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."

Who is so great a God as our God who alone does wonder?

“Who is so great a God as our God who alone does wonders?” This is the Great Prokimenon sung on days such as Pentecost. It is also sung at the opening of a new Church which is where I was this evening. We (Metropolitan METHODIOS of Boston and over thirty area clergy) celebrated the Opening of the Doors of the Saint Catherine Greek Orthodox Church in Braintree, Massachusetts. I was taken tonight during the door opening celebration by the solemn placing of all the liturgical appointments on the Holy Altar Table with prayers and psalms reflecting the functional reality of the table both in Jewish usage and our Orthodox Christian usage. We were in a brand new temple declaring, “Who is so Great a God....” as if to say, “go ahead just try to find another half as great, we dare you.” I was also reading again this evening in Acts 19.34, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians,” which reflects the reaction of the Ephesians when they were confronted with losing their source of income from statue miniatures of the Goddess Diana. The Ephesians were in a panic to convince others that the God Paul was preaching was not nearly as superior to Diana. They were wrong of course, and thank God, they later came to their senses. As I reflect upon the many practical realities of our various traditions, I experienced an ancient tradition tonight and I am left with the Great Prokimenon.

The Good, the Bad, the Negative or just "That which needs to be better?"

I have been reflecting upon the Great Fast recently and our spiritual journey as Orthodox Christians. I have to admit here that I am a person who tends to dwell upon those things that need, from my perspective at least, to be improved both in my life and “of course” the world around me. To most this comes across as being negative. “Why don’t you ever talk about the good things you see?” I am often asked. “Why are you so negative?” These are good questions, and I think the Gospel during the Great Fast has something to offer in our answer.

In the Gospel of Luke we have two examples of the character trait of someone who will be saved contrasted by the character trait we are encouraged to avoid. When the Rich Man asks, “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18.18-27) after patting himself on the back the rich man is told, “You still lack on thing….” Christ does acknowledge the good things the rich man has done in his life, but while affirming him encourages him to strive for the next level and, “sell all he has and distribute to the poor,” at which point the rich man leaves very sad “for he was very rich.” Our second example is the Publican and the Pharisee (Luke 18.10-14). It was not the self-aggrandizing of the Publican that led to salvation but the acknowledgement of sin and the cry for mercy. It was the sinner who “went to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

You may wonder what this has to do with my tendency to draw attention to those things that need improvement. Don’t these examples instruct me to mind my own business and not worry about what I see around me? Yes and no. We are called to personally focus upon our selves, but the constant prayer of the Divine Liturgy is to “commit ourselves and one another and our whole life unto Christ our God.” We are called as the Body of Christ to be each other’s keeper (see my blog by this title) and as members of the Body of Christ we must constantly hold each other to a higher standard while always affirming to good. I believe this is evident in the Scriptures and the legacy of the Saints. Countless Saints have been known for referring to themselves as dogs and worthless sinners. This doesn’t sound life self-aggrandizing to me.

To this end, I pray that we are all able to affirm the good while never losing focus on those things that need to be improved lest we too become like the Pharisee or the Rich Man.

Have a blessed Fast.