Reading through the scientific revolution is always an interesting affair. We learn of the discoveries and advancements in the sciences by the greatest minds of the time. This often occurred in opposition to the Catholic Church in that time. Though, reading through some of the quotes and commentary of some of those famous men who pushed forward into the unknown, I can’t help be see them affirming what the Church already believes (at least the Orthodox Church, but I am not sure as to Catholic beliefs and positions at that time). I just want to examine some of these quotes.
I would like to begin with Blaise Pascal, when he perhaps spoke for many when he wrote, “The eternal silence of infinite space frightens me.” Indeed those who live in the world, silence is a frightening aspect. Perhaps this is why the modern world has increasingly become a cacophony of noise and information. I am reminded of the words of Saint Isaac the Syrian, in his own ascetical writings when he stated the following: “silence will be the mystery of the future age, while words are mere implements of this world.”
In silence we find stillness, and in stillness we can come to know God.
The next quote I would like to move to is one by Galileo, where he expressed “Nor is God,any less excellently revealed in Nature’s actions than in the sacred statements of the Bible.” This is much akin to a truth acknowledged by many saints and desert fathers, that the created order is a living psalter pointing to and acknowledging the glory of God. This is a truth expressed all throughout the psalms of the scriptures as well.
The above is also something echoed in the words of Newton, who himself was noted as a serious biblical scholar. He said “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent Being.” Indeed truth is echoed in the created order, for it was by His hand that it was made.
The last quote I would like to bring up is one by Marquis de Condorcet, who boldly declared that “the perfectibility of humanity is indefinite.” We in the Orthodox Church believes that our process of Godward motion, something we call theosis (θέωσις). This is something we partake of this life, striving to be perfect as He is perfect, just as we were exhorted to be in scriptures. As God is infinite, this is a journey that is not completed in this life, but continues in the next, eternally moving Godward towards the perfectibility of man.
All of these comments, comments made by scientific minds in their respective context, all seem to touch on deeper truths, even though such was not the intent. Even today, we see things being “learned” or declared by science those things which the Church has always known: elements of the incense burned in the Churches are psychoactive antidepressants (the Church is the hospital for our soul), fasting twice a week is now discovered to be of immense good for your health, the benefits of music in a Church were the entire service is sung (including the increased memorization of those scriptures repeatedly sung every week), and other things.
These verses show what has already been stated elsewhere: science and the Church are not at odds with one another, one only has to look.
Homily: Nativity of John the Baptist – July 7th, 2019
“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.”
We hear these words, a few among many read to us every Sunday, found in the final Gospel reading of the Divine Liturgy, taken from John chapter 1. Indeed he was sent from God and today we celebrate his being sent. Today we celebrate the Feast of the Nativity of the Holy, Glorious, Forerunner and Baptist John. He is the first joy sent to the human race by God. He is the voice of one crying in the wilderness, just as the prophet Isaiah foretold, a voice crying “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God …And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Regarding the Nativity of Saint John, Saint Ephraim the Syrian had this to say:
“He who was to baptize with water would proclaim him who would baptize with fire and with the Holy Spirit. The light, which was not obscure, would proclaim the Sun of Justice. The one filled with the Spirit would proclaim concerning him who gives the Spirit. The priest calling with the trumpet would proclaim concerning the one who is to come at the sound of the trumpet at the end. The voice would proclaim concerning the Word, and the one who saw the dove would proclaim concerning him upon whom the dove rested, like the lightning before the thunder.”
Saint John was the first prophet since the time of Malachi, with no prophetic word of God having been uttered for hundreds of years since then. God was silent. Now, the priest of the temple was also silent, having no voice to speak with, silenced by an Angel of the Lord.. Also, the King who ruled all of Judea was not even Jewish, and sat as a false and illegitimate king. These three offices, later fulfilled in Christ, were currently vacant (the prophets), silent (the priest), or without validity (the king). So, it was time to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord, and so he sent his prophet John, uttering those words we hear throughout the whole of the Old Testament: Repent!
The entirety of the Old Testament points forward to the coming of Christ. Saint John is the final voice of proclamation before His coming. John would baptize for the remission of sins, but Christ would come to remove them. Saint John would point to the Law, he was a finger pointing at God who exhorted all who would hear him to repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Then, the Kingdom of Heaven would arrive, and Christ would come to assume the mantle of the Law, becoming the Law of the Spirit of Life. John would orient us towards God, who would then come as the Son of God incarnate in the flesh, and we would be expected to follow. We would follow Christ because He is the Son of the living God, He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
The timing of the Forerunner’s birth, exactly half a year before the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, depicts his mission and ministry of preparation, to prepare the way for the Lord. During this time of year, our days grow shorter after the Solstice of the summer Season. Looking forward to the birth of Christ, the days then begin to grow longer. We see embodied the living psalter of God, written across the colors and creatures of all creation, those words later spoken by John at the inception of Christ’s ministry: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
The birth of Saint John is closely intertwined with the birth of our Lord. The aged Elizabeth gave birth to John, who would live to become the last of the prophets. The Virgin Mary was a young girl, who would give birth to He who is the word of God, the author of Creation, the breather of stars. Elizabeth, the daughter of Aaron, would give birth to the voice crying in the wilderness. Mary, the daughter of David, would give birth to the very voice and word of God. Elizabeth gave birth to he who would strive to reconcile men through repentance, but the Mother of God bore He who purify all of creation, an act completed by both John and Jesus through baptism – John through the baptism of Men, and Christ through His own baptism, sanctifying all the waters of creation. One would baptize with the waters of creation, and the other would baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit through which creation would be perfected and cleansed.
“Today the formerly barren woman gives birth to Christ¹s Forerunner, who is the fulfillment of every prophecy; for in the Jordan, when he laid his hand on the One foretold by the prophets, he was revealed as Prophet, Herald, and Forerunner of God the Word.”
~ Kontakion of the feast
Saint John is a prophet, but Christ has said that he is greater than a prophet. Saint John is but a man, but Christ has said “among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.” For, as Saint John Chrysostom has said , indeed “he lived as though he were already in heaven, and having got above the necessities of nature, he travelled as it were a new way, spending all his time in hymns and prayers, and holding intercourse with none among men, but with God alone continually.” Saint John was the Forerunner of God both in life, and in death. He preceded the Son of God in life in this world, so would he also precede the Song of God in death at his beheading by Herod, another day the Church will remember later this year. Though I could find no writings saying as much, I believe that Saint John continued even in death his proclamation of repentance even in Hades. I envision him making straight the way of the Lord from this life into the next, preaching Christ to those who had not yet heard the good news, so that when the good news finally arrived, they were ready to accept it.
We who are the body of Christ are called like the forerunner to proclaim the miraculous and wonderful works of God, the good news of salvation, the healing of soul and body, and life eternal in Jesus Christ our Lord. We are called to follow Christ and incarnate the Love of God into the world created by Him, because the world knows Him not. We heed the words of the Forerunner, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” for repentance begins our walk of faith as we turn Godward away from the things of this world. Our walk of faith brings forth the Kingdom of Heaven on earth as the Church serves to incarnate Christ into the world.
“O Prophet and Forerunner of the coming of Christ, we who venerate thee with love, are in perplexity how worthily to praise thee; for the barrenness of her who bore thee and the dumbness of thy father are loosed by thy glorious and precious nativity, and the incarnation of the Son of God is preached to the world.”
~Troparion of the feast
Oh glorious John the Baptist and Forerunner, may we deem to follow you on those paths you have lain straight in preparation for our Lord Jesus Christ, that we too should follow you into death, and unto life eternal.
Heroes can be warriors and visionaries, statesmen and soldiers, artists and authors, the men and women of our age, or some soul from the distant past. Our heroes can be men of vision, men of courage, men and women of relentless resolve, and also of endless faith. These are those to whom we look up to, look after, and hope to emulate in some way in our own lives, whether by word or deed, accomplishment, virtue, or any number of qualities we admire about our hero. So it is with my hero. My hero wears a cape, but he was not Superman, but he was a great man.
Father Thomas Hopko of blessed memory had this to say about my hero, that he “was a man of numerous gifts and talents. He is remembered as a great theologian, a bulwark against heresies, a pastor, a teacher, a philanthropist, a rhetorician, an ascetic, and generally one of the greatest saints to ever grace the Body of Christ.” Father Thomas is speaking of none other than Saint Basil the Great; the ArchBishop of Caesarea; one of the three great Cappadocian Fathers; one of the three great hierarchs of the Christian faith standing alongside Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Gregory the Theologian. Saint Basil is the man for whom I was named in honor of upon my own ordination, and is a name I carry with great humility and honor.
He was an academic of the first order.
Saint Basil Received his higher education in Athens, the center of classical enlightenment. After five years or so, he had mastered every available discipline within his grasp. “He studied everything thoroughly, more than others are wont to study a single subject. He studied each science in its very totality, as though he would study nothing else.” Philosophy, philology, oration and rhetoric, law, nature, astronomy, mathematics, as well as medicine. As one man said, “he was a ship fully laden with learning, to the extent permitted by human nature.”
His contributions to the theological thought and mind of the Church are tremendous. His book “On the Holy Spirit” formed the very foundation of our trinitarian Theology in the east, which Saint Ambrose later used to form the same in the West. He wrote another famous work called the Hexameron on the six days of creation. Nearly 400 letters are attributed to him, from which many elements of Canon law were developed. He also composed a liturgy, still in use to this day, and now named after him: The Liturgy of Saint Basil.
He was a matchless philanthropist.
Almost immediately after being enthroned as the Bishop of Caesarea, he commissioned a colossal hospital, which was once considered a wonder of the world. He also started hospice care for the sick, a homeless shelter, and began to run what was effectively a hunger and relief center, often working at feeding the poor himself. He put into action words he often preached from the ambo of the Church:
The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry man; the coat hanging in your closet belongs to the man who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belongs to the man who has no shoes; the money which you put into the bank belongs to the poor. You do wrong to everyone you could help but fail to help. (Saint Basil)
“How can I make you realize the misery of the poor? How can I make you understand that your wealth comes from their weeping?” (Saint Basil)
He was, most of all, a staunch teacher and defender of the Christian faith.
He lived in between the period of the first Ecumenical Council of 325 and the second in 381. He fought voraciously against the Arian heresy that was condemned in both councils. It was a dogmatic dispute that inspired much of his writing, but it was a heresy that had seeped into government circles. Thus, he was threatened with exile by the Emperor, and Saint Basil’s response has survived the ages:
“If you take away my possessions, you will not enrich yourself, nor will you make me a pauper. You have no need of my old worn-out clothing, nor of my few books, of which the entirety of my wealth is comprised. Exile means nothing to me, since I am bound to no particular place. This place in which I now dwell is not mine, and any place you send me shall be mine. Better to say: every place is God’s. Where would I be neither a stranger and sojourner (Ps. 38/39:13)? Who can torture me? I am so weak, that the very first blow would render me insensible. Death would be a kindness to me, for it will bring me all the sooner to God, for Whom I live and labor, and to Whom I hasten.”
The official was stunned by his answer. “No one has ever spoken so audaciously to me,” he said.
“Perhaps,” the saint Basil remarked, “ that is because you’ve never spoken to a bishop before. In all else we are meek, the most humble of all. But when it concerns God, and people rise up against Him, then we, counting everything else as naught, look to Him alone. Then fire, sword, wild beasts and iron rods that rend the body, serve to fill us with joy, rather than fear.”
Basil the Great again showed firmness before the emperor and his retinue and made such a strong impression on Valens that the emperor dared not give in to the Arians demanding Basil’s exile.
Saint Basil was a bulwark of the Christian faith. He existed as a very pillar of the Church. He spoke truth to power. He uplifted the poor, meeting their many needs. He healed the sick, both of body and soul. He edified and educated many on the Christian faith. He is a man of great legacy. Much of his work still exists today, and still echoes through the very sacramental life of the Christian faith.
He is my hero. He is my inspiration. He was truly one of the greatest living icons of Jesus Christ our Lord, and I follow in his footsteps, marching ever Godward, hoping that I should bring honor to his name. I look forward to the day I should hear those beautiful words, well done my good and faithful servant, that Saint Basil will be nearby, and that I might embrace the man whose name I now bear.
I have long said that our understanding of the Church affects our understanding of all other theology, for she is the divine-human institution established by Christ for us men, and for our salvation, as a hospital for our very souls. The Church is the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27) The Church is the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Tim 3:15), for which Christ is the cornerstone (Eph. 2:19-20), and is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:21-22). The Church exists to incarnate Christ into the world, for which he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We know where the Church is by the marks established by the Church in the fourth century by the words of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed: The Church is One (1 Cor. 10:16-17), Holy (Eph. 3:16-17, 5:27, 1 Pet. 2:9), Catholic (1 Cor. 1:2), and Apostolic (Eph. 2:20, Rev. 21:14).
The marks of the Church identify the foundation upon which the Truth is upheld. If the Church ceases to be one, and she is divided against herself, whether by word, deed, or doctrine, the foundation will fall apart. If the Church lacks holiness, is not set apart from the world in which she exists, and is therefore molded by the world instead of molding the world around her, the foundation will crumble. If the Church does not maintain Catholicity of doctrine, dogma, and teaching; if the Church succumbs to multiplicity of truths; if the Church does maintain a unity of faith, then her foundation will crumble. If the Church does not maintain her apostolicity, that Kerygmatic Charism reaching back through the annals of time to the apostles, that plurality of voices directing the voice and rudder of the Church, unfolding the continuing revelation of the Holy Spirit within its holy abode, then the foundation will crumble. Without her bishops there is no Church, but there is no Bishop without the Church either.
Christ is the way because he is the path that we are to follow. The Church is the way, and baptism is the door. Christ is the Truth, for which the Church is the incarnate body of that Truth, the representative voice of that Truth, and the foundation upon which the Truth finds solid ground. Christ is the life, for he gives life, and gives it eternally. The Church is the hospital for our souls, in which we are healed of our infirmities, and receive that blessed food and medicine: The Eucharist. Christ is simultaneously the path (the Church) and the destination (perfection, τελειότητα) towards which we all strive Godward. Her saints, those holy men and women who have gone before us, are fingers pointing at the moon, guideposts on our journey. It is their voices echoing through time immemorial that encourage and guide us to the end of time.
All things fall under the providence of God. All things are according to His will, and His timing. That being said, I find our lesson from first Peter (1 Peter 4:7-11) to be most fitting for us, and this very Church in our time of growth; it is fitting in our time of transition, as we move from what we were, and towards that which we can be in the fullness of God. And with that in mind, taking into consideration all that has been said, all that has been done, this passage from Peter could very well have been written to us.
Let’s work our way through that lesson for today.
“The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers”
First and foremost, we need to pray. We need to be praying. I can say from my own experience that prayer is hard UNLESS you are sober minded. A sober minded person takes truth seriously; keeps the Laws of God ever before them, just as the Psalms and wisdom books exhort us to do; considers the challenges of incarnating Christ in our own lives. A sober minded person has no regard for his own way, but rather how his life may conform to God’s. Sober mindedness orients us godward, making us more capable, more ready and suitable for whatever prayers we have to offer. Above all, it is to be watchful of our own thoughts, and guarding the heart from those thoughts that seek to destroy our inner peace. (musing)
“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”
We all know that God is Love. Love is the key to following the whole law. Love is defined within each of us by what we do. It is not an irrational emotion that we follow simply because it feels good, because it brings as a sense of elation, but Love is something we do. Even Christ himself told us, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Our Love for him is known, is proven, by what we do. Words are empty without action.
What we do as a Church is vital to the growth of virtue, and to the growth of God’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Most importantly, it is how we incarnate Christ into the world; how we as God’s people exist to be a light unto the world, incarnating Christ, and bringing light to where there is none. Yet, what we do is wholly dependant on each of us, for each is endowed with different gifts, and each is imbued with the capacity for a ministry of their own making, and according to the will of God.
“Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.”
I can say that we have shown our capacity for love, our genuine willingness for hospitality to those in need of it. When Father Gregory’s house burned down, there was almost no delay in this community stepping up to do what was needed. In that moment of darkness, a light shined to dispel it. So should we be to the rest of the world.
”.As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.”
Ministry is important to the life of the Church. As of current, we have none. Our ministries allow us to incarnate Christ into the world, to manifest the love of God and bring light to wherever it is needed. Ministry allows each of us the opportunity to not only speak our love of God, but to do it as well. The ministry of the Church, as the body of Christ, as the Hospital for our souls, allows us to go into the world and be Christ to those who have never known him; to bring a taste, a sample, of the healing which the world cannot give, and the Church provides. It is by our ministry that the love of God will be known to the world, and it is by our love for one another that the world will know Christ through us.
Each of us has the capacity and capability to use those gifts we have been given to Glory of God. Not to repeat what Paul said, but to provide a little modern context: to those who can build, build up the Church to the glory of God; to those who are artists, create things of beauty to incarnation of the beauty and glory of God; to those who can write, write truth and increase understanding; to those who can speak, speak well and truthfully to the edification of all who hear; to those gifted with the skills of administration, keep in order the business of the Church and her people; to those who serve, do so in humility; to those with the fortitude to labor, labor for one another in love, and be the strength of the body of Christ. I can go on, for the gifts and abilities of the children of God are limitless, and maybe some yet undiscovered.
As we go through a time of growth, a time of change, and this time of transformation, may we grow into the praxis of our Orthodox faith and the teachings of the Church. As we embark upon this godward journey, let us also grow into ourselves, making use of whatever gifts we have been endowed with, whether they be physical, spiritual, or material in nature. As we move towards him, may we as the body of Christ be transfigured into the children of God we were created to be.
Pondering on truth and grace in light of imperfect man. – June 14, 2019
To think an impurity of mind, or even a lingering stain of sin upon one’s very soul, somehow renders one unsuited to speaking against moral fallacies and failures is a false idea. Such a belief is kin to the Donatist ideal that the same makes one unsuitable for the administration of the sacraments. The failures of man do not diminish the grace of God, nor do they diminish a truth spoken. Any darkness in man does not in any way diminish the light he carries. A man standing in the way of the light does not cause the essence of that light to decrease, the brightness of its rays to cease, but simply stands in its way from reaching its full potential and exposure. Likewise, we are not diminished or exhorted to retreat from speaking truth because of our own moral failures, but indeed we should be more imbued with the necessity of fervor to speak it with greater exuberance. Then perhaps by our own words, when speaking truth to power, when speaking truth to an enemy adored, we may not only save them from the condemnation of their lie, but also save ourselves from our own lie in the process.
May we never water down our words, turning our faith into a sales pitch. May we never be afraid to speak truth to power, and into the face of the enemy. May we never be afraid to shine the light because of our own darkness, but continue to do so in spite of it. May we always bring light to the darkness, so that darkness may not reign. If the darkness overcomes our bodies, may the light we left behind continue to shine.
I was attacked on Facebook today by a very arrogant, seemingly prideful, and rather belligerent Protestant today. He argued that simply because I did not hold the scripture as the sole source of truth within the context of the Christian faith, that I was somehow in denial of Christ. I eventually had to block him, as there was no reasoning or room for civil discourse. Plus, he kept posturing as some Grand Master of the Christian faith, and claimed I stepped out of my pay grade when I shot down whatever garbage translation he was using by showing him the Greek. I will pray for him.
Placing scripture in its proper place and historical context and understanding is not a denial of Christ. Christ is not the book. Scripture is truth, but YOUR understanding of scripture is not. He argued the understanding of scripture in the early Church, as well as the theology of Christendom, was voted on by mere men, I guess making a de facto assertion that his understanding was somehow superior. To me, this only reinforces how our understanding of Church affects our understanding of Truth.
We should always start with the question, “What did the Church teach,” for truth does not change, and I imagine the Christians of the first four centuries, from whom we get our best commentaries, know better than we do today. Also, we can see how the Church lived, what the Church said regarding them, and understand the same. The Church is the Pillar and foundation of truth, for it is the body of Christ.
I really like the words of Saint Raphael regarding Scripture within the context of Tradition.
“Just as the written word is nothing other than the more brief and at the same time more constant representation of the spoken word, so also holy Scripture can be viewed as the brief and at the same time constant expression of sacred Tradition. Hence sacred Tradition and holy Scripture are thus very closely tied to one another, so that each by necessity requires the other, and the absence of one in these important points is detrimental to the other. In this way, when holy Scripture is disregarded, sacred Tradition runs the danger of distortion because then the human can be mixed up easily with the divine, the profane with the holy, and truth with falsehood. On the other hand, when sacred Tradition is removed, holy Scripture is subject to many misinterpretations because when holy Scripture is left to each one’s free understanding and interpretation, a certain strange diversity within the one and same Christian teaching can hence result.”
I was born at a unique time I suppose. I was dropped onto this world right in the middle of the video game industry crash of 1982. I have been on a computer since I was a toddler, booting floppy disks on the commodore 64 at that age (so my mother tells me). My first video games were on cassette tape. I can never remember a time in my life without technology. I didn’t see my first cell phone till my senior year. I bought my first cell phone in 2001.
I have watched technology grow by leaps and bounds, yet I remember life before it became such a huge part of it. Even the wife and daughter stare at their phones more than I would like. I work in IT, running the help desk for a small telephone company, so I have to have one, but it lives in my bag most of the time. I would much prefer a smart watch.
Technology has improved the ease of communication in the world. but I think its overall quality of communication has diminished as well. We are farther apart as a people, and I have to wonder what the impact of technology on our relationships with other people is.
Yet, if technology can separate us from other people with artificial interactions, then how so can the same seperate or distance us from Christ. While I believe that technology is a great tool, it is also a double edged sword. If we are not careful, if we are not mindful about our technology and the part in plays in our lives, it very well may supersede our humanity.
In the Epistle reading for today, Saint Peter writes of struggle, specifically here to that of servants under their masters. He exhorts them to be mindful of God in their suffering, and endure just as Christ endured. Indeed it is a gracious thing to be mindful of God when we suffer diverse sorrows, trials, and afflictions all for the sake of our faith. Yet, it is equally gracious for those of us who suffer likewise and simply endure because of our faith. For our faith is one of endurance, as Paul writes, stating that when we endure our sufferings for doing good, it is gracious in the sight of God. We are reminded elsewhere by James as to why we do so, writing in his Epistle that the crown of everlasting life is promised to those who love him who persevere in their faith. Though, it is not suffering to which we are called, for suffering in and of itself is not a good thing; but, the fruits of our suffering are what separate us from the world. In it we are tempered like steel against the anvil, and purified like a precious metal in the refiner’s fire. Our faith is a journey of purifying transformation.
Anyone who believes, or anyone who tells you that the Orthodox Christian faith is easy, anyone who says that a life lived in the shadow of the cross is comfortable, such a person is misguided. According to Saint Theophan the recluse, “All the saints accept the only true path to virtue to be pain and hard work… lightness and ease are a sign of a false path. Anyone who is not struggling, not in podvig, is in spiritual delusion” Podvig, a Russian word understood to mean “spiritual struggle,” is often used to describe our faith, for our faith is one of struggle. Our faith is a continual struggle against ourselves, against the passions of the flesh that persist against us daily. Our struggle is against the ailments of our minds and bodies in day to day life. Also, our struggle is against the world, against daily misfortunes, against people and their wills, against a symphony of noise wholly aligned against the silence of God. Nowhere in the whole of scripture was it ever lauded that our walk of faith would be easy. To say as much is a lie propagated by those false teachers and preachers of the prosperity Gospel, men and women who say that health, wealth and prosperity can be ours in this life through Christ.
Christ left everything behind in the performance of his ministry, and told others that did likewise, “everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.” The Apostles lived austere lives, and all were martyred for their faith. The brightest lights of the Orthodox faith were the ones who sacrificed the most in the name of Christ, those who sacrificed of body, of ambition, of needs, of wealth and every worldly thing. Often when the world is at its darkest moments, the brightest lights shine through to dispel the shadows, such as those great Russian saints in Soviet Russia whom we venerate today. They have shown us that our way is not of this world, and have revealed that the greater our attachments to the things of this world, to the ambition and desires of self, the greater the sorrows of our struggle will be. The manner in which we respond to that struggle and suffering is a good barometer of our faith, and how close indeed we are to Christ in our lifelong pursuit of purification, and theotic illumination. Suffering and struggle proves the purity of the faith possessed of the faithful. It is a pure soul that meets hatred with love, injury with kindness, violence with peace, slander with silence, and insults with a smile.
How did the saints respond to their struggles within their own enduring faith? The Church recalls the response of Saint Lawrence, who was essentially grilled alive on a great gridiron over hot coals, entreated his torturers “I’m well done on this side. Turn me over!” The desert father Saint Macarius came across someone robbing his cell, so helped him load his beast of burden with his own possessions and sent him on his way, recalling to himself that “We brought nothing into this world but the Lord gave, as he willed, so it is done: blessed be the Lord in all things.” One Saint was threatened with death, and replied, “Ok, and then what will you do to me?” Abba Anthony says of those not able to bear insults, “You are like a village magnificently decorated on the outside but destroyed from within by robbers.” So it goes, on and on with examples from the hagiography of the Church. The more we are attached to the things and matters of this world, the easier sorrows find our soul.
Indeed, there are those who are murdered for their faith, their light extinguished by the very darkness they sought to enlighten, but I say they have it easy. Though they have made the ultimate and final sacrifice for their faith, they had but one choice to make. They can choose to live, clinging to the dead promises of this world, or they can choose life in Christ, and their struggle is over. They will are wreathed in the crowns of martyrdom. Though, this is not a common circumstance for most, as few will be forced to make such a sacrifice living in the relative comfort of their home.
Christ is the way, the truth, and the Life.. His is the way because He is risen, enduring the death of the cross for all men, to open the gates of paradise. He is life because He is risen, trampling down death by death! He is Risen because He is God incarnate in the flesh, he who condescended to become one of us, that we may be able to become like him. Though, while He is Risen do not forget that we are still fallen. He is Risen, but we will only rise with him through the patient and enduring struggle of our faith. Ours is a faith of action, a spiritual life that lives in friction against the world. It is in this friction, this very day to day struggle that we truly come to know ourselves and the depths of our own faith..
Ours is a vigilant faith. Ours is an enduring faith. When the darkness comes, we patiently wait for the coming dawn. When sadness finds us, we wait till joy finds us again. When chaos crashes around us, we await for the peace that the world cannot give. When the rain falls, we remember that the Lord is merciful, the Lord is just, and he rains on both the just and the unjust. Where the rain falls, the sun shines likewise, so while we recognize and remember that all things come from God, we also accept that these are not the measures of our spiritual life. Each is a test of our faith, good and bad, our struggles and successes, and each brings a suffering of its own. For we indeed were exhorted to carry our crosses daily. If Christ can carry his cross, even falling three times, on his miserable sojourn to his own death, then surely we can endure our own crosses, carrying them as we march to our eternal life.
So, as we distance ourselves from the end of Great Lent, let us not forget the gains we have made from our own struggles of faith, the ascetic practices undertaken and with which we sever our attachments to the things of this world. Such practices are our spiritual struggle through which we build up our faith and strength of spirit. Our struggles with the things of this world are the means by which that faith is tested, and in the perseverance of an enduring faith made even stronger. However, if you find yourself feeling as though you missed out, as though you failed in prayer, repentance, fasting, or any number of spiritual exercises for the building of our faith, then fear not. Great Lent will come again, and we will be reminded once again that He is risen! For, indeed our faith is an enduring faith, a journey of struggle and growth through which we grow into Christ. Even though Great Lent is behind us, our life in this world is still standing before us, so we must keep watch just as Saint John of Kronstadt exhorts us:
“Every day, hour, and minute, keep a strict watch and consider every thought, desire, and movement of the heart, every word and deed, and do not let yourself be defiled by one sinful thought, desire, or movement of the imagination, in word or deed, knowing that the Lord is the Righteous Judge Who is judging you every instant and is evaluating the inner man. Continually keep yourself pure for God.”
Faith is life. Faith is continual. Faith is enduring. Faith finds growth through struggle. We have faith because – He is risen! He is risen! He is risen! May we all live to rise with him.
Someone asked me elsewhere in response to my previous entry the following question: ” Is there not also a case that we lost the beauty of simplicity and adaptability?”
Length of prayers does not mean a lack of simplicity, for we have the whole world to pray for in addition to the Church and her people. More time in prayer does not mean an insufficiency of beauty, but quite the opposite. If the Church is a living icon of the eternal worship, then what matter is a sacrifice of time or words to us? Everything has been given to us, shouldn’t we be wont to do likewise?
