Homily: 17th Sunday After Pentecost

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We are one. We find our unity in our love; not the pseudo facsimile of love that the world can only offer, but the love of God, the love of one another, and a peace which the world cannot give. We are one in Christ: One God, One Truth, one cup, one loaf, one teaching, one faith, and one Church. With the Love of which the Gospel speaks, and which Paul demands of us, there is nothing that can divide us, and nothing that can move us. The Church is still here. We are still here.

United in Love

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. One God! Amen.

The world would have you believe that truth is relative. That there is no absolute truth. The world would have you believe that truth is an individual thing: his truth, her truth, their truth. Lacking absolute truth they seek for those things outside themselves with which they mostly identify, things outside themselves which have little to do with their personhood as found in their humanity created in the image and likeness of their creator: their gender identity, their sexual identity, their social status, their wealth, and everything that lies between. Each broken person is a patchwork quilt of disparate and unrelated ideologies under which they try to find comfort. It is in this individuality with which they have fashioned for themselves their own image away from the image and likeness of their Creator, and it is in this false image of humanity with which they try to find or create community. They are all individual pieces of an unknown puzzle. The picture is a stranger to everyone, even those holding the pieces. They throw themselves together within the same puzzle box, thinking that coexistence somehow replaces that of communion and community. They somehow believe that proximity results in relationships and yet they have nothing of themselves to share with one another other than those things external to themselves instead of anything that’s actually of themselves or even theirs to give. They are “bonded” by the shifting vagaries of the world which will change at the next oncoming social tide. This is a sad and broken existence. The world is insane; for, they continue to do the same things over and over again while expecting a different result; yet, they continue to be broken, continue to be lost, continue in a hopeless misery of life because they lack the absolute truth revealed in the fullness of God. They keep seeking for more because the world has nothing more to give. Their houses are built on foundations of sand, and this is why with time, they nearly always collapse. However, Truth is eternal. Truth is unchanging. Truth is the firm foundation on which we all stand.

We are unconfused about our humanity and who we are. We are certain of ourselves because we are certain of God. We know ourselves because we know Christ. Our purpose is absolute because Truth is absolute. While we recognize the brokenness of man, we understand the frailty and futility of our human condition amidst the vagaries of an often harsh and unforgiving world. We may be broken, but our Hospital, the Church, is here to heal us. We may be bruised, shaken down and trampled underfoot, but we are certainly not divided, and will never be destroyed. We are one just as God is one, and we are united in the love of God. If we are each living stones of the body of Christ, then we are bound together by God’s love as a spiritual mortar, for this love is no common love, as Saint John Chrysostom says, but that which cements us together, and makes us cleave inseparably to one another, and effects as great and as perfect a union as though it were between limb and limb. For this is that love which produces great and glorious fruits.

This is the kind of love we hear about in our Gospel reading for today: ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” We give ourselves to God, but we also give ourselves to one another. We give to God ourselves, our whole thoughts, our whole understanding, and our whole life, leaving no part of ourselves no part of our lives that may be justly unfilled by Him. This type of love is absent of self and pride, for we love God first, and then all others, before we even come into our own picture. What’s more, Christ himself has said that “those who love me will keep and obey my commandments.” So, you see, love is not about how we feel, love is not about our emotions, love is not a statement, but it is an action. We love God, we love others, and manifest that love by that which we do in obedience to Him who gave us all things. That being said, what do we do that requires the most time and attention? Is it God? Is it our neighbor? Or is it some paltry thing, or something external to us? Keep this in mind: We become what we love, and who or what we love shapes what we become. If we love God, we become more like God. If we love things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, then we become nothing.

Look at those sitting next to you. Look at those around you. You are bound together in an eternal felicity found only in the knowledge and love of Christ. You are each bonded together by the blood of Christ. You share in your lives and salvation by the body and blood of Christ as an eternal food and remedy. We love each other because we love Christ, and it is in Christ by which we are all united. So we must think of this when we fail, not only Christ, not only ourselves, but all those to whom we share this eternal bond. Love is a choice, but Sin is also a choice, and it only seeks to rend that which God has brought together.

Sin is the antithesis to unity, and we see the results of this within the world around us. So when we face down our passions and the temptations of the flesh, when we get angry or choose to do something that would harm ourselves or another, would we do this to them, to any of these sitting around us? Remember this, because we are so united by the Love of God, anything we do apart from that affects not only us but the Church, and all those to whom we are bound by love. This is why confession is so important, because it not only heals our own wounds, but brings us back together with those we have willfully separated ourselves away from, even if we do not yet know it. Confession heals not only our own wounds, but those wounds we have inflicted upon the Church, those wounds we have inflicted upon one another, to those sitting around us, by way of our own negligence

Closing with the words of our blessed Father among the saints, Saint John Chrysostom, I leave you with this: “ Indeed, love is a strong wall, impregnable not only to men, but also to the devil. He who is surrounded by a multitude of those who love him cannot fall into danger; he has no reason to be angry, but always feels peace of heart, joy and gladness; there is no reason to be jealous; there are no occasions for vindictiveness. Look how easily he carries out both his spiritual and worldly affairs. Who can compare to him? He is like a city completely shielded by walls; and he [who has no love] is like a city without any protection.”

By the prayers of thy most pure mother, the holy and God bearing fathers, all the saints and the martyrs and the angels, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Homily for Pentecost (Trinity Sunday)

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Christ ascended that the Holy Spirit might descend and endow us with those gifts necessary to the building up of the Church in the fullness of Christ. We all possess those gifts of God’s grace common to all, as Saint John Chrysostom highlights in his own homilies on the letter to the Ephesians: “baptism, salvation by faith, having God as Father and partaking of the same Spirit.” We also possess diverse spiritual gifts in varying degrees; though, one must not allow one’s self to descend into arrogance at what they themselves possess, nor must one look at another’s gifts and fall into despondency that they have not been so gifted.

In the name of the father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God! Amen.

Today is an important day in the life of the Church, and it is a joyous day, for it is the day that the Pillar and foundation of Truth was erected upon the foundation of the prophets and the apostles, with Christ as the cornerstone; it is the day that the faithful were found and formed into living stones of this divine-human institution of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Today is the day the Holy Orthodox Church was founded and formed. It is Trinity Sunday, the day of Pentecost. The Church, for her birthday, received from on high the gifts of the Holy Spirit, by which she (the Church) was illumined; by which the Church became the abode of the Holy Spirit, and the vehicle of Holy Revelation. It is in the Church that we are illumined and receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit; it is in the Church that Christ is revealed to us, where we encounter Him in body and Spirit; and it is through Christ that the Father is revealed to us also. The Church is the body of Christ, and it is within and a part of that body that we worship the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.

We recently celebrated the Holy feast day of Christ’s Ascension, whereupon today we remember his words promising us that he “will ask the Father, and he will give [us] another Helper, to be with [us] forever.” This is, of course, the Holy Spirit of whom he speaks. Christ ascended that the Holy Spirit might descend and endow us with those gifts necessary to the building up of the Church in the fullness of Christ. We all possess those gifts of God’s grace common to all, as Saint John Chrysostom highlights in his own homilies on the letter to the Ephesians: “baptism, salvation by faith, having God as Father and partaking of the same Spirit.” We also possess diverse spiritual gifts in varying degrees; though, one must not allow one’s self to descend into arrogance at what they themselves possess, nor must one look at another’s gifts and fall into despondency that they have not been so gifted. It is against this which Saint Paul fought in his letters written to both the Ephesians and the Corinthians, and why he used the analogy of the Church as one body consisting of many members elsewhere in scripture. This is also why Saint John Chrysostom also says “If someone has more in grace, feel no resentment, for his task is greater too.” For, if those who have been given do nothing with what they have received, they are just like the man who received the one talent, and buried it in the earth. No, we must use the gifts we have received as tools for the building of the Church; for a gift unused is one taken for granted, and has no value to us, to the Church, and the world in which we live. So, what can be said about these gifts? Saint Paul tells us that “there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” It is within this common good that we incarnate Truth to the world; bring light into the darkness; bring faith to the faithless; bring hope to the lost; bring medicine to the sick; and bring peace amidst the chaos of this world.

The Church is one in her essence; her essence of faith; her essence of spirit and the teaching received therein; but, she is diverse in both gifts and function. Despite what the world may try to force us to believe, unity does not mean uniformity; and, equality does not mean sameness. The Church is a diversity in operation; not a diversity of faith nor truth, but of people. We are all living stones, just as Saint Peter exhorts, altogether comprising the Church. Look at the walls of any Church, the grains of the wood, the variations in the stone, the adornments they bear, the scars they hold, and no two are alike. Likewise, we are each unique in person, yet we all strive towards the same fullness of our humanity. It is towards this fullness of our humanity in Christ that we are “guided by gifted people for the sake of maturity and stability of the body,” those Bishops in whom the unity and continuity of the Church is ensured; for, as Saint Ignatius has said, where the Bishop is, there also is the Church. It is the fullness of Christ towards which we all strive together, as a flock guided by her shephard, through our cooperation with the Holy Spirit of which the Church has received, and our humility through obedience to the commands of Christ; for, as Christ himself exhorted in our Gospel reading for today, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

To Saint Paul, it is the Holy Spirit which both unites and strengthens the Church. The goal of our salvation is that of theosis, or deification, our continual striving towards the likeness of God where the image of God will be perfected in all mankind. So, it is by the Holy Spirit in which we are granted the myriad gifts of the Spirit, working towards that end. These gifts are given to the benefit of the Church, the Body of Christ. In addition to this, it is within the Church that we come into communion with Christ, cultivating the gifts thus given to us, elevating us even further on our journey into holiness.

Paul saw the actions and activities of the Holy Spirit as different from both the Father and the Son, but were complementary to the Love of the Father, and the Grace of Jesus Christ our Lord. Saint Paul affirmed that it was by Christ all things were made: “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him;” and it is thus by the Holy Spirit all things are perfected. It is by the Holy Spirit that Christ is revealed to us and to all men, and it is through Christ that the Father is revealed, for “He is the image of the invisible God.”

Both Saint Paul and Saint John the Evangelist well establish the divinity of the Father and the Son, and tie the two of them together with the work of the Holy Spirit. While the Father is the source of all things, and it is by the Son through which all things are created, the Holy Spirit “is the very Content of the Kingdom of God” While the Spirit functions as a luminary of Holy mysteries, the Spirit remains mysteriously hidden from all things, functioning in us to reveal the Son to us. It is by Love that the three persons of the Trinity are connected and commune with one another, and it is within this Love that is found the salvation for all mankind; for, God is Love. As the Trinity exists as persons in Communion, so then must we, the Body of Christ, exist as persons in communion, thus bringing us closer to the uniting and enduring love of the Father.

We have been given these gifts by the Holy Spirit, given the Holy Spirit Himself, that the Church may be duly armed with the proper tools for the struggles ahead. We have been given the tools necessary for the labors of the fields from which God’s harvest will come. We must not and cannot neglect these tools for while iron may sharpen iron, tools soon rust when left in disuse. For, we cannot neglect or ignore the labors at hand, because as Christ himself has said, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Though these gifts were received by us freely, at no cost to us, they were bought with an immeasurable price: Christ on the cross. So, let us live our lives worthily of such a sacrifice, that we be counted as sons and daughters of the Living God. Let us work together with faith, and in the fullness of Truth, that all truth may abide in us and save us.

By the prayers of our most pure mother, the holy and god bearing fathers, all the saints, and the martyrs, and the angels, have mercy on us and save us.

Amen.

Sunday of Orthodoxy

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In the life of the Church, icons are not mere decorations, but they are a part of the spiritual realm, allowing us to experience the glory of God and His saints. They are not objects of worship, but they are venerated as a means of encountering the divine. For as scriptures are written expressions of that Truth the Church upholds, likewise are the icons that adorn her walls like living stones depicting the same. For these Saints are not dead, but alive in Christ, and their lives which we remember, serve as shining examples for us to follow as living images of Christ.

The Triumph of Orthodoxy

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.

The Church, while being the Pillar and Foundation of Truth, has struggled and defended against controversies, heresies, and all manner of difficulties throughout her storied life across the span of two millennia. The Apostles first defended against the heresy of Judaizing, a belief that one first had to be or become a Jew before becoming Christian, of which Paul vehemently defended against throughout his many epistles. The Church endured many years of persecution from outside her walls by the Romans, trying dutifully to destroy that which lay within. The Church defended against the Arian heresy – a heresy that nearly tore the Church apart from within – first at the council of Nicea, and again later at the Council of Constantinople. This heresy taught that God the Son was a creature, a creation of God the Father, and likewise not co-eternal with the Father. Chalcedonian Christianity was established at the council of Chalcedon, defending against those who would argue God has but a single nature, diminishing the Human nature assumed by God the Son, that is, Jesus Christ. This heresy was resolved at the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon, creating the schism that exists to this day between the Orthodox Church, and the Oriental Orthodox Church. Many more heresies have littered her hallowed halls throughout the ages, each resolved by subsequent ecumenical councils. The final ecumenical council, the second council of Nicea, settled the heresy of iconoclasm in October of 787, finally defeating those who would seek to destroy the faces of Truth as found within her iconography.

There has always been a struggle between the Church and her occasionally heretical and apostate emperors. Emperor Leo III banned the use of icons of Christ, the Theotokos and the Saints and commanded the destruction of these images in 730. This began the Iconoclasm Controversy and was fueled by the refusal of many Christian residents outside the Byzantine Empire to accept the emperor’s theological arguments. Iconoclastic Christians were spurred along by external influences to accept the emperor’s arguments, especially those living under the umbrella and Gnostic influences of the Islamic Caliphate, and others swayed by Jewish affluence and opinion against the Church and her practices.

There were two iconoclastic periods of note. The first one between 730 and 787, was ended by Empress Irene when she initiated the Second Council of Nicea, at which the veneration of icons was affirmed. While the worship of icons was expressly forbidden, the acceptance and veneration of icons was rooted in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, God the Son. Because He took on flesh, having a physical appearance, it is now possible to use physical matter to depict God the Son and to depict the saints.

The second period of Iconoclasm occurred between 813 and 843 and was ended by empress Theodora, who after her ascension to the throne, soon mobilized the iconodules and proclaimed the restoration of icons in 843. Since that time the first Sunday of Lent is celebrated as the feast of the “Triumph of Orthodoxy.”

That is the Sunday we celebrate today.

As Saint John of Damascus, one of the most prominent defenders of icons, has rightly stated, “I do not venerate matter, but I venerate the Creator of matter who became matter for my sake, and deigned to live in matter and bring about my salvation through matter. I will not cease from venerating the matter through which my salvation was achieved.” So, because God the Son was incarnated in human flesh, we hope to incarnate Christ within our own flesh, the faith of which is depicted on these walls around us.

The use of holy icons in our worship is an important aspect of our Orthodox faith. The icons offer us a glimpse into the mysteries of salvation, the life and passion of Christ, theological Truths, and help us connect with the saints who have gone before us. They remind us that the Incarnation is not just a theological concept, but a reality that occurred in history, through the incarnation of the Truth found only in Christ as the Law of the Spirit of life, a law meant to be lived, manifested, and incarnated into the world.

Saint John Chrysostom, one of the most revered fathers of our Church, often spoke about the importance of icons in the life of the faithful. He recognized the value of the visual representation of the divine, stating that “we see the invisible through the visible.” He also emphasized the role of icons in our spiritual development, encouraging us to contemplate on them and let them lead us to a deeper understanding of our faith.

Saint Theodore the Studite, another defender of holy images, was a monk who lived during the height of the iconoclastic controversy. He was a prolific writer who composed many hymns and prayers in defense of the use of holy icons. Saint Theodore argued that the use of holy icons was necessary for the Church’s spiritual well-being. He believed that the images of Christ and the saints served as tangible reminders of the spiritual reality that we cannot see with our physical eyes. The images help us to focus our minds on God and to connect with the spiritual realm.

On this day of Orthodoxy, we reaffirm our commitment to the use of holy icons in our worship of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We honor the memory of those who fought to preserve this sacred tradition and we renew our dedication to the Truth, of which our Orthodox Faith expresses, of which the Church embodies, and of which the faithful within uphold. We are to become living icons of Truth, living icons of Christ, as living stones of the body of Christ.

May the use of holy icons continue to be a source of strength and inspiration for us as we journey through this life, and may the light of Christ shine through them to guide us on our way. Let us follow the example of Saint John Chrysostom, who encouraged us to contemplate on the holy icons and let them lead us to a deeper understanding of our faith.

Also, let us remember the saints who steadfastly defended the use of holy icons against the heresy of iconoclasm with their powerful prose and passionate preaching. Let us honor their memory and follow in their footsteps, boldly proclaiming the truth of the Orthodox faith and upholding the use of holy icons as an integral part of our worship. May their intercessions before the throne of God guide us in our own journey of faith and inspire us to remain faithful to Truth, and constant in the safeguarding of her Holy Mysteries through a genuine life of faith.

Oh Lord Jesus Christ our God, by the prayers of thy most pure mother, the holy and God bearing angels, all the saints, and the martyrs, and the angels have mercy on us and save us.

Amen.

Homily: The Publican and the Pharisee

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Today we take the first step in preparation for the great fast of the approaching Lenten season. We enter the weeks of preparation in the Triodion period of the Church.

The Publican and the Pharisee

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. One God. Amen.

Today we take the first step in preparation for the great fast of the approaching Lenten season. We enter the weeks of preparation in the Triodion period of the Church. Over the course of the next three weeks, starting with today, we begin to prepare ourselves for renewal and repentance as we return ourselves to God, so that when we celebrate that Christ has risen from the dead, we may rise with him a new creation. It is a time where we turn ourselves to God with a renewed and particular compunction of heart with that special prayer upon our lips: “My Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” We give to God what God has given us: our lives. We return to Christ that which is broken and contrite: our hearts. We take back from the world that which it has taken and in turn return it to our King of Kings and Lord of Lords: our time, attention, and our veneration. “O Creator of all, above and below, as Thou receivest the thrice-holy hymn from the angels, so also from mankind receive the Triodion .”

This first Sunday establishes for us not only the cornerstone of our Lenten journey, but that as well of our Orthodox faith: Humility and repentance. I have said before, just as the desert Fathers before us have said, and the voices of the Fathers throughout the ages have exhorted us, humility is the root of all virtue, and as such is the mother of all virtue. Humility precedes love, without which there can be no salvation, for genuine love places the other before itself. Humility allows us to repent, for the prideful cannot admit they are wrong. Humility allows us to forgive others, for without which there is no forgiveness for us, for the prideful cannot release the least offense committed against them. Humility allows us to accept any poverty or lowliness of life, for pride assumes we deserve all things and holds on to all things for itself. There lies the crux of pride, an assumption of greater self worth than we actually hold; an assumption of greater importance to others and over others; and a belief of greater worth and value than the other. This is, in part, what the Gospel lesson is showing us for today embodied within the Pharisee.

Humility is a most pragmatic vision of self, and others. We truly know ourselves, and see ourselves as we really are. This is one of many reasons we commonly pray the Jesus prayer. We recognize what we are, and never assume to be of greater importance than this. Nor do we see the other in this same light and see them for their sins. No, humility is introspective, to know what one’s self is, and what we would be without the grace of God: nothing but dust, and dead. Yet, it is also the compass by which all virtue finds its way. But this is not to say that humility is a state of self degradation, self deprecation, and a demeaning of one’s self. Christ had perfect humility, and even He did not do these things. God is humble, for though he created all things, contains all things, and is the breather of stars, He cares about the least of all things: the mustard seed, the dandelions, the fig trees, the faithful, and most of all the worst of sinners, even a publican.

Humility and Pride. The Publican and the Pharisee. One stands as a trait of the faithful, for without humility there can be no faith, for as the blessed Augustine says, “faith is not a gift of the proud, but of the humble.” The other stands as a trait of the world, where pride, as the great commentator of scriptures Theopholact has said, “beyond all other passions disturbs the mind of man.” Pride distorts our view of self and of the world, whereas humility helps remove the detritus of this world that clouds our vision. We see ourselves clearly. We see the other clearly. We can then see God clearly, and in all things.

First we look at the Pharisee, the living image of pride. The Pharisees as a whole were one of the several religious sects of Jews in the days of Christ. They became the religious teachers of the people. They became the teachers of the law in the synagogues. To borrow the words of Paul, who himself was a Pharisee, they were the Jews of Jews. They were strict adherents to the law, so much so that they generally developed an outlook of life and others that was very rigid, and often unforgiving. If the law brings death, as the Apostle Paul has said, then the hearts of many Pharisees died with it. This is certainly true of the Pharisee in our parable today

He prays with himself, that is, not with God, as Saint Basil has observed. He places himself apart and above all others at the condemnation of those he sees beneath them. He extols his own righteousness before God and over other men. Yet, he may see and read the law correctly; he may do all the right things prescribed of him; he may speak the right words and say all the prayers that he should; but while his righteousness may bring him to God, if he shall be clothed with pride, he shall be cast into hell.

The Publicans were not righteous men like the Pharisees, and were often seen as traitors by their fellow Jews. They were contracted servants to the Roman empire, who were commonly and collectively seen as oppressors, and those Jews who worked for them were seen as traitors to their people. Even more, many Publicans lived lavish lifestyles acquired from their dishonest collection of money, taking more than what was owed to Caesar, stuffing their own pockets. So, the Publican in our parable had nothing of himself to extol or uplift before God, but he offered himself in humility, which is more than the Pharisee gave through all his righteous acts, prayers, and almsgiving. We are reminded of the words of psalm 50: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart, God will not despise.”

The Publican and the Pharisee. Humility and Pride. Two paths, one of faith, and the other of the world. The story provides for us cautions in the manner in which we pray and live our lives, but also gives us a glimpse of God’s grace and mercy, that even the worst of us can be redeemed before God in nothing more than our humility. Humility, over time, can often soften the hardest of hearts, like water over stone.

Humility is the living stream that will change the face of the world, and the hearts of men, and Christ is the font of living water from which we must all flow. If all creation is a living psalter of God, then what lessons of humility can one find in water? Water rests in the lowliest of places, and so we should accept the lowliness of our estate, whatever it may be. Water is unassuming and takes the shape of the vessel in which it rests, in our case we conform ourselves to the Church. Water provides life and refreshment to everyone around it, so should we also amidst the spiritual deserts of this world. Water in its stillness reflects a perfect image, in our case the image of God, for when we are still, we shall know that He is God. In its purity, one can see through to the deepest parts of its being, and therefore the truth therein. Water is patient. It does not fight, but takes the path of least resistance. Yet, it is persistent, and in time can change the face of the world.

So, be like Christ, a living water unto the world, and by our humble persistence, patience, and peace of heart, may all those around us be saved.

Oh Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, for the sake of the prayers of Thy most pure Mother, our holy and God-fathers and all the saints, the martyrs, and the angels, have mercy on us and save us.

HOMILY: The Parable of the Good Samaritan

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HOMILY: The Parable of the Good Samaritan

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.

What shall I do to inherit eternal life? That is the question levied by a lawyer towards Christ in today’s Gospel reading, preceding the story of the Good Samaritan. It is a question that is answered within the law, something for which one would expect a lawyer to be well versed. Yet, the mind and heart are not always on the same page. Furthermore, the heart and hand are not always in one accord. Yet, Christ shows how little the lawyer knows by the answer he provides. Despite this, the lawyer tries to justify his question, and quite possibly his known personal failures to abide by the answer he was given, by asking further, who is my neighbor? Perhaps, being a lawyer, he had a very legalistic understanding or definition of this word, and so in his own mind he was abiding by the law. Yet, this is a trap of legal scholasticism, of reason, or an understanding of a Truth only as written, and no understanding of the Truth in praxis.

In part, we are warned against this in our reading of the lesson for today, when Paul exhorts: “We have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” The letter here is of course the law of Moses, the law that condemns sinners, but it can today easily be a reference to the totality of scripture, all of which points to Christ, who has assumed the mantle of the Torah as the law of the Spirit of life. He is life. He gives life. His path leads to life everlasting.

All we have to do is follow, listen, and obey. Though, Is it not curious that we sometimes justify our omissions and occasional evils with the very same words and teachings we use to justify the good? How many of us, before finding the Church, followed our own understanding, devised our own truths about Christ, about the Church, and what it was to be Christian. Many of us were quick to interpret the word of God in our own image, in our own likeness, carrying our own opinion, often finding some way to use scripture to justify ourselves in our own ideas, our own lives, much like the lawyer tried to justify himself with his inquiry.

The Law, and the Spirit. One tells us what to do, and the other tells us how to do it. What spirit are we following? One presents the guidelines of life, much like the canons do the Church, but the spirit shows us how to walk within them. Look around us at the milieu of those amidst the colors and trappings of popular Christianity. They go to their respective places of worship on Sunday, sing their songs, hear a sermon preached, and they go out into the world devoid of any sacramental life, most lacking in any spiritual discipline, and missing the unity of teaching found in the fullness of Truth. Is it any wonder this same “church crowd” is so despised by nearly every server at every restaurant I have ever dined at? Why should we ever see or hear an angry Christian driver on a Sunday morning or afternoon after services have ended? Why should we ever witness the angry frustrations of a post church service Christian over something as simple as an item being out of stock? Why should we ever see a Christian lose their temper over trivial things on the day they should have received the kiss of peace? They know the Truth, or at least they heard it, but they have no idea how to put that Truth into practice. They have no Church, which is the Pillar and foundation of Truth (1 Tim 3:15), established upon the foundation of the teachings of the Prophets and the Apostles, of which Christ is the cornerstone (Eph. 2:20). We are all living stones apart of the Church (1 Pet. 2:5), which is the body of Christ. It is as a living part of that Church, living a sacramental life within, that we not only come to know the Truth rationally, but understand spiritually how to live it as well.

The Lawyer knew the Truth. He knew what the law said, but not how to live it. He sought a different answer from Christ, from what he knew to be true. Likewise, the priest and Levite both knew what the law said, and what the law required of them in this circumstance, but they instead used that same law to justify their passing in order to maintain their ritual purity. They knew the Truth, but now how to exercise it. It was only the Good Samaritan who truly understood the spirit of the law, and how to incarnate what was written.

So, in response to the lawyer’s question Christ told him the parable of the Good Samaritan. This parable, according to some Fathers, encompasses the entirety of the Gospel, and the spirit of Truth it conveys to us all. The realities of the Gospel are found within this simple story: Christ, the Church, and the means by which we are saved.

Nearly all the Fathers interpret this parable in some allegorical fashion. They tell us that in the Samaritan we see Christ, who does not define His neighbor, nor ours, in respect to action or honor, but of nature. We were all created in the image and likeness of God, and all equally a worthy recipient of love, both of God’s and our own. The oil wine the Samaritan poured on his wounds symbolizes the sacraments of the Church, and the two coins he paid are the two testaments we have received. The inne is the Church, of which has been established upon Christ’s honorable blood. It is in the Church that we find healing from the wounds of Sin. This is one of many reasons the Church is often referred to as a hospital for our souls.

The battered man is each one of us, beaten by the world and wounded by our own sin. The priest passed him by for his priestly sacrifice could not save the man. The Levite passed him by because neither could the law save him. While these two were very near to the man by birth as Israelite, they were most distant at heart, bearing little compassion for the man who lay before them. It was the Good Samaritan, who had compassion on him, and in a selfless act helped his fellow man.

Let us remember what Christ has said in the Gospel of Matthew:

‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Compassion and Humility are bedfellows, for compassion helps to develop humility as we place the needs of the other before our own. If we have compassion, then we also have humility, for one exists inside the other, and Humility is the beginning of all virtue

The Good Samaritan incarnated virtue by himself becoming Love in action. In the good Samaritan we find an archetype of Christ, who is Love incarnate. We should love every man and woman, and have great compassion for them, and whatever their needs my be, regardless of who they are; whether they have wounded us or not; whether there is hatred between us or not; whether there is offense or injury, forgiveness being of great importance; and whether we love them or not. Compassion for the suffering of another is the easy part. Learning to Love as God Loves is much harder. But fear not, we are surrounded by God, by God’s love, and by God’s grace as much as a glass submerged in water is both filled with it and surrounded by it. We can never be without it.

We should love so vigorously that there is no room in our hearts for hatred, for Saint Maximos the Confessor tells us that the Gospel absolutely precludes us from hating any human being, even those who would hate us without reason.

Let us heed the words of Saint Isaac the Syrian:

St. Isaac of Syria tells us how.

“Let yourself be persecuted but do not persecute others.

Let yourself be crucified but do not crucify others.

Let yourself be insulted but do not insult others.

Let yourself be slandered but do not slander others.

Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Such is the sign of purity.

Suffer with the sick. Be afflicted with sinners.

Exult with those who repent. Be the friend of all.

But in your spirit remain alone.

Spread your cloak over anyone who falls into sin and shield him.

And if you cannot take his fault on yourself and accept punishment in his place, do not destroy his character.”

Simply saying you love is not enough. If your actions alone do not speak loudly to the contents of your own heart, then we are simply lying to ourselves in order to justify our weaknesses, our failings, and our sin. We must become love, for that is what God is, and that is what we strive to be.

By the prayers of thy most pure Mother, the Holy and God bearing fathers, have mercy on us and save us.

Amen.

HOMILY: Pentecost – Trinity Sunday

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HOMILY: Pentecost – Trinity Sunday – June 7th, 2020

Readings: Epistle – 1 Corinthians 12:4-13, Gospel – John 14:23-31.

Christ is in our midst! (He is, and ever shall be!)

Glory to Jesus Christ! (Glory forever!)

In the name of the father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God! Amen.

The Church is one in her essence; her essence of faith; her essence of spirit and the teaching received therein; but, she is diverse in both gifts and function. Despite what the world may try to force us to believe, unity does not mean uniformity; and, equality does not mean sameness. The Church is diversity in operation; not a diversity of faith nor truth, but of people. We are all living stones, just as Saint Peter exhorts, altogether comprising the Church. Look at the walls of any Church, the grains of the wood, the variations in the stone, the adornments they bear, the scars they hold, and no two are alike. Likewise, we are each unique in person, yet we all strive towards the same fullness of our humanity. It is towards this fullness of our humanity in Christ that we are “guided by gifted people for the sake of maturity and stability of the body,” those Bishops in whom the unity and continuity of the Church is ensured; for, as Saint Ignatius has said, where the Bishop is, there also is the Church. It is the fullness of Christ towards which we all strive together, as a flock guided by her shepherd, through our cooperation with the Holy Spirit of which the Church has received, and our humility through obedience to the commands of Christ; for, as Christ himself exhorted in our Gospel reading for today, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

Both Saint Paul and Saint John the Evangelist well establish the divinity of the Father and the Son, and tie the two of them together with the work of the Holy Spirit. While the Father is the source of all things, and it is by the Son through which all things are created, the Holy Spirit “is the very Content of the Kingdom of God” While the Spirit functions as a luminary of Holy mysteries, the Spirit remains mysteriously hidden from all things, functioning in us to reveal the Son to us. It is by Love that the three persons of the Trinity are connected and commune with one another, and it is within this Love that is found the salvation for all mankind; for, God is Love. As the Trinity exists as persons in Communion, so then must we, the Body of Christ, exist as persons in communion, so bringing us closer to the uniting and enduring love of the Father.

By the prayers of our holy Fathers and Mothers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us.

Amen.

Homily: Sunday of the Blind Man

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HOMILY: Sunday of the Blind Man – May 24, 2020

Readings: Acts 20:17-38, Epistle James 1:22-27, Gospel Reading John 9:1-38

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.

Christ is Risen!

So, today is the Sunday of the Blind man, and I am sure that the irony of my giving the homily on this day is not lost on any of you. Yet, as we remember this story, I cannot help but look back towards Pascha, where Christ rose from the dead, and also forward toward ascension where Christ will rise to sit at the right hand of God the Father, from whence “He shall come again to judge the living and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.” Yet, in between these days we follow a thread of Sundays and stories tracing a path of faith, and restoration. Pascha was a season of penitence, a season of turning ourselves to God. The weeks that follow are a season of receiving, of acceptance, and of healing, for indeed the Church is the very hospital for our souls.

The first Sunday after Pascha is the Sunday of St. Thomas, wherein Thomas believed when he saw Christ’s hands, feet, and pierced side. Then came the Sunday of the Myrrh bearing women, who saw Christ’s Tomb, and preached Christ is Risen to the Apostles. After this, we have the healing of the Paralytic, who by some transgression of his own was left paralyzed for a lengthy season of his life. Christ gave a command, and he obeyed, and so he was healed. Then today, we have the Sunday of the blind man, who disadvantaged by no fault of his own, was rendered without sight, that the Glory of God may be made manifest at this very moment, not only for the blind man’s sake, but for the sake of those who followed.

Great and Holy Pascha saw the brilliant light of Christ’s resurrection dispel the terrible darkness of the tomb, mankind having been trapped within, because the wages of sin is death. Christ’s resurrection illuminated the path that man had wandered for so long in spiritual darkness, becoming a lamplight at our feet. Yet, a blind man cannot see the light of the sun, but only feel the warmth of its radiance upon his face. He knows it is there, but that is enough. A blind man cannot walk the path, lest one who can see it leads him on the way. One cannot see what lies ahead, unless his eyes are opened, for even in being led down the path, one may still encounter the unexpected, and stumble over the unknown. Even though we who are present here today can see the light of life, and the very joy of our salvation, Jesus Christ, we should not forget that we too were once blind. We should all see ourselves in the blind man. We should see in the blind man a faith expected of us from the gift we have received, and our expectations of the world to whom the cross is foolishness.

Let us remember in the chapter before this, Christ was in the temple with the Jews. He had spoken to the Jews, saying “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” But, who will follow what they cannot see? The Jews did not believe because they were spiritually blind, and their eyes were closed. So, the Jews rejecting the revelations of Christ, left the temple. Christ and the Apostles encountered the blind man, whereon the Apostles asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Now, it is a reasonable question given that at the healing of the paralytic some time before, of which we celebrated last Sunday, the words of Christ attributed his ailment to his sins, where upon his healing he was told “behold, you are made whole, sin no more.”

Christ came to him unbidden; Christ did not ask if he wished to be healed for the blind man knew nothing else, having been born with his infirmity. Yet, if we look back to the healing of the paralytic, Christ asked him if he wished to be healed, for he was fully aware of his state, and how he ended up where he was. The blind man was given without request, without prayer, and without any sign of faith. This is grace. This is the free gift of healing, or σῴζω, often translated as salvation in the scriptures. Christ, who created the heavens and the earth, who authored all of creation, He who spoke all things into existence, He who created man from the dust of the earth, knelt down and fashioned clay with his own spittle and dirt, then placed it over the blind man’s eyes. Some say he fashioned new eyes with the very clay. Then, Christ’s work complete, commanded him to wash in the pool at siloam. The blind man was bidden by the unseen, and by faith he obeyed, and in his obedience his eyes were opened. Such is our own life in Christ.

The story of the blind man is the story of us all. We were all blind, but now we can see. We were all blind, but healed by the grace of God, and by our own obedience and contrition of heart, our eyes were opened in the waters of baptism, for which the blind man’s bathing in the pools of siloam is a typology. We were blind, but now we can see the light of life, and fully see, receive, and experience the joy of our salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord. It is within this joy that we proclaim Christ to the world, much like the myrrh bearing women preached the Risen Christ to the apostles; and the blind man, once healed, proclaimed Christ to the Pharisees, even though he did not yet know who Christ was as the Son of the living God. For, it was not by great knowledge of God that he was healed and brought to Truth, but by faith. All knowledge of Truth can be brought by faith. Indeed, the Pharisees had all knowledge of Truth, but not Truth itself; they possessed great intellectual wealth, but were poor in spirit. They lacked faith.

Our Epistle reading for today tells us about this faith; a faith in action and what it looks like (in part), giving us an idea of what the Pharisees lacked. They were hearers of the word, but not doers. The Pharisees thought themselves religious, but their praxis of faith was empty, and without justification. For the θρησκεία, or religion, of the Pharisees was one of intellect alone. They knew the prayers, but did not live them. They knew of love, for God is Love, but possessed none themselves. They possessed the Law, but did not follow it. They worshiped God, but their offering was empty, because they lacked a “broken and contrite heart,” of which God will not despise.

We, as the body of Christ, are to manifest Christ into the world; we as the body of Christ are to live out and manifest the light Truth and the joy of salvation into this world. This is why we hear James, the same who penned that “faith without works is dead,” also wrote in our epistle reading for today that “Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”

So as we regard the courageousness declarations of the blind man before the Pharisees, we look forward to the ascension of Christ, only a few days ahead of us, whereupon we receive our great commission to go forth into the world and “ make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” For, the joys of Holy Pascha are not confined to a season; the joy of our salvation is not confined to us alone who have received it; the light of Christ is not confined to the Church, for one does not light a lamp to hide it under a basket; the light of Christ is for the whole world, for whom Christ came to save.

The way is open. It was made by He who gave life, and the living keep it until the end of days. So, lead the blind to the hospital for our souls, the Holy Orthodox Church, wherein Christ the great physician will heal them of their blindness and infirmities. May we all walk the way together and keep it, that the blind shall not stumble on their way to be healed. May we not stumble in our own journeys, keeping Christ’s commandments and true religion through contrition of heart, prayer, humility, obedience, and our participation in the Holy Mysteries of the Church.

Our participation in our faith is required. For, If the paralytic did not pick up his mat and walk, would he have been healed? If the blind man had not washed, would he have received his sight? We can receive the free gift of God’s grace, but if we do nothing with it, then it is of no benefit to us. So, just as Paul lived out his faith among the Ephesians; as James has exhorted us to incarnate our faith in deeds beyond words; as the blind main proclaimed Christ in the face of great opposition; as Paul instructs us to run the race, and work out our faith with fear and trembling; as Christ himself begins his ministry with the words “follow me,” go and do likewise.

By the prayers of our holy Fathers and Mothers, and all the saints, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy upon us and save us.

Amen.

Sermon on the Sunday of the Blind Man / OrthoChristian.Com — Icon: Sunday of the blind man.

HOMILY: Love endures.

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HOMILY: Love endures – February 9th, 2020.

Readings: Romans 13:8-10, Matthew 8:23-34

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen

There was much to choose from today in topics to talk about. There is much the Church remembers on this day: The translation of the relics of Saint John Chrysostom; the venerable Peter of Egypt; new Martyr Demetrius of Constantinople; and, this is the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee. For, we are the Church of remembering; remembering those who have gone before us; remembering those who walk beside us; and remembering the promises of the world to come. All of us, the Church united, bound by faith, and sealed in the bonds of love.

We have heard in our readings for today both of love, and of faith. Love is the very essence of our Orthodox faith; this you already know. For, God is Love; the source of all love; the fire of love that burns in each of us; and, the incarnation of Love through Jesus Christ our Lord. As Christ is, so should we seek to be. Love is not a feeling, or an emotion, but exists and is expressed by what we do. Though, this is a point I have iterated numerous times before, so I will not repeat it here. Even God’s act of creation was an act of love, for he needed nothing outside of himself. The created order was made by, and exists because of, the love of God. The intended order of all things is founded on love. This is why, as Paul exhorts to us in our Epistle reading for today, that love is the fulfillment of the whole law, for it is only in love that the proper order of creation exists. Without love, we have nothing; without love, we have gained nothing; without love, we are nothing. Our faith, which we must all have and hold, in word and in deed, orients us towards Christ; but, it is in love, by love, and through love that we will reach Him. It is by faith, bound with the bonds of love to our Lord Jesus Christ, motivated by love towards our fellow man, that we each strive towards salvation. We each fight for the endurance of Truth, and that by love we change the world around us.

So what does this love look like? I believe Saint Paul details love eloquently enough in his first letter to the Corinthians:

“ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

Love is an action. Love is something we manifest into the world. Love is what will change the world. Love lives within the peace of God which the world cannot give. The world knows no love, for there is no love found in it. Yet, what the world calls love is nothing more than sin polished to look alike, but crumbles the moment it is tested. Love, the Love of God, the Love that binds our faith together, this love perseveres. This love changes the world.

This, that is love, I believe has been the mission of the Orthodox Church – the pillar and foundation of truth, and the abode of the Holy Spirit – since its foundations were laid by the prophets and the Apostles, and established by the honorable blood of Christ. The first ten centuries the Church withstood heresies and persecutions of every kind, but the Church prevailed. The Mongols conquered Kievan Rus’ in the 13th century, but the Church prevailed. In 1453, the Ottoman Turks conquered the great pearl of the Byzantin empire, Constantinople; but, the Church prevailed. As the world became “enlightened” and “reason” abounded, the theology of our Fathers remade into Cataphatic visions of what once was, the Church prevailed. The Great saints and Fathers of the Russian Church set out into the world: Saint Nicholas established the Church in Japan, Father Maxim Leontiev led the first Orthodox Church in Beijing, and Saints Innocent and Herman evangelized the Alaskan territory. Saint Tikhon, the Patriarch of Moscow, Saint John Maximovith of Shanghai and San Francisco, Saint Sebastian of San Francisco and Jackson, all evangelized America under the direction of the Russian Orthodox Church. The faithful carried the light of life into the world, and the Church prevailed.

That light is love.

Love is the unending and enduring fire of God’s grace on earth, burning through the hearts of men, and bringing light to where there is none. It is within the light and warmth of love that the faithful persevere in the cold, and the darkness of this world. It is this love the Church carries into the world, and it is by this love that the Church has prevailed, prevails today, and will continue to prevail in the ages to come. For, the world is a cold and dark tempest, against which we are all tested. It is only by the fire of God’s love that we can survive and prevail.

Indeed, the Church is the boat by which we endure the tempest of this world. Though, Christ is not sleeping, for He is with us; He is the Church, and the Church is He; and, He is present by His body and blood within the Holy Mysteries we will soon receive. The tempest becomes the myriad trials and temptations of the world by which we are tested, the persecutions we must survive, the winds of change we must endure, and the cold Godless life we are called to live by the world in which we live. But, despite all of these, we also learn that no storm lasts forever; we learn that no matter how far the darkness reaches, the sun will always rise. That is why we must keep love alive, for it is the fervor of our faith. “If the Fervor of Faith in our heart is not kept alight, then our apathy may entirely extinguish our faith.”

This is a lesson imbued within the Russian Orthodox Church, and embedded within her very bones. For, today is the day we also remember the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Orthodox Church. Today is the day we commemorate the untold millions of Orthodox faithful who were killed by the Godless Soviet atheists in the wake of Bolshevik revolution. Though no hard numbers can be provided, estimates state that up to twenty million Orthodox Christians were killed. In the first years of Soviet power, over twelve hundred Orthodox Priests were executed, including 28 Bishops. Orthodox clergy and Orthodox faithful alike were tortured, executed, and sent to prison camps, labor camps, and even mental institutions. Churches were destroyed, sometimes with the faithful within them. Priests were crucified to the doors of their churches, or dragged into the street and shot. Millions of Orthodox faithful were exiled, many coming to America, where the work of Saints John, Tikhon, Sebastian and others were instrumental in their care. The great missionary work that had been started by Moscow in America had been interrupted. Though, In time, the sun rose, the Soviet era ended, and the Church prevailed. By the blood of her martyrs, the confession of the faith, and the fervor of the faith kept alive in love within the hearts of millions, the Church prevailed. Untold staretz and saints, known and unknown, rose to pierce the darkness of the storm with the uncreated light of their enduring love, and with the aid of their guiding light the Church prevailed. It is that light we should all strive to carry. It is that light we have all received. It is that light that we are all exhorted to uphold within the darkness of this world.

We stand upon a foundation of prophets and apostles, strengthened by the blood of uncountable martyrs, and joining the voices of confessors who never stopped speaking truth in the face of oppression and persecutions, torture, and even death. Be courageous in speaking truth to power, be unfailing in your dedication to Christ, but most of all, become love and incarnate Christ unto the world. It is by love alone, that the Church will prevail.

Amen.

HOMILY: Theophany – A day of illumination.

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HOMILY: Theophany – A day of illumination – January 19, 2020

Readings: Matthew 2:1-12, Isaiah 60:1-6

Thus ends the twelve days of Christmas! Having just celebrated the birth of Christ our Savior, our God and our King, here marks the beginning of Christ’s ministry on earth. Today is a day of illumination, the revealing of God the Son incarnate in the flesh, and the revealing of the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is a day that predates our celebrations of Christmas, preserved from the second century. It is also a public holiday in a number of European nations. If only we could be so lucky.

This is a feast which I find to be somewhat unique in the life of those Orthodox Churches who celebrate the western rite. It is a multi faceted feast day, whose focus of celebration and remembrance differs depending on the direction you are facing. In the western traditions, this particular feast day is referred to as the day of epiphany, where the day is identified with the visit of the Magi in Bethlehem to behold the Christ child, to which the star in the east had led them. This is the event foretold in our lesson from Isaiah:

“A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.”
Isaiah 60:6

On this day, through the visitation of the Magi, is celebrated the physical manifestation of God incarnate in the flesh, and His revelation to the Gentiles. The Magi were the first Gentiles to whom He was revealed, but this is not a revelation they could have come to on their own, for they were teachers of a false faith. They had been illumined by the grace of God overflowing from the birth of Christ. As Saint John Chrysostom has said, “The Magi are enlightened so that the goodness of God may be made manifest: so that no one need despair, doubting that salvation through faith will be given to him, seeing He bestowed it on the Magi. The Magi therefore were the first from the Gentiles chosen for salvation, so that through them a door might be opened to all the Gentiles.”

Today is a day of illumination, or more appropriately a celebration of illumination. We remember the illumination of the Magi in the west, but we also remember our own illumination in the east, wherein the focus of this day – the Feast of Theophany – is centered on the Baptism of our Lord and God and savior Jesus Christ in the waters of the Jordan river. This is the day that Christ made himself known to all mankind, for the people had not yet known him. It is also upon this day that the Holy Church asserts its faith in the mystery – most noble and incomprehensible to the rational mind – of the Three Persons of the triune God. Jesus Christ ascended out of the waters of Baptism, the Holy Spirit descending upon him in the form of a dove, with the voice of the Father echoing from above, unseen, “this is my beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.” Jesus Christ, having no need of cleansing, having no sin to be cleansed of, and being born of a Virgin and without the corruption of Adam’s sin, was baptized in the waters of the Jordan not for His sake, but for our own. Christ descended into the waters of the Jordan that all the waters of creation may be sanctified for our sake, for our own purification and cleansing of sin through our own baptism. His baptism is our baptism. His life is our life. His death is our death, and His resurrection is our resurrection.

By our baptism, cleansed of our sin and joined to Jesus Christ, we renounce the world and live a new man. So, it is not unreasonable for us to remember our own baptism on this day, remembering the vows we took, or were given on our behalf if one was blessed enough to be born into the Church. It is within these vows, as Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky) has said:

“…in which a Christian has promised God to renounce Satan and all his works and to join himself, to unite himself with Christ, these vows are not only forgotten by people, but many in general know nothing about them or about the fact that these vows were pronounced for them and that they ought to think a little about how they must fulfill [them]… One thing is needful – only one thing is necessary – and to remember that we must join ourselves with Christ, that is, not only fulfill His commandments, but also endeavor to unite ourselves with Him.”
Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesenksy) – Holy on Theophany.

He further exhorts us later in his Homily to think and remember what it means to each of us to renounce Satan and all his works; that we may join ourselves to Christ. We do this through the process of theosis, which we began through our own baptisms, when we were purified of our sins, and purified of all the defilements of this world. Having been cleansed, we began “the perfecting of Holiness in the fear of God,” just as Saint Paul exhorts in his second letter to the Corinthians. Holiness is achieved through the path and process of Theosis, a path which begins in the Church, for the Church is Christ, and He is “the way and the Truth and the life.”

The Church is humanity illumined; a humanity baptized in the grace of God; a humanity illumined by the beauty of its creator; a humanity illumined and healed by His dignity – our own dignity restored – God becoming man that we may become more like Him; a humanity illumined in His beauty, that we may incarnate His beauty into the world, becoming living icons of truth; and a humanity illumined by the Light of Life, that we may shine like morning stars, and lead others to the truth just as the Magi were led to Christ.

Theosis presupposes life within the Church, the body of Christ; the body of illumined humanity. We enter it by following Christ through the waters of baptism, and together are illumined by the same Spirit that sanctified them. It is within the Church that we become a part of, and partake of, the body of Christ. It is within the Church in which we partake of the sacraments, that which is necessary to acquire the sanctifying spirit and be transformed into the divine likeness of God. It is within the Church that we come into communion with Christ, and so participate in the divine worship of the Church triumphant, the Church militant being the living icon of that Church in heaven, the living icon of Christ. It is within the Church that the meaning of the scriptures are revealed to us. It is in the Church alone that the truth is revealed to us, and the means necessary to our salvation are provided to us. The Church is taught by the Holy Spirit, and there exists an indissoluble unity between God and His Church, for “The Church is the earthly heaven in which the heavenly God moves and dwells.” We must choose to be where God is, in striving towards a unity of spirit.

Christ’s baptism on the Jordan River revealed this unity of spirit, the unity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Theophany illumined all of creation with the revelation of the Triune God: God in three persons, yet one essence; three wills, and two natures; infinite and present in all things, yet udivided; ineffable, yet knowable through Jesus Christ, our King and our God. Christ’s baptism opened the door to follow him into unity with Him as living stones within the Church provided by his honorable blood. This Church confesses and asserts our faith in the mystery of the Trinity. It teaches to confess and glorify with equal honor and divinity each person of the Godhead. It reveals and renders impotent the teachings of those wherein finite and human terms attempted to describe the Creator of all things. It establishes for us the place, importance, and necessity for our own baptism, a gift and grace of God granted unto us by the Holy Spirit, for “as many as have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ.”

The world changed when Christ rose from the waters of the Jordan: the waters of creation were sanctified, the divinity of Christ was revealed, the triunity of God was made manifest unto men, and Christ went forth to begin his ministry. Christ left the waters the same as He entered into them: God the Son incarnate in the flesh; yet, everywhere he went, the fire of God’s love molded the very hearts of men. So, go and do likewise.

By the prayers of our holy fathers and mothers, and Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.

Amen.

Image result for icon theophany — Icon of the Theophany

HOMILY: Christ the King

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HOMILY: Christ the King – December 8, 2019

Readings: Daniel: 7:13-14, Colassians 1:12-20, John 18:33-37

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.

We have come to the end of our liturgical year, through the course of which we have celebrated the birth of Christ, and the joy and salvation that his coming promises to bring. We have celebrated the theophanies of Christ our God, wherein the truth of God has been revealed to us. We have remembered the passion of Christ and repented of our own iniquities through the penitential season of Lent. We have celebrated Christ and the lives of the saints surrounding Him and following Him, that we may remember their lives and examples for each of us to follow. We once and always look forward with expectation from the moment of Christ’s birth, from the moment of our present lives lived in Christ, to the coming of Christ our King and our God. He entered the world as a suckling child, from the womb into the care of the Theotokos; became the sacrifice for all men that the whole world might be redeemed; and ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. He shall come again as a conquering king, who conquered death by death; who is the King of Kings; who is the Lord of all creation; He who is the head of the body, the Church, which is His Kingdom on earth. Within the Church, which Christ created with his own precious blood, we find the Truth, the Way, and the life. This is the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is life within him, and it is this Kingdom to which we all belong as citizens of heaven, for as Saint Paul says, “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,” our King and our God. He also elucidates the kingdom of God as life in the Holy Spirit, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” So, we recognize the Kingdom as that which is already given to those of us who believe; to those of us who live and lead righteous lives under God our King; to those of us who incarnate the Kingdom of God into this world, and by whom this kingdom is created by the grace of God. We are Christ’s first and foremost, and if the first “flag” we fly is not Christ’s, then one must ask if He is truly our King and our God? The flag of nations should never precede the flag of faith. The flag of this world is not our own, for we are citizens of heaven first and only; for, we are but “sojourners and exiles in this world,” and should live as though we have no permanent part in it. For there is nothing in this world that is worth our lives in Christ; nothing in this world that can give us true joy; and nothing in this world that will endure in this life or the next.

Christ is our King, and the Kingdom over which he reigns has no place, it has no borders and holds no land; it has no end and begins in all places; it excludes no one, but includes only the faithful. We know where the kingdom rests by the fruits of its people, for Christ himself has said the people “will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” This is also the same quality by which we know Christ loved us, for he sacrificed himself that we may live life eternally. So then, what is a Christian life without sacrifice, but an empty and vestigial expression of a divine truth. True love engenders sacrifice, a sacrifice of self; of free will. It is through the sacrificial quality of love by which it is recognized. It is within the sacrificial quality of love that the Kingdom of God is found, for God is Love. It is with Love that Christ reigns as King over all creation.

Christ as King permeates our prayers; is echoed throughout our scriptures; is made manifest within the liturgy and sacramental life of the Church; so, likewise it should be made apparent that Christ is our King in our day to day lives. The culture in which we live reflects the contents of our inner being. If our culture is not changed, it is because we ourselves are not changed. This is why Saint Seraphim of Sarov exhorted that if we “acquire the Spirit of Peace, a thousand souls around you will be saved.” So, it is within society that we will express the contents of our heart in word and in deed, wherein society becomes a mirror of what lies within. It is where the Kingdom of God collides with the kingdom of this world that Christ’s love should manifest itself. How do we treat the homeless man or the mother in need? How do we react to the myriad inconveniences throughout the day? How do we respond to those who are less than pleasant towards us or others? How do we speak to those who are seen as social outcasts: addicts, criminals, prostitutes, the poor and needy, the disabled, and all of the others who do not align with the image of worldly success? We have already been given the answers to these questions by Christ our King, and he pulls us inexorably towards love.

Christ as King reigns over our very souls. It is by his grace alone that we are pulled godward; that every word we speak is one of praise or kindness; that every beat of our heart and every breath we take is done with thanksgiving; that our everyday and ordinary deeds are made extraordinary by their love and compassion for one another; that our own feelings and desires should be an echo of Christ the King, and that which His love desires. Our will is not our own, but that of the King who reigns over all: Jesus Christ our Lord. We can be slaves to the sins of this world, or freedman following their King and their God.

Christ our King has freed us from the bondage and slavery of sin, the passions that compel us to do that which we ought not to do. He commanded us to repent, and so we turn ourselves away from this world. He commanded us to baptize and be baptized, and so the faithful are made clean, “made whiter than snow.” He commanded us to “do this in remembrance of me;” so, we celebrate and partake of his body and blood as often as we can through the Eucharist. We are commanded to “be perfect,” just as the Father is perfect; a feat that can only be accomplished through theosis: our growth and exercise of virtue, and our cooperation with the graces of God. Among these commands, and others like it, Christ tells us, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Our Love for Him is known and is proven by what we do. Our love of God is made manifest by our willingness to obey him, and to serve him, and also those in his kingdom. Christ came to serve, so we also serve. Christ came to heal, so let us be a healing presence to all. Christ came to forgive, so let us forgive one another. Christ came to reign over us, so let us always allow Him to reign in us.

Christ is King, and He is a just king, for the Justice of God is the restoration of all creation as God intended it from the beginning of time. Christ is a righteous king for He is righteousness. Christ is a conquering king, for he has conquered and defeated death by death, and in doing so “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins,” just as Saint Paul exhorted in our epistle reading for today. Christ is our King, and in Him we have faith and find hope, for “to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed,” just as Daniel prophesied. Christ is our King, and Christ is our God, for in Christ alone was the fullness of God pleased to dwell among us. So, We look forward to the completion and perfection of all things in and through Christ the King, the ruler and redeemer of all things. We adore the King of Kings as we bask in the countenance of his holiness and eternal glory, and pray always that we ourselves would be found worthy of the promises of Christ. Christ is the King of mercy, and may he have mercy on us all, and save us.

“Oh come let us worship and fall down before our God and our King.

Oh, come let us fall down before Christ our King and our God.

Oh, come let us worship and fall down before Christ himself, our King and our God.”

Amen.

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