The Healing of the Samaritan Leper: Homily for the 12th Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church

            

            The gospels of the New Testament give us many accounts of Jesus Christ doing and saying things that shocked and challenged people who thought that they were better than others, who thought that they were holy and blessed and that others were evil and condemned. And today’s gospel reading is no exception. We read that the Lord healed ten lepers, but the only one who came back to thank Him for the life-changing miracle was a Samaritan.  Samaritans were hated by the Jews as religious and ethnic half-breeds who had mixed the worship of the true God with paganism.  And since lepers were also outcasts and considered unclean, this Samaritan leper surely had no standing at all in that time and place.  So imagine how shocking it was that he alone returned to Christ to thank Him for this miracle and to give glory to God.

            Perhaps this man was so thankful precisely because he knew who he was and how others viewed him.  He would never have thought that a Jewish messiah would help him in any way.  He had probably learned the hard way to expect little compassion from anyone and that he could take nothing for granted in any area of life.  He likely felt out of place walking with Jewish lepers to Jerusalem to show themselves to a priest at the temple.  But as he went along, he was healed.  And he alone gave the sacrifice of praise by taking the time to return to thank the One who changed his life.   And then Christ said to him, “Your faith has made you well.”

            This man’s healing is a sign, a glimpse, of the fulfillment of the good news that we celebrated at Christmas and Theophany (Epiphany) and that is at the very heart of our faith.  The healing of the Samaritan leper from a terrible disease is an icon, an image, of our salvation, of our fulfillment and transformation in the God-Man Jesus Christ.  And of course, this great blessing extends to all who have put on the New Man in baptism, regardless of their nation, race, sickness,or health. 

            As the healing of the Samaritan leper shows, God’s mercy extends to everyone who receives Jesus Christ with faith, repentance, and gratitude.  We want to be like that leper, receiving the blessing in humility and responding with true thanks—regardless of what anyone else does.  We want our lives to be signs, glimpses, icons, of the eternal life that Christ has brought into our world of death.  But in order to do that, we have to put to death the sins, the corruptions and diseases of soul, that have taken root in us.  These are the ways of the old man, the ways of corruption that lead only to despair and death.  They are like spiritual leprosy which distort and disfigure us, that destroy marriages, families, and friendships, that lead us to worship only ourselves, and make it impossible for us to become icons of the glory of the Lord.

            The leper in the gospel is a model for all of us who struggle to embrace Christ’s healing, for all of us who wrestle with the ways of the old man.  The Samaritan joined with the other lepers in calling out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”  In other words, he began with humility, openly acknowledging that he was sick, needed to be healed, and could not work his own cure.   We should do the same thing in our prayers every day, confessing our sins and asking for the Lord’s forgiveness.  We should also acknowledge our weaknesses daily and pray for His strength to resist temptation, to overcome our bad habits, to calm our passions, and to help us grow in holiness.  And the more we say the Jesus Prayer, the better.

            The struggle to live faithfully can certainly feel pretty lonely at times.  There is nothing like sin to isolate us from one another and even from ourselves.  Even if it’s something that we somehow keep secret from others, the burdens of guilt and shame are profound and can separate us at a deep level even from those closest to us.  They can become unhealthy obsessions that make us feel as unclean as a leper.  That’s one of the reasons why the sacrament of Confession is such a blessing, such a source of strength in our journey to live the new life in Christ.  In Confession we are reminded that we are not left alone to struggle with our sins, for the priest is an icon of the Lord, conveying His mercy and providing guidance for the healing of our souls.  If we want to be healed like the Samaritan leper, we will come to confession regularly, naming our sins, especially those of which we are most ashamed and which threaten to destroy our relationships with the Lord and our neighbors.  We will kneel before Christ in humility, bare our souls, and be assured of His forgiveness, if we are truly honest and repentant.   Confession is a therapy for our healing, and a reminder that we are members of a Body united together in love and mercy. As we all know, there is great power in hearing a human voice say that we should give no further care to the sins we have confessed, for they are forgiven.  Christ says to each of us in Confession through the voice of a priest, “Arise, go your way.  Your faith has made you well.”

            The Samaritan is also an example for us in his obedience because he did what Christ told him to do, to head toward Jerusalem to show himself to the priests.   One would imagine that Samaritan lepers were surely not welcome there, but he went nonetheless.  And as he was going, he was healed.  Here we have another powerful image of the Christian life, for we open our lives to the Lord’s healing by obeying Him, by keeping His commandments. 

            A thief does not become an icon of Christ’s salvation by continuing to steal.  An alcoholic does not become sober by continuing to drink.  And we will not experience victory over any sin in our lives if we simply give into it or make up excuses to justify ourselves.  In other words, we have actually to repent, to reject actions, thoughts, words, and habits that we know are wrong.  Of, we will not find perfect spiritually health instantly; we may fail a thousand times, but we must be headed in the right direction.  The Samaritan was going toward Jerusalem in obedience to Christ’s command and we also must be on the path to a holier life through obedience, doing what we know we must do in order to live as those who have put on the New Man Jesus Christ in baptism.

            It’s a hard truth: We can’t expect to find healing for the corruptions of our souls if we do not obey the Lord.  If we do not pray, fast, give to the poor, forgive those who have offended us, keep a close watch on our thoughts and actions, and struggle mightily against our besetting sins, we really cannot expect growth in the Christian life.   If we are not actively seeking to become living icons of Christ’s salvation, we won’t grow in holiness.  Of course, we will not heal ourselves any more than the leper did.  But we must cooperate with the Lord, we must do our part in order to open ourselves to the mercy of Christ, to put ourselves in the place where His new life shines in ours.  And that is the place of humble obedience.

            Finally, we learn from the Samaritan leper to be grateful for every bit of progress that we make in the Christian life, for every step of progress in the healing of our souls.  It was not walking toward Jerusalem that healed him; it was the mercy of Christ for which he could take no credit at all.  The leper certainly knew that, which is why he returned to the Lord to thank Him. 

            And what thanks should we offer God for our blessings, for our healing, for our salvation?  Well, we should offer our lives to Him and thus become epiphanies of His salvation in every word, thought, and deed.  For He is the Alpha and Omega Who created all reality out of nothing and on Whom our life is entirely dependent.  We have nothing and we are nothing apart from His mercy, love, and grace.  And nothing fits in its proper place in our lives until it is offered to Him for blessing and fulfillment.

            So just as we offer bread and wine in the Liturgy, let us offer thanks to the Lord by living lives that are pleasing to Him, by living according to the New Man Jesus Christ, and killing the habits of death and darkness that can so easily destroy us and harm others.  For Christ was born and baptized in order to heal us and to bring us into the new life of His Kingdom.  He made a wretched Samaritan leper an icon of His salvation and He will do the same with us, if we follow that man’s example of humility, obedience, and gratitude. 

           

Homily for the Sunday After Theophany (Epiphany) in the Orthodox Church

         

          You can learn a lot about the Orthodox faith by looking at icons.  For example, their gold backgrounds are signs of the glory of God.  Whenever we see an icon, an image of our salvation, we see an image of the brilliant light of the Kingdom and of what it means for a human being to be illumined by the divine glory.

            We need and welcome that light, for like the people of Galilee, we often find ourselves in darkness and shadows.  We usually do not have to look far at all in our own lives or the world in which we live for discouraging, painful, and fearful realities that can take the joy out of life and make us miserable.  That kind of existence can seem as black as midnight and as pointless as wandering around with our eyes closed. 

            The good news during this season of Epiphany is that the Son of God has brought the brilliant light of heaven into our darkened world.  His divinity is revealed, is made clear, immediately after His baptism when the Father declares, “This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased” and the Holy
Spirit descends upon Him in the form of a dove.   The light of His divinity shines clearly from the dark waters of the Jordan.  He was lowered into the waters of baptism.  He was symbolically buried under them.  Thus, He entered into the corruption of His fallen creation.

And He did so in order to raise us from darkness to light, to illuminate us—and the entire universe—as an icon of His salvation.  Even as He rose up out of the waters, He raises us up from the futility and pain of spiritual blindness and death.   For we were not created for misery and despair, but in the image of God and with the calling to grow in His likeness.  But we follow in the way of Adam and Eve, choosing to live according to our own will, not God’s.  And as such we bring the entire creation down with us.  Instead of being priests who offer the world and ourselves to God for blessing, we have become self-centered consumers.  We devour ourselves and one another with our own addiction to our passions.  We do the same thing to our physical environment, obscuring the beauty of the world our Lord spoke into existence.

Had not the Son of God entered into our darkened world and corrupt life, had not His light dawned upon us and the entire creation through the waters of the Jordan, there would be no hope for us.  For by entering into our life and world, He makes it possible for us to share in His.  He descended into the lower parts of the earth to raise us up to the divine life.  As St. Paul writes, “He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens that He might fill all things.”  He brings a new heaven and a new earth, the fulfillment of the entire universe in the Kingdom of God.

This is all tremendously good news, but we must not fall prey to the temptation to make general statements that miss the practical, daily challenges of our life in the world.  For if Epiphany is merely a collection of religious services and pious statements, we will the point completely.  We are not called in this season simply to remember Christ’s baptism, but to participate personally in the salvation that He has brought to the world.  And that means, in St. Paul’s words, that we “all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” 

You see, our Lord’s divinity was revealed at His baptism and must also be revealed through us.  His divine glory has dawned upon a darkened world and must continue to shine brightly through our lives.  That’s what it means to grow into the stature of the fullness of Christ, to become perfect in Him, truly to know the Son of God.  Like an iron left in a fire glows red hot, we are to become living, breathing manifestations of the holiness, love, and mercy of our Lord.

But since we have been in darkness and shadow for so long, as has the rest of the creation, we should not be surprised that our fulfillment in Christ is a process, an infinite journey of creatures sharing in the life of the Creator.  That journey begins with our baptism, in which we put on Christ, but we err to think of baptism merely as one religious service that was completed long ago.  For the entire Christian life is a process of entering more fully into the death of Christ, of dying to our sins and passions so that we may rise and ascend with Him into the new life of the Kingdom.  This season of Epiphany, we should all examine our lives for areas where we have not yet put on Christ, for sinful habits or attitudes or actions which have not yet died.  Yes, we all still need to grow into our baptism.

We all still have dark shadows within us.  We should not be surprised or shocked by that.  Neither should we wallow in paralyzing guilt.  The light of Christ’s divinity does not shine brightly in order to kill us, but to bring us more fully into His life.  The point is not obsessive self-judgment, but to offer the weak, distorted dimensions of our lives to the Lord for healing, blessing, and transformation.

We are baptized into the Body of Christ, for He was baptized and later died, rose again, and ascended into Heaven as a whole, complete human being who is also God.  He did all these things with a body just like ours so that He could bring people—just like you and me—into the eternal life of the Holy Trinity.

The Body of Christ also refers, of course, to the Church; and it is through baptism that we become members of His Body.  Not only was the Lord raised in the Body, He makes us part of His Body, He shares Himself and His life with us fully.  One of the symptoms of our sinfulness is our belief that we are isolated individuals, that true life and freedom are found on our own terms with us calling all the shots and letting no one constrain our freedom.  We pity people who are so self-centered that they cannot maintain meaningful relationships with others.  Human community takes many forms, but no one finds fulfillment in complete isolation.  That’s a recipe for misery.   

All the more is the truth about the Christian life.  If we want to grow into the full stature of Christ, if we want our lives to become epiphanies of the glory of God, we cannot do it by ourselves.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Church embodies various ministries for the equipping of the saints, for the edifying of the body of Christ.  No one person possesses all those gifts, graces, and ministries.  If we want to die with Christ to our sins and ascend with Him into the new life of the Kingdom, we will do that in His Body, the Church, where we pray, repent, work, and serve together--and also learn to put up with one another’s weaknesses with patience, humility, and love.

So let us celebrate Epiphany this year by becoming more like the saints whose images we see in the icons.  They are illumined by the divine glory, for they have put on Christ without reservation.  They have left behind the dark shadows of sin and now radiate the brilliant light of the Kingdom.  And in doing so, they have become more fully and beautifully themselves, and found eternal life, peace, strength, and blessing.  We may do the same by joining our Lord in the Jordan, by dying to sin and death and corruption so that we may ascend with Him into brilliant light and unending joy of the Kingdom.

Let us live out our baptism, then, together as members of one another in our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ as we become epiphanies of His salvation.  For that is really the only way to celebrate this feast.    

Eastern Orthodox and Catholics Trapped in Syrian Village

Greek-Orthodox and Roman Catholic Community Trapped in Small Syrian Village

Franciscan Friar Fr. François Kouseiffi Explains Plight of Refugees

Close to 1,000 Christians, both Greek-Orthodox and Roman Catholic, are trapped in the small village of Yaakoubieh, located in the north of Aleppo. In a report by Fides News Agency, refugees are completely worn out and lack basic necessities, such as food and electricity while dealing with heavy fighting between loyalist forces and opposition groups.

They are unable to leave the village and are in terrible condition, where they risk extinction, said Fr. François Kouseiffi OFM, a Franciscan friar and pastor of the church of San Francesco in Hamra (Beirut) to Fides. Fr. Kouseiffi deals with the care and assistance of about 500 Syrian refugees.

The refugees have reported to Fr. Kouseiffi the plight of the village of Yaakoubieh, and where many of their relatives are. Before the war there were about 3,000 Christians in the village between Armenians, Orthodox and Catholics, and now almost all have fled. In the village there are Franciscan nuns who, says the friar, share the fate of civilians.

The situation is very serious. The faithful are trapped. We are trying in every way to help them to come to Lebanon. In past days, some of our emissaries left to go there, but the journey is dangerous and, after more than a day's journey by land, they reached Aleppo. The contacts with the remaining Christians are sporadic. They launched the alarm for their survival. They risk of dying in the general silence, Fr. Kouseiffi said.

The Syrian Christians are paying the price of the destabilization of the country and suffer like other Syrian citizens but, like other minorities, they are the most vulnerable groups. Out of the approximately four million Syrian refugees, the Syrian Christians are about 500 thousand, 25 thousand of which are in Lebanon. In past days, recalls Fr. Kouseiffi, the wave of frost has made their condition even more difficult: we are in the middle of a humanitarian emergency. They talk about their drama, their hopes, and dreams of a better future for their country.

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100 Million Christians Persecuted Around the World

[The New York Times]<http://www.nytimes.com/>

________________________________

January 8, 2013

About 100 Million Christians Persecuted Around the World: Report By REUTERS

PARIS (Reuters) - About 100 million Christians are persecuted around the world, with conditions worsening for them most rapidly in Syria and Ethiopia, according to an annual report by a group supporting oppressed Christians worldwide.

Open Doors, a non-denominational Christian group, listed North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan as the three toughest countries for Christians last year. They topped the 50-country ranking for 2011 as well.

Syria jumped from 36th to 11th place on the list as its Christian minority, first suspected by rebels of close ties to the Assad government, has increasingly become a target for radical Islamist fighters, the report said.

Ethiopia, which is two-thirds Christian, shot up from 38th to 15th place in the ranking due to a "complex mix of persecution dynamics" including attacks by radical Islamists and reprisals by traditional Christians against new Protestant movements.

Mali came from no listing for 2011 to 7th place because the sharia<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/sharia_islamic_law/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier> rule the Islamist Ansar Dine group imposed on the north of the country not only brought harsh punishments for the Muslim majority but also drove the tiny Christian minority, it said.

"There are over 65 countries where Christians are persecuted," said the report released on Tuesday by Open Doors, which began in the 1950s smuggling Bibles into communist states and now works in more than 60 countries.

"An estimated 100 million Christians worldwide are persecuted," the United States-based group said in the report. All but one of the 50 countries in the list - Colombia, which ranked 46th - were in Africa, Asia or the Middle East.

Christianity is the largest and most widely spread faith in the world, with 2.2 billion followers or 32 percent of the world population, according to a report by the Washington-based Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

It faces restrictions and hostility in 111 countries around the world, ahead of the 90 countries limiting or harassing the second-largest faith, Islam, another Pew report said.

"In recent years, we've been hearing that Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world - that sounds right to us," said Open Doors France director Michel Varton at a presentation of the report in Strasbourg.

PERSECUTION

Leaders of various denominations - including Pope Benedict, whose Roman Catholic followers account for more than half of all Christians - increasingly make this accusation.

It may well be the case given Christianity's size and global spread, but it is hard to produce enough reliable comparative statistics to give it a solid empirical basis.

Some German politicians and human rights groups criticized Chancellor Angela Merkel last November for saying this at a Protestant Church conference there, saying it was pointless to try to rank religions according to how persecuted they were.

Open Doors, which documents cases of persecution of Christians, said its report was based on official studies, news reports and field reports and questionnaires filled out by its staff workers around the world.

Of the top 10 countries on the list - North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Maldives, Mali, Iran, Yemen and Eritrea - eight are majority Muslim states threatened by what Open Doors called "Islamic extremism".

North Korea has kept its number one ranking for the past 11 years because it is illegal simply to be a Christian there, it said. Open Doors estimates that up to 70,000 North Koreans have been sent to labor camps for their faith.

The report said second-placed Saudi Arabia, which bans public practice of any faith but Islam, has a growing Christian population because of its migrant workers and some converts it says converted after watching Christian satellite television.

"Christians risk further persecution and oppression in the future due to the rising number of converts and their boldness in sharing their faith," it said.

(Additional reporting by Gilbert Reilhac in Strasbourg; Editing by Alison Williams)

Reports on the Persecuted Coptic Christians of Egypt During the Christmas Season

Egypt’s Christians worried by Islamists’ rise By Abigail Hauslohner<http://www.washingtonpost.com/abigail-hauslohner/2012/09/14/c36345f4-fe80-11e1-a31e-804fccb658f9_page.html>, Published: January 7

GIZA, Egypt — Egypt’s Christians were worried about their safety on Monday as they marked the first Christmas under Islamist rule, with Coptic Pope Tawadros II urging worshipers “not to be afraid” and some complaining that their lives had gone from bad to worse in the nearly two years since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak.

At St. Mary’s Church in the dense and religiously mixed neighborhood of Imbaba, where sectarian clashes have flared before, midnight Mass on Christmas Eve started early because of safety concerns. The church, which was torched by an Islamist mob in 2011, was protected Sunday by a larger police presence than in past years, a si! gnal to some that the Islamist government wanted to avoid trouble after political clashes flared last month on Egypt’s streets.

Many Christians, who make up roughly 10 percent of Egypt’s 85 million people, have joined with liberals in complaining that the country’s new constitution<http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/egypt-ratifies-islamist-backed-constitution/2012/12/25/06625aa4-4ec0-11e2-950a-7863a013264b_story.html>, ratified last month, sets the stage for a broader implementation of Islamic law. Although Copts had complained of marginalization and discrimination under Mubarak, many accuse President Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood allies of hijacking the country and seeking to exclude Christians entirely.

But some Christians said Egypt’s tumultuous transition also has rendered a long-silent community more politicized. With parliamentary elections expected in a few months, they say they are ! going to keep pushing for their rights to counter the Islamist! s’ ris e.

The confrontation last month between Islamists and Egypt’s fractured liberal opposition over the character of the new constitution drew scores of Christian protesters.

It wasn’t the first time that the Copts had demonstrated against Egypt’s emerging status quo. Hundreds of protesters camped in downtown Cairo after a wave of sectarian clashes<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15235212> in 2011, but now many say they have felt emboldened by the vastness of the emerging opposition.

“The Muslim Brotherhood may have forced the constitution on the people, but they will not be able to force Egypt to stay silent,” said Mena Girgis, a 22-year-old university student and activist. “I don’t think they can come close to the Christians at the moment. They’re worried about their reputation to the world — that it will be even shakier than it was before.”

Morsi and Mohammed Badie, the leader of ! the Muslim Brotherhood, issued separate statements Sunday to wish Egyptian Christians a merry holiday. Many Eastern Orthodox churches in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7.

In his Mass, Tawadros appealed for unity but also told congregants, “Even if humans feel lots of fear, remember, God will take care of you. This is a collective message because fear is contagious. . . . This is a message of reassurance.”

Egypt’s military claimed on its Facebook page Monday that its troops had foiled an attempted church bombing<http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/egyptian-military-says-it-foiled-car-bombing-near-church-and-military-camp-close-to-gaza/2013/01/07/014e9ebc-58b9-11e2-b8b2-0d18a64c8dfa_story.html> near the country’s border with the Gaza Strip on Sunday night. But it was not clear from local media reports whether a car found laden with guns and ammu! nition in the restive border town of Rafah had meant to target! an unus ed church or whether it may have been directed at a military base, both located nearby.

At St. Mary’s, where memories of mob violence are still fresh, Christmas Eve Mass ended early “to ensure that people get home safely,” said Youssef al-Qumos, a pathologist and churchgoer.

The most violent sectarian clashes of the past two years occurred during the period of military rule after Mubarak’s ouster — and, in one instance, at the hands of the armed forces. But for many, Islamist rule spells far deeper conflicts on the horizon.

Rising Islamism has spurred tense exchanges and sporadic violence in mixed communities across Egypt in recent months. “Even those who have nothing to do with anything are growing beards now,” said Magdy, a Christian bureaucrat in the village of Sanhour in rural Fayoum province.

The residents of Sanhour have been luckier than those of some other towns south of Cairo, Magdy added, because they have yet to see an attack ! on Christians. But he declined to give his last name for fear of reprisal. “Any word spoken by a Christian is judged,” he said. “It’s calm here. But it’s the future that we worry about.”

Last week, fundamentalist Islamists known as Salafists re-published old fatwas warning Muslims against fraternizing with Christians on their holiday. A shadowy Salafist group in the city of Suez vowed to shut down any New Year celebrations. And rumors of a grass-roots Salafist morality force that is planning to mob churches and force conversions have put many Christians on edge.

“They repeated that on a lot of satellite channels, and we don’t know if it’s true or false,” Nahed Adly, a dentist in Cairo who attended Mass at St. Mary’s, said of the rumors.

“My reading is that they’re waiting till the election, till they get everything. And when they’re done taking over all the seats of power, then they can focus on us,” she said.

Ingy Hassieb and Sharaf al-Hourani in Cairo contributed to this report.

January 7th, 2013

04:00 PM ET

Amid Orthodox Christmas, Egypt's Christians fear for their rights under Islamist government<http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/07/amid-orthodox-christmas-egypts-christians-fear-for-their-rights-under-islamist-government/>

By Shahira Amin, Special to CNN

(CNN)– It's Orthodox Christmas, but the mood in Cairo's working-class Shobra district this year is somber. There aren't many colorful festivities and decorations that traditionally mar! k Easter n Christmas celebrations in this predominantly Christian neighborhood, and Shobra's Coptic Christian residents say they are in no mood to celebrate.

Growing concerns about the rights of Egypt's Copts, who make up an estimated 12% of the population, have dampened the mood of Christians, overshadowing this year's celebrations.

"Many of my friends and relatives have left the country," said 27-year-old Beshoy Ragheb. "I would leave, too, if I had a place to go."

Threats by Muslim extremists against Coptic Christians in the past year have forced scores of Christian families to flee their homes in Dahshur and the Egyptian border town of Rafah. Meanwhile, extremist attacks on Christian churches and brutal attacks by security and military forces on Christian protesters demanding the protection of their churches in October 2011 remain vivid in the memories of many of Egypt's Christians.

Military sources, meanwhile, said Monday that Egyptian security forces had thwarted a militant attack on a church in Rafah the previous nig! ht. The would-be assailants fled after a military patrol spott! ed their unlicensed vehicles parked outside the town's Orthodox Christian church, which militants torched weeks after the January 2011 uprising. Soldiers found weapons in one of the vehicles and presume the escaped militants were planning to use them in their attack.

Egypt's Christians are also concerned about the country's newly drafted constitution, which was written by an Islamist-dominated assembly. Liberal opposition political forces say the charter, which passed last month after being put to a popular vote, undermines religious freedoms and does not guarantee equal rights for Copts, despite an article in the constitution that says Muslims, Christians and Jews have a right to practice their religions freely. Church members on the constituent assembly, which was elected by parliamen! t to draft the constitution, walked out weeks before the completion of the draft document, citing concerns about articles they said "contradict the principles of citizenship."

In a recent interview with the Turkish news agency Anadolu, the newly elected Orthodox Christian patriarch, Pope Tawadros II, said that while Christians accept Article 2 of the constitution, which says the principles of Islamic Sharia law are the main source of legislation, they are worried about an article that spells out what those principles are in Islamic terms. "This new provision makes the constitution unrepresentative of the whole society," he said.

Despite the C! opts' in creasing fears, it's not all doom and gloom for Egypt's Christians. A new law on houses of worship is under discussion in the Shura Council - the upper house of parliament, which recently has taken over legislation until the new People's Assembly, or lower house, is elected next month. Once passed, the new legislation will allow Christians to build and renovate their churches as stipulated by the constitution, a far cry from the days of toppled President Hosni Mubarak, when building and restoring churches required a presidential decree.

Moreover, in a recent meeting with Coptic clerics, President Mohamed Morsy promised to approve a unified law on personal affairs of non-Muslims. The law, which was drafted by the late Pope Shenouda III and is now under study, would allow Egyptian! Christians to refer to their own religious edicts in matters such as marriage, divorce and inheritance, and would allow them to choose their religious clerics.

Copts however, complain of continued discrimination. "Copts were grossly underrepresented in parliament and in government under Mubarak. They continue to be discriminated against under Islamist President Mohamed Morsy, despite promises that he would be the president for all Egyptians," Coptic lawyer Nabil Ghabriel said.

The Islamist-dominated Cabinet has just one Christian woman - Nadia Zachary, who was appointed as ministe! r of state for scientific research - and Copts continue to hav! e little more than a token presence in the government. Moreover, Samir Morcos, the sole Coptic presidential aide, resigned in November to protest the sweeping powers that Morsy gave himself in a controversial constitutional declaration. Morcos said he was not consulted about the widely criticized declaration.

Pope Tawadros has urged political parties to place Copts, women and youth revolutionaries at the top of their electoral lists in upcoming elections in a bid to give them adequate representation in parliament. He has also proposed allocating specific constituencies for Christians - a suggestion that Islamists are likely to reject.

Addressing the Christian faithful at the traditional Christmas Eve Mass on Sunday, Tawadros asked the congregation "to pray for Egypt." But he denied that Egyptian Copts are facing a crisis, reminding Christians that sectarian incidents had sporadically occurred in the country during the three decades of Mubarak's rule.

While the pope sounded an optimistic note, saying he anticipates a better future for Egypt, many Christians attending the prayers said they did not share his optimism. "The fact that President Morsy did not attend the Mass himself, but sent a government official to represent him, is a sign that little will change," Hani Tadros, 43, said as he left the cathedral in Abbasiya after attending the prayers.

Homily for the Feast of Theophany (Epiphany) in the Orthodox Church

Epistle to St. Titus 2:11-14, 3:4-7

Gospel According to St. Matthew 3:13-17

            Today is the Feast of Epiphany, when we celebrate our Lord’s baptism in the river Jordan by St. John the Forerunner.  Another name for the feast is Theophany, for it is shown—it is revealed at Jesus Christ’s baptism—that He is the Son of God.  Indeed, the Holy Trinity is revealed at His baptism, for the Father says, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” and the Holy Spirit descends upon Him in the form of a dove. 

            The meaning of the Feast of Christmas is fulfilled at Theophany, for now it is made clear that the One born in Bethlehem is truly God, come to restore our fallen nature and to renew the entire creation by uniting humanity with divinity in Himself.  And even as the Son of God entered our world at His birth, He now enters the flowing water of a river in order to make it holy, in order to bring His blessing and fulfillment upon the world that He created.  For the entire creation was subjected to futility because of the rebellion of our first parents.  As St. Paul wrote to the Romans, “the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now” for it also “will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. “

            The good news of the gospel is that the Creator has become part of the creation in order to make it a new heaven and a new earth.   We see at Theophany that nothing is intrinsically profane or cut off from the blessing and holiness of God.  All things, physical and spiritual, visible and invisible, are called to participate in the divine glory that our Lord has brought to the world, to become part of the new heaven and earth of God’s kingdom.   Christ’s baptism demonstrates that we, too, are saved along with the rest of the creation, for it is through the water that we share in His life.  “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ.”  In baptism, we receive the garment of light that Adam and Eve lost when they distorted themselves and the entire creation with sin and death.  The incarnate Son of God sanctified our flesh and blood at His birth, and at His baptism He sanctifies the water through which our vocation as those created in the divine image and likeness is fulfilled.

             I know that sometimes we are tempted to forget that human beings are also part of the creation, that we also are dependent upon the light of the sun, the fruits of the earth, and the air that we breathe.  God created Adam from the dust of the earth; yes, our bodies are made of the same stuff as all life forms on our planet.  That’s a humbling reminder that God sustains our life together with that of all His other creatures, but it shouldn’t surprise us. Have you ever noticed how God uses the basic physical substances life, such as water, wine, bread, and oil to bring us into His life?  Whether it’s the smell of incense, the beauty of icons, or the very existence of a church building, we are surrounded by created blessings that enable us to worship the Lord.  That shouldn’t be surprising, for He is the source of all things, including our hearts, souls, and minds.  If we forget that we are His creatures in the midst of His good creation, we won’t be able to worship or serve Him at all.

            Unfortunately, it’s a common human temptation to forget what it means to worship God.  It’s easy to fool ourselves into thinking that the world revolves around us and that the limitations and problems experienced by others somehow do not—or at least, should not-- apply to us.  But then reality slaps us in the face:  the loss of a loved one, sickness, unemployment, a broken relationship, or even bad weather remind us quickly that we are subject to the difficulties that inevitably accompany life in our corrupt world. 

            At the Feast of Epiphany, we are reminded, however, that these challenges do not separate us from God, for they do not remove us from His blessed creation or destroy our ability to share in His life.  Jesus Christ entered fully into the world as know it.  He made holy every dimension of our life, including suffering and pain, from the womb to the tomb.   No part of the creation, and no dimension of our existence, can separate us from His presence, from His blessing, from His steadfast love.  He has conquered even death on our behalf.

            But for us to receive this good news requires a kind of death on our part also.  For we must die to the illusion that we are somehow not part of the creation—in other words, to the illusion that we are God.   We must die to the idolatry of self that leads us to worship false idols such as pride, greed, and lust.  That’s the same selfish idolatry that leads us to pollute and destroy natural resources as though they belonged to us and not ultimately to the Lord.  We must die to our tendency to be a curse, not a blessing, to the rest of God’s good creation, including our fellow humans and the natural world.           Unfortunately, we rarely recognize the sacredness of the creation, of other people, or even of ourselves.  Instead of offering our blessings to the Lord, we often just want to be left alone to go on with life on our terms. So we don’t want to be inconvenienced by meeting the needs of the poor and lonely, or forgiving those who have offended us, or even taking the time to reduce the amount of pollution that we produce by simple steps like recycling or composting.

            But we are reminded at Theophany that life on our own terms isn’t really life at all.  For when we are baptized into Christ, we are baptized into His death.  We die with Christ to sin and all its corruptions so that we will rise with Him in newness of life, so that we will be clothed in a garment of light and participate fully in His victory over sin and death.  For the blessed life that our Lord has brought to the world is not just the continuation of what’s become comfortable and familiar to us.  Instead, it’s a life that requires a decisive break from the corruption that has become a second nature to us.

            Perhaps that’s why St. John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus Christ and then baptized Him.  St. John was the last of the Old Testament prophets and a fiery preacher who boldly called people to repent, to prepare the way of the Lord in their lives by making His paths straight.  He lived in the desert, ate bugs and honey, and looked like a wild man.  Like the other true prophets, he wasn’t concerned with pleasing people, but with telling them the truth in no uncertain terms.  If they were to be ready for the Messiah, they had to stop sinning and start living lives pleasing to God.  

            I hope that you get the point.  To be baptized into Christ is to die from all that separates us from God.  It is to share in the blessing that our Lord has brought to the entire world; it is to see all of the creation as holy, as participating in the transformation and healing of the Kingdom.  Every dimension of our lives must become an epiphany, a showing or manifestation, of God’s salvation.  We are to offer every aspect of our life, and every bit of the world with which we come in contact, to the Lord as a sacrament, as a participation in the Holy Mystery of God.  For nothing is outside the scope of His love; nothing is separate from His will for a new heaven and new earth.  He wants the entire creation—yes, the whole universe-- to shine brightly with the glory of the His divinity, and that includes us.

            Today is the Feast of Theophany.  It’s time to prepare the way of the Lord and make His paths straight.  For He comes to renew all creation and to bring us into the glory of His kingdom.  He comes to make all reality an icon of His holiness.   Let’s not stand in the way; let’s not refuse His blessing, but instead live as those who, having died to sin, truly wear a garment of light.  

                

               

St. Joseph the Betrothed: Homily for the Sunday after Christmas in the Orthodox Church

Epistle to the Galatians 1:11-19

Gospel According to St. Matthew 2:13-23

           There is something beautiful in the combination of the different types of people described in the gospel accounts of our Lord’s birth.  Persian astrologers known as the magi, lowly shepherds, a young virgin, and an old man named Joseph all play their roles.  We have spoken of the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos many times in the weeks leading to Christmas, as we must, for she is the first to receive Christ, the one through whom the Son of God is born as a human being.  All generations call her blessed and we seek to follow her example of purity, obedience, and humility.

            But today we especially commemorate Joseph the Betrothed, an unlikely and originally unwilling hero of the Christmas story.   We know from the Protoevangelium of James, an early Christian writing, that when it was time for Mary to move out of the Temple where she had grown up, an angel directed the high priest to assemble all the widowers for one to be chosen by a miraculous sign as the guardian, the protector of Mary, the holy virgin.  Joseph was the one chosen; but when he was told of this duty, he refused, saying:  “I have children, and I am an old man, and she is a young girl. I am afraid lest I become a laughing-stock to the sons of Israel.”  Yes, there is something a bit shocking about an old man who is betrothed to a young girl.  But the high priest reminded him of the importance of fearing and obeying God.  So Joseph did as he was told and took responsibility for Mary as her betrothed. 

            We can only imagine Joseph’s horror at discovering that Mary was pregnant.  We read in the Protoevangelium that “he smote his face, and threw himself on the ground upon the sackcloth, and wept bitterly, saying: With what face shall I look upon the Lord my God? And what prayer shall I make about this maiden? Because I received her a virgin out of the temple of the Lord, and I have not watched over her.”  But when he heard the word of the Lord through an angel that this child was of the Holy Spirit and that Mary had remained a virgin, he believed and obeyed.   

            Of course, others noted the pregnancy of the young virgin entrusted to the much older Joseph. So they were then brought before a religious court and required to drink the water of ordeal, which would make them sick if they were guilty of sin.  You can easily imagine what their accusers thought that they had done.  They both were unharmed, however, and were set free. 

            Joseph’s life had certainly been complicated by taking Mary as his betrothed.  But then things got even worse.  He had to take the pregnant Mary with him to Bethlehem, where she gave birth in a cave used as a barn for farm animals. And once the baby was born, Joseph found himself at the center of an international crisis with both wise men from Persia and King Herod looking for the child.  Then, the old man had to lead his family by night to Egypt, where they hid out until it was safe to return to Israel, to the town of Nazareth in Galilee.

            Joseph must have wondered many times how he got himself into all this unwelcomed excitement and why God had chosen him for such an unusual responsibility.  But he still obeyed and risked his life in protecting the young Jesus and His virgin Mother. Joseph put aside his own wishes and preferences and did what needed to be done, and thus played a crucial role in the unfolding of our salvation. 

            During this season of Christmas, I hope that we will all take Joseph the Betrothed as a model for how to live.  Perhaps in some ways we can all identify with him.  He had lived a life in the world, having been married with children, and then widowed.  His story shows us that we don’t have to be young or free from worldly cares in order to serve God; neither do we have to be especially enthusiastic volunteers.   Instead, we simply have to obey His calling.  We may not always like it and may refuse at first, as did Joseph and as did figures like Moses in the Old Testament.   But God can be patient and persistent and use us to His glory nonetheless.

            The miracle of Christmas required human cooperation in so many ways.  No one forced Mary to agree to become the Theotokos.  The wise men could have decided that the trip to Palestine was just too far.  Joseph could have abandoned the woman and the child entrusted to his care.  But he didn’t, despite the awkwardness, the danger, and the inconvenience.  On several occasions, he probably swallowed hard, steadied his nerves, kept his mouth shut, and prayed for God to help him one day at a time as he pressed forward. 

            As we celebrate the season of Christmas this year, let us remember that the Son of God took flesh in a world where people make choices.  It’s a world where we all have our priorities, our goals, our vision of what would be nice in life.  The problem is that God’s calling doesn’t always fit with our preferences.   We, like Joseph, are called to obey nonetheless, to respond in freedom, and to play our role in the unfolding of God’s salvation in the world.

            I know that it may seem a bit much to compare our calling with that of Joseph.  It’s hard to compete with being the adopted father of Jesus Christ.  The good news is that it’s not a contest; we don’t have to compete.  Instead, we just have to remember that the Lord was born for us too, that we also are brought into the eternal life of the Holy Trinity through Him.  He invites and calls us all to share in His life, to raise us the joy and blessedness of the kingdom even as we live and breathe.  But in order for this glorious transformation to occur, we must embrace Him, we must respond to Him, we must hear and obey His calling.

            We will do so not in some storybook world of religious platitudes, but in one as harsh and brutal as the one our Savior was born into as a helpless baby.  Unfortunately, there are still those who kill the innocent, even defenseless children, and even more who abuse and neglect them. There are situations of war, persecution, abuse, and poverty that lead families to take refuge in foreign countries, such as our own.    We never have to look far to find sick, lonely, and miserable people who are as vulnerable and needy as the newly born Lord and His mother.  No doubt, we can all play the role of Joseph to them in one way or another by giving generously of our time, attention, and other resources to become their friends, advocates, and protectors.         

            The good news of this season is that, because of Christ’s birth, all human beings are called to the life of heaven.  The particulars of that calling vary for each of us.  And it’s not always as clear as the brilliant star that the wise men followed.  And sometimes even when it becomes clear, we refuse like Joseph did at first.  But one thing is for sure:  we have to listen in order to hear God’s unique calling to us.  And that means prayer, in stillness and quiet, on a daily basis in which our hearts and souls are opened to Him.  It also means cultivating the obedient faith that we see in Joseph.  Like him, we may be called to new, unexpected responsibilities; to sacrifice our standing in the eyes of others; and even to risk life as we know it.

            So like Joseph the Betrothed, let us serve Christ this Christmas season with the fear of God and faith and love.   Let us put aside our excuses and do what has to be done in order for us to participate more fully in the new life that our Savior has brought to the world.   Let us be especially attentive to those who are weak, vulnerable, and displaced, for that is how the Lord came to us.  Let us celebrate this glorious feast of our salvation by loving and serving Him in every way we can.