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Enduring Hostility for Jesus’ Sake

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Jean-Léon Gérôme - The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer
Jean-Léon Gérôme – The Christian Martyrs’ Last Prayer

During the ordinary time of the year, each day of the week is assigned a pericope from the Epistles and Gospel.  All too often we miss these passages as we go about our Sunday to Sunday Christianity and when we hear the Sunday Gospel and Epistle we have no context fir it and it is disjointed.  It would be like watching a miniseries and only catching the ending.  Sure we know the ending but what got us to that point is just as important.

This past Wednesday, June 25th, was the 3rd Wednesday after Pentecost and the Gospel reading was taken from St. Matthew chapter 10 verses 16-22:

The Lord said to his disciples, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to councils, and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear testimony before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.” 1

This is a challenging passage but one that has such rich meaning for us as we face, what some call the persecution of the Church here in America.  Let me just state right up front that we are not being persecuted, sure we are hated, but Jesus told us we would be.  Our message is counter cultural and is designed to call people to be accountable for their actions, not something that plays well in 21st century America today.  We tend to carry this notion of “personal freedom” to far in the context of our faith to the point where, some churches are very hard to recognize as Christian at all.

Jesus is pointing out to those who heard Him, and for us, that our mission is not going to be easy in fact it can cost us our lives, but He is also telling us that we must keep going.  Several years ago, in an address to the clergy of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese, His Eminence Archbishop Nicolae stressed the importance of mission.  When the church is not feeling pressure from outside sources, and that can be monetary or because of our beliefs, we tend to slip into comfortable religiosity that takes all too lightly our commitment to God and God’s purpose for us and for His Church.

I read an article not long ago, but for the life of me cannot find now, that outlined the various churches stand on same sex marriage and whether the church would bless or marry people of the same sex in the Church.  The Orthodox Church was not even mentioned in the article, I say, because we do not make enough noise.  I will also add that there is a fracture of opinion on this particular issue in the Orthodox Church here in America that has yet to be resolved.  I also believe that some Orthodox spend far too much time worrying about what other people are doing and how they are living their lives when they should be focused on their own lives.  However, I also believe this is not the be all and end all of issues but one illustration of the silence of Orthodoxy in America.

The other interesting part of this pericope is the insistence that there is no retaliation against those who persecute us and hate us for our message.  In the Liturgy of St. Basil, and I wish is was in the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, we pray for “those who love us and those who hates us.”  We are to love those who do not love us back; this is what unconditional love is all about, loving without condition.  Some of my Orthodox brothers and sisters, in my opinion again based on what I have read; do not love those who do not love us back.  Is this difficult, yes it is, but it is not optional!  Sometimes I feel that we are persecuting the people rather than loving them simply because they do not agree with us.  I believe this is the arrogance of some Orthodox that we are right and the rest of the world is wrong, that brings many to this conclusion.  Calling people heretics is not a statement of love.

But Jesus gives us hope and He will never abandon us, we might abandon Him, but He will NEVER abandon us.  He tells us that, “Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.  But he who endures to the end will be saved.”

We can never give up on mission.  We can never let our voice be silenced not matter what “they” do to us.  As long as we have breath in our lungs we can proclaim the Gospel in truth and in love, especially that last part, love.  They will hate us but we have to love them in return and Jesus will guide us and give us the words that we need to speak to their hearts but if we do not love them they will never hear us.

1. The English Gospel text used is based on the Revised Standard Version from “The Holy and Sacred Gospel” by Holy Cross Press, Brookline, MA.

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Reflections on a Birthday

Posted on by Fr. Peter

flaming-birthday-cake

So here it is another anniversary of the day of my birth.  As a child these days used to be very important but as I get older, and they seem to come faster, they are just reminders of advancing age but, all is not lost.

There are several times, during the year, when people will stop and take stock of what they have accomplished either that year or in their life time.  Perhaps it is the start of the New Year or, like me, your birthday.  I take this time to look backwards, not to dwell on things I have accomplished, or for that matter the things I have not accomplished, but rather to set the course for the coming year.  One never sets out on a journey without first knowing where they are going.

I count myself lucky if not blessed.  I have my health and a wonderful loving family, two families actually my biological one and my church family.  I have a vocation that I love and a new one as chaplain to hospice patients.  I will write more about that latter.  I have accomplished many things in my life and feel proud of where I am so I do not feel as though I would do anything different.  Someone told me once to live life without regret and I try to do that.  Sure I might tweak things here and there but for the most part I am content with the journey thus far.

It is interesting how birthdays change over time.  As I am writing this I have to break away, every now and again, to switch over to Facebook to acknowledge the birthday greetings that pop up now and again.  It is great to see greeting from Russia, Romania, Ireland, and the many other places where people on Facebook live.  For all of its faults, this is one of the great parts of Facebook and I try, each day, to acknowledge people’s birthdays.

So where do we go from here?  Well God is in charge and I rely on Him to guide the course of my life.  I learned a long time ago that life is better when I let God be in charge and I just sit back and enjoy the ride, and oh what a ride it has been.

Thank you for all of your birthday greetings.  I do read each one of them and try to respond as time allows.

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IOCC Responds to Victims of Flood Ravaged Midwest

Posted on by Fr. Peter

IOCC MidwestBaltimore, MD (IOCC) — Rivers across the Midwest are surging over their banks, flooding cities and sweeping away summer crops as they fail to contain record summer rains that fell during the past week. Floodwaters have engulfed much of Minnesota, including Minneapolis and St. Paul, in some of worst flooding in decades. The state’s governor has declared a state of emergency as homes and businesses as well as vast stretches of farmland across 35 counties were submerged under several feet of water. In neighboring Iowa, more than 150 homes in the northwestern part of the state have been severely damaged by the fast moving waters. Jim, 64, a homeowner in the hard hit town of Rock Rapids, was caught off guard as water rushed into his basement, barely giving him time to escape.

International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) has mobilized to respond to the emergency needs of flood survivors in the region. IOCC Emergency Response Network volunteers as well as the local Orthodox Christian community sprang into action, with more than a dozen teens and adults from St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church in Minneapolis traveling to Rock Rapids to roll up their sleeves and help Jim clear out waterlogged debris from his flooded home, one of 30 submerged homes in his community.

More flooding is expected as the Mississippi River crests later today and is predicted to stay at flooding levels through the July 4th weekend. IOCC is working with local relief partners, Catholic United Response and NECHAMA Jewish Disaster Response, to continue to assess the needs of the survivors in the affected region and prepare to deploy more volunteers as needed to other hard hit areas across the two states.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

You can help the victims of disasters in the United States, like the Midwest floods, by making a financial gift to the United States Emergency Response Fund, which will provide immediate relief as well as long-term support through the provision of emergency aid, recovery assistance and other support to help those in need. To make a gift, please visit www.iocc.org, call toll-free at 1-877-803-IOCC (4622), or mail a check or money order payable to IOCC, P.O. Box 17398, Baltimore, Md. 21297-0429.

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHARITIES

IOCC is the official humanitarian aid agency of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America. Since its inception in 1992, IOCC has delivered $488 million in relief and development programs to families and communities in more than 50 countries. IOCC is a member of the ACT Alliance, a global coalition of churches and agencies engaged in development, humanitarian assistance and advocacy. To learn more about IOCC, please visit our website at www.iocc.org.

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Everything Must Change

Posted on by Fr. Peter

everything must changeA few years ago I picked up the book Everything Must Change by noted religion writer Brian D. McLaren.  I was intrigued by the title – I guess that is the point of book titles, to make you want to pick the book up – and so I started reading.  McLaren writes about a journey around the world and the various places he visited but this book is more than a travel diary, for McLaren writes about the problems he encountered and the solutions being used to solve those problems.  It is a new look at the Good News.

This past Sunday, Christians around the world celebrated the feast of Pentecost.  This is the day that celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and others gathered in the Upper Room.  This was the fulfillment of the mission of Jesus here on earth and marks the start of the Apostles’ mission to the world.  I like to think of this feast in the same way as Brian McLaren was thinking of the problems he encountered: Everything must change.

Jesus mission was about change, a change in attitude and a change in the way people of faith think about their faith and their mission here on earth.  Orthodox Christians say that our church has not changed in 2,000 years, and that would be true about our theology, but the way we talk and interact with the world has changed over the years.  One of the issues I often hear from younger folks about church is that church is not relevant in their lives.  Well, that may be true, and I think it is something we need to listen to.  The message does not need to change but the way we talk about that message does.

As a person who studies the interaction of faith and society, I have been paying close attention to the work and words of Pope Francis.  What I find most interesting about his mission is that he has not changed one letter of Roman Catholic teaching on issues but what he has done is shifted the conversation.  He has shifted the conversation away from a strict adherence to the rule of law to a more compassionate stand.  The rules have not changed – he just wants us to change the message.

The message of Jesus was simple and it was all about love – love of God and love of neighbor.  We can be the best at following all of the rules.  We can attend church each week or maybe more often.  But if we do not follow the simple rule of loving God and loving neighbor then all of the outward religious things we do become hollow and meaningless rituals.  Our faith has to form and transform our lives or it is reduced to something that we merely do.  If we are not moved to compassion for the widow, the orphan, the homeless, the hungry, and the stranger among us then our faith is hollow.  Everything must change, and that begins with the way we think about faith.

We live in a very complex world that has many issues that religion can, and should, play a role in helping to solve but it requires people of faith – all faiths – to work together to try and solve these problems.  We need to be able to put aside what divides us and concentrate on what unites us and work together to come up with solutions to issues.  Sure there are important theological issues that divide us and we need to discuss these, but right now people are suffering and I don’t really think they care about our theological differences.

What all of this requires is for people to go outside of their comfort zone and to have a fresh look and approach to issues, and that is not easy for some.  We can get tunnel vision and be blinded by the complexity of the issue and become paralyzed and afraid to do anything.  Jesus made the blind see and the lame walk and He gave courage to those who needed it. He will do the same for us if we are willing to take that first step.

A change took place in the Upper Room on the day of Pentecost. The Apostles and those gathered with them changed and became bold witnesses for Christ in the world.  They were no longer afraid to speak and work for change.  No longer were they blind to what had to be done.  They took the boldness of the Holy Spirit and started work.  I believe faith can be an answer to many of the problems we face today and if all people of faith could just seize the power of that Pentecost we could be that force of change that world needs.

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Book Review ~ Was America Founded as a Christian Nation

Posted on by Fr. Peter

0214-was-america-founded-as-a-christian-nation-by-john-fea-wjk-press-coverThis book came to my attention when I started following the blog of the Author John Fea.  This is a topic that has intrigued me over the years and most recently with all of the talk taking place on Social Media about the fact, and I underline fact, that America was founded as a Christian Nation.  If you are one who believes any discussion of America not being founded as a Christian nation is revisionist history then you might wish to stop reading at this point.

John Fea is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of History at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg Pennsylvania.  He holds a PhD in History from Stony Brook University and an Master’s Degree in Church History from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and teaches courses in Colonial and Civil War History.

As an Orthodox Christian I bristle against any notion that a nation would be founded as Christian since our country is not here on earth but the Heavenly Jerusalem so the notion of a Christian Nation is foreign to Orthodoxy.  And we, Orthodox, have also the bad side of when religion and the secular state and too closely involved.  As an American I bristle against the idea of America being a Christian Nation due to our sacrosanct idea of separation of church and state and freedom of religion.  I was interested where the author was going to take us.

It is my understanding that the book was designed to be a textbook of sorts to be used in schools as well as churches, for discussion around the topic.  It is broken down into several different chapters that walk us through the development of the idea of America and the founding documents.  The author did clear up many of my ideas about the religious thought of our early founders but he also left me with many questions as any good book on this topic does.

The book is broken down into three sections, Part one, “The United States as a Christian Nation: The History of an Idea.”  This section explores the idea of an American nation from 1789 to the present time.  Part two, “Was the American Revolution a Christian Event?”  This section backs the story up a little and sets the stage for the Revolution.  This section spends time on the sermons that were preached and also looks closely at the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  Part Three, and in my mind the most valuable part of the book, focuses on the “Religious Beliefs of the Founders.”  I say most valuable because I don’t think any discussion about Religion in the 17th and 18th century can happen without an understanding what religion meant and how they understood it.  This section puts that question in context and clarifies some of my own questions.

The interesting thing for me was to read what the founders thought of non-Evangelical Christians.  If the intent of the founders was to found a Christian nation it was a nation that would not include Roman Catholics and although the Orthodox were all but unknown at the time, my guess if they would feel the same about us, not truly Christians.

The book uses an amazing amount of primary documents and the footnotes and suggested readings alone are worth the price of the book for any serious student of America’s religious history.

I don’t want to give anything away but for me anyway, the answer to the question is a complex one and to say America was or was not founded as a Christian nation does a disservice to the founders.  I believe that America was founded on Judeo Christian Ideals but that what the founders had in mind was a place where everyone could come and be free in mind and in spirit, and eventually in body.  America is complex and to try and whittle it down to sound bites, again does a disservice to the founders.

In the end we each need to decide for ourselves the answer to this topic but to ask the question or to think otherwise is not “revisionist” or un patriotic in our thoughts.  I like to think of America as place where religion is present, all religions, and that it influences how people think and how they act.  That is the idea of America.

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It’s not about the Woman

Posted on by Fr. Peter

600-Jesus-AdulterousWoman570

Tonight we restarted our weekly Bible Study after a break for Easter.  We have been working our way through the Gospel of John, one of my favorite books of the Bible.  What we do is read a chapter and then comment on it.  I use the Orthodox Study Bible as the foot notes are great.  I am not crazy about the translation but, like I said, the foot notes are worth the price of admission.

Tonight we read from chapter eight, the story of the adulterous woman.  You know the story.  Jesus was teaching the in synagogue and the Pharisees bring Him a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery.  He kneels down and starts to write in the dust one the floor and they continue to ask Him what should be done.  The law says that she should be stoned but, as the foot notes mention, this law had not really be strictly enforced in the days of Jesus.  So He continues to write with His finger on the ground, then He stands up and asks that whoever has not sinned to cast the first stone.  And they all walk away.  When He realizes that they have all left He asks the woman where they had all gone and she answers that they left.  Jesus tells her He does not condemn her and to go and sin no more.

Now at a first glance we might ask well where the man is, after all it takes two to tango.  The man is not mentioned, not because the writer of John’s Gospel hated women, he is not mentioned because this is not about the woman, than man, or adultery, this passage is about sin in general and how we are to live and judge others without first judging ourselves.  We get caught up in the injustice of the law and forget that this is about sin and forgiveness not about the sin.  Sin is not the object, forgiveness is the object.

When we approach Scripture we need to approach with an open mind and an open heart and be willing to take the journey with God.  A simple surface reading of the passage will lead us in the wrong direction but a careful, prayerful, study of this passage will lead us to see the real meaning that lies just under the surface.  What we see on the surface is not always what we are to learn from Scripture and that is the value of this lesson and this passage.

Did the woman sin?  Yes.  Jesus never addresses the woman until the end, His focus is on those who accuse her and the fact that they themselves need to be forgiven.  The lesson is before we tell someone else how to live make sure we are living the way we are supposed to.

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Summer Challenge: Local Sites

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Freedom-Trail

Local historian Elizabeth Covart has posted a challenge to visit local historical sites, museums or other local experiences that you have been putting off visiting.  I have traveled to many countries around the world and seen many things but I have never been to the Worcester Art Museum for example.

So, I am taking her up on her challenge and I have posted a list of site I would like to visit this summer.  Now I know in all reality I will not get to them all, and some I have visited before but would like to visit again, so I will check them off as I go.  I am extending the challenge to all of my readers to take some time this summer and get out and explore the local area where you live.  If you do, tell me about it in the comments section below.

Here is my list in no particular order:

The Springfield Armory National Historic Site

Roger Williams National Memorial

The Old North Church

Worcester Historical Museum

Worcester Art Museum

Museum of African American History

Bunker Hill Monument (I have never been!)

Old South Meeting House

The Old Massachusetts State House

Granery Burial Ground (I have been but I would like to go back)

King’s Chapel

USS Constitution (was there years ago but would like to return)

Adams National Historic Site

Not really local but:

Seminary Ridge Museum

National Civil War Chaplains Museum

Grant’s Tomb

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What Blinds Us?

Posted on by Fr. Peter

We are approaching the end of the Easter season in the Orthodox Church and the last few weeks the Scripture lessons have been focused on the healing power of Christ and His Church.  This week the Scripture identifies a man that has been blind from birth and as he approaches Jesus’ disciples ask Him if the man is blind because of his sin or the son of his parents.  You see it was a common belief that sin, your own or that of your parents caused your health problems.  Suffering can be caused by the choices that we make, but the state of our health is not generally caused by sin.

As is customary in these stories in Scripture, Jesus heals the man of His malady.  Sometimes Jesus does this simply with words, “you are healed,” “take up your mat and go,” but in this case he actually performs an action to heal the man.  Jesus spits on the ground and makes a paste from the dust and his spittle and places it on the man’s eyes, and tells him to go and wash in the pool, then man does this and his receives his sight.  This is an extraordinary action, by using the elements of the earth to restore this man’s sight; Jesus is revealing that He is the creator of all and reminding those present that all of humanity was created from the elements of the earth.

I have always been amazed that the people who witnessed events such as this were not convinced on the spot, that Jesus was the Messiah the one who has come to save the world.  I mean what more proof do you need?  The blind see, the lame walk, and the dead have been raised.  We require less proof that a news story is true before we believe and tell others about it.  But you see those present were blind in their heart and in their mind.

Just as happened at other times Jesus healed people, those in power were blind to the power of God for the perceived breaking of the law.  They were unable to see what had happened because they were more concerned about following the rules then they were with helping people.  The rule book told them that they could not do certain things on certain days and this man, Jesus, dared to violate the rules and therefore was a fraud.  They were so blind with hate and prejudice that they could not see the working of God right before their own eyes.

We are all blind from time to time.  Sometimes we are blind on purpose and other times we are blind not of our own fault.  We wish to help those in other places who are suffering but we ignore the suffering of those living right next door to us.  We are blind to the suffering we cause with our words or actions or our inaction, and we are blind to our own pain that has been left to fester and we are so paralyzed by the rules that we do not know how to seek the help we need.

Every action the Jesus took, every word that He spoke was designed as a lesson, not only for those there with Him but for us as well.  Sure this man had a physical ailment that needed healing but this man was a prototype of all of humanity and we all need to be healed of our blindness.  Some of us are blinded by our manifold sins and we just do not know how to climb out of the trash heap we have placed ourselves in.  Some of us might be blinded by bitterness of a past relationship and that keeps us from getting close to others.  And some of us a blinded and paralyzed by the rules and therefore we cannot see what needs to be done.  Jesus not only opened the eyes of the man in the story but He opened his heart as well.

Now, lest anyone say I don’t think the rules are important, that is not the case.  Rules are necessary but sometimes we hide behind them as an excuse to not do anything or we are so concerned about “doing it the right way,” that we never get around to actually doing it!  Jesus saw a need, and He got to work.  He did not ask questions, He did not seek permission, He knelt down and got His hands dirty and solved the problem.  He did not look to assign blame.  He did not seek to find the appropriate rule to justify His doing or not doing what needed to be done, He just did it and that is what we need to do.

 This essay originally appeared in the Tantasqua Town Common, and The Quaboag Currant

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Thousands of American military graves lie forgotten and lost abroad

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Snow covers the ground at Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium. More than 5,300 WWII casualties are buried there, and another 462 missing in action are memorialized by name. Photo: ABMC
Snow covers the ground at Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium. More than 5,300 WWII casualties are buried there, and another 462 missing in action are memorialized by name. Photo: ABMC

We don’t know how many Americans who died while serving during wartime are buried on foreign soil. Why? For one, there isn’t a single organization that tracks the burials. There is no database of every American service member buried overseas. And the reason why there is no database is because finding all of America’s war dead is a complicated process.

While some are buried in formal memorial cemeteries, others are in private cemeteries, mass graves and isolated burial sites. Old records have been lost and new burials are being discovered. Women were not always counted among the war dead. Thousands of Americans fought under foreign flags before the U.S. entered the world wars, and are buried as foreigners. Those missing in action or lost at sea further complicate tracking. And some have just been lost.

But one historian has been painstakingly counting, cataloging and mapping the locations of American war dead buried outside formal memorial cemeteries.

“In my view, who we celebrate on Memorial Day are the Americans who we know were American, were buried in American cemeteries, and we don’t think of the other Americans who were in ambulance services or Commonwealth forces, the French Foreign Legion,” said author Chris Dickon. “We’ve never included them in what we’ve thought of Memorial Day, basically I think because we haven’t known about them.”

While researching a book about one of the first frigates in the U.S. Navy, Chris Dickon stumbled on a burial site in Canada where 200 American casualties from the War of 1812 had been buried, and apparently, forgotten.

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