Rev. Peter M Preble – Page 123 – Open-Minded, Open-Hearted Minister & Soul Friend

Blessed are the Pure in Heart…

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Fr. Peter

… For they shall see God!

The title of the article is drawn from the fifth chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew. The verse is part of what is known as the Beatitudes of Jesus or the Sermon on the Mount. In His writings, St. Ambrose wrote of these not simply as a listing of the various attitudes that Christians should have but rather a systematic approach to develop a deeper spiritual life given by Jesus Himself. St. Ambrose taught, as did others, that following this approach would lead to the life that Christ has in mind of all of us so that, in the words of St. Irenaeus, “”If the Word became a man, It was so men may become gods.”

Purity of Heart is a cleaning or an emptying a “Kenosis” a self-emptying of our passions, our desires, of our self and filling that space with God. This happens along the journey of Theosis where we find a synergy or cooperation between us and the uncreated energies of God. The transformation of our hearts from their current position to that of purification is what makes it possible to “see God” as Jesus says in Matthew’s Gospel.

In his most recent book, “Fellow Workers with God: Orthodox Thinking of Theosis” Normal Russell speaks of the heart as the “spiritual expression of the embodied person.” He continues, “it is the meeting place of God within us. It is where we find freedom of speech before God.” Russell contends that it is through thanksgiving that we become truly liberated from the body and subjugate the will and only then will we be able to see God. When we are filled with thanksgiving, our ego disappears, we are freed from the passions, and “we share in the self-emptying of Christ.”

The best example of this self-emptying is the feast of the Transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor. Christ emptied Himself, not of His divinity, but took on our humanity in everything but sin. This was an example to us of the fullness of humanity not just a restoration of the humanity of Adam and Eve in the Garden before sin, but our ability to obtain a much closer relationship with God, and complete fullness of humanity, as Irenaeus said, “that we may become gods.” In the book, “The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church” Vladimir Lossky argues that this is the basis for the incarnation and that Jesus would have become human even if Adam and Eve had not sinned.

This purity of heart comes about through faith, the right faith, and obedience to what God the Father is asking of each of us. We need to begin to change our lives, and that includes the way we think and act. We begin to transform our lives to the Church of Christ and away from the world, and all of its empty promises. The ways of the world and its philosophy of death and destruction are shown for what they truly are, lies and deceit. We begin to realize that freedom only comes with a life in Christ, and we cannot have a foot in both worlds.

This transfiguration of our lives is an ongoing process, but it begins with our desire to begin the process, to climb Mount Tabor if you will and ask in the words of the Psalmist, “Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit in me.” (Ps 50:12)

This Psalm is a twofold request. We are asking God to create in us a clean heart but then we ask Him to renew a right spirit in us. A right spirit is a spirit that is not controlled by the passions but is inspired by the Holy Spirit who makes this transfiguration of life possible. “It may be that you find it hard to purify your heart. Call upon Him, and he will not disdain to make there a clean abode for himself, and come to dwell with you.” Blessed Augustine

It has been said that the Orthodox faith is not an intellectual faith but it is an experiential faith. One must simply experience Orthodoxy in order to understand what we mean by Theosis. When the emissaries that Holy Prince Vladimir sent out, in search of a faith for his people returned, they remarked that Orthodox worship was like heaven on earth. Orthodoxy also is not a religion or just another denomination it is a lifestyle that by living it to its fullest, will transform even the hardest of hearts.

The Orthodox Church is open and inclusive, and by that, I mean we are open all who seek to be transformed. The Church is a hospital for those who are sick and filled with those who are on the road to recovery. Orthodoxy challenges the belief of modernity and points out its failings. Orthodoxy does not preach the “I’m okay you’re okay” theology that has become popular. We are all sinners, but we have not lost the love of God. We can transfigure our hearts and experience the uncreated light of the creator if we are just willing to do so.

If you come to Orthodoxy expecting to meet perfect people you will be disappointed, but if you come to Holy Orthodoxy with an open and sincere mind and a willingness to be transformed, you will be just that, transformed.

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

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The Parable of the Vineyard ~ Sermon for the 13th Sunday after Pentecost

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Fr. Peter

The Reading is from Matthew 21:33-42

The Lord said this parable, “There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit; and the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did the same to them. Afterward he sent his son to them, saying ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord’s doing, and it was marvelous in our eyes?'”

At first glance, this parable that we hear today from the Gospel of Saint Matthew is as straightforward as any of the parables of Jesus can be.

The owner of a vineyard rents it out. He repeatedly sends messengers to collect the rent money from the tenants. After all of the tries, he sends his son, because he says, “They will respect him,” and they kill him so they can get the inheritance. All pretty straightforward, or is it?

The vineyard is the Jewish nation. The owner who carefully tended to this vineyard and made it nice is God, who chose the Jewish nation, protected them from their enemies, gave them his word and trained them. The ones who rented the vineyard is the Jewish leaders down through the ages. The messengers that were sent were the Old Testament Prophets, who were stoned and killed by the people. They were sent to remind them of God’s words and promise and also what was to be their destiny. Finally, the vineyard owner’s son is Jesus Himself.

Tradition tells us that this parable was spoken on Tuesday of Holy Week to remind the Pharisees and the scribes and priests of serious sins that they had committed against God’s people, so terrible were these sins that God has to send His only Son to tell them about them. We know that most parables have another meaning to them and this one is no exception to that rule.

This is a parable first about God and the love that He has for His creation. You would think that after sending all of those messengers that ultimately God would have put His foot down and just destroyed them. But that is not what He does, he keeps sending His messengers one by one like lambs to the slaughter, and in the end, He sends His only Son. This is how much God cares for His creation.

As Hurricane Isaac was rumbling toward to shores of our country last week, there was much discussion about God’s wrath on our nation for the multitude of sins that we have committed. That is a complete misunderstanding of Scripture and tradition. First, if you remember the story of Noah, God makes a covenant with Noah and his descendants that God will never do this again! God will never again destroy His creation. And now we have this parable that shows just how much God loves His creation, He loves it so much that He is willing to sacrifice His only Son to show just how much he does love it.

But what role do we play in all of this? How do we treat the messengers that God is sending? We don’t stone them, well here in the United States anyway, but in other parts of the world, God messengers are being martyred every day. In 2010, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago made a statement that shocked the world. He said, “I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison, and his successor will die a martyr.” This is not a Cardinal of some African Nation or some far off Muslim country, this is Cardinal George of Chicago! Our world is changing, and God’s messengers are being put to death or thrown in prison each and every day. It is time that we are Christians prepare for the battle that is about to come.

We see in this parable God’s generosity to His creation. The vineyard that he planted was not some crazy overgrown wilderness, it was ready to go, it had all of the equipment that the tenants needed. God is the same way with us. He not only calls us to a task, but He equips us for that task. He gave us the gift of life, He entrusts His creation to our care, He endows our mind with the capacity to solve complex problems and to make our life here a little better than those who came before us. Who could be more generous than God?

God’s shows His trust in this parable as well. God created the world and left it to us to care for. God is not standing over His creation like some overlord pushing His creation in this direction or that direction. God gave us the gift of freedom in our life, but that freedom comes with an immense amount of responsibility. We have to care for the creation He gave us to make it profitable and to sustain life. We need to care for those who are marginalized in society by society. We have to be the voice of those who have no voice, the unborn, the poor, the elderly, the homeless, the hungry, the sick, and those in prison. God give us the gifts that we need to do so much not only for ourselves but for other.

God is patient as displayed by this parable. Time and time again God extends the loan and the time that His tenants have to pay Him what they owe. When the first messenger was sent, and they treated him badly God did not exact His revenge on them, no He sent another, and another, and another. God has a tremendous amount of patience with His creation. He gives us what we need and lets us make our own decisions. When we sin He does not cast us off, as some would have you believe, He waits for us to come around and He is standing there with His arms wide open when we do.

But what happens in the end? Jesus asks those who were listening this question and they respond that the owner of the vineyard will exact his revenge on the tenants. Jesus responds with telling them about the stone rejected by the builders has become the corner stone. The Jews should have been the people that brought the salvific message to the world but the rejected the messenger of God so the task of evangelizing the world was transferred to the Gentiles whom the Jews despised.

God is merciful, patient, generous, trusting and with all of this God is also just. The tenants believed they could kill the son because the owner was too far away. Many people today believe that God is dead if He even ever existed. There are more people today to do not believe then believe. For the first time in our history, those who believe are being marginalized and our rights are being stripped away one by one. God has placed all of us here in positions of trust, confidence that we will care for all of His creation. One day He will return, and like the messengers sent to collect the rent, God will require something from us.

We see in this parable the stoning of the messengers and finally the crucifixion of God’s Son. The tenants believed that if they killed the son they would inherit it all they could be the masters of all they saw, they would take the inheritance. With this attitude, we claim for ourselves the role of the creator, we don’t own anything, not even our own lives. Every success that we have ever had in our lives has come through the blessings of God and sometimes we forget to show his the praise that is due. How often do we try and take over the vineyard and forget all about the owner and creator? We receive gifts each and every day, and we forget the one who gave us these gifts.

In the end, we see Jesus talking about Himself. He is not just another messenger who has come to collect what is owed the owner. He is the Son, He is God who has come to bring the good news. In this parable, Jesus claims for Himself a position of superiority he tells them that He is greater than those who have come before Him. The prophets brought God’s message, Jesus brings God Himself! The prophets spoke of God’s plan for them, Jesus opens God’s heart to them. The prophets told the people how God wanted them to live, Jesus showed us and continues to show us, how we are to live.

This is the last word, the final call from God to change our way of life. In the clearest way, Jesus has used he tells the leaders of the time who He is and what He is here for!

God is not absent from our lives sitting on some far off cloud in the sky. He did not create this world and then forgot about it! God is always present in and to His creation. He cares for it, and for us, and the best example of this is that He sent His only Son, why? “So that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life!”

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Encyclical of His All-Holiness for the Church New Year

Posted on September 1, 2012 by Fr. Peter

Prot. No. 718

+ BARTHOLOMEW
By the Mercy of God
Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome And Ecumenical Patriarch

To the Fullness of the Church
Grace and Peace from the Creator and Sustainer of All Creation
Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ

* * *

Beloved brothers and children in the Lord,

Our God, who created the universe and formed the earth as a perfect dwelling place for humanity, granted us the commandment and possibility to increase, multiply and fulfill creation, with dominion over all animals and plants.

The world that surrounds us was thus offered to us as a gift by our Creator as an arena of social activity but also of spiritual sanctification in order that we might inherit the creation to be renewed in the future age. Such has always been the theological position of the Holy Great Church of Christ, which is the reason why we have pioneered an ecological effort on behalf of the sacred Ecumenical Throne for the protection of our planet, which has long suffered from us both knowingly and unknowingly.

Of course, biodiversity is the work of divine wisdom and was not granted to humanity for its unruly control. By the same token, dominion over the earth and its environs implies rational use and enjoyment of its benefits, and not destructive acquisition of its resources out of a sense of greed. Nevertheless, especially in our times, we observe an excessive abuse of natural resources, resulting in the destruction of the environmental balance of the planet’s ecosystems and generally of ecological conditions, so that the divinely-ordained regulations of human existence on earth are increasingly transgressed. For instance, all of us – scientists, as well as religious and political leaders, indeed all people – are witnessing a rise in the atmosphere’s temperature, extreme weather conditions, the pollution of ecosystems both on land and in the sea, and an overall disturbance – sometimes to the point of utter destruction – of the potential for life in some regions of the world.

Inasmuch as the Mother Church perceives and evaluates the ensuing dangers of such ecological conditions for humanity, already from the time of our blessed predecessor, Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios, established September 1^st of each year as a day of prayer for the natural environment. Yet, we are obliged to admit that the causes of the aforementioned ecological changes are not inspired by God but initiated by humans. Thus, the invocation and supplication of the Church and us all to God as the Lord of lords and Ruler of all for the restoration of creation are essentially a petition of repentance for our sinfulness in destroying the world instead of working to preserve and sustain its ever-flourishing resources reasonably and carefully.

When we pray to and entreat God for the preservation of the natural environment, we are ultimately imploring God to change with mindset of the powerful in the world, enlightening them not to destroy the planet’s ecosystem for reasons of financial profit and ephemeral interest. This in turn, however, also concerns each one of us inasmuch as we all generate small ecological damage in our individual capacity and ignorance. Therefore, in praying for the natural environment, we are praying for personal repentance for our contribution – smaller or greater – to the disfigurement and destruction of creation, which we collectively experience regionally and occasionally through the immense phenomena of our time.

In addressing this appeal, petition and exhortation from the sacred Center of Orthodoxy to all people throughout the world, we pray that our gracious Lord, who granted this earthly paradise to all people dwelling on our planet, will speak to the hearts of everyone so that we may respect the ecological balance that He offered in His wisdom and goodness, so that both we and future generations will enjoy His gifts with thanksgiving and glorification.

May this divine wisdom, peace and power, which created and sustains and guides all creation in its hope for salvation in the kingdom, always maintain the beauty of the world and the welfare of humanity, leading all people of good will to produce fruitful works toward this purpose. And we invoke His grace and mercy on all of you, particularly those who respect and protect creation. Amen.

September 1, 2012

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Orthodox at the Republican Convention

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Fr. Peter

imgMetropolitan — His Eminence Methodios, Metropolitan of Boston

His Eminence Methodious, Metropolitan of Boston for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese led the prayer at the end of Wednesday night’s formal session at the Republican Nation Convention in Tampa, Florida.

Below is the text of the prayer:

Let us pray,

“O Heavenly King, Comforter, the Spirit of truth Who is ever present and fills all things, the Treasure of all blessings and source of life, we beseech you to dwell in our hearts” (1) as we hold in prayer our brethren who suffer the ravages of Hurricane Isaac. Embrace them in your love and keep them safe. Enable us to reach out to them in acts of philanthropy and generosity.

As we close this evening’s program, we pray that You bless and inspire the delegates of this Republican Convention to be your devoted servants and dedicated citizens of our great country. They have nominated two of your faithful sons, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, to serve the highest offices of this beloved land, a nation which has always opened its embrace to welcome “the tired, the poor and the huddled masses, all the tempest tossed to breathe free” (2) a nation that has always been a model of peace, justice and the rule of law. Shine in the hearts of the nominees of this convention the radiant light of Your divine will. Imbue them and Chairman Reince Priebus, Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate with insight, wisdom, and boldness, with courage, compassion and competence.

Tonight, we remember the intrepid members of our armed forces who place themselves in harm’s way in defense of our freedom, and like our Founding Fathers, are steadfast in keeping America the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

May every American be more sensitive:

To the neglected and forgotten
To those who have been victims of discrimination and crime
To those who are hungry and homeless
To those with no jobs and little hope

Help us, Lord, to break down the walls of enmity and distrust, and show us the way to a new era of peace, equality and opportunity. Strengthen the hand of America as it reaches out to clasp the hands of our brethren throughout the world to build bridges of understanding. May we rediscover the path that leads one to another, and all to You. Amen.

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New Missionary Commissioned

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Fr. Peter

Kurt_Commissioning — OCMC Long-Term Missionary Kurt Bringerud, with OCMC Associate Director Fr. David Rucker, following his commissioning for Service in Mongolia.

As the son of missionaries, Kurt Bringerud heard the call to missions at a young age. His studies and acceptance of the Orthodox faith continued to lead him toward missionary service. During the summer of 2010, following his involvement in a Project Mexico trip with a team from central Indiana, God’s call to international missions field became even stronger. After completing his training at the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC), Kurt was commissioned to serve as an OCMC long-term missionary in Mongolia.

Kurt Bringerud was a team member on OCMC’s first-ever mission team to Mongolia this past June, where they began to plant the seeds of Orthodoxy and faced the challenges of helping those seeds begin to grow. Now, he’ll be continuing that ministry through his service as a long-term missionary. There is extensive work to be done in Mongolia. First and foremost, though, as with all missionaries, his initial effort will involve the basics of learning the language, learning the culture, and building relationships through love. He will be teaching Japanese and English as well.

His commissioning took place on August 19^th, 2012, at St. John the Forerunner Orthodox Church in Indianapolis, where Kurt has been an active member for many years. OCMC Associate Director Fr. David Rucker was in Indianapolis this past weekend to participate in the commissioning and offer his prayers and support. Of the commissioning, which took place during the Divine Liturgy, Father David said, “It was one of the most beautiful commissionings that I’ve ever seen. Kurt is such a huge part of the parish community that when it came time to offer the prayers, they were all there with us. It was really wonderful.” After liturgy, the parish hosted a reception to bid him farewell. He is the parish’s first long-term missionary.

Mr. Bringerud left for Mongolia on August 23^rd to begin his missionary service. OCMC is excited for this new step in Mongolia, and we are all looking forward to the work that will be done in sharing the Orthodox Faith. The foundation has been laid, and now we begin together to build on that foundation.

OCMC and Mr. Bringerud ask for your thoughts and prayers as this exciting journey in long-term missions in Mongolia begins.

Source

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Orthodoxy and Evangelism

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Fr. Peter

I have written on this topic before, but I thought it deserved a little more attention in the light of an essay that has recently been written.

In the essay, the author writes about the loss of Metropolitan Jonah, the former head of the Orthodox Church in America. I agree that this was a shock to American Orthodoxy, but Orthodoxy is and has to be larger than one person. Yes, Metropolitan Jonah was a breath of fresh air. He spoke the way bishops are supposed to speak. He told the truth without any concern for the political fallout, and that is how bishops are supposed to speak. But if we roll up the sidewalks, so to speak, because he is gone then we are not following the example that he set for us. We need to learn from what he did and continue, we must continue to preach the truth in a society that is only interested in hearing what they want to hear. We need to move past this and get back to our message, and we need to continue to work to bring America to Orthodoxy, that is the legacy of Metropolitan Jonah. He charter the course for us and we need to continue his mission.

One of the realizations I have come to recently is, Orthodoxy is for everyone but not everyone is ready for Orthodoxy. We are calling people to live a life that most people cannot live because society does not want them to live that way. Our American culture calls us to a life of hedonism. American culture calls us to live how we want to live without regard for the consequences. Our culture tells us it is someone else’s fault, not our own and so we have a whole generation that feels they are entitled to an education, health care, employment, food, housing etc. and they do not have to work for it. Not exactly what our country was built upon. And thanks to the many churches that want you to feel good about yourself, we have an American theology that back all of that up!

Enter Orthodox into that picture and the culture will not only clash but smash into each other at a high rate of speed.

If you are a long time reader of these pages you know that a majority of my ministry takes place in the Social Media. I consider myself a social media missionary or a social media evangelist, why? because that is where people are. The fascinating thing is, some of the more difficult conversations I have had with people have been people who are Orthodox and have been Orthodox since birth. Part of the problem American Orthodoxy has is, we have done a terrible job teaching our people what the Church believes. That blame falls squarely on the clergy. That’s right, we clergy are at fault!

In a recent Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio, Fr. John Parker was speaking to the assembly in the Diocese of the South of the Orthodox Church in America. Fr. John is the chairman of the department of missions and evangelism and travels around the country speaking on these topics. He presented a very basic strategy for evangelism, and I will summarize here. I suggest you listen to the entire podcast.

1. Preach Jesus Christ, not Orthodoxy.

I would suggest that we Orthodox need to evangelize ourselves before we can ever hope to evangelize anyone else. We are more driven by large numbers of people in our Churches than we are with the quality of those people who come. Are we challenging our people to move past what they think the Church teaches to what it actually does? The message of Jesus is not everyone is the same, no the message of Jesus is if you want to get into heaven you will follow Him! And his way is challenging, it’s a Cross, and it has cost people their lives for more than 2,000 years.

Archbishop Dmitri, of Blessed Memory, knew what it took to being America to Orthodoxy, and let us never forget that is what we are doing, he preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It has been my experience, and I am guilty of this myself, we preach Orthodoxy when we need to be preaching Jesus Christ. We need to accept everyone where they are, without conditions, as Jesus did. Jesus welcomed everyone and He made them feel loved. He instructed them that their lifestyle was not in concert with the message He was preaching, but he loved them and accepted them until they were ready to change. He did not force them to do anything. He presented the message, pointed out where they were off the mark, and then gave them time to see it for themselves. This is what Archbishop Dmitri did, he just loved people!

We Orthodox get so hung up on the rules of the faith we miss the beauty of it! We are so concerned about what we can and cannot eat that we miss the beauty of why we give those things up. We need to talk about love, we need to preach that God loves everyone, regardless of what they have done, and we need to help them get back on the road.

I cannot say this enough, the work of the Church is healing and purification of the people. The Church is where we come for healing of the passions so we might attain communion and unity with God. The Church is the hospital for those who are sick with sin and the bishops and priests are the healers of the people of God. However, people will only come to the hospital if they feel they are welcome.

Several time in the Scriptures, the Pharisees challenge the followers of Jesus because He is sitting and eating with sinners. Jesus response is always the same, He has come to preach to those who need Him, he makes them feel welcome at His table, and we need to do the same thing.

How do we Orthodox Evangelize? We evangelize by how we live our lives, we evangelize by loving and welcoming everyone. I always say that the Orthodox Church is open and inclusive, this does not mean that we accept your behavior, but you are welcome to come and feel the love of Jesus. You are welcome to come and lay your head on His chest, and you are welcome to come and transform your lives!

2. Serve all of the Services you can as often as you can.

Orthodoxy is not an intellectual faith it is experiential. When Jesus called His apostles He just told them to follow Him. He did not say, “here read this book and then come to the town hall on Sunday, and I will tell you what it means.” No, he just called them to follow him. That is what we need to do. Serve Vespers, Matins, and them many other services that we have in Orthodox even if a few people come.

When I came here to this Church more than eight years ago, I started serving Vespers on Saturday night. For many nights, it was just the cantor and I, but slowly over time more and more people started to come. Does everyone come, no, but a good number do. I have just started to serve a weekday Liturgy at 7:00 in the morning. I don’t get many, but I do get people to come. Fr. John says in his talk that he has found that the people in the Church are more at peace when the services are being served, even those who are not there. We are called to pray so lets pray!

3. Clergy wear your cassocks!

This is an interesting one and one that has been debated amongst my fellow clergy for a long time. Wearing that cassock is a poster board for good and for bad. When I walk around town wearing my cassock I get some pretty strange looks. Someone walked up to me on the street once and asked if I was a Muslim, I pointed to the BIG gold cross around my neck! But then we had a conversation. Did the person come to church? No, not yet. I have prayed with people at the supermarket and post office as well as on the street, that is Evangelism and the love of Jesus! Do not be afraid to wear your cassock off campus, but be prepared because people will approach you.

4. Offer hospitality.

This one is not always easy. Some of our communities have been so closed for years it is difficult to open them up. I don’t suggest this to be critical but just to point it out. I cannot count the number of times people have told me they do not understand why someone who is not Greek, Russian, Romanian etc. would convert to Orthodoxy. Again we have done a poor job teaching the faith to the faithful! When someone new comes to the Church we need to welcome them, don’t overwhelm them, but welcome them. Show them where to sit, offer to sit with them and show them through the service. But this requires that people come to Church on time. New people will come to a church as early has 20 minutes before the time Church starts. They come to get the lay of the land, and they will not, as a common rule, walk into an empty Church. People need to be on time to Church to welcome the newcomer.

The Church needs to have a time for fellowship after the service. This is so crucial to the development of a healthy parish. People need time to be with each other. Remember, we come to Church to work out our salvation, and that does not just happen in the Church during the service. The coffee hour is as much a liturgical celebration as the Liturgy is. Jesus always broke bread with people and had conversations with them over a meal. We need to follow that example.

Do you have liturgy book for visitors, a weekly bulletin with information on what is going on, a monthly newsletter, if not consider starting one. It is not expensive and is an excellent tool.

5. Prayer!

Prayer should be number one on the list, but we need to pray. We need people who will pray for those people that God has already called to come to our Church. We need to pray for each other, and we need to pray for the clergy. If we do not pray we will never make it.

The last point I will make is about your online presence. The internet is the new phone book. People come to the internet to find a church. I am amazed at the number of Churches that do not have a web page or the ones that have not been updated in years. Many visitors have come to St. Michael because they found us online. Your Church needs a website, and the website needs to be updated. There needs to be an email address for people to contact you, but you need to respond and respond within 24 hours of them sending the message. Your service times need to be right up front on the first page, at the top. Don’t make people hunt for it. And the Church address and directions as well as a phone number. But if someone calls and leaves a message, call them back!

The bottom line in all of this is America needs what we Orthodox have to offer. We need to call Americans to Orthodox, the Orthodoxy that is just that orthodox. We do not need to remake the Church to fit American culture, we need to preach the timeless message of Jesus, the message that the Orthodox Church has been preaching for 2,000 years. Get back to basics and call the people to faith and show them the love of Jesus. The rest will follow.

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Sermon ~ Letting Go

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Fr. Peter

The Reading is from Matthew 19:16-26

At that time, a young man came up to Jesus, kneeling and saying, “Good Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you call me good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which?” And Jesus said, “You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have observed; what do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.

And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

A person accidentally slipped and fell off a cliff. On the way down he grabbed hold of the branch of a tree and remained suspended there. He started praying as he had never prayed before: “Lord, save me! Lord, Lord!”

Suddenly the Lord answered, “Yes?” the man pleaded, “save me, Lord!”

“Have you attended Church?” asked the Lord.

“Yes, I did whenever I could, but I promise never to miss if you will save me.”

“Have you kept the ten commandments?”

“Yes, as much as I could. I promise to obey them to the letter if you will save me.”

“Have you said your prayers every day?”

“Yes, Lord, but just get me off the side of his cliff and I’ll be the best praying man in the world.”

“Have you given generously to the work of my Church?

“Yes, I think I have, but I’ll give even more generously in the future. Just get me off the side of this cliff.”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes, Lord, of course I trust you – completely.”

“Then let go of the branch.”

How many of us would let go?

We have been talking over the last few weeks about increasing our spiritual life and the prescription, if you will, for doing just that letting go. I like to use the image of the room where we keep all of those things that hurt us or have hurt is over the years. We lock them up tight where no one can see them, and we don’t have to deal with them. We walk by that room each, and every day but we keep right on walking. But are we willing to let go?

The Gospel today is one of the most misunderstood and dare I say misused Gospel passage. This is not the Gospel of redistribution of wealth. This is not the Gospel of Jesus hates rich people. No this is the Gospel about letting go. Letting go of those things that keep us from true worship that keep us from true discipleship that keeps us from truly following the Son of God!

At the start of the story, we do not know anything of this man other than he is a seeker. He has come to hear what Jesus has to say because he is interested. Maybe he has heard something from a friend of his that there is a new preacher in town, and you just have to hear what he is saying. Maybe he has heard of miracles, and he wants to see one, who knows what brought him to Jesus on this day.

He asks Jesus what he has to do to enter eternal life. Jesus asks him if he has obeyed the commandments, and the man answers “Which?” I can just see Jesus, “Which?” Faith is not a buffet, we have to accept and follow them all, we don’t get to pick and choose. Then just to be sure, Jesus lists them.

Don’t Kill
Don’t commit adultery
Don’t steal
Don’t bear false witness
Honor your father and mother
Love your neighbor as yourself

The man responds, I have done all of this, what do I still lack? In this instance, he opens himself up and asks the crucial question. He is saying I have followed all of the rules, I follow the commandments, I fast like no one else (and I like to tell people about it) I come to church every Sunday, I cross myself right, I wear the right clothes, I make my tithe, I do all of this, what do I still lack, as if I could lack anything. And Jesus asks him, to you trust me?

But hold on, I just checked the text that is not what he said, Jesus told the man to go and sell all he had and give it to the poor. The man was rich, and Jesus said to sell everything, Jesus hates rich people!

For the man in the story, all of his possession were like the branch the man was holding on to who fell off the cliff. His possessions were like those things in that room we don’t want to talk about. His possession was like his pride that keeps us from forgiving someone who hurt us 20 years ago. His possessions are like thinking we know better than God when we choose what things to follow, and the ones not to follow. His possessions are what is holding him back!

Jesus knew this about the man. He knew that this is what was holding him back. It could have been something basic like, go and put that food in the fridge and follow me, but for this man, at this point, it was his riches. We have to remember that Scripture was written at a particular time for a particular people. Yes it applies to us today, but the challenge is we have to consider that meaning , and sometimes it is hidden or not as straightforward as we may like to think it is. Jesus said to the man, “go and take care of whatever it is that is keeping you from truly following me. Take care of that, then come and follow me.”

When the young man came to Jesus seeking answers to his questions, Jesus knew what was holding him back. Jesus knew that the man was a slave to his possessions, and that is why He told him to go and sell all that he had, to free him from his slavery. As Jesus watched the man walk away, he said that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

What Jesus is saying here is that the man had made a god out of his possessions, and it had enslaved him, and it was going to be extraordinarily difficult to let them go. We never hear of this man again so we have to assume that he could not do what Jesus told him. We have to assume that he continued his life as it was before.

How many of us want what Christ has to offer us? How many of us want that peace, assurance of eternal life, and the forgiveness that come with being a follower of Him. How many of us want this but don’t want to let go of our false gods, our hurts, our sins, the things that keep us back. How many of us, like the man who fell off the cliff, place conditions on our faith, Lord if you save me I will believe!

We are being asked today, “Do you trust me?”

We respond, “Yes Lord, we trust you.”

“Then let go. Let go of the demons, let go of the death that is within you.”

In prayer, our response needs to be, “Lord, I let go trusting that You will bring me back to life.”

General

25 August ~ St. Hilda, Abbess of Whitby

Posted on August 25, 2012 by Fr. Peter

Abbess of Whitby. Born in Northumbria in 614; died at Whitby in 680.

Hilda was a grandniece of King Edwin of Northumbria and daughter of Hereric. Hild is her correct name and means “battle.” Both she and her uncle were baptized by Saint Paulinus at York in 627, when she was 13.

She lived the life of a noblewoman until 20 years later she decided to join her sister Saint Hereswitha at the Chelles Monastery as a nun in France. In 649, Saint Aidan requested that she return to Northumbria as abbess of the double monastery (with both men and women, in separate quarters) in Hartlepool by the River Wear.

After some years Saint Hilda migrated as abbess to the double monastery of Whitby at Streaneshalch, which she governed for the rest of her life. Among her subject monks were Bishop Saint John of Beverly, the herdsman Caedmon (the first English religious poet), Bishop Saint Wilfrid of York, and three other bishops.

At the conference she convened in 664 at Whitby abbey to decide between Celtic and Roman ecclesiastical customs, Saint Hilda supported the Celtic party. Nevertheless, she and her communities adhered to the decision of the Council of Whitby to observe the Roman rule and customs. Her influence was certainly one of the decisive factors in securing unity in the English Church.

Hilda became known for her spiritual wisdom and her monastery for the calibre of its learning and its nuns. Saint Bede is enthusiastic in his praise of Abbess Hilda, one of the greatest Englishwomen of all time: she was the adviser of rulers as well as of ordinary folk; she insisted on the study of Holy Scripture and on proper preparation for the priesthood; the influence of her example of peace and charity extended beyond the walls of her monastery; ‘all who knew her called her Mother, such were her wonderful godliness and grace’.

Saint Hilda is represented in art holding Whitby Abbey in her hands with a crown on her head or at her feet. Sometimes she is shown (1) turning serpents into stone; (2) stopping the wild birds from ravaging corn at her command; or (3) as a soul being carried to heaven by the angels.From Here

Blog

Let the Fire Fall

Posted on August 25, 2012 by Fr. Peter

264611 — Fr. Lawrence Farley
From www.oca.org

by Fr. Lawrence Farley

Permit me please to share with you the words of an old Pentecostal chorus: “Let the fire fall, let the fire fall, let the fire from heaven fall. We are waiting and expecting; now in faith dear Lord we call. Let the fire fall, let the fire fall. On Thy promise we depend. From the glory of Thy Presence let the Pentecostal fire descend!” It’s not the greatest of lyrics, and I am not suggesting we that should sing it as a troparion in our Orthodox worship, but it does express something profoundly Orthodox nonetheless—that spirituality is built upon experiencing the Pentecostal Spirit.

Pentecost is at the heart of our Faith, and our life as Orthodox Christians begins with experiencing the power of the Pentecostal Spirit. That is, it begins with Baptism, and as our Lord said, that Baptism is not simply a Baptism with water (as was the Baptism of Saint John the Forerunner), but also a Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Shortly before His Ascension, our Lord told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, “for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:5). These words were fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, when the disciples were gathered together in one place. “Suddenly,” Saint Luke reports in Acts 2, “there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting, and there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributing themselves and resting on each one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” It was this experience that the Forerunner predicted when he said that the Messiah would baptize “with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16). This fiery Baptism was not just for the disciples who sat in that upper room. It is for us as well. As Metropolitan Kallistos Ware wrote in his classic, The Orthodox Church, the Church is “a continual Pentecost.” The Pentecostal experience which the disciples received is the same experience offered us today through Holy Baptism and Chrismation.

Our progress in faith depends upon our continually receiving the inflow of that Spirit. This is what Saint Seraphim of Sarov meant when he said that the goal of the Christian life was the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. We receive the Holy Spirit in our baptismal initiation, but that is just the beginning. We are meant to be continually and continuously filled with the Spirit, over and over again, as we live the Christian life participating in the sacramental mysteries of the Church. This should come as no surprise to us. When we say our morning and evening prayers, we begin with the Prayer to the Holy Spirit. Part of this prayer says, “O heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, everywhere present and filling all things, treasury of blessings and giver of life: come and abide in us…” The Spirit came once upon us at our Baptism; we pray that He may continually come and abide in us every day after. Our goal is to acquire more and more of Him, to stand in the place of prayer and penitence and expectation long enough for the fire of heaven to fall.

That is what all our fasting and prayers are about—the preparation of our hearts so that the Spirit may come and abide in us with all the fire of God’s love. That is what the Eucharist is about. Read the prayers again, and count the number of time the Holy Spirit is mentioned throughout the Liturgy. Listen to what the celebrant says when he begins the Anaphora: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you!” “And the communion of the Holy Spirit”—the Greek word here for “communion” is koinonia, participation, sharing. As the lituriologist Robert Taft reminds us, the thought here is not so much of the sharinginspired by the Holy Spirit, but rather of sharing the Holy Spirit Himself—it is the Holy Spirit which we share. The priest prays for this again during the Anaphora, asking that the Eucharistic Gifts “may be to those who partake for the purification of soul, for the remission of sins, for the communion [or sharing] of the Holy Spirit.” Through receiving the Eucharist, we partake of the Holy Spirit.

I have always been drawn to Pentecostalism. But not (I hasten to add) the Pentecostalism of which I see so much today, and which seems to consist largely of a name-it-and-claim-it health and wealth gospel, and of loud “praise bands.” The true Pentecostalism is that which yearns for the heavenly fire, which longs for the flame of God’s Presence to burn brightly in our hearts, consuming the dross of our sins. The true Pentecostalism yearns to stand in one place until the fire falls, and then to sing, “We have seen the true light; we have received the heavenly Spirit!” The true Pentecostalism is Orthodox Christianity. Orthodoxy is not primarily and fundamentally a matter of icons, and candles, and brocade. These things are not ends in themselves, but simply means to the end, the end being “the acquisition of the Holy Spirit.” We forget this at our peril.

The next time you say your prayers and ask the Heavenly King to “come and abide” in you, remember Pentecost. Remember what it really means to be an Orthodox Christian.

About the Author

Fr. Lawrence Farley, formerly an Anglican priest and graduate of Wycliffe College in Toronto, Canada in 1979, converted to Orthodoxy in 1985 and then studied at St. Tikhon’s Seminary in South Canaan, Pennsylvania. After ordination he traveled to Surrey, B.C. to begin a new mission under the OCA, St. Herman of Alaska Church. The Church has grown from its original twelve members, and now owns a building in Langley, B.C. The community has planted a number of daughter churches, including parishes in Victoria, Comox and Vancouver.

Fr. Lawrence is the author of many books including the Bible Study Companion Series, Let Us Attend: A Journey through the Orthodox Divine Liturgy, and A Daily Calendar of Saints. He has also written a series of Akathists published by Alexander Press, and his articles have appeared in numerous publications.

Fr. Lawrence has a podcast each weekday on Ancient Faith Radio called Coffee Cup Commentaries, and writes monthly forSounding, the blog of Orthodox Christian Network. He has given a number of parish retreats in the U.S. and Canada, as well as being a guest-lecturer yearly at Regent College in Vancouver. Father lives in Surrey with his wife Donna; he and Matushka Donna have two grown daughters and two grandchildren. He regularly updates his blog, “Straight From the Heart.”