Almsgiving

Posted on by Fr. Peter
In yesterday’s post I wrote about why we do what we do during this time of year. Another important aspect of Christmas Lent is Almsgiving. This is not just something we do during this time of year but it is a habit we should adopt all year long.
I could start with all sorts of statistics of hungry people in the world but we should not give out of an obligation we should give our alms out of love, love of God and love of neighbor.
Our goal during this Nativity season is to subdue our passions through fasting and fast from the lusts of worldly goods and selfishness through almsgiving. We should approach the birth of the Christ child as the Magi did. They spent many days traveling across the desert on what must have been a long hard journey. They gave up their homes, and the comforts that come with them to voluntarily “come and see” the Christ Child and lay their gifts at his feet. This is the journey we all must take this season.
The Church also journeys toward the birth of Christ by prayer, almsgiving and fasting. It is journey that many will not keep perfectly. This time of year is intended to bring us to humility and face to face with the death we live within. Unless we grasp the desperate state we live in we cannot come to the Manger bearing joyful gifts from our hearts. We cannot understand what was overcome by God in our flesh if we do not understand the corruption of our flesh that needs God’s hand to overcome. God assumed in His flesh all of our diseases, the sickness unto death, and in His flesh overcame it on behalf of humanity.
Come; let us greatly rejoice in the Lord as we tell of this present mystery. The middle wall of partition has been destroyed; the flaming sword turns back, the cherubim withdraw from the tree of life, and I partake of the delight of Paradise from which I was cast out through disobedience. For the express Image of the Father, the Imprint of His eternity, takes the form of a servant, and without undergoing change He comes forth from a Mother who knew not wedlock. For what He was, He has remained, true God: and what He was not, He has taken upon himself, becoming man through love for mankind. Unto Him let us cry aloud: God born of a Virgin, have mercy upon us! (Sticheron of Vespers of the Nativity)
The almsgiving of the Nativity Season anticipates the greatest act of almsgiving to the undeserving poor by God who gave His Son for the sake of the salvation of His undeserving creation that rejected Him. St. Maximos the Confessor says that Almsgiving heals the soul, fasting withers sensual desire; prayer purifies the intellect and prepares it for contemplation. He continues in another place, “He who gives alms in imitation of God does not discriminate between the wicked and the virtuous, the just and the unjust, when providing for man’s bodily needs.”
In the end almsgiving is what we are called to. We are called to love our neighbor as we would hope to be loved. Almsgiving helps our neighbor and we never know when we might be the one in need.

Christmas Lent

Posted on by Fr. Peter
On Monday, we Orthodox began a period on our church calendar called Christmas Lent or Advent. Yes we have begun Advent. As I mentioned in my sermon on Sunday, Advent is not Christmas as that season does not begin until December 24th. Celebrating Christmas before Christmas is like saying Christ is Risen during Great Lent.
Anyway, I am always interested in the history of things and I was interested in when this time of the year became a fast period. Sometimes I think we Orthodox think that all of these things were handed down just before Jesus Ascended into Heaven, well that is not always the truth.
So, thanks to John Sanidopoulos at the Mystagogy blog I have the following information.
A decree of the Council of Saragossa in 380 AD mentions this period on the calendar as a prepatory period. Every Christian should go to church daily from December 17th until the Theophany. At the Synod of Mac (581) it was decreed that from November 11th until December 24th every Christian should fast three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So there is some pretty early evidence of this time of the year being different than the rest of the year. A time of preparation for the coming of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ.
In 1166 at the Council of Constantinople the Pre-Nativity season was established. The Council decreed that the fast would begin on November 15th and last until December 24th in effect another 40 day fast was created to mirror that of Great Lent.
St. Leo the Great wrote, “Four periods of the year have been set aside as times of abstinence, so that over the course of the year we might recognize that we are constantly in need of purification, and that amid life’s distractions, we should always strive by means of fasting and acts of charity to extirpate sin, sin which is multiplied in our transitory flesh and in our impure desires.”
As in the fast period leading up to Pascha the Nativity Fast, as it has become known, was established to allow us through repentance, prayer, and fasting to cleanse ourselves before the Nativity, so that with “clean heart, soul, and body, we might reverently meet the Son of God.
The focus of the Nativity fast is also on almsgiving and that is the topic for tomorrow.

One Word at a Time ~ Gratitude

Posted on by Fr. Peter
As I have mentioned before I participate in a blog carnival where all of the participants blog about one word at a time. This time around the word is Gratitude.
It is no coincidence that this is the word and next week is Thanksgiving in the United States. It is this time of year when we start to think of all of those things that we are thankful for. I am thankful and grateful for many things, family, parish, health, etc but I would like to focus on another side of Gratitude.
Last week the news was all a flutter about a cruise ship that had gone dead in the water due to an engine fire and the ship had to be towed back into port. After the ship docked we started to hear the stories of how bad it was, no flush toilets, no ice for the drinks, and Spam and Pop Tarts to eat because the food spoiled when they lost refrigeration. I posted on my Facebook wall that these people need to shut up and stop whining. Man did I take some heat for that.
Oh the poor people who had paid for a cruise and taken time off to take the cruise. Well I do feel bad that their vacation was different then they thought it was going to be, but they were still on a cruise! They had food and a place to lay their heads, and the entire cost of the cruise plus travel was reimbursed and they get a free cruise in the future.
Many, many people in the United States would love to go on a cruise to anywhere but they cannot afford it or they do not have a job that affords them vacation. There are many, many people who would love to have a meal of Spam and Pop Tarts because they have very little if anything to eat. And there are many, many people who would love to have a soft bed to lay their head even if it was on a ship that was not able to move. The point is we need to be grateful for all we have no matter how little because there is always someone who has less.
Here at our church we offer a meal once a month for people who cannot afford a meal, who are lonely, or who just want to get out and eat. The meal is prepared by the people in the church and served with no charge. This month is the Annual Thanksgiving meal and we serve a traditional Thanksgiving meal with all of the fixin’s. We have received a donation of a turkey for the meal from a family that I am sure could use it themselves but they are so grateful for what they have that they wish to share their blessings with others. Compare that to the whining people on the cruise ship!
We need to be grateful and show gratitude for all that we have no matter how large r how small the blessing is. That’s the important thing to remember about this time of year.

Blogaversary

Posted on by Fr. Peter
I am not sure how this slipped by but this blog turned 5 on November 11th.  Technically my first post was November 11th but I really started blogging in July of 06.  Since that date there have been 1,789 posts, 1,701 comments (not all of them have been charitable) and 86,674 visitors.  We have not always agreed but we have kept the conversation going.

Thanks for the support these last five years.

Advent New Testament Challenge

Posted on by Fr. Peter
We in the Orthodox Church being the season of Advent today.  For the next 40 days we are encouraged to fast, pray, and expand our spiritual life.

As an aid in this, Fr. John Peck of the Preacher’s Institute has put together a little New Testament Challenge.  I would invite you all you participate as you can in this.  We begin today so you can get right on it.  IN the end you will have read the entire New Testament.  Take a chance and take the Challenge.  If you click on the list below you will be able to print it out.

Southbridge has lost a Great One

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Politics is funny business, one day you are a hero and the next your a bum.  It is hard to stay above the frey sometimes but there was one man in Southbridge that told it like it is.  You always knew where you stood with him, and he was brutally honest.  He may not have always agreed with you but he respected what you had to say and he listened.  We could all learn something from him.

Last night new arrived that the Vice-Chairman of the Southbridge Town Council Laurent McDonald lost his battle with cancer.  This is a terrible loss to his family, most of whom I know, and a big loss to the Southbridge Community.

To give you and example of the dedication of this man he lied about his age and joined the Marine Corps at the tender age of 16.  I cannot imagine what that was like.  Don’t forget there was a war going on at the time!  Returning home he served his community as a fire fighter and then served on the Town Council.  This is what made his generation the GREAT generation.

To his family I express my sorry at your loss and thank you for sharing your Father and Husband with us, I feel that we are all better people for having know him.

Grant eternal repose in blessed sleep, O Lord, to the soul of your servant who has fallen asleep and make his memory eternal!

Semper Fi!

My faith in humanity has been restored

Posted on by Fr. Peter
So I have been feeling pretty low about the state of humanity these last few months.  I have seen some pretty bad examples of what humanity can do, but last night that all changed.

I stopped in the local grocery store to pick up a few items.  I jumped in the 12 items or less line, because I only had a few items.  While I was gathering up my purchases I happened to overhear the guy behind me.  It seems he was in the store earlier and the cashier gave him too much money in return, $20 too much.  It would have been so easy for him to just keep on going but he chose to come back and do the right thing.  I walked out of the store with a smile on my face.

I do not know the man’s name and I am sure he does not read this but if he does, thanks for restoring my faith in the human race.

My Plan to End Unemployment

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Okay not really my idea.  I heard this this other night on the Randi Rhodes radio program.  It was the middle of the night but I think I understand where she is going.  Also, I am not a big fan of creating Government jobs but keep an open mind.

It all starts with the TARP money.  We are looking at about $700 billion when it is all returned.  Take a 3rd of that about $23.1 billion and pay down the debt with it that will leave about $679.9 billion.  With the $679.9 billion we could create 13.5 million jobs at $50,000 a year.  Now a 3rd of that will come back to the Federal Treasury in income tax, dedicate that for the paying down of the debt.

So what are these jobs we would create?  These are not make work jobs but we could put people to work all over the country on roads and bridges for example.  We have a crumbling infrastructure that needs to be repaired and not enough people to do the job.  If we rebuild our infrastructure then we would be on the road, no pun intended, to recovery.  Again these are not make work jobs this is stuff that needs to get done!  This is on the same idea of the works program and civilian conservation corps that was created after WWII.

Turning Green for a moment, these jobs could be used for energy retrofitting.  Thousands of homes and buildings in the private sector not counting the ones in the public sector could be retrofit to make them more energy efficient.  For example, it was announced the other day that one of the schools here needs to have all it’s 239 single pain non energy efficient windows replaced.  This could be done by a workforce of these $50k jobs.  This is just one example.  It also reduces our energy costs, thus lowering what it costs to run the school each year.

The big plus to this is that people would be working and spending money in the local community and that would create jobs in the local community.  Spend more at the grocery store, the store will have to add more people thus creating private sector jobs.  Over time this could be phased out.  This is putting the money to work and investing in our future.

We need to get people back to work.  This plan is not perfect but maybe it could be discussed.  Again not my idea just one I am thinking about.  

Living beyond our Means

Posted on by Fr. Peter
There are many theories out there about how we ended up in the economic situation that we are in. This is a very bad situation and it has affected many people and it is looking like it is going to get worse before it gets better. Now I am not an economist but I too have a theory of how we got into this mess and I can sum it up with one word, GREED!
Americans have been living beyond their means for a long time now and I will call it what it is, sinful. We need to be good stewards of the gifts that God has given us and that does not include getting into more debt then we can handle. Yes the mortgage crisis lead to part of this but no one forced your hand to sign the loan application. As I wrote yesterday we need to start taking personal responsibility for our actions and that would include getting into debt. Americans today have more personal debt than any other time in history. By the way I am including myself in this as well.
During this past election cycle here in Massachusetts there was a statewide question on the ballot to roll back the state sales tax from 6.25% to 3%. Thankfully the question did not pass. If it had it was estimated that the Town of Southbridge would loose approximately $9.5 million in state aid. Okay my question is this, why is the Town of Southbridge, or any Town for that matter, relying on aid from the state? It was reported in today’s Boston Globe that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts stands to loose money in Federal aid in the coming years as well. I ask the same question, why are we relying on Federal Aid? We are living beyond our means.
I believe is local control and that problems should be solved at the lowest possible level. With this in mind, when the Town starts the budget process it should not include any possible funding from any other source other than the revenue that the Town brings in, if we cannot live on that then we are living beyond our means. I, like most of you, get a paycheck each week. That is all the money I have for the week and when it runs out, it is gone. I cannot look to anyone else for money to get me over the hump; government should be run the same way.
Governments at all levels gather funds through taxes, property tax, meals tax, sales tax, income tax and the like. Each level of Government should exist on what funds are gathered at that level if not then cuts will need to be made. I realize this is pie in the sky but I believe if we want to get back on track we need to do this.
There has been much discussion the last few days about taxes and tax cuts. The highest earners in the country pay the least amount of taxes, so the argument goes. Taxes are never fair and taxes are a necessary part of life. I support a flat tax with no deductions for anyone, this way everyone pays their fair share. Just for example let us say the income tax rate is 15%. At the end of the year you would pay 15% of your income in taxes regardless of how much you make. No deductions for anything. I floated this idea on Facebook the other day and someone said that churches and other charities would stop getting money. Well I do not want people donating to my church because of the tax break; I want people giving to my church because they have an obligation to give money to the church. A Biblical obligation!
National debt is the highest it has ever been. Massachusetts is facing a $2 billion budget deficit and it is projected to get worse. We need to start living within our means, it will be difficult at the start, and of course I am not saying we should do this over night it needs to be phased in. That was my objection to the tax roll back question that it was too much too fast.
We need, at a personal level, to be good stewards of all that we have. We should not be living beyond our means, we should avoid personal debt at all reasonable costs, and we should pay down all credit cards and avoid using them to live on. We should look at streamlining our lives and consolidating things. Begin saving money and spending less. And we need to remember to be attentive to our spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, worship, tithing and serving. We need to live a more simple life and get back to basics and stop living beyond our means.
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