Friday Fragments; February 18, 2005 - Restoring Fourfold...

Dear Parish Faithful,

     Events of this week conspired against a Monday or Midweek Morning Meditation.  But there is always Friday, when a few "leftover fragments" (see the Miracle of the loaves and fishes in MATT. 14:13-21; MK. 6:32-44; LK. 9:11-17) may yet serve to bring  some needed nourishment to our famished souls.  If we live on the spiritual level from Sunday to Sunday, with not much in between, then our souls can indeed be quite famished by Friday!  In the arid secularism and pervasive hedonism of our surrounding world, it becomes imperative that we "feed" ourselves during the week - especially if we are not going to be in church - with prayer, the reading of the Holy Scriptures and Holy Fathers, charitable works toward our neighbor, etc.  Otherwise, the gap between Sundays can easily stretch into an abyss of gaping proportions!  This can lead to a condition of spiritual disorientation, as we move between the seemingly disconnected worlds of the "sacred" and the "profane." Actually, there is only one world and one life "under God" Who is "above all and through all and in all" according to Apostle Paul.   Arriving at that realization and experience is one of the great challenges of the Christian life.  In the lyrics of a progressive folk/rock band of the early 70's, God is "not the kind you wind up on Sundays."  Otherwise - according to this same band - life may seem like a "bungle in the jungle!"

     In the light of this contemporary reality and the endless preoccupations - both necessary and unneccesary - that consumes our time and energy, the closing exhortation of the Divine Liturgy, "Let us depart in peace!," takes on added significance.  From the summit of our ascent in the Liturgy we can catch a glimpse of the world - if not the entire cosmos - as it really is:  redeemed, renewed and pervaded by the presence of the Holy Trinity as it awaits its final transfiguration.  If, having tasted and seen that "the Lord is good," we can in turn take a bit of that with us into our week, then we will begin to close that artificial gap between the "sacred" and the "profane." 

     Casting one final glance back to last Sunday's Gospel of Christ's encounter with Zacchaeus, we might discover a way of actualizing that profound encounter in our own lives.  When Christ entered his house, we hear that

Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold."  (LK. 19:8)

     This spontaneous confession and repentance before the Lord drew from Him the following words of great consolation for all sinners at all times:

"Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost."  (LK. 19:9-10).

     We may well be content with ourselves for not having defrauded anyone of anything.  In that case we will have heard an edifying story of the conversion of a sinner who bears little resemblance to us.  The basis for such a conclusion can be found in the fact that we are practicing members of the Church, not marginalized misfits such as Zacchaeus was seen to be by his peers, even though he was "rich."  It is altogether unflattering to be compared with a sinner such as Zacchaeus! 

     On the other hand, not many of us are prepared to give half of our belongings to the poor as a concrete sign of turning to God in heartfelt repentance.  And although it may be somewhat of an awkward term to apply to our relationship with God, perhaps we have "defrauded" Him of many things which He has graciously given to us as His children:  our talents, time, energy, resources, desire and, ultimately, our love.  All of these things we keep selfishly to ourselves, but fail to offer them back to God in love and thanksgiving. 

     One of our most precious commodities is time itself - elusive, ever-moving, never enough of.  Have we"defrauded" Christ of our time?  Is our time always being spent/wasted elsewhere, but hardly ever on the "one thing needful?"  Does prayer, reading, charitable work, coming to church, occupy the merest fraction of our time, or of the time that we can "spare" after all the necessities of life have been satisfied?  Can our token crumbs of time really be enough to heal that artificial breach between the "sacred" and the "profane?"  If that is the case, can we possibly repent like Zacchaeus and restore to God "fourfold" these things - and time itself - of which we have "defrauded"Him?  If so, we would actualize this living encounter with Christ in our own lives and be worthy of hearing the words of Christ, as did Zacchaeus, that "salvation has come to this house."   

     Great Lent is the perfect season of the year to make this fourfold restoration of our time - and of our talents, energy, resources and love.  It is the "time" that we return to God.  The pre-lenten sesaon which begins this Sunday with the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee is the offering of an opportunity from God to meditate upon and start this process.   If we are feeling a bit "lost" then we need to realize that the Son of man is seeking us.  He will knock on the door as a "beggar of love" according to Vladimir Lossky, but we will have to open up from the inside.

Fr. Steven

Top of Page


Midweek Meditation; February 9, 2005 - 'Benign Apostasy' II: The Goal of Holiness

Dear Parish Faithful,

     Many people were taken with (or awakened by?) Fr. John's phrase "benign apostasy" that I used in last Sunday's homily and in the Monday Morning Meditation.  I received more than the usual amount of comments and responses.  The "fear of God" remains alive and well.  Here is another paragraph from the same article of Fr. John's, "Bioethical Challenges in the New Millennium" that stresses our response as Orthodox Christians to the "unholy environment" that surrounds us on, at least, certain levels both theoretical and practical:

Orthodox Christians may be the only ones left who take seriously the
consequences of the Fall.  By obeying the commandments of Christ, by
immersing themselves in the cycle of liturgical worship, by devoting themselves
to prayer and the constant reading of Scripture, and by joining confession of sins
to an arder quest for mutual forgiveness and reconciliation, they acknowledge
their need for thoroughgoing change and take significant steps to effect such
change.  The goal of that inner movement, once again, is holiness.  This involves
us in a quest for the transforming power and grace of the Holy Spirit, who is the
sole source of our sanctification.  Insofar as we achieve this goal and allow the
Spirit to work that transformation within us, we sanctify both ourselves and the
world around us.  Thereby we lay the indispensable foundation for any appropriate
response we may offer to the critical bioethical and other moral issues that we
face in our day to day experience.  (SVS Quarterly, Number 4, 2004)

     Our surrounding secular society will be content with our "niceness" - not understanding and thereby being fearful of "holiness" - because it usually signals a preoccupation with our lives on a more-or-less insular level; and a rather passive or apathetic approach to "hard moral issues" of the day.  To be considered "nice," of course, is to be considered "tolerant" of just about any  contemporary attitude or practice that is in direct contrast to biblical doctrine, morality, spirituality, etc.  Such an approach to life earns one the respectable epithet - and later epitaph - of being "non-judgmental."   Christ Himself teaches us not to judge, but this does not mean that we fail to discern:  "but test the spirits to see whether they are of God."  (I JN. 4:1) 

     When we look to the Church, we discover, uncover or even recover a whole new world of experience that is best described as "being holy as God is holy."   (By the way, God is never described as being "nice").   Part of the path to holiness is the need to discern, which means to "test the spirits" as St. John admonishes us.  Holiness is the only effective "armor" against the assaults of the evil one and the demons; as well as the taste of the Kingdom which is to come.

Fr. Steven

Top of Page


Monday Morning Meditation - February 7, 2005: Benign Apostasy and the New Martyrdom

Dear Parish Faithful,

     During the homily at the Divine Liturgy yesterday, I attempted to summarize the meaning and purpose of our very existence precisely as a parish, with our Annual Parish Meeting in mind.  Basing myself on a model developed by Fr. Thomas Hopko, I reminded everyone - including myself - that as a parish, we concentrate on:

+   the worship of God through our liturgical cyles of services;

+   the growth of our spiritual life by actualizing the commandments of Christ in our daily lives;

+   the continuing need of ongoing education in the faith;

+   evangelical and charitable outreach to the world that needs the Gospel and our assistance.

     I further drew upon a very arresting phrase of Fr. John Breck that pointedly summarized how we can fail in those goals and objectives.  The phrase was "benign apostasy."  The word apostasy has always meant a renunciation of one's faith under pressure, and has always been considered one of the gravest sins possible.  It was applied to those poor souls who wavered under the direct threat to their lives in the age of martyrdom.   Fr. John's use of the phrase refers to a more subtle temptation.  Here is the relevant paragraph from his article "Bioethical Challenges in the New Millenium:"

Perhaps the major moral and spiritual challenge to Orthodox Christians today comes
less from the realm of medical technology than from the temptation to what could be
called "benign apostasy."  This is the pernicious temptation to renounce - in the name
of Christianity - values and convictions that give ultimate meaning to our life:  values
such as justice, truth and beauty; and convictions such as those enshrined in the
Church's traditional creeds.  It is a temptation to which many Christian churches have
already succumbed.  But "benign apostasy" threatens the Orthodox as well.  It is
subtle and insidious, easily excused under the cover of  "relevance."  Do we really need
Tradition, an elaborate liturgy, or even Scripture in this post-modernist age?  (I
remember my first evening in a Protestant seminary back in 1960.  The young
instructor who spoke to us insisted repeatedly that "we must make the Gospel
relevant to our people!"  I couldn't help wondering then, as I do now, if the point isn't
rather to make our people relevant to the Gospel.)

    I personally find that to be well-said and profoundly challenging.  We can adhere to all of the forms of Orthodoxy but live and think in such a manner that they are emptied of all content.  If we are not willing to remain steadfast in our Faith and understand it to be the source and foundation of how we view the world and life; and even to "suffer" ridicule and abuse for our Faith and the eternal principles of "truth, goodness and beauty" in their Christian manifestation, if necessary, then we are "apostasizing." 

     As long as human beings continue to sin and die the Gospel will be relevant.  When the day comes that we no longer sin and die, then the Christian Faith can be safely discarded as irrelevant.  This holds no immediate threat to our parish and my priesthood, since, as someone once said:  "the death-rate is holding steady at a hundred per cent!" 

     Actually, it is human beings who continue to sin and die and who choose to ignore the Gospel who are in danger of becoming "irrelevant" to that very Gospel.  This has frightening implications.  And if we in the Church view our own Church and its teachings, etc. as "irrelevant" then we are in danger of rendering ourselves irrelevant to the Gospel.  This has even more frightening implications.

     Fr. John summed it up like this:

The real ethical challenge for us, as it has been for Christians of every age, is to
be holy, as our heavenly Father is holy.  To make this kind of statement, in the
face of the awesome dilemmas biomedical and other advances raise today, is to
invite ridicule.  To refuse to conform to the utilitarian, expediency-driven spirit so
prevalent in Western socities, however, is today's equivalent of refusing to burn
incense before a statue of the Roman emperor.  It invites not only derision, but
martyrdom.

     If Fr. John is a "voice crying in the wilderness," then we, at least, as the People of God, must hear him and respond with faith to the Gospel and build up our parishes as centers of "loving resistance" to a world that is deaf and blind. 

Fr. Steven

Top of Page


Midweek Meditation - February 2, 2005: Colossians, Part 2: "Above all these put on love..."

Dear Fathers, Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

     Having gotten a bit too verbose on Monday, I  thought it best to conclude that meditation with a separate mailing today, rather then wind it up hastily and superficially.  If you may recall, I was trying to cover the two consecutive Epistle reading from St. Paul to the Colossians (3:4-11 and 3:12-16) that were chanted over the course of the last two Sunday Liturgies.  The first of those two remarkable texts appeared in the Monday Morning Meditation.  In the unique light of his Christocentric faith and piety, Apostle Paul was reminding the Colossians, and us through them, of what the newly-baptized Christian had "put to death" when embracing the Gospel:  namely "what is earthly in you," earthly here meaning what is sinful and passion-ridden.   If he had stopped there, he would have only taught us what to avoid, but not what to acquire.   The Christian faith would then be a series of prohibitions, rather than a new way of life to embrace.  The second reading then fulfills and complements the first; it is the essential progression of St. Paul's moral/ethical exhortation to the fulness of the "life in Christ."  So as to enliven, enrich and enlighten your Wednesday morning, here is the passage in mind:

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness and patience, forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.  And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body.  And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (COL. 3:12-16, RSV)

     St. Paul had so thoroughly put on the "mind of Christ," that in a rather condensed passage, he faithfully and succinctly summarized the teaching of Christ as found in the Gospels - before the Gospels existed in their written form!    A few examples will make this clear, for here is what we will eventually find in the Gospels at the heart of the Lord's teaching, yet already found in Apostle Paul's Epistles:

On "lowliness and meekness:" 

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke
upon you, and learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls." (MATT. 11:28-29)

On "patience:"

"And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an
honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience."  (LK. 8:15)

On "forgiveness:"

"Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me,
and I forgive him?  As many as seven times?"  Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven tmes,
but seventy times seven." (MATT. 18:21-22)

On "love:"

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."  (JN. 15:12)

     St. Paul was faithfully "handing over" (literally, "traditioning") the authentic teaching of Christ in pastorally directing these early Christian communities, such as the one in Colossae that received an Epistle from him that is now part of the Church's canonical Scripture.  This was a gift of the Holy Spirit, as Christ promised:

"But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you
all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."  (JN. 14:26)

     It follows that if these are the characteristics that are meant to distinguish a Christian community, then their absence will painfully reveal the weaknesses and failures of that community.  Institutional and financial stability may preserve such a community, but it will not "save" it in the deeper sense of that word.  The "deadness" of such a community will eventually become plain to see.  For the absence of the greatest of Christian virtues - love - is treated harshly in the Scriptures:

"But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.  Remember then
from what you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first.  If not, I will come to you
and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent."  (REV. 2:4-5)

    But perhaps that is "jumping ahead" too quickly and pessimistically.  The Lord is patient with our slow progress in love, knowing that it takes time, patience and hard work.  The essential need for this binding love, is well-expressed by St. John Chrysostom:

Now what Paul wishes to say is that there is no benefit in those things, for
all those things fall apart, unless they are done with love.  This is the love that
binds them all together.  Whatever good thing it is that you mention, if love be
absent, it is nothing, it melts away.  The analogy is like a ship; though its
rigging be large, yet if it lacks girding ropes, it is of no service.  Or it is similar
to a house; if there are no tie beams, of what use is the house?  Think of a
body.  Though its bones be large, if it lacks ligaments, the bones cannot
support the body.  In the same way, whatever good our deeds possess will
vanish completely if they lack love.  HOMILIES ON COLOSSIANS. 8.

     And in the words of a lesser-known contemporary of St. John, a certain Severian of Gabala:

When love does not lead, there is no completion of what is lacking; but where
love is present we abstain from doing evil to one another.  Indeed we put our
minds in the service of doing good, when we love one another. 

     With such a spirit pervading a community, its members will "sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness" to the Lord.  "The peace of Christ" will rule in the hearts of the faithful leading to a spirit of thankfulness.  Yet, there is not a drop of sentimentality in the words of the Apostle or the Fathers concerning love.  They realize that it is a gift coming after much labor and discipline. 

     Every Christian community/parish has the potential to grow into this love that is ultimately the one true witness to the world of the transformative power of the Gospel.  What St. Paul wrote in his Epistle to the Colossians is as realizable today as then.  If not, then the grace of God does not actually exist, or it has abandoned us. The process is long and arduous, but worthy of the Christian vocation. 

 Fr. Steven

Top of Page


Monday Morning Meditation - January 31, 2005: On Colossians Part 1, "When Christ who is our Life appears..."

Dear Parish Faithful,

     Over the course of the last two Sundays, we heard consecutive readings from  Apostle Paul's Epistle to the Colossians (3:4-11; 3:12-16)   The second Epistle reading not only follows directly upon the previous week's, but there is an essential progression in the thought and teaching of the Apostle. These are two extraordinary passages, so I thought it best to put them before you once again, for further reading, reflection and meditation:

When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:  immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  On account of these the wrath of God is coming.  In these you once walked, when you lived in them.  But now put them all away:  anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk from your mouth.  Do not lie to one another, seeing that you 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.  Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.  (COL. 3:4-11, RSV)

     In this passage, we encounter both the "old" and the "new" from Apostle Paul.  The moral/ethical content of this exhortation - the vices and passions we are to avoid if we are aiming for a life worthy of being in the image of our Creator - is "old" in that similar teaching can easily be found in the Greco-Roman philosophical tradition that St. Paul himself knew and which informed the world around him, including that of the recipients of his Epistle.  If ancient philosophy at its best was more concerned with a "way of life" than simply with abstract ideas, then it began with freedom from passions ("immorality, impurity ... evil desire"); and the trained ability to control the  emotional side of life ("anger, wrath, malice, slander") by "reason."   If the content of Apostle Paul's writing was limited to this, then he would only be one more proponent - though an impassioned one - of a venerable and long-standing tradition stemming from the great Socrates and his pursuit of the virtuous life based upon moral/ethical principles discovered by reason.  

     Yet, the moral/ethical teaching of this passage is bracketed by - or rather illumined by - the dazzling light of a Christocentric faith and conviction that transforms everything he says into something wonderfully "new."  The passage clearly alludes to a new body of believers in Christ who have "put to death" a former way of life in the waters of baptism.  St. Paul writes more fully of this in his Epistle to the Romans:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  (ROM. 6:3-4, RSV)

  These new Christians "put off the old nature," outwardly expressed in the putting off of their old garments before entering the baptismal waters.  As they were robed in new baptismal garments following their immersion in the waters, they inwardly "put on the new nature" which restored the image of the Creator in them.  A renewal of knowledge accompanied this according to Apostle Paul.  All ethnic ("Greek and Jew ... Barbarian, Scythian"); social ("slave, free man"); and even religious ("circumcised and uncircumcised") barriers that divided humanity are now broken down and abolished in the new life in Christ, who "is all and in all."   To reinforce this, we have another magnificent, earlier passage in the Epistle to the Galatians:

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  There is neither slave nor free, there in neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  (GAL. 3:27-28, RSV)

     Jesus Christ, "the image of the invisible God," is "the head of the body, the church." (COL. 1:15, 18).  The newness of life that flows from the head to the body makes possible the newness of life so powerfully outlined by Apostle Paul.  And this unique union that exists between the Head and the Body further makes possible the eschatological transformation that St. Paul actually began this passage with:  "When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."  What is Christ's by nature, will become ours by grace as we are promised a share in his eternal glory.  That promise and our faith in the fulfillment of that promise, will hopefully encourage us through whatever life brings our way.  In the words of St. Augustine:

So now is the time for groaning, then it will be for rejoicing; now for desiring,
then for embracing.  What we desire now is not present; but let us not
falter in desire; let long, continuous desire be our daily exercise, because
the one who made the promise doesn't cheat us.  SERMON

     Even if we have put to death "what is earthly," we know full well by experience that it can all return with a vengeance.  So, Apostle Paul is not only telling us what has happened in baptism, but warning and admonishing us of the ever-present potential threat of these passions assaulting us and gaining entrance.  St. John Chrysostom (commemorated yesterday as one of the Three Holy Hierarchs) put it this way, commenting precisely on this passage:

... It is similar to one who has scoured a statue that was filthy, recast it,
and displayed it new and bright, explaining that the rust was eaten off and
destroyed.  Yet he recommends diligence in clearing away the future rust.
He does not contradict himself, for it is not that rust which he scoured off
that he recommends should be cleared away but that which grew afterwards.
So it is not that former putting to death he speaks of here, nor those
fornications, but those which afterward grow.  HOMILIES ON COLOSSIANS 8

 

     (To be concluded, hopefully by midweek)

Fr. Steven

Top of Page


Midweek Meditation, January 26, 2005 - Guatemala Recap Part 2: Hogar Rafael Ayau

Dear Fathers, Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

Recent Visit to the Hogar, Part II

     After spending three days with the older boys at the Hogar San Miguel, I then spent the final three days of my short visit to Guatemala at the Hogar San Rafael.  This means moving from the tranquility of Lake Atatlitlan and the monastery into the turmoil of the city.  The ride leading into and then through Guatemala City is always fascinating as well as troubling.  I do my best to greedily absorb as much as possible on this thirty-forty minute trip.  The small towns of open poverty - if not squalor - teeming with small shops and seething with throngs of people ever on the move through the narrow streets and alleyways, are a visible and poignant reminder of how many people are forced to struggle for their "daily bread."  Crime, and its attendant vices, are barely hidden from even a naive and superficial glance.  But then towering overhead are a series of strategically-placed and massively-sized billboards promoting a new and upcoming Latino pop singer dressed in the latest fashions; or the nearest Lexus dealership. I assume that they are appealing to a sizable middle-class, the signs of whose presence are never quite evident along our particular route to the Hogar, at least to my untrained gaze on Guatemalan society.  Be that as it may, the contrast between these two fields of vision - the "real" one below and the "make-believe" one above - could not be more disparate.  Yet, the over-all impression of driving through Guatemala City (admittedly from the [relative] safety of Jorge's van or Charlie's taxi) is overwhelmingly  one of the force and energy of life.  The color, the sound and the movement are seemingly endless and fascinating to behold - no drab suburban conformity here!  - and somehow overwhelmingly human.  As if, on the whole, the pulse of life is affirming itself over environmental conditions of "urban blight."  At least, these are my perhaps overly-impressionistic observations of a restricted view of this bustling city. 

      Initial entrance into the world of the Hogar San Rafael - as the familiar guard opens the metal gate - is an experience that is now filled with a certain anticipation on my part.  This anticipation includes the warm and welcoming greeting that I will receive from my good friends Madre Ivonne, the day-to-day over-all administrator of the Hogar San Rafael; and from Christina Hagelios, long-time missionary and administrator of Mission Team activity - Madre Ivonne's "right arm" in her own words.  And, of course, the greetings of the children, many of whom are by now well-known to me and to whom I, in turn, am well-known.  The warmth and spontaneous goodness of their initial response was especially overwhelming.  This easily endured for my three short days at the Hogar San Rafael.  Apparently, familiarity not only does not breed "contempt" (a rather inappropriate word within this context, of course) but not even indifference or apathy.  Rather, it seems to intensify and deepen already existing relationships. I am sure that all, or at least most, adult visitors respond in kind. Perhaps I can insert at this point a short, but telling, paragraph that one can find on the Hogar's official website:

Our children accept that they are different from other children. The basic trust (of their mothers and fathers) has been broken. They have suffered so much that their hearts have become stone. They need to love others in order to learn to love God. How will they learn to love God if they have no one to love?

     This "reciprocity of love," which will hopefully lead to the love of God, is one of the key characteristics of the "Hogar experience."

     There was a Mission Team emanating from Minnesota at the Hogar during my stay, including some familiar faces from last January.  So we had our own reunion of sorts.  This allows me to include a brief anecdote:  A woman from, I believe, Wisconsin, had knit a set of colorful vests and caps for thirty of the small children.  I was there to witness their open glee when these gifts were being distributed.  Each set took about eight hours to complete.  If we do the math, we encounter here a real "labor of love."

     I have no desire to weary anyone with the details, but since I began Part I of this piece with a brief allusion to the fact that presvytera Deborah and I have made the commitment to adopt one of the Hogar children, I would like to include a few more words about it in case anyone's interest was aroused.  Although a long-standing desire on our part - and one discussed at length between the two of us - nevertheless this was not the primary reason behind my visit.  An openness to the possibility according to the providential will and grace of God, though, was present as on previous visits.   Be that as it may, the specific unfolding of events was all quite unforeseen and unanticipated; hence my earlier expression of being "surprised by joy."  (The phrase, of course, belongs to C.S. Lewis).   What began as an informal and rather spontaneous talk with Madre Ines in her office on various matters, culminated with a phone call to presvytera (at work!) and the crucial and even life-changing decision to commit ourselves heart and soul to adopting Edith Estefani Lopez Arevalo.  She is a fourteen year-old girl who has been at the Hogar for a little over two years now.   Estefani was made aware of our desire and she responded positively.  There followed a wonderful couple of days of getting better acquainted with Estefani  and of receiving the heartfelt "congratulations" of the children - news spreads quickly at the Hogar according to Madre Ivonne!  My major regret was the absence of the rest of my family, who were forced to settle for periodic, long-distant, and excited updates. 

     Only God knows what is going through Estefani's young mind and heart, but in our old minds and hearts we feel that this is both an honor and a privilege for us.  If this laborious process works itself through toward a successful conclusion, then we anticipate receiving Estefani as a gift from God. (May I never regret writing those words one day!)

      Please excuse my digression.  Actually, I do not have a great deal more to relate of this trip, besides a lovely farewell "pizza and ice cream party" with "las senoritas." 

      I would, though, like to once again mention the regular daily cycle of church services, together with the Divine Liturgy on Sunday and a Vesperal Liturgy on Wednesday afternoon on the day before I left, if only to find a reason to insert here this powerful passage, also from the Hogar's official website:

The children have come to love the church.  They know that it is the Church that has brought them out of hell.

      "Out of hell."  Madre Ines has used this phrase on more than one occasion so as impart a needed dose of realism into the background of these children.  And to remind everyone who encounters these children of the great need for patience and love in relating to them.  Only such a strong phrase can begin to capture all of that.  Now they are well-fed, well-clothed and well-loved.  No one would claim that they are now in "paradise," though they all receive a "taste" of that in the Liturgy of the Church.  But they are in a "spiritual oasis," a new home that contains the seeds of new beginnings, nurtured by the grace of God.

     If you would ever like to learn more about, contact, or support the Hogares, here is the address of their renewed website:  www.hogarafaelayau.org

Fr. Steven

Top of Page


Midweek Meditation, January 20, 2005 - Guatemala Recap Part 1: Tabor House

Dear Fathers, Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

     I returned from a short visit to the Hogares San Rafael and San Miguel in Guatemala City last Friday.  I usually write a short descriptive piece of my stay and experience there, so if you would bear with me, I would like to try that again with this particular meditation.  Presvytera Deborah and I have committed ourselves to adopting one of the older "senoritas," a lovely girl by the name of Estefani.   So my discussion with Madre Ines that sealed this commitment, made this trip the most significant one yet that I have made to Guatemala and the Hogares.  Since this was not my primary intention when departing for Guatemala, I must say that we remain rather overwhelmed - and "surprised by joy!"  For those of you for whom this is news, please keep us all in your prayers.

     As I reported from our Mission Team trip last June, there now exist two distinct Hogares (the word simply means "home") - the original San Rafael where all the girls and the younger boys continue to reside; and San Miguel which houses the older boys form ten years old and up.  The thirty or so older boys of San Miguel are clearly in transition, for they are now in temporary residence at the "Tabor House" near the Orthodox women's monastery of Lavre Mambre (of which Madre Ines is the abbess). There they await the construction of their new home that, though underway, is still in its earliest stages.  Improvement and refinement of the initial plans has led to an inevitable increase in costs, and the current lack of necessary funds has brought the construction phase to something of a grinding halt. 

   I had the privilege of handing over to Madre Ines a significant contribution based upon a Hogar Christmas Appeal carried out within my parish and beyond, but their need remains great.  Many of you receiving this meditation - parishioners and non-parishoners - contributed to that Appeal, and Madre Ines wanted me to convey her warm appreciation and thanks for your generosity and thoughtfulness.   Here indeed is a "cause worthy of a blessing:"   participation in the building of a new home for these abandoned, abused and orphaned boys of Guatemala, so that they may live in a clean, wholesome and protective environment as they are being prepared for the vicissitudes of adult life.   For the moment, the boys struggle with their troubled pasts, the uncertainties of their future, and fluctuating "mood swings" between their present security and comradeship and a brooding discouragement over the absence of normal family relationships and their ultimate prospects.  Yet, the abundant fruits of the healing process are much in  evidence and it is wonderful to interact with these boys.  By now, I know most of the boys pretty well and I have become quite recognizable to them. Their warm shouts of "Padre Esteban!" as they began to encircle my taxi as we drove up was deeply moving.  What understandably sounds sentimental from a distance - the smiles, the hugs, the games, the friendly banter, etc. - is anything but that "up close."   The slightest gestures and contacts take on a certain "weightiness" and meaning as they intensify and strengthen relationships.  I was only there for three days, but these were three rich days indeed!

     The natural beauty of the new home's location is both awesome and spectacular - a veritable "paradise" in the words of Madre Maria.  As I jokingly said while there, I highly doubt that many internationally-rated resorts could provide such a splendid view as found at this site.  The boys will awaken every morning to a one-hundred and eighty degree view of Lake Atatlitlan, a large and peaceful body of water, surrounded by mountains and (active) volcano peaks in the background.  Waking up in the middle of the night and looking out my window from the Tabor House, I saw the red glow of the one volcano in the distance across the lake.  Each morning at around 5:30 a.m. the boys begin their day by taking about a one hour trek down the path winding around the lake. (For some mysterious reason, my alarm clock refused to ring at 5:30 a.m.)  This is meant to combine both exercise and immersion into the stunning environment.  The "consolation of beauty" as Madre Ines said, hopefully able to soften and touch the wounded souls of the boys. 

     The approach toward the boys at the Hogar is holistic - both body and soul are treated in the long healing process.  Proximity to the monastery allows for the boys to be immersed in the various liturgical cycles - daily, weekly, monthly, and annual - that are the very heartbeat of an Orthodox monastery.  The boys regularly participate in the daily cycle of Matins and Vespers. There is also usually a week-day Liturgy.  Lining up in the morning at the Tabor House at around 6:30 a.m. (for this my alarm clock responded) for the short walk to the monastery was quite invigorating. The monastery chapel is warm and inviting and the boys are always respectful.  Since the monastery does not have a priest attached to it at the moment, the services are "reader services."  And certain of the boys do a great deal of the chanting and reading, quite competently and soberly. They always receive the blessing of the abbess, Madre Ines, before the service begins and often hear her words of guidance or admonishment following the service. She is a rock of stability and security for them.  Together with Madres Ines and Maria at the monastery are Hermanas Beatrice, Evgenia and Irene.  The closeness of the Mothers and Sisters with the boys is quite evident.  It all "works" because the boys know that they are loved.  The Hogar remains a sacrament of God's love.

     (To be continued with a short description of my three-day stay at Hogar Rafael)

Fr. Steven

Top of Page


Mini-Midweek Meditation, January 6, 2005: A Holy Materialism - The Meaning of Theophany

Dear Parish Faithful,

     It was encouraging to see many people last night at the Vesperal Liturgy for Theophany - including children.  Following the Liturgy we served the Great Blessing of Waters.  There is Holy Water in the church that you may want to take home with you as is our custom in the Church.  So please bring a small container to church with you on Sunday in which you can convey the Holy Water to your homes. 

     Here is what Bp. Kallistos Ware says about the blessing of water on Theophany:

If water acts as a means of grace pre-eminently in the sacrament of baptism, it is also used as a means of sanctification of many other occasions as well.  That is why Orthodox are encouraged to drink from the water that has been blessed at Epiphany and to sprinkle themselves with it; they take it also to their homes, and keep it there to use from time to time.   In all this they are not guilty of superstition.  If they act   so, it is because they are convinced that in virtue of Christ's Incarnation, of His Baptism and Transfiguation, all material things can be made holy and 'spirit-bearing.'  'At thine appearing in the body, the earth was sanctified, the waters blessed, the heaven enlightened' (Compline of 5 January, Canon, Canticle Four).  This, then, is part of the meaning of Theophany: in the eyes of one who is a Christian, nothing should ever appear trivial or mean, for the redemptive and transforming grace of the Savior extends to all things, however outwardly despicable.

 

     The "appearing" (the meaning of the word epiphany) of Christ brings sanctification not only to human persons, but also to the material world around us.  The Great Blessing of Waters manifests that wonderful truth within the life of the Church.  Orthodoxy proclaims a "holy materialism," not an escape from the material.  We anticipate the transfiguation of the entire material world - the cosmos - now, in the Church.  All of this became possible because the"Word became flesh" (JN. 1:14)  The glorious rays of the mystery of Christmas illuminate eveything that they touch, rendering all things transparent to the grace of God. 

Fr. Steven

Top of Page


Monday Morning Meditation, January 3, 2005 - The Hogar Christmas Appeal

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends,

     Here is a somewhat "unofficial" set of facts and figures about this year's Hogar Christmas Appeal, which turned out to be an amazing manifestation of great generosity.

     That means that this Hogar Christmas Appeal gathered together right around $7,000!  Having purchased some needed items for the Hogar from this collection that I will be able to carry down with me, I believe that I will deliver two  checks (a separate one from our Church School) for $6,624 in support of the older boys' new living quarters.  This is truly an overwhelming response that certainly exceeds whatever modest total I was initially hoping to collect during the Nativity/Advent Season.

     What is hopefully a blessing for the Hogar is also a blessing for all who contributed.  In His providence, God "allows" us to do His work and thus fulfill His precepts.

    As Mother Ines wrote recently:

We have been barely able to meet our financial responsibilities each month but BIG IS GOD!  Thank God and thank you.  Your continual help, drop by drop, check by check makes the miracle possible each month.  We have learned not to panic but to trust in God who looks after His children and moves your hearts in that direction.  Each month we know God will provide through you.  May God multiply your blessings so we can share in them for His little ones.  It is an awesome constant miracle!  Keep helping us as you do.  Do not forget His orphaned children.

    "Do not forget His orphaned children ..."  My heartfelt and sincerest thanks to you for acting upon these words which, in turn, echo the biblical call to assist those who are most in need. 

In Christ,

Fr. Steven

Top of Page


Midweek Meditation, Dec 29, 2004 - The Word of God entered a world filled with death...

Dear Parish Faithful,

     CHRIST IS BORN!     GLORIFY HIM! 

     The news about the earthquake near Sumatra, and the devestating "tsunami" that followed as a consequence, becomes unrelievedly grimmer by the hour. The death toll continues to surge upwards so rapidly and highly, that we are left shaking our heads in disbelief, yet simultaneously unable to fully comprehend the magnitude of such a loss of human life.  And we have to struggle against a perhaps unconscious distancing approach that this is all unfolding "over there," literally halfway around the globe, among an assortment of alien peoples. Yet we know that all human suffering is basically alike, accompanied by sorrow, sadness, grief and a sense of irreplaceable loss.  This awareness of our common humanity should draw forth from our hearts a sense of deep sympathy with these unkown people.  Even now, the poor survivors must continue to struggle just in order to continue to exist.  They have no time to mourn their dead!

     We are still in the time of our celebration of the Lord's Incarnation.  The Word of God entered a world filled with death, so that He may eventually partake of that very death and redeem it from within.  He did not enter the world to somehow "magically" - or even divinely - bring an end to human tragedy and death, but to remove its "sting."  It is important to bear in mind that amidst the "good news" procalimed by Christ and the apostles, what is never claimed, promised or even hinted at, is that we can now lead wonderful, pain-free lives under the protection of God.  We must cure ourselves once and for all of any romanticizing or sentimentalizing of Christmas and its basic "message."  As I wrote in the Monday Morning Meditation, Christ was surrounded by tragedy and death almost immediately in the massacre of the innocents. The Incarnation has as its goal the Cross on which the Son of God will taste death on our behalf.  To paraphrase St. Gregory of Nyssa:  the Son of God did not die because He was born, but rather He was born in order to die.   He will share in our suffering and death, so that we can share in His glory.  God is not aloof to our pain.  He will take it upon Himself.  Our theological tradition calls this "co-suffering love."  It is the ultimate expression of the Christian faith.    

The natural world is awaiting the revelation "of the sons of God;
for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of Him
Who subjecteed it in hope; because the creation itself will be set free
from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God."  (ROM. 8:19-22)

     Until that glorious time foreknown by our loving God, we will continue to experience "natural disasters" that will threaten our security and well-being.  Why this is so may elude our understanding, but here we must simply trust God as children and place our ultimate hope in Him.  There is no doubt that horrible events such as this earthquake will affirm atheists in their disbelief in God's existence.  But that is to affirm a cold and indifferent universe that offers no hope in the face of human tragedy.  (But can the insignificant occurences on our small planet in an implacably meaningless, and seemingly empty, universe even be called "tragic?")  As terribly unsettling as these events are, hopefully our faith in God's love will remain firmly intact as we pray for those who are lost and the survivors left behind.  A "loving God" because in the Person of Jesus Christ He enterd our world to bring salvation to the essentially tragic nature of all human life by re-directing it back toward God and the eternal Kingdom of Heaven.      

Fr. Steven

Top of Page


Monday Morning Meditation, Dec 27, 2004 - Riches From The Feast...

Dear Fathers, Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

     CHRIST IS BORN!     GLORIFY HIM!

     There was a kind of "joyful complexity" in terms of liturgical commemoration at yesterday's Divine Liturgy.   The liturgical/ecclesiastical calendar read as follows for December 26, 2004:

     Where do we start?!  Certainly, we must acknowledge, through our loving veneration, the Most-Holy Theotokos.  The young virgin maiden, Miriam of Nazareth, makes possible the mystery of the Incarnation, through her act of free response to God's choice of, and revelation to, her.  This is why the Nicene Creed states, as an article of faith, that the only-begotten Son of God "came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary."   She is not a mere instrument, but an active participant in the enfleshment of the Word, because the Word of God was dependent upon her for the flesh that He assumes for our salvation.  Or, as Fr. Thomas Hopko put it:

The entire creation is indebted to the Lord for its redemption, but the Lord Himself
is indebted to Mary, who, humanly speaking, by the grace of the Spirit, made
possible His coming.   (The Winter Pascha, p. 131)

     Her Son is the divine Son, Word, and Wisdom of God.  (We hold this to be true, even if an article in Newsweekmagazine suggests that it might not be).   Therefore, she gave birth to God in time, and not merely to the man Jesus who was somehow connected to the Word of God.  Truly, she is the Theotokos - the "God-bearer!" 

     It is impossible to contemplate the birth of Christ without simultaneously contemplating the role of His Mother, for the simple fact that a birth always concerns a mother and her child.  The intimacy of this relationship is without parallel in human life, so how much more so in the birth of the Messiah.

     This particular Monday morning is not without further significant commemorations.  To once again return to the liturgical calendar, we find the following listed:

     Martyrdom, conceived as a faithful witness, even unto death, for the sake of the Truth of God - when that Truth is being vilified or rejected - is organically and intrinsically "built into" the Christian Faith from the beginning.  On this level the Lord Himself is a Martyr:

For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. (JN. 18:37)

     This witness - intentional or not - is there from the beginning of the New Creation.  For the Lord's Nativity provoked the wrath, paranoia, and murderous intent of Herod the King.  The "massacre of the Innocents" (commemorated on the fourth day of the Feast) inaugurated a history of Christian martyrdom that reached its pinnacle numerically in our still recently-ended and deeply-troubled twentieth century.  Only God knows how the twenty-first century will unfold.  The deeply moving account of the massacre of the innocents (MATT. 2:16-18) will not allow us to over-sentimentalize "the Christmas story."   The Prince of Peace brought a sword to this world.  The presence and threat of death surround the Lord from His initial moments of entering the space and time of our world.   Although we may not expect our Church Schools Nativity plays to include a reenactment of this event in their annual productions, we must still never ignore the plaintive words of the prophet Jeremiah:

A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled, because they were no more.

     Following the Death and Resurrection of Christ, the deacon and "Hellenized Jew" Stephen became the protomartyr of those who would give their lives in witness to Christ.  The witness of St. Stephen takes up ACTS 6:8-8:1.  The main hymns of the Feast of St. Stephen - the troparion and kontakion respectively - praise him in the following manner:

O Protomartyr and mighty warrior
of Christ our God,
you were victorious in battle and
crowned with glory, O Holy Stephen!
You confounded the council of those who persecuted you,
beholding your Savior
enthroned at the Father's right hand.
Never cease to pray that our souls may be saved!

 

Yesterday the Master assumed our flesh and
became our guest;
Today His servant is stoned to death and departs in
the flesh:
The glorious first martyr Stephen!

 

     In meditating upon St. Stephen and the other martyrs of the Church  - some of whom were martyred from within the Church due to human weakness and sinfulness (see the life of St. John Chrysostom) - Fr. Thomas Hopko asks us a series of challenging questions:

The question put to all who celebrate Christ's Winter Pascha concerns their own
relationship to the Lord.  Are we ready to receive Him, and therefore to love as He
has loved us, even to the point of death?  Or are we among those who receive Him
not, numbered with those who murder Him through hatred and
neglect of our neighbors?  (The Winter Pascha, p. 133)

May our Savior, "the Dayspring from the East," strenghten our faith and commitment to Him as we ponder His awesome and glorious Nativity in the flesh.

Fr. Steven

Top of Page