Christmas Sermon 2009

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Christmas Eve 2009

Christ is Born! ~ Glorify Him!

On Christmas Eve 1914 German troops began decorating the area around their trenches in Belgium for Christmas. They began by placing candles on trees, and then continued the celebration by singing Christmas Carols most notably Stille Nacht (Silent Night). The British troops in the trenches on the other side responded by singing in English.

The two sides continued by shouting Christmas greetings to each other. Soon there were calls for visits across “no man’s land” where small gifts were exchanged. The artillery fell silent, and the truce allowed a breathing spell where the dead could be recovered and given a proper burial. The truce lasted through the night and then the war began again but the soldiers were forever changed. Some commanders on both sides complained that the truce made the war harder because it is difficult to shoot someone you know.

On this night the King of peace was born into the world. He came into the world just as all of us came into the world. This little child would change the world in ways that we sitting here tonight may never know. This little child came to bring a message of peace. Peace to all, peace that we saw in the illustration I used at the start, the Christmas truce of 1914. On that Christmas the guns fell silent and for a brief moment peace had been restored to the world.

Much has been said about the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas is a time for giving and a time of forgiving. Christmas is the time for families and friend to gather round and celebrate just being together. Yes these are all the meaning of Christmas. But for us Orthodox Christians the meaning of this night is all of the above but more importantly the true meaning of Christmas is that the Son of God became man in order to accomplish our salvation. Yes the real meaning of Christmas is Salvation. Not many Christmas carols about that!He was born in a stable… to teach us to be poor in spirit. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God. We need to be humble, humble before God and let God in our lives and through us to help bring salvation to the world. “No one can celebrate Christmas without being truly poor. The self-sufficient, the proud, those who, because they have everything, look down on others, those who have no need of God – there will be no Christmas. Only the poor, the hungry, those who need someone to come on their behalf, will have that someone. That someone is God, Emmanuel, God-with-us. Without poverty of spirit there can be no abundance of God” (Oscar Romero, December 24, 1978)

His coming was announced to Shepherds… to teach us the value of this humility. Shepherds were the low ones in society. They spend all day alone in the fields with their sheep. The announcement was not made on Fox News or CNN it was announced to the humble, the low, so we could imitate that humility of heart on our Christian journey.

He was adored by the Magi… to teach us that He is the King of the Universe. It was a star that guided then to Bethlehem, not a Hollywood star, but a star from heaven and He, this little child born this night some years latter was to be nailed to the cross of Calvary to redeem us and to save us, because the love He has for you knows no bounds.

On this night the Son of God assumed out human nature. Because of this God allows us through His sanctifying grace to share in this Divine Nature. Here is the very essence of Christmas. The very core of what we celebrate this night. The simple message that this simple child brought to this world, God took our human nature, so that we might share in His divine nature. God became man that we might become godlike!

We are, all of us, created in the image and likeness of God. Our lives do not consist in the amount of our possessions or the power that we may or may not have. We human beings are human because our fundamental and essential property is being the most perfect created expressions of God’s being and life. We are made to be imitators of God and partakers of the divine nature.

We affirm that Jesus Christ has come into the world this night to restore this image and likeness. This night He enables us to be what we are created to be in the beginning. He does this not only because he is the only-begotten Son and Word, but because he is the very image of the invisible God. Those who see Jesus see God. St. Symeon tells us, “Through His coming in the body, God came to earth to refashion humanity and renew it, and in addition to bless all of creation.”

On this night Mary and Joseph searched the village for a place to bring the Son of God into the world. Door after door they knocked and there was no room for them, there was no room in the Inn. Tonight Jesus is knocking on the door of your hearts. Jesus, the Son of God is searching for a place to lay his head. On this night that we celebrate the light coming into the world will you make room for Him in the Inn of your heart or will the door be locked and the windows shuttered?

There is an ancient Celtic Christmas Carol that sums up this night is a wonderful way:

This night is the eve of the great Nativity,
Born is the Son of Mary the Virgin,
The soles of His feet have reached the earth,
The Son of glory down from on high,
Heaven and earth glowed to Him
All hail, let there be joy!

The peace of earth to Him, the joy of heaven to Him,
Behold his feet have reached the world;
The homage of a King be His, the welcome of a Lamb be His,
King of all victorious, Lamb all glorious,
Earth and ocean illumed Him,
All hail, let there be joy!

The mountain glowed to Him; the plains glowed to Him,
The voice of the waves with the song of the strand,
Announcing to us that Christ is born,
Son of the King of kings for the land of salvation;
Shone the sun on the mountains high to Him,
All hail, let there be joy!

Shone to Him the earth and sphere together,
God the Lord has opened a door;
Son of Mary Virgin, hasten thou to help me,
Thou Christ of hope, Thou door of joy,
Golden sun of hill and mountain,
All hail, let there be joy!

Christ is Born! ~ Glorify Him!

Blog

Confession

Posted on by Fr. Peter
For the past 2 nights I have been in the Church to hear confessions before Christmas. This seems to be one of the two times that most people come to confession. I was reflecting on the Sacrament of Confession last night and after the celebration of the Eucharist this is the Sacrament that I celebrate the most but is the most miss understood I think. Last night I made the reference that confession is like going to the dentist. We don’t like to go but at least 2 times a year we haul ourselves there. We should not look at it that way.

For the Orthodox Christian, confession is a very important part of our Spiritual Life. It is never easy to admit out faults but again it is part of our spiritual journey to admit these faults and receive a little counsel from our spiritual father and forgiveness from Our Lord. We really should call this reconciliation because that is what we are doing, we are reconciling ourselves to God and yes in some way to our fellow man.

Penance is another story all together and although it is part of reconciliation it seems to have fallen out of practice in the Orthodox Church. I grew up Roman Catholic and remember confession in the little box and getting some form of penance to perform after confession. These were things like say 5 Our Fathers or 3 Hail Mary’s. Not used as such in the OC it is not beyond the pale to have it imposed on you. Sometimes your spiritual father will ask you to exempt yourself from communion for a period of time or make some form of restitution. Will do some research on the Orthodox practice of penance and write another post on that. Perhaps one of the priest readers of this blog might comment on penance and their practice of it.

The other misconception of confession is the secret of it all. Yes the priest is prohibited from revealing what is said in confession. In fact I was taught that we are not even to say if someone has come to confession. We are not even supposed to speak to the person after their confession about what they said in their confession.

Here are two quotes from the Orthodoxwiki article on confession regarding secrecy:

The secrecy of the Mystery of Penance is considered an unquestionable rule in the entire Orthodox Church. Theologically, the need to maintain the secrecy of confession comes from the fact that the priest is only a witness before God. One could not expect a sincere and complete confession if the penitent has doubts regarding the practice of confidentiality. Betrayal of the secrecy of confession will lead to canonical punishment of the priest.

St. Nicodemus the Hagiorite exhorts the Spiritual Father to keep confessions confidential, even under strong constraining influence. The author of the Pedalion (the Rudder), states that a priest who betrays the secrecy of confession is to be deposed. The Metropolitan of Kos, Emanuel, mentions in his handbook (Exomologeteke) for confessors that the secrecy of confession is a principle without exception.

There are many different translations of the order of confession and I use the one from the Priest’s Service Book by Fr. Evagoras Constantinides mainly because it was the translation available in the bookstore at the seminary but I do like the English.

There is a prayer for the penitent after their confession and then the prayer of absolution itself:

My spiritual child, who have made your confession to my humble person: I, a humble sinner, have no power to forgive sins on earth; only God can to that; but trusting in the divinely spoken words that were addressed to the Apostles after the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, which said: “If you pronounce forgiven the sins of any, they are forgiven to them; and if you pronounce unforgiven the sins of any, they remain unforgiven”, we are bold to say: whatever you have related to my humble and lowly person, and whatever you have failed to say either from ignorance or from forgetfulness, whatever it may be, may God forgive you in this present age and in the age to come.

May God who, through Nathan the Prophet forgave David when he confessed his sins, and Peter, when he wept bitterly for his denial; and the harlot who shed tears upon his feet; and the Publican; and the Prodigal; may this same God forgive you, through me a sinner, everything, both in this present age and in the age to come, and may he make you stand uncondemned before his dread Judgement Seat. As for the sins that you have confessed, have no further anxiety about them; go in peace.

The grace of the Holy Spirit, through my insignificance, has you loosened and forgiven.

Through the prayers of our holy Father, Lord Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Notice the words, “May God forgive you, Through me…” it is not me the priest that forgives you it is God who forgives. I am the instrument that He uses to perform the actual function but forgiveness comes only from God. This is a departure from the Roman absolution when the priest says I absolve you or even the Russian Orthodox practice where the words are the same. The priest has no power to forgive, only God can to that!

This prayer is also used at the end of the funeral liturgy and is the most beautiful part of the funeral in my opinion.

So do not fear confession. Go, and go often. Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia said in a recent lecture that we need to go at least four times a year for confession. I would agree with this. You need to work out with your spiritual father how often you need to go, but go! You will be amazed how you feel after.

Proper of Ordinary Weekdays ~ Thursday

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Thursday – Dedicated to the Apostles Peter and Paul and to Nicholas of Myra

Troparion of the Apostles (Tone 3)

O Holy Apostles, intercede with the all-merciful God that He may grant to our souls the forgiveness of sins.

Toparion of Nicholas of Myra (Tone 4)

O Father and Bishop Nicholas, the holiness of your life was set before your flock as a rule of faith, an example of meekness and a teaching of temperance; wherefore you acquired greatness through humility and spiritual wealth through poverty. Pray to Christ God that He may save our souls.

Theotokion (Tone 3)

O Virgin pure, Mother of God, we acknowledge that the Word of the Father, Christ our God, was incarnate of you, the only all-blessed one. Wherefore we sing to you a constant hymn of praise, and we exalt you.

Kontakion of the Apostles (Tone 8)

O Lord, you have taken up to their eternal rest and to the enjoyment of your good things the two infallible preachers of divine truths and leaders of the apostles, for You have accepted their struggles and their death as being better than any holocaust, O You who alone know the secrets of hearts!

Kontakion of Nicholas of Myra (Tone 3)

In Myra, you proved yourself to be a priest, a servant of divine things, O Saint, for you fulfilled the gospel of Christ, O Holy One: you gave up your life for your people and saved the innocent from death. You have been sanctified, for you were a great guide towards the things of God.

Russian Orthodox Church embraces gays

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Editors note: Well this is a different turn of events! I agree, no one, regardless of their inclination, should be discriminated against. We may not agree with the choice but we need not discriminate against people for any reason.

MOSCOW — The head of the Russian Orthodox Church says that, although the church views homosexuality as a sin, homosexuality is a personal choice.

Patriarch Kirill says gays and lesbians must not be persecuted or discriminated against in any way, though the church still opposes same-sex marriages.

The patriarch’s statements, a breakthrough for the Russian church, were made during a meeting Wednesday with visiting Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland.

Opposition to gay rights remains widespread in Russia, where homosexuality was decriminalized only in 1993.

Several high-profile Russian politicians have spoken against gay rights. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has described homosexuality as “satanic” and blamed homosexuals for spreading AIDS.

Another Russian Priest/Martyr

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Moscow, December 23, Interfax – Archpriest Alexander Filippov, who served at the Ascension Church in the village of Satino-Russkoye in the Podolsk District outside Moscow, has died after being shot in the heart on Tuesday evening, the priest’s widow Yelena told Interfax-Religion.

“Father Alexander was killed only because he reproached those people who were urinating in an apartment building’s entrance hall,” she said.

Father Alexander was 39 years old. He had three teenage daughters.

According to the Moscow Patriarchate, the priest’s murderer has already been detained.

It was the second murder of an Orthodox priest in the Moscow area in the past month. Priest Daniil Sysoyev from Moscow’s Saint Thomas Church, who was known for his criticism of nationalist groups, was killed on November 19.

A total of 26 Orthodox priests have been murdered in Russia since 1990.

But having dropped its totalitarian state ideology, modern Russia has also seen a surge in alcoholism and drug addiction, as well as a rise in ethnic tension.

Father Alexander Pray for Us!

H/T Notes from the Underground

How Religious is your State?

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Perhaps the title should be How Religious (or not) is your State?

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public life has released a new report on religion in the United States. I was not surprised by the findings as religion seems to be taking a back seat in our society that is becoming more and more secular. There is a need for religion and more so now than ever before.

A few different questions were asked. Importance of Religion, Worship Attendance, Frequency of Prayer, Belief in God. I will use my State of Massachusetts as an example as well as the state that is top in each category. The interesting this is some states have been combined because of a low sample rate. So the total number is not 50 but rather 46. I will give the top and bottom and Massachusetts. The entire report can he found here.

Importance of Religion: Percentage of those who say religion is important to them.

National Average ~ 56%

1 Mississippi ~ 82%
44 Massachusetts ~ 40%
46 NH/Vermont ~ 36%

Worship Attendance: Percentage of those who say they attend church at least once per week.

National Average ~ 39%

1 Mississippi ~ 60%
39 Massachusetts ~ 30%
46 Alaska ~ 22%

Frequency of Prayer – Percentage of people who say they pray at least once per day.

National Average ~ 58%

1 Mississippi ~ 77%
45 Massachusetts ~ 41%
46 Maine ~ 40%

Belief in God – Percent who say they believe in God with absolute certainty

National Average ~ 71%

1 Mississippi ~ 91%
43 Massachusetts ~ 60%
46 NH/Vermont ~ 54%

Some very interesting percentages. For example 60% of the people in Massachusetts say the believe in God with absolute certainty but only 41% pray and only 30% attend church. There is little surprise that Mississippi topped the list in all the categories. The Southern Part of the US is far more religious then the North. If you look at the charts associated with the report you will see that the Southern states top the list and the Northern ones are at the bottom.

So those of us in the North have much work to do.

Archpastoral Message of His Beatitude Met. Jonah on Nativity ‘09

Posted on by Fr. Peter
To the Very Reverend and Reverend Clergy,
Monastics, and Faithful of
The Orthodox Church in America

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

We rejoice in the coming of the Savior, the Advent of the Son of God into this broken world. His Nativity anticipates and prefigures His Second and Glorious Coming again in the flesh, not clothed in the swaddling bands of humility, for but a few years; but in the radiant vesture of the Kingdom to reign forever.

For us Orthodox Christians, the Nativity of Christ is the Winter Pascha, and our celebration is rooted in the liturgical life of the Church; the world’s “Xmas” hymns go on and on, oblivious, rather intentionally, to the point of the celebration. While we enjoy the worldly celebration, the family time, the gifts and giving, these are empty if we miss the central celebration itself: the services of the Nativity, culminating in receiving the Holy Mysteries. We can have Christmas without the Nativity, as does the world; but for Christians the Feast of the Nativity is Christmas!

We pray and fast to prepare ourselves for forty days before Christmas not only to be obedient to the Church, but to prepare ourselves to receive the Mystery of Communion. Will this Christmas be unto salvation, discerning and receiving His Body–that same Body born of Mary and laid in the Manger, the Son of God who has taken flesh and likened himself to us, so that He might liken us to Himself? Or do we judge ourselves, unaware or oblivious to the Mystery of Christ’s assumption of our nature. We pray and fast to open our spiritual eyes, so that we can see Christ, discern Christ, know Christ–not just as a historical figure who taught nice things, but as God who has come and will come again.

The traditional Christmas carols talk about Baby Jesus lying in the manger. Let us contemplate this mystery during this season, a mystery that at that time only His Mother really understood: that this little infant, no different than any other, would become the Savior of the world, and redeem mankind, indeed all of creation, from death. What infinite potential, the potential of a man fulfilling the Divine Likeness, and manifesting God in His flesh, was invested in that little child. Who would have thought that a child born in the most destitute poverty and anonymity would become the criterion of judgment for the whole world?

We can also contemplate this same mystery in the life of every child. Who knows what the destiny of that child will be? Who can tell if he or she will become a point of hope for the whole world? That same infinite potential, the potential for deification, the potential for a life transfigured by God, the potential for a life that will bring joy and peace, or beget such a child?

The Feast of the Nativity is not only the contemplation of God taking human flesh. It is also the great celebration of humanity, that God so loved as to become one of us, that through that One, joy and peace and salvation may be given to the whole world. Let us treasure the life of every child, who is the image of Christ born of the Virgin, and remember the great calling which he or she, and each of us, has in God. Let us also remember that the ultimate fulfillment of that calling is found in the transformation of our very flesh, in which God became incarnate, that having become man for our sake, He enables us to partake of His Divinity on that glorious day of His coming again in the flesh.

With love in the Newborn Lord,

SIGNATURE
+JONAH
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada

Movie Review ~ Four Christmases

Posted on by Fr. Peter
I have done book reviews before on the blog but never a movie review. The other day I needed something to watch so I dropped in to the local Blockbuster, even though I have a Netflix subscription, and I picked up a couple of movies.

Four Christmases is a movie that stars Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn among others. There really is a cast of characters in this movie.

So the premise is that a couple does not want to spend Christmas with their dysfunctional families so they lie and go on vacation… Almost.

This a great, funny, family, Christmas movie that I am sure you will enjoy. Well if you like to laugh this is a movie for you. It does not disappoint.

I give it a big thumbs up!

Here is the trailer for the movie.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHDmBCHj5uY]

Proper of Ordinary Weekdays ~ Wednesday

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Wednesday ~ Dedicated to the Honorable Cross and the Mother of God

Troparion (Tone 1)

O Lord, save your people and bless your inheritance. Strengthen our Public Authorities in every good deed, and protect your nation with your cross.

Stavrotheotokion (Tone 1)

O pure one, we have acquired your protection and have been kept from harm through your intercessions, and surrounded at all times with the grace of your Son’s cross: wherefore we all exalt you with great devotion.

Kontakion (Tone 4)

O Christ our God who chose of your own free will to be raised upon the cross, gran your mercies to your new people who are called by your name. In your power, gladden the hearts of our Public Authorities; strengthen them in every good deed so that your alliance may be for them a weapon of peace and a standard of victory.

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