Rev. Peter M Preble – Page 83 – Open-Minded, Open-Hearted Minister & Soul Friend

The things we choose to be concerned about

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Fr. Peter

Recently Fr. Robert Arida, Rector and Dean at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Boston, wrote an article for the Wonder blog that has since been taken down. I did not have a chance to read the article but I did read some of the dust up around it and it really got me thinking about what we choose to be concerned about and why the people got all upset about what he wrote, I gather it had something to do with homosexuality and marriage, but remain silent on other, more pressing, issues in our world today.

What is the most pressing issue facing the world today? I am not sure there is a simple answer to that question unless you read the posts that have popped up recently on Facebook. Once again homosexuality seems to be the pivotal issue that some of my Christian brothers and sisters are concerning themselves with.

Now let me say right from the start, so there is no confusion, I believe that ANY sex outside of marriage is sinful, we call it fornication if you are not married and adultery if you are having sex with someone who is not your spouse. This is what my Church teaches and has taught from the start. I also believe that same sex marriage goes against the will of God and therefore cannot be supported by my Church. With that said I will say, and make no mistake about this either, I do not think people with a same sex attraction, or whatever we are calling it now, are evil people in fact I believe that they are just like me, a sinner, trying to figure it all out. I love you and accept you no matter what, and I would expect that you do the same. We are all in this together.

I guess that fact that Childhood hunger in on the rise. According to Feeding America, 15.8 million children lived in food insecure households in 2012, not in Botswana but right here in America. 14.7 million or 20% of Children in the US lived in poverty in 2013, not in Ghana but right here in the US. But you keep worrying about Homosexuals and how they are destroying our culture! Your time might be better spent working to end hunger in America and writing about that.

According to the Veterans Administration 22 veterans commit suicide every day, 22! That is 22 of the young men and women that we sent to fight our war are coming home broken and have to wait an inhuman amount of time to access the care that they deserve, that’s right you go and fight a war to keep me safe you deserve to be taken care of when you return. For these 22 soldiers, sailors, and marines the only way out for them is to take their own lives! But you keep worrying about how homosexuality is killing the moral fiber of America! Your time might better be spent volunteering with the VA or using your pen to advocate for better Veterans health care.

According to the website Poverty in America, a program of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, 46 million Americans live in poverty (this is the highest rate in the 54 years that poverty facts have been recorded) and 1.6 million children had to stay in some sort of shelter in America. In America, the richest country on the face of the earth. But you continue to worry about how homosexuals are destroying the fabric of American moral culture. Your time might be better spent using your pen to advocate for a living wage or using your hands to work with Habitat for Humanity to help build houses for those less fortunate than you.

By the way, America has the 6th highest divorce rate in the world! If there is anything that destroys families it is divorce. But lets not focus on that!

My words may sound harsh but they do not come close to the words of some of my brothers and sister who could care less is a child goes without health insurance or food or adequate shelter but if a man has an attraction to another man they world is coming to an end!

I am ashamed of all of you!

You can continue to focus on homosexuals and I will chose to help the man in Fort Lauderdale who has been arrested and fined for daring to feed the homeless on the street. I will continue to be the voice for the voiceless and fight for equal pay, affordable health insurance, veterans care, affordable housing and the many other things that ACTUALLY destroy the moral fabric of American society. Oh yes, and I will love my neighbor, no matter what he or she does, because that is what Jesus COMMANDED us to do. Do I have to accept their behavior, no, but I will reach out may hand and help anyone who needs help and I will help them because I am a sinner as well and we all need each other.

In my opinion it is time to focus on what really matters.

Blog

New Superintendent for the Chelsea Soldiers’ Home

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Fr. Peter

BOSTON – Friday, November 7, 2014 — Governor Deval Patrick swore in Cheryl Poppe as superintendent of the Chelsea Soldiers’ Home, making her the first woman to lead the home in its 132 year history. The swearing-in comes on the 10^th Annual Celebration of Women Veterans Appreciation Day, which also features an event in the State House.

“Cheryl has served the Commonwealth with honor, from her time as a colonel in the Massachusetts National Guard, to her work as a leader in our Department of Veterans Services,” said Governor Patrick. “From health care, to housing and treatment, she holds a deep understands of the needs of our veterans, and will be a strong leader of the Chelsea Soldiers Home.”

A retired colonel in the Massachusetts National Guard, Poppe has more than 30 years of service, including five years as deputy secretary for programs at the Massachusetts Department of Veterans’ Services.

Since April, she has served as acting superintendent of the home, working with residents and employees to enhance the Administration’s already strong services to veterans. A resident of Salem, Poppe holds a Masters in Business Administration from Salem State University.

“This is great news for the home and especially timely, coming on the 10^th Annual Celebration of Women Veterans Appreciation Day,” said Health and Human Services Secretary John Polanowicz. “I congratulate Cheryl on her new role and thank all the staff at the Chelsea Soldiers’ Home the work they do caring for our veterans and their families.”

“As a one of the top leaders in the Massachusetts Army National Guard, Colonel (Ret.) Cheryl Poppe served the Commonwealth and nation with distinction and honor,” said Major General L. Scott Rice, adjutant general of the Massachusetts National Guard. “Poppe’s leadership, dedication and commitment to those that serve is inspirational.”

“In my short time as an elected official, I have had a wonderful working relationship with Cheryl Poppe,” said Representative RoseLee Vincent. “The Chelsea Soldiers’ Home is in great hands with Poppe at the helm. I have no doubt that she will continue her tireless work to advocate for the well-being of our veterans and the residents of the Soldiers’ Home. “

Blog

Britain’s Prince Charles urges religious freedom, tolerance

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Fr. Peter

(CNN) — Britain’s Prince Charles has called on governments around the world to do more to ensure religious freedom and urged religious leaders to promote tolerance between people of different faiths.

In a video message recorded to accompany the release of a new report on religious freedom, Charles said current events in Iraq and Syria — where Sunni extremist group ISIS has been massacring people of other faiths and sectarian tensions have flared — were “horrendous and heartbreaking.”

“We’ve learned with mounting despair of the expulsion of Christians, Muslims and Yazidis from towns and cities that their ancestors have occupied for centuries,” he said.

“It is an indescribable tragedy that Christianity is now under such threat in the Middle East, an area where Christians have lived for 2,000 years and across which Islam spread in 700 A.D., with people of different faiths living together peaceably for centuries.”

The report, by Roman Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, highlights the plight of Christians in particular, saying they “remain the most persecuted faith in the world.”

It adds that “Muslims also face serious persecution; often from other Muslims who do not share their exact same beliefs,” while Jews in parts of Western Europe are increasingly feeling threatened, prompting many to move to Israel.

Prince Charles, who is heir to the British throne, pointed out that the issue of religious intolerance also affects some African nations and many countries across Asia.

But some hope can be found in the efforts of certain communities and faith leaders who work to overcome division and hatred, and seek instead to engage in interfaith dialogue, he said.

Faith leaders’ duty

Charles, who referred to his own Christian faith in the video, suggested positive action to help tackle intolerance.

“First and foremost, rather than remaining silent, faith leaders have — it seems to me — a responsibility to ensure that people within their own tradition respect people from other faith traditions,” he said.

He also called on governments to honor their duty to uphold the freedom of people to practice their faith, including converting to a different religion if they choose.

It’s a principle enshrined in Article 18 of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. “Yet even in the West this right is often challenged sadly — and in many other countries, an absence of freedom to determine one’s own faith is woven into the laws and customs of the nation,” he said.

Charles reflected on the case of Mariam Yehya Ibrahim, a Sudanese Christian woman who faced a death sentence this year after refusing to renounce her faith. She was eventually released and, after meeting Pope Francis in Rome, arrived in the United States this summer to start a new life with her husband and children.

And he urged those facing persecution not to give up hope, while remaining strong in their faith.

“My heart goes out to all those around the world but especially at this time in the East, whether Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist or Hindu, who are so brutally persecuted solely for the faith they profess,” he said.

Deteriorating conditions

According to the report, which covers the period from October 2012 to June 2014, 81 of 196 countries in the world, or 41%, are identified as places where religious freedom is impaired or is in decline.

Another 35 countries were classified as having some religious freedom issues that are “of concern,” but with no deterioration in their status.

Change for the better is noted in only six countries, while conditions have deteriorated in 55 nations, the report’s authors found.

Overall, 20 countries are designated as having a high degree of religious persecution. The persecution is linked to extremist Islam in 14 of those countries, while in the remainder it is linked to an authoritarian regime.

“In the period under review, global religious freedom entered a period of serious decline,” the report concludes.

Blog

Wanted: Missionaries in Alaska

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Fr. Peter

His Grace Bishop David of Sitka and Alaska (center), with OCMC Executive Director Fr. Martin Ritsi (left) and OCMC Missionary Director Dcn. James Nicholas (right), commissions Vasiliki Fotinis for service on an OCMC Mission Team during a recent visit to the Mission Center

The Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) was honored by a visit from His Grace Bishop David of Sitka and Alaska during the week of October 27-31. The staff had an entire day with His Grace where they were given the opportunity to hear about the rich history of the Church in Alaska, the people that call it home, and the wonderful opportunities for ministry and fellowship that exist in the land where the seeds of Orthodoxy were first planted on the North American continent.

For Orthodox Christians, Alaska is truly a North American Holy Land. It has brought forth numerous saints who through their deep faith bore witness to many miracles. It is the destination for countless Orthodox pilgrims who travel from around the world to be renewed in their faith by the natural beauty of God’s creation and Alaska’s rich Orthodox Christian heritage – a heritage that has been preserved by its native peoples since the late 1700’s. These people, however, are facing some significant challenges.

While visiting the Mission Center, His Grace invited more short-term mission teams and long-term missionaries to serve in Alaska. The need for counseling on a variety of issues, clergy training, youth catechism, communications, and construction is great. To learn about OCMC Mission Teams serving in Alaska in 2015 visit http://www.ocmc.org/about/open_teams.aspx. To inquire about long-term missionary service visit http://www.ocmc.org/about/missionaries.aspx.

His Grace’s visit concluded with the commissioning of two mission teams preparing for deployment to Kenya and Uganda. Like the staff, team members were honored to have had the opportunity to pray with His Grace.

On the evening of October 29^th, His Grace also shared some of the many miracles that continue to happen in Alaska with staff members at a dinner that was hosted by OCMC Executive Director Fr. Martin Ritsi and Teams Associate Director Pres. Renee Ritsi.

Please keep our Alaskan brothers and sisters in your prayers, and consider serving there as part of a short-term mission team or as a long-term missionary.

Blog

Southbridge in the Civil War – Andersonville Prison

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Fr. Peter

Andersonville Prison is synonymous with the horrors of the Civil War. Some 13,000 Union prisoners died while being held in some of the worst conditions of the American Civil War. Andersonville Prison was opened in February of 1864 on 16.5 acres of land near the town of Andersonville Georgia. By the time the prison was liberated in May of 1865 45,000 union soldiers would have been held there.

The prison was commanded by Major Henry Wirz who was tried and executed after the war due to the conditions of the prison he commanded. The most common cause of death was scurvy, diarrhea and dysentery caused by lack of clean water and overcrowding. In June of 1864 the prison was expanded to 26.5 acres in an attempt to lessen the burden but the damage had already been done.

As I have noted in other essays, the Town of Southbridge, located in Central Massachusetts, sent some 400 men to fight in the war two of those men were among the 13,000 who perished while being held at the prison at Andersonville Georgia.

David Brown was born in Ireland in 1839 and immigrated to the United States and settled in Southbridge where he was employed as a laborer. He married Margaret Maloney in 1858 in Southbridge and was the father of two sons David, born in 1858 and James, born in 1862.

David was 32 years old in July of 1863 when he answered the call of his new home and mustered into the 18^th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment’s Company K. He went missing on the 5^th of May 1864 after the Battle of the Wilderness and was sent to Andersonville Prison. He died there on August 18, 1864 of diarrhea. He is buried in grave number 6057.

James O’Brien was born in Ireland in 1825 and immigrated to Southbridge where he was employed as a spinner at a local mill. He married Mary Hogan and had 2 sons, William James and Daniel and 2 daughters, Elizabeth and Mary.

James was 38 years old when he enlisted in the 21^st Massachusetts Infantry Regiment’s Company C and was discharged on November 13, 1862. He returned home and a year later on November 13, 1863 he enlisted for a second time in the 2^nd Massachusetts Heavy Artillery and was taken prisoner on April 20, 1863 near Plymouth North Carolina. He was sent to Andersonville where he died on August 29, 1864. He is buried in grave 7193.

May we never forget the sacrifice of so many, especially those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, to ensure that America would be and continue to be free.

Blog

What Pulls Us

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Fr. Peter

The Gospel of Luke 8:26-39

At that time, as Jesus arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, there met him a man from the city who had demons; for a long time he had worn no clothes and he lived not in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beseech you, do not torment me.” For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him; he was kept under guard, and bound with chains and fetters, but he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the desert.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside; and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them leave. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. When the herdsmen saw what happened, they fled, and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how he who had been possessed with demons was healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked him to depart from them; for they were seized with great fear; so he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but he sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

The Gospel lesson for the 23^rd Sunday after Pentecost presents us with a man who is being pulled in many directions. He is possessed by demons, notice I said demons and not a demon for the demons told Jesus they are called legion for they are many. The word Legion comes from the Latin meaning the leader of an Army Division of about six thousand men. The poor soul in the story was being pulled to pieces by conflicting interests and drives that made him appear to have more than one personality.

Sometimes we are like the man in the story. As Orthodox we do not deny the existence of demons and we believe in spiritual warfare and it would appear that modern psychology agrees with us in this regard. There are demons of greed, guilt, fear; the high pressure demonology of modern competition, stress, conflict and the myriad of others that pull is in many directions at once.

For most of us we have split personality of you will. We are different people in different situations. We have the person that we think we are, and then there is the person that we project to others. There is the person we are at church and the person we are outside of church we are trying to live several lives at one time and that is not working. Jesus tells us in the Gospel that we cannot serve to masters; we cannot serve both God and mammon. We cannot serve both God and the crowd, God and Satan we need a single unifying force to bring all of our “selves” together and that is the person of Jesus Christ!

In order for us to develop a mature personality we must be integrated around a single goal in our lives. Once again we turn to Jesus for the answer, seek first the kingdom of God! Not only do we suffer from split personalities we suffer from split loyalties, we are partly for Christ but only if it does not get in the way of what we want and what we want to do. We are either all in or we are all out, there is no middle ground here. We must integrate our lives around the greatest goal in the universe, God, in the person of His Son Jesus Christ, without question.

We need to surrender all of our life not just part of it. We need to turn over our whole life and just part of it. We need to let Christ sit on the throne of our hearts and become the chairman of the board of our lives then, and only then, will our ambitious self, the angry self, the jealous self, and the sinful self start to come under control.

We see a man, dwelling in the tombs possessed by man demons, and then we see us sitting in the pews fighting the same fight today, the problem is a divided heart, a divided allegiance, a divided self. There is no way out of this divided condition except through the complete surrender of us, of our entire self, to Christ as Lord and Master of our lives.

Blog

Mazel Tov ~ Reflections from A Bar Mitzvah

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Fr. Peter

If you are like me, you have only heard or read about the Jewish custom of Bar Mitzvah. I had an intellectual knowledge of what it was all about – the becoming of an adult in the eyes of Jewish Community and an acceptance of the Jewish faith in a very public way – but I never had any first-hand experience with it. Well, that all changed when I recently attended my nephew Jacob’s Bar Mitzvah.

I often describe myself as a “church geek”. I like ritual and liturgy, not only of my own church, but of other churches. I like the history of the development of ritual and liturgy and to see how things change over the years. One of the first learning moments was to discover that Bar Mitzvah is not an event but a title; one is not “Bar Mitzvahed”, one is a Bar Mitzvah. Bar Mitzvah is a title that means “Son of the Commandment” and is a person who hears and responds to the commandments.

When a Jewish male, or female in the case of a Bat Mitzvah, turns 13 he is considered old enough to understand and comprehend what is required of him in the commandments and is responsible for fulfilling them. He is also included as an adult in the religious life of the synagogue. Although the origins of the Bar Mitzvah are obscure, the present ritual emerged some time during the Middle Ages.

The Bar Mitzvah leads the community prayers, along with the Rabbi and the Cantor, and he will read, for the first time, from the Torah. Prior to Jacob reading from Torah it is taken from the Ark, located in the very center of the Synagogue and passed from generation to generation. We were blessed to have three generations of the family present. The Torah is then taken in procession, much like I carry the Gospel book through the sanctuary of our Church during the Divine Liturgy. The Torah is covered with various items, and needs to be “undressed” so it can be rolled out for reading. My parents – Jacob’s grandparents – had the honor of performing this ritual.

The particular Torah that was used has a history all its own. I am not sure of the exact history but the Torah is a survivor of the Holocaust and has been lovingly restored by the community for continued use. While Jacob was reading I could not help but think of the number of similar services in history, using this same Torah, and how hatred of a people led to this Torah being in our midst now. It served as a poignant reminder of how cruel humanity can be and how we need to be on guard so it never happens again!

Various family members were called up to assist Jacob in reading. They came forward to read blessings or a “Aliyah” prior to the reading of the passage selected. This is considered a great honor to be called upon for this purpose. The Bar Mitzvah then reads the selected passage from Torah and gives a little speech, the preparation of which takes much time and study. The lesson involves a teaching about the passage just read, and in Jacob’s case, a teaching about the Feast of Sukkoth that was presently being celebrated.

The Torah is then lifted and is “re-dressed” – this was my part, along with my brothers. So I am thinking, here is this historic Torah, not only that but a sacred object, we are being watched by the Rabbi, the Cantor, the president of the congregation, and the entire congregation, and they asked me to do this. All I could think of was “God, I hope I don’t screw this up!” But in the end we performed our task and it was such an honor to do so. The Congregation was so gracious and welcoming that I was at ease and was able to just worship and enjoy the moment.

I had often thought of this service as just reading a passage from Torah but it is much more than that. Bar Mitzvah is a celebration of Jewish heritage and culture and it is amazing to see how it all comes together. Knowing where we have been will help us to go where we are going. Our past helps to shape our future but, thankfully, it does not determine who we are. Knowledge of history will help us to avoid making the same mistakes and assists us in staying ever vigilant against hate. For me this service was about more than a person reading from Scripture. It was the passing on of scared traditions and rituals to the next generation not just as things that we do but as the life we should live.

Blog

What Kind of Soil Are You?

Posted on October 13, 2014 by Fr. Peter

The Gospel of Luke 8:5-15

The Lord said this parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold.” And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.” As he said these things, he cried out “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

On the 21^st Sunday after the Great Feast of Pentecost we read the parable of the sower, or as I like to call it the parable of the soil. You see the focus of this story is not on the seed but on the soil that the seed will be sown into, into other words, us.

Seeds are powerful things. A seed placed in the wrong place can push through with amazing power, like pushing through asphalt. But if the seed is going to grow to its fullest potential then it needs well prepared soil and the same is true with each of us.

The seed in the story is the word of God, the truth. Not some version of the truth but the truth, tested by time and revealed to us through the Church. Not our version of the truth, not popular watered down I’m okay you’re okay version of the truth but the actual hard truth that we are all sinners and we need God’s help to get us through. But what of seeds of our hearts? The seeds of love, the seeds of hate, the seeds of compassion, the seeds of greed, and the seeds of envy? Do we let all of these seeds take root?

I heard someone say, “If only I had an opportunity to heard God speak in person.” It is sad that so many to not realize that God is speaking in person, through His Word and through His Church. Each week the Church proclaims the Word of God, not my word, but God’s Word. But God will also speak to us through Scripture reading in our own home. My prayer is that each of you are practicing daily Scripture reading.

The sad fact is that, just like in the story, three out of four times the word, the seed, falls on death ears. Three out of four will reject the word for various reasons. Some will reject it because they believe that the church has nothing for them. My question is what do you have for the Church after all you get out what you put in. If you are not invested in your spirituality then you will get nothing. Some will miss the point of the sermon all together or they will hear it and be offended by it. GOOD! I hope you are offended that means I am doing my job. It is not my job to make you feel good about yourself, I will leave the too Oprah and all of the others spinning their nonsense. My job, the job of the Church, is to move you to action on behalf of yourself but also on behalf of all. And some will day dream their way through the service counting the minutes until they can get out and fulfill their obligation.

Part of the problem is we have let our hearts become hard. This happens for many reasons, but it prevents us from receiving the bread of life and thus we kill our souls. Nothing will stop the Word of God more than a hardened heart. It stops the word completely and it will not penetrate it no matter what happens. There is no softness at all and the word will just bounce off. We look at the speck in someone else’s eye all the time ignoring the plank in our own.

How does this happen? It happens by pride when we think we know better. As I said before, we think we know better than the Church. The Church is not designed to be popular in fact it is designed to be just the opposite. Why was Jesus killed? Because he was not popular. He was preaching the Gospel, notice I did not say “a” Gospel, He was preaching The Gospel and that upset the powers that be. He was not preaching anything new He was just telling it like it is. We are all children of God but we are all sinners.

A lack of cultivation will also harden the soil of our hearts. Plating a garden take an enormous amount of work and if done right the yield will be amazing. The same is true of our spiritual life. We have to work it, constantly, feeding the soil of our hearts and of our souls in order for the yield to be what it is meant to be. The problem with the Church today is not the seed it is the soil!

We can hear the truth but not accept it and this leads to poor yield. We do not accept that we have to change and so we continue on with our hatreds, our prejudices, our pride, our envy, and our wars. Again, the soil needs to be worked daily to prevent this from happening.

The saddest part of the parable is the seed that fell and the weeds came to choked it off. Soil that produces weeds has great potential to produce anything but the cares of the world distract us. Sure we hear the word, and we even believe it but then the cares of the world come along and derail us and we go off on our own. We need to resist this temptation with all our being. What thorns and what weeds to we allow to grow in our lives that choke off the central loyalty to God and His Word?

Of course we all want to believe that we are the good soil, and sometimes we are, but this is the soil we want to be. The soil where the Word can take up residence and become part of us and grows from us and spreads from us. We want the Word to take possession of us, of our desires, our emotions, our thoughts, and our actions. If we let it surely it will and we, and the world will be all the better for it. But it takes time, it takes work, and it takes patience. Our world tells that we need everything yesterday but our spiritual life is not that fast.

We need to become sensitive to God’s voice in our lives and life the message of the Gospel each and every day. This becomes possible by tuning our ears to hear Him when He speaks, and speak He will and does.

“ He who has ears to hear let him hear.” Let us roll up our sleeves, pick up that garden tool, plow the soil, pull up the weeds and become the best soil we can for Christ.

Blog

The Gettysburg Story

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Fr. Peter

I listen to a number of podcasts as I travel on my rounds and one of my favorites is Civil War Talk Radio hosted by Professor Gerry Prokopowicz of East Carolina University. Each week Gerry, as I like to think of him, brings authors and other Civil War scholars to his show for an interview about their book or specific topic. If you are a serious student of the Civil War or just someone who likes history, this show is for you.

The show takes a break for the summer so I have been using the time to catch up on the ten years of archived episodes, I have been binge listening, and I have heard some fantastic interviews however, one of the best thus far was with Jake Boritt the man behind the PBS Documentary The Gettysburg Story.

Jake is the son of retired Gettysburg College professor and author of the book The Gettysburg Gospel, Gabor Boritt and grew up on a farm next to the Gettysburg Battlefield so you could say Jake grew up with the battle in his back yard.

The film was produced in and around the Town of Gettysburg and with cooperation and support from the National Park Service filmed on the battlefield itself. He uses drone based cameras to give the audience a view of the battlefield never seen before. Narrated by Stephen Lang, known to Civil War buffs as Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett in the movie Gettysburg and as Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson in the movie God’s and Generals.

The film aired on Public Television in 2013 and is now available on DVD and for download from the website The Gettysburg Story. Do take time to check it out, it is worth it.

Blog

But Love Your Enemies and do Good

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Fr. Peter

The Gospel of Luke 6:31-36

The Lord said, “And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

A Russian saint, whose name is known only to God, was once asked how we know whether a person abides in God and is sincere in his Christian faith. The saint answered that there was “no other way of ascertaining this than by examining the person’s life to see if he loves his enemies. Where there is love for one’s enemy, there also is God.” Love means to love that which is unlovable, or it is no virtue at all.

Love of ones enemies, I believe, is the hardest thing we are commanded to do as Christians, it ranks right up there with forgiveness, which is also part of loving your enemy. Love is the only thing that can destroy hostility and evil and it throws our enemy off guard since he expects us to return his evil for evil.

There is a story of a man who had suffered some injustice at the hands of a third party. He was speaking to a friend about this and his friend told him to “give him the devil.” Now this would seem to be a logical response, he harmed me so I will harm him, but then surprised his friend by saying, “he’s already got the devil. I’d like to give him God!” Charm and disarm should be the way we handle these situations.

Getting to the point where we love our enemy does not mean we have to love or even accept what they do. “To love one’s enemy does not mean to love the mud in which the pearl lies, but to love the pearl that lies in the mud.” We must love the person, and we must forgive the person, but we do not have to love what they have done nor do we need to forget it.

Why must we do this?

We do this that we might become children of God. “Love your enemies… and you will be sons and daughters of the Most High” Luke 6:35. But we must also love him because he is first an enemy of himself. The bitterness that he holds towards you has poisoned his own cup and if we hate him in return that same poison will poison our cup as well. Is hatred toward you has injured his soul.

We must love him because they need to be loved. His soul is completely surrounded by his hatred of you and we are the only ones who can warm him and free him from his own bondage. Hating him binds us and causes two souls to be lost and separated from God. We love them because they need love and we love them because love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend and that should be our goal. Returning hate for hate on multiplies the hate. Only love can break the cycle and turn an enemy into a friend.

Ultimately the reason we are commanded to love our enemies so, in the words of Jesus, we will be “sons and daughters of the Most High.” We must love our enemies because only by loving them can we truly know God and experience the beauty of His holiness. We know God by loving those who are unlovable.

So how do we do this?

First we have to love God. If we do not love God then it will be difficult to follow His will for our lives. The love of God is the first part of anything we do in our lives as Christians. We love God by following His commandments but we have to know those commandments and understand them in order to love God.

Second, we do good to them that hate us. St. Paul says, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him: if he is thirsty, give him drink… overcome evil with good” Romans 12:20-21. Doing something for your enemy will help him to remove the bitterness from his heart. But we must take the first step.

Third we pray for him. How many of us pray for those who have set out to destroy us? In the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great we pray for those who love us and those who hate us. The highest privilege we can offer someone is to pray for them, and it costs us nothing to do so. No person can pray for another and still hate them.

Forth we look for some good in our enemy. People are created in the image and likeness of God and therefore they are created good. People learn to hate they are not born to hate. All of creation has the capacity for good and we need to find that in the person who hates us.

And finally we have to develop the capacity to forgive. Without forgiveness is it impossible to even being to love one’s enemy. The forgiveness must begin with us, the one who has harmed or wronged in some way. Only the one who has been injured can pour out the warm waters of forgiveness. If we withhold forgiveness from someone then we are withholding the medicine that person needs to find healing.

“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons and daughters of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”