Memory Eternal! St. Vladimir's Community Remembers Metropolitan Philip

20 March 2014 • Memory Eternal! • Virginia Nieuwsma

Metropolitan Philip, speaking in the auditorium which bears his nameL to R: Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann, Metropolitan Philip, and Fr. Cyril StavrevskyMemory Eternal! The entire community of faculty, staff and students at St. Vladimir's Theological Orthodox Seminary (SVOTS) mourns the loss of our Board of Trustees Vice President and Vice Chairman, His Eminence The Most Reverend Philip (Saliba), Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of All North America of the Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. The Metropolitan, a member of the class of 1965, reposed in the Lord on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, at the age of 82 after a brief illness. Campus clergy immediately scheduled a memorial service for Sayidna Philip in Three Hierarchs Chapel for March 20.

Reflected SVOTS Chancellor/CEO The Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield, "Sayidna Philip's long episcopacy leaves behind many achievements, but speaking as a convert priest who entered Orthodoxy through the Antiochian Archdiocese, I believe his simple phrase 'welcome home' to converts, is the greatest of his legacies."

St. Vladimir's Dean The Rev. Dr. John Behr remembered the Metropolitan's leadership in Orthodox education. "It is with great sadness that I heard of His Eminence Metropolitan Philip's falling asleep in the Lord. He was an inspirational leader who had a great love for St. Vladimir's Seminary ever since his student days here, and who, besides serving on our Board, inspired us and gave us wise guidance in our recent curriculum reforms. He insisted that all our students were thoroughly prepared in pastoral and practical affairs, asAddressing former deans and faculty memberswellCommencement, 1977, with Patriarch Elias IV of Antioch as in academic matters. He was also always very kind and engaging with me personally; I will never forget the warmth with which he spoke of his education in England and the passion for literature and learning generated there."

St. Vladimir's has enjoyed a warm, reciprocal relationship with the Antiochian Archdiocese under Metropolitan Philip's leadership, which began with his consecration to the episcopate in 1966. Currently, six members of the Archdiocese serve on the Seminary's Board of Trustees; 167 Antiochian alumni clergy, and over 300 alumni total, minister throughout the world; fifteen Antiochian seminarians attend St. Vladimir's; and all eight Antiochian bishops in North America either have graduated from St. Vladimir's or have taught and mentored seminarians.Meeting with Metropolitan Tikhon and Bishop Nicholas at the OCA Chancery, Syosset, NY

The Metropolitan visited the Seminary's Yonkers campus many times over the course of his tenure as Board Vice President, most recently when in 2008 he delivered one of the keynote addresses at the conference Rome, Constantinople, and Canterbury: Mother Churches?, which was titled "Canon 28 of the Fourth Ecumenical Council." In May 1981, the Board of Trustees awarded him a Doctorate of Divinity honoris causa at Commencement, and in 2002 he returned to St. Vladimir's to dedicate The Metropolitan Philip Auditorium, located on the third floor of the John G. Rangos Family Foundation Building.

"I remember Metropolitan Philip fondly when he served in Cleveland, my home city," said Alex Machaskee, Executive Chair of the Seminary's Board of Trustees. "I have always considered him a friend and a pillar in the Orthodox Christian world. His support of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary has been very much appreciated."

Updated information regarding his memorial services may be found on the Antiochian Archdiocese Website.

LINKS
Metropolitan Philip's campus visit, 2006
Discussing theological education with SVOTS leadership
Alumni gathering at the 2013 Houston Antiochian Convention 

http://www.svots.edu/headlines/memory-eternal-st-vladimirs-community-remembers-metropolitan-philip

An Appeal to Fox Sports: Stop Mixing Messages about Christianity with Inappropriate Images

            As a Baylor alumnus and sports fan, I was pleased to read a story on the Fox Sports website about men’s basketball coach Scott Drew’s profoundly Christian priorities for his players.  He actually said after a rough patch in the season, "We may not win another game this year, and I may be a horrible coach…but if any of these guys leave without knowing Christ, that will be the real loss."  The sincere Christian commitment of the coach and the players is truly remarkable.

Truly disappointing, however, is the fact that Fox Sports put on the very same webpage pictures of cheerleaders (not from Baylor) in revealing outfits and immodest poses.  How sad that the network presents this story of faith in a way that is contradictory to the faith itself.  To uphold Christian commitment while appealing to lust and objectifying women reflects at the very least a serious misunderstanding of the sort of life to which followers of Jesus Christ, such as Coach Drew and his players, commit themselves.  

 Better not to publish articles about a religion than to insult that religion by promoting it in such a degraded way. Fox Sports should not denigrate the faith of Coach Drew and his players by adorning their impressive story with inappropriate, contradictory images.  Whatever happened to simple decency?        

http://msn.foxsports.com/southwest/story/baylor-s-extraordinary-season-has-left-lives-changed-031814

Comments by Dylan Pahman: "Fr. Philip LeMasters on Orthodoxy and Partisan Politics"

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by DYLAN PAHMAN on FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

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Today at Ethika Politika, I review Fr. Philip LeMasters’ recent book The Forgotten Faith: Ancient Insights from Contemporary Believers from Eastern Christianity.

With regards to the book’s last chapter, “Constantine and the Culture Wars,” I write,

… LeMasters does a good job in acknowledging the line between principles of faith and morality on the one hand, and prudential judgments that may not be as clear-cut on the other. He does not give the impression of advocating any specific political program; indeed, he explicitly disavows such a project:

Religious groups that are strongly identified with politics risk becoming so entangled in debates shaped by interest groups that their distinctive witness is obscured. To give the impression of being merely a political party at prayer is a good way to make people think that the church has little to say to the world that the world does not already know on its own terms.

He does not use this as an excuse, however, to disengage from political life.  He only highlights that in applying the teachings of the Church to our present, political context, we ought not to expect any concrete embodiment of our ideals, and we should be wary of any person or group that makes such a claim.

This is a point, I believe, worth dwelling on. It is one reason that the subtitle of Fr. Michael Butler and Prof. Andrew Morris’s recent monograph Creation and the Heart of Man is “An Orthodox Perspective on Environmentalism” not “The Orthodox Perspective on Environmentalism.”

Political problems require strong principles to guide policy recommendations, to be sure, but the reality we live in falls far short of the New Jerusalem. There needs to be space for critically discussing the best prudential means for living out our shared principles in any given context of our fallen world without charging one side or the other with heresy for not living up to one’s own political views.

And the danger is no small one. As Fr. Philip writes,

[T]o align the faith closely with particular political parties or partisan movements is to risk substituting the calling to theosis with that of being a certain kind of citizen, voter, or activist. In the current cultural climate of the US, there are potential dangers to a close affiliation of Eastern Christianity with the stereotypically liberal, moderate, conservative, or libertarian movements of American politics. The faith does not fit perfectly with any such orientation; likewise, the Church is not a political party. The Body of Christ ultimately pursues the Kingdom of God, not merely a different arrangement of the kingdoms of this world. Its social vision is not the product of twenty-first-century America or the collection of interest groups that comprise our political movements, but grows from ancient and diverse sources that do not line up squarely with any worldly ideology. Orthodoxy’s social and moral concerns are in tension with much popular political opinion of whatever stripe.

Read my full review at Ethika Politika here.

http://blog.acton.org/archives/67122-fr-philip-lemasters-orthodoxy-partisan-politics.html

His Eminence Metropolitan PHILIP: Memory Eternal!

On the Passing of Metropolitan Philip

The Archdiocese communicates with a heavy heart as we struggle with the news of the falling asleep in Christ of Metropolitan Philip. May his memory be eternal!

We express our sincerest appreciation to our Father in Christ, His Beatitude Patriarch John X for his pastoral care and love. His Beatitude was in continual contact with us, and with Metropolitan Philip during his hospital stay, and showed his love and concern for his spiritual children in North America. For this, we are most grateful. May the memory of Metropolitan Philip be eternal, and may God grant many years to His Beatitude Patriarch John.

The schedule for all events associated with the falling asleep of Metropolitan Philip is available here. All events will be held at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Brooklyn, New York unless another location is specified. His Beatitude Patriarch John has told us that he intends to be with us for the funeral and the Sunday Divine Liturgy.

Attached you will find letters from His Beatitude Patriarch John X, both the Arabic original and an English translation in two parts (Letter to Archbishop Joseph; Patriarchal Decision).

Both letters appoint Metropolitan Silouan of Buenos Aires and all Argentina as the Patriarchal Vicar until such time as a new Metropolitan is elected by the Holy Synod of Antioch. The Patriarchal Vicar is responsible for the administration of the Archdiocese until a new Metropolitan is elected. Archbishop Joseph will serve as the Locum Tenens of the Archdiocese. Archbishop Joseph will arrive in New Jersey on Friday March 21, and Metropolitan Silouan will arrive on Monday March 24.

Effective immediately and until the election of a new Metropolitan, all clergy of this Archdiocese are instructed to commemorate His Beatitude John, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East during divine services as follows: Great Entrance “Our father and Patriarch John and our bishop (name), the Lord God remember them in His Kingdom always now and ever and unto ages of ages”. Also during the Great Entrance, the first name that is commemorated among the departed will be His Eminence Metropolitan Philip as follows “Our father and Metropolitan Philip”.

The remembrance of Metropolitan Philip will be done for 40 days, which ends on Sunday April 27. For the Great Ektenia “Our father and Patriarch John and our bishop (name), for the venerable priesthood, etc.”.  After the Megalynarion “Among the first be mindful O Lord of our Father and Patriarch John, and our bishop (name),whom do thou grant unto thy holy churches etc.”.

There is still much to do, and many details to be worked out.

Please continue to check www.antiochian.org for further updates.

May his memory be eternal!

http://www.antiochian.org/passing-metropolitan-philip

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"A Guided Tour of Eastern Christianity" Primarily for American Protestants: A Review of The Forgotten Faith

By Dylan Pahman | March 21, 2014

Book information: Philip LeMasters, The Forgotten Faith: Ancient Insights for Contemporary Believers from Eastern Christianity(Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2014), xii + 152 pages.

In his introduction to The Forgotten Faith, Fr. Philip LeMasters, an Antiochian Orthodox priest and convert from Protestantism (“Baptist to Presbyterian to Episcopalian”), provides essential context for understanding how the book is meant to be read. “The origins of this book,” writes LeMasters, “are in brief informal talks that I have given to visiting classes from Abilene Christian University, Hardin-Simmons University, and McMurry University, which have come to St. Luke”—his parish—“in order to learn a bit about Eastern Orthodox Christianity.” He continues, “Those institutions are, respectively, Church of Christ, Baptist, and United Methodist, but their students come from a wide variety of religious backgrounds.” Thus, while he writes, “I have attempted to find points of contact to enable any reader to understand why the members of our Church believe, worship, and live as they do,” remembering that his visitors come from Protestant institutions and that Protestantism is a part of his own spiritual background proves essential to rightly reading The Forgotten Faith, which in this light offers a helpful introduction to American Orthodoxy for interested Protestants.

As a convert myself with an Evangelical upbringing and Reformed theological education, I can sympathize with the tone of the book. There was a time when it might have been just what I needed, in fact, to assuage any worries I may have had about Orthodoxy. Today, LeMasters’s concerns are not my own, however, and this subjective reality certainly colored my reading. That said, no doubt many would find the book to present the Orthodox Church in a refreshingly accessible and attractive light.

The book breaks down into the following chapters:

1. The Burning Bush: God Is Who He Is
2. Salvation, Sex, and Food
3. Mary: Don’t Be Afraid!
4. Football, Liturgical Worship, and Real Life
5. Fools, Monks, and Martyrs
6. Constantine and the Culture Wars

Throughout, LeMasters does not present arguments so much as observations—the book is not a treatise but, as indicated above, a sort of guided tour of Eastern Christianity. Fr. Philip has a gift for presenting this foreign faith in terms of food and football—everyday pastimes to which the average Texan (like Fr. Philip himself) could easily relate.

Further, it may be better to say that the book is “a guided tour of Eastern Christianity” as appropriated by former American Protestants. Rather than a weakness, I find this to be a strength. One could complain that “cradle” Orthodox from other countries might find the faith LeMasters describes to be equally foreign, but it reflects a certain strand of Orthodoxy in the American context, one that represents a significant, concrete reality that continues to attract converts today. “It is worth noting,” writes LeMasters, “that many of the Orthodox priests in America, and a majority in some branches such as our Antiochian archdiocese, have entered the Church as adults on similar spiritual journeys. In American Orthodoxy today, our family fits right in.” The Forgotten Faith gives a fascinating glimpse into the perspectives and concerns of such converts.

Among the book’s other strengths, I actually found the fifth chapter—by far the most bizarre and likely the least attractive to the book’s intended readers—to be the most interesting. In it, LeMasters highlights the 6th century Eastern saint Symeon the “holy fool.” St. Symeon and those “fools for Christ” like him throughout history embody a sort of Christian continuation of the Cynic tradition of Greek philosophy, the most famous adherent perhaps being the eccentric Diogenes of Sinope. LeMasters gives an excellent sampling of the unique discipline that St. Symeon embraced:

Symeon began his ministry of prophetic folly by dragging a dead dog by his belt as he entered the city of Emesa (the present-day city of Homs in Syria). The very next day, which was a Sunday, he disrupted a church service by throwing nuts at the burning candles; he then ran to the pulpit and threw nuts at women in the congregation. When he was chased out of the church, Symeon turned over tables belonging to pastry chefs … He was nearly beaten to death for this disruptive behavior …

On some Sundays, Symeon actually wore a string of sausage around his neck like a deacon’s stole; he would eat sausages all day, dipping them in mustard from a bucket that he carried. These actions were likely highly offensive to the sensibilities of the established Christian community….

Perhaps it is merely a sign of my own weakness (or perversity), like watching a train wreck for the entertainment value, but I find St. Symeon’s story to be both comical and inspiring. On the one hand, as Fr. Philip points out, St. Symeon did these things knowing how off-putting they would be—a prophetic witness against the idolization of even good customs and mores. On the other hand, St. Symeon and other holy fools, however disturbing some details of their lives may be, give me hope that there is a place in the Body of Christ for even the most eccentric members of society, a special calling for which they alone are perhaps uniquely suited.

The introductory orientation of the book does have its drawbacks, however. Fr. Philip’s final chapter, for example, “Constantine and the Culture Wars,” touches on such a wide variety of social concerns—abortion, same-sex marriage, poverty, war, healthcare, and so on—that the content comes off too shallow given the seriousness of the subjects at hand. Furthermore, the flow feels a bit erratic, jumping from one subject to the next with no break in the text or clear transition, following a mysterious sort of ADHD associative logic. Lastly, and most unfortunately (says the editor), the book contains many typos, especially in this last chapter. The quality and readability of the book would have greatly benefited from the eye of a careful copyeditor.

That said, LeMasters does a good job in acknowledging the line between principles of faith and morality on the one hand, and prudential judgments that may not be as clear-cut on the other. He does not give the impression of advocating any specific political program; indeed, he explicitly disavows such a project:

Religious groups that are strongly identified with politics risk becoming so entangled in debates shaped by interest groups that their distinctive witness is obscured. To give the impression of being merely a political party at prayer is a good way to make people think that the church has little to say to the world that the world does not already know on its own terms.

He does not use this as an excuse, however, to disengage from political life.  He only highlights that in applying the teachings of the Church to our present, political context, we ought not to expect any concrete embodiment of our ideals, and we should be wary of any person or group that makes such a claim.

In the end, I would recommend The Forgotten Faith for those Protestants looking for a tour of American Orthodoxy in terms they can understand and that address their concerns. More broadly, it is an interesting icon of one particular instantiation of Orthodoxy in the West, one that includes many academics—such as Fr. Philip—whose work, deeply informed by this once-forgotten faith, continues to influence the state of scholarship on theology, philosophy, history, and other disciplines. While LeMasters’s book is not for everyone, it offers a brief and accessible introduction to one variety of convert spirituality within American Orthodoxy today and accomplishes his modest goal: “to reflect a few rays of light from the East that I hope my readers will find interesting and beneficial.”

http://ethikapolitika.org/2014/03/21/book-review-forgotten-faith/

"A LENTEN PLEA FOR PEACE": Russia, Ukraine, and Orthodoxy

   

What happens when different parts of a church (and in this case, a church which generally believes in obedience to earthly power) find themselves on opposite sides of a looming conflict? Over the centuries, the Orthodox church has found ingenious ways of preserving the spiritual bonds between its fractured sons and daughters while accepting that in earthly affairs, they were deeply divided. During the Russo-Japanese war of 1905, Russia's Orthodox church was happy to let its small but vigorous outpost in Japan pray for a Japanese victory; no religious ties were broken in the process. Bear all that in mind when contemplating the latest religious moves in Ukraine.

Last week, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the country's largest religious structure, responded to the country's dramatic political change by appointing a new acting leader. As Imentioned in an earlier posting, the cleric is question is a declared friend of Russia who enjoys the approval of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, under whose ultimate spiritual authority he serves. Metropolitan Onufry is also, of course, an office-holder in the Ukrainian capital and the things he says will inevitably take into account of the new climate in the earthly affairs of that city. And yet, with due allowance for all those conflicting pressures, there was something poignant about the appeal (link in Russian) he made over the weekend for the avoidance of conflict between the two Slavic nations. In a message to Patriarch Kirill, he said:

Today Ukraine is without exaggeration undergoing the gravest moment in her modern history. After three months of socio-political crisis, bloody clashes in the centre of Kiev and the deaths of dozens of people, we find ourselves facing yet another trial which is no less grave. On March 1 statements were heard from office-holders in the Russian Federation about the possible despatch to Ukraine of a limited contingent of Russian troops. If that happens, the Ukrainian and Russian peoples will find themselves drawn into a confrontation which will have catastrophic consequences for our countries. As the locum tenens of the Metropolitan See of Kiev I appeal to you, Your Holiness, to do everything possible so as not to allow bloodshed on the territory of Ukraine. I ask you to raise your voice for the preservation of the territorial integrity of the Ukrainian state. At this grave hour we raise our fervent prayers to Our Lord Jesus Christ that He, through the intercessions of his most pure Mother, should protect from confrontation the fraternal peoples of Russia and Ukraine.

In response, Patriarch Kirill declared that he would indeed do everything in his power to prevent civilian deaths in "a land so dear to my heart". He offered an analysis of the unfolding drama which both converged and diverged with that of the Ukrainian prelate.

These events are rooted in the internal political crisis [of Ukraine], and in political forces' inability to tackle problems in a non-violent way. Our flock is made of people of various political views and convictions, including those who stand at opposite sides of the barricades. The Church does not side with any party in the political struggle...The blood shed in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities is the fruit borne by the seeds of hatred which the conflicting parties allowed Satan to plant in their hearts..."

Wearing a more political hat, Patriarch Kirill also contacted Oleksandr Turchynov, Ukraine's stand-in president, and voiced concern over the treatment of ethnic Russians in the country; the acting leader, a Baptist as it happens, duly responded that there was no ground for concern.

The bishops' messages were exchanged at the beginning of Lent, a time when Orthodox Christians are supposed to engage in a rigorous effort at self-examination and repentance. The fasting season begins with a ceremony in which Orthodox Christians beg forgiveness of one another for any wrongs they have committed. Whatever political expediencies may lurk in the background, the season lends extra moral weight to the prelates' appeal for peace. The sub-text of both episcopal texts is that their common flock can still belong to the same spiritual community even if they are citizens of different states that are locked in conflict.

07 / 03 / 2014

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/69036.htm
Source:  The Economist

Experiencing God's Healing: Homily for the Second Sunday of Great Lent in the Orthodox Church

       

        Did you know that the origins of the hospital are found in the ministry of St. Basil the Great, whose divine liturgy we celebrate on Sundays in Lent?  Not only did St. Basil stress God’s merciful healing of suffering humanity in his Eucharistic prayer, he also lived out the divine mercy by giving away his wealth to establish institutions that cared for the sick, hungry, and homeless.  Of course, he was simply following the example of Jesus Christ Who restored the sick, such as the paralyzed man, to health as a sign of what God’s salvation means for people like you and me who are weakened and sickened by our sins and those of the entire world.   
        Notice the change that occurred in the paralyzed man in today’s gospel lesson.  He goes from having to be carried around on a bed by others to picking up the bed and walking by himself. No wonder everyone was amazed and glorified God.  You see, the Lord did not simply talk in general terms to him about either religion or medicine; instead, He enabled him to experience health, both spiritually and physically. At the root of all human corruption is sin, and the Savior showed His divinity by forgiving the man’s transgressions and enabling him to rise up and walk.
        On this second Sunday of Great Lent, we remember another great saint who also knew that our salvation is not in ideas about God, but in true participation in His life by grace.  St. Gregory Palamas lived in the 14^th century in the Byzantine Empire.  A monastic, a bishop, and a scholar, he defended the experience of hesychast monks who in the stillness of deep prayer beheld the divine light of the uncreated energies of God.  In ways that go beyond rational understanding, they saw the divine glory as they participated personally in the life of God by grace.  Like the paralyzed man, they too experienced healing for their souls.   
        Against skeptics who thought that such things were impossible, St. Gregory insisted that we know the Lord by being united with Him in prayer and holiness.  Jesus Christ has joined humanity with divinity and dwells in our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit.  We become partakers of the divine nature when we know by experience the presence of God in our lives and our presence in His life.  That is what it means to know the Lord personally, not simply to have ideas about Him.  This healing also shows what it means to be infused with the gracious divine energies, for the paralyzed man experienced freedom from bondage and a miraculous transformation of every dimension of his life.  He did not simply hear words or receive a diagnosis, for the Lord healed him inwardly and outwardly.  He actually picked up his bed and walked.
        This miracle speaks to us all, of course, because we are sinners paralyzed by our own actions and those of others.  We have made ourselves so sick and weak that we do not have the strength to eradicate the presence of evil from our hearts. Just think for a moment of how easily we fall into words, thoughts, and deeds that we know are not holy or healthy.  Our habitual sins have become second nature to us; left to our own resources we are no more able to make them go away than a paralyzed man is to get up and move around. 
        The good news is that Jesus Christ comes to every single one of us with forgiveness and healing.  Too often, we are willing only to ask for forgiveness, but not to rise, take up our beds, and walk.  In other words, we fail to see that being filled with the gracious divine energies is not a matter of simply being excused from paying a penalty or declared not guilty; instead, it is truly the experience of becoming who we are created to be in God’s image and likeness.  It is finding healing from all the ravages of sin and shining with the light of holiness as we participate by grace in the life of the Holy Trinity.
        If we want to know Christ’s healing and strength, we have to obey His commandments, for He calls us all—like the paralyzed man-- to get up and move forward in a holy life.  In order to do that, we have to cooperate with our Lord’s mercy.  Think again of going to the doctor yourself.  You are glad to hear that there is a cure for our ailments, but that knowledge will do you no good unless you participate in the treatment.  We have to take our medicine and do our therapy if we want to benefit personally.  When we pray, fast, give to the needy, and practice forgiveness and reconciliation, or any other act of truth faithfulness or repentance, we do so in cooperation with the Holy Spirit, alive and active in us, Who effects the healing of our souls.        
        How sad it would have been for the formerly paralyzed man to have disobeyed the Lord’s command and simply stayed in bed.  How sad that we so often do precisely that in our refusal to cooperate with Christ’s healing and mercy by obeying Him.  As we continue our Lenten journey, let us remember that the Son of God has joined Himself to every dimension of our human existence and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts and souls.  We do not have mere signs and symbols of salvation, but God Himself alive and active in us.  The only limits to His presence, power, and healing are those that we stubbornly keep in place.  This Lent, it is time to leave our sick beds behind and do all that we can to participate more fully in the mercy that the Savior brings to each and every one of us.  There is no better way to open the eyes of our hearts to the glory of Christ’s resurrection, which heals us even from death itself.          

What Great Lent is All About: Becoming a Living Icon of God's Love for Humankind (Homily for the Sunday of Orthodoxy or First Sunday in Lent in the Orthodox Church)

           

           During this season of Great Lent, much changes in the services of the Church and much should change in our lives also.  We may be tempted to think that the point of these weeks is found simply in the liturgies themselves:  different colors, longer prayers, and more services.  For example, we serve the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great on Sundays in Lent with its longer anaphora or Eucharistic prayer.  We also carry icons in a procession at the end of Liturgy today to celebrate the Sunday of Orthodoxy, which commemorates the restoration of icons after the period of iconoclasm many centuries ago. But instead of thinking that we have started Lent well simply by participating in these services, you and I must also become what we celebrate, what we enact in them.  Otherwise, we will miss entirely the point not only of the services, but of Lent itself.    

            In St. Basil’s lengthy Eucharistic prayer, there is great stress on God’s philanthropia or love for human beings manifested in the kenotic or self-emptying love of Jesus Christ in His incarnation, death, and resurrection in order to bring broken, fallen humanity into the eternal life of the Holy Trinity.  The prayer also asks the Father to pour out mercy upon everyone who suffers from the ill effects of the brokenness of life in the world as know it, such as the sick, the poor, prisoners and captives, as well as all who endure physical and spiritual difficulties not befitting those who bear the image and likeness of God.  St. Basil’s petitions remind us that, if we want the Father’s mercy for the healing of our brokenness and even dare to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ as unworthy prodigal sons and daughters, we must then live as those who are truly in communion with the Lord.  In other words, the philanthropic, self-emptying love of God that we claim for ourselves must become evident and active in us, especially in how we treat those all around us who suffer in any way and who are in need of help and friendship.   In other words, we who boldly pray these prayers we must become living icons of the very divine love and blessing that we want for ourselves.  That is ultimately the goal of this Lenten season.  

            As beautiful as the icons that adorn our Church are, they are not fundamentally works of art that could just as easily be in a museum or gallery.  They are actually windows to heaven which remind us that the Son of God really has become one of us, with a visible human body, and that we are called to become like the saints whose images are portrayed in them. For we are all icons of God, created in His image and likeness.  Jesus Christ is the new Adam Who has restored and healed every dimension of our fallen humanity, and brought us, as distinct persons, into the very life of the Holy Trinity.

            When we carry icons in the procession at the end of Liturgy today, we call ourselves to become better living icons of the Lord.  The word “icon” means image, and we are all created in the image of God with the calling to grow constantly to become more like Him.  Contrary to popular opinion, religion is not fundamentally about morality, politics, family stability, social order, or psychological adjustment.  It is about participating personally in the life of God, about becoming holy in a way that overturns all the categories and assumptions of the world as we know it.  The Lord’s promise to Nathanael, “you shall see the heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man,” is for all who share personally in the deification of humanity that Jesus Christ has brought to the world.  That is ultimately the goal of this Lenten season.  

            The good news we celebrate today is that, in our Lord, we are no longer shut out of paradise.  Now is the time to start living in a way that bears witness to the great salvation that He has brought to the world.  Now is the time, through prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and forgiveness, to become living icons of a self-emptying mercy that is beyond anything that our fallen world can understand.  Now is the time to display in our own lives the same divine mercy that we ask for ourselves.

            As we pray St. Basil’s Eucharistic prayer on the next several Sundays, and as we process with our icons today, let us all do so with genuine gratitude for the love of Jesus Christ for sick, weak, and corrupt sinners like you and me.  And then let us go out into the world and shine forth with that same love in tangible, practical ways that bless our neighbors, even our enemies, and manifest the holy and eternal life that our Savior has brought to the world. Yes, my brothers and sisters, that is ultimately the goal of this Lenten season. 

Lenten Encyclical of Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East

The Great Lent: When Mercy Dries Up, Fasting Suffers Drought

By God's mercy John X, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East

Brethren, Pastors of the Holy Church of Antioch;

Beloved children in all dioceses in this apostolic see

Brethren and dearest spiritual children, whose strength and anticipation in God, strengthen ours;

Entering this redemptive period which leads us to the Cross (of Christ) and the dawn of His and thus our resurrection, these days bring to us the anticipation to Jesus and His divine consolation for His beloved humans; for whom He descended from His highest, incarnated in the Virgin, submitting Himself to the human law, willingly walking the path of the Cross, in order to rise from the dead, becoming the first fruit for our resurrection from our earthly misery and tribulation.

Jesus chose the path of the Cross, and drank from the chalice of death to simply tell us that the tribulation of our times will not overshadow our hope for light, and that hardship cannot eclipse the brightness of resurrection.

Entering this redemptive period of the Great Lent, we have bid farewell to brothers, fathers and mothers, who were taken away by sudden or forced death, but we anticipate to meet them in Christ's light.

We receive these days while our brothers and sisters, amongst whom are bishops, priests, monks, nuns and beloved children, are abducted and suffer the cruelty of this world.

"We shall not celebrate without them. We did and shall spare no endeavour to ensure their safe return."

Brethren! Despite their severity, these times reinforce the spirit of consolation, growing our sense of empathy. Lent is based on love, reinforced by almsgiving and completed with the leaven of purity and chastity.

Fasting and almsgiving are inseparable.

Fasting, mercy, almsgiving, purity and care for the neighbours and the needy are paths to the doorway to the Godly mercy and thus acquiring God as a friend. A Church Father, Peter Chrysologus (the golden–worded) effectively described the pillars of fasting:

"Brethren, Fasting does not germinate unless watered by mercy. When mercy dries up, fasting suffers drought, for mercy is to fasting what spring is to earth; as the smooth breeze that help buds flourish into flowers, mercy grows the seeds of fasting to become blossoming flowers. Love is to fasting what oil is to a lantern; oil feeds the lantern; similarly, love feeds fasting and enkindles it. Almsgiving is to fasting what the sun is to the day. The sunshine illumines the day, scattering darkness. This is how almsgiving sanctifies the sanctuary of fasting with the light of love".

We all are called upon to consolidate the unity in our Orthodox Antiochian Church. In the Church of Antioch, we are entrusted to the name "Christians" by both word and deeds. Jesus's disciples were first called "Christians" in our land, but we, in our Orthodox Antiochian Church are called upon, by loving each other and unifying our hearts, to testify for Jesus Christ in this contemporary world which is corroded by mere interests.

"For look ye! How these Christians seem to love each other" (Tertullian, Apology 39:7). Tertullian found no better expression in his apology to defend the Christian values and those who follow them. This means that by loving each other, and refusing defamation, we give witness of Lord Jesus in our world.

"The Church of Christ is alien to parties, divisions or disputes; it only acknowledges the zeal for God, a zeal that enflames our hearts. The Church of Christ do not fill the social networking sites and the Media with a barrage of threats, defamation nor disdain."

Brethren! We are called upon, by embracing love and living by the teachings of the Gospel, to overcome all the impediments to our progress, cleanse our inner selves and scrutinise our conscience rather than preaching others.

O merciful God! Who for our sake dwelled in the womb of the Virgin, was born in a manger, patiently endured human suffering, willingly suffered His Passions and who, by His burial, buried the sin that overwhelmed our nature, look upon us in our journey during this Lent, crowning it with the light that shines from Your life-giving tomb. Let us realize that despite its heaviness, the stone of the tomb could not stop the light of resurrection, teaching the world that the bell towers of the Churches in this land have been erected for many centuries even through harsh times and that they will keep ringing echoing Christ's love for all people, endorsing the fact that Christ's children are deeply rooted in this land and announcing their openness to all people despite hardships through the centuries.

O God bestow upon us the spirit of Your peace, alleviate by Your Passions the passions of those who love You, visit our countries casting upon us the beauty of Your presence. Accompany the abducted and the displaced, journey with those who travel and bless our children in the diaspora.

Stand, O God, by those in need; strengthen us to console the hearts of our children with Your words and the acts of philanthropy. Bring the departed closer to you, and crown our fasting journey to witness the Holy Resurrection, hallowed be Your name for now and ever, Amen.

http://www.antiochian.org/lenten-encyclical-patriarch-john-x-antioch-and-all-east

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