Sunday of Zacchaeus

Posted on by Fr. Peter

1 Timothy 4:9-15
Luke 19:1-10

Update: I should have posted this last week but time got away from me…

We know that we are approaching the beginning of Great Lent when we hear, at the Sunday Liturgy, the reading from Luke 19:1-10 concerning Zacchaeus, the tax collector. The Sunday of Zacchaeus id the first of the pre–lenten Sundays which take us, step by step, to the beginning of Great Lent and, ultimately, to Pascha.
We begin with this particular lesson because Zacchaeus himself began his repentance with a simple desire: he wanted to see Jesus Christ.
Jesus was passing by. A great crowd was gathered. Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, but the crowd was so great and he was so short, so he climbed up into a tree and thereby enabled himself to look above the heads of the crowd at the Master. Jesus saw him and called him down. He went to his house and there Zacchaeus repented and returned four times as much as he has stolen, gave the remainder of his possessions to the poor, and became a true disciple of Christ.
The message of this lesson is clear: everything begins with the simple desire to see Jesus. Nothing can happen without this desire. We must desire to see Jesus as well. This is our first step toward the approaching Great Lent and Pascha.
Adapted from “Pre-Lenten Sundays”

Hand Kissing

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Fr. Tim Finigan has a post about greeting the bishop and should one kiss his hand or not. It got me thinking about the orthodox practice in this area and I would like to share some of my thoughts.
The custom is to refer to a bishop in the Orthodox Church as Your Grace, if an Archbishop Your Eminence, Patriarch, Your Beatitude. In the case of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople then he is referred to as His All Holiness. Okay so that is a mouthful but that is tradition for you. When speaking with the bishop you should refer to him by his title, i.e. Your Grace. When you approach the bishop you should make a small metanyia and bless yourself then hold your hands together to receive his blessing and then his hand to kiss. We are not kissing the hand of a man here but reverencing his office as successors to the apostles. Thanks to Fr. Tim for giving me the correct words.
In Orthodox and Catholic theology we understand the office of bishop of that as being passed down from the apostolic ministry itself. Bishops today are inheritors of that ministry of the Apostles that walked with Jesus. We call this Apostolic Succession as there is an unbroken line from the Apostles to the bishop standing in front of you.
The faithful should approach a priest in the same manner. Small metanyia, bless yourself, then hold your hands out to receive his blessing and his hand to kiss. Same reason we are not kissing the hand of a man but we reverence the office of priest. Whatever you feel about the person this is the custom.
I remember when I was in Guatemala at the orphanage and preparing for vespers. The children would all line up in front of me to receive my blessing and kiss my hand. I had been a priest about a year and half at this point and my hand was kissed more that week than it was before or after. Like some traditions this one has fallen into disuse.
When I was first ordained and the faithful would kiss my hand it was a very strange thing for me to get used to. I remember one of the priests at the seminary sharing a similar story and he said that it would insult the person if you pulled your hand away. They are reverencing the office and saying thank you for the blessing you just gave them.
Just some random thoughts.

St. Conan

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Bishop of the Isle of Man, died January, 684; an Irish missionary, also known as Mochonna. He is not to be confounded with St. Conindrius, who is said to have been a disciple of St. Patrick, and to have lived to be a very advanced age (17 November, 560). The Bollandists place St. Conan amongst the early bishops of Man, and Colgan gives an account of his life and labours. Unfortunately the history of the Isle of Man in the fifth and sixth centuries is very obscure, and it is difficult to get at definite facts, yet St. Conan, or Mochonna, who is also described as “Bishop of Inis-Patrick” left a distinct impress of his zeal for souls in Manxland. Some authorities give the date of his death as 26 January, but Colgan, quoting from the ancient Irish martyrologies, gives 13 January, on which day St. ConanUs feast is observed. There are also several minor Irish saints of the same name, including St. Conan of Assaroe (8 March), and St. Conan of Ballinamore (26 April).

Deep Freeze

Posted on by Fr. Peter
As I sit here in the warmth of my office I see that the old mercury has fallen to -1 degrees F. I ventured outside to check on the church and noticed that our digital thermostat was not reading a number all it said was low. I was expecting it to say hey turn on the heat!
It is times like this that I call to mind those who have no place to keep warm and who live on the streets. We can debate the reasons latter but let us remember them today and also those who work outside for a living. I have one parishioner who works for the power company and this time of year they are very busy. Keep safe and warm today and lift up those outside in prayer.

Line of Duty Death

Posted on by Fr. Peter
I have blogged before about being a Fire Chaplain and the joy that that aspect of ministry brings. The down side to that ministry is being on a team that has to inform a family of a death in the line of duty. I can say that so far I have been spared that particular part of ministry.
Yesterday at our chaplains conference this topic came up. A very sensitive area and one that has to be handled just right. I always find it interesting that people think it is easier for one in ministry to bring the bad news. Why is that? Why am I, just because I happen to wear a collar, any more prepared to bring the news than anyone else? The answer for me anyway is because someone has to do it. Usually the chaplain and the chief go to bring the news, and it is not easy for the chief as he has just lost someone in the line.
I am working now on the protocol for the Line of Duty Death Notification for our department and it is amazing how detailed this document is. It leaves nothing out and allows for no mistakes. After all, we owe it to the bravest to handle things in the right way.
This brings up another topic. Does everyone have a will? Recently a parishioner died in the parish and he had no family. This set off all sorts of questions about what to do and even who will make the arrangements. I was so surprised by this, but I come from a large family so the chances of me being that last are pretty slim. But, have we made arrangements for us or told someone what we want done? In other words are we ready to go? We need to make sure that our death will not be any harder on the people we leave behind. Even if we think we have nothing, we should have a simple will. Oh and let me make this pitch. Do not forget your church, whatever church that might be, in your will. Okay shameless commercial over.

St. Fechin

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Fechin was probably born at Luighne (Leyney), Ireland. He was trained by St. Nathy, was founding Abbot of Fobhar, or Fore, in Westmeath, and died of the plague that devastated Ireland in the year 665. His feast day is January 20th.

Spiritual Warfare

Posted on by Fr. Peter
I have always been a believer in the other side of the spiritual world. I don’t mean like the dark side from Star Wars but the demonic side of things. As a minister I believe that we face temptation and also face the dark side on a daily basis and how we deal with it is what makes us who we are. As ministers we do not take the best care of ourselves as we should. We care for everyone, and never look after ourselves. We pray for other but not for ourselves. It is important for people in ministry to find someone that they can unload on and share the ups and downs of ministry we cannot keep it all inside because that opens us to the temptations of the evil one. Ministry is hard and we need support from our families and from our friends.
Have a blessed Sunday.

Go Pat’s!

Barrow, Alaska

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Yesterday I was surfing around some orthodox websites and I stumbled across a page at the Orthodox Christian Mission Center’s site about missionary needs. The ad reads as follows:

Priest needed for Barrow, Alaska – the northernmost community in the US. Inquire about this unique opportunity today!

So I began to look around for information on Barrow, Alaska. I found this entry in wikipedia about Barrow. Although not the northern most settlement but close. The northernmost settlement in the US is Point Barrow a little further up. Barrow is a city in the North Slope Borough and has a population of 4,218. According to the weather channel the temp today is a low of -20 and a high of -8 degrees F. The sun sets on November 18th and is rarely seen again until the end of January when it begins to rise. Then by the middle of may the sun stays up for 24 hours a day. The average temp only goes above the freezing point for 109 days each year. This sounds like my kind of place. So anyone wanna go?

St. Fillan

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Fillan, son of Feriach and St. Kentigerna, was also known as Foelan. He became a monk in his youth and accompanied his mother from Ireland to Scotland where he lived as a hermit near St. Andrew’s monastery for many years, and then was elected abbot. He later resigned and resumed his eremitical life at Glendochart, Pertchire, where he built a church and was reknowned for his miracles. Various legends attribute the most extravagant miracles to him, such as the one in which his prayers caused a wolf that had killed the ox he was using to drag materials to the church he was building, to take the ox’s place. Fillan died on January 19. His feast day is January 19.
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