tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080721764061244562024-03-16T12:06:20.315-07:00Eastern Christian Insights Homilies and Commentaries on the Orthodox Christian Life Today Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.comBlogger439125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-83719096175778088862024-03-16T11:44:00.000-07:002024-03-16T12:05:49.262-07:00Homily for the Sunday of Forgiveness in the Orthodox Church <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKur8evYAZu98XeqsnNB0mrK_-tUB5tJN9cd_bqbHP9dSssGTGYHvepvDjr9-It54jNpb9OpI8U25f241enhWKdvnncTYRiQ9Zwb1elNnboR0RfCbVRmHrO0POSnIjXsNXkFsIjBJS1g_mcMFphxkQ4VWUhn3uFKkSyiEBXg6Sf9985wTCZ1a1kKPwokg/s350/FORGIVENESS.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="319" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKur8evYAZu98XeqsnNB0mrK_-tUB5tJN9cd_bqbHP9dSssGTGYHvepvDjr9-It54jNpb9OpI8U25f241enhWKdvnncTYRiQ9Zwb1elNnboR0RfCbVRmHrO0POSnIjXsNXkFsIjBJS1g_mcMFphxkQ4VWUhn3uFKkSyiEBXg6Sf9985wTCZ1a1kKPwokg/s320/FORGIVENESS.jpg" width="292" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Romans 13:11-14:4</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">; Matthew 6:14-21<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b> On
the last several Sundays, our gospel readings have challenged us to return home
from our self-imposed exile. Zacchaeus
gave more than justice required to the poor and those whom he had exploited
from his ill-gotten gains, and was restored as a son of Abraham. By her persistence and humility, the
Canaanite woman received the deliverance of her daughter as a sign that Christ calls
all people to return home to Him in faith.
The publican returned to his spiritual home by humbly calling for the
Lord’s mercy, even as the Pharisee exiled himself by his pride. The prodigal son took the long journey home
after coming to his senses about the misery of being in exile from the father
whom he had abandoned. We recalled last Sunday that the ultimate standard of
judgment for entering into our true home of eternal blessedness is whether the
Savior’s restoration and fulfillment of the human person in the divine image
and likeness has permeated our lives and character. Today’s gospel reading reminds us to embrace
forgiveness, fasting, and almsgiving in ways that direct us back to the Paradise
from which Adam and Eve were cast out when they stripped themselves naked of
the divine glory and entered into an existence so tragically enslaved to the
fear of death that their son Cain murdered his brother Abel. Within a few generations, their descendant
Lamech proclaimed that he would avenge anyone who wronged him seventy-seven
fold. (Gen. 4: 24) We do not have to
look very closely at our world, our personal relationships, and our own hearts
to see how we have followed in their path of corruption as we stubbornly
persist in exiling ourselves from the eternal blessedness which God offers to us
all. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> The season of Lent calls us to take
steps, no matter how small and faltering they may be, along the path back to
Paradise.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">As the Lord offered up Himself
on the Cross, He said to the penitent thief, “Truly I tell you, you will be
with me today in Paradise.” (Lk. 23:43) Hades and the grave could not contain
the Savior Who entered fully into death, for He is not merely human but also
God.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The icon of Christ’s resurrection portrays
Him lifting up Adam and Eve from their tombs. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The joy of His empty tomb places all our
wanderings and sorrows in light of hope for “the resurrection of the dead and
the life of the world to come.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span> Our
first parents refused to fulfill their calling to become like God in holiness
and instead distorted themselves and the entire creation. We participate in the Savior’s restoration of
the human person in the divine image and likeness when we receive the garment
of light in baptism as we rise up with Him into the new life of holiness for
which He created us. Christ covers our nakedness and restores us to the dignity
of beloved children of the Father who may know the joy of Paradise even now. Upon
being baptized and then filled with the Holy Spirit in chrismation, we receive
the Eucharist as participants in the Heavenly Banquet. In every celebration of the Divine Liturgy,
we return mystically to our true home. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Doing so reveals that our calling is nothing
less than to become perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect. Because He is
infinitely holy, we must never think that we have reached that goal.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">So much of the corruption of the old Adam
remains within us, for we do not live daily as those clothed with a robe of light,
but prefer the pain and weaknesses of choosing our own will over God’s. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We typically prefer to live according to our
passions in ways that direct us back to exile, not to our true home of the blessedness
of the Kingdom of Heaven.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span> That
is why we must all approach Lent with a deep awareness of how we far we are
from sharing fully in the New Adam’s completion of our vocation to become like
God in holiness. The only way to escape
our self-imposed exile is to take intentional steps to share more fully in the
life of the One Who has opened up Paradise through His glorious resurrection. As St. Paul taught, we must “put on the armor
of light” and “make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” That means mindfully investing our energy,
time, and attention in ways that strengthen us spiritually as we conform our
character more fully to Christ’s. It means refusing to invest our energy, time,
and attention in whatever weakens us spiritually and makes us less like Him. Lent calls us to give ourselves so fully to
prayer, fasting, generosity, and other spiritual disciplines that we will have
nothing left for “the works of darkness” that fuel our passions and bring only
despair.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span> A
holy Lent is not about going through the motions of religion in order to gain
the praise of others or even of ourselves; such vain hypocrisy will never help
us gain the spiritual strength necessary to love and forgive our enemies. The
same Lord Who said from the Cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what
they do,” tells us that we must forgive others their offenses against us if we
want the Father to forgive our sins. (Lk.
23:34) Refusing to forgive others is a sign that we are not pursuing the
journey home from exile. If His merciful
love is not becoming characteristic of us, then we are not orienting our lives
toward Paradise. Forgiveness is certainly
a difficult struggle that will open our eyes to how strong our inclinations are
to remain estranged from God and neighbor.
If we refuse even to crawl slowly along its path, we will know only the misery of slavery to our own desires and
refuse to enter into the eternal joy of the resurrection. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span> Precisely
because it is so hard to forgive as we hope to be forgiven, we need spiritual
disciplines like fasting, prayer, and almsgiving to direct us to our true fulfillment
in God. Our first parents’ self-centered
refusal to restrain their desire for food enslaved them to death and
corruption. We have tragically
reproduced their spiritual and personal brokenness from generation to
generation. Struggling to abstain from satisfying
ourselves with rich food during Lent will help us see more clearly how far we
are from Paradise due to our addiction to gratifying our self-centered desires. It should also help us grow in patience and humility
in relation to neighbors who have treated us according to their passions. Humility fuels forgiveness, but pride makes
forgiveness impossible by blinding us to the truth about our souls. In
Forgiveness Vespers, we ask for and extend forgiveness to one another
personally. Since we are members together of the Body of Christ, we weaken one
another whenever we refuse to embrace the Lord’s healing. We do not have to give obvious offense in
order to do that, which is why we must all learn to see that pride invariably weakens
our ability to share in a communion of love with our neighbors. It is precisely
our pride that keeps us in exile from God and one another. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span> Even
as we stand on the threshold of beginning the Lenten journey that leads us back
to our true home, we must be prepared for our passions to fight back mightily
when we wrestle with them. Pursuing
spiritual disciplines brings our weaknesses to the surface, often leading to
anger at others as a way of distracting us from reckoning with our own
sins. As St. John Chrysostom asked, “<span style="background: white; color: #222222;">What good is it if we abstain from birds
and fishes, but bite and devour our brothers and sisters?” We must mindfully struggle to keep our mouths
shut whenever we are tempted to criticize or condemn one another this Lent. Whenever we fall prey to our passions, we
must ask forgiveness of those we have offended and get back on the path to
Paradise with renewed commitment. No
matter how many times we wander from the narrow way, we must return to it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222;"> </span>Lent calls us to “put on
the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its
desires.” We must do so in order to return to Paradise
through His Passion. When we set out to
pray, fast, give, and forgive with integrity, we will learn quickly how much we
still share in the corruption of the old Adam.
That should help us see how ridiculous it is not to extend to others the
same mercy that we ask for ourselves. If
we refuse to do so, we risk shutting ourselves out of Paradise. In preparation for the struggles of the
coming weeks, let us humble ourselves and forgive one another so that we may
acquire the spiritual strength to “cast off the works of darkness and
put on the armor of light.” Let us begin our Lenten journey with the
joyful hope that “now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand.” May every step of the journey lead us further
away from exile and closer to our true home, the Paradise that our Lord has
opened to us through His glorious resurrection on the third day. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-69247068601949644192024-03-02T14:21:00.000-08:002024-03-02T19:58:14.132-08:00Homily for the Sunday of the Prodigal Son in the Orthodox Church<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw2VtmBmaU41Iqc3Nk5lmQiIb8bJEL-JHTBCuI5a9KIQGUvGva7THk-IHhW8AFij3pmZ0KhVQsu8Fh_dBCBxN9R1EPrhTUkgJQdw87kG8xH2d7oYRNkOqsH3a8GhoLAoSM5yfxhX9C9s_TKqxe5UUuGhkzsb32Mzy92IbUwRtAD4T2GdFcW2fqdWaXxuU/s604/prodigal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw2VtmBmaU41Iqc3Nk5lmQiIb8bJEL-JHTBCuI5a9KIQGUvGva7THk-IHhW8AFij3pmZ0KhVQsu8Fh_dBCBxN9R1EPrhTUkgJQdw87kG8xH2d7oYRNkOqsH3a8GhoLAoSM5yfxhX9C9s_TKqxe5UUuGhkzsb32Mzy92IbUwRtAD4T2GdFcW2fqdWaXxuU/s320/prodigal.jpg" width="238" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Luke 15:11-32<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"> The themes of
exile and return are prominent throughout the entire narrative of the
Bible.</span><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Adam and Eve were cast out of
Paradise.</span><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">The Hebrews were enslaved in
Egypt until Moses led them back to the Promised Land.</span><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">The kingdoms of Israel and Judah went into
exile in Assyria and Babylon, respectively, with only Judah returning home.</span><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">The Jews endured a kind of exile when the
Romans occupied their land and longed for restoration through a new King
David.</span><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Our Lord provided the true
restoration of a kingdom not of this world, leading all with faith in Him back
to Paradise through His Cross and glorious resurrection.</span><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">The canon of the New Testament concludes with
the Revelation or Apocalypse, which portrays the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, the
joyful fulfillment of all things in Him.</span><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">As we continue preparing
for our Lenten journey, the Parable of the Prodigal Son reminds us that true
repentance is a matter of returning home from self-imposed exile.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">It shows us who God is and how we have all chosen
to turn away from a loving relationship with Him due to our insistence on
serving our own self-centered and foolish desires, no matter how miserable and
weak they have made us. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The parable calls
us never to fall into despair, no matter how depraved we have become, because we
remain the beloved sons and daughters of a Father Who wants nothing more than
for us to return from exile and embrace our true relationship with Him.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The younger son had
done his best to reject his father completely, for he had treated him simply as
a source of money for funding a decadent way of life that gratified his
passions.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He did not relate to his
father as a beloved person, but only as the source of his inheritance. That was
essentially the same as wishing that his father was dead; it was the very worst
insult that he could have given the old man.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The prodigal son rejected his identity as a beloved son so that he could
live as an isolated individual who was free to indulge his passions in any way
that he saw fit with no responsibilities toward anyone. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Once he burned through the cash, however, he faced
the harsh realities of being a stranger in a strange land during a famine.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He sunk so low that he envied the food of the
pigs he tended.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Jews considered pigs
unclean and this scene shows that he had repudiated not only his father, but
all the blessings promised to the children of Abraham.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">In the midst of
his misery, the young man finally came to himself and realized that he would be
better off as a lowly servant in his father’s house, where there was bread to
spare, than in some Gentile’s pig pen starving to death.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He recognized how he had broken his
relationship with his father and no longer had any claim to be his son.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Reality had slapped him in the face to the
point that he gained a new level of spiritual clarity, for he understood the shameful
gravity of what he had done.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Then he
began the long journey home in humility. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">That is when the
young man got the greatest shock of his life.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">In ways that contracted all the customs and sensibilities of that
culture, the father ran out to hug and kiss the son who had so gravely insulted
him.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The old man must have scanned the
horizon every day in hope of his son’s return. Despite the son’s despicable behavior,
the father did not view or treat him according to what he deserved.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He did not even consider receiving him as a
servant, but said, “‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a
ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it,
and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he
was lost, and is found.’” The party began, but the older son was offended by
the injustice of the celebration, as he claimed to have always obeyed his
father and was never given a party.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">This
fellow missed the point of the father’s joy, for “It was fitting to make merry
and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is
found.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He had returned from exile to
the Promised Land and been restored as a descendant of Abraham.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">It was simply obvious to the father that this
was a time to celebrate.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The parable
reminds us that our return from exile to the joy of our Lord’s Kingdom is not a
reward for good behavior.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We have all
sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3:23) Each of us is the
prodigal son, for like him we have chosen to repudiate our identity as the
children of God in order to live as anonymous, isolated individuals according
to our own desires.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">It does not matter
what we have put before God, for if we have put love for anything before Him then
we have rejected our vocation to know the great joy of becoming like our Lord
in holiness. The passing pleasures the prodigal son sought were base and
brought him into obvious misery, even as our first parents’ unrestrained desire
for the forbidden fruit resulted in their expulsion from Paradise into our
world of corruption.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">His behavior was
obviously shameful, but our habitual sins are equally dangerous, if not more so,
due to their subtlety in turning us away from our calling to share more fully
in the life of Christ.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">That is
especially the case if we distort the spiritual disciplines of Lent into
opportunities to become more like the older brother in slavery to vainglory and
self-righteous judgment by wanting a reward for our apparent virtues and
condemning our neighbors for their failings.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He refused to enter into the celebration of the return from exile of a beloved
child of God.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He referred to the
prodigal as “this son of yours,” for he had become blind to his calling to love
him as a brother.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We can easily do the
same thing to our neighbors, thus shutting ourselves out of the joy of the Kingdom
where, thanks be to God, none of us hopes to get what we deserve.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The father
restored the prodigal son by clothing him in a fine robe, shoes, and a
ring.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The young man had surely been
half-naked in stinking, filthy rags during his journey home. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Adam and Eve had stripped themselves naked of
the divine glory when they put gratifying their own desires before obedience to
God.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">In baptism, we receive the robe of
light they rejected as we put on Christ like a garment, but still we refuse to
live each day as those who have been restored to such great dignity as the
beloved children of God.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The father had
the fatted calf slain for a great celebration.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Like the confused Gentile converts of Corinth whom St. Paul had to remind
about the holiness of their bodies, we must remember that “</span><span style="background: white; color: #001320; text-indent: 0.5in;">Christ, our Passover, was
sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old
leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Cor. 5: 7-8) In the
banquet of the Eucharist, we already participate mystically in the </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Wedding
Feast of the Lamb, being nourished by His own Body and Blood.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Yet we all fall short of our calling to live each
day in communion with Christ as members of His own Body, the Church.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Like the prodigal son, we so often think,
speak, and act as isolated, anonymous individuals enslaved to the self-centered
desires that have taken our hearts captive.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">No matter how appealing or noble we find the objects of our desires to be,
we obscure the distinctive beauty of our souls when we act more like bundles of
inflamed passion than as beloved children of our Father. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">As we prepare to
follow our Lord back to Paradise through to His Cross and empty tomb, we must recognize
like the prodigal son that we have exiled ourselves and then begin the long
journey home.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Like him, we must not
allow the fear of rejection to deter us.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Like the father in the parable, God is not a vengeful tyrant set on retribution.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“God is love” (1 Jn. 4:8) and constantly
reaches out to us, calling us to accept restoration as His sons and daughters. All
He asks is that we repent by reorienting the course of our lives toward the
blessedness of His Heavenly Kingdom.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">With
King David, we must pray, “Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my
transgressions; according to Your mercy remember me, for Your goodness’ sake,
O Lord.” (Ps. 24) “A contrite and humble heart, O God, You will not despise.”
(Ps. 50) We must mindfully refuse to allow the hurt pride called shame keep us
from returning to our true home. Now is the time to leave behind the filth and
misery of the pig pen and to enter by grace into the joy of a heavenly banquet
that none of us deserves.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Now is the
time to end our self-imposed exile and direct our steps to the Wedding Feast of
the Lamb, our true home.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-60844357827986438982024-02-24T13:15:00.000-08:002024-02-25T05:39:46.958-08:00“God Resists the Proud, But Gives Grace to the Humble”: Homily for the Sunday of the Pharisee and the Publican in the Orthodox Church<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">2 Timothy 3:10-15<b>; </b></span><span class="bodytextbold1"><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Luke</span></span><b>
</b><span class="bodytextbold1"><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">18:10-14<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4q_xiimI32xQ2gs48Whv1LXNV5JQaRQCHGuOBmQ3Try73vl9vCO5M0DLLk-I15VJOukaZMVKmPAZJyu_r2b-smdxOEfVmuyj3EbW2FiBJUDzrQvadMa0Zc-xM9crlNig-3WvFerFLKXej0Tkiok2_d9TbxIKGU0fEwQD5M5S7IrDgjMoZo8a3ZXWUNbI/s817/publicanandpharisee.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="817" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4q_xiimI32xQ2gs48Whv1LXNV5JQaRQCHGuOBmQ3Try73vl9vCO5M0DLLk-I15VJOukaZMVKmPAZJyu_r2b-smdxOEfVmuyj3EbW2FiBJUDzrQvadMa0Zc-xM9crlNig-3WvFerFLKXej0Tkiok2_d9TbxIKGU0fEwQD5M5S7IrDgjMoZo8a3ZXWUNbI/s320/publicanandpharisee.jpg" width="235" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: black;">Today we begin the Lenten Triodion, the three-week period of preparation for the spiritual journey that prepares us to follow
Christ to His Cross and victory over death at Pascha. The first step in our
preparation is to remember that “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the
humble.” (Jas. 4:6) <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Today the Church
reminds us of how easy it is to distort the spiritual disciplines of Lent in a
fashion that makes them nothing but hindrances to the healing of our souls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today we are warned that it is entirely
possible to distort prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and other spiritual
disciplines according to our own pride such that these tools of salvation
become nothing but instruments for rejecting the healing mercy of the Savior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Contrary to what we would like to
believe, embracing these practices with integrity is not a way to impress God,
ourselves, or our neighbors.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">It is not a
way of accomplishing anything at all by conventional human standards.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Pursuing spiritual disciplines does not in any
way justify us in having any negative opinion whatsoever about anyone
else.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Far from exalting ourselves, our
most feeble attempts at purifying the desires of our hearts will quickly reveal
the weakness of our souls. At the very least, they will bring to the surface
how disinclined we are to be fully present to God, how addicted we are to
satisfying our various appetites, and how much more we care for our own possessions
and comfort than for the wellbeing of our neighbors.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We will then face the choice of how to
respond to these challenging revelations.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">If we want to pursue Lent for the healing of our souls, we must refuse to
fall prey to the common temptation to turn our disciplines into ways of blinding
ourselves from the truth about where stand before the Lord, as did the Pharisee
in today’s gospel reading.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Pharisees were experts in the
Old Testament law, which they interpreted very strictly in terms of outward
behavior.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Pharisee was correct to
fast, tithe, pray, and live a morally upright life.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The problem is that he did so in ways that
served his pride to the point of grave spiritual blindness. Instead of pursuing
these disciplines in humility so that he would gain the spiritual clarity to
see himself truthfully before God, he used them as justification to condemn a
neighbor.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Doing so revealed only his own
sinfulness.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We can easily fall into the
same trap this Lent, for there is a strong temptation to ignore the brokenness
of our own souls as we obsess about the apparent failings of others.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">As those who confess that we are each “the
chief of sinners” before receiving Communion, we must focus on our own need for
the Lord’s healing mercy and refuse to become the self-appointed judges of our
neighbors. When we embrace such proud delusions, it becomes impossible for us
to follow our Lord to His Passion in a true spiritual sense. Doing so amounts
to refusing to receive His grace, for we will then be so full of pride that we will
imagine we have already reached the heights of holiness by our own accomplishments.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Even
as we think that we are models of righteousness, we will worship only ourselves
as we deny our need for the Savior’s victory over death.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Like the Pharisee, we will use the word
“God,” but in reality we will pray only to ourselves as we wander ever deeper
into spiritual blindness.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The more we devote ourselves to spiritual
disciplines, the greater the temptation will likely be to focus on the apparent
failings of others in order to distract ourselves from the struggle to become
fully present to God, stripped naked of all our pretensions and usual efforts
of self-justification.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We need profound
humility to become fully present to the One Who is “Holy, Holy, Holy” as we
“lay aside all earthly cares” to focus on the one thing needful.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">When even a glimmer of the brilliant light of
the Divine Glory begins to shine through the eyes of our souls, the darkness
within us becomes obvious. The temptation is strong to shift our attention to
whatever we think will hide us from that kind of spiritual vulnerability.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Publican was an easy target for
the Pharisee, for tax collectors were Jews who collected money from their own
people to fund the Roman army of occupation.
Like Zacchaeus, they collected more than was required and lived off the
difference. The Pharisee believed that he was justified in looking down on
someone who was both a traitor and a thief, even as we typically think that we
are justified in condemning those we love to hate. Ironically, this tax collector would not have
denied the charge. He knew he was a wretched sinner, and his only apparent virtue
was that he knew he had none. Standing
off by himself in the temple, the man would </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“not even lift up his eyes
to Heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner.’”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> Despite his
miserable way of life, the tax collector somehow mustered the spiritual
strength to do something the Pharisee could not:</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He exposed his soul to the blinding light of
God from the depths of his heart without trying to distract himself from the
truth.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Christ said that the Publican,
not the Pharisee, went home justified that day.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">That was not because he had done more good deeds, obeyed more laws, or
been more conventionally religious or moral, but because he had the humility to
encounter God honestly as the sinner that he was.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Such humility is absolutely essential for opening
our souls to the healing mercy of Christ.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Without it, pride will destroy
the virtue of everything that we do and plunge us into even greater spiritual
darkness and delusion.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">But with it,
there is hope for us all to receive the healing mercy of the Lord.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">There is surely no
greater sign of the folly of exalting ourselves and condemning others in the
name of religion than the Passion of Christ. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Highly religious people like Pharisees and
chief priests rejected Him and called for His crucifixion because they had blinded
themselves spiritually with their pride and lust for power. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">It was not the tax collectors and other public
sinners who wanted Him dead, but those who were so self-righteous that they could
accept only a Messiah who confirmed that they were deserving of glory and praise.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">They defined themselves as holy over against “the
sinners,” even though they were the guiltiest of all due to their pride.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Had they come to recognize that and cry out
to the Lord from the depths of their hearts for mercy like the publican, they
surely would have received it.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">There is no
clearer warning to us about the dangers of pride corrupting our Lenten
disciplines than today’s gospel reading.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The point is not, of course, that we should all become public criminals,
but that we must use our ascetical practices to grow in our humility as those
who know only our need for the healing mercy of the One Who offered Himself
fully on the Cross and rose in glory for our salvation. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Whenever we catch ourselves thinking that at
least we are better than that person or group of people, we must focus our
minds on the words of the Jesus Prayer or otherwise call out to the Lord from
our hearts “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">If we have identified some earthly agenda with God’s Kingdom such that
we exalt ourselves in our own minds over adherents of competing agendas, we
must likewise fall on our faces in humility. We must embrace such spiritual
clarity not only with our rational minds, but also with our hearts this Lent. As
the Savior said, </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“He who
exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Now is the time to prepare for a spiritually
beneficial Lent that will help us grow in the humility necessary to see
ourselves clearly as we reorient our lives toward the great joy of Pascha, for </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 24pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-22600933846056368672024-02-17T17:59:00.000-08:002024-02-17T17:59:54.754-08:00Holiness Requires Humility and Persistence: Homily for the Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost & Seventeenth Sunday of Matthew in the Orthodox Church<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh687vnQoFQnltPDNbP3rVpHJtaye3__6YkMkEgPp_EBOEHvqwB05fK4_htSyok-avkM_ldRqqrcbMoN6PzfrbiUjiE2J-u_uXasITyHcvLtsBYCwRc-NPOIwwZljAH1MJYtYnsXLZukopkBQACPTQPakfF-BN8NOaOIiSWrcs1_-GTI5a79k9hfaeSwFM/s500/canaanite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="500" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh687vnQoFQnltPDNbP3rVpHJtaye3__6YkMkEgPp_EBOEHvqwB05fK4_htSyok-avkM_ldRqqrcbMoN6PzfrbiUjiE2J-u_uXasITyHcvLtsBYCwRc-NPOIwwZljAH1MJYtYnsXLZukopkBQACPTQPakfF-BN8NOaOIiSWrcs1_-GTI5a79k9hfaeSwFM/s320/canaanite.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1; </span>Matthew
15:21-28<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Unless we are very careful, it is easy to fall prey to the temptation of
defining holiness in ways that serve our preconceived notions, which may have
very little to do with finding the healing of our souls by sharing more fully in
the life of the Savior by grace.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We
often see righteousness through the lens of our own sensibilities about worldly
divisions and disputes in ways that have more to do with serving our own
passions than with serving the Lord.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Today’s
Scripture readings challenge us to wake up from such delusions and to see
ourselves clearly before His infinite holiness. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">In
order to understanding these readings, we must remember that as Gentiles we would
be complete strangers to the promises to Abraham apart from the coming of Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is only by faith in Him, as the One Who
fulfills those promises, that we are now heirs to the great spiritual heritage
of the Hebrews. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We read today</span> about
a Gentile woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon who wanted the Lord to cast a
demon out of her daughter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was
likely of higher social class than were the Jews of the area and there was a
history of severe tension between these groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That surely colored the scene
when this Canaanite woman called on the Jewish Messiah as “Son of David” to
deliver her daughter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first, He did
not answer her at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the
disciples made the situation even more tense by begging Him to send her away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is when the Savior said, “I was sent
only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then she knelt before Him and simply said, “Lord, help me.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christ then put her to the test by saying,
“It is not fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a pagan, she and her people were thought
by the Jews to be as unclean as dogs and spiritually inferior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Lord spoke to her in terms that pressed
the point of her presumed vast distance from the God of Israel as a Gentile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The same thing, of course, would have been
presumed about us and our ancestors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">With those stinging
words, He challenged her to state a revolutionary theological truth that hardly
anyone else at the time understood.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">She responded with these words: “Yes, Lord,
yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">With that statement, she acknowledged that,
if God’s blessings applied only to those of Hebrew heritage, she had no more
claim on them than dogs had to the food of their owner. Nonetheless, even they could
lick up the crumbs that fell from the table.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">This Gentile woman knew better than our Lord’s disciples that the ancient
promises to Abraham were ultimately for the salvation of all.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Lord then praised her great faith and
healed her daughter.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He had spoken harshly
to her in order to challenge her to see and articulate the shocking truth that His
salvation extended even to Gentiles with humble faith in Him.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">That was not only for her benefit, but also
for His disciples, who needed to see that His salvation extended even to a
hated foreigner and includes people like you and me.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The church in Corinth
was composed primarily of Gentiles like this woman.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">St. Paul’s correspondence with them is filled
with admonitions to stop living like pagans and embrace their identity as God’s
temple, the Body of Christ.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He had to
address matters including: political divisions within the church; members suing
one another; tolerance of incest; men having relations with prostitutes in pagan
temples; abuses in the celebration of Communion; arguments over which spiritual
gifts were most important; and denial of our hope for bodily resurrection.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Corinthians were in a complete mess, hardly
being a shining example of holiness.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">If
you ever wondered why there were spirited debates about what to require of Gentiles
who became Christians in the first century, the problems in Corinth are your
answer.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Even when the apostles decided
not to require circumcision and obedience to dietary and other Old Testament
laws, they did insist that Gentile converts abandon sexual immorality and any
involvement with the worship of idols.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">It is in this
very broken context of a compromised Gentile Christian community that St. Paul reminds
his readers that they “are the temple of the living God.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Despite their many failings, he calls them to
embrace their identity in fulfillment of Hebrew prophecy: “[A]s God said, ‘I
will live in them and move among them, and I will be their God, and they shall
be My people. Therefore, come out from them, and be separate from them…and
touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be My sons and daughters…’” Pointing to this foundational point
of their identity, St. Paul declares that “Since we have these promises,
beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and
make holiness perfect in the fear of God.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Christ did not require
the Canaanite woman to convert to Judaism as a condition for delivering her
daughter.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We know nothing about this woman’s
life, but as a Gentile she may well have participated in rituals and behaviors
of the sort that corrupted the Corinthians.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Lord’s mercy to her was not something that she had earned by
following religious laws.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">She was able
to receive His mercy because of her humility, which enabled her to confess the
truth about where she stood before the Lord.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">She offered herself fully and without excuse, kneeling in humility
before a Jew and pleading for the blessings of the one true God, which was a
completely absurd thing to do according to all the common assumptions of that
time and place.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">That is how her
spiritual vision was clarified to the point that she knew the truth about how
our Lord’s mercy extends to all with faith in Him, even the despised Gentiles.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">She is a very different character from St.
Symeon, but like him she recognized that Christ is </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">the salvation “of all peoples, a
light to enlighten the Gentiles and the glory of Thy people Israel.” </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Likewise,
the mercy of the Lord is so great that He enabled even the notoriously confused</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
Gentile Christians of Corinth to become “the temple of the living God.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Their ancestry and imperfection were not the
point; what was important is that they had received Christ in faith, putting Him
on like a garment in baptism.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Likewise, whatever
heritage or culture we claim, whatever struggles and failures we have had,
whatever wounds we bear, however our hearts are broken for those we have
wronged or for the suffering of our loved ones, we must remember our true
identity in Christ and “cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and
spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Forgetting the past, we must focus on doing
what we can today to live as God’s holy temple as we offer ourselves,
especially the weak and distorted dimensions of our lives, in humility for
Christ’s healing.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">To do so does
not mean feeling sorry for ourselves or becoming paralyzed by hurt pride when
we confront how we have fallen short, whether in the past or today.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">It does not mean despairing of healing in the
future.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">It does not mean giving up when
we fail to resist any temptation or when we do not seem to be progressing on a
schedule that we have set.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">It means
instead that, as we come to see with a measure of clarity where we stand before
the Lord, we refuse to stop calling for His mercy from the depths of our hearts
as we undertake the daily struggle to turn away from sin and share more fully
in His salvation.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">It means that we let
nothing keep us from embracing our true identity as God’s temple, as members of
Christ’s Body.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">In Him, we are no </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">longer
strangers and foreigners but beloved sons and daughters of God called to “make
holiness perfect in the fear of God.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Let
us live accordingly.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 24.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-22985431692714726202024-02-10T13:20:00.000-08:002024-02-11T12:43:17.391-08:00If We Do Not Invest Ourselves In the Life of the Kingdom, We Risk Losing Our Souls: Homily for the Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost & Sixteenth Sunday of Matthew in the Orthodox Church<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8h1388nbnw1duKF6g2CoxZr6W2VWny5DBsTHqVS3R56ci4YhimoEkixoCfi6ypcD6teOCr7k5d09PZ0o4l9hJiFM5hbiiwap20hxUTPSQ2Pr_ocUCp_ftf4_3ByS9UWZPsBuy-N3H6c0grMBdWb0LSmxoIMcLd8nDXMQqQg9diipPvruLgYZmmL9WXg/s300/talents.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="240" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8h1388nbnw1duKF6g2CoxZr6W2VWny5DBsTHqVS3R56ci4YhimoEkixoCfi6ypcD6teOCr7k5d09PZ0o4l9hJiFM5hbiiwap20hxUTPSQ2Pr_ocUCp_ftf4_3ByS9UWZPsBuy-N3H6c0grMBdWb0LSmxoIMcLd8nDXMQqQg9diipPvruLgYZmmL9WXg/s1600/talents.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="background: white; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"></p><p align="center" style="background: white; text-align: center;"></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">2
Corinthians 6:1-10; Matthew 25:14-30<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">
It is easy to overlook how often the Lord used money and
possessions to convey a spiritual message.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Perhaps that is because almost everyone struggles with being overly
attached to material things, for they can meet our basic physical needs and provide
comfort and a sense of security.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to
our self-centered desires, however, they so easily become false gods as we make
them the measure of our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Christ
taught, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also….You cannot
serve both God and mammon.” (Matt. 6: 21, 24) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Today’s
gospel reading uses precisely such imagery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three servants received large
sums of money, called talents, from their master when he went away on a long journey.
He was a shrewd businessman and expected them to make the most of
what he had entrusted to them. One invested so wisely that his five
talents turned into ten. The one given two talents did the same and
earned two more. They both doubled their money and earned the praise of
their master when he returned. But the third servant, who had only one
talent to invest, was not such a good steward. Out of fear that he might
lose what little he had, he simply buried the money in the ground and produced nothing
at all. The master scolded him for not even putting the money in the bank and
earning interest. Then he took away his talent and gave it to the first
servant. Near the end of the parable, we read that “to everyone who has, more
will be given and he will have abundance, but from him who does not have, even
what he has will be taken away.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The
Lord used this story about investing money as a way to convey the importance of
being a faithful steward of all our blessings. Life itself and all our abilities
and possessions come from the Lord. Ever since He created us in His image
and likeness, He has called us to invest ourselves in ways that enable us to
flourish as His sons and daughters as we share more fully in His life. He calls
us to an abundant life that bears fruit for the Kingdom, blesses others, and
radiates the light of holiness throughout the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Before
such a high calling, we may feel as inadequate as the servant who buried his
one talent in the ground out of fear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like
him, we do not want to lose what we have, and it is usually less stressful to
guard against loss than to take the risk of investing for gain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we choose to remain as we have been, perhaps
thinking that whatever we do will never amount to much anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe we imagine that only people whose circumstances
and experiences are not as broken as our own could ever really invest
themselves in the service of the Kingdom in ways that would bear good fruit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps we have tried and failed so many
times that we have given up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">If
we see ourselves in the cowardly servant who buried his one talent in the
ground, we must recognize that what he did led to the very opposite of what he
had hope for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He brought only further weakness
and loss upon himself, losing even the one talent and being cast out into the
darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A person who is unable to move
physically for a long period of time loses muscle mass and strength, knowing only
greater weakness and pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The same is
true of our life in Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trying to
play it safe by being spiritually stagnant never works. If we are not
actively offering our gifts and abilities to the Lord, we will diminish
ourselves to the point that we lose what little spiritual strength we had. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">What
St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians in today’s epistle reading applies to each of
us, regardless of whether we have one or ten talents, regardless of whether we
think that our present situation is especially conducive to becoming a channel
of blessing to anybody. As St. Paul put it, “Behold, now is the
acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. 6:2) If we
are going to be faithful stewards, we have to begin with our lives as they are
now. To wait until all problems have been resolved and we have time,
energy, and resources to spare is to accept an illusion, for our lives will
never be without challenges. Cowardly servants will always find reasons
to be afraid and to bury their talents in the ground. The more that we
weaken ourselves by doing that, the harder it will be ever to invest ourselves
in ways that bear fruit for the Kingdom. It is nothing but a lie and a
delusion to think otherwise.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">St.
Paul endured beatings, imprisonment, attempts on his life, shipwreck, and so
many other difficulties before he died as a martyr. He did not wait until
life was completely peaceful and calm before serving God and blessing his
neighbors. He describes the life of the apostles “as dying, and behold we
live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as
poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”
(2 Cor. 6:10)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Though
the details are different, our calling is ultimately the same as his. No
matter how sad, sick, frustrated, deprived, or conflicted we may be, the Lord calls
us all to invest our lives in the service of His Kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will not do that with the prominence of
St. Paul, but that is beside the point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
servant with only one talent was still called to be as faithful with what he
had as the one who had ten. Like it or not, we have the lives in this
world that we have and we can change nothing about the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What we can do is to refuse to be paralyzed
by fear and insecurity as we offer ourselves to become more faithful stewards
of God’s blessings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">We
must never diminish the importance of even the seemingly smallest investments
of ourselves that we make for the Kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Everyone can devote a few minutes daily to cultivating the habits of prayer
and reading the Scriptures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By taking
even small steps to follow the fasting guidelines of the Church or to endure illness
or other difficult trials patiently, we can all embrace self-denial in ways
appropriate to our spiritual health and life circumstances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone has opportunities to refuse to
harbor hateful thoughts about their enemies and to pray for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our lives are filled with opportunities to
repent as we purify the desires of our hearts and reorient ourselves toward the
love of God and neighbor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">We
should never refuse to do what we can today to become better stewards of our
talents because they seem so small or because we have failed to do so in the
past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the parable shows, the way to
gain greater spiritual strength is to be “faithful over a little,” making the
most of what God has entrusted to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
St. Paul wrote, “Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of
salvation.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No matter what we think of
our gifts and limitations, we all face the same question of whether we are going
to offer ourselves as best we can for growth in union with the Lord, becoming
like the bread and wine of the Eucharist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They do not look like much on their own, but when transformed by the
Holy Spirit they become the Body and Blood of Christ, our true participation in
the Heavenly Banquet.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">We
do not have to be spiritual superheroes in order be faithful stewards of our
talents and play our role in fulfilling God’s purposes for the world. We
simply have to offer in obedience what only we can offer to the Lord—namely,
ourselves-- and let Him do the rest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then we will receive back infinitely more than what we had offered in
the first place. And our life in this world, no matter how humble, will
then produce fruit for the Kingdom even “thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
(Mark 4:8) Surely, there is no better investment than that. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p><p></p>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-77993050963435034212024-02-03T14:15:00.000-08:002024-02-03T14:15:39.218-08:00Offering Ourselves to God and Neighbor like Zacchaeus: Homily for the Fifteenth Sunday of Luke and After-feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Orthodox Church<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizZ19J94HOHytDeDeuQO9YKEQ3LhuGrBA6hyV_lNbJYObY3LdB5WsPvPS1RSXYPek2IAvnAegu2MstOJo3qVb8tJITvTUzboj2ps9DU4Qgg1BG78-vTIhyphenhyphenQ729BdaGeZLI6RpuRxEPyzSZOr3A-vcGyteRa1u_jklwohNfR3zWAXiB-l1aPLz7EGAASE4/s400/zaecheasus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="309" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizZ19J94HOHytDeDeuQO9YKEQ3LhuGrBA6hyV_lNbJYObY3LdB5WsPvPS1RSXYPek2IAvnAegu2MstOJo3qVb8tJITvTUzboj2ps9DU4Qgg1BG78-vTIhyphenhyphenQ729BdaGeZLI6RpuRxEPyzSZOr3A-vcGyteRa1u_jklwohNfR3zWAXiB-l1aPLz7EGAASE4/s320/zaecheasus.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1 Timothy 4:9-15; Luke 19:1-10<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Today we continue
to celebrate the Presentation of Christ, forty days after His birth, in the Temple
in Jerusalem. The Theotokos and St. Joseph bring the young Savior there
in compliance with the Old Testament law, making the offering of a poor family,
a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. By the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit, the old man St. Simeon proclaims that this Child is the salvation <a name="_Hlk157853875">“of all peoples, a light to enlighten the Gentiles and the
glory of Thy people Israel.”</a> The aged prophetess St. Anna also
recognizes Him as the fulfillment of God’s promises.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Even
as we celebrate His appearance in the Temple, which is recognized by these
great saints, we also remember today a very different type of appearance and
recognition in Zacchaeus’ encounter with Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zacchaeus had not lived at all like these
righteous elders, for he was a </span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jew who had become rich collecting taxes for the Romans from
his own people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was both a professional
traitor and a thief who </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">collected more than
was required in order to live in luxury. No one in that time and place would
have expected the Messiah to appear to such a man or for Zacchaeus to have
responded to Him as he did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We really do not know why
Zacchaeus wanted to see the Savior as He passed by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a short little fellow who could not
see over the crowd, so he climbed a sycamore tree in order to get a better
view. That must have looked very strange:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>a hated tax-collector up in a tree so that he could see a passing rabbi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even more surprising was the Lord’s response
when He saw him: “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at
your house.” The One Who was presented and recognized in the Temple as a forty-day-old
Infant now enters into the home of a public sinner, where the tax-collector
received Him joyfully, as had Sts. Simeon and Anna many years earlier. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This outrageous scene shocked people, for no Jew with any
integrity, and especially not the Messiah, would appear in the home of such a traitor
and thief. He risked identifying Himself with Zacchaeus’s corruption by
going into his house and presumably eating with him. But before the
Savior said anything to the critics, the tax collector did something unbelievable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He actually repented. He confessed the
truth about himself as a criminal exploiter of his neighbors and pledged to give
half of his possessions to the poor and to restore four-fold what he had stolen
from others. He committed himself to do more than justice required in making
right the wrongs he had committed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In that astounding moment, this notorious
sinner did what was necessary to reorient his life away from greedy
self-centeredness and toward selfless generosity to his neighbors. As a
sign of His great mercy, Jesus Christ accepted Zacchaeus’ sincere repentance, proclaiming
that salvation has come to this son of Abraham, for He came to seek and to save
the lost as the Savior </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">“of all peoples, a light to enlighten the
Gentiles and the glory of Thy people Israel.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The overwhelming transformative grace of God shines through this
memorable story. We do not know Zacchaeus’s reasons for wanting to see
the Lord so much that he climbed up a tree, but he somehow opened himself to receive
the healing divine energies of the Lord as he did so. Christ did not have to condemn
Zacchaeus, whose spiritual vision had been clarified enough to know that his
life was full of darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He instead
took the initiative to establish a healing relationship with someone considered
a lost cause by all conventional standards. When people complained that He had
associated Himself with such a sinner, He did not argue with them, but instead
let Zacchaeus use that tense moment to bear witness to his gracious healing by giving
half of what he owned to the poor and restoring all that he had stolen
four-fold.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Zacchaeus was so transformed by Christ’s appearance in his life
that he became a brilliant epiphany of His salvation. He became a living
witness that Christ is truly the salvation </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">“of
all peoples, a light to enlighten the Gentiles and the glory of Thy people
Israel.” In the coming weeks as we prepare for Great Lent, we will recall
how the Lord’s mercy extended to others who were thought at the time to be cut
off from God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, Christ’s
mercy reached even the demon-possessed daughter of the Canaanite woman, who—like
Simeon—understood that His gracious healing extended also to Gentiles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not the proud and self-righteous Pharisee,
but the humble publican who knew his sinfulness went back to his house from the
Temple justified.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The astonishing mercy
of the father in welcoming home the prodigal son shows that the Lord restores even
those who have lived such disreputable lives that they end up completely miserable
in pig pens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in our pre-Communion prayers,
we remember also the penitent thief on the cross to whom the Lord promised
Paradise in response to his simple plea, “Jesus, remember me when You come into
Your Kingdom.” (Lk. 23:42)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">
Even as we continue to celebrate His Presentation in the Temple and recognition
by Sts. Simeon and Anna, we must never think that the brilliant light of Christ
appears only within buildings set apart for religious services or in the hearts
of people who are known to be especially righteous. Indeed, His Presentation
reveals that He is the Savior of all, including those thought to be strangers
and foreigners from His Kingdom. Of course, that includes us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As St. Paul wrote to the Gentile Christians
of Ephesus, “you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints and members of the household of God having
been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus
Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building,
being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom
you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the
Spirit.” (Eph. 2:19-21) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Temple in Jerusalem, which the
Lord entered as an Infant, foreshadowed the true Temple of the Kingdom of
Heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we read in the Epistle to the
Hebrews, Christ is the true “High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of
the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of
the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.” (Heb. 8: 1-2) “Not
with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most
Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Heb. 9:12) As
members of His Body, the Church, we participate already in the life and worship
of heaven, especially in the Divine Liturgy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Do you not know that you are the
temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?...For the
temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” (1 Cor. 3:16-17) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We cannot truly celebrate this feast
without uniting ourselves more fully to our Great High Priest, which means
offering every dimension of our lives for greater participation even now in the
life of the Kingdom of heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zacchaeus
shows us how to do that, for He responded to Christ’s appearance in His life with
extravagant generosity as he gave back far more than he had stolen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He later ministered with the apostles and
ultimately became the bishop of Caesarea in Palestine. He went from making his
life a temple to the love of money to a true temple of the Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must follow Zacchaeus’ example by taking
tangible steps in our daily lives to offer ourselves more fully to Christ and
to our neighbors, even as we resist the temptation to think that anyone is
beyond receiving His salvation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must
live as the holy Temple we are as members of the Body of Christ, our Great High
Priest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Zacchaeus can become a saint,
then there is hope for us all in Jesus Christ, Who is truly the salvation “of
all peoples, a light to enlighten the Gentiles and the glory of Thy people
Israel.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-75335622092350648532024-01-27T13:25:00.000-08:002024-01-31T09:00:34.508-08:00It Is Only Because of the Light that We Can See the Darkness: Homily for the Thirty-first Sunday After Pentecost & Fourteenth Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidG3SgPmRoZERudcYjG1rbbUr62-vQKSVdZ5HkaOi9BZv32UXc-XIL7Wh2dnd9MfcNQ3xIRMUC-HwHii9FmTvjQyrRwdW0jrS3d8XZ9iU9UQOgQqza3eopmwDLnU3mvdFx5QtTJvp5xtaXC01cHm0yImox6IFXfEnpWhyATJ-BHUqTJ6nT24nbU7izti4/s2127/sinai.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2127" data-original-width="1100" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidG3SgPmRoZERudcYjG1rbbUr62-vQKSVdZ5HkaOi9BZv32UXc-XIL7Wh2dnd9MfcNQ3xIRMUC-HwHii9FmTvjQyrRwdW0jrS3d8XZ9iU9UQOgQqza3eopmwDLnU3mvdFx5QtTJvp5xtaXC01cHm0yImox6IFXfEnpWhyATJ-BHUqTJ6nT24nbU7izti4/s320/sinai.jpg" width="165" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">1 Timothy 1:15-17; Luke
18:35-43<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">We remain in a
period of preparation to behold Christ at His appearing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The One born at Christmas and baptized at Theophany
is brought by the Theotokos and St. Joseph the Betrothed to the Temple in
Jerusalem as a 40-day old Infant in fulfillment of the Old Testament law, which
we will celebrate later this week at the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.
By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the old man St. Simeon proclaims that
this Child is the salvation “of all peoples, a light to enlighten the Gentiles
and the glory of Thy people Israel.” The aged prophetess St. Anna also speaks
openly of Him as the Savior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
in the Temple, we celebrate the appearance of the Lord Who fulfills the ancient
promises to Abraham and extends them to all with faith in Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By His appearance, He has enlightened the
whole creation. Christ is “the true light which gives light to everyone coming
into the world.” (Jn. 1:9)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">If we have any level
of spiritual integrity and insight, however, we will recognize how far we are
from having the clarified spiritual vision necessary to behold the glory of the
Lord at His appearance.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Despite our
celebration of these great feasts, we remain very much like the blind beggar in
need of the Lord’s healing mercy for the restoration of our sight.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">That may seem odd, for we are illumined in
baptism, filled with the Holy Spirit at Chrismation, and nourished by Christ’s
Body and Blood in the Eucharist.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">As we
sing after receiving Communion, “We have seen the true Light.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We have received the Heavenly Spirit.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We have found the true Faith, worshiping the
Undivided Trinity Who hath saved us.” </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Yes, the eyes of our souls have been cleansed,
but not to the point that we are fully transparent to the brilliant light of
Christ.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">St. Paul wrote, “For
it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who
has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor. 4: 6) The Apostle gained
the spiritual vision to see himself, as he wrote in today’s epistle reading, as
“the foremost of sinners.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We quote him
in confessing that we are each “the chief” of sinners in our pre-Communion prayers.
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">To pray those words with integrity is a clear
sign that Christ is enlightening our hearts, for otherwise we would remain in
the utter blindness of thinking that we are justified in self-righteously exalting
ourselves before God and over other people.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">St. Paul had the vision to do precisely the opposite when he wrote that “I
received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might
display His perfect patience for an example to those who were to believe in Him
for eternal life.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">In other words, Paul
knew that if the divine mercy could extend even to a miserable sinner like him,
then there is hope for everyone in Christ Jesus.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">That is precisely the kind of humility that
even the smallest ray of spiritual light should inspire in our souls.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">If we have truly
embraced the Lord’s mercy with the humility of the chief of sinners, then He has already
corrected our spiritual vision to the point that we can catch at least a
glimpse of how infinitely beyond us the fullness of His eternal glory remains.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">That is why we are able to see, at least partially,
how much darkness remains within us and how far we are from fulfilling the Lord’s
command: “You shall be perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matt.
5:48) He also taught: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matt.
5:8) If we are not completely blind spiritually, hearing these words will
inspire us to call out with the humble persistence of the blind beggar for mercy
that will further restore and perfect our sight.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The blind beggar
is a model for us in many ways in how to gain spiritual clarity.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">First, he neither denied nor embraced his
inability to see.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He did not accept some
kind of fantasy that distracted him from facing the truth about his
situation.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He did not somehow convince
himself that the best he could do was to make the most of being a blind beggar.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He knew that he could not see and desperately
wanted healing.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Is the same true of
us?</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Have we become so comfortable with
our darkened spiritual sight that we do not long to become radiant with the brilliant light of our Lord, sharing as fully as possible in His blessed
eternal life?</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Have we become content
with a faith that is little more than an assortment of religious ideas and
practices that we use to distract ourselves from confronting where we truly
stand before God and in relation to our neighbors?</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">If we are honest, we will answer those
questions not according to our passions but in light of our Lord’s infinite holiness,
for we must all engage in the perpetual spiritual struggle of opening our
darkened souls more fully to the light of Christ.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We have all become too comfortable with the
darkness with us; to the extent that we recognize that, it is because we have
opened the eyes of our souls to receive at least a small measure of the light
of our Lord.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> T</o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">he blind beggar
is also a model for us because he called out to Christ when he did not fully
understand who He was.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The beggar used a
very Jewish term for the Messiah, “Son of David,” when he asked for mercy.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Like everyone else who was waiting for the
Messiah or “anointed one” at that time, the beggar surely thought of Christ as
merely an especially righteous human being who would bless the Jews by healing
the sick, casting out demons, teaching strict obedience to the Old Testament
law, and delivering Israel from occupation by the Roman Empire.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">They wanted a new King David, not One Who appeared
truly as the Son of God Who would conquer death through His cross and empty
tomb.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Savior did not, however, reject
the blind man’s request due to this lack of full understanding.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Instead, the Lord graciously restored the man’s
sight because he had faith that He could heal him.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Likewise, we must not be discouraged from
persistently calling out to Christ due to our imperfect faith or knowledge. Uniting
ourselves fully to Him is an infinite vocation that none of us has
completed.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We may face deep struggles in
entrusting our most painful wounds and weaknesses to the Savior for
healing.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We may wrestle with doubt almost
to the point of despair. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">God may seem
distant from the challenges that break our hearts.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Like that blind beggar, however, we must
refuse to be denied, cultivating the trust to call for the Lord’s mercy from
the depths of our hearts in some form of the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">If we can pray that prayer with any measure of spiritual integrity, even
with faith the size of a mustard seed, that is because His light is already shining
in our hearts.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The way to grow in faith
is to cultivate and magnify that light, which we do by offering even our deepest
pains and darkest fears to Christ through prayer from the depths of our hearts,
especially when we are sorely tempted not to. Let us do so with simple trust
that, as St. Paul wrote, “’whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall
be saved.’” (Rom. 10:13) </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">There is simply
no way for us to gain the spiritual vision to behold and know Christ more fully
than to embrace the daily spiritual struggle to share personally in His healing
and fulfillment of the human person in the image and likeness of God.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">When we stumble in doing so, let us use our
fall to grow in humility and sense of dependence upon His grace.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">There is no way to open the eyes of our souls
to His brilliant light without calling persistently from the depths of our
hearts for His mercy.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">That is precisely
the humility that attracts the grace without which we would be completely
blind.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">That is precisely the humility
that we see in St. Paul, who knew himself to be the chief of sinners.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">That is precisely the humility that we see in
the blind beggar, who refused to stop calling out for the Lord’s healing mercy.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">And it must be the humility that becomes
characteristic of us as those who recognize the 40-day old Christ at His Presentation
in the Temple as the Savior “of all peoples, a light to enlighten the Gentiles
and the glory of Thy people Israel.” </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He alone can overcome the darkness that
remains within us.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 24pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 24pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-12843982109937119892024-01-20T17:34:00.000-08:002024-01-25T11:55:07.146-08:00Obedience and Gratitude: Homily for the Twenty-ninth Sunday after Pentecost & Twelfth Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjCDczyRmzDHmyefIQJnPf-FZtD_nJAUYHIrJHD8BUaMHHUBJHGIRbqQvCR9Th6Xef96Qt9pbWt2A7BlmV14w33gbPiheh1vi2uUfPJFLcEtefwyxZgqHXpVVdGGJFZ0FINgdrAUU_Cn01zAkBI51PDrdPydDKlm6n4ZJFHJVaUeKHE2HBANwiCkmM8s4/s550/leper.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="550" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjCDczyRmzDHmyefIQJnPf-FZtD_nJAUYHIrJHD8BUaMHHUBJHGIRbqQvCR9Th6Xef96Qt9pbWt2A7BlmV14w33gbPiheh1vi2uUfPJFLcEtefwyxZgqHXpVVdGGJFZ0FINgdrAUU_Cn01zAkBI51PDrdPydDKlm6n4ZJFHJVaUeKHE2HBANwiCkmM8s4/s320/leper.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Colossians 3:4-11;<b> </b>Luke 17:12-19</div><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>During the season of
Christmas, we celebrated the Nativity in the flesh of the Savior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Born as truly one of us, He is the New Adam Who
restores and fulfills us as living icons of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the season of Theophany, we celebrated
the revelation of His divinity as a Person of the Holy Trinity at His baptism,
where the voice of the Father identified Him as the Son and the Holy Spirit descended
upon Him in the form of a dove.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christ
has appeared in the waters of the Jordan, blessing the entire creation,
enabling all things to become radiant with the divine glory. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we put Him on like a garment in baptism,
we participate in the sanctification that He has brought to the world as we
regain the “robe of light” repudiated by our first parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span> We must never think of
our Lord’s birth or baptism, or of our own baptism, as somehow the end of the
story. Saint Paul wrote that, “when
Christ, Who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” As we confess in the Nicene Creed, there is a
future dimension of Christ’s appearance, for He “will come again with glory to
judge the living and the dead, Whose kingdom will have no end.” We “look for the resurrection of the dead and
the life of the world to come.” When
Christ returns in brilliant glory, the true state of our souls will be revealed. The Last Judgment will be the ultimate
epiphany or manifestation of whether we have embraced His healing and become
radiant with His gracious divine energies.
It will be impossible to hide or obscure on that day who we have become.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p> To
shine eternally with the light of Christ requires that we undertake the daily
struggle to purify and reorient the desires of our hearts toward fulfillment in
God and away from slavery to our passions.
The Colossians to whom Paul wrote were mostly Gentile converts who
needed to be reminded that they had repudiated corrupt pagan practices and put
on Christ in baptism. That is why Paul
told them to “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication,
impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” It is contradictory to unite oneself to Christ
and then to refuse to conform our character to His. In order to have spiritual integrity, we must
continue to repudiate all that keeps us from becoming living epiphanies of our
Lord’s salvation. As Paul notes, “anger, wrath, malice, slander…foul talk” and lying
should have no place in our lives, for in baptism we have “put off the old
nature with its practices and have put on the new nature, which is being
renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator.”</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> As those who
live in hope for the coming of the Kingdom, we must struggle every day of our
lives to enter more fully into Christ’s restoration and fulfillment of the
human person in the image and likeness of God.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">There is no other way to appear with Him in glory, whether today or when
His Kingdom comes in its fullness.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">And
the merely human distinctions that we so often celebrate due to our passions
and insecurities have nothing to do with sharing in the life of our Lord, for as
Paul wrote, “Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised,
barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Today’s gospel reading provides a shocking example
of this truth, for the Lord’s healing mercy extended even to a Samaritan with
leprosy. Among the ten lepers the Lord
healed, t</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">he only one who returned to thank Him was a hated Samaritan,
someone considered a foreigner and a heretic by the Jews.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">After the man fell down before Him in
gratitude, the Lord said, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you
well.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Our Lord’s gracious interaction
with this man shows that His therapeutic ministry extended even to those
conventionally understood to be outsiders, sinners, and enemies.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Lord’s love for humanity transcends all political
and personal boundaries, and we must not pretend that His benevolence somehow
does not extend to those we consider our enemies for whatever reason.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Doing so will reveal only how very far we are
from becoming living epiphanies of His salvation.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Remember that our
Savior praised the faith of a Roman centurion, who was an officer of the Roman
army that occupied Israel.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">By any
conventional standard, that man was His enemy.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">(Lk 7:9) The people of Nazareth tried to throw Christ off a cliff when
He reminded them that God had at times blessed Gentiles through the ministry of
great Hebrew prophets and had not helped Jews.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">(Lk 4:29) He shocked everyone by talking with St. Photini, the Samaritan
woman at the well, and then spending a few days in her village.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">(Jn 4:40) The list could go on, but the point
is obvious that our Lord’s love for broken, suffering humanity extends literally
to all who bear the divine image and likeness. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He was born and baptized in order to bring all
people into the Holy Trinity’s eternal communion of love.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">It is only “the old nature” of corruption that
would keep us so enslaved to hatred, division, and vengeance that we would imagine
that those we consider our enemies are any less called to become brilliant
epiphanies of salvation than we are. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Perhaps the
Samaritan returned to give thanks because he had never expected to find healing
from the Jewish Messiah.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He knew that,
in the eyes of the Jews, he was considered sinful and an outcast.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Nonetheless, he obeyed the Lord’s command to
head toward the temple in Jerusalem to show himself to the priests.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">That must have been a very difficult
instruction for a Samaritan to obey, for the Samaritan temple was not in
Jerusalem, but on Mount Gerizim.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The
Jewish temple was no place for a Samaritan; he surely would not have been
welcome there.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Nonetheless, he set out
toward Jerusalem with the other lepers.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">When he realized that he had been healed, he was the only one to return
to thank the Savior for this life-changing miracle.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p> This
man did not have the pride of someone who expected everything to go his way
because of his heritage or personal accomplishments. He could take nothing for
granted and was profoundly thankful for a blessing he had never expected. He was truly humble and thus had the
spiritual clarity to see that the only appropriate response to his healing was
to fall down before Christ in gratitude.
That is how he showed the faith that made him well.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p> We
can all follow his example by both obeying the Lord’s commandments and cultivating
a deep sense of gratitude. The Samaritan
did what Christ told him to do and, when he saw that he was healed, remembered
to thank Him. We must struggle to
repudiate the ways in which we fall short of our high calling to manifest His glory. When we find the strength to do so, even in
small and imperfect ways, we must not thank ourselves but the One Who heals us
by His grace. We must not pretend that
we have accomplished something by our own power, but must cultivate gratitude
as we continue the journey to share more fully in His life. The more
that we enter into the brilliant light of Christ, the more the darkness
within us will become apparent. Instead
of despairing or distracting ourselves by judging others, let us embrace the
struggle each day of our lives to find healing from our passions as we embrace more
fully our true identity in Christ, becoming evermore brilliant epiphanies of
His salvation. Let us prepare to “appear
with him in glory” through obedience and gratitude, for that is the only way to
follow the example of the Samaritan, whose faith made him well.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-42653240185049509222024-01-06T12:16:00.000-08:002024-01-07T05:32:00.978-08:00Christ's Baptism Renews the Whole Creation: Homily for the Synaxis of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John in the Orthodox Church<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRidD26FfwC2OR9zfPwNuaXnjJ9EvGtlLy_TvVHf8f8vzjDTbhtI2QgmQ75bzGkS7ZHfOhqklDQi9LL8VgA0FPuuhZ-w0_8vuRgzdQfCVI1v2vZ5nKRcGANY3XDXvlPPDUkydu0K2BowKeYiQjQCDqha_jthX_MaF9DZLmPG0vTyZgKD61CF-HP98GYYo/s274/theophany.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="274" data-original-width="184" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRidD26FfwC2OR9zfPwNuaXnjJ9EvGtlLy_TvVHf8f8vzjDTbhtI2QgmQ75bzGkS7ZHfOhqklDQi9LL8VgA0FPuuhZ-w0_8vuRgzdQfCVI1v2vZ5nKRcGANY3XDXvlPPDUkydu0K2BowKeYiQjQCDqha_jthX_MaF9DZLmPG0vTyZgKD61CF-HP98GYYo/s1600/theophany.jpg" width="184" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Acts
19:1-8; John 1:29-34<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">In this season we celebrate
the great feast of Theophany, of Christ’s baptism by St. John the Forerunner when
the voice of the Father identified Him as the Son of God and the Holy Spirit
descended upon Him in the form of a dove. Epiphany reveals that the Savior Who
appears from the waters of the Jordan to illumine our world of darkness is truly
the God-Man, a Person of the Holy Trinity. He is baptized to restore us,
and the creation itself, to the ancient glory for which we were created.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">By entering into
the water, the Lord made it holy, which means that He restored and fulfilled
its very nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need water in order
to live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The earth needs water in order
to become fertile, bearing fruit and giving life to animals of all kinds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We wash with water and use it to maintain
cleanliness and health.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without water,
we become weak and die, as do other creatures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And in the world as we know it, water can kill us through floods and
storms. Since the creation has been subjected to futility through the sin of
human beings, the very water through which God gives us life may become the
means of our death. But when water is blessed, God restores it to its natural
state, to its place in fulfilling God’s purposes for the flourishing of the
creation in holiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And since our
homes are where we and our families live each day, how could we not want His blessing
on our marriages, our children, and the physical space where we offer our lives
to the Lord?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we bless our homes, we
join what is most important to us to Christ’s healing and restoration of the entire
universe. We find strength to make our daily lives a liturgy, an entrance into
the Kingdom of Heaven, which is the natural state of those who bear the image
and likeness of God. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tragically, our
first parents turned away from their high calling and ushered in the unnatural realm
of corruption that we know all too well, both in the brokenness of our hearts
and in our relationships with one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>God gave Adam and Eve garments of skin when they left paradise after
disregarding Him. Through their disobedience, they had become aware that
they were naked and were cast into the world as we know it. Their
nakedness showed that they had repudiated their vocation to become like God in
holiness. Having stripped themselves of their original glory, they were
reduced to mortal flesh and destined for slavery to their passions and to the
grave. Because of them, the creation itself was “subjected to
futility…” (Rom. 8:20)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">As we prepared for
Theophany, we heard this hymn: “Make ready, O Zebulon, and prepare, O
Nephtali, and you, River Jordan, cease your flow and receive with joy the
Master coming to be baptized. And you, Adam, rejoice with the first mother, and
hide not yourselves as you did of old in paradise; for having seen you naked,
He appeared to clothe you with the first robe. Yea, Christ has appeared
desiring to renew the whole creation.” If it seems strange to think
of Christ being baptized in order to clothe Adam and Eve, remember St. Paul’s
teaching that “as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on
Christ.” (Gal. 3:27)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In baptism,
Jesus Christ clothes us with a garment of light, restoring us to our original
vocation to become like Him in holiness. He delivers us from the nakedness and vulnerability of slavery
to our own passions and to the fear of the grave. Through His and our
baptism, He makes us participants in His restoration and fulfillment of the
human person. He is baptized in order to save Adam and Eve, all their descendants,
and the entire creation, fulfilling the glorious purposes for which He brought
us all into existence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Life after baptism
is not, however, without pain, disease, death, and other sorrows. In
contrast with the divine glory of the appearance of our Lord, the darkness of
sin within us and our world of corruption becomes all the more apparent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the aftermath of Christ’s birth, Herod the
Great had all the young boys in the region of Bethlehem murdered. St. John the
Forerunner, who prepared the way for “the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin
of the world,” was arrested by Herod Antipas for prophetically denouncing the
king’s immorality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the one who
baptized Him was arrested, the Lord went to “Galilee of the Gentiles” to begin
His public ministry in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy that “’the people who
sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region
and shadow of death light has dawned.’” (Matt. 4:15-16)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">We are baptized
into Christ’s death in order to rise up with Him into a life of holiness in
which we regain the robe of light rejected by our first parents. In every
aspect of our darkened lives, He calls us to become radiant with the divine
glory He shares with us as the New Adam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In order to do so, we must find healing for the passions that have taken
root in our hearts and have distorted our relationships even with those we love
most.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In how we treat everyone from
those closest to us to complete strangers, we must find healing from the
corruptions of pride, hatred, anger, resentment, and the desire to dominate
others. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It does not matter whether we
are at home, work, school, or other settings, or whether we think we are in private
or in public. If we have put on Christ in baptism, we must become living icons
of Christ’s salvation and mercy to all we encounter. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">We must also be on
guard for all the ways in which we remain inhabitants of “the region and shadow
of death.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because the Savior has
hallowed the water and the entire creation through His baptism, absolutely
nothing is intrinsically evil or profane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No dimension of God’s good creation requires us to return to the
nakedness of passion in any way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are
without excuse for doing so, for Theophany reveals that we are always on holy
ground and must speak, act, and think as those who wear a garment of light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though we fall short of meeting the goal each
day, we must always strive to manifest our Lord’s healing of the human person
in every thought, word, and deed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
must become like holy water restored to its natural place and blessing the
world as a sign of its salvation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If
we are to discern how to fulfill our vocation to bear witness to our Lord in
the midst of a world still enslaved to the fear of death, we must embrace the
full meaning of our baptism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That requires
constant vigilance against allowing self-centered desire to creep unnoticed into
our hearts and distort our vision of ourselves, our neighbors, and our
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That requires turning the other
cheek, going the extra mile, and treating others as we would have them treat us,
especially when we think we are justified in responding in kind to those who
have wronged us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That requires turning
away from whatever fuels our passions so that the desires of our hearts are
purified and directed toward their true fulfillment in God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we celebrate Theophany in “the region and
shadow of death,” let us focus mindfully on living each day as those who have
died to sin and risen up into a life holiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That is how we may become brilliant living epiphanies of the salvation
of the world as we wear the robe of light that Christ has restored to Adam and
Eve, for He is baptized to do nothing less than “to renew the whole creation.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24pt;"><span style="color: #404040; font-size: 24pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-9904989319878332732023-12-30T18:36:00.000-08:002023-12-30T18:47:53.226-08:00Homily for the Sunday Before the Theophany (Epiphany) of Christ in the Orthodox Church<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: -9.0pt; margin-right: -9.0pt; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in -9pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;"></p><p align="center" style="margin: 12pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 24pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgByoD-7959bcqvBLk1tpspxYsigFxmPSR6msq1KjMPI3FLsB_A9ORDBgIoSKklx-z694aToOwUtKcA7DPLXYbD_mQyElkH_yzhQk-CmcF8vUMUHX-Mg8WpEcPj98yxZ1iht83N3ozqsZtJuVZAjIZdqlPLYYLYO9X94moRwhtj6aGzd_qa99GuBVMUiVU/s1000/john-the-baptist.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="657" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgByoD-7959bcqvBLk1tpspxYsigFxmPSR6msq1KjMPI3FLsB_A9ORDBgIoSKklx-z694aToOwUtKcA7DPLXYbD_mQyElkH_yzhQk-CmcF8vUMUHX-Mg8WpEcPj98yxZ1iht83N3ozqsZtJuVZAjIZdqlPLYYLYO9X94moRwhtj6aGzd_qa99GuBVMUiVU/s320/john-the-baptist.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">2 Timothy 4:5-8; Mark 1:1-8</div><p></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24pt;"><span style="color: #404040;">Today is the Sunday before the Feast of Theophany (or
Epiphany), when we celebrate Christ’s baptism in the river Jordan and the
revelation that He is truly the Son of God. His divinity is made manifest
and openly displayed at His baptism when the voice of the Father declares, “You
are my beloved Son” and the Holy Spirit descends upon Him in the form of a
dove. Theophany shows us that Jesus Christ, who was born in the flesh for
our salvation at Christmas, is not merely a great religious teacher or moral
example. He is truly God—a member of the Holy Trinity– and His salvation
permeates His entire creation, including the water of the river Jordan.
Through Christ’s and our baptism, we become participants in the holy mystery of
our salvation, for He restores to us the robe of light which our first parents
lost when they chose pride and self-centeredness over obedience and communion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He enters the Jordan to restore Adam and Eve,
and all their children, to the dignity of those who bear the image and likeness
of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24pt;"><span style="color: #404040;">At the time of His earthly ministry, however, people were
looking for a very different kind of Savior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The word “messiah” means “anointed one,” and the Jews wanted a leader
who would deliver their nation from Roman oppression, not unlike how any people
living under military occupation by the armies of another nation typically want
their liberation and independence. Christ’s own disciples thought of Him
in those terms until after His resurrection, for even those closest to the Lord
had great difficulty accepting that He was not the earthly king they had
expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were so focused on how
Jesus Christ might fulfill their dreams for power in this world that they were
blind to His true identity as the Son of God, the incarnate second Person of
the Holy Trinity, the divine Word Who spoke the universe into existence. His
Kingdom is not of this world and stands in prophetic judgment over those who
idolatrously use religion to bring themselves glory and dominion in this world.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24pt;"><span style="color: #404040;">In order to prepare the way of a Messiah Who did not fit
popular preconceived notions, God sent a very bold prophet who surely made most
other people uncomfortable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>St. John the
Baptist and Forerunner was a strict ascetic, living in the desert, eating only locusts
and honey, and wearing camel skin. Like all the true Hebrew prophets
before him, John did not serve anyone’s worldly agenda.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to his stark appearance and
lifestyle, his message was severe to the point of being insulting. He
proclaimed God’s truth and did not care who might be offended, perhaps because harsh
words were necessary to open people’s eyes to where they stood before God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> John mocked the Pharisees and Sadducees,
calling them a brood of vipers—a bunch of slimy snakes. He told the rich
to share with the poor, soldiers to stop abusing their authority, and tax
collectors to stop stealing from the people. He let no one off the hook, fearlessly
proclaiming God’s word even to those who had the power to destroy him. Ultimately,
he lost his head for criticizing the immorality of the royal family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24pt;"><span style="color: #404040;">God shook up Israel with John the Baptist, the Forerunner
of our Lord, who began to open their eyes to a Messiah Whom they did not
expect. They needed a call to repentance from a wild and holy man who
served none of the petty kingdoms or factions of this world, but who instead called
everyone to repent by changing the direction of their lives in relation to God
and neighbor. They were to make straight whatever crookedness was in them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were to abandon hypocritical and
self-serving distortions of God’s Law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No
one was to say, “But I am a child of Abraham or a religious leader or a
well-respected person, so repentance is not for me.” No one was to point
to the offenses of others as a distraction from reorienting their lives toward
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Forerunner called everyone straightforwardly
to greater holiness in preparation for the coming of the Messiah, Who is truly
the God-Man. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24pt;"><span style="color: #404040;">As we prepare for the Feast of Theophany, we must
recognize that John’s message applies to each of us today in ways that should
make us all uncomfortable. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we
have put on Christ in baptism, we must conform our character to His because we
have already received the robe of light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Having celebrated His birth as Orthodox Christians, we have already
proclaimed that the Savior is not merely one of many insightful teachers or
inspiring examples, but truly the Son of God. In Him, we are “partakers
of the divine nature” by grace as members of His Body, the Church. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The more that we share in His life, the more
clearly we will see how infinitely much more room we have for growth in embracing
the healing of our souls because none of us has become a perfect epiphany of
what Christ’s salvation means for those who bear the divine image and likeness.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24pt;"><span style="color: #404040;">It would be different if the Epiphany of Jesus Christ as
the Son of God were merely an idea to be grasped as an abstract truth. It would
be different if Theophany were a calling to thwart those we deem our enemies or
to achieve some conventional personal or political goal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This feast is nothing like that, however, for
it calls us to enter into the great mystery of our salvation by becoming
radiant with the divine glory that the Savior has shared with us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must no longer live as those driven by obsessive
insecurities and fears rooted in the fear of death, but as those clothed with a
robe of light and enabled to shine like an iron left in the fire of holiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24pt;"><span style="color: #404040;">In order to share more fully in the eternal life of the
God-Man, we must follow the path of ongoing repentance proclaimed by John,
always seeing ourselves as those who must prepare the way of the Lord in our
lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That means that we must persist
in cooperating with Christ’s healing mercy, actively making straight whatever remains
crooked. Like those who first heard the Forerunner, we have become
too comfortable with life on our own terms, perhaps thinking that we are
somehow God’s favorites and that repentance is for someone else, likely for
particular people or members of groups upon whom we like to look down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John would have none of it and would correct
us to our faces in no uncertain terms for our hypocrisy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he did to the Jews of the first century, he
would tell us to stop trying to turn God into an idol who serves our agendas
for gaining whatever we happen to want in this world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would call us, instead, to become true
icons of our Lord, sharing as fully as we can in the divine healing and
transformation made possible for us in Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24pt;"><span style="color: #404040;">Those who have put on Christ in baptism and who have received
the Communion of His Body and Blood must become epiphanies of His fulfillment
of the human person in God’s image and likeness. As we prepare to celebrate
Theophany, let us gain the spiritual clarity to behold the glory of Christ’s
baptism by straightening the crooked areas of our lives. Instead of
finding ways to ignore the preaching of the Forerunner, let us take his
sobering message to heart as we confess and repent of our sins and reorient
ourselves to our Lord and His Kingdom. The Messiah is born and is on His
way to the Jordan where His divinity will shine forth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will we have the eyes to behold His
glory? Will we be ready for Him? There is only one way to prepare:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>namely, to repent as we turn away from all
that hinders us from shining brightly with the divine glory manifest in the
God-Man. Nothing can keep us from doing so other than our own stubborn refusal
to prepare the way of the Lord by making His paths straight in our own
lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no other way to enter
into the great joy of the Feast of Theophany. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-76487530365786156872023-12-25T06:06:00.000-08:002023-12-25T06:07:38.476-08:00Christ is Born! Glorify Him!: Homily for Christmas in the Orthodox Church<p align="center" style="margin: 12pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #404040;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLSBFLEiiG8UTE-T3qsbF6uZg4B0LQDqaH4v9_ggi6womexwndJVrBo3o9yny8XW4Mj-0vh_yErVzhw1qNRAY21mxnahyphenhyphenYjC_Ea1gZNjCoOnidvFWFbreRrLVX64j6aLiGAK1AbWkHNbu0MjTHEQvS6VL5q9k8gim7kdNXk0TTp9QF1UdFhoHyl4tECZo/s460/nativity-icon-christ-jesus-lord-son-of-god.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="307" data-original-width="460" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLSBFLEiiG8UTE-T3qsbF6uZg4B0LQDqaH4v9_ggi6womexwndJVrBo3o9yny8XW4Mj-0vh_yErVzhw1qNRAY21mxnahyphenhyphenYjC_Ea1gZNjCoOnidvFWFbreRrLVX64j6aLiGAK1AbWkHNbu0MjTHEQvS6VL5q9k8gim7kdNXk0TTp9QF1UdFhoHyl4tECZo/s320/nativity-icon-christ-jesus-lord-son-of-god.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Galatians 4:4-7; Matthew 2:1-12</div><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p align="center" style="margin: 12pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #404040;">Christ is Born! Glorify Him!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #404040;">
We gather today to celebrate the Nativity in the Flesh of our
Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ for the salvation of the world. He is
born to fulfill the vocation of every human person to become like God in
holiness as “partakers of the divine nature” by grace. Because He has truly become one of us, every
dimension of our life in this world may become a point entrance into the
blessed peace of the Kingdom of Heaven. In
contrast with that high calling, the lack of such peace today in so many other
parts of the world, including especially the Holy Land and Ukraine, as well as in
our own society, relationships, and hearts, becomes quite apparent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24pt;"><span style="color: #404040;">The Prince of Peace was born in the context of a brutal
military occupation that required the elderly Joseph and the pregnant Theotokos
to take a long and difficult journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem for a census. There
He came into the world like a homeless child, born in a cave used as a barn
with an animal’s feeding trough for his bed.
Herod, who reigned over Judea under the authority of Rome, plotted to
kill the Messiah from His birth, for he certainly did not want a rival king of
the Jews. He cared far more about his
own power than the lives of innocent people, as many rulers have done up to the
present. That is why Joseph had to lead the
family to Egypt at night as they fled for their lives, just as refugees do today
in the land of our Lord’s birth and in so many other places. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24pt;"><span style="color: #404040;">When the One Who spoke the universe into existence
becomes part of His creation, the tension between the way of the Lord and the path
of slavery to the fear of death becomes obvious. Angels proclaimed His birth and the promise
of peace not to those who will stop at nothing to destroy those they perceive
as threats to their power, but to lowly shepherds who had no power or prominence.
Though the Messiah was expected to be a
new King David who would give earthly power to the Jews, Gentile astrologers from
Persia traveled far to worship a Lord Whose Kingdom transcends the divisions of
empires, nations, and ethnicities. He fulfills the ancient promises to Abraham
such that all who believe in Him become the adopted children and heirs of God. The God-Man is born to restore all to the
blessedness of Paradise as the New Adam.
He comes to heal us from every dimension of the brokenness that still
leads Cain to slaughter Abel, from the desires of our hearts to how we engage
with our neighbors, society, and world. He comes to make us radiant with holiness and
“perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect,” which requires especially
love for our enemies. (Matt. 5:48) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24pt;"><span style="color: #404040;">The Savior born this day is the Prince of Peace, but not
of the illusion of peace that comes from blinding ourselves to the humanity of
those we fear and resent to the point that we beat them into submission,
whether literally or figuratively. He is
the Prince of Peace, but not of the illusion of peace that comes from indulging
our self-centered desires as we neglect the needs of others and refuse to see
them as living icons of God. He is the
Prince of Peace, but not of the illusion of peace that comes from projecting
our hopes for wellbeing on the success of nations, cultures, and agendas that
operate according to the standards of a world enslaved to the fear of
death. Christ’s peace is nothing less
than sharing in His life to the point that we become those who will be blessed
in His Kingdom: the poor in spirit; those
who mourn their sins; the meek; those who hunger and thirst after righteousness;
the merciful; those who acquire purity of heart; and the peacemakers. To know His
peace is to become so much like Him in holiness that, regardless of what sufferings
and obstacles may come our way, we make even the deepest challenges of our
lives points of entrance to the joyful blessedness of His Kingdom. (Matt. 5:3-12) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24pt;"><span style="color: #404040;">Even as the circumstances surrounding His Nativity were
not peaceful by conventional standards, welcoming the Prince of Peace into our
lives requires embracing the inevitable tension of mindfully entrusting ourselves
to Him as we share in His fulfillment of the human person in the image and
likeness of God. That is not a matter of
sentimentality or trying to use religion to achieve any worldly goal, but of
responding with true spiritual integrity to the gloriously good news that the
Son of God has become one of us—in the world as we know it--for our
salvation. The more that we undertake
the struggle to do so, and to treat every neighbor as one for whom the Savior
was born, the more we will participate personally in the true peace of Paradise
brought by the God-Man. Let us celebrate
this glorious feast by doing precisely that this day and every day of our
lives. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24pt;"><span style="color: #404040;"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24pt;"><span style="color: #404040;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="color: #404040; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24pt;"> </span> </p>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-51187194676761284862023-12-23T12:29:00.000-08:002023-12-24T05:14:59.989-08:00Are We Looking for a Kingdom Not Like the Other Nations? : Homily for the Sunday Before the Nativity of Christ in the Orthodox Church<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioDrLpWvgNsDLcIT0UKmfdTf5YdrOz7DWSw07LqXn478YY6GaP98gajaEmvJOqptnWGYG24-UXIC6HFxodtwBpuuzQRm1falaxiv2yzTRxYk8ai8j3oBQ0nYp0iaX3LWYOZOYzg1ZTYjtb9x48K-ccUeSr7z-7CKCsm_cmFQgYA8a3-UuadlVrG5AXWwU/s892/genealogy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="892" data-original-width="650" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioDrLpWvgNsDLcIT0UKmfdTf5YdrOz7DWSw07LqXn478YY6GaP98gajaEmvJOqptnWGYG24-UXIC6HFxodtwBpuuzQRm1falaxiv2yzTRxYk8ai8j3oBQ0nYp0iaX3LWYOZOYzg1ZTYjtb9x48K-ccUeSr7z-7CKCsm_cmFQgYA8a3-UuadlVrG5AXWwU/s320/genealogy.jpg" width="233" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Hebrews 11:9-10, 32-40; <span class="bodytextbold1">Matthew</span><b> </b>1:1-25<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">As we conclude
our preparation for celebrating the Lord’s Nativity, we must resist the
temptation to corrupt this blessed season into an excuse for glorifying
ourselves in any way.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Instead, we must allow
our hopes for whatever we want in this life to be called into question by the
God-Man, Who was born in such strange circumstances to fulfill a kingdom not of
this world that stands in prophetic judgment over all our agendas, preferences,
and desires. We must learn at Christmas to hope only in Him.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Christ is born
to fulfill the ancient promises to Abraham, who “looked forward to the city
which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The many generations of preparation for the
Savior’s birth did not occur through the unbroken progress of any earthly city,
kingdom, or culture, but through a history characterized by corruption, idolatry,
slavery, and exile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The prophet Samuel
was the last of the judges of Israel over a thousand years before Christ was
born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When his sons ruled unjustly, the
people asked for a king so that they could be like the other nations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God told Samuel, <span style="background: white; color: #001320;">“Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you;
for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not
reign over them.</span>”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(1 Sam. 8:7)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">We do not have
to know much about the Old Testament to know that wanting to be like the other nations is the exact opposite of what God intended for His people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their kings abused their authority like the
rich and powerful of any period with David, the greatest of them, infamously taking
Bathsheeba, the wife of his soldier Uriah, and then having him killed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Far from shying away from recalling these
horrific events, Matthew highlights them, for he writes in the genealogy that
“David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah.” When he wanted to build
a Temple for the Lord, God told David, <span style="background: white; color: #001320;">“You shall not build a house for My name, because you <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">have been</span> a man of war and have
shed blood.” (1 Chron. 28:3) Doing so surely went with the territory of being a
powerful ruler, but wallowing in the blood of those who bear God’s image is a
paradigmatic sign of the slavery to the fear of death that sin has brought to
the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It inevitably threatens grave
damage to the soul.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Even David’s son
the wise Solomon, who did build the Temple, later fell into the worship of
false gods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of Israel’s ongoing
unfaithfulness, the kingdom divided into two, with both eventually going into
exile after being defeated at the hands of their enemies. Those who returned
from Babylon were then dispersed yet again by the Romans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those who distort biblical faith today in the
service of earthly kingdoms and political ideologies inevitably fall into the
idolatry of worshiping their own lust for power and demonizing their earthly
opponents. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In contrast, we must follow
the example of Abraham, who “looked forward to the city which has foundations,
whose builder and maker is God.” “For here we have no continuing city, but we
seek one to come.” (Heb. 13:14) No nation or piece of land must ever become an idol
for us or an excuse not to love our neighbors as ourselves. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">The shock of
exile for the Hebrews was so important that Matthew describes the Lord’s
genealogy accordingly:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“So all the
generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to
the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to
Babylon to the Christ were fourteen generations.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The prophet Daniel and the three holy youths Ananias,
Azarias and Misael all went into captivity in Babylon, where they refused to
worship other gods and were miraculously delivered from death, respectively, in
the lions’ den and the fiery furnace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christ,
before His Incarnation, was with the youths in the flames.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being unconsumed by the fire, they also provided
an image of the Theotokos, who contained the Son of God within her womb without
being consumed by the divine glory. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">It was not by seeking
earthly glory or self-interest that these and other prophets foreshadowed and foretold
the coming of Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Far from making
political calculations or seeking vengeance against anyone, they simply refused
to abandon hope in God and to worship idols, even when their refusal seemed
certain to lead to their deaths. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consequently,
they are among those who “suffered mocking and scourging, and even chains and
imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with
the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted,
ill-treated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering over deserts and
mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These holy people did so because they lived in expectation, not merely of
more tolerable earthly circumstances for themselves, but of the fulfillment of
a promise that would not come in their lifetimes and transcended all conventional
boundaries, “since God had foreseen something better for us, that apart from us
they should not be made perfect.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Though no one
forces us to choose today between idolatry and faithfulness, we so often freely
worship idols when we ground the meaning and purpose of our lives in some vision
of cultural success or personal fulfillment that serves only to inflame our
passions and blind us to the humanity of our neighbors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even without being forced into exile, we have
become accustomed to hoping for nothing more than a somewhat better life in
Babylon, however we may define that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
face the same temptations that our Lord’s ancestors did, and we regularly fall
into some version of the sins they committed. On the one hand, it is reassuring
to know that the Savior’s genealogy included people whose lives were far from
perfect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to recalling
David’s grave sins, Matthew lists Judah, who fathered children with his
daughter-in-law Tamar. He also mentions Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute, and Ruth,
a Gentile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The presence of these
particular women in the genealogy foreshadows the scandalous, but also
perfectly innocent, conception of the Lord by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin
Mary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By including their names among the
ancestors of Christ, Matthew reminds us that He is born to bring healing to all
the broken, scandalous people of the world, not only to those <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>who appear respectable according to any set of
conventional expectations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one is
excluded from the possibility of sharing in His salvation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The checkered past of the Savior’s family tree
should also remind us of how easy it is to entrust ourselves to false hopes
that extend no further than the grave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
the Son of God became a human person, He did not do so with all the trappings
of the false hopes we typically embrace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was not born into a family of great wealth, power, or fame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was certainly no sin involved in the
virginal conception of our Lord, but the circumstances were hardly
conventional.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joseph, the older man to
whom the Theotokos was betrothed as her guardian, would have divorced her
quietly, had not an angel told him the truth about the situation in a
dream.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Living under the military
occupation of the Roman Empire, they had to go to Bethlehem for a census at the
time of His birth, where He came into the world in the lowly circumstance of
being born in a cave used for a barn with an animal's feeding trough as His
crib.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite the temptation throughout Christ’s
ministry to overthrow the Romans by force and set up an earthly reign as a new
King David, He refused to be distracted from His vocation to conquer death
itself, which required that He submit to execution on a Roman cross and wear a
crown of thorns, being mocked as the king of the Jews.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though the false hopes of His disciples had
been crushed and He appeared to fail by all conventional standards, the Savior
rose in victory on the third day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His
disciples then learned to hope anew for the fulfillment of God’s promises in
ways that required a complete change of mind and heart, for they took up their
crosses as they learned to serve a kingdom not of this world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Along with countless generations of martyrs
and confessors, they repudiated the idolatry of serving themselves or any
earthly agenda as they came to hope only in the Lord. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Our
responsibility is even greater than that of those who came before us, for we
have received the fullness of the promise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Time and again, however, we live as though the promise had not been
fulfilled, as though a Savior had not been born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes we even distort Christ into an
inspiration for responding in kind to our enemies with the conventional means
of this world, as though King David had fulfilled, rather than dimly foreshadowed,
the fullness of the promise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must
remember that our Savior rejected the temptation to use religion as a means to
the end of gaining power, praise, or success in this world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must focus on welcoming Him into our lives
in humble obedience as did the Theotokos, not on trying to dominate others, for
doing so will only fuel our passions and distract us from entrusting ourselves to
our Lord and His kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we prepare for Christmas, let us embrace
the scandalous calling to hope in nothing and no one other than the God-Man Who
is born to heal and fulfill all who bear the divine image and likeness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His human lineage shows that He came for
people as conflicted, confused, and compromised as we are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They wanted to be like the other nations and endured
exile in foreign lands as a result. We wander as aliens from the everlasting
joy of His Kingdom whenever we put serving ourselves or any worldly kingdom or goal
before obedience to Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We exile
ourselves from His blessed reign whenever we view or treat anyone as anything less
than His living icon or as a foreigner or stranger from His love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like Daniel and the three holy youths, it is
time for us to refuse to worship false gods and to trust that the Savior is
with us and with all who endure the lions’ dens and fiery furnaces of life in a
world still enslaved to the fear of death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Having been prepared by prayer, fasting, generosity, confession, and
repentance, let us receive the God-Man born for our salvation at Christmas, for
He alone is our hope and the hope of the entire world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-39009984137207081592023-12-16T13:36:00.000-08:002023-12-16T13:38:24.043-08:00Homily for the Sunday of Forefathers (Ancestors) of Christ in the Orthodox Church<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjImtnQZcIL1znWUmEBajtJzLWtpc3YfGnv6JvEyYQIZ7QTwJhWk0p1U0qcclgLS_vWiWqQLOxPqFgytDzXWa4ObV4qpLHgJKm9sdpxoq42npHiEptbr2QkZI6UQ5GmZHSmD8KcMTKswL5hkvwdLrA924uCnKh88VR7t444lgBDrsYaVHwvEUnQsGg2uNc/s433/FOREFATHERS.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="360" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjImtnQZcIL1znWUmEBajtJzLWtpc3YfGnv6JvEyYQIZ7QTwJhWk0p1U0qcclgLS_vWiWqQLOxPqFgytDzXWa4ObV4qpLHgJKm9sdpxoq42npHiEptbr2QkZI6UQ5GmZHSmD8KcMTKswL5hkvwdLrA924uCnKh88VR7t444lgBDrsYaVHwvEUnQsGg2uNc/s320/FOREFATHERS.jpg" width="266" /></a></div> <p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Colossians 3:4-11; Luke
14:16-24<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify;">As we continue to prepare to welcome Christ
into our lives and world at His Nativity, we must remain focused.</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify;">There is no shortage of distractions this
time of year that appeal to our passions and threaten to convince us that there
are matters more important than accepting His gracious invitation to enter
fully into the joy of the banquet of the Kingdom of Heaven.</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify;">The </span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify;">Savior calls us to embrace our true vocation not
only during divine services or in the eschatological future, but in every
moment of our lives. </span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p> The
people in today’s gospel reading had made themselves deaf to the urgency of
their calling, for they rejected the invitation to enter into the joy of the great
banquet that represents the Kingdom of God. They did so for the most mundane reasons: One
owned real estate, another had animals, and a third was married. They somehow convinced themselves that the
commonplace circumstance of having regular responsibilities justified their refusal. After the invited guests refused to attend, the
master commanded his servant to “Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the
city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.” Because there was still room, the master
ordered him to go out even further to “the highways and hedges, and compel
people to come in, that my house may be filled.” Even as God wants all to be saved, the
master in the parable wanted as many people as possible to share in the
blessings of the festival.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p>There may be deeper spiritual
significance to the symbolism of the yoke of five oxen in the parable, for
there are five books of law in the Old Testament. Having a field of land may represent those
who wanted the Messiah to set up a nationalistic religious kingdom on Earth. Marriage may represent the belief that God’s
blessings were only for their particular family line or ethnic group. Many did reject our Lord because He interpreted
the law in a way that challenged the authority of the Pharisees, rejected the
temptation to become an earthly king of the Jews, and extended the blessing of
His Reign even to foreigners and enemies.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p>In the historical setting of the
passage, <a name="_Hlk153624859">“the poor and maimed and blind and lame” </a>brought
in from the streets to the great banquet represent the Gentiles, who were not
the descendants of Abraham and did not know the law and prophets of the Old
Testament. Especially as we prepare for
Christmas, we must remember that we are those with no ancestral claim to the
blessings of the Messiah. Our hope for
entering into heavenly joy has nothing to do with having the right ethnic heritage
or mastering a set of religious laws. Apart
from the mercy of the Savior, we would have no part in the great spiritual
heritage of those who foreshadowed and foretold the coming of the Christ across
the centuries before His birth.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p>Those who looked forward in faith
for God’s fulfillment of the promises to Abraham did not do so simply on the
basis of the law, which came later through Moses. The law was necessary for sinful people as a
tutor in preparation for the coming of Christ.
The ancestors of the Lord hoped not merely for a great teacher, but for liberation
from slavery to sin and death, which the law lacked the power to accomplish. The
forefathers of the Savior trusted God that their hope would not be in
vain. The original promise to Abraham
extended to the Gentiles, for God told him, “In you all the nations of the
world will be blessed.” (Gen. 22:18) Now
all who are in Christ “are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the
promise.” (Gal. 3:29) Jew or Gentile, “those who are of faith are blessed
with believing Abraham.” (Gal. 3:9) The Savior is born to bring all who bear
the divine image and likeness into the joy of the heavenly banquet.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p>The Hebrews of the Old Testament
who prepared for the Messiah’s coming through faith did so of their own free
will in response to their calling as the children of Abraham. That is true also for the Theotokos, who is the
highest offering of the Hebrew people and became God’s living temple in a
unique way as His virgin mother. She was
chosen for this astounding vocation and responded in freedom to the message of
the Archangel Gabriel. No one forced her
at all, but she chose to remain focused on hearing and obeying the Word of God.
Likewise, no one forces us, but we all
have the ability to respond to Christ with the obedience of humble faith.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p>Unfortunately, those who had convinced
themselves that the normal cares of life excluded them from entering into the
joy of the heavenly kingdom responded very differently. As the master said in the parable, ‘”For I
tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” Those who are chosen are those who follow the
Theotokos’ example of making receptivity to Christ the top priority of their
lives. Like her, we must use our freedom
as those who bear the image of God to seek first His Kingdom. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p>Contrary to some of our favorite
excuses, the conventional responsibilities of life are in no way incompatible with
uniting ourselves to Christ, for they provide opportunities to reorient the
desires of our hearts to God as we love and serve Him in our neighbors. Nothing but our own sinfulness keeps us from making
our daily responsibilities points of entrance into eternal joy. By mindfully offering them to God every day
of our lives, we will gain the strength to obey St. Paul’s instruction to “Put
to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil
desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
Family life, work, and the countless challenges of living faithfully in
our culture present opportunities to find healing from “anger, wrath, malice,
slander, and foul talk,” as well as lying. This is possible not because we have fulfilled
a list of legalistic requirements, but because in baptism we have “put off the
old nature with its practices and have put on the new nature, which is being
renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator.” </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p>As in the parable, “many are
called, but few are chosen.” As in the
parable, many of us have become blind to the profound spiritual significance of
living faithfully amidst our daily challenges.
Perhaps we have made work, school, family, our financial situation, or concerns
about political or cultural issues into false gods that take precedence over our
calling to share more fully in the life of the God-Man born at Christmas for
our salvation. We make the choice every
day of our lives whether we are going to offer the blessings and struggles of
this life to the Lord as opportunities for finding the healing of our souls or
whether we are going to use them as excuses to become further enslaved to our
passions. The path we take will shape us
decisively, leading us either into the joy of the heavenly kingdom or into the
despair of those who have wasted their lives on what can never truly satisfy the
living icons of God. If we remain so enslaved
to our passions that we refuse to welcome Christ into our hearts and lives with
integrity on a daily basis, then we will shut ourselves out of the joy that He is
born to bring to the world. Before His holy
glory, we are all “the poor and maimed and blind and lame” in need of His
gracious healing mercy.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p>Christ came to save us who are perpetually
distracted by disordered desires in every area of our lives. He calls us to learn to see all aspects of
our life in this world as an invitation to “seek first the Kingdom of God and
His righteousness” with the humble trust that “all these things” we need “will
be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33) That is
our calling every day of our lives and especially now during the busy and often
stressful last days before Christmas, when we must remain vigilantly on guard
against every temptation to excuse ourselves from focusing on entering into the
great joy of the feast of the Nativity in the Flesh of the Word of God. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p>What St. Porphyrios taught about the
spiritual possibilities of our daily work applies to the rest of life in this
and at all other times of the year:</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">At your work,
whatever it may be, you can become saints—through meekness, patience and love. <span> <span> </span></span>Make a new start every day, with new
resolution, with enthusiasm and love, prayer and silence—not with anxiety so
that you get a pain in the chest.<a href="https://mcm0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lemastep_mcm_edu/Documents/Documents/forefathers2023.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 8pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></a> Let your soul
devote itself to the prayer “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me” in all your
worries, for everything and everyone. Don’t
look at what’s happening to you, look at the light, at Christ, just as a child
looks to its mother when something happens to it. See everything without anxiety,
without depression, without strain and without stress.<a href="https://mcm0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lemastep_mcm_edu/Documents/Documents/forefathers2023.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 8pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">During the
remaining days of the Nativity Fast, let us refuse to exclude ourselves from
the great</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> joy of the heavenly banquet by focusing on Christ through prayer, fasting,
generosity, confession, and repentance.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">That is how we will gain the spiritual clarity to accept His gracious
invitation to the blessedness of the heavenly banquet, where “there cannot be
Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free
man, but Christ is all, and in all.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://mcm0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lemastep_mcm_edu/Documents/Documents/forefathers2023.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> St. Porphyrios,
<i>Wounded by Love</i>, 144. <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://mcm0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lemastep_mcm_edu/Documents/Documents/forefathers2023.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> St. Porphyrios,
145. <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-69198931407383917212023-12-09T17:04:00.000-08:002023-12-09T17:05:41.749-08:00Christ Comes to Free Us All from Our Infirmities: Homily for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday After Pentecost & Tenth Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0BpjhnrCK2hu2DuMAwsoql_ZD9obVSIEJXjc681Rax52wRJCiVX1zCKwoAst4kFtw3MDWXlp5kH4ouFatMvQdkcxnF8hi42sDYHNn0z8ha-hfvPUbtdoD5lMudNsFFq4p_HSWrtJ1-JgufrwnFxnY6s58UNtbuY7ZKwBaXyucGRVC4VzuCfjs49sqMdc/s1102/loosedwoman.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1102" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0BpjhnrCK2hu2DuMAwsoql_ZD9obVSIEJXjc681Rax52wRJCiVX1zCKwoAst4kFtw3MDWXlp5kH4ouFatMvQdkcxnF8hi42sDYHNn0z8ha-hfvPUbtdoD5lMudNsFFq4p_HSWrtJ1-JgufrwnFxnY6s58UNtbuY7ZKwBaXyucGRVC4VzuCfjs49sqMdc/s320/loosedwoman.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ephesians
6:10-17;<b> </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Luke 13:10-17<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #404040; text-align: justify;"> When Jesus Christ was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath, he saw a woman
who was bent over and could not straighten up. She had been that way for
eighteen years. The Lord said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your
infirmity.” When He laid hands on her, she was healed. When the woman stood up straight again, she
glorified God. </span><span style="color: #404040; text-align: justify;">As was often the case when the Savior healed on the
Sabbath day, there were religious leaders eager to criticize Him for working on
the legally mandated day of rest. He
responded by stating the obvious: People do what is necessary to take care of
their animals on the Sabbath. “So ought not this woman, being a daughter
of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond
on the Sabbath?” Then “</span><span style="text-align: justify;">all the people rejoiced at all the glorious
things that were done by Him.” By restoring the woman in this way Christ showed
that He is truly “Lord of the Sabbath” and that “the Sabbath was made for man,
not man for the Sabbath.” </span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify;">(Mark 2:27-28)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
In these weeks of the Nativity Fast, we pray, fast, give to the needy, and
confess and turn away from our sins<span style="color: #404040;"> as we prepare to
celebrate the wonderful news of the Incarnation of the Son of God, the glorious
proclamation of our Lord’s birth at Christmas for the salvation of the world. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today’s gospel reading reminds us that Christ does
not come to place even more burdens on the backs of broken people that will
never help them to gain the strength to straighten up. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is not born to enslave us further to chronic,
debilitating infirmities of whatever kind. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, He has united divinity and humanity in Himself
in order to share His healing and restoration of the human person with all who
respond to Him with humble faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>T</span><span style="color: #404040; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">hat is a very good thing for us who are well acquainted
with illness, pain, disability, and death. We also have diseases of soul,
of personality, of behavior, and of relationships that cripple us, keeping us
from acting, thinking, and speaking with the joyful freedom of the children of
God. We are all bent over and crippled in relation to the Lord, our
neighbors, and even ourselves. We have all fallen short of fulfilling
God’s gracious purposes for us, as has every generation since Adam and Eve
stripped themselves of the divine glory. Indeed, </span>“the whole
creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” (Rom. 8:22) <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #404040; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Joachim and Anna knew long-term
frustration and pain all too well, for like Abraham and Sarah they were childless
into their old age. God heard their prayers, however, and gave them Mary,
who would in turn give birth to the Savior Who came to liberate us all from sin
and death. We celebrated yesterday the feast of St. Anna’s conception of
the Theotokos, which foreshadows the coming of the Lord to free us from the
infirmities that hinder our entrance into the blessedness of the Kingdom.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #404040; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
The history of the Hebrews was preparatory for the coming of the Christ, the
Messiah in Whom God’s promises are fulfilled and extended to all who receive Him
with faith, regardless of their ethnic or national heritage. Christ did
not come to promote one nation or culture over another or to set up an earthly
kingdom of any kind in any part of the world, but to fulfill our original
calling as those created in the image and likeness of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He unites divinity and humanity in Himself and
makes it possible for us to share in the eternal life of the Holy Trinity as
distinct, unique persons who become radiant with the divine glory by grace. God
breaks the laws of nature, at least as we know them in our world of corruption,
in order to save us, enabling elderly women like Sarah and Anna to conceive and
bear children and a young virgin named Mary to become the Theotokos, the mother
of His Son, Who Himself rose from the dead after three days in the tomb. He
is born at Christmas for nothing less than our liberation through breaking the
bonds of death and healing every dimension of the brokenness of our life in
this world of corruption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #404040; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> The
Lord surely did not treat the woman in today’s reading as being undeserving of
His mercy due to her disability, her sex, or any other human characteristic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, He revealed her true identity as a
beloved person, a daughter of Abraham, by enabling her to regain the basic
human capability of standing up straight for the first time in years. On
that particular Sabbath day, Jesus Christ treated her as a unique, cherished
child of God who was not created for slavery to a wretched existence of pain,
disease, and despair, but for blessing, health, and joy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #404040; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
The good news of Christmas is that the Savior is born to set us all free from captivity
to the decay, corruption, and weakness that have taken root in our souls and in
our world. He comes to deliver us from being defined by infirmities of any kind
so that we may enter into the joyous freedom of the children of God. The
New Adam comes to us through the holy obedience of His virgin mother, the New
Eve, to heal every dimension of our brokenness, including the common temptation
for men to view women in light of their own passions and to treat them as being
somehow less in the image and likeness of God than themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The supremely honored position of the
Theotokos in the life of the Church reminds us of the falsehood of such
assumptions. As St. Paul wrote, “</span>There is neither Jew nor Greek, there
is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female<span style="color: #404040; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">; </span>for
you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28) Our Savior comes to deliver us
all from slavery to the bondage of seeing and treating anyone as less than a
living icon of God for any reason. <span style="color: #404040; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #404040; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Especially in these weeks of preparation for Christmas, we must
remember that salvation came to the world through the free, humble obedience of
a particular Palestinian Jewish teenaged girl who said “Yes!” to God with every
once of her being. The only way to prepare to welcome the Savior at His
Nativity is to become like her as we receive Him with humble faith, even as we
turn away from all that keeps us weakened and distorted by our passions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As St. Paul taught, we must “put on the whole
armor of God,” grounding ourselves in truth, righteousness, peace, faith,
salvation, and the Holy Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike
those throughout history to the present day who have foolishly identified their
spiritual enemies with their earthly adversaries, he teaches that “</span>we
are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities,
against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against
the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">While there are certainly dangers in giving too much
attention to the demons, there is even greater danger in becoming careless and
complacent before the familiar temptations that habitually weaken us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To receive Christ’s healing for the passions
that keep us spiritually crippled, St. Paul advises that we must “be strong in
the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that
you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We should never presume that we are so
spiritually strong that this guidance does not apply to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is why we must embrace the basic
spiritual disciples particularly stressed in seasons such as the Nativity Fast,
like prayer, fasting, generosity to the needy, and confessing and repenting of
our sins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is why we must read the Scriptures
and learn from the example and teaching of the saints. These are basic building
blocks of the Christian life, not because they meet some legal requirement, but
because they are channels through which we open ourselves to receive His
healing strength.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we are
tempted to despair that we will ever receive Christ’s healing, we should
remember that He is present with us even more so than He was to the woman who
could not stand up straight, for we are living members of His Body, the Church,
having put Him on like a garment in baptism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are “one flesh” with Him in
the Eucharist and He dwells in our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The way to healing and restoration is not through
obsessing about our sins or giving up hope, but through persistently turning to
Him with love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As St. Porphyrios taught,
“If you give your heart to Him, there will be no room for other things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you have ‘put on’ Christ, you will not
need any effort to attain virtue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
will give it to you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you engulfed by
fear and disenchantment? Turn to Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Love Him simply and humbly, without any demand, and He Himself will free
you.”<a href="https://mcm0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lemastep_mcm_edu/Documents/Documents/loosed%202023.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Let
us use the remaining weeks before Christmas to turn to the Savior in humble
love, trusting that He is born to heal us all from our infirmities and bring us
into the blessedness of His Kingdom. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
delivered Joachim and Anna from barrenness and comes to set us all free from
the sorrow of our first parents as daughters and sons of Abraham by faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The healing force of His words, “Woman, you are
freed from your infirmity,” extends to us all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now is the time to prepare mindfully to enter into the great joy brought
to the world by our Lord, the New Adam, Who was born of a woman, the New Eve,
for our salvation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #404040; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #404040; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #404040; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://mcm0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lemastep_mcm_edu/Documents/Documents/loosed%202023.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
St. Porphyrios, <i>Wounded by Love</i>, 135. <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-82076243195326501292023-12-02T14:13:00.000-08:002023-12-03T05:31:02.387-08:00We Must Open Our Eyes to the Light of Christ in Order to Prepare for Christmas: Homily for the Twenty-sixth Sunday After Pentecost & Fourteenth Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmZB26QnLe6HtuPnQNx_-89vOO-Mi-jHsZ_yR9P5nvU3hsUSeG-OJMp8cmgphAFXN73NNWuG5APZiB8pCRlcNR8l9XWUD3QBBRnXWHD5HGTxtX-b1J6XzVO7lBpfVf4nqZolwz7AF8B8yHwAWmOcL-_zzk8UYvtr8pNK6dkr3PBXLjb-fgpK035OPbhPw/s718/Blindbeggar.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="493" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmZB26QnLe6HtuPnQNx_-89vOO-Mi-jHsZ_yR9P5nvU3hsUSeG-OJMp8cmgphAFXN73NNWuG5APZiB8pCRlcNR8l9XWUD3QBBRnXWHD5HGTxtX-b1J6XzVO7lBpfVf4nqZolwz7AF8B8yHwAWmOcL-_zzk8UYvtr8pNK6dkr3PBXLjb-fgpK035OPbhPw/s320/Blindbeggar.jpg" width="220" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Ephesians 5:8-19; Luke 18:35-43</div><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">On the last couple
of Sundays, our gospel readings have reminded us what not to do if we want to prepare
to welcome Christ into our lives and world at His Nativity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rich fool was so focused on money and
possessions that he completely neglected the state of his soul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rich young ruler walked away in sadness when
it became clear that he loved his wealth more than God and neighbor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The weeks before Christmas are the most commercialized
time of the year when we are all bombarded with messages that the good life is primarily
about having a lot of money and being able to buy whatever we want.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since the Lord warned so clearly of the folly
of giving our hearts to the false god of riches, it is sadly ironic that the
celebration of His Nativity so often occurs in ways that contradict the blessedness
of His Kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">In contrast, today’s
gospel reading gives us a model of how to receive the Lord for our
healing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The blind beggar was the complete
opposite of the rich, powerful, and popular people of any time and place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had to sit by the side of the road and beg;
there was no realistic hope that the course of his life would ever change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He surely had no illusions about his circumstances,
for he was defined in that setting by his disability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when told that the Savior was passing by,
the poor man grasped at his one chance for healing and a new life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is why He refused to stop calling out
loudly for Christ’s help even when others criticized him, saying “Jesus, Son of
David, have mercy on me!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The more they
criticized him, the louder he shouted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He did not care what others thought of him in that moment, but was
determined to do all he could to receive the Lord’s mercy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After Christ restored his sight, the man
followed Him and gave thanks to God. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">One of the reasons
that we need these weeks of the Nativity Fast in preparation for Christmas is
that, unlike the blind beggar, we often lack a sense of urgency about presenting
our darkened souls to Christ for healing. We have learned to ignore our
spiritual blindness by distracting ourselves in the vain effort to find
fulfillment by abusing God’s blessings to gratify our self-centered
desires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since we are not literally
blind and destitute, it is much easier for us to ignore our true state than it
was for him. In our affluent society, we do not have to be rich in order to wrap
ourselves in a warm blanket of creature comforts as we indulge in food, drink,
and other pleasures to distract ourselves from seeing clearly where we stand
before the Lord and in relation to our neighbors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are often so much in the dark that we feel
no sense of urgency to call out to Christ from the depths of our hearts for His
healing mercy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">That is why we
must follow St. Paul’s guidance to the Ephesians to “walk as children of
light—for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of remaining comfortable with “the
unfruitful works of darkness” in our lives, we must “expose them” to the light of
Christ, for “when anything is exposed by the light it becomes visible, for
anything that becomes visible is light.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we remain in the dark, we will never learn to see ourselves, or anyone or anything else, clearly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead,
we will see everything in terms of our passions, which means that we will place
gratifying our desires before both serving God’s gracious purposes for us and meeting
the needs of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>St. Paul’s warning to
the Ephesians against drunkenness applies also to anything that would blind us
to the great spiritual urgency of being “filled with the Spirit, addressing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to
the Lord with all your heart.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">It should be
obvious that we all routinely fail to treat and speak to our neighbors as the
living icons of God that they are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have
all welcomed thoughts and desires into our hearts that obscure the light of
Christ and lead us to stumble in the darkness. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our spiritual vision becomes less focused every
time that we do so as we fall prey to our familiar temptations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Especially during the Nativity Fast as we
prepare to welcome the Savior at Christmas, we all need to hear the phrase from
the ancient baptismal hymn that St. Paul cites: “Awake, O sleeper, and arise
from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The blind beggar
shows us how to open the eyes of our darkened souls to the light of
Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The man “cried, ‘Jesus, Son of
David, have mercy on me!’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And those who
were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the
more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He provides us with the basis of the Jesus Prayer, the heartfelt plea
for healing, help, strength, and restoration that we should use often.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others told him to be quiet, but this fellow
called out to the Lord with even greater intensity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
we pray the Jesus Prayer or otherwise cry out to the Lord from the depths of
our hearts, we will very likely be tempted strongly to think about or do something
else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is much within us all that would
rather embrace some distraction that will enable us to stay in the dark and
gratify our passions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When that happens,
we must pray with even greater intensity and humility as we lift up our
conflicted and compromised hearts to the Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Christ asked the blind
beggar, ‘”What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me receive my
sight.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Jesus said to him, ‘Receive
your sight; your faith has made you well.”’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We must open our darkened souls to the brilliant light of the Savior in
order to gain our sight, in order to know the Lord from the depths of our hearts
as we share more fully in His blessed eternal life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are preparing to receive Christ more fully
into our lives at His Nativity, and what better way is there to do that than to
be present to Him with our minds in our hearts as we call for His mercy?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fasting and almsgiving will strengthen our
prayers in this regard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Struggling with both disciplines will reveal
our weakness before our passions and should fuel our humility and sense of
urgent need for the Lord’s healing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
are also practices that help to purify the desires of our hearts and direct
them toward fulfillment in God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
teach us that we actually can live without gratifying every self-centered
desire. The less focused we are on catering to our taste buds and stomachs, the
more resources we should have to share with those in need.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Growing in selfless compassion for our
neighbors is an essential dimension of being illumined with the light of
Christ. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">As we prepare to
celebrate the birth of the God-Man at Christmas, we must be distracted neither
by obsession with earthly cares nor by an unhealthy focus on the darkness that
remains within us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As St. Porphyrios taught, “Don’t occupy yourself
with rooting out evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christ does not
wish us to occupy ourselves with the passions, but with the opposite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Channel the water, that is, all the strength
of your soul to the flowers and you will enjoy their beauty, their fragrance
and their freshness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You won’t become
saints by hounding after evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ignore
evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look towards Christ and He will save
you.”</span><a href="https://mcm0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lemastep_mcm_edu/Documents/Documents/blindbeggar2023.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 8pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 8pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the remaining weeks of the Nativity Fast,
let us look toward Christ with the urgent expectation of that blind beggar who
let nothing stop him from persistently calling for mercy from the depths of his
heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we do so, then we will have
the eyes to behold the glorious light of the Lord when He is born for our
salvation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://mcm0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lemastep_mcm_edu/Documents/Documents/blindbeggar2023.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">St. Porphyrios, <i>Wounded by
Love:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Life and Wisdom of Saint
Porphyrios</i>, 135.</span> <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-63565906490436853172023-11-25T13:51:00.000-08:002023-11-26T11:19:06.387-08:00Preparing to Welcome Christ with Joy Through Humility: Homily for the Twenty-fifth Sunday After Pentecost & Thirteenth Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi39clct4cEQxXaFZhDfBHIUQzJSarQj-H33UUWyAgseizgP1tO-OsdfYxAVJU7nyBhCDwQ4yvTO-CL9nW4Npo-mllz9PTllWO4PHqqTGpwshr_XKegNzJQ_sSTKgGBKpz3svNLuTmQIebxeGeWMbqvBJvFBtHBtM5ONe5aBv299vin5eBITPSmmk8az4o/s400/richyoungruler1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="400" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi39clct4cEQxXaFZhDfBHIUQzJSarQj-H33UUWyAgseizgP1tO-OsdfYxAVJU7nyBhCDwQ4yvTO-CL9nW4Npo-mllz9PTllWO4PHqqTGpwshr_XKegNzJQ_sSTKgGBKpz3svNLuTmQIebxeGeWMbqvBJvFBtHBtM5ONe5aBv299vin5eBITPSmmk8az4o/s320/richyoungruler1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Ephesians 4:1-7; Luke 18:18-27</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">As we continue to prepare to welcome Christ
at His Nativity, we must keep our focus on becoming like those who first received
Him with joy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That includes the
Theotokos, whose Entrance into the Temple, where she prepared to become His Living
Temple, we celebrated last week. That includes unlikely characters like the Persian
astrologers or wise men, certainly Gentiles, who traveled such a long distance to
worship Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>What better news could there have been
than that the Prince of Peace was coming “to preach good news to the poor, to
heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery
of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord”? (Lk. 4:18-19) <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">As we sing during these weeks of Advent, “</span>Dance
for joy, O earth, on hearing the gladsome tidings; with the Angels and the
shepherds now glorify Him Who is willing to be gazed on as a young Child Who before
the ages is God.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We must remember,
however, that there were those who did not welcome the birth of the Savior at
all, such as the corrupt King Herod who slaughtered many young boys when his
plot to kill the young Christ unraveled. He was interested only in his own
power as a vassal of the Romans and saw the Savior simply as a threat to be
destroyed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In today’s gospel reading, we
encounter a figure not nearly as bloodthirsty as Herod, but who also did not
welcome the Messiah, at least once he caught a glimpse of how different He was
from what he had expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The rich man expected to find a teacher who
would praise him for his record of good behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In response to his question about how to find
eternal life, the Lord challenged the man to confront his spiritual weakness.
This fellow claimed to have kept all of God’s commandments from his youth, for
he thought that he had already mastered everything that God required.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He assumed that he needed no repentance or divine
mercy, presumably having already achieved perfection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is when the Lord said to him, “</span>Sell
all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in
heaven; and come, follow Me.” This was a command <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">that he lacked the spiritual strength to obey, for he was enslaved to the
love of money and the comfort and power that it brings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon
hearing this command, the rich man did not receive Christ joyfully, but </span>“was
sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” (Mk. 10:22)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">The Savior then shocked
everyone by saying, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the
kingdom of God!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For it is easier for a
camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the
kingdom of God.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The common assumption
then was that wealth was God’s reward for those who were righteous. Since the
man was one of very few rich people in that time and place, he and his
neighbors surely assumed that his possessions were due to his exemplary
behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their true spiritual
significance was very different, of course, for they showed that he had come to
love his wealth more than God and neighbor and, thus, obviously had failed to fulfill
the greatest of the commandments. As St. Basil the Great wrote of the rich
young ruler, “Those who love their neighbors as themselves possess nothing more
than their neighbor; yet surely, you seem to have great possessions!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How else can this be, but that you have
preferred your own enjoyment to the consolation of the many…For the more you abound
in wealth, the more you lack in love.”<a href="https://mcm0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lemastep_mcm_edu/Documents/Documents/richyoungruleradvent2023.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even
though this fellow departed in sadness, the Lord did not condemn the man, but
concluded with the statement: “What is impossible with men is possible with
God.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other words, there remains hope
for those who come to see clearly where they stand before the Lord and humbly
offer themselves to Him for healing. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">If we want to
prepare to welcome the Savior into our lives and world more fully this
Christmas, then we must turn away from shallow religious self-justification and
addiction to our money and possessions.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Instead
of wanting a Lord to congratulate and reward us for our imagined success and
virtue, we must follow the guidance of St. Paul to the Ephesians “to lead a
life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness
and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He probably wrote from prison in Rome, where no one would have confused
him with a paragon of earthly achievement.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Paul had received Christ rather
traumatically when the risen Lord appeared to him on his way to persecute
Christians in Damascus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After being
blind for three days, he was baptized, received his sight again, and took up his
long and difficult ministry, which ultimately led to martyrdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul described himself in ways that remind us
of the rich young ruler: “My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from
the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know...that according
to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.” (Acts 26:
4-5)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite the many sufferings he endured, Paul
never walked away in sadness from the Lord, but proclaimed that “This is a
faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” (1. Tim. 1:15)<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Paul is the complete opposite of those
who think that they have somehow put God in their debt by their good behavior
or that wealth and power are necessary, or even likely, signs of a person’s
righteousness. Instead of proudly celebrating ourselves, he calls us to
humility, patience, and mutual love that manifests Christ’s peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is, of course, no true peace in those whose
sense of wellbeing is dependent upon showing themselves to be better than their
neighbors, defending themselves from criticism that reveals their imperfection,
or hoarding wealth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That lack of peace
is precisely what led the rich man to walk away in sadness, for he could not
bear to open his soul in humility to see how desperately he needed the mercy of
Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To do so would have required acknowledging
that he was by no means perfect, for he needed healing far beyond what he could
ever give himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">There remains,
nonetheless, hope for the rich young rulers of this world, for all is “possible
with God.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Likewise, there remains hope
for us all, for as Paul wrote, “grace was given to each of us according to the
measure of Christ’s gift.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only way
to prepare to receive the Savior with joy at His Nativity is to cultivate the
humility of those who know that they lack the spiritual strength to master the
greatest of the commandments to love God with every ounce of our being and our
neighbors as ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We pray, fast,
give, confess, repent, and forgive during these blessed weeks in order to prepare
our hearts to welcome the Savior, the God-Man Who comes to restore and fulfill us
as His living icons, making us nothing less than “partakers of the divine
nature.” The point is not simply to enrich our private spirituality, of course,
put to enter into the blessed peace of Christ, providing the world a sign of its
salvation as we learn to love our neighbors as ourselves, to pursue reconciliation
with our enemies, and to share with the needy in whom He is present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us continue to prepare to receive Him
with the joy of the Theotokos, the wisemen, the shepherds, and angels as the
Prince of Peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His Nativity is good
news for the entire world from which we must never walk away in sadness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://mcm0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lemastep_mcm_edu/Documents/Documents/richyoungruleradvent2023.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Basil the Great, “To the Rich,” as quoted in Andrew Geleris, <i>Money and
Salvation </i>(St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2022), 54. <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-33924617288040672912023-11-18T13:09:00.000-08:002023-11-18T13:09:40.074-08:00Becoming Living Temples of Christ, Who Is Our Peace: Homily for the Twenty-fourth Sunday After Pentecost & Ninth Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3w-o690SSaijuckanPc41utSc97EZCY74-evfltNz4sf-lHv0LMMIsgCyC_oNjsjFsoSiBOmvCt6hV72DJNWeJP7qc0qLTfCxNJYRO9VI1bWcTg7ceQrfabYISF4Zjsdkdu9L-0qkXndzoOVmTFMUoEE3QC0dOsDRqrYqg7NqZ2Zvsm-tDgQ5R_db8sk/s400/richfool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="287" data-original-width="400" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3w-o690SSaijuckanPc41utSc97EZCY74-evfltNz4sf-lHv0LMMIsgCyC_oNjsjFsoSiBOmvCt6hV72DJNWeJP7qc0qLTfCxNJYRO9VI1bWcTg7ceQrfabYISF4Zjsdkdu9L-0qkXndzoOVmTFMUoEE3QC0dOsDRqrYqg7NqZ2Zvsm-tDgQ5R_db8sk/s320/richfool.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Ephesians 2:14-22; Luke 12:16-21<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Having begun the Nativity Fast on November 15
in preparation to welcome the Savior at Christmas, today we anticipate the Feast
of the Entrance into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos. Her elderly parents
Joachim and Anna offered Mary to God by taking her to live in the Temple in
Jerusalem as a young girl, where she grew up in prayer and purity as she
prepared to become the Living Temple of the Lord in a unique and extraordinary way
as His Virgin Mother.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">This feast directs
us to the good news of Christmas, as it is the first step in Mary’s life in
becoming the Theotokos who gave birth to the Son of God for our salvation.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Joachim and Anna had a long and difficult
period of preparation to become parents, as they had been unable to have
children for decades until God miraculously blessed them in old age to
conceive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They knew that their daughter
was a blessing not simply for the happiness of their family, but for playing
her part in fulfilling God’s purposes for the salvation of the world<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their patient faithfulness throughout their
years of barrenness helped them gain the spiritual clarity to offer her to the
Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They knew that their marriage and
family life were not simply about fulfilling their desires, but were blessings
to be given back to God for the fulfillment of much higher purposes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Joachim, Anna, and the Theotokos are the
complete opposites of the rich man in today’s gospel reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His only concern was to eat, drink, and enjoy
himself because he had become so wealthy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was addicted to earthly pleasure, power, and success, and saw the
meaning and purpose of his life only in those terms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When God required his soul, however, the
man’s true poverty was revealed, for the possessions and accomplishments of
this life inevitably pass away and cannot save us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This man’s horizons extended no further than his
dreams of the large barns he planned to build in order to hold his crops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before the ultimate judgment of God, he was
revealed to be a fool who had wasted his life on what could never truly heal or
fulfill one who bore the divine image and likeness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had laid up treasure for himself, but was
not rich toward God in any way. The problem was not simply that the man had
possessions, but that he had made them his god, which is another way of saying
that he worshipped only himself and surely was not concerned about the needs of
his neighbors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His barns were a temple of
the greed to which he had offered his entire existence in a vain effort to satisfy
his self-centered desires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In stark contrast, the Theotokos followed the
righteous example of her parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
was prepared by a life of holiness to agree freely to become our Lord’s mother,
even though she was an unmarried virgin who did not understand how such a thing
could happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she said, “Behold the
handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word,” this young
Palestinian Jewish girl bravely made a whole, complete offering of her life to
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She did not ask what was in it for
her in terms of money, power, or any kind of earthly success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike the rich fool in the parable, she was
not blinded by passion and had the purity of soul to put receptivity to the
Lord before all else. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The world is full of tragic circumstances
today that are caused by people who are so enslaved to their self-centered
desires that they think nothing is more important than doing whatever it takes
to gratify their lust for possessions, power, and pleasure. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But even if they succeed in gaining the whole
world, they will lose their souls because they have offered themselves to false
gods which lack the power to heal people from the ravages of sin, let alone to raise
anyone up from the tomb. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those who
serve such idols inevitably lack peace within their souls and act in ways that
make peace with their neighbors, especially those they consider their enemies, impossible.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In today’s epistle reading, St. Paul taught the
Ephesians that </span>“Christ is our peace, Who has made us both one, and has
broken down the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in His flesh the law
of commandments and ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in
place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one
body through the Cross, thereby bringing the hostility to an end.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is why Gentile Christians are now also <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">part of the holy temple “built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the
cornerstone…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though we had been
“strangers” to the blessed heritage of the Hebrews, we are now built into the
living temple of Christ’s Body, the Church, by the power of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Too many people today insist on preserving whatever
“dividing wall of hostility” they can use to promote their vain desires for power,
wealth, and other signs of worldly success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Doing so <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>enables them to justify in
their own minds how they refuse to pursue reconciliation with those who pose
real or imagined threats to their dreams of earthly glory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are ways to “eat, drink, and be merry”
that have nothing to do with food and beverage, but everything to do with impoverishing
our souls by indulging in self-centeredness to the point that we cannot even
imagine living according to the good news that Christ “has broken down the
dividing wall of hostility” and brought peace to those “</span>who were far
off, and peace to those who were near.” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">The Jewish
Messiah Whose ministry extended to Samaritans, Roman centurions, Gentiles, the
poor, the sick, the demon-possessed, and those viewed as hopeless cases of
depravity has brought all with faith in Him into His Body, the Church, the
living temple of God by the power of the Holy Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He worked that reconciliation through His
great <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Self-offering on the Cross by which
He has released us from bondage to the fear of death through His glorious
resurrection on the third day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we
want to pursue reconciliation with those we consider our enemies concerning any
matter in this world, we must embrace our true identity as “</span>fellow
citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the
cornerstone.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must find healing for
our souls as we embrace our identity as a holy temple of the Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must reorient the desires of our hearts
toward His Kingdom and away from any version of worldly glory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other words, we must become like the
Theotokos who offered herself fully and without reservation to receive the
Savior. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We enter into His peace not by gaining
wealth, power, or victory over enemies, but by offering ourselves to Him with
complete receptivity, as she did. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">We are now in
the Nativity Fast, the 40-day period during which we prepare to celebrate the
birth of the Savior at Christmas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The weeks of Advent call us to wrestle with the
passions that threaten to make us so much like the rich fool that we become blind
to the healing and peace brought by our Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Far from obsessing about earthly cares and indulging in the richest and
most satisfying foods, this is a season for fasting, confessing and repenting
of our sins, giving generously to the needy, and intensifying our prayers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a time for preparing to open our hearts
to receive Christ more fully into our lives at His Nativity. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Theotokos entered the Temple, living there
for years in preparation to become the Son of God’s Living Temple through whom He
took on flesh. The Nativity Fast provides us blessed opportunities to become
more like that obscure Palestinian Jewish girl who said “Yes!” to God with
every ounce of her being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It calls us to
become more like Joachim and Anna in the patient trust in God that enabled them
to offer their long-awaited daughter to Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They show us how to enter the Temple by embracing the difficult struggle
of learning to offer ourselves and all our blessings fully to the Lord. It is
only by following their righteous example that we will gain the spiritual
clarity to provide the world a much-needed sign that the Savior born at
Christmas truly “has broken down the dividing wall of hostility” that we know
all to well. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us use these weeks to find
healing for our passions as we embrace our true identity as “fellow citizens
with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in
Whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the
Lord; in Whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the
Spirit.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p><br />Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-59015576414739207702023-11-11T18:16:00.000-08:002023-11-12T11:43:24.573-08:00Those Who Have Received Christ's Merciful Generosity Must "Go and Do Likewise": Homily for St. John the Almsgiver, Patriarch of Alexandria & the Eighth Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPeD42A9ObxdfEMUGFGghHK0sxrkfQlmALxw2C4Oo4T2ImSvqvvdIXL_8z9B1Tefo-UhrwoECNgrBHCysyuqBJjvAoNL7WV0CToIA-ExAU_Rr4S-O224Pbdv7Or6-q7oC72fcUlcLPD6z4p94mpUcCuE319BPEszvwG0YtweaSUT2RWazjkdJ3BZQsf-I/s500/goodsamaritan.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPeD42A9ObxdfEMUGFGghHK0sxrkfQlmALxw2C4Oo4T2ImSvqvvdIXL_8z9B1Tefo-UhrwoECNgrBHCysyuqBJjvAoNL7WV0CToIA-ExAU_Rr4S-O224Pbdv7Or6-q7oC72fcUlcLPD6z4p94mpUcCuE319BPEszvwG0YtweaSUT2RWazjkdJ3BZQsf-I/s320/goodsamaritan.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">2 Cor. 9:6-11; Luke
10:25-37<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify;">It is terribly tragic
when people fall into the delusion of thinking that they love God and neighbor,
when in reality they are using religion to serve only themselves and the false
gods of this world.</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify;">One symptom of doing
so is to narrow down the list of people who count as our neighbors to the point
that we excuse ourselves from serving Christ in all who bear His image and
likeness.</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify;">When we do so, we disregard not
only them, but our Lord Himself, the God-Man born for the salvation of
all.</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify;">Our actions then reveal that we are
not truly united with Him because we seek to justify ourselves by serving nothing
but our own vain imaginations.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>That is precisely the attitude that the
Savior warns against in today’s gospel reading. After describing how the Old
Testament law required loving God “</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">with
all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with
all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself,” </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">the lawyer wanted to justify himself by limiting the people he had to
love. That is why he asked, “And who is
my neighbor?” He wanted to limit what
God required of him in a way that served his convenience and prejudices. That way, he could assume that he was a
righteous man as he went through life serving only himself and the few he deemed
worthy of his concern. </span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Lord’s parable does
not allow us, however, to place any limits on what it means to love our
neighbors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He tells us about a man who
was robbed, severely beaten, and then left on the side of the road to die. Surely,
anyone who saw him in that condition would have an obligation to help him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the more is that the case for the
religious leaders who were going down that same road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They knew that the Old Testament law required
them to care for a fellow Jew in a life-threatening situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like the lawyer, however, they must have come
up with some excuse not to treat him with even an ounce of compassion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do not know exactly what they were
thinking, but they somehow rationalized passing by on the other side without
helping him at all.</span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Ironically, a Samaritan—a
hated foreigner, a despised heretic-- is the one who treated the unfortunate
man as a neighbor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Samaritan did not
limit his concern to his own people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
did not restrict the demands of love in any way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though he knew that the Jews had nothing
to do with Samaritans, he responded with boundless compassion and generosity to
this fellow’s plight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did not figure
out how little he could do and still think of himself as a decent person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, he spontaneously offered his time,
energy, and resources to bring a stranger back to health. Even the lawyer got
the point of the story, for he saw that the one who treated the man as a
neighbor was “The one who showed mercy to him.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Lord used the story
of the Good Samaritan to show us who we must become if we are truly united to Him
in faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Purely out of compassionate,
boundless love, Christ came to heal us all from the self-imposed pain and misery
that our sins have worked on our souls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
came to liberate everyone, Jews and Gentiles alike, from slavery to the fear of
death, which is the wages of sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like
the Samaritan, He was despised and rejected as a blasphemer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the parable, the religious leaders were of
no help to the man who was robbed, beaten, and left to die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They passed by and left him to suffer in the state
in which they had found him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Likewise,
the legalistic, hypocritical religious leaders who rejected the Messiah were of
no benefit to those who needed healing from the ravages of sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They interpreted
and applied the law in order to gain power in this world and were powerless to
heal anyone. We must be on guard against the temptation to become like them by
distorting our faith in ways that would excuse us from seeing and serving Christ in
every suffering neighbor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Christ has brought salvation to the world,
not by giving us merely a religious or moral code of conduct, but by making us
participants in His divine life by grace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By becoming fully human even as He remains fully divine, He has restored
and fulfilled the basic human vocation to become like God in holiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only the God-Man could do that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we are truly united with Him, then His
boundless love must become characteristic of our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among other things, that means gaining the
spiritual health to show our neighbors the same mercy we ask for from the
Savior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doing that even for those we
love is difficult because our self-centeredness makes it hard to give anyone
the same consideration we want for ourselves.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The challenge of conveying Christ’s love to
people we do not like for whatever reason may seem impossibly hard. </span>Remember,
however, what the Samaritan in the parable did for the robbed and beaten
man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He administered first aid, took him
to an inn, paid the innkeeper to care for him, and promised to pay for any
additional expenses when he returned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christ
does the same for us in baptism, the Eucharist, and the full sacramental life
of the Church, which is a hospital for our recovery from the ravages of sin. He
also calls us to spiritual disciplines—such as prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—through
which we will prepare to welcome Him during the Nativity Fast as we open
ourselves to receive the healing necessary to convey His mercy to our neighbors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He enables us to <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">pursue a life of faith and faithfulness through the ministries of His
Body, the Church, as a sign of the salvation of the world. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The generosity of our Lord is truly infinite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The more that we share in His life, the more
His generosity will become characteristic of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As St. Paul wrote, “</span>he who sows
sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap
bountifully.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This entails that those
who offer themselves to serve Christ in their neighbors “will be enriched in
every way for great generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to
God.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today we remember two saints known
especially for how they manifested the generous mercy of the Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Saint John the Almsgiver, Patriarch of
Alexandria, directed the church’s resources to help thousands of needy people,
including paying ransom for the release of captives. He distributed alms on
Wednesdays and Fridays, visited the sick three days a week, and brought those
who had done wrong to repentance through his personal example of great humility
and mercy.<a href="https://mcm0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lemastep_mcm_edu/Documents/Documents/GoodSamaritan2023.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Saint Martin of Tours was a Roman soldier and
a catechumen when he cut his cloak in two and gave half to a shivering beggar
on a freezing night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then “Christ
appeared to the saint wearing Martin’s cloak. He heard the Savior say to the
angels surrounding Him, ‘Martin is only a catechumen, but he has clothed Me
with this garment.’”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After his baptism and
departure from the army, he became a monk and then a bishop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“He is called the Merciful because of his
generosity and care for the poor, and he received the grace to work miracles.”<a href="https://mcm0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lemastep_mcm_edu/Documents/Documents/GoodSamaritan2023.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Their blessed
examples show that it is possible to be so fully united to Christ that His
generous mercy becomes characteristic of us in relation to those who are robbed,
beaten, and left for dead by the side of the road, whether literally or figuratively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Good Samaritan, we see the boundless
mercy of our Lord for all His suffering children. Today and throughout the
coming weeks, we are receiving an offering for the suffering people of the Holy
Land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us not miss this opportunity
to unite ourselves more fully to Christ as we invest ourselves in His compassion
and generosity, for by doing so we “will be enriched in every way for great
generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As those who have received such infinite
mercy from the Savior, how can we not obey His command to the lawyer, “Go and
do likewise”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 24pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 24pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://mcm0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lemastep_mcm_edu/Documents/Documents/GoodSamaritan2023.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2000/11/12/103286-saint-john-the-merciful-patriarch-of-alexandria">Saint
John the Merciful, Patriarch of Alexandria - Orthodox Church in America
(oca.org)</a><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://mcm0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lemastep_mcm_edu/Documents/Documents/GoodSamaritan2023.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2021/11/11/103285-saint-martin-the-merciful-bishop-of-tours">Saint
Martin the Merciful, Bishop of Tours - Orthodox Church in America (oca.org)</a><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div><br /><p></p>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-76760358707625984842023-11-04T17:20:00.007-07:002023-11-04T17:22:16.186-07:00Loving Our Neighbors More than Our Money is Part of Being "A New Creation": Homily for the Twenty-second Sunday After Pentecost & Fifth Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtAqpX2Q36pwuUk4ix_J8NUwlRcwiErHduiJkOIicufuq_0ATGDiGSzWg_U_ABIx0aeytAzrFuR29AS29KH_gDahAV0JOeh6FiKW7mUn5-Sk6UBaijEhiD-I27KLHqFW0dCGist1plZvl0VwuB-bBvMGEcHv_QEU3ioV1wv0U2GWbZehZ6cTWqpuOHY-0/s500/lazarus-and-the-rich-man.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtAqpX2Q36pwuUk4ix_J8NUwlRcwiErHduiJkOIicufuq_0ATGDiGSzWg_U_ABIx0aeytAzrFuR29AS29KH_gDahAV0JOeh6FiKW7mUn5-Sk6UBaijEhiD-I27KLHqFW0dCGist1plZvl0VwuB-bBvMGEcHv_QEU3ioV1wv0U2GWbZehZ6cTWqpuOHY-0/s320/lazarus-and-the-rich-man.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Galatians 6:11-18; Luke
16:19-31</div><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>There is perhaps no more powerful
example of our need for Christ’s healing of our souls than that contained in today’s
gospel reading.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">A rich man with the benefit
of the great spiritual heritage of Abraham, Moses, and the prophets had become
such a slave to gratifying his desires for indulgence in pleasure that he had
become completely blind to his responsibility to show mercy to Lazarus, a miserable
beggar who wanted only crumbs and whose only comfort was when dogs licked his
open sores.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The rich man’s life revolved
around wearing the most expensive clothes and enjoying the finest food and drink,
even as he surely stepped over or around Lazarus at the entrance to his home on
a regular basis and never did anything at all to relieve his suffering.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span> <span> </span><span> </span></span>After their deaths, the two men’s
situations were reversed.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The rich man had
spent his life rejecting the teachings of Moses and the prophets about the
necessity of showing mercy to the poor.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He had diminished himself spiritually to the point that he became unable
to recognize Lazarus as a neighbor who bore the image of God.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Consequently, after his death he was blind to
the love of God and perceived the divine majesty as only a burning flame of
torment.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">When the rich man asked Father
Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers to warn them of the consequences of
living such a depraved life, the great patriarch responded, “‘If they do not
hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should
rise from the dead.’”</span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">That statement applies to the corrupt
nationalistic religious leaders who called for Christ’s crucifixion and denied
His resurrection because they wanted only a warrior king who would slaughter
their enemies and give them earthly power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We must not rest content, however, with seeing how the Lord’s statement applies
to others, for it should challenge us even more as those who have received the
fullness of the mystery of God’s salvation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our responsibility is far greater than that of the Jews of old, for as
members of Christ’s Body, the Church, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we have every
spiritual benefit to strengthen us in serving our Lord in our neighbors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since
every neighbor is an icon of God, how we treat them reveals our relationship to
Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christ taught that what we do “to
the least of these,” to the most wretched people, we do to Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we become so obsessed with gratifying
ourselves or serving worldly agendas that we refuse to convey His mercy to our
neighbors, then we will reject our Messiah and deny the truth of His
resurrection, for we will not live in a way that reflects His victory over the
corrupting power of sin and death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regardless
of what we say we believe, we will bear witness through our actions that we
have become blind to the good news of our salvation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And like the rich man, we will exclude
ourselves from the joy of the Kingdom. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember the words of the Lord: “Not everyone
who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he
who does the will of My Father in heaven.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Matt. 7:21) </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Lazarus, like everyone else, bore
the image and likeness of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is simply
no way around the basic truth that how we relate to our neighbors reveals how
we relate to our Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What we do for
even the most miserable and inconvenient people we encounter in life, we do for
Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what we refuse to do for
them, we refuse to do for our Savior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our salvation is in becoming more like Him as we find the healing of our
souls by cooperating with His grace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While
we cannot save ourselves any more than we can rise up by our own power from the
grave, we must obey His commandments in order to open our souls to receive His
healing mercy as we become more like Him as “partakers of the divine nature.” If
we do not do that, we will suffer the spiritual blindness of the rich man in
today’s gospel lesson, regardless of how much or how little of the world’s
treasures we have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Our calling is not to any form of religious
legalism, but to embrace the healing and restoration that the God-Man shares
with us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In our epistle reading, St.
Paul strongly opposes fellow Jewish Christians who required Gentile converts to
be circumcised in obedience to the Old Testament law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In contrast to those who would insist that
Gentiles become Jews before becoming Christians, Paul writes that, “neither
circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
enter into the life of the New Adam by being reborn in baptism as we put on Christ
like a garment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being united to Him from
the depths of our souls by the power of the Holy Spirit, we may become radiant
with the gracious divine energies, manifesting the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy,
peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.” (Gal. 5:22) The
contrast between the plight of the first Adam, miserably enslaved to the fear
of death in our world of corruption, and the holy glory that Christ shares with
us is so great that Paul describes our salvation as nothing less than “a new
creation.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our risen Lord raises us from
death to life, making it possible for us to participate in the new day of His
Kingdom even now, which is something that even the most exacting obedience to
the best set of religious laws could never achieve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">In the midst of our materialistic
and consumeristic culture, it is easy to overlook St. Paul’s warning that “Those
who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many
foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For
the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(1 Tim. 6: 9-10)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> It was surely the love of money that
led the rich man in today’s parable to become so enslaved to gratifying
self-centered desire that he closed his heart completely to concern for his
neighbors, even those so obviously suffering right before his eyes. Because he
would not show love for poor Lazarus, he degraded himself to the point that he
could not love God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>St. John wrote, “If someone says, ‘I love
God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother
whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” (1 Jn. 4:20) The
Lord Himself taught that love of God and neighbor are the greatest of the
commandments. (Matt. 22: 37-40).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is no surprise, then, that the rich man
experienced the torment of bitter regret after his death, for he was in the
eternal presence of the Lord Whom he had rejected throughout his life. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had turned away decisively from God’s love
and was capable of perceiving the divine glory as only a burning flame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">If we have become “a new creation” in
Christ, then we must live as members of His Body, manifesting His love and
mercy for our suffering neighbors each day of our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must do so in relation to people in our
own city, as well as to those who suffer around the world, including the living
icons of God who are currently undergoing such horribly tragic circumstances in
the Holy Land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His Eminence, Metropolitan SABA, has directed
all the parishes of our Archdiocese “to collect aid for our brethren at the
Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and to partake in the relief of their suffering
while demonstrating the Christian communion of humanity in times of affliction…”<a href="https://mcm0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lemastep_mcm_edu/Documents/Documents/lazaruspoor2023.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Beginning today and
throughout this month, please put offerings marked “Holy Land” in the
collection plate, which we will then send to the Archdiocese.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must remember to place our almsgiving in
the context of intensified prayer, especially for peace and blessing for those
now suffering so terribly, and in renewed spiritual struggle to purify the
desires of our hearts from self-centeredness in all its forms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is the only way that we will learn to
respond to the “poor Lazaruses” of our day in light of the “new creation” of
the God-Man, in whom “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither
slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in
Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://mcm0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lemastep_mcm_edu/Documents/Documents/lazaruspoor2023.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/1812<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-4436132025198225562023-10-28T14:01:00.003-07:002023-10-29T05:30:19.768-07:00Entrusting Ourselves to Christ with Truly Humble Faith: Homily for the Twenty-first Sunday After Pentecost and Seventh Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN6F3Hyrxk_b66JfK1LlujYkvk5Kr5IxJa2v9pad5xOhmvD2Wna-GjB5k9uR6PKt1AcjWDDr_hfXLBD1ewSEZEmxZhep6Cr00CQnRVxClpRSIpaxt37KUppQUo9tqS7HMCbhTVRQe9rM7mYoDrHzCmZMs7cPUxRbSI8eONqgWhQvDagHMBd4YP8YIdxKY/s386/bleeding.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="386" data-original-width="299" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN6F3Hyrxk_b66JfK1LlujYkvk5Kr5IxJa2v9pad5xOhmvD2Wna-GjB5k9uR6PKt1AcjWDDr_hfXLBD1ewSEZEmxZhep6Cr00CQnRVxClpRSIpaxt37KUppQUo9tqS7HMCbhTVRQe9rM7mYoDrHzCmZMs7cPUxRbSI8eONqgWhQvDagHMBd4YP8YIdxKY/s320/bleeding.jpg" width="248" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Galatians 2:16-20;<b> </b></span>Luke 8:41-56<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>It is worth asking what
we want to achieve by practicing our faith.
Why do we come to church, pray, fast, give to the needy, forgive our
enemies, confess our sins, and otherwise struggle to reorient our lives toward
God? Perhaps we do these things because
we want to put God in our debt so that He will do our will. Maybe we want to become socially respectable,
making ourselves look virtuous in our own eyes and in those of our neighbors. It could also be the case that we want to
distinguish ourselves from our neighbors, especially those we do not like,
presenting ourselves as more pious and moral than we think they are. Of course, these are all distortions of true
Christian faith, but the real test of our faith is not simply in what we
generally want from religion, but especially in how we relate to the Lord when
we face deep challenges that break our hearts and threaten to lead us into despair. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span> In today’s gospel
reading, Jairus and his wife were put to the ultimate test when the Lord said
of their daughter, “Do not fear; only believe, and she shall be
well…[and] “Do not weep; for she is not dead but sleeping.” Jairus was an upstanding Jewish man who was
responsible for the good order of a synagogue.
He was surely respected by his neighbors and thought to be righteous,
but we have no idea what Jairus had thought about Christ other than that he
knelt before Him and asked Him to come to his house, where his daughter was
dying. After she had died, whatever
faith he had was surely stretched to the breaking point. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p> We
also do not really know how Jairus and his wife responded to the Lord’s challenge to believe that their daughter
would return to life and health. Nonetheless,
they had enough faith to go into their house with the Messiah Who had promised
to save their daughter if they believed and did not fear. Mourning and weeping had already begun, and
others laughed at the Savior for saying, “Do not weep; for she is not
dead but sleeping.” In the midst of their
despair, Jairus and his wife somehow found the strength to trust in Christ’s promise,
which enabled them to receive a miracle
well beyond all expectations.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span> Something similar occurred
with the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. She had impoverished herself by spending all
her money on physicians who could not heal her. There was no medical cure for
her condition, which also made her ritually unclean. She was isolated, poor, and miserable. Her religious and social standing were
completely different from that of Jairus, who was at the center of the Jewish
community, for she was very much on the margins. All that we know about her attitude toward Christ
is that she reached out and touched the hem of His garment in the midst of a
large crowd. She probably did not want
to draw attention to herself by asking for healing and or to risk rejection from
Him, for anyone who touched her would have been considered unclean also. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span> When the woman reached
out for the Lord’s garment, she was healed immediately, but Christ knew that someone
had touched Him; her secret was out. Instead
of running away in fear or becoming defensive or angry, the woman then “came
trembling, and falling down before Him declared in the presence of all the
people why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed.” Then the Lord said, “Daughter, your faith has
made you well; go in peace.” </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span> As different as Jairus
and this woman are, they have in common that they were both at the end of their
rope and tempted to fall into despair. It
did not matter that one was an admired example of religious piety and that the
other was an outcast. Questions of how
observant they were of the Jewish law or of what people thought about them had
become irrelevant, for they knew no way out of the tragic circumstances they
faced. To their credit, they did not
look for scapegoats to blame for their grave problems; neither did they do
anything self-destructive. Instead, they
humbly offered the deepest pains of their lives to Christ for healing beyond
what they could expect or even understand.
They entrusted their brokenness to the Lord without reservation and,
thus, opened themselves to the healing of the human person that He has brought
to the world. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span> <span> </span><span> </span></span>The woman did not say anything at all until
after her healing, which came through the only gesture of faith that she had
the strength to make: reaching out to
touch the hem of the Savior’s garment in the middle of a crowd. She was healed instantly, but spoke only
after she had been found out. She did so
with fear and trembling, falling down before the Lord and stating publicly why
she had reached out for healing. That
was likely the most difficult and embarrassing moment of her life. In response, the Lord said, </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“Daughter,
your faith has made you well; go in peace.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Savior did not relate to her as a bundle of impurity, but simply as a
beloved child of God who had opened her heart to Him as best she could. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>The pain felt by Jairus and his wife was in
no way lessened by their respectable position among the Jews. Jairus had asked Christ to come to his
house where his daughter was dying, but he and his wife surely struggled to
believe that the Lord could actually raise her from the dead. After He did so, “</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">her parents were
amazed; but He charged them to tell no one what had happened.” </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Their faith, however weak and imperfect, was
all that the Savior needed to work an extraordinary miracle. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Lord showed
mercy throughout His earthly ministry to suffering people who offered their
personal brokenness to Him for healing, regardless of where they stood in the
religious and social pecking orders of the day.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He praised the spiritual understanding of a Gentile woman and cast a
demon out of her daughter. (Mk 7:24-30) He said that no one in Israel had
greater faith than the Roman centurion whose servant He healed. (Lk 7: 1-10) He
restored the broken life of St. Photini, the Samaritan woman, by disregarding
the prejudices of the time through His shocking conversation with her.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">(Jn 4:1-42) The Savior did not treat them according
to their social standing or level of religious observance, but according to His
love for all the living icons of God.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Contrary to those who thought that obeying the
Old Testament law would heal their souls, St. Paul taught that we are “not
justified by works of the Law but through faith in Jesus Christ.” (Gal. 2:16) Only
our risen Lord has delivered us from the corrosive fear of death through His
glorious resurrection on the third day. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Even
the strictest obedience to religious law could not resurrect Jairus’ daughter or
anyone else; neither could it stop the chronic bleeding of the woman or deliver
us from slavery to our self-centered desires.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">It is only by opening our souls to Christ in brutally honest faith, no
matter how weak or imperfect, that we may become participants in his restoration
and fulfillment of the human person as a living icon of God.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We must learn to
see that we stand before Him just as did Jairus and the woman with grave, ongoing
challenges that no level of religious observance, in and of itself, has the
power of heal.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We must die to the pride
that would make us think that we will become worthy of God’s favor if we will
only accomplish this or that. The point of all our spiritual disciplines is not
to attempt to put God in our debt, to achieve any earthly goal, or to
distinguish ourselves from our neighbors in any way.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">It
is, instead, to help us gain the humility to have the faith necessary to entrust
our deepest pains and fears to the One Who has conquered even death and Hades. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Acquiring that kind of faith is not easy and surely
not a matter of simply going through the motions of religious practice.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">It is, instead, a matter of allowing our
illusions of self-sufficiency and self-righteousness to be destroyed as we come
to see clearly where we stand before the Lord as those with broken hearts who often
totter on the brink of despair.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He graciously
accepts faith even the size of a mustard seed, such as that of an outcast woman
who secretly touches the hem of His garment or of parents who can barely
believe that death will not have the last word on their daughter.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">If we can acquire the humility to entrust ourselves
so fully to Christ, then His words will apply to us also: “Daughter, your faith
has made you well; go in peace.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-33502844423292750422023-10-21T12:40:00.006-07:002023-10-23T18:22:44.444-07:00Becoming a Human Person Fully Alive to the Glory of God: Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEges2DTxQjJrtiHTI-WhVg8AQBebfY1Xrr0k01rQ6k49NTf5sTJmx0dcDDc1hYRevnCPcY7E7DNsIsUFL9y9XyC77nhxiQynPmFsxlY5V1zNbraMzn4_tj9FVzuxda3PKqulxICrqDbNj74LQRsfyZCKVrdjbT-YiQhhXd0YVtOcNxhjECQ6acu0M-dCjk/s668/pigs.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="668" data-original-width="416" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEges2DTxQjJrtiHTI-WhVg8AQBebfY1Xrr0k01rQ6k49NTf5sTJmx0dcDDc1hYRevnCPcY7E7DNsIsUFL9y9XyC77nhxiQynPmFsxlY5V1zNbraMzn4_tj9FVzuxda3PKqulxICrqDbNj74LQRsfyZCKVrdjbT-YiQhhXd0YVtOcNxhjECQ6acu0M-dCjk/s320/pigs.jpg" width="199" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Luke 8:26-39</div><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b> St.
Irenaeus wrote that “The glory of God is a man fully alive, and the life
of man consists in beholding God” (<i>Adv. haer</i>. 4.20.7).” To be a human person is to bear the image of
God with the calling to become more like Him in holiness. The more we do so, the more we become our
true selves. The God-Man Jesus Christ
came to restore and fulfill us as living icons of God. He enables us to become truly human as we
participate personally in Him as the Second Adam. As St. Paul wrote, “For all the promises of
God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” (2 Cor. 1:20)</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If
we need a clear example of how the Lord has extended the ancient promises to
Abraham to all people in order to restore the beauty of our darkened souls, we
need look no further than today’s <span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Gospel reading about a man so miserable that he was barely recognizable as
a human person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had no illusions about
himself, for he was so filled with demons that he called himself “Legion.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His personality had disintegrated due to the
overwhelming power of the forces of evil in his life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is shown by the fact that he was naked,
like Adam and Eve who stripped themselves of the divine glory and were cast out
of Paradise into our world of corruption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He lived among the tombs, and death is “the wages of sin” that came into
the world as a consequence of our first parents’ refusal to fulfill their
calling to become like God in holiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
naked man living in the cemetery was so terrifying to others that they tried
unsuccessfully to restrain him with chains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>People understandably feared that he would do to them what Cain had done
to Abel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when this fellow broke
free, he would run off to the desert by himself, alone with his demons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Gadarene demoniac provides a vivid icon
of the pathetic suffering of humanity enslaved to death, stripped naked of the
divine glory, and isolated in fear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His
wretched condition manifests the tragic disintegration of the human person that
the Savior came to heal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Evil
was so firmly rooted in this man’s soul that his reaction to the Lord’s command
for the demons to depart is shocking: “What have you to do with me?...I ask
you, do not torment me.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had understandably
abandoned hope for healing and perceived Christ’s promise of deliverance simply
as even further torment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By telling the
Lord that his name was Legion, he acknowledged that the line between the demons
and his own identity had been blurred.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
was in such bad shape that it was not clear where he ended and where the demons
began.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Savior then cast the demons
into the herd of pigs, which ran into the lake and drowned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Old Testament context, pigs were
unclean, and here the forces of evil lead even them to destruction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Perhaps
there is no clearer image of how evil debases our humanity than the plight of
this miserable man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is an icon of our brokenness and represents
us all in many ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did not ask
Christ to deliver him, even as we did not take the initiative in the Savior’s coming
to the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The corrupting forces of evil were so powerful
in this man’s life that he had lost all awareness of being a person in God’s
image and likeness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can also become
so distorted by self-centered desire that we lose all sense of being a living
icon of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When that happens, we would
rather that Christ leave us alone to serve our passions than to set us free
from them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can easily become overwhelmed
with fear that His healing mercy will simply torment us, being so spiritually
blind that we cannot even imagine a life without the corruption with which we
have come to identify ourselves. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After
the spectacular drowning of the swine, the man in question was “sitting at the
feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The one who had not been recognizably human returned to being his true
self.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was a very upsetting scene to
the people of that region, however.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
actually asked Christ to leave out of fear at what had happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We may find their reaction hard to
understand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What could be so terrifying
about this man returning to a normal life?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Unfortunately, we all tend to get used to whatever we get used to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What we have experienced routinely in
ourselves or from others, no matter how depraved, becomes normal to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The scary man in the tombs was afraid when
Christ came to set him free, but his neighbors seemed even more disturbed when
they saw that he had been liberated. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It should
not be surprising that the man formerly possessed by demons and still feared by
his neighbors did not want to stay in his hometown after the Lord restored him.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He begged to go with Christ, Who responded,
“</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Return to your home, and declare all
that God has done for you.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That must
have been a difficult commandment for him to obey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who would not be embarrassed and afraid to live
in a town where everyone knew about the wretched and miserable existence he had
experienced?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would have been much
easier to have left all that behind and start over as a traveling disciple of
the One who had set him free. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But that was not what Christ wanted
the man to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps that was because
the Lord knew that the best sign of His transforming power was a living person
who had been restored from the worst forms of depravity and corruption as a
sign of the glory of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There could
not be a better witness of the salvation that the God-Man has brought to the
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>W</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">hen someone moves from slavery to personal decay to the
glorious freedom of the children of God, that person has moved from death to
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That person has become his or her
true self as one who bears the divine image and likeness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such a radical change is a brilliant sign of
the truth of Christ’s resurrection, for He makes us participants in His victory
over death by breaking the destructive hold of the power of sin in our lives. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">The presence of
the pigs in this story reminds us that the man to whom Christ restored his
humanity was a Gentile. The Savior has fulfilled God’s promises to the children
of Abraham such that all with faith in Him are “Abraham’s seed, and heirs
according to the promise.” (Gal. 3:29) His Kingdom is not a nation-state, is
not defined according to ethnicity or cultural heritage, and knows no
geographical boundaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Messiah repudiated
the temptation to set up such an order, for His reign is the complete opposite
of earthly powers so enslaved to the fear of death that they have become blind to how their enemies bear the image of God every bit as much as they do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People will never find the healing of their
humanity by refusing to turn the other cheek and go the extra mile in order to
break cycles of retribution and violence which have become second nature in our
world of corruption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one will become
more truly human by continuing to pour fuel on the fires that consume the lives
of the living icons of God, regardless of their religion, nationality, or
politics. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those who do so degrade themselves
and become more and more like the wretched man overcome with evil who lived
naked in the tombs, a terror to himself and everyone else. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We must not reject Christ’s
healing out of fear that He will only torment us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sin only has the power in our lives that we
allow it to have, and we must all embrace the eternal journey of opening ourselves
fully to the Savior’s restoration of our humanity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since we all bear God’s image and likeness, the
path to such blessedness is open to us all if we will take the small steps of
which we are capable each day through prayer, fasting, almsgiving, forgiveness,
repentance, and the other basic spiritual disciplines of the Christian
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must cultivate the mindfulness
that is necessary to resist the personal disintegration that comes from
identifying ourselves with our passions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is not easy because often nothing
is more appealing in the moment that wallowing in pride, anger, lust,
resentment, and other distorted desires to the point that we have more in
common with pigs at a trough than with the man after his deliverance, when he
sat “</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">at the feet of Jesus, clothed
and in his right mind.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we
experience temptations, we must make them opportunities to embrace Christ’s
healing of our corrupt humanity through His victory over death. We must die to
sin in order to rise up with Him in holiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We must crucify the distortions of our souls that have become second
nature to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the struggle is hard
and we cannot imagine being set free, we must remember the difference between a
person disintegrated by the power of evil and one gloriously restored as a
living icon of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">That is precisely what is at stake whenever we face
the choice between welcoming Christ’s healing presence in our lives or hiding from
Him in fear as we cling to our passions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>May God grant us all the spiritual clarity to become fully alive and radiant
with the divine glory. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-72803867509008568062023-10-14T13:11:00.004-07:002023-10-14T14:04:43.048-07:00Bearing the Good Fruits of Peace for the Living Icons of God: Homily for the Sunday of Holy Fathers of Seventh Ecumenical Council & Fourth Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRiiQYUdKBJdHGAFzGtWWc_jtqkmySPuS93bbj6y3Oo_FtAHhS-aDI2H-LUuld-wN5kjIsn2l0d952k8SX4gfnde4njn6ek3O0BXy4n51rVY2iXUxvUZsmod_4Cq1xmlVTLjH1bvDyddbhw4kZUs7pOCioXcbLot9-SwvDhPZnrm2iF_6crQV_VtU8XTI/s684/sower.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRiiQYUdKBJdHGAFzGtWWc_jtqkmySPuS93bbj6y3Oo_FtAHhS-aDI2H-LUuld-wN5kjIsn2l0d952k8SX4gfnde4njn6ek3O0BXy4n51rVY2iXUxvUZsmod_4Cq1xmlVTLjH1bvDyddbhw4kZUs7pOCioXcbLot9-SwvDhPZnrm2iF_6crQV_VtU8XTI/s320/sower.jpg" width="234" /></a></div><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: center;"> Titus 3:8-15; Luke
8:5-15</span></blockquote><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> <span> </span><span> </span></o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">In the midst of the ongoing tragedy
unfolding in the Holy Land, we must attend to the wisdom of our father in
Christ, His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch, who stated this week that “Peace
does not come from the bodies of children, killed people, innocent people, and
women. Peace comes when the decision-makers in this world realize that our
people have dignity, as all the peoples of the world. We are not advocates of
war, we reject violence and killing, and we are seekers of peace…” He writes
that we pray “for peace in the entire world, for stability, and for the repose
of the souls of those who have passed away. We pray that the wounds of the sick
be soothed and they might recover, for the wounds of every hurting person,
every bereaved mother, every brother, and every sister, for everyone’s wounds.
We ask the Lord to protect us and grant us peace…”</span><a href="https://mcm0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lemastep_mcm_edu/Documents/Documents/sower2023.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="text-indent: 0.5in;" title=""><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> His Beatitude’s words resonate so
strongly with the many petitions for peace in the Divine Liturgy, such as our
prayers “for the peace of whole world…and the union of all.” We pray for “peaceful times,” “the sick and the
suffering, for captives and their salvation,” and also for “deliverance from all
tribulation, wrath, danger, and necessity…” These and so many other petitions show that as
we enter mystically into the blessedness of our Lord’s Kingdom in the Liturgy,
we must not think that God’s peace is reserved entirely for the eschatological
future. We pray for reconciliation and
blessing for all the living icons of God today, in the world as we know it, as
a sign, no matter how dim, of the fulfillment of His gracious purposes for all
who bear the divine image and likeness. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">To pray for peace in this way does
not require us to become naïve or idealistic about how deeply the brokenness of
the human person extends within our hearts or how it impacts our relationships
with other people.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">It does not demand
that we pretend that Cain’s murder of his brother Abel is not repeated
daily.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">It does, however, require us to
gain the spiritual clarity to see that, regardless of nationality, politics, or
anything else, every human person remains a living icon of God and a neighbor
to be loved. How we treat those we are least inclined to recognize as neighbors
and most inclined to view as our enemies is precisely how we treat our Lord. (Matt.
25: 31-46) Nothing reveals the true state of our souls more than that. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> <span> </span><span> </span></o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Even as we mourn the horrible suffering
of people in the Holy Land, today we commemorate the 367 Holy Fathers of the 7th
Ecumenical Council, which met in Nicaea in 787.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The council rejected the false teaching that to honor icons is to commit
idolatry, for it distinguished between the worship that is due to God alone and
the veneration that is appropriate for images of Christ, the Theotokos, and the
Saints.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The council’s teaching highlighted
the importance of the Savior’s incarnation, for only a truly human Savior with
a physical body could restore us to the dignity and beauty of the living icons
of God. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> <span> </span><span> </span></o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The 7th Ecumenical Council
addressed matters that strike at the very heart of how we embrace our
fundamental vocation to become like God in holiness in a world of hatred and
violence that so desperately needs the peace of Christ.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Too often, however, we think that iconography
simply has to do with wood and paint, and is unrelated to the question of
whether we are becoming more like Christ and gaining the strength to love our
enemies as He loves us.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The icons are not merely religious art, but
reminders that to become a truly human person is to become like Jesus Christ, who,
according to St. Paul, “is our peace… and has broken down the middle wall of
separation” so that “He might reconcile…both [Jew and Gentile] to God in one
body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.” (Eph. 2:14-16) The
more that we become like our Lord, Who worked this reconciliation, the less we
will see anyone through the darkened lenses of those who demand “an eye for an
eye and a tooth for a tooth.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Instead,
we will become more like the Savior, Who closely associated love of enemies with
fulfilling the commandment to “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father
is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48) </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> <span> </span><span> </span></o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Today’s gospel reading addresses
these same questions with different imagery.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Christ used the parable of the sower to call His disciples to become
like plants that grew from the seed that “fell into good soil and grew, and
yielded a hundredfold.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He wanted them
to become “those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good
heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Not all who hear the Word of God will do so, even as not all seeds will
grow to fruition. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Some never even
believe, while others make a good start and then fall away due to temptation or
“are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does
not mature.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> <span> </span><span> </span></o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">This parable warns us about what happens
when we fail to fulfill our potential as those who bear the image of God.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Our vocation is to become more beautiful living
icons of the Savior, but we diminish and distort ourselves when we refuse to become
who God created us to be.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Plants must
grow and flourish as the kinds of plants that they are in order to become
healthy and bear fruit.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Farmers must
care for them accordingly.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The sun,
soil, moisture, and nutrients must be appropriate for that particular type of
plant in order for them to flourish.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">In
order for us to bear good fruit for the Kingdom, we must attend to the health
of our souls with the conscientiousness of a careful farmer or gardener.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We must do so in order to become more fully
who we are as living icons of Christ.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">If, to the contrary, we become obsessed with the worldly political
agendas that He repudiated and a desire for vengeance against our enemies, we
will never bear good fruit for the Kingdom.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> <span> </span><span> </span></o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">In today’s epistle lesson, St. Paul
urged St. Titus to tell the people to focus on doing good deeds and helping
others in great need.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He wanted them to avoid
foolish arguments and divisions, “for they are unprofitable and vain.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">St. Paul did not want the people to waste their
time and energy on matters that would simply inflame their passions and hinder
them from attaining spiritual health and maturity.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He called them to care for their spiritual
wellbeing with the conscientiousness of farmers who are single-mindedly
dedicated to bringing in a bumper crop.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">If
they let down their guard to the point of being so consumed by pointless
controversies that they ignored basic disciplines like loving and serving their
neighbors, they would risk dying spiritually like a neglected plant overtaken
by weeds.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> <span> </span><span> </span></o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">If we are to become “those who,
hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth
fruit with patience,” we must refuse to allow hatred, vengeance, and obsession with
worldly agendas to take root in our hearts and minds.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We must do the hard, daily work of denying
ourselves and serving others, especially those whom the world encourages us to
view as our enemies.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">In order to bear good
fruit for the Kingdom, we must refuse to focus on anything that will distract
us from becoming more beautiful icons of Christ, Who loved and forgave even
those who crucified Him. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Unless we
struggle mindfully against this temptation, we can easily become obsessed with
defining ourselves and our neighbors according to the standards of our world of
corruption, which is driven by the fear of death.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Because our risen Lord has conquered even the
grave through His glorious resurrection on the third day, we must refuse to become
enslaved by such fears and must never allow anything to distract us from becoming
more beautiful icons of His love, mercy, and reconciliation.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Savior Himself refused to define His
Kingdom in popular nationalistic terms against the Romans, the Gentiles, and
the Samaritans, or in legalistic terms against those considered hopeless sinners
by the religious establishment.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He came
to restore everyone to the beauty of the living icons of God.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">In Him, “there is neither Greek nor Jew,
circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free,
but Christ is all and in all.” (Col. 3:11)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> <span> </span><span> </span></o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He alone is our peace and the peace
of the entire world.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">If we are truly becoming
participants in His life, then we must refuse to define ourselves or anyone
else according to divisive worldly agendas driven by the fear of death.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We must grow in His likeness as we pray for
all who suffer and for an end to violence and oppression in all their forms,
and as we give generously to meet the urgent needs of our neighbors in the
Holy Land and around the world.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We must
remember Whose icons we all are and refuse to live as though anything or anyone
other than the God-Man were the true measure of our lives.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">That is ultimately why we have icons in the
Orthodox Church, for they proclaim who Jesus Christ is and who He enables every
human person to become.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">It is not by hating and killing people that
the Savior’s peace comes, but by the love, forgiveness, and reconciliation that
He has brought to the world through His Cross and empty tomb.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">As the Lord said, “He who has ears to hear,
let him hear.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://mcm0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lemastep_mcm_edu/Documents/Documents/sower2023.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/1783<o:p></o:p></p>
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</div>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-720578079037494872023-10-07T14:07:00.001-07:002023-10-07T18:54:07.860-07:00We Must Learn to Mourn and Rejoice with the Widow of Nain: Homily for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost & Third Sunday of Luke with Commemoration of Our Righteous Mother Pelagia the Penitent of Antioch in the Orthodox Church<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEWx3Mtow-USv5odTIiKdNrA1cWLf-OTRsBte9FpX_ivvJnRBFQ4FbWLralLYQTdAQvBgpnaX3uyYtW5n5gvbtm6SYavY0uvy21mPXKZYtVhUZw6TWXW8E9sRjHwBxQPo6Ps9ebqvN2ndko90skVTiJ-o3T9gfL0e585KNLZuBB0SvFQyUFHTAc7Bq3E/s1110/nain.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1110" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEWx3Mtow-USv5odTIiKdNrA1cWLf-OTRsBte9FpX_ivvJnRBFQ4FbWLralLYQTdAQvBgpnaX3uyYtW5n5gvbtm6SYavY0uvy21mPXKZYtVhUZw6TWXW8E9sRjHwBxQPo6Ps9ebqvN2ndko90skVTiJ-o3T9gfL0e585KNLZuBB0SvFQyUFHTAc7Bq3E/s320/nain.jpg" width="231" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">2 Corinthians 9:6-11; Luke 7:11-16</div><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I am sure that many people today
reject or have no interest in the Christian faith because they have not seen in
others the healing of the human person brought by Jesus Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps they have heard Christians speaking
primarily about morality, politics, emotion, or a view of salvation that has
nothing to do with the realities of life in the world as we know it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or they may have seen many examples of
hypocrisy on the part of those who identify themselves with the Lord, but who live
their lives in opposition to His teachings even as they look for opportunities to
condemn their neighbors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regardless, many
today have concluded that there is nothing in the Christian life worthy of
their devotion. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today’s gospel reading provides a different
and powerful image of Christ’s salvation in the midst of the tragic realities
of life and death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The widow of Nain was
having the worst day of her life and had no reason to hope for a blessed or
even tolerable future, for in that time and place a widow who had lost her only
son was in a very precarious state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Poverty, neglect, and abuse would threaten her daily; she would have
been vulnerable and alone. When contrary to all expectations the Lord raised
her son, He transformed her deep mourning into great joy. He restored life both
to the young man and to his mother.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The Lord’s great act of compassion
for this woman manifests our salvation and provides a sign of hope in even the
darkest moments of our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We weep
and mourn not only for loved ones whom we see no more, but also for the brokenness
and disintegration that we know all too well in our own souls, the lives of our
loved ones, and the world around us. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Death,
destruction, and decay in all their forms are the consequences of our personal
and collective refusal to fulfill our vocation to live as those created in the
image of God by becoming like Him in holiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We weep with the widow of Nain not only for losing loved ones, but also
for losing what it means to be a human person as a living icon of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">
The good news of the Gospel is that the compassion of the Lord extends even to
those who endure the most tragic and miserable circumstances and the most profound
sorrows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Purely out of love for His
suffering children, the Father sent the Son to heal and liberate us from slavery
to the fear of death through His Cross and glorious resurrection. The Savior
touched the funeral bier and the dead man arose. Christ’s compassion for
us is so profound that He not only touched death, but entered fully into it,
into a tomb, and into Hades, because He refused to leave us to
self-destruction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He went into the abyss
and experienced the terror of the black night of the pit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Theotokos wept bitterly at His public torture
and execution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When He rose victorious
over death in all its forms, He provided the only true basis of hope that the despair
of the grave will not have the last word on the living icons of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His Mother and the other Myrrh-Bearing Women
were the very first to receive this unbelievably good news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Death is not only a physical
reality, but also a spiritual one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
possible to have physical health, material possessions, high social standing,
and innumerable other blessings while being enslaved to self-centered desire to
the point of spiritual death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thankfully,
Christ said that He “came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Luke 5:32) Today we commemorate our
Righteous Mother Pelagia the Penitent of Antioch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was a beautiful woman from a pagan family
who became quite wealthy as a prostitute. Having heard part of a sermon on
divine judgment as she passed by a church, she was overcome by remorse for her
way of life, repented, and was baptized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She then gave away all her wealth to the poor, went to Jerusalem, and undertook
the great ascetical labor of living alone in a cave as the Monk Pelagius, devoting
herself to fasting, prayer, and all-night vigils.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That she was a woman was discovered only when
her body was prepared for burial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Saint Pelagia is not alone as a
woman whose ascetical repentance led her to become a monk.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">For example, Saint Theodora of Alexandria
pursued a similar path after falling into adultery.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">She did not want to be found by her husband in
a community of nuns and, as the Monk Theodore, was known in the monastery for
her strict spiritual discipline and piety.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">After being accused of fathering a child, she was cast out of her
community for seven years as she cared for him and then was allowed to return.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Upon her death, her fellow monks who learned
the truth about her mourned for how they had falsely judged her.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The paths that these great saints
trod were unusual and surely hard for people of our time and place to
understand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They took the identity of
male monastics not out of a rejection or denigration of how God had created
them as persons of female biological sex, but in order to embrace in their particular
circumstances the type of asceticism that they needed for the healing of their
souls in light of the spiritual maladies that they had suffered as unique
persons due to their sins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Church
certainly does not impose their vocations on anyone, for as free persons we must
all discern the path to the Kingdom that is best for us with the guidance, but
never the compulsion, of our spiritual father or mother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, we also commemorate today St.
Thais of Egypt, who repented of her debauchery by burning all of her riches in
the city square and then spending three years in seclusion as she prayed for
the Lord’s mercy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She did not take on
the identity of a male monastic. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“From
the moment I entered into the cell,” said St. Thais to St. Paphnutius before
her death, “all my sins constantly were before my eyes, and I wept when I
remembered them.” St. Paphnutius replied, “It is for your tears, and not for
the austerity of your seclusion, that the Lord has granted you mercy.”<a href="https://mcm0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lemastep_mcm_edu/Documents/Documents/Nain2022.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The widow of Nain wept bitterly out
of grief for the loss of her son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christ
wept at the tomb of his friend St. Lazarus, not only for him, but for us all
who are wedded to death as the children of Adam and Eve who were cast out of
Paradise into this world of corruption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
weep with broken hearts out of love for those whose suffering is beyond our
ability to ease, those who are no longer with us in this life, and those from
whom we have become otherwise estranged. The corruption that separates us from
God and from one another takes many forms and the same is true of our healing
and restoration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The particular paths that
we must follow in order to embrace Christ’s victory over death as distinctive
persons will certainly vary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they must
all be routes for gaining the spiritual clarity to learn to mourn our sins and take
the steps that are best for our healing and restoration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must learn to weep for ourselves as those
who have caught a glimpse of the eternal blessedness for which we came into
being and who know how far we are from entering fully into the joy of the
Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>St. Paul wrote that “he who sows
sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap
bountifully.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is true not only in
terms of almsgiving, but also in terms of how deeply we invest ourselves in what
is necessary for the healing of our souls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Many people today surely do not take the Christian faith seriously
because they have not encountered people who do precisely that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In ways appropriate to our own circumstances,
let us take Saints Pelagia, Theodora, and Thais as examples of those who fulfilled
in their own lives the teaching of our Lord: “Blessed are they that mourn, for
they shall be comforted.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Matt. 5:4) The
widow of Nain provides us all a sign of the hope that is ours in Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through our humble repentance, may we open
ourselves to receive the joy that overcomes both the dark night of our
spiritual blindness and even of the grave. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://mcm0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lemastep_mcm_edu/Documents/Documents/Nain2022.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> http://ww1.antiochian.org/node/16761<o:p></o:p></p>
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</div>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-76465203466667153382023-09-30T14:09:00.004-07:002023-10-03T13:49:16.730-07:00The Greatest Test of our Souls is Whether We Love our Enemies: Homily for the Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost and the Second Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcZGUwVomFvDDJCrIkqsrmfOW1NUcXt13UxlkMMHbCY44cJBcq-hJVoGo6lTH2kJ53hY2r-HLUCpMEHO-7oTxZhAN416e-CshvIgqlrWU0VEHVW5WLrfWqiAx8atnPZRNpft4I2v_ONQS_z5-y1rIXDZpNqycfZzUFBRfqfoyf_EdhejTCZw51AMnEct0/s802/LUKEICON1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="802" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcZGUwVomFvDDJCrIkqsrmfOW1NUcXt13UxlkMMHbCY44cJBcq-hJVoGo6lTH2kJ53hY2r-HLUCpMEHO-7oTxZhAN416e-CshvIgqlrWU0VEHVW5WLrfWqiAx8atnPZRNpft4I2v_ONQS_z5-y1rIXDZpNqycfZzUFBRfqfoyf_EdhejTCZw51AMnEct0/s320/LUKEICON1.jpg" width="255" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">2 Cor. 6:16-7:1;<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> Luke 6:31-36</span></div><p></p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span>One of the great challenges that many of us face in embracing Orthodox Christianity is getting over some form of religious legalism, which is the belief that how we relate to God is primarily a matter of obeying rules that govern how we behave. Of course, how we treat people every day is a vital dimension of faithfulness to Christ, Who intensified the requirements of the Old Testament commandments, for example, against murder and adultery in the Sermon on the Mount. He did so, however, not by lengthening the list of bad things that good people should not do. Instead, He went to the very heart of the matter: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matt. 5:8)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span>The laws of the Old Testament were necessary to make clear to the Hebrew people the basics of how they were to act as those in a covenantal relation with God. Jesus Christ is not simply a religious teacher, but truly the God-Man in Whom the ancient promises, laws, and prophecies are fulfilled. He is a Person in Whose life we share as those who are in communion with Him as living members of His Body, the Church. The Church is the bride of Christ and we must live as those in a “one flesh” union with Him in which we become “partakers of the divine nature” by grace.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span>It is only in this context that we can understand our Lord’s teaching in today’s gospel teaching: “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” In this passage from the gospel according to Luke, Christ does not rest content with calling His followers to limit their vengeance to “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” even though that Old Testament principle had placed needed restraint on vengeance. (Matt. 5:38) He did not affirm the common attitude of the time, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy,” an attitude that unfortunately remains with us today in so many ways. (Matt. 5:43) Instead, the Savior called His followers to be united with Him from the depths of their hearts to the point that they embodied the divine mercy, loving their enemies like God, Who cares for “the ungrateful and the selfish.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span>To become a person so radiant with the love of Christ that we convey His love even to people we do not like and who do not like us is obviously not a matter of meeting a basic legal standard of outward behavior. To love our enemies as He loves us requires our deep spiritual transformation and healing as living icons of God. It is not enough to be kind to our friends, to those we think will return our good will, or to those with whom we have something in common according to conventional social standards. It is not enough simply to restrain ourselves from abusing our enemies or even to go through the motions of being decent toward them. No, we must become brilliant with the gracious divine energies to the point that we convey the merciful love of Christ to everyone.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span>If we approach this sublime calling merely as a matter of obeying a religious law, we will either fall into despair or delusion about our ability to fulfill it. The vocation to become like God in mercy and holiness is obviously something we cannot accomplish by willpower or behavior modification alone. And if we think we have already done so, then we have become blinded by spiritual pride to the point that we do not see ourselves clearly at all. The fact that we seem inevitably to fall short of loving our neighbors, and especially our enemies, as ourselves indicates that we have a truly eternal vocation that we should never think that we have completed. The struggle that we all have in treating other people, especially our enemies, as we would like to be treated, reveals that we have not yet embraced fully the Lord’s gracious healing of our souls. St. Silouan the Athonite saw the love of enemies as a clear sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He taught that when the soul “grows humble, the Lord gives her His grace, and then she prays for her enemies as for herself, and sheds scalding tears for the whole world.” These words reveal our need for ongoing repentance as we turn away from fueling the passions that make it so appealing to condemn others and turn humbly toward cooperating with the Lord’s gracious healing of our souls. That is the only way for us to share so fully in the life of Christ that we embody His boundless mercy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span>Today’s epistle reading reinforces the profundity of this spiritual calling, for St. Paul addresses the terribly confused and compromised Gentile Christian of Corinth as “the temple of the living God.” The Corinthians were largely converts from paganism who had to be corrected at every turn from their tendency to fall back into their pagan ways of worshiping false gods and engaging in gross sexual immorality. St. Paul quotes Hebrew prophets who admonished the Jews to be entirely separate from the corrupt ways of other peoples. What is so shocking is that he applied that instruction to the Gentile Christians of Corinth. Those who had been hated enemies for their immorality and paganism are now themselves “the temple of the living God” in Jesus Christ. They are His people, His sons and daughters, to whom the promises of Abraham have been extended through faith. Because of this great dignity, St. Paul tells them to be clean “from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span>While the apostle did provide them with clear instructions on how to live as Christians, Paul was anything but a legalist who thought that the following a code of behavior had the power to heal the soul. As he wrote to the Ephesians, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph. 2:8-10) Neither Jew nor Gentile could earn salvation by their own merit, but by embracing the gracious healing of the soul through faith in Christ. Such gracious healing is not passive or abstract but participatory and transformative, for we are all fellow workers with God who must “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Philipp. 2:12-13)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span>If we are to find the healing of our souls, we must struggle to do what we can each day to treat those we are most inclined to disregard and condemn as we would like them to treat us. We must take every opportunity to convey the mercy we have received from Christ to our neighbors, especially those we consider our enemies. When we fail to do so, we must use our weakness to fuel our humility before the Lord and our sense of unworthiness to judge anyone else. We must pray, fast, give to the needy, and mindfully reject the nonsense in our own minds, and in all factions of our culture today, that would encourage us to treat anyone as anything less than a living icon of God. As hard as it is to accept, whether we are sharing in the life of Christ is most clearly revealed in how we treat those we find it hardest to love. This is not a matter of legalism, but of whether we are acquiring the purity of heart necessary to see God, especially as He is present to us each day of our lives in those we are least inclined to see as beloved neighbors. That is the ultimate test of whether we are making “holiness perfect in the fear of God.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1908072176406124456.post-83536140260470070712023-09-23T13:38:00.002-07:002023-09-25T11:53:45.608-07:00The Patient Obedience of Letting Down our Nets: Homily for the First Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQ735xvfBTWgcn7NofLL9Ps94P01r5dnfQC-op6vmhljkb8Lo2TB2P9Hpo_HRYKs7n_0VIZXh0ivtylX4Bk2J0tyg8XB9JCiegyALLrWyXWL5G2vNsZtdGEnsf-4FIRNxv8v8FiEpYHd0xQqlaeARbd_J3zZycOK6UKEoeeeeE1PABvCt45zeeg8YFR4/s4032/IMG_2251.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQ735xvfBTWgcn7NofLL9Ps94P01r5dnfQC-op6vmhljkb8Lo2TB2P9Hpo_HRYKs7n_0VIZXh0ivtylX4Bk2J0tyg8XB9JCiegyALLrWyXWL5G2vNsZtdGEnsf-4FIRNxv8v8FiEpYHd0xQqlaeARbd_J3zZycOK6UKEoeeeeE1PABvCt45zeeg8YFR4/s320/IMG_2251.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="bodytextbold1"><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Luke</span></span><b>
</b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">5:1-11<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Many people today scroll quickly through the many
options they have in choosing how to identify themselves and live their
lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It easier than ever before to try
out all kinds of choices and to disregard those that we do not find immediately
appealing or fulfilling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only has
our society formed us as consumers who want our immediate preferences satisfied,
the digital age has made it even easier to flit from this to that whenever we
experience just a hint of boredom, frustration, or disappointment. In such a
culture, we are all at risk of forming habits that compromise our faithfulness
to the way of Christ, which requires steadfast commitment and ongoing struggle
as we persist in taking up our crosses each day of our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Church directs our attention today to two
saints who provide powerful examples of what patient, selfless commitment to
the Lord looks like.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">St. Thekla is
remembered as a Great Martyr and has the title of “Equal to the Apostles”
because she accompanied St. Paul in founding churches and brought many to
Christ through her teaching and example.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Converted at the age of eighteen by St. Paul’s preaching, she is
remembered as the first female martyr because of her faithfulness throughout
many extraordinary sufferings, ranging from rejection by her family to trials
of fire, wild beasts, and physical assault.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Lord delivered her from them all, and she lived her last years in
prayer and solitude, peacefully completing her earthly journey at the age of
90.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We also remember today St. Silouan, a monk on
Mt. Athos. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He had received the gift of
unceasing prayer and knew great spiritual peace, but then endured fifteen years
of deep spiritual struggle which prepared him to receive the Lord’s teaching: “Keep
your mind in hell and do not despair.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">For the next fifteen years, he did precisely that, confronting and
experiencing the brokenness and sickness of his soul that separated him from sharing
fully in the life of Christ. Only then did he find healing for his passions. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Both of these saints are shining examples of
humble persistence in faithfulness to the Lord, regardless of the personal
challenges and sufferings involved.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Both
could have easily abandoned their callings when the going got rough and did not
gratify their passions or preferences. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">No
one forced St. Thekla to refuse to renounce Christ in the face of lethal
persecution.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">No one forced St. Silouan to
undergo such bitter spiritual struggles.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">But when such trials came, both saints kept taking up their crosses for
decades and trusting that the Savior would not abandon them. They both endured so
much in order to place loyalty to Christ above all else.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span>In this regard, they
have something in common with Sts. Peter, James, and John in today’s gospel
reading. They were professional
fishermen who had worked all night and caught nothing. They knew from experience that it made sense
to wash their nets, go home, and try again tomorrow. But the Lord said, “Put out into the
deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
Peter’s answer showed his frustration: “Master, we toiled all night and
took nothing! But at Your word I will
let down the nets.” When they did so,
they caught so many fish that their nets broke and their boats began to
sink. This unlikely and amazing scene
helped Peter catch a glimpse of the state of his soul, for he said to Christ,
“Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” The Savior responded, “Do not be afraid;
henceforth you will be catching men.” Then Peter, James, and John left their
boats and nets behind as they became His disciples.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> Peter
was the head disciple, but he struggled mightily in faith. He denied the Lord three times before His
crucifixion and then ran away in fear.
He had earlier heard the stinging rebuke, “Get behind me, Satan!,” when
he had rejected the message that Christ would be killed and rise from the dead.
After His resurrection, the Lord restored Peter by asking him three times if he
loved Him and commanding him to “feed My sheep” in fulfilling his ministry. (Jn.
21: 15-17) Peter became the first bishop of the Church in Antioch and in Rome,
where he made the ultimate witness for the Savior as a martyr. At many points in his discipleship, he must
have been as frustrated as a fisherman who had worked all night and caught
nothing. He was obviously tempted to do
something other than following a Lord Who was lifted up upon the Cross. But despite his many struggles, Peter kept
letting down his nets and finding that the Lord continued to call and work
through him, despite his imperfections and failings. That is how he also became a great saint. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p> If
want to pursue the Christian life with integrity, then we must follow the
example of Sts. Peter, Thekla, and Silouan in persistently obeying our Lord’s
command. We must “let down our nets” in
obedience by doing that which will open our souls to receive His healing mercy. That
is not something to be tried once and then abandoned if we do not get the
results that we want. That is not
something to refuse to do because it would be easier in the moment to do
whatever we would prefer instead. It is,
however, something which must become a settled habit in our lives, a stable dimension
of our character, as those who dare to identify ourselves as followers of
Christ.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We must be prepared,
however, for our faltering steps of obedience to open the eyes of our souls to
the truth about where we stand before Him.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">After letting down his nets and catching that great haul of fish, Peter gained
the spiritual clarity to know his unworthiness: “Depart from me, for I am a
sinful man, O Lord.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">His reaction bears
some similarity to St. Silouan’s teaching: “Keep your mind in hell and do not
despair.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">When we attempt even the smallest
act of obedience, we open our darkened souls to behold the brilliant light of
Christ.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The darkness in our hearts will then
become all the more evident to us. Instead of being discouraged that we are
more aware of our spiritual weakness, we must then call all the more for the
Lord’s mercy as we struggle to remain on the path to the Kingdom.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We all have the
experience of falling into our familiar sins again and again.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Instead of being disheartened to the point
that we no longer struggle against them or despair of ever finding healing, or
even give up completely on the Christian life, we must keep letting down our
nets in obedience as we mindfully seek to redirect the desires of our hearts
toward God.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Instead of despairing that
there is no hope, we must humbly accept the truth about our spiritual state
that is revealed by our weakness before our besetting sins.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">While making no excuses for ourselves, we
must trust that our ongoing battles are necessary for us to receive Christ’s
healing.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We may not be in an arena with
wild animals like St. Thekla, but we all face the arena of our passions, which
are every bit as fierce.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">St. Silouan
wrestled spiritually for decades and never gave up.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We must do the same as we experience in our
hearts the tension between our current brokenness and the holiness to which the
Savior calls us.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Looking to the
example of the great saints we commemorate today, as well as to the model of those
holy fishermen, let us repudiate the superficial, self-centered tendencies
celebrated by our culture and undertake the daily struggle of obedience to
Christ.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">That means letting down our nets
in obedience at every opportunity as we cry out for His merciful healing of our
souls. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">That is the holy habit that we
must all cultivate if we want to become worthy disciples of the Savior.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>Father Philip LeMastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15802162495250481325noreply@blogger.com1