachusetts Death with Dignity Act

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Moral Renewal

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Over the past few months, I have been involved in discussions about the moral decay of our present day society.  Now I know the argument, some will say that there is no moral decay only an updating of where we are as a society, that is an opinion but not one that I hold.  Our society has changed and not always for the better.

Now, I can only speak from experience from an Orthodox perspective, the faith that I believe is the true and right belief, and others may disagree.  It has been said that the church needs to keep up with the times.  The Church needs to modernize in order to keep the young people involved in the church.  I find this a very disturbing statement.  The goal of the church is not to change with society, or to be influenced by culture, the role of the church has always been to transform the culture and to be the moral compass that community so desperately needs.

The problem as I see it is that many of us who preach the Gospel have lost the way, or at least been side tracked by many things.  In a recent podcast on Ancient Faith Radio, Fr. John Parker spoke of the need for us to return to preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I have to agree.  It is extremely easy to seek to avoid certain difficult topics when we preach, but it is our responsibility to preach and to teach.  I have often said it is my duty as a priest to make you uncomfortable, to force you if necessary, to move from where you are to where you need to be.  The entire life of a Christian is movement and growth, and in order for us to do that we need to be challenged.  Living the life of a Christian is extraordinarily difficult in this world of ours, but we have to push ahead and do just that.

In the early history of the United States, there existed different periods referred to by historians as an awakening.  These were times, largely in the Protestant denominations, were interest was renewed or awakened in people.  What is commonly known as the 1st  Great Awakening, preachers like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield changed the way they preached.  Until this point, most preachers read their sermons and were more concerned with reaching people on an intellectual level.  Edwards and Whitfield began to reach people on an emotional level.  The historian Joseph Tracy in his book The Great Awakening saw this movement as the beginning of democratic thought in America and had a pivotal role in the American Revolution and led to what we now know and cherish as Freedom of Religion in America.

The late 18th Century saw that start of the period of the 2nd Great Awakening and led to the temperance movement but also to the abolitionist movement and the struggle for women’s suffrage.  The period of 1850 to 1910 saw the 3rd Great Awakening that saw the introduction of the Social Gospel and churches getting back in touch with their missionary zeal and working directly with those less fortunate in their own communities.  The YMCA was born out of this movement and helped the country return to normalcy after the Civil War.

The common thread in all of these “awakenings” was a return to basic biblical values the values that the church, and society, held dear for generations.  What I am advocating is just that, a return to biblical values and a biblical sense of ethics and morality.

It begins with those of us who lead communities.  We have a responsibility to teach the people what the Church believes and teaches.  Not our interpretation of that, but what the Church teaches and holds dear.  It will not always be comfortable, but it has to be done.  We need to emphasize a return to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Confession is a beautiful gift that the church has, and people need to avail themselves of this Sacrament on a more regular basis.  This has to be more than just the annual check in during Holy Week, this needs to be a complete examination of conscious that comes from and knowledge of sin and grace and how it operates in our lives.  Priests need to have regular scheduled times for confession.  It is not enough to have confessions by appointment; we need to be available to parishioners for them to confess.  It is hard enough for people to come to confession let’s not make it any more difficult.

We need to preach the love and acceptance of the Jesus Christ, not acceptance of inappropriate behavior, but acceptance of people as living Icons of Christ, we need to love them and show them the path to get their lives back on track.  This needs to be done one person at a time.  We priests need to spend time talking to people, listening to their life stories and helping them with their hurts, their fears, and their desires and we need to do this with love and compassion.  This is what Jesus did, He sat with people and listened, corrected when necessary, but He did it all with love.

People need to develop a prayer life that will help protect them in this world we live in.  Prayer is a shield that will protect us in battle, and make no mistake about it, we are in a battle.  In the same podcast, I mentioned before, Fr. John advises that we serve all of the Church services that we can.  We have to do more than just Liturgy on Sunday.  We need Vespers, Orthros, Akathists, and other services of supplication.  We need to celebrate feast days whether with full Liturgies or Vespers the night before.  We need to celebrate these services in the best possible way we can.  If we do not have the resources to do this, then we need to work with the other Orthodox Churches, regardless of jurisdiction, and serve these services together.  We so desperately need a revival of parish life in America, and it will start with serving liturgies and encouraging participation of the faithful in these liturgies.  Priests pray for your parishioners and parishioners pray for your priests.

The other part of this is holding people accountable, and by this I mean all people.  Those of us who are leaders, Bishops, Priests, Deacons needs to held accountable for our actions.  We are held to a higher standard than lay people are.  This is a difficult cross to bear, but we knew this going in.  Each time a Bishop, Priest or a Deacon falls it is very public, and it harms the body of Christ.  Yes we are human, and I believe we come under attack in much greater ways than lay people, but we need to rise above it and we do this through prayer and by having an authentic spiritual father that holds us accountable.  We need to return to the Sacrament of reconciliation, and I count myself in that as well, we need to hold each other accountable and reach out and help our brothers when they stumble.  Our lives are highly public, more so with the advent of Social Media if you are not willing to live in a fish bowl then maybe it is time for you to find another occupation.  This will sound harsh, but any Bishop, Priest, or Deacon that is found guilty of a sexual crime or any crime for that matter, needs to never serve in public ministry again!  I believe in forgiveness and reconciliation, but when it comes to crimes I have to draw the line.  Again we are held to a much higher standard than lay people, and we as leaders need to stop covering this up, we need to reach out and support our brothers, but we also need to be the ones who police ourselves and put an end to this.  The faithful look to us to lead them and we cannot lead them if we are compromised.  Do not be afraid to reach out and ask for help if you need it.

About a year ago, the priests in my area started to meet for breakfast once a month.  I so look forward to this time, and I strive to let nothing get in the way of meeting with my brothers.  We have a wide range of ages and experience in our clergy here, and we all learn from and support each other.  I would like to see this group expand past the monthly breakfast and to hold a retreat day or perhaps an overnight retreat, a time for us to go away as Jesus did, and pray and just be.  If you do not have a clergy group where you are start one.  Call the clergy in your area and meet for breakfast or lunch or something.  Just gather together to socialize.  The same holds true for your wives.  Clergy wives have a unique ministry, and they need support as well.  We need more work in this area.

In order for this to happen we need to be more selective in whom we ordain.  Just because, a man presents himself for ordination, or just because he has graduated from seminary does not mean he should be ordained.  Candidates for ordination need to be screened not only spiritually but medically and psychologically.  Being a priest in America today is an intensely stressful vocation.  We are under paid and over worked.  Many priests have to work secular jobs to support their families due to the poor financial situation of many of our parishes.  Putting a man under stress will bring our weaknesses in him that maybe is not known.  We need highly trained and genuine spiritual fathers in the Church today.  I cannot emphasize enough how crucial the role of a spiritual father is in the life of, not only those to be ordained, but in the lives of all the faithful.  Authentic spiritual fathers need to be identified and used more than they are today.  Associated with that is the building up and support of monasteries here in America.  We have some incredible, spiritual monasteries for both men and women, but we need many more.  With the exception of what we are trying to develop here, there is not one monastery in all of New England.  The closest monastery of any jurisdiction is four hours away, and that needs to change.

We leaders also need to hold those we are leading accountable.  Bishops, Priests, and Deacons need to hold people accountable for their actions and their words.  If we see an Orthodox Christian writing, preaching, or teaching things that are against the faith of the Church we need to speak out.  We need to hold those who hold public office to account for their votes.  If they claim to be Orthodox Christians than their voting record needs to demonstrate that.  Those of us, who lead, in the Church our out of the Church, need to be the examples to those we lead.  If we cannot do that then step down from the leadership position.  If we stray then we need to be given the opportunity to be restored.  We cannot just throw people out.  The Church is the hospital for the soul, and we need to make this available to all who need it.  If a priest falls we need to help him anyway we can to come to an understanding of what he has done, we need to give him and his family the assistance he may need, and if possible, restored to ministry.  We are all broken, lay and clergy alike, and we all need that support and love of Christ and his Church.

Being a Christian has always been counter cultural.  Christians have always been called to go against the flow, to walk the narrow path, and Jesus told us that the world would hate us for it, but this is what we are called to be and to do.

How do we revitalize the morals of society, by renewing them in us first.  We have to be the ones who make the change, we have to be the ones who find that peace that the Church has to offer, and we need to be the ones who do the work.  We, Orthodox Christians, need to model for the rest of the world how we should act and how we should live.  We need to shower the love of Christ upon everyone we meet, we need to return to the authentic teachings of the Church and understand them and put them into practice in our own lives.  We need to be the ones who lead the next Great Awakening in our country, and we need to do it now!

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Cheap Grace

Posted on by Fr. Peter

This week I have started to read the book, “The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  I have only read the introduction and the first chapter, but already I think I am going to want to read these pages again, there is just too much to try and digest in one sitting.

Bonhoeffer begins by contrasting Cheap Grace and Costly Grace.  He defines Cheap Grace with the following words:

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession.  Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

In other words, what he is saying is, Cheap Grace requires nothing of the person.  No rules, no regulations, make it up as you go along, everyone is okay, there is no sin in the world etc.  “Cheap grace means the justification of the sin without the justification of the sinner.”

Some have taken sin right out of the world.  The common mantra of the Moral Relativists is that sin does not exist unless someone else gets harmed in the process.  Abortion has become okay because we have a legal definition that says the child in the mother’s womb is not a child at all it is just a collection of cells, and other such “stuff” therefore, we can terminate it.

If sin does not exist then there is no reason for people to be sorry for the transgressions of the law.  Cheap Grace says there is no law, only the law that we humans define and come up with.  “Cheap Grace is not the kind of forgiveness of sin which frees us from the toils of sin.  Cheap Grace is the grace we bestow upon ourselves.”

This stands in contrast to Costly Grace, the Grace that we are called to as authentic followers of Jesus Christ.

Costly grace is the gospel which much be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.

This is the Grace of True Discipleship it has to cost us something, not in an economic sense, but in a spiritual sense.  It is a call to a radical kind of life where we cease to live solely for ourselves, and we live for someone else, and that someone is Jesus Christ.  And the following of Jesus Christ requires perfect obedience to the commandments Jesus to love God and to love one’s neighbor.

Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of His Son… and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us.

Costly Grace will cost us our lives, but it is Grace because it gives us our lives.  We are called to follow Christ and His Gospel, and that means that we condemn sin and seek reconciliation and absolution for the times when we transgress.  We do not change the law to fit our lifestyle, we change our lifestyle to fit the law!

It is interesting to read these words, written at another time, and find that truth still exists in them today.  Bonhoffer was advocating a life that turned from the world.  He saw those who called themselves Christians as not being any different from those who lived in the world.  Writing of Christians who follow the wide open way of Cheap Grace he said, “The upshot of all is that my only duty as a Christian is to leave the world for an hour or so on Sunday morning and go to Church to be assured that my sins are all forgiven.”

It’s as if all we need is the weekly “check in” and the rest of the week we can go about our lives.  True discipleship requires a change, a change of mind and a change of heart.  We cannot continue to live our lives as if nothing should be changed.  We cannot have one life inside the church and one life outside the Church.  Discipleship requires that we transform our lives and that we come to the realization that we need to be different, and that difference requires change.

Cheap Grace has done nothing but closed us off to the cost of true discipleship.  We think we can have it all, that we can be true followers of Jesus Christ but not change the way we interact in the world.  We are called to follow the narrow road that is Jesus Christ, that road of transformation and change, and we cannot do that if we want to remain the same people we are.

We need churches to heed this call and get back to the mission of Jesus Christ.  We need churches whose leaders are not afraid to preach the truth of the Gospel and who are not afraid to call sin, sin.  We need churches where people are being called to repentance and reconciliation and who are being called to a radical form of life in the Church.  We need churches that teach authentic discipleship as has been taught in the church for more than 2,000 years.

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Orthodox Thoughts on the 2012 Election

Posted on by Fr. Peter

V. Rev. Paul Jannakos

As Orthodox Christians we bear witness to Christ in all dimensions of life. This includes participation in civic life, where as citizens of this country we elect into office those who aspire towards the work of public service on both the local and federal levels.

We do not deny that the democratic electoral process is a wonderful gift given to us as citizens of the United States. We thereby vote for those whom we feel would best govern our lands according to the values and principles we esteem as believers.

As we approach the upcoming Election Day, it is beneficial to be reminded about several key issues regarding the Orthodox Church and its role in the social and political life of its faithful.

1) The starting point of our political involvement as Orthodox believers is a paradoxical one, which is that in relationship to the gospel of Christ, we have no absolute political “affiliation.” The true home of every Orthodox Christian is the Kingdom of Heaven, which in this age, stands over and above every earthly state. That the Kingdom of Christ is the only Kingdom that truly “reigns,” even in this fallen age, is why we pledge to it the totality of our lives. For as long as we live in this age, we are sojourners while on this earth and the only city (“polis”) that we can thus claim as our truest home is the Jerusalem from above – the “Heavenly Jerusalem.” “But the Jerusalem that is from above is free, and she is our mother.” (Galatians 4:26). The lives – and deaths – of all the Holy Martyrs testify to this fundamental teaching regarding the true nature of Christian citizenship.

2) In light of this, we should also refrain from permitting our worldview to be shaped or compromised by any social or political ideology, be it “conservatism,” or “capitalism,” or “liberalism,” or “libertarianism,” or “progressivism,” or “socialism,” or “feminism,” or “pluralism,” or “egalitarianism,” or “or any other “ism” whatsoever. Instead, the core beliefs, values, and morals that govern how we envision the “way things should be” in this world are shaped uniquely by the life and witness and teachings of the Holy Orthodox Church, which according to St. Paul is the “pillar and foundation of truth.” (1 Timonty 3:15). Again, St. Paul writes, “See to it, brethren, that no one takes you captive through philosophy or empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.” (Colossians, 2:8).

3) Even so, this does not infer nor does it suggest that we as Orthodox Christians must completely divorce ourselves from participation in the civic life of the countries in which we live. We are in the world, yes, but we are not “of” the world. This means that we no longer belong to the world (i.e. the “society of men”), nor do we adhere to its fallen values and ideals. [For] I have given them thy word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not pray that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil one.” (John 17:14,15).

Yet as long as we each are living in our own country and place, we do whatever we can in order to bear witness to the saving truth of the gospel. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16). Understood from this perspective, as Orthodox believers we are entitled to participate as fully as we possibly can in the social and political life of our country, especially when it comes to the work of the Church’s philanthropy. Members of the Body of Christ are likewise commanded to show our respect and give honor to those in political office, (See 1 Peter 2:17), and to pray for them during the Divine Liturgy – whether we agree with their political policies or not.

4) Here in America, the idea of separation between Church and State as envisioned in the Constitution does not mean that those of us who profess faith are to be excluded from political discourse simply because our societal sentiments are explicitly religious – as some currently assert. Separation of Church and state simply means that there will be no official “state church” that functions as a spiritual and moral guide of its people, as is the case in many European countries. (E.g., as the Anglican Church is in England).

As such, we are responsible for bearing witness to the truth of Christ in the public sphere, no matter how unpopular such a truth may be. We must not be silent in the face of injustice. We must never be afraid to speak against any disruption or violation of the public good. The Assembly of Orthodox Bishops in North America recently expressed the same by saying, “We call for responsibility by individuals, institutions and governments to ensure the welfare of every citizen. We must safeguard the sacrament of marriage in accordance with God’s will for the sacred union between man and woman and the sanctity of family as the fundamental nucleus of a healthy society. In this regard, we emphasize regular family worship, particularly at Sunday liturgy. We must strive to eliminate the violence proliferated against innocents of every kind, particularly of women and the unborn. Likewise, we must resist the wastefulness and greed that dominate our consumer society, confessing that our spiritual citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3.20) in order that our witness be characterized by the compassion and mercy as well as the generosity and philanthropy that distinguishes our God who loves humankind.”

In short, it is our duty to work towards the “leavening” of our American culture by promoting all that is holy, true, righteous, noble, beautiful, and life-giving. Orthodox Christians have engaged in this kind of positive witness in whatever lands they have dwelt for almost 2000 years, which is the legacy of St. Constantine and Helen, St. Vladimir of Russia, St. Sava of Serbia, St. Kosmos Aetolos of Greece, and St. Herman of Alaska, just to name a few.

5) Finally, as Orthodox Christians we should resist the fanaticism that some display in their politicking, whether it is on the “right” of the “left.” The Orthodox Church deplores those who use extremist language in order to advance any type of hateful, racist, or xenophobic ideologies. St. Paul writes, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer one another.” (Colossians 4:6). As American citizens we have the right to free speech, but this should never give us the leeway to vilify or slander ones neighbor simply because he or she may stand for a differing political view. Dialogue between political parties concerning social issues, mores and laws should remain open, forthright, and considerate.

As Orthodox believers we strive to do what we pray: to work for the peace and reconciliation of all human beings, beginning with our own families and in our own homes.

May God bless our nation with His peace and righteousness.

Source

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I have been Crucified with Christ

Posted on by Fr. Peter

The Reading is from St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians 2:16-20

BRETHREN, you know that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were found to be sinners, is Christ then an agent of sin? Certainly not! But if I build up again those things which I tore down, then I prove myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Today, in the Epistle reading from St. Paul, we come face to face with the prescription for life in the Church.  St. Paul is telling his readers that it is not works it is not following all of the rules that justify you, it is your faith that does that.  It is not enough that you know and understand all of the rules and regulations of the faith, and we sure do have them, but you need to have true faith, the faith that will move mountains, that is what is required.  But it does not end there.

If we take this passage on face value, some might say that since we think we don’t have to do anything else.  Some believe that if I come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ as my “personal savior” I am saved, and that is it that is all I have to do.  Salvation does not happen in an instant, as Metropolitan Kalistos Ware is fond of saying, we are not saved we are in the process of BEING saved.

It is not simply enough we have to do something with it.  St. Paul is right that we are not justified by the works that we do we cannot earn this or purchase our way in, it does not work that way.  The faith that St. Paul is writing about is the faith of Christ and that is the Gospel, and not just the parts that we like.  It is the faith of Christ, His beliefs, His trust, His obedience that makes all of this possible.  Christ’s faith is seen in His entire life on earth, not in just a few isolated incidents.  It needs to be that way with us as well.

St. Paul is not saying that works are not required.  We read in the Letter of St. James that faith without works is a dead faith, and some have added to that to say that works without faith is dead.  Our faith requires us to put that faith into action.  Jesus did not just sit around and preach to people, Jesus not seek the high place of honor at banquets and other meetings, Jesus rolled up his sleeves and got to work.  He healed people He fed them, He listened to their stories, He genuinely cared for all He came into contact with, even those who were trying to kill Him.  This is what faith is all about!  When St. Paul and others speak of the faith of Christ this is what he means.  Jesus says it himself, Love God and love your neighbor and we love them by helping them.

St. John Chrysostom, whose liturgy we celebrate on most Sundays, is known as the golden mouth.  He gets this title, not because of his great dental work, but because of his ability to speak the truth in love and make the faith alive in the people who listened to him.  St. John was an orator of the first caliber.  In his writings on faith, he has many nuggets of wisdom that it would be appropriate for us to hear today, one of those nuggets is

“Help me Lord to lead a holy life and to do good works, so that those who see me may praise Your Name”

What St. John is reminding us is that we do these things, not for our own benefit, we do not do these things, so we can say, “look at what I have done,” we do these things to bring honor to God and so they will know we are Christians.  If we do anything for our own benefit, we are not fulfilling the mission of Christ.  Jesus did not do what He did for himself, He did what He did for others, He healed people so that they could be whole, but also that others might believe, and that is what we need to do.

Years ago, I lead a team of people on a work trip to Romania.  We went to work in a neighborhood that was not the best of places to work in Bucharest.  We worked alongside Romanians who had been beaten down by the Communist system for far too long.  They system provided for most of their needs, and they had lost enthusiasm.  We worked alongside them, we did not do the work for them, but we helped them and showed them how to get things done.  The program was called, “work and witness.”  We were there to work, but we were also there to witness, witness to the love of Christ and to our faith.  We were not standing on the corner telling them they were going to hell unless they repented of their wicked ways; no we rolled up our sleeves and helped them to make a difference in their own lives.  That is the essence of the Gospel. That is what it means to be a Christian.

But this is not easy especially in a world that is all about the individual and not the community.  During the summer when I was a kid, and I am sure this is the same for most of you, I would leave the house in the morning and go out and play in the neighborhood.  My mother was not worried about what would happen because people watched out for others and ensured that we were doing what we were supposed to be doing.  My mother knew, as did I, that if I did anything wrong one of the neighbors would call and let her know.  In this day and age if you do that you might get sued, that is if the kids even go out of the house!  We have lost that sense of community; we have lost that sense of helping others and keeping an eye out for the wellbeing of others.  We are becoming a society of individuals that are only concerned with what is good for the individual.

In order for us to truly live the Christian life we have to die to self.  St. Paul says towards the end of this letter today that he has been “crucified with Christ, it is no long I who lives but Christ who lives in me.”  This is not the crucifixion of human nature that is what Christ was crucified for; this is the crucifixion of our flesh of our passions and of our desires.  Just as Christ willing accepted His crucifixion we have to do the same.  We crucify the self, we die to the self, and we begin to live a life that is centered on someone else.

Life in the Church is what helps us to live this life that we are called to live through our baptism.  On the day we were baptized we were marked with the “sign of faith” and set apart for a holy work. And the life in the Church is what helps us with that.

The faith that we have, the faith that we practice is not for punishment but for edification.  All of the fasting and other such things are designed not to punish us or make us miserable, but to awaken in us that desire to follow Christ closer than we are.  And it is this close walk that we have that will cause us to love those around us and to care for all.

Mother Maria of Paris, a nun in the Russian Orthodox Church and a convert to the faith, had a monastery with an open door to anyone who needed help.  Times were difficult for people in her neighborhood, and even though she had little she shared what she had with others.  I have used this quote of hers before, but I think it fits with the reading today,

“At the Last Judgment I shall not be asked whether I was successful in my ascetic exercises, how many bows and prostrations I made [in the course of prayer].  I shall be asked, Did I feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and the prisoners.  That is all I shall be asked.  About every poor, hungry and imprisoned person the Savior says ‘I’: ‘I was hungry and thirsty, I was sick and in prison’.  To think that He puts an equal sign between Himself and anyone in need…”

This is the very essence of the Gospel to live for someone else, and we have Christ as the example of this.  But in order for us to do this we need to die to self, we need to get out of the way and let the love of Christ shine through us to the world.

That is our mission, and it is the most important thing we can do.

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Physician Assisted Suicide And The Orthodox Church

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Below is a letter from Metropolitan Methodios concerning physician assisted suicide and the upcoming ballot question no. 2 here in Massachusetts.  We thank his Eminence for his leadership on this issue!

His Eminence Methodios, Metropolitan of Boston

To the Faithful of the Metropolis of Boston

Brethren,

On Tuesday, November 6, 2012, the residents of Massachusetts will go to the polls to vote for not only the next President of the United States, Senator and other elected officials, but there will also be three ballot questions for your consideration.  Ballot question number 2 is entitled, “Prescribing Medication to End Life” or Physician Assisted Suicide.

This past week, I hosted at the Metropolis Center together with Cardinal Sean O’Malley a meeting of the Inter-Faith Religious Community of Massachusetts.  Over 60 religious leaders representing a great diversity of brethren, not only from the Christian community but from the greater ecumenical community including the Islamic, were present and actively participated in the discussion which focused on this proposed legislation concerning physician assisted suicide.  (Our Jewish brethren were not present because they were celebrating a High Holy Day.)  If this legislation is passed, beginning on January 1, 2013, patients diagnosed with a terminal illness and given a prognosis of less than 6 months to live would have the ability to request a lethal prescription to end their lives.

For centuries now, all doctors take the Hippocratic Oath promising to practice medicine ethically and honestly, never doing harm to a patient.  This proposed law would be impossible to control, and would have serious societal ramifications.

As Fr. Stanley Harakas has written, “The Orthodox Church believes that to elevate euthanasia to a right or an obligation would bring it into direct conflict with the fundamental ethical affirmation that as human beings we are custodians of life which comes from a source other than ourselves.  Furthermore, the immense possibilities, not only for error but also for decision making based on self-serving ends which may disregard the fundamental principle of the sanctity of human life, argue against euthanasia.

Generally speaking, the Orthodox Church teaches that it is the duty of both physician and family to make the patient as comfortable as possible and to provide the opportunity for the exercise of patience, courage, repentance and prayer.  The Church has always rejected inflicted and unnecessary voluntary suffering and pain as immoral; but at the same time, the Church also has perceived in suffering a positive value that often goes unrecognized in the logic of the world in which we live, a world characterized by secularism, materialism, and individualism.

Euthanasia is a Greek word meaning ‘a good death’.  The only ‘euthanasia’ recognized in Orthodox ethics is that death in which the human person accepts the end of his or her life in the spirit of moral and spiritual purity, in hope and trust in God, and as a member of His kingdom.”

 The Orthodox Church joins our brethren in the Ecumenical community, the American Medical Association, the Mass Medical Society and all people of good will in opposing question two on Election Day.  I ask you to prayerfully consider this vital Ballot Question carefully, discuss it fully with your Parish Priest, family and friends, and vote NO on Question 2 in order to preserve the sanctity and dignity of human life.

With Archpastoral love,

M E T H O D I O S

Metropolitan of Boston

Source: Fr. Greg’s Blog

 

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