We are not Junk, We Just Need to be Restored

When Presbytera and I were preparing to move from Denver to Boston we had several garage sales to get rid of some stuff we had collected over the years. We had too much stuff that would never have fit in the small campus apartment which we would call home over the next four years. Garage sales are an interesting thing. At a garage sale everything is for sale – old or new – and for the right price a smart buyer can find a few prizes. If you’ve ever seen Antiques Road Show you know many very valuable items have been bought at garage sales. Some shoppers spend every weekend going from sale to sale looking for lost treasure. When they spot it they know, under all that dust and dirt and wear and tear is something that looks to us like an old, broken, dirty, worthless piece of trash but it is a treasurer to someone who knows it’s true worth. It doesn’t matter what it looks like, the buyer knows it’s worth saving.

Do you know what is worth saving my dear brothers and sisters? Just like at a garage sale, some may see it as dirty, broken, used, outdated, a burden, and unwanted. We may even see it as completely worthless and definitely not worth saving, but it is. The Gospel lesson this morning tells us that God sent His only Son just to save it. Our life, my dear brothers and sisters, no matter what we may think about it is worth saving to God. That is the good news, the fantastic news, the life-saving news of this morning’s Gospel Lesson.

“For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3.16) This is possibly the most famous of all bible quotes. We see it in football games and protests of all sorts. There is always someone reminding us that God loves us. To borrow a phrase from Billy Joel, God loves us just the way we are, and He takes us just the way we are. God loves us in all of our brokenness, all of our dirt, all of our burden; God loves no matter what others may think and no matter what we look like. He loves us so much He gave the supreme gift – Himself.

The Gospel continues, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3.17) Imagine God stopping at the largest garage sale on Earth – everything is for sale – and He looks at each one of us. He sees the beauty that is in us. He sees the value we have when others have cast us aside. He sees the goodness that is in each of us. He knows what we are worth. He knows we are worth saving.

God picks us up, cleans us, repairs us, restores us to our full glory, and then sends us back into the world to live as His children. When we believe that Jesus, as God, took on flesh, lived among us, was crucified and died as God, and was buried and rose from the dead as God and as man, we will live forever as His children.

God picks you up my dear brothers and sisters, you and me together and repairs us. Yes, He takes us the way we are today:

No matter where we were born
No matter if we are male or female
No matter what we have done in the past
No matter whom we have married
No matter if we have been Orthodox all our life or we have just embraced Orthodoxy
No matter if we have a job or not
No matter if we have a house or if we are living in our car
No matter if our parents built this Church
No matter if we built this Church or if we just moved to Florence

No matter who we are or who we have been God loves us and accepts us and has the power to repair us IF we believe. The Gospel continues, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3.18) Do you believe in Him? Do you want to be saved? Then allow Him to pick you up and bring you back to your original glory. Each of us was created in the image of God. When we sin, as we have spoken of before, we fall short of the glory of God. When we believe in Him and we allow Him to take us, we are restored.

We are restored as members of the Body of Christ as the Church. We are restored and we are given “the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1.11-13) It is the will of God that all people are saved. The Gospel this morning reminds us about Moses and the Old Testament. As Moses was sent to save the Jews, Jesus was sent to save the entire world – Greeks, Jews, Americans, Indians, Russians, Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, poor, rich, employed, unemployed, men, women – all who believe in Him.

Fifty years ago this Church was established as a place where Greeks could worship God in their own tradition. For nearly fifty years this Church has stood as a beacon of hope for Greeks and others who felt lost. We are the body of Christ and our mission is to save the world. As the Church honors the work of Moses in the Old Testament, we must honor the work of our fore fathers here in Florence for building this beautiful Church so that could be here today. We must honor the memory of our founders who have set this community on a firm foundation for the Glory of God.

As Christ came and built upon the work of Moses, we must build upon the work of our founding members. We must bring Orthodoxy to Florence so everyone, no matter who they are or where they come from, can believe in Jesus Christ and be restored. We must look forward to the next fifty years my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, building upon the foundation of our fore-fathers, and declare to the entire city of Florence, “Jesus Christ is God and our Lord and we can all be restored and healed.”

My brothers and sisters, Jesus Himself could go the garage sales of Florence looking for lost treasure but He has appointed us, His Church, to go and search for those who feel neglected, cast aside, dirty and broken, and invite them to be restored by Jesus Christ. He depends upon us to see the beauty that is beneath layers of abuse or sin of our fellow human beings and pick them up and bring them to God to be cleaned and restored so they too can become children of God.

“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

Be Active in Your Faith

Each year in September any numbers of activities, following the ancient model of the Church, begin their cycle of events. September is a month of bustling activity in our lives. Sometimes we even feel like summer is a distant memory as we drive from school to soccer to dance keeping our minds racing with the traffic in which we find ourselves. I hear too often the excuse: “We can’t come to Church Father because Sunday is the only day we have to relax.” My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if Sunday is the only day we have to relax, we have too many activities in our lives.

We cannot allow ourselves to fall into the trap that Sunday is for relaxing. Once we have done that, we have not only cheated ourselves out of our rich Orthodox Christian Tradition on Sundays; we have told God He is only as important as leftovers. We must find the time and desire to be active in our faith this year and make a commitment to attend Divine Liturgy on Sundays. It would be better to eliminate one activity from another day during the week to allow us the time on Sunday to be in Church with God. As we will hear in Sunday morning’s Gospel God came so that we can live forever not so we could have time for soccer or ballet. There is nothing wrong with enjoying time on Sundays as a family, in fact I encourage it. For those who want to participate in outdoor activities, bring a change of clothes to Church.

Forgive and Be Forgiven!

For someone who enjoys politics this is one of the most exciting times in history. The Democrats have just completed their national convention and the Republicans are about to begin theirs. No matter which party you are a member of, most agree that these two weeks are some of the most exciting politics to watch. It’s has almost become a spectator sport. Among all the differences we will hear between the two party conventions, it is clear to me at least that they share one thing in common. The airwaves are full of accusations of past agendas and claims that their opponents couldn’t possibly have changed their hearts. What they said in the past, even decades ago, still represents their beliefs – according to their opponents – and neither party believes in another person’s ability to change or as we would say in Christianity, to repent.

“Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3.2) are the words of John the Baptist we read on his icon in Orthodox Churches throughout the world. This past Friday we commemorated the Feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist with Divine Liturgy and a day of fasting. He was put to death because he accused Herod of breaking the law and marrying his brother’s wife. John the Baptist, whom Jesus declared, “The greatest man ever to be born of a woman,” (Matthew 11.11) gave his life preaching the importance of repentance.

Repentance, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, is a real possibility even in the world today, and we are called to repent each and every day but that is only half today’s Gospel lesson. We heard in this morning’s Gospel a parable of a serant who owed a great debt to a king. The debt was so large (ten thousand talents) that there was no chance the man would ever be able to repay it. When the servant begged the king for patience in paying the debt back, “the master was moved to compassion and forgave the debt.” (Matthew 18.27)

This morning’s Gospel is about forgiveness – forgiveness given and forgiveness received. It is about the debt of sin - our sins and the sins of others. And it is about the power of forgiveness over sins. In the Lord’s Prayer we pray, “And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” With these words we place ourselves in the very spot of the servant in this morning’s Gospel. We owe a great debt to God for our sins and we beg Him to forgive us, but the words of this prayer, just like the actions of the servant in this morning’s Gospel condemn us.

If we do not forgive others for the small things they do against us, or even the large things they may do against us, God will not forgive the sins we have committed. The servant in this morning’s Gospel was condemned by God because he refused to forgive the small debt of another person. He did this even though God had just forgiven his huge debt. He showed no compassion upon his fellow human being. If we put the words of the Lord’s Prayer another way, “And forgive us our trespasses IF we forgive those who trespass against us,” or “forgive us only when and if we forgive those who trespass against us,” or “don’t bother forgiving us Lord until we forgive them.” I think you get the point.

Listen to what the Gospel says: “Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you? And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.” And Jesus said, “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” (Matthew 18.32-25)

So now we must think my dear brothers and sisters. We must think about our sins and repent from them. AND we must think about the sins others have committed against us, not so we can hold it over their heads, but so that we can forgive them from the bottom of our hearts. It isn’t enough to say, “That was in the past, but I’m not going to let him forget it.” We must go to those we have sinned against – our brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles, parents, grandparents, friends, neighbors, cousins, our fellow parishioners – and we must ask them to forgive us even if it was a small thing we did. Remember the wicked servant was condemned because he wouldn’t forgive a small debt. Can we really risk not forgiving or not being forgiven for even the smallest of sins? I don’t think so.

Tomorrow begins the new Ecclesiastical Year. I suggested in the Monthly Newsletter that we each take time for a spiritual self-evaluation. Tomorrow is not only a new year; it is a NEW DAY – a new day in our journey toward salvation and being with God. We must take the time to repent and forgive others and be forgiven. Take the time this week as part of your self-evaluation to make a list of those whom you have sinned against, no matter how small. Then pick-up the phone and begin calling. The first few calls are the hardest, but when you hear the words, “I forgive you” on the other end of the phone a few times, it becomes much easier.

And then…when you answer the phone this week because someone has called you to ask for forgiveness, forgive them no matter what they did or how many times they did it. When the Apostle Peter asked, “’Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’” (Matthew 18.21-22) As the servant was forgiven an un-payable debt so we must forgive others as many times as necessary.

So my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in politics candidates are rarely given the chance to repent as last week has shown and next surely will show. But we are called to be Saints. We are called to be in the world but not of it so when someone we know says they have repented, we should forgive them. We would want the same in return. Our life depends upon it.

The End of Summer Doesn't Have to Mean the End of Quality Family Time

Labor Day Weekend signifies the symbolic end to summer and with it comes an end to many of our family activities like hanging out around the pool or grilling hamburgers and hotdogs for dinner but it doesn`t have to mean the end of quality family time. Now that School has started and fall sports are in full swing, we have to work extra hard to make sure we plan AND SPEND quality family time each week. Some families enjoy games nights or story nights.We should also try to find time as a family for our spiritual growth as well. As Orthodox Christians our Faith MUST be integrated into every aspect of our life from completing our homework for school to going to ballet lessons. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Department of Family Ministry has several resources online to assist us in our spiritual growth as a family such as Family Bible Study and Family Worship. You can review their resources at http://family.goarch.org.Let’s take time this week to spend as a family without the TV; talking, laughing, or crying, as long as we are interacting, for the Glory of God is within us.

Our Struggle Makes Us Stronger

Four years ago, in July were enjoying a vacation with Presbytera’s family in Ohio. We both had jobs. Harry had just celebrated his first birthday. We were building a new house. Everything seemed to be going our way. When we returned from vacation, I was sitting in my office at the Cathedral when a friend called. (I wasn't a priest then.) “Did you really get fired?” he asked. “My key still works.” I said. Then another call, “My mom told me they fired you.” “The password on my computer still works.” I said trying to laugh it off. After the third call I went to the Priest’s office and mentioned the rumors I had heard. I was smart enough to know this couldn’t have been a coincidence. That night the Executive Board requested a meeting. Well I wasn’t fired. The Cathedral was going to restructure and my position would not exist after another month, but they were going to pay me for the rest of the year. That was the last real paycheck I received until June 30th two months ago. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I wondered how we were going to eat at seminary over the past four years. We struggled every day to makes ends meet.

My dear brothers and sisters, this morning’s Gospel is about faith and doubt and the struggle to maintain one over the other. We are again faced with doubt in the Apostles, just like last week. “Why could we not cast it out?” (Matthew 17.19) they asked Jesus after He cast out the demon in this morning’s story. Allow me to set the scene for you…

In the Gospel just before this is the Transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor. Peter, James, and John had just witnessed the Divine and Uncreated Light of God in Jesus Christ. After the Transfiguration Jesus tells His Disciples that He was about to suffer. (That was forty days before the crucifixion.) Then this man comes along kneeling and begging Christ to heal his son because the Disciples were unable to heal him themselves. He was healed immediately when Jesus cast out the demon that had possessed the son. When the Disciples asked God why they could not cast out the demon, Christ said, “Because of your unbelief.” (Matthew 17.20) “This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17.21) Then again Jesus told the Disciples that He was about to suffer. He said, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.” (Matthew 17.23)

So you see my dear brothers and sisters, this morning’s Gospel lesson is about struggle in our lives individually, as a Parish, and as the human race. It is about two struggles really. The first struggle is physical and emotional. We can clearly see the pain in the father as he begs Jesus to heal his son. The second struggle is one of faith. Jesus says, “Nothing will be impossible” if we have faith. And yet the boy lay their as seizures nearly drowned him and burned him to death. The only healing could come about through prayer and fasting.

Prayer and fasting is a tool that is often either not used or misused in our Church today. We will not discuss the various levels of fasting since there are different for each one of us. It is sufficient for this morning to simply state, “Christ tells us we have to fast,” here and in other places in the Bible. If we accept Christ at His word, which of course we should, and that nothing is impossible if we have faith, then even our physical struggle comes down to our faith struggle. And only through prayer and fasting can we begin to see this clearly.

It is the power found through prayer and fasting that we use to remain faithful against all odds. We spoke last week about remaining focused upon Christ and this can only be done with the power that is in prayer and fasting. Nothing is impossible Christ says, NOTHING and it is prayer and fasting that lead the way.

If we want to overcome the waves of life as we spoke about last week, we must be committed to prayer and fasting and remain focused upon God. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ if we are willing to struggle daily in prayer and fasting, then God will give us the Faith necessary to overcome our physical, emotion and spiritual struggles in life. We must find the time…

We must find the time every day to stand in front of our icons at home or come to Church and pray. We must pray that God helps us to understand first and foremost His Will for us in this life and if we are struggling with a particular problem we must ask Him to help us that too. And we must fast.

Fasting is not optional brothers and sisters. It is crucial to understanding who we are and who God wants us to become. The Church teaches us that we should fast every Wednesday and every Friday as part of our regular struggle along with our daily prayers.

St. John Chrysostom says, “See, at any rate, how many blessings spring from them both. For he that is praying as he ought, and fasting, hath not many wants, and he that hath not many wants, cannot be covetous; he that is not covetous, will be also more disposed for almsgiving.” (Chrysostom – Homily LVII On Matthew)

And what is almsgiving but caring for others needs above our own. Imagine how unstoppable we would be as a community, as a Church, as the People of God. We are still trying to raise $1 Million to complete the Narthex and Hellenic Center. Imagine if we were focusing on prayer and fasting as Christ commands, how much easier it would be to fund our new building projects. Imagine how many people who are in Florence, parishioners and other people, who would have their suffering relieved and their needs met.. Remember what is says in the Book of Acts, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship…and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.” (Acts 2.42-45) Chrysostom described this early community as, “an angelic commonwealth, not to call anything of theirs their own.” (Chyrostom Homily VII on The Acts of the Apostles)

Our only struggle my dear brothers and sisters in Christ is to pray and fast and remain faithful to Christ and His teachings and “nothing will be impossible” for us. It is only when our faith is weak that our struggle cannot be overcome.

Keep Focused on the Prize

One of the activities I enjoyed most in Boy Scouts was archery. I was really good at other shooting sports, but archery was my favorite. I always felt a bit primitive when I was aiming at that bullseye as if I was in the wilderness protecting my family against wild animals. I would sit totally still and concentrate trying to keep my eyes on the target. I may have been in the woods, but the woods were protected by the Boy Scouts of America and the only animals were us boys. Every time I let my eyes wander, I would miss the target. My eyes wandered a lot so needless to say; I didn’t always hit my mark. That’s the story of life isn’t it?

We grow up with sayings such as, “keep your eyes on the target,” so I was surprised to find that only 64 men and 64 women were competing in Archery in this year’s Olympics. Last week 128 athletes (just about as many people as we have in Church every Sunday) focused, much better than I ever did I’m sure, on the bullseye last week but only a few received medals. All the medal winners, and all 128 really, share one thing in common…they all missed their mark sometime in the past week. There was not one single perfect shot, but they all picked up their arrows and tried again. That is what makes a good athlete.

And that is what makes a good Christian too, not picking up our arrows, but trying again. This morning’s Gospel is about the constant process of missing the mark and trying again. Just like the 128 Olympians had to keep their eyes focused on that red, black and yellow target, Peter had to keep his eyes focused on Christ in this morning’s Gospel. And just as I missed the mark when I took my eyes of the target, Peter too began to sink in the water when he took his eyes off of Christ. It’s nice and convenient that the Olympics had archery last week while I was preparing my sermon because the Church has always used archery imagery to understand our journey to salvation in Christ. I’ll get back to that in a minute.

Our journey to salvation is one of ups and downs; getting things right and getting things wrong; falling down and getting back up again. Just last week we heard that the Apostles saw Christ feed almost 15,000 people with five small loaves of bread and two fish (Matthew 14.13-21) and yet the same Peter upon who’s faith Christ builds His Church, experienced poor focus. The Gospel says, “But when Peter saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink” (Matthew 14.30) Peter’s faith was strong enough that he was able to walk on water as long as he remained focused on Christ. As soon as Peter took his eyes off Christ, literally, he noticed just how bad the storm was and panicked. He lost his focus. If he was in archery, we would say he missed the mark….he sinned and began to sink.

Sin is nothing more than missing the mark, my dear brothers and sisters. In fact most of you know the Greek word for sin, αμαρτία, actually means to miss the mark just like in archery. Every time we sin we sink just like Peter. Dwelling on the storm allowed the fear in Peter to turn to panic when he looked away from Christ. We are in a storm too aren’t we my dear brothers and sisters? Our storm may not be visible like the waves crashing against the side of a boat, but they are just as powerful.

The waves were so powerful the Gospel tells us the “boat was beaten relentlessly,” (Matthew 14.24) as if it were a small toy. The Apostles were so afraid they thought Christ was a ghost at first. They couldn’t even recognize Him. Whenever we feel the waves of life beating against us, and they do beat against us, we cannot allow ourselves to dwell upon them or else we will sink. But…my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, there are times, many times when we lose our focus on Christ and begin to sink. So what are supposed to do when all seems lost and we begin to sink? There are three things we must do…

First, we must remember that even in those times when we feel the waves of life beating relentlessly against us that Jesus Christ is never too far away. We should take comfort in this morning’s Gospel for reminding us of that simple point. We are told by Saint Matthew, “Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them and said, ‘Be of good cheer! It is I! Don’t be afraid.’” (Matthew 14.25-27) Jesus is never too far away from us to comfort us and be with us in our struggle.

Second we must recognize Christ in our life just like the Apostles had to first realize that He was not a ghost when Peter said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” (Matthew 14.28) We must call out to God to give us the ability to defeat the storm that is around us so we can approach God. For us here in Florence that means we must find the time and courage to come to Church where we can be with God in His House. There are a number of times throughout the week when we can come to Church, not just on Sundays. Look at the monthly newsletter or check out the website for the service schedule. If there isn’t a time that works for your schedule, call the office and make an appointment when you can come and sit in the Church or call me and we can sit together. Each morning, Tuesday through Friday, I pray a small Orthros service in the Church at 8:30 before I begin my day in the office. Feel free to come during that time and sit and listen to the hymns and prayers of our Church. And whenever you do come to Church, you don’t always have to worry about formal prayer books or structured services. Just look up and keep focused on Jesus in all Icons.

So first we have to remember that God is always nearby. Second we have to recognize Him, and third when we do fall or start to sink we must be willing to reach out to Him as Peter did and cry, “Lord save me!” and Jesus will reach out and grab us and pull us to safety so we can try again.

On the archery field each person gets only three arrows, only three chances, to hit the bullseye. When we miss the mark, there are no more chances. In life’s field, we have three things to keep doing until we hit the target…
1. Remember God is never very far away
2. Recognize God when we see Him and then go be with Him
3. When we do fall, and we all do, we have to pick ourselves up and try again

And the best part is…..we never run out of chances.

Let us Cry Out...Lord, Have Mercy on Us!

I remember a lot of things from when I was young. Like any child, I have memories of growing up and all the pains and joys that go with it. One thing I remember very clearly is a dream I used to have quite often. It was almost always the same. I was in danger and I had lost my voice so I couldn’t cry out for help. One version of this dream that I can remember, as if I had it last night, involved a fire engine speeding down the street and I was lying in the street unable to move. I tried and tried to call my mother but nothing but air came from my mouth. I cannot describe the extreme terror that I felt until finally I rolled out of the way to safety. Then finally I found my voice and I cried out to my mother for help.

This is almost the same scene that we find in this morning’s Gospel. Two blind men were following Jesus and St Matthew tells us they were, “crying out and saying, ‘Son of David, have mercy on us!” (Matthew 9.27) They didn’t cry out only once, the Gospel says they were “crying out and saying [continuously] ‘Son of David, have mercy on us!” Imagine for a moment what that must have been like. They were totally blind and yet the Gospel says they followed Jesus all the while crying out.

If we look a little further into the Gospel we know that Jesus had just healed the woman with the flow of blood (Matthew 9.20-22) and brought back to life the daughter of Jairus, (Matthew 9.18-26) the rich ruler. We can presume then that the two blind men knew of these miracles and knew about the power of God since the news of these miracles “went out into all the land.” (Matthew 9.26) When they heard that Jesus passed by right in front of them, they cried out for help. I figure they must have thought to themselves, “Hey, He just healed them, why not us?”

So why not us my dear brothers and sisters in Christ? The Gospel this morning is sending us a very clear message. “Jesus has to power to heal, we should call Him.” Are we any different from the blind men in this story? We’re not physically blind but we might be a bit spiritually blind. We all have moments when we can’t see God. I know I do, but we are here following Christ just as they were. When we cry out to Jesus “Lord, have mercy, Κὐριε, Ελέησον!” during the Divine Liturgy we are doing just as they did and Christ will turn to us just as He turned to them.

We should see the whole Divine Liturgy this way. Just a few minutes ago, we prayed together, “Lord, have mercy” after every petition for peace, for health, for unity, for seasonable weather. You name it, we just prayed for it and after each petition we sang, “Lord, have mercy.” And God will hear us my dear brothers and sisters.

When Jesus heard the blind men crying out He took them into their house and asked, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (Matthew 9.28) Jesus has heard us this morning and has called us inside His House. When He asks us whether we believe, our answer must be the same as theirs, “yes, Lord.” (Matthew 9.28) And He will heal us just as He healed the blind men and just as He healed the demoniac in this morning’s Gospel.

According to St Matthew, as Jesus was leaving the house of the blind men, a man who was demon-possessed was brought to Him and was healed because Jesus had compassion on him. And just as the Pharisees didn’t believe Jesus, there will be some people around us that don’t believe. Our job is to be like the blind men who “spread the news about Him in all that country.” (Matthew 9.31) so others can come and see for themselves the healing power of God.

This week we have a wonderful opportunity to put this story into action in our own lives. Starting this evening and throughout the week, we will gather here to have a Paraklesis Service, a supplication service to the Theotokos, to ask for healing and salvation from God. What a great chance to cry out “Lord, have mercy.” each night this week in God’s House. Come at least once this week and pray with us for God’s mercy on all of our family and friends. Remember Jesus healed the demoniac just because someone brought him. Jesus will heal others also when we have the faith to bring them or least their names, to the Church, God’s House, for healing.

Jesus entered the house of the blind men and touched them and they were healed. He will touch us too, if we allow Him to. In just a few minutes and again on Wednesday morning, we will be blessed to receive into our own bodies the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, “for health and life eternal.” When the chalice is brought out and we hear “With the fear of God, with faith and love draw near,” this is our chance to say, yes Lord I believe… and we will be healed.

We are told, “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.” (Matthew 9.35) This means that Jesus is at work here in Florence too my dear brothers and sisters. The Church is the living breathing Jesus Christ for those in Florence who are in need of healing.

There is no sickness or disease that Jesus cannot heal… even death. We don’t always know what sort of healing we will receive but we will be healed. That is the Good News of this morning’s Gospel. If we call upon Him, and have faith in Him, He will heal us. Then all we have to do is spread His fame throughout all the land.

In my dream I was unable to cry out to my mother for help until I finally took action and rolled out of the street and let the fire engine roar past my head. The blind men in this morning’s Gospel had to take action and follow Jesus before they called out to Him and were healed by God. The demoniac had to be brought to Christ for him to be healed. God will heal us, the only thing we need to do is take action and cry out to Him, “Lord, have mercy.”

Pray for One Another

Today is the first day of the "15 Days of August" during which we are called to the Church for daily Paraklesis (supplications to the Theotokos) for healing and salvation. How wonderful it would be if each of us took seriously this call and came to Church. How different the world would be if each of us prayed for those in need. How different the world would be if each of us prayed for our enemies. How different the world would be if we just prayed.

What a different world it would be.

We Have Been Called to the Witness Stand

One of the many responsibilities we have as American citizens is to serve on Jury Duty when the need arises. We are guaranteed a trial by our peers for serious crimes we may be accused of committing. As members of a jury we are expected to listen to the evidence provided by witnesses paraded in front of us until finally the decision of innocence rests wholly upon us member of the jury. Some very famous movies have been made about this process. Two of my favorites are “Twelve Angry Men” and “To Kill a Mockingbird.” These movies, and other stories like them, focus a great deal of attention on the witness stand.
It is witness, or μαρτυρἰα, that the Church engages us with this morning. Today we celebrate the feast of St Panteleimon the Great Martyr and physician who was martyred in 305AD for giving God the credit for the healing he accomplished in his ministry. It is appropriate that we also have the story of the Paralytic in this morning’s Gospel to focus our attention on both witness and healing.
Let’s look at the context of this morning’s Gospel to see what we may take with us this week in our struggle to save the world and bring God’s people to His home. In the Gospel we see a huge crowd gathered around Jesus who was teaching. Over walk these men carrying their friend who cannot walk for himself. “When Jesus saw their faith, [the faith of the men carrying their friend] He said to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” (Matthew 9.2,6) The paralytic just laid there without saying a word. It was the faith of the friends that healed the paralytic. In the accounts of this story in Mark (Mark 2.1-12) and Luke (Luke 5.17-26), we are told that the friends actually climbed up on the roof, cut a hole in the roof, and lowered their friend down in front of Christ. Their action was like taking the witness stand and declaring their faith in the power of Christ to heal.
Just as these four men were witnesses on behalf of the paralytic who was healed, so too are we called to be witnesses on behalf of the Gospel so that others may be saved. St Paul tells us in this morning’s Epistle, “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among witnesses, commit these to faithful men.” (2 Timothy 2.1-2)
My brothers and sisters in Christ, we have been called to the witness stand. Society continues to accuse God and His Church of being out of touch with reality or being too old fashioned. The Church teaches sexual purity and marital fidelity while society teaches free love and easy divorce. We have been called to the witness stand. Society urges us to build palaces to ourselves and cheat others out of their fair share while the Church teaches moderation and sacrifice. We have been called to the witness stand not to defend Christ but to witness His Love and compassion to the world.
Our witness is not in a court of law but the court of public opinion, as lawyers are so fond of saying. Every day we are called to the witness stand and our actions, like the friends in this morning’s Gospel, bear our true hearts. The Gospel of Matthew says, “But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, ‘Why do you think evil in your hearts?’” (Matthew 9.4) What will He find in our hearts? It is not enough to come to Church every Sunday and return to the world without some impact on our actions. There is a reason the saying is, “Actions speak louder than words.” The actions of St Panteleimon and the four friends of the paralytic spoke loud and clear!
My brothers and sisters in Christ, let’s speak up this week, not in words, but in action! Right here in Florence, there are many people who need our help. The Harvest Hope Food Bank and Manna House are in great need of food. Supplies for both these are dwindling. I spoke with Harvest Hope on Thursday and they said their food shelves will be empty by Tuesday. That is only two days left of food for those who need it most. If we allow that to happen, as Christians that will speak loudly about our hearts.
Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love? Feed my sheep.” (John 21.15-19) In the ancient Church the faithful would bring food and other supplies to Liturgy with them for those in need. It the ancient Church there would be piles of food and it was the job of the Deacons to distribute the food to the widows and others in need following Liturgy. According to the Book of Acts, when this was done, “Then the word of God spread, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem.” (Acts 6.1-7) If we are called to “bring My people to My home,” (Deuteronomy 4.10) as the Archbishop charged us with in Washington, D.C., how can we ignore this very important part of our ministry? We cannot.
I went shopping yesterday with Harry and bought $100 worth of food. Join me by going shopping tomorrow or look in your pantry and bringing food to the Church and on Tuesday we will bring it to Harvest Hope. There is a flyer here with a list of the types of food they need most.
We have also been collecting money in the Outreach Collection Box this month for Manna House. I am ashamed to say there is only a few dollars in that box. Manna House told me they will purchase dried beans with the money we send them next week. Please consider adding funds to the box before you leave today so their shelves don’t go empty.
This week we have been called to the witness stand and our actions will reveal our hearts. The hearts of St Panteleimon and the friends from this morning’s Gospel were clear – God was able to heal. As Orthodox Christians we know the power of God. He has blessed us with this beautiful Church and, for the most part, a healthy community. We know that God has the power to heal the suffering of other people. The Gospel and Epistle both remind us that we are called to witness these blessings so that others may be saved as well.
When we are called to the witness stand, what will people see in our hearts? We won’t have Atticus Finch to fight for our innocence. We will have only our actions, and actions will speak louder than words.

What is the Church?

Tell me if the following dialogue sounds familiar to you? “What are you eating? Baklava, it’s really yummy, want to try some? Hey you’re Greek right, do you believe in Zeus? No, we are Greek Orthodox. Is that Jewish? No, Christian. Do you believe in Jesus? Yes. Oh, I didn’t know that. Can I taste that bakalava? Sure….” For those of us who grew up Greek, that was, and maybe still is, a routine dialogue with our friends, but why?

Why don’t people ask us if they can try our Church instead of our food? Of course you know we can’t really answer that question. We cannot ‘get into’ someone else head to know really what makes them ask questions. I do know that, but there has to be a reason people don’t ask us if they can try our Church. Perhaps maybe it has to do with how we portray ourselves to others. I know as a child I never offered to share my faith with my friends. After all, they weren’t Greek, so why would they want to know about my Church?

The fact is my brothers and sisters in Christ that people DO want to know about our Church. Just ask those people here this morning that are here not because they married a Greek but because they discovered the Orthodox Church on their own. Ask them, and they will tell you that a lot of people “out there” would love to know about what goes on “in here” every Sunday…they just don’t know who to ask. So this morning we are going to talk about what the Church IS in a real sense for our lives today in 21st Century America so maybe, some day, when someone does ask us, we’ll be ready.

In this morning’s Gospel Christ tells the Apostles, “You are the light of the world!” (Matthew 5. 14) and He also calls Himself the Light of the world. (John 8.12) So if Jesus is the Light of the world and His Apostles are the light of the world that means the Church is the light of the world – or Christ Himself – and who is the Church… us! Christ says it also in the Gospel of John, “that they [those who believe in Christ] all may be one, as You Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17.21) It is God’s desire that we actually become united with Him.

We become one with Him when we believe in Him and are baptized and Chrismated into His Holy Church. We mystically become THE LIVING BREATHING JESUS CHRIST on the face of the Earth. What a wonderful gift God has given to us. Saint Athanasios the Great said, “God became man so man could become God.” This is not just a saying but a reality. We have been blessed to participate in the divinity of God and all its blessings.

These blessings come with responsibilities and we have responsibilities just as Jesus Christ Himself had. It is these responsibilities that we heard of in both the Gospel and Epistle this morning. “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.” (Matthew 5.16) and Paul says, “Those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works,” (Titus 3.8) because as the Apostle James said, “Faith without works is dead.” (James 2.26)

My brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus came into the world for one purpose…to save the world from being dead. Our mission, if in fact we are the actual living breathing Jesus on Earth today, can be no less. We are called as Orthodox Christians to save the world – one person at a time. The Gospel lessons the past few weeks have been leading us to this point this morning.

On Pentecost we were told that if we believed in Christ we would never thirst and life would burst from us like a raging fountain. (John 7.38)

The next week we were told that if we confess Christ in front of others we will receive a hundred fold. (Matthew 19.29)

Then we were told if we repent we will receive the keys to the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 16.19)

Last week Jesus told us that if we would only trust Him and not worry that all of our needs would be met. (Matthew 6.33)

And finally this week we are called the light of the world, so how can we sit here this morning and be satisfied with a half empty church when there are thousands of people “out there” in Florence who want to know who Jesus Christ is. Don’t they deserve to be saved? I have said many times in the past month that everything we do as a parish comes from the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the manifestation of our complete unity in the divinity of God and if we are unified with God, really unified with Him, then we should be doing everything with Him…and that means saving the world.

The early Church took this mission very seriously. Many times we read of the Grace of God in the Book of Acts dwelling with the Church “and the Lord added to the Church daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2.47) The early Church was dedicated to caring for each other as if they WERE IN FACT one. And what about Paul? He took his saving message of Jesus Christ outside the early Church and invited others…and thank God he did. If Paul remained only with the Jews, we might actually still believe in Zeus. Thank you Saint Paul. And thank you Saint Paul for offering us such good advice today. “But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions for they are unprofitable and useless.” (Titus 3.9)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we ARE the light of the world and just as with any other light; we will be seen by others because the world is a dark place. Will they see foolish contentions or good works? And when they see us, will the praise God or call us hypocrites? Half of all Americans go to Church. Here in Florence, that means there are almost 40,000 people who either don’t know who Jesus Christ is or just don’t know who to ask.

This week we began the preparation for our Greek Festival. Several thousand Florentines will come looking for a Greek Festival. When they come in September for lunch and ask what are we eating, will we just tell them about baklava or will we allow the light of our good works shine so they see Jesus Christ?

Trust in God and Your Worries Will be Over!

I have wonderful memories of being a boy scout when I was younger. We would play all day long in the mountains of Colorado and then enjoy a relaxing campfire at night where we spent time telling stories and laughing at our own jokes. If I close my eyes, I can still see all of us sitting around the campfire; our smiling faces visible only by the faint orange glow of the fire that kept us warm. Beyond our smiles was the darkness of the mountain night air, and in the darkness lie our tents and sleeping bags waiting for us to retire for the night. There was one problem….

Very often we had sat down to enjoy a campfire before the sun had set so we had forgotten to get one very important tool…our flashlights were still in our tents which were by that time totally bathed in darkness. We had a choice to make: either sit and enjoy the campfire and deal with finding our way back to our sleeping bags in the dark later when the campfire was out and we were half asleep or we could run, now when we were awake and there was still a little light coming from the fire, and get our flashlight. I would like to think that these nights prepared me for my life but I still get caught off guard without my flashlight and I find myself in total darkness.

This morning’s Gospel is about total darkness; not the darkness of camping but the darkness of our souls. As human beings, we find ourselves in times of darkness with no hope of reaching the comfort of the light. At one time or another we have all felt this darkness. Some of us this morning might be feeling this darkness right now. It is about hope that the Gospel speaks about this morning: Hope in Christ that we can get out of the darkness.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is supposed to be Good News and too often we as Orthodox Christians get bogged down with rules and regulations about how to live the Orthodox Christian Lifestyle that we forget the Good News about Christ. As Orthodox Christians in America and especially during this time of economic uncertainty in our country – the ever increasing price of gas and the stock market resembling a rollercoaster ride – the question of our future financial security seems more important than when we’re supposed to fast from meat and dairy products or how many prostrations we’re supposed to do each morning. After all, if we don’t have jobs to buy that meat we won’t be eating it anyway. And now that we are in the thralls of a presidential election campaign, each night specialists on the news tell us that the worst is yet to come and America is set for decline and boy, should we be worried.

But Jesus asks, “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” (Matthew 6.27) We know from our doctors that stress is the number one cause of heart disease, and I’ve learned that here in the Pee Dee we have one of the highest heart disease rates in the county. We can’t afford more stress and doctors are ready and waiting, too many of them I believe, to offer us some magic pill to make everything better. But then there are the side effects of the pills. There has to be a better way… My brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus is the way. Jesus is the answer to all our worries and our hope for the future.

Our future is with God in heaven! Our future is bright with the light of Christ rather than the darkness of uncertainty. Just as there was uncertainty in the darkness around that campfire, there is uncertainty in the darkness of doubt and anxiety. Jesus is the Light of the world, and whoever follows Him “shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8.12) And just as I had to choose whether to get my flashlight or not, we all have to choose; do we follow Christ or stay in the darkness?

I know…. you’re probably saying, “Come on Father, that is easier said than done. We have bills to pay! We can’t afford to not worry about how we’re going to put food on the table or how can buy clothes for our children who have already outgrown the new clothes we bought last year.” Christ says, “Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6.25-26) The life of a bird isn’t easy. Birds spend as much energy looking for food than they do eating it and we will have to work for our food too. The difference between us the birds is that the birds work for the food for today without worrying how they are going to eat tomorrow. We on the other hand, never stop worrying. We never have enough for tomorrow or the next day or the next year.

Next year, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we may not be here. Why should we spend so much energy worrying about next year? What good will it really do us anyway? Just take a moment and think about where you were last year. Think of the things you were worrying about last year. Did it really make that much sense to worry? God knows our needs and He has promised to take care of them. Our job is to have hope and trust that He will do what He promises. If you want to talk about how to live an Orthodox life, you can ask me that later? Our job is to hope in Christ. The Gospel says, “Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6.33) Not some but all our needs. That sounds like good news to me!

How do You Get to Heaven?

If I were to ask the question, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” many of you might say, “Practice! Practice! Practice!” If you’re not into music but you read science fiction instead, and I asked, “What is the meaning of life?” you might say, “42!” and you would be correct if I were talking about The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. We ask a lot of questions as human beings to find our way either to Carnegie Hall or just around town. I’m still asking questions about how to find different places here in Florence. We ask so many questions in life, that after “no” and “mommy” I think “why” is the most common word we use as infants trying to learn our way around this new life of ours.

My life has been very blessed these past two weeks to have had many dialogues with so many of you. I have heard about the great early years of our parish and I have heard of the great plans for the future. My favorite dialogues have been about your personal stories. All of us have stories about our childhood years; how we met our spouse; how we got our first jobs. I have also heard some really exciting conversion stories about how some of you came to know Jesus Christ or how you discovered the Orthodox Church.

I’m still learning about our Parish here in Florence, but I do know this….of all the things I’ve learned in the past two weeks, one thing we all have in common is our need for Christ. We all need Christ in different ways, but we all need Him and we all should want to know more about Him. Maybe that is why it seems so comforting to hear Christ ask the Apostles, “Who do people say that I am?” (Matthew 16.13) We want to know the same thing but we just don’t know how to have a dialogue with Him. Life is a constant dialogue and this morning’s Gospel begins a very important dialogue for the future of the Church and the answer to our questions about Christ.

As we commemorate the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul the Church has placed this particular dialogue in this morning’s Gospel to help us answer our questions about Jesus, “What is the meaning of life?” and “How do you get to heaven?” We’re not reading Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy this morning and we’re not trying to get to Carnegie Hall. We’re reading the Bible and trying to get to Heaven, and the answer is the same for both questions, “Repent! Repent! Repent!” as many times as it takes to get it right and Saints Peter and Paul are two people who realized the same thing.

The Church has given us these two great saints to study this morning as a way of helping us get to heaven. Both have very much in common and both suffered for the Faith. Both denied Christ at one point in their life and both were later realized to be among the greatest saints of the Church leading thousands of people to Christ. Just as each of us has a story, these two great Saints have stories. Reflect with me for a moment on the stories of these two great Saints.

First we have Peter who is the main character in this morning’s Gospel. Peter was a fisherman when Christ called him to ministry. We know from the Gospel (Matthew 4.18) that he and his brother Andrew left their nets aside to follow Christ with no debate. In this morning’s Gospel, Christ says “On this rock [the rock of Peter’s Faith] I will build my Church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16.18) Peter was a great believer in Christ, but when Christ was suffering, where was Peter? He denied even knowing Him. Peter had seen the uncreated Light of Christ at the Transfiguration and he still denied Him. BUT after dialoguing with the Resurrected Lord, Peter repented and became the Chief of the Apostles. Repentance saved Peter.

How about Paul? Paul was a Pharisee who led a great persecution on the Christian Church. We know from the Book of Acts that Paul took his dedication to killing Christians so seriously that he would travel to other cities just to find Christians to bring back to Jerusalem to be killed. It was on one of these journeys to Damascus that Paul had a revelation (Acts 9) and after a dialogue with Christ, he repented and became the greatest missionary the Church has ever known. Repentance saved Paul.

It was repentance that allowed both Peter and Paul to really know who Jesus was. It was repentance that led them to confess Christ to the world and become the great Saints we celebrate today. It is repentance that will allow us to know who Jesus Christ is. Repentance is nothing more than changing direction. When John the Baptist said, “Repent, For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3.2) he wasn’t just saying change your morals; he was saying “Hey you’re headed right for trouble if you don’t change direction. That’s the wrong street. It is a dead end…” All this talk of repentance and changing direction, no wonder the early Christians referred to our Faith the “The Way” since it is the way to heaven.

So how do we get to heaven? Our life is a journey and like any journey it starts, weaves in and out of a variety of side trips and eventually come to an end. The longer the journey the more detours life seems to have and these side trips and detours waste gas. We just hope that we get to our destination before the car runs out of gas. And sometimes we get plain old lost and have to change directions; we have to repent, to get back on track.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate two great stories of men who denied Christ but also repented and got to heaven. They should be an inspiration to us that we too can repent. It doesn’t matter what we have done in our lives. There is nothing from which we cannot repent. There is nothing we have done that cannot be forgiven by God. Paul was killing Christians and Peter denied even knowing Christ and they were forgiven by God when they repented. Surely whatever we have done can be forgiven by God when we repent.

Let’s take to heart the message of this morning’s Gospel and engage in a dialogue with Jesus and repent. This week let’s commit to engaging Christ in a dialogue. Let’s all do one simple thing….every morning this week let’s all commit to saying the following prayer before our feet even touch the ground…

“Lord God, how do I get to heaven?” and then listen and watch for the answer.
So….what is the meaning of life? To get to heaven. And how do you get to heaven? Repent! Repent! Repent!

Confess Christ and Live Forever

Like most of you I can remember a day not too long ago when gas was less than a dollar a gallon. When I was learning how to drive I remember paying 83 cents per gallon, but I also remember when I was a little boy just learning how to pump gas, that the price on the pump was only half what it really cost because it was so expensive. As an adult I know now about the oil embargo years of the 1970’s but I can fondly remember relatively cheap gasoline. Not anymore. Again this week the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline remained above $4 per gallon and there is no end in sight.

There seems to be no end in sight to rising costs of living, everywhere we turn from gasoline to groceries, so it seems appropriate to ask the question, “Now what?” What is the Lord asking of us now that it cost so much to live? At first the answer in this morning’s Gospel seems pretty simple. “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10.32-33) We are supposed to confess Christ in front of others. That sounds easy enough, now what? This is the same question, albeit in different words, the Apostles asked our Lord in this morning’s Gospel Lesson. Peter said, “Lo, we have left everything and followed you, what then shall we have?” (Matthew 19.27) There are two parts to this morning’s Gospel Lesson. First we are encouraged to confess Christ in front of others. Second, and this is the harder of the two for us especially here in America, we are expected to leave everything behind and follow Christ.

What does it mean for us to confess and follow Christ? Let’s start in the context of the Divine Liturgy. In a few moments we will have the opportunity to recite the Creed, “I believe in one God…..” When we do this, we are confessing Christ in front of others. But this is easy isn’t? After all, we are all believers here this morning. Confessing Christ outside the Church is sometimes much harder than inside. There are many ways we can confess Christ outside the Church but I‘ll just name a few: we can do our cross before we eat at a restaurant; we can wear our cross; or, maybe a bit more difficult, we can place an Icon of Christ above our desk at work; or we can give glory to God when others praise our accomplishments.

My brothers and sister in Christ, this is where the two parts of this morning’s Gospel come together. When it gets difficult to confess Christ in front of others we are forced to make a choice. Do we deny Christ just so we aren’t so uncomfortable in front of others or do we confess Him and risk our business or our networking or worst of all, our life? Our Lord tells us, “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, [and I might add or businesses or networking or marketing opportunities] for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.” (Matthew 19.29) This is exactly what we are doing when we choose to confess Christ in front of others especially when it isn’t easy. We are leaving behind, or at least we are willing to leave behind, the comforts of our American life and that shall be blessed by God.

Don’t be fooled. Denying Christ is easier than you may think. Just because we don’t actually deny our faith in Him doesn’t mean that we have confessed Him. Remember the story of Herod in the Book of Acts when he didn’t give God praise after offering a great speech and the people shouted, “The voice of a god and not of a man! Then immediately and angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God.” (Acts 12.22)

There is an absolute guarantee that we will be rewarded in heaven not just IF we confess Christ but EVERY TIME we confess Him. This was told to Peter when Peter wanted to know what benefit there was to following Christ, but there can be earthly benefits as well. The Gospel is full of stories of earthly blessings bestowed to those who follow Christ. Just look at the ancient Church and see the great blessings those earliest believers, the martyrs and confessors who preserved the Faith for us to have today. Again we read in Acts, “And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.” (Acts 4.33) The blessings of our confession will benefit not just us as individuals but the entire Church, here in Florence and throughout the world.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Sunday of All Saints, all those who have stood up and confessed Christ in front of others, all those whose names are known and those whose names are not known to us, but are known to God because they too confessed Christ in front of others. As we heard in the Epistle this morning, St Paul tells the Hebrews, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12.1)

It is my prayer this morning that we here in Florence can look up at these Icons of the Saints of God as examples and as encouragement for us to confess Christ in front of others as they did. We did not paint these Icons on the dome and hang these Icons on the walls of our church just for looks, but to remind us that others have been where we are and THEY were able to confess Christ. Why can’t we? It is my prayer that we will leave this Church this morning willing to make the difficult choice and confess Christ this week in front of others. When we do this, we and our entire community will be blessed.

In a few moments my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we will participate in the Holy Eucharist and receive into our own bodies the very Body and Blood of God. How blessed we are to be able to be so close to the same God that created the universe. This week, let’s show how grateful we are for everything God has given us and confess Him as Our God and Our Savior in front of others in our businesses, on the street and in the markets and stores of Florence or when we are pumping gas. Grace will pour down upon our Church and our Community. Don’t take my word for it, Christ said it. Everyone who leaves everything behind and follows Christ will be rewarded a hundred fold.

If George Washington was the first President of the United States then Jesus Christ Rose from the Dead!

In several classes throughout my schooling I read in many books, articles, and websites (and blogs such as this one) that George Washington was the first President of the United States. And I always took this to be true as do nearly all those who read history. Similarly we (all humanity) take as fact the historical reality of many people and their achievements based upon the witness of others through history. Now I know that “real” evidence can only be found in primary sources such as letters and journals. In the case of George Washington there are myriad official documents that attest to his presidency. So what about Christ?

For some reason, when we speak of the reality of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ there is doubt throughout the world. There is some indescribable (the Devil really) force that keeps people from accepting that Jesus Christ was born, was killed and IS RISEN from the Dead. This we know, some 20 centuries later, by the evidence of primary source documents left by His Disciples. The Bible was written (at least in the case of the Gospels and John’s Epistles) by those who were actual witnesses to the passion of Christ. The Apostles knew well the importance of eye witnesses when they elected a replacement for Judas Iscariot. (see Acts 1.21-22)

Every time we encounter God we too become His witnesses. Whether in the Eucharist, in a vision, or in each other, we have the power to witness to His Resurrection from the Dead. Don’t allow anyone to tell you otherwise. Challenge them instead to defend their lack of Faith. What is their “lack” of Faith based upon? Do they believe George Washington was the first President of the United States? If they do, invite them to believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Their life will be better for it; much better.

Christ is Risen!

R.S.V.P. Needed!

This weekend marks the unofficial beginning of summer and with it, the season of BBQ’s and pool parties. This was a weekend I looked forward to with great anticipation when I was in high school. Throughout high school and college I had the summer job dreams are made of. Each summer I was blessed with working at a neighborhood swimming pool. I looked forward to long summer nights and sleeping in just to enjoy the day by the pool – EVERY DAY. In the dry arid Colorado summer months, sitting by the pool was the only chance of refreshment for us kids. In the heat of the day, nothing was quite like jumping into that pool.

It was in the heat of the day that our Gospel reading is set this morning. John tells us that Jesus came to Jacob’s Well in the desert of Samaria, “being wearied from His journey, [and] sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour [or noon]” (John 4.6) I remember what noon was like in the hot Colorado summer. Can you imagine what the heat was like at noon in the desert? So Jesus was sitting there when a woman, we call her Saint Photini in the Orthodox Church, shows up to draw some water. He asks her for a drink because, as John tells us, His disciples had left Him alone to go shopping. (John 4.7-8)

I suppose that she was looking forward to that fresh water so much that she must have been startled when Jesus asked HER for a drink. After all He was a Jew and she was a Samaritan and a woman at that. She said, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink of me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” (John 4.9) John goes on to detail the exchange between them as she slowly realizes that Jesus is the Messiah. Here she was minding her own business simply looking forward to getting some fresh water and instead she meets God and is forced to respond to His questions about how many husbands she had. It doesn’t sound like a refreshing jump in the pool to me.

Poor St. Photini. She had three strikes against her – she was a Samaritan, she was a woman, and she was an adulteress – and all she wanted was some fresh water. She didn’t have anything going for her and YET God chose to encounter her. Our lives can be like that sometimes. There we are, minding our own business just wanting our “fresh water” relief from our struggles or sins in life when we meet God face to face and we, like St. Photini, are forced to respond to Him.
No matter who we are, no matter what we have done, no matter if we are ready for it or not, God has chosen today, right her and now in this Church to encounter US and we need to respond. Just a few minutes ago, we encountered God Himself in the chalice when we received Holy Communion and we believe as Orthodox Christians that none of us, not one, is worthy of that encounter just as St. Photini was not worthy to encounter Him at Jacob’s Well, and we must respond.

We encounter God in many ways today – when we hear the Gospel proclaimed; when we sing the beautiful hymns of the Divine Liturgy; of course when we receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist; AND when we encounter our fellow human beings on the street – and we must respond. A response is never optional. God doesn’t send His invitation marked, “No Response Necessary.”

St. Photini responded by going into the city and said to the men, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (John 4.29) When was the last time any of us in this Church did that as a response to God? When was the last time we invited a friend or relative to Church to encounter God for themselves? I must confess it has been a long time since I’ve done that.

St. Photini was looking forward so much to that fresh water that when she received the promise of something even better she was hooked. She not only encountered Christ at Jacob’s Well, she responded, she chose to engage Him in a dialogue. The more she knew about Jesus the more she wanted to know until she realized that she was face to face with God. The same can happen to us if we have the desire that she had.

If we desire God, we can encounter Him and engage Him in a dialogue just as she did. The best way for us to encounter God is in His Word – we must learn to read the Bible and engage Him in a dialogue like St. Photini did. This week, if you desire to see God face to face, open the Bible and you will see Him. Start with a brief prayer, “God speak to me,” and begin reading. Read just five minutes each night before you go to bed this week and God will speak to you. I promise, and you will be hooked just as St. Photini was.

Anything you choose to read will speak to you on some level and then... all you have to do is respond. God will inspire you in your encounter and He will expect a response, so be ready. He may not expect you to tell the city like St. Photini, but He might expect you to smile and greet everyone you meet on the street as if you were the happiest person on Earth. And you have every reason to be happy. Christ is Risen! so we can live for ever – all of us no matter how much we have suffered! Isn’t that worth sharing with others?

Ultimately, our response to God rests in our willingness to share the Good News of His Resurrection with anyone and everyone we meet. It doesn’t seem fair that we get to be so happy knowing that there is “fresh water” we can drink when so many of our fellow human beings are suffering from spiritual thirst around us.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, there really was nothing like jumping into that pool in the hot Colorado summer, but just as St. Photini was forced to engage God and respond to questions about her marriage; we too have to leave the refreshment of the pool and engage God in our struggle. The pool was refreshing, but eventually we all had to go back into heat. Divine Liturgy this morning has been our jump in the pool. We have encountered God and now it’s time to get out and face the heat of the day and respond to Him. Let’s go out, and if it gets too hot this week, just remember we can always come back next Sunday for some refreshment.

Christ is Risen!

When we encounter Christ, others are blessed

The messages of Thomas Sunday are several, but I wish to comment on one. Our Lord said to Thomas, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen me and yet have believed.” (John 20,29) We have not seen the Risen Lord as Thomas did, yet we do encounter Him in our lives today in the Eucharist each and every Sunday. We also encounter Him, or at least others do, when WE are His witnesses. When others see Christ in us they encounter the Risen Lord. Both we and they are blessed when we believe in the Risen Lord without having the benefit of touching His wounds. Christ is Risen!

Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

There is nothing else worth saying today......

“Arise, Oh God and judge the Earth!”

“Arise, Oh God and judge the Earth!” These are the words the Priest and People declare for Holy and Great Saturday, but do we really mean them? Don’t most of us really want to say, arise God but don’t judge me because I can’t stand to know what you might do to me if you did? Well, that wouldn’t make too nice of a hymn on this day when we are joyous in anticipation of the Resurrection of God. The hymn we do sing tells the true story. The hymn continues, “For you shall take all nations in your inheritance.” God will take us as an inheritance and we will live for ever with Him in Paradise. Holy Week has been filled with references to sinners and their repentance, first with the harlot and yesterday with the thief on the cross. Are we ready to allow the stories to be about our sin and our repentance? God loves us and tonight we will show the whole world just much.....Have a blessed Resurrection.

Joyful Sorrow

Joyful sorrow is the best way to describe Holy and Great Friday. In the morning we commemorated the Royal Hours of Christ on the Cross and in the afternoon we buried God in a tomb. YES we buried God! This is why we are both sorrowful and joyful. We have sorrow that God had to die for our salvation. We are joyful because in reality He didn’t HAVE to die but did so willingly. He died so that we might have life and have it abundantly. We have ultimate joy and hope in the Resurrected God who has conquered all death and all suffering for all time. Thank you God for our life. If you know of someone who is suffering this year, bring them this message of hope in the Resurrected Lord.

Lord Have Mercy on Me a Sinner

Having heard the 12 Gospels tonight on the Passion of Our Lord, I am left with only these few words......Lord have Mercy on Me a Sinner.

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” As Americans we know this as the words of Lady Liberty as she calls to the world’s immigrants representing the hope that is America. These words may better describe the Church of Christ especially during Holy Week. Christ offers hope for all those who are afflicted either with physical ailments or emotional ones. There is no limit to the love and compassion that awaits us in the bosom of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is the message that runs throughout the service of Healing Oil, known also as the Sacrament of Holy Unction, celebrated in many places during Great and Holy Wednesday. The hymns and readings are full of references to mercy and compassion for the sick and the suffering. The problem is that most of us are suffering and don’t even realize it. 21st Century life is a daily burden which takes its toll on our hope for the future. If you sit and take a moment to ponder......I’m sure you will realize just how much hope you could use right about now. Come to the Church and experience the Hope that IS Christ. What a beautiful way to celebrate during Holy Week than with a service dedicated to the healing of soul and body. Let Christ take your burden.

Sin or Repentance, Condemnation or Salvation - The Choice is Ours

“When the woman who was a sinner was offering the myrrh, then the disciple was making terms with the lawless men; she rejoiced in emptying out that which was all-precious; he hastened to sell Him, Who was above all price; she recognized the Master, he severed himself from the Master; she was set free, and Judas became a slave of the enemy. Fearful is the rashness! Great is the penitence! This do Thou, O Savior, grant to me; O Thou Who didst suffer for us, save us.” From the Praises of Matins for Holy Wednesday – sung Tuesday night in anticipation.

These words say it all for me while we wait for the Bridegroom Christ. The Church places these two opposite images of life in front of us as we dwell upon the coming Kingdom of God. Will we be let in our will be kept out? We choose every day, some days every hour, between following the path of Judas which is the path of sin and condemnation leading away from Christ or the path of the woman which is the path of repentance and salvation. The choice is obvious and the choice is ours to make.

Grant this Master.

There is forgiveness in love

Tonight we gather to hear the final urgings of Christ before His voluntary Passion. Christ reminds us of the greatest commandment, the commandment of love. In Liturgy tomorrow morning, we will hear Christ reveal that our condemnation comes from our lack of love and that all good works and all good laws come from love. We must love my dear brothers and sisters in Christ. As we gather this week in Church with our focus on the coming Passion of Christ, let us remember His commandment for us. Part of love is asking for forgiveness. Let’s make it a goal to call those we have been arguing with, or at least one person, and seek their forgiveness. Forget about who is right and who is wrong – leave that to God. Just call and say, “I know I have hurt you, please forgive me,” and leave it at that. God will take care of the rest. You will be surprised how much flows just from that and you will have a clear conscience when you approach the chalice this weekend. Take my word for, that phone call will feel really good.

We must bear fruit......or else...

Tonight’s Gospel tells us of a fig tree which did not bear fruit. Christ condemned it for its unfruitfulness. We are told by our Lord that if we have faith we too can do such acts and more. BUT, we will be held accountable to be fruitful just as the fig tree was when our Lord calls us. This week, as we prepare to celebrate our Lord’s Passion and Resurrection we must take seriously the challenge of bearing fruit with the gifts God has bestowed upon us.

Have Hope, Our Life Depends Upon It!

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ: As a child and still today, it never ceases to amaze me how time flies. It seems like just yesterday that we were dancing at the Apokreatiko Glendi. It seems like just yesterday that we gathered in this Church to seek forgiveness as we prepared to begin Great Lent. And it was just yesterday that all the fasting, all the extra services, all the preparation ended….or did it?

Today is the Saturday of Lazarus and we celebrate the final miracle of Our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ before His glorious Passion. Today is a day of celebration along with tomorrow that provides us not only a brief relief from our strict fasting, but also directs our attention forward to next week and the dimly lit Church as we gather each night anticipating the Betrayal, Judgment, Crucifixion, Death, Burial and finally one week from tonight we will gather to celebrate the Glorious Resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the next several days, we will come here each morning and each evening with one focus – to anticipate Pascha!

Before I get ahead of myself, though, allow me to spend a few moments celebrating this wonderful miracle we celebrate today. In the Gospel of John we see Christ with His Disciples when news comes to Him that His friend Lazarus is ill. We would expect Him to go to Lazarus, as I’m sure the disciples expected, and heal him. What do we find instead? Jesus delays, and Lazarus dies. How often do we send news to Him that we are ill or need His help? Does He delay? It seems so, but we should take courage, or at least comfort, in the story of Lazarus in today’s Gospel. We are told Martha and Mary “sent to him saying, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’” (John 11.3) and yet He still delayed. How can there be comfort in this? Aren’t we taught Jesus loves us? Aren’t we taught God will not abandon us? How could we possibly take comfort in this?

My Brothers and Sisters, we can take comfort knowing that God knew Lazarus would return. He knew that the sorrow Martha and Mary felt was only temporary. We should also look to Martha and Mary as examples of how we should respond to God in those moments when we feel as though He is not paying enough attention to us. John reveals that Martha and Mary don’t ‘serve Jesus a helping’ of guilt, but honestly express to Him their lack of faith. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11.21) are the words Martha uses. See how much she trusts Jesus to be honest with Him? This should be our response! God doesn’t expect us to always understand why He chooses to do what He does but He does want us to have hope in Him.

It is hope that is the central theme I wish to share with you this morning. As we celebrate the Saturday of Lazarus we should have hope in the mission of Christ – to save each and every one of us. He will not stop doing anything in His power until He has saved us. We have just spent seven weeks fasting and praying, and I hope a little almsgiving too, in an effort to place our relationship with Him above our relationship with the world. It is our relationship with Him that will get us through those tough moments. Imagine how Lazarus’ sisters must have felt knowing that Jesus didn’t even come to help their brother. Their pain must have been deep but ultimately it was their relationship with Him that was comfort for their pain.

For now, though, we cannot see their pain, because we see Lazarus being raised from the dead. We cannot see their pain, because we are already anticipating Palm Sunday tomorrow when we will all wave our palms and declare “Hosanna in the highest!” We cannot see their pain, because the Church has provided us a brief time to celebrate the Feast before embarking upon the next seven days.

The next seven days, we will see pain all right and some of it might even be our own. We will kneel, we will fast, and we will strain to see our Holy Week Books in the darkness of the Church. As we sang last night at Vespers, “Grant us also to behold the Holy Week of Thy Passion.” This is the main purpose of today. The Saturday of Lazarus is about Christ, it is not about Martha or Mary or Lazarus or even about us but not in a negative way. We don’t look at the next seven days grunting and bearing our teeth without looking ahead to next Saturday night!

Next Saturday night is the Feast of Feasts – Pascha! We will never be able to bear the pain of the next seven days without keeping our focus on Pascha, just as Martha and Mary could not have possibly dealt with their sorrow without knowing that anything was possible when Jesus was involved. Remember when we were young how often we thought we would never get through a project in college or we would never be able to learn how to ride a bike? What got us through then? The same thing will get us through not only the next seven days, but any of our pain – keeping our focus.

We must keep our focus on God if we are going to survive even the most mundane tasks in our lives. Look again to the Gospel and see what it says about Mary: “It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair.” (John 11.2) Do you remember the scene? Jesus was visiting and Mary was kneeling at His feet. Does this look like a woman who didn’t have the right focus? It should come as no surprise then that she was able to remain focused upon God and went running to Him when He arrived. She did not sit and dwell upon her grief because she knew His power.

We too know His Power, especially now that we have witnessed the miracle ourselves. Will it be possible then to spend the next seven days focused upon God rather than complaining about the long hours we are in Church or how much our knees hurt? My brothers and sisters in Christ, this is the purpose of today’s Feast. The Church places this Feast, yes a rest from fasting, but more than that! Here today so we can be comforted by the Power of God in all things. If God could raise Lazarus from the dead, could He not also help us?

Could God not also help us in our need at work, at school, or at home among our families? We must have hope my dear brothers and sisters! We must have hope that no matter what our problems, no matter how much we think God may have forgotten us, no matter how much we think He is ignoring us…..He will help us just as He helped Lazarus. We must have hope that Jesus Christ, who raised Lazarus from the dead after four days, the same Jesus that tomorrow we will declare the King of Glory, we must have hope that He will save us. Our life depends upon it.

Kalo Pascha!

Pick Me Lord - On Today's Gospel

Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt
The Reading is from Mark 10:32-45
At that time, Jesus taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles; and they will mock him, and spit upon him, and scourge him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise." And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him, and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." And he said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?" And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" And they said to him, "We are able." And Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared." And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant of James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, "You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

I remember gym class when I was a child. Most children dreaded any team activity day and I was no exception. Without fail on these days, our gym teacher would assign two team captains to pick teams for the activity that day. We all wanted so much to be picked first we would do almost anything to get his attention, normally shouting out to the captain, “PICK ME, PICK ME!” Most of us were never picked first and we learned to deal with that. If we couldn’t be first, we thought, at least we wouldn’t be last, since this was the ultimate public humiliation. I can still feel the nerves...waiting and waiting....hearing other names called.....hoping I wouldn’t be picked last.

We live in a society where rank matters. Baseball teams are ranked, stock portfolios are ranked, and even our elementary schools are ranked. The nightly news, daily newspapers, and web blogs are filled with pages and pages of rankings. First is always better, which is what makes this week’s Gospel lesson so difficult to wrap our fingers around. Our society is consumed with the idea of being first, but our Lord says to his disciples, and to us, “Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.” (Mark 10.43-44)

Today is the last Sunday of Great Lent and we are now looking ahead at next Sunday and beyond that to the Tomb of Christ when we will all sing, Christ is Risen! Our reading begins this morning from this same perspective with Jesus prophesizing about his coming passion, death, and resurrection. The disciples had seen many miracles performed by Christ and by now they should have recognized Jesus at the very least as a great prophet. God was giving them the inside scoop, as they would say in the media today, about what was going to happen.

This action should have been seen by the disciples as an honor as “He took them aside to tell them the things that would happen to Him.” (Mark 10.32) Instead of accepting this honor, what did they do? James and John took HIM aside and practically demanded to be seated on His left hand and on His right hand which were places of supreme honor. It was as if they didn’t even hear the prophecy they were so consumed with being first and just as I waited in gym class while other names were being called, the remaining disciples heard the demand of James and John. Saint Mark tells us, “And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John.” (Mark 10.41)

I wonder what our response would be if we were the other ten. We will have a chance in the next couple of weeks to find out. Next Sunday, Holy Friday, and Holy Saturday night for the Resurrection, our Church will be completely filled with people, some of whom may have to sit in the other room. What will those of us who have been here every week during Great Lent and throughout the rest of the year respond? This year, since Pascha is so much later than Western Easter, we are bound to have a large number of visitors as well. How will we respond to them?

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ let us take to heart the message of this morning’s Gospel. Our Lord expects us to place other’s needs ahead of our own while at the same time allowing ourselves to become their servants. When we have so many visitors in the next couple of weeks, we will have the perfect opportunity to put this into action. We will have the perfect opportunity to place others needs ahead of our own. When we see visitors or our fellow parishioners who may not have been here for many months, let us welcome them not as someone who is sitting in our seat but as someone who has chosen to come and receive the blessing of Christ.

It is the blessing of Christ that brings us together each and every Sunday as Orthodox Christians. It was the honor of being in the presence of Jesus that drove James and John to demand higher honors than the other ten disciples. We must not allow the honor Christ bestows upon us every week with His presence to blind us as it blinded James and John. But we should also not be like the other ten who were angered with the mere thought of someone else having the honor of the presence of God.

It was this same honor that drew Mary of Egypt to the Church that day when she was stopped from entering and it was her humility and her repentance that eventually brought her closer to God and earned her a rank with the Saints. This is the example the Church places in front of us this final Sunday before Holy Week – repentance and humility.

Mary was waiting outside the Church as others entered freely. I imagine her frustration could have been somewhat like the ten disciples who saw James and John seeking higher honor. Maybe her pride was hurt. Maybe she thought, “Why shouldn’t I be able to enter the Church like these others.” It was by realizing her need for humility that finally allowed her to see past her pride and to enter the Church. She was forced to realize that it was her sinfulness that kept her from entering the Church just as it was pride that caused James and John to dare to demand supreme honor next to Christ.

Just as it is pride that caused me to want to be picked first every day in gym class, it is humility that helps me realize that in fact there are other much better athletes in gym than myself. It is humility that allows me to see that in life we are not always first, either in the team rankings of gym class or in the stock market. Actually most of us are never first and that is just fine. As Mary of Egypt helps us to realize, it isn’t being first that matters, it is all about being humble.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, it is not too late to realize our need for humility before we celebrate Pascha in two weeks. Let us heed the call of our Lord and place the needs of others ahead of our own needs. Let us live as our Lord Himself lived, “not to be served but to serve,” (Mark 10.45) and when we celebrate His passion, death and glorious resurrection, let us remember that He died that we may live. And let us not be wonder whether we will be called last or first, just so long as Christ calls us to His Kingdom.

A new earth or just an old heresey?

I see the Devil is working hard through Oprah these days. I just watched (most of) the first chapter of the online webcast with her and Ekhart Tolle featuring his new book, “A New Earth, Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose.” WOW, I can’t begin to describe how dangerous the ideas being espoused are. In general they say we have to be awakened to OUR, not a, consciousness and begin to disregard what the voices are saying to us in our head IF those voices are telling us that we should be in church. This is a very simple outline, but I plan to read the book now and reflect upon it here. I referenced it in a sermon a few months ago about self-help, but I no idea just how bad it was. Tolle says that God was created by man in his mental image. DANGER DANGER DANGER.

Whose prayer is it anyway?

I heard a comment today that made me think about the Orthodox Church in America. Someone said, “The Church does services every day for those who wish to partake of them. For those who do, we are there.” Is this really the attitude of our churches in America? Should it be? On the surface is sounds good but I fear that it caters too much to the shopping mentality of our American lifestyle. It also suggests that the worship is something we partake of as if we are mere consumers rather than participants. It reminds me of a priest who said once that he was upset about a parish not coming “on time” for liturgy. He was a new priest and the former priest had not been celebrating a complete Orthros as he was now doing so Divine Liturgy was starting later than they were accustomed to so they were coming late since he was starting late. Both of these issues reflect, I believe, the misconception that the services of the church are something to be viewed like a good theater production. Rather, the services of the Church are the work of the people and must reflect their availability and desires. It does no good to just do the services and those who want to partake may do so. Who are we priests doing the services for.....ourselves? NONSENSE! We merely lead the people in their prayers to God. It is no benefit for us to be alone in the church performing like some movie theater where the movie begins whether or not people have purchased tickets. If we are alone, we are prayer our personal prayer for the people, but that is not corporate worship. One has to wonder.....if there are no people to say “Amen” whose prayer it? We are both clergy AND laity.

Have a blessed Fast.

Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!

There are three types of mountains in the world. The first is the mountain that is simple to climb. We decide to climb and having put on our hiking boots, we overcome the challenge of the climb and with relative ease we find ourselves at the top. The second type of mountain can only be climbed after thorough preparation and planning. A team is necessary for success. Mountains like these are the types of climbs we hear about in the Himalayas. The third type of mountain is the one we always look at and never even try to climb. This mountain, no matter how skilled we are and no matter how many people are willing to help us, will never be overcome by us.

Life’s challenges are the same way. There are those small everyday challenges we routinely overcome and those we can overcome only after systematic preparation and the commitment of other individuals assisting us. The challenge we never attempt to overcome is the burden that day after day, week after week, continues to weigh us down in our spiritual struggle.

Such struggles are a reality in life as we read in today’s Gospel lesson. (Mark 9.17-31 see below) A father brought his son to Christ for healing after having failed all other options in helping his son get better. Even the Disciples were unable to heal the son. When Christ encountered the father, he responded by challenging the father’s level of commitment, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes,” and the father responded, “I believe, help my unbelief!” (Mark 19,23-24)

It is clear by today’s reading that the challenges in life can be overcome with the belief and aide of Christ. Now that we have completed four weeks of the Great Fast and our bodies have become weakened by fasting and added ascesis, let us remember that our belief in Christ will make it possible to overcome the challenges of the remainder of the Fast and whatever life has in store for us.

And remember......those challenges we choose to not ever try to overcome are the ones that become burdens in our lives.

Gospel Reading: Mark 9:17-31 NKJ

17 Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.
18 "And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."
19 He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me."
20 Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.
21 So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood.
22 "And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."
23 Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."
24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"
25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"
26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."
27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?"
29 So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."
30 Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it.
31 For He taught His disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day."