It is STILL Christmas

Every year I find myself needing to remind myself that Christmas isn’t over just because it is December 26^th. As Orthodox Christians we celebrate the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for two weeks! Christmas isn’t just a single day event. It isn’t just about one day during which we all gather to open too many presents and eat too much food. In fact, it really isn’t about the “day” at all but a “life” that we choose to live in Christ. Please allow me to explain...

In our secular world Christmas, even among many Christians, has become a secular holiday where slogans such as, “Christmas is about family” or “Christmas is a time for giving” have become trite sayings. Many Christians don’t even plan to attend Church services any longer. We shouldn’t really be surprised though because for many Christians, even Orthodox Christians, throughout the year attending Church services has become at best an honored tradition and at worst a painful obligation during which we stare at the floor and anxiously await the end of the service.

But today it is still Christmas. Not only does the Church continue the actual celebration of Christmas with the singing of the Christmas hymns and the forbidding of fasting, the Church reminds us that celebrating Christmas is a chance to change our life for good. Christmas is about encountering the newborn Savior and living a life genuinely connected (what we call in communion) with Him not just on December 25^th but EVERY day.

Don’t allow Christmas to come and go like the forgotten toys in the corner the day after Christmas. Encounter the newborn Savior and Live A New Life In Christ. Enjoy Christmas every day......but at least for the next two weeks! It is STILL Christmas!

Today is the “End” of Christmas

There is a term in the Church, called “Apodosis, or Leave-taking”, which represents the end of a particular festal period. For example, the Apodosis of Pascha is the day before Ascension. Just as with Pascha we stop greeting each other with, “Christ is Risen” after the apodosis, today (The Apodosis of Christmas) will be the final day we greet each other with, “Christ is Born!” Tomorrow begins another festal period for the Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord on the Eighth Day.

So why does the Church speak about the Twelve Days of Christmas if December 31^st is the Leave-Taking? Both feasts, Christmas and Circumcision, lead up to Theophany and the Baptism of Our Lord. In fact, in the earliest centuries, Theophany was the main feast with very little emphasis on the Nativity narratives. The Church began placing emphasis on Christmas only in the Fourth Century, not that 1600 years doesn’t make it an ancient feast.

The Church celebrates Theophany as the appearing of the Holy Trinity in creation, while Christmas was the birth of the eternal Son of God. Once the Church extended the celebration to include the Nativity, it was natural to “link Christmas to Theophany,” so much that the hymns for the Royal Hours of Christmas actually include the words, “We worship Your Nativity O Christ, show  us also you Divine Theophany.” The hymn is sung in the same manner as Holy and Great Friday when the Church prayers, “We worship your Passion O Christ, show us also Your Holy Resurrection.” Just as the Passion LEADS to the Resurrection, the Birth LEADS to Theophany. Thus.....the Twelve Days of Christmas.

How much of the world's nonsense did you buy this year for Christmas?

Today’s Gospel Reading: Luke 14:25-35 - At that time, great multitudes accompanied Jesus; and he turned and said to them, "If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build, and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an embassy and asks terms of peace. So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill; men throw it away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Today is the fourth day of Christmas. Have you chosen to follow Christ or are you still a slave to the worldly things? Did you attend Liturgy for Christmas, or was your Christmas merely a celebration of gift-giving and family feasting around a decorated tree. Were you so “tired of Christmas” by the time December 25^th FINALLY arrived that you were glad to wake up on December 26^th so you could start packing up your decorations for next year? The world has much to say about how we “should” behave as citizens, but much of it is nonsense and should be ignored.

Your willingness to ignore the worldly advice is the essence of today’s Gospel reading. When Christ says, “If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life...” He is speaking about your willingness to ignore the secular advice the world was trying to sell you during the holidays. How much of the world’s nonsense did you buy this year?

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas WE FAST!

You cannot have Feast without Fast. We have been celebrating for nearly two weeks since the Birth of Christ. Today the Church calls us to Fast in preparation for the Feast of Theophany. Normally, January 5^th is a strict fast, but today is Sunday, so oil and wine is allowed. If you have never fasted for the Feast of Theophany, I invite you to spend the rest of today fasting as strictly as you are able, but AT LEAST from meat as an offering to God.

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas – We Could Sure Use Some Pipers Piping

 “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3.1)

As we continue our theme of Theophany, today we hear John the Baptist’s call to us from the wilderness. Many answered this call and went out to John and were baptized, “confessing their sins.” Have you responded yet? Have you gone out into the desert and heard the message of the Kingdom of Heaven? The Feast of Theophany was one of the original days for baptism in the ancient Church, imitating Christ’s baptism. Since baptism is a “once only” event in our Faith, how can we relive that moment when we joined Christ? The Church offers the “Great Blessing of the Waters” as part of our celebration of Theophany. We actually no longer celebrate baptisms on this day, but with the Great Blessing of the Waters, we can each rededicate our lives to Christ. Many of the prayers from the Great Blessing of the Waters are taken from the Baptism service. Once the water has been blessed, we drink it, we sprinkle the Church with it, we sprinkle our homes with it, and we sprinkle our cars, offices, crops, livestock, and anything that is a part of our life with it. In the sprinkling of Holy Water, we ask God to bring the Kingdom of Heaven into our entire life and rescue us from the desert of the world. If only we had eleven pipers piping so more people could hear the call to follow Christ! I know….YOU be the piper!

On the Tenth Day of Christmas – It’s Time to Prepare

Everything worth something requires preparation. I’m sure you can think of something, no matter how small, that you have prepared for in your life. That is, of course, if you considered that “something” important enough, and a priority in your life. Today we begin our liturgical preparations for the Feast of Theophany with a service we call “Royal [or Great] Hours” celebrated on the Eve of Theophany. If Theophany falls on a Sunday of Monday, this service is offered on the Friday before the Feast, since it is NOT to be offered any Saturday or Sunday as these are days reserved for other services. This service, a combination of the First, Third, Sixth, and Ninth Hours, is celebrated also on the Eve of Christmas and on Holy Friday Morning. The prayers, hymns, and readings from the Old and New Testament, are filled with references to the coming Feast of Theophany.

One such hymn, uniquely assigned to the Friday before the Feast if Theophany, speaks of this idea of preparation and anticipation. In this singular hymn, the Church teaches us to prepare ourselves and be ready to receive Christ, Who “appeared, wanting to renew the entire creation. Even the river must prepared itself!

Prepare yourself, Zabulon, and make ready, Naphtali; and you, Jordan river stand still to receive with joy the Master coming to be baptized. Rejoice, Adam, together with the first mother Eve; do not hide yourselves, as you did before in paradise; for having seen you naked, He appeared in order to clothe you with the first raiment. Christ has appeared, wanting to renew the entire creation.

The concept of liturgical preparation is most appropriate for Friday, the Day of Preparation. With the Sabbath  and the Lord’s Day approaching with Liturgy and Great Vespers and, in the case of Theophany, the Great Blessing of the Waters, we cannot afford to leave details to the last minute.

• Is the Holy Water Font cleaned and ready?
• Is the Prosoforo baked for Liturgy?
• Have the Altar covers been changed to reflect the Feast?

These are details, among others, the Church must prepare, but there are details for you to prepare as well.

• Do you have your Holy Water bottle from last year cleaned and ready to fill from the Font?
• Have you prepared for Holy Communion with Prayer and Holy Confession?
• Have you cleaned your home to receive the Priest who will begin house blessings in a few days?
• Have you arranged your family schedule to include attending special services for Theophany?
• Have you looked up your nearest Orthodox Church service schedule to see when the services are?
• Have you “signed up” to have your house blessed by the Priest?
• Sunday is a day of fasting (rare and not strict); have you prepared an appropriate menu for Sunday?

When the Sabbath was more strictly followed (see my prior post on the importance of the Sabbath), Friday (the Day of Preparation) was when all the necessary tasks for the Jewish household had to be accomplished, which is yet another reminder that we must rededicate our lives to focus upon the Lord.

Why not start this year by preparing to celebrate the Feast of Theophany in a truly Orthodox Christian manner? Spend time today reading Holy Scripture and other sources, like this blog, to have a richer understanding of your Faith. It doesn’t have to be a LOT of time, but enough for you to grow in your Faith and LIVE A NEW LIFE IN CHRIST.

On the Ninth Day of Christmas – A Great Way to Start the Year

Today the Church begins to look ahead to Theophany, the Baptism of Our Lord. Theophany is one of those Feasts that is significant enough to have celebration “ramp up” over several days. In the Gospel for today, Jesus tells Nicodemus that we must be baptized when He says,

Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (John 3.5)

I appreciate how the Church identifies readings which, while not directly associated with a Feast, nonetheless reflect the character of the Feast. Since Theophany is the Feast of the Baptism of Christ, the Church assigns readings associated with Baptism and water. Each day the references become more associated with the Feast itself until, on Monday, we will celebrate and here the Gospel of His Baptism. Then we extend this celebration with the “House Blessing Season” which is the continuation of the Blessing of the Waters INTO each home of the Parish. By the end of January, we have not only celebrated Christ’s Baptism, we have linked our home to the Church.

What a GREAT way to start the year!

On the Eighth Day of Christmas – The Circumcision of Christ and Sacred Tradition

And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. Luke 2.21 

A few days ago I came across a Washington Post article about the Jewish Rite of Circumcision, and more specifically, the growing “but small” number of Jews rejecting the practice. I particularly found this article intriguing as we Orthodox were about to commemorate the Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. How could it be, I wondered, that Jews would so boldly reject the earliest Covenant with God? So I read the article, and found it answered my question. This “small number” of Jews weren’t rejecting God; they were embracing secularism which rejects tradition based upon Faith.

Here are some excerpts from the article…

Speaking with God, the 37-year-old screenwriter and grandson of Holocaust survivors explained he was using the “free will and brain you gave me” to reject circumcision. God, he concluded, wouldn’t be impressed by the desire to do something simply “for tradition’s sake.”

 Several factors are fueling the trend, including growing secular discomfort with the practice, mixed data on medical necessity and an American culture increasingly open to reinterpreting religious practices and texts.

 “Because the American Jewish community is significantly educated, they’re more likely to do organic and wanting everything to be natural and snugly, and a bris is sort of primal and ancient,”

 “We live in a more cosmopolitan world, and Jewish families have become very intercultural,” said Biber. “For those families, a ceremony which regards Jewish males as privileged seems problematic, to put it mildly.”

 I found the final paragraph the most telling, as it captures why this issue isn’t trivial.

When it comes to religious evolution, she asks, “Where is the line? At what point is it no longer Judaism? Each choice distinguishes Jews, and it’s a slippery slope.”

If Jews are no longer Jews, ‘just so’ they fit into a secular world, which means they no longer consider themselves as God’s Chosen People, although I doubt they would agree to this point.

Living in a secular world has its challenges. We Orthodox Christians face a similar problem when it comes to living our Orthodox Christian life. It is becoming strange and even ‘exotic’ to be Orthodox Christian in our contemporary world. Many of our faithful aren’t comfortable allowing their faith to ‘show’ beyond their membership card for fears that they may be ostracized by their friends. We, like the Jews in this article, desperately desire to fit in to the society around them.

But God has called us to another way of life.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16.24-26)

 If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. "Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. (John 15.18-20)

If following the Sacred Traditions of Orthodox Christianity seem unnecessary, as this “small but growing number of Jews” feel about circumcision, consider the words of Saint Paul.

Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. (2 Thessalonians 2.15)

Following the Sacred Traditions of the Holy Apostles, handed to us by the Holy Fathers and protected by the Church for twenty centuries, is not always the easy way, but it IS the Holy Way of life which leads to eternal life with God in Heaven. So a few neighbors see you as being strange; God sees you as being loyal and faithful. Which do you want to please?

On the Seventh Day of Christmas – The Leavetaking of Christmas

The term “leavetaking” refers to the day when the Church closes one Feast and begins the cycle of another. There are nuances in the services of the Church which can assist you in understanding how this plays out. For example, in the dismissal prayer of the Church services, when the Priest stands at the Royal Gate at the end of Divine Liturgy (or any service) he offers a prayer which begins “May Christ our true God, Who…” (on Sundays –  is risen from the dead).  After Christmas the Priest says, “May Christ our true God, who was born in a cave and laid in a manger for salvation, through the intercession of the Theotokos, etc.” The “Who is” portion of the prayer reflects the Festal period, which lasts from the Feast until the Leavetaking, the Church is currently celebrating. So, today is the final day the prayer will include a reference to Christmas. Tonight during Great Vespers, the Church will switch to references to the Circumcision of Christ, which is celebrated on January 1^st.

You might be wondering then, if today is the Leavetaking of Christmas, why does the Church have the 12 Days of Christmas? This is an important question to understanding the calendar of the Church. For the first 300 or so years of Christianity, Christmas wasn’t celebrated like it is today. The Church celebrated Theophany, or the Lord’s Baptism, as the main feast of the “coming” of God into the world since this was the first public revelation of His presence. It was later that the Church began to focus also on His actual birth, but the two were intimately linked. When the Church “links” events you can also understand the connection in the hymns of the Church.

For example at the Royal Hours of Christmas (celebrated normally on Christmas Eve morning, or the Friday morning before Christmas if Christmas falls on a Sunday or Monday) the Church prays the hymn:

Today is born of a Virgin, he who holds creation in the hollow of his hand (three times). As a mortal he is wrapped in swaddling rags, he who in his being cannot be handled. God lies in a manger, who of old established the heavens in the beginning. He is nourished with milk from the breast, he who rained Manna on the People in the desert. He summons Magi, the Bridegroom of the Church. He accepts their gifts, the Son of the Virgin. We worship your birth, O Christ (three times). Show us also your divine Theophany.

This hymn is sung in the same fashion as “Today is hung upon the Tree…” from Holy Friday. The Church links the two events (Christmas to Theophany) by directing our attention from one event toward the other. From the hymns, we see the emphasis of the Church: the PURPOSE of celebrating Christmas is to LEAD us to Theophany, just as the purpose of celebrating the Crucifixion leads us to the Resurrection. This is why we refer to the 12 Days of Christmas, even though we stop saying Christ is Born after today. This is also why the Church DOES NOT FAST during these days until January 5th, the Eve of Theophany.

So, for one last time, Christ is Born; Glorify Him!

On the Sixth Day of Christmas – A New Normal

Is your life back to normal since Christmas? I hope not! When the Magi departed from their visit to Christ, they were warned by an angel to “return another way” since Herod was secretly trying to kill Christ. “Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way” (Matthew 2.12) As the first week of Christmas approaches an end, we should take the same advice, and return to life “another way,” the way of repentance.

Just as Herod sought to destroy Christ, many today still attempt daily to destroy His Church and lead believers away from Him. With the New Year just around the corner, many of us makes New Year’s Resolutions to live a better life; to quit smoking, lose weight, travel to faraway places, or spending more time with family. This year, make a resolution to establish a “new normal” in your relationship with Christ.

Make a resolution to:

Prayer more…

Fast more…

Attend Church services more…

Help the needy more…

Receive the Sacraments of the Church more….

Read the Bible more…

Read the Fathers more….

Read about the Saints more…

Live more!

On the Fifth Day of Christmas – When Will the Suffering End?

According to the 12 Days of Christmas SONG, today is the day we expect five golden rings. Instead of gifts today, the Church offers us instead a somber reminder of the suffering at the hands of King Herod. In his rage against God, he slaughtered thousands of innocent infants, trying to kill the new-born Jesus. The world is still raging against God, with the killing of millions of babies by abortion and tens of thousands of others at the hands of terrorists in the Middle East.

The terror continues against God’s people, not because they (we) have done anything against them, but because any hint of the love of Christ creates anger and resentment in the devil and those whom he controls.

America kills more than one million innocent babies by abortion each year, EACH YEAR! And most of us just sit idle and watch from the sidelines. It is up to us to protect those who cannot protect themselves. We cannot sit quietly by as millions continue to be offered on the altar of individualism. We must pray for the elimination of all innocent killing by abortion, and any other indiscriminate killing sanctioned by our nation.

In case you’re wondering, I am also against capital punishment. For Orthodox Christianity, ALL human life is sacred and must be protected. 

On the Fourth Day of Christmas

By now, your children have played with every toy, eaten every piece of Christmas candy, and have almost forgotten they were in school just over a week ago. The days following Christmas are traditionally spent enjoying time together after the busyness of the holidays. Depending upon the weather conditions in your area, you may want to go out and get some fresh air today. Choose something to get your blood flowing if you’re feeling the Christmas blues.

Whether you go outside today or not, don’t forget tomorrow is Sunday and there is Divine Liturgy in your Church. A “tradition” I am NOT AT ALL comfortable with is the idea that the Sunday after Christmas is a day off from Church, as if going to Church midweek somehow takes the place of tomorrow’s Liturgy. The same thing happens every year the Sunday after Pascha. I never could understand why people felt this way.

The only reason I can think of, is that people normally DON’T WANT to be in Church. If they HAVE to come to Church on a Wednesday ‘just because’ it’s Christmas, that allows for a free pass on Sunday. If you think about it, this is understandable. We will do our best to avoid things we don’t like, so any opportunity to miss Church is welcomed….that is, of course, if you don’t like being in Church.

So how do you make yourself “like” being in Church? Begin with understanding the Liturgy and how you can participate. I have found the number one reason people don’t like being in Church is; they are disconnected to what is happening.

Here is a two-part video of a class I held several years ago about the Divine Liturgy and How to Live it. Maybe this will help…

On the Third Day of Christmas

This year the Third Day of Christmas falls on a Friday, and that means….FAST FREE FRIDAY! I don’t know about you, but I like fast free Fridays, not ‘just’ because I can enjoy a juicy hamburger, but because it allows me to experience a glimpse of the coming Kingdom. When we fast according to the guidance of the Church, we appreciate the ‘small things in life’ like not fasting on a Friday. There are only a few fast free Fridays throughout the year.

Fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays is one of the oldest sacred Traditions of our Church established by the Holy Apostles. You can read about this in the Didache of the Holy Apostles to the Nations. While the main emphasis of fasting is a spiritual discipline, for me at least, it also provides an eternal lesson.

When we struggle HERE, we will be comforted THERE (in Heaven), so when we allow ourselves to struggle by fasting, we can enjoy a fast free Friday when it comes along. IF, on the other hand, you don’t fast, then today is no different from any other Friday, so there is nothing for you to enjoy today. Similarly, if you don’t struggle HERE, you won’t notice the comfort offered to you THERE (in Heaven).

Just a different point of view about fasting. 

On the Second Day of Christmas

The Church has a wonderful tradition of celebrating “main characters” of Feasts the day after major feast days. The day after Christmas, the Church celebrates the Theotokos. We shouldn’t look at this chance as a way to recognize “those left out” in the shuffle, since we NEVER consider the Panagia as one who has been left out of any celebration. In fact the Church insists on linking her to Christ as a way to keep the focus on Him.

It seems to me a popular trend, albeit not a healthy trend is to consider our friends and relatives on their feast days sometimes to the exclusion of the saint. For example, on the Feast of Saint George, many will call their brothers, cousins, and friends, but won’t go to Church to thank God for the Saint the Church actually is honoring that day.

So, how many Christians do you think “celebrated” Christmas without actually going to Church to thank Him? Maybe you are one of them.  If you ask me, Christmas without Church is just another day with dinner and presents. Of course, I understand some people in positions like police, firefighters, hospitals, etc., are sometimes unable to attend Church for Christmas. I’m not thinking about those who are UNABLE to attend Church.

I suppose our secular society has commandeered the celebration of Christmas. We are told by so-called celebrities that Christmas is about families putting aside their differences and coming together. Christmas includes giving gifts, decorating homes, listening to Christmas carols, and even having a HUGE feast with family and friends. But where does the Church – you know the place where God actually dwells on Earth – fit into our celebration? I know of several families who “couldn’t come to Church” because their families were visiting from out of town. If you ask me, that isn’t Christmas without Church!

Living a new life in Christ includes having Christ in your life. It includes attending Church to thank God for blessings He has given you, whether you recognize those blessing or not. It includes honoring those who have lived their lives dedicated to Him and His Church. It includes dinner with family and friends, giving gifts, decorating your house, listening to Christmas carols, but it ALSO includes singing Christian hymns, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, Holy Confession, attending Divine Liturgy and the other Church services.

Which Christmas did YOU celebrate?

A Sober Christmas

Christ is Born; Glorify Him! (the proper Orthodox Christian greeting for Christmas)

At the Divine Liturgy Gospel for Christmas we read of King Herod’s response to hearing the news of Jesus’ birth.

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him." When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him  And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.'" Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also." When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. (Matthew 2.1-12)

In the midst of our Christmas celebration, the Church has found a way to remind us that we must remain always vigilant and sober in our Faith and celebrations. When Herod heard of the birth of a “new king,” he pretended to want to “come and worship Him,” but rather planned to kill Him. To remain faithful to Jesus, the Magi, after worshiping Him, went home “another way” rather than returning to their old way.

We should welcome this reminder after worshiping God at His birth, and depart from Church following a different way. This different way is the way of repentance. Rather than returning to a way of life in which our Lord is betrayed, it is up to us to follow a different course.

Just as in Jesus’ time, there are many in the world that pretend to honor God, but are determined to remove Him from a place of influence in our society. Just as the Magi did not directly engage Herod, but went home another way, we should consider following another way and refuse to engage others in their attempt to discredit the Church.

When you choose to be transfigured and live a new life in Christ, you can choose to dedicate your life to honoring God, while avoiding unnecessary conflicts. You cannot control how others will respond to Jesus, but you can control how you respond. The Magi chose the path of repentance; will you?

Christ is Born; Glorify Him!