UGH! This Fast is Killing Me!

Today’s Reading is from Proverbs 3:1-18 - My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and years of life and abundant welfare will they give you. Let not loyalty and faithfulness forsake you; bind them about your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.  So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.  Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.  It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gets understanding, for the gain from it is better than gain from silver and its profit better than gold.  She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.  Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.  Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.  She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy.

It has ONLY been three days and I’m pretty sure you’re already feeling the burden of fasting. You’re hungry and bored of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches already. You may even be wondering if the fast is worth your time. Don’t worry. We ALL feel this way just as the fast is starting out.  It may not happen today, but it WILL happen sometime during Great Lent. Even the most experienced will suffer a bit of fatigue during Great Lent.

That is why I thought the reading from Proverbs was so helpful. “For length of days and years of life and abundant welfare will they give you.” Fasting if done with prayer and attention to the spiritual warfare in which we are engaged WILL give you great benefit. All you have to do is remain committed and “let not your loyalty and faithfulness forsake you.” Great Lent is a spiritual war, and like with all wars there will be successful days and not-so-successful days. The point is to push ahead for the victory at Pascha.

Today might be a good day to evaluate your menu choices for the fast. If you are feeling tired and cranky, you might need to make some adjustments for nutrition. Remember fasting is NOT supposed to get you sick, but there are alternatives to your menu choices that will provide for proper nutrition AND still maintain the fast. You just may need to put in a little extra effort. Speak with your Spiritual Father and other experienced “fasters” and seek their advice. One of the great benefits to fasting AS A CHURCH is to benefit from centuries of experience.

I’m not your cruise director

I have the distinct pleasure of serving on a special board for our local newspaper. The board is known as the Faith and Values Advisory Board, and six or so Christian members of the greater city community gather each month to discuss trends and topics that might be developed as feature stories in our local newspaper’s Faith and Values Section with runs each Saturday. As part of this board I have the added pleasure of publishing a regular column on average of once every two months. Yesterday’s discussion centered around the question of why millennials are leaving the Church. In fact, even within the Orthodox Church this topic has been at the forefront of many conversations throughout the country, so I was interested to hear what others in the room had to say. The conversation was quite eye-opening.

It started with the standard excuses why millennials complain about “church” being boring, and how we as pastors don’t “speak their language”, and how we must be willing to come down to their level if we desire to reach them. One even suggested that if our Churches were not willing to install large flat screens and display the Scripture text as we preach, we will ‘never’ reach the young people. Others spoke of music styles, and still others focused on Church life outside the Sunday service.

So there I was, the only Orthodox member of the board in a room of men and women, white and black, young and old. I don’t want to get into too much detail of the conversation since most was arguing back and forth about whose approach was better etc. If those of us in the room hadn’t already been casual friends, one might have thought we were about to start throwing fists.

There was a common thread among the others – we must be willing to cater to the desires, styles, and priorities of the young people to get them in Church. Sure the Lutheran had a different version of catering than the United Methodist or Pentecostal, but each was fighting for their version of how to best cater to millennials. So I asked, “What then? What happens when their desires, styles and priorities change? What will you do then to KEEP them in Church?” Not surprisingly they would keep changing. And thus continues the patter of the ever-changing Church which reinvents itself every seven to ten years leaving last year’s millennials back on the outside.

As Orthodox Christians our worship reinforces our theology and our commitment to love God with all our heart, mind, body and soul MORE than anything else. Our worship reinforces the invitation to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Christ. Our worship directs (or at least it should) ALL our attention on God. This is beautifully expressed even in the point the clergy face God with the people rather than face the people. Our worship is about being in communion with God. But it doesn’t end with our worship.

 

Our very way of life as Orthodox Christians is meant to bring our entire being into communion with God. Our life of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, reading the Holy Scriptures, modeling our life after the Saints, attending the Divine Services (not just Liturgy) of the Church, etc are all meant to encourage us to become Holy.

Whether it is our Sunday worship, or Wednesday evening Paraklesis and Bible Study, our Orthodox Christian way of life is about being holy, it isn’t about flat screens and light shows. It is about focusing our attention on God, not ourselves. It isn’t about sponsoring the most exciting dance featuring the most popular rock-n-roll band, although we do enjoy dancing together. It is about being in the safety and comfort of the Ark of Salvation, not a holiday cruise ship. And that is why I am a Greek Orthodox Priest, and I am not a cruise director.

Ritual...we all have one!

Henry David Thoreau lived in the woods to discover what he already knew to be true, human beings live through ritual. Whether it is driving the exact same route through town to Church every Sunday, or flipping light switches is a particular order when we open our business on Monday morning, each of us has a ritual we follow.  Most of us have several rituals that are unique to certain events in our life such as work rituals, family rituals, vacation rituals, and it seems EVERYONE has morning rituals. Have you ever thought about your morning ritual?

I’m sure you have some sort of morning ritual, but does it include morning prayers? One common mistake I have noticed in many “morning rituals” is the lack of a dedicated Morning Prayer component. Many people desire to pray in the morning, something taught through the centuries as being central of a Christian life, but they can’t find the time to squeeze it in to their morning ritual, simply because it isn’t PART of their morning ritual.

In the Didache (Teaching of the Holy Apostles to the Nations) we were taught:

Neither pray as the hypocrites; but as the Lord commanded in His Gospel, thus pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us today our daily (needful) bread, and forgive us our debt as we also forgive our debtors. And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one; for Yours is the power and the glory for ever. Thrice in the day thus pray.

This basic ritual of prayer, what we Orthodox Christians call a “Prayer Rule”, might be just the thing you need to successfully include morning prayers into your morning ritual.

As we are quickly approaching the Feast of Christmas, and as we have been invited by the Church to increase our daily prayer to God, this is the perfect opportunity for you to rethink your morning ritual to include morning prayers. Give your spiritual father a call and ask him to establish a “Prayer Rule” for you to include in your DAILY morning ritual.

Then....go home and, following the advice of your spiritual father, begin following your new morning ritual. It will take a few weeks for the new ritual to take root in your life, but once established it will feel as if you’ve always “done it that way” and you’ll be living a new life in Christ.

Your Sins are Forgiven

It goes without saying that the trials of life can weigh a person down. As every day passes, the weight of each small sin and mistake, takes its toll on our backs as we feel our burdens heavy upon our shoulders. Bent over under all the pressure, we just can’t seem to find the strength to look up at God and sing His praise. We may even be ashamed by some of our decisions in life, and we can’t lift ourselves up without God’s healing touch. We all enjoy hearing the words, “Your sins are forgiven,” from our Lord, and we all desire even more the healing touch of our Lord’s hand. Thankfully He has given us His Church and the Holy Sacraments through which we can feel His touch, and through the hands of our Father Confessor, we can not only feel God’s Grace, we can hear the words, “Your sins are forgiven,” and we can finally lift our eyes to God and give Him praise and thanks.

The Forgiveness of Sins

The foundation of our salvation in Jesus Christ is the forgiveness of sins. Jesus came to save us from our sins, and by becoming one of us, forever conquered the effect of sin. Sin no longer has dominion over us, unless of course, we allow it.

In the Gospel we hear Jesus forgiveness the sins of the paralytic man, BEFORE healing his illness. “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9.2) That means, before we can be healed of our physical wounds, we must first be forgiven of our sins. Our bodies will eventually die and return to dust, but our souls, which will forever bear our sins, will live forever with the burden that comes with sin. By forgiving the paralytic’s sins, Jesus was reminding Him of what was important, the soul.

In our contemporary days, we are preoccupied with our physical health. Our “health care system” is focused on making us live forever. Millions of dollars and thousands of hours are spent and agonized over in hospitals attempting to live forever. But what effort do we make to heal our soul? If we are willing to spend so much effort to heal our physical wounds, shouldn’t we be willing to put at least that much effort into our souls?

We can be forgiven. We only need to ask, and the Church has been given authority by Christ to forgive sins. Schedule a confession with your spiritual father today. Don’t miss the chance to hear the words, “Your sins are forgiven.” 

No Thanks Hollywood, You Can Keep Your son of god

The new movie The Son of God opens in theaters today…

I make no secrets about my dislike for “the Hollywood agenda” when it comes to the moral direction our society continues to engage. But when it comes to movies about Jesus and His Church, I can no longer sit quietly under the guise of, “at least they’re talking about Jesus,” without offering a serious warning.

The Orthodox Church throughout history has fought courageously to maintain the truth about who we know Jesus Christ to be, as that truth was revealed by the Holy Spirit to the Holy Apostles. We have defended the truth of Orthodoxy down to single letters when the meaning of who Jesus was and is might be misunderstood by the faithful. We have maintained this truth, “once and for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1.3) through the holy and sacred tradition of the Church.

We would not sit quietly when Arius spoke falsely of Christ, and we cannot sit quietly when contemporary “theologians” under the guise of producing Hollywood blockbuster movies, as these movies are often times fictional representations of the Gospels and early history of the Church. This is nothing new, of course, as Hollywood has a long tradition of altering history for big screen for affect, while defending their actions in “the name of entertainment,” and warning viewers they are not responsible for educating our children.

I remember growing up being warned, “You can’t trust a movie with the facts. You have to read the book!” Teachers were, and probably still are, very good at forming questions that required knowledge of the book rather than just the movie. We can all think of movies where multiple characters from the book were blended into single portrayals on the big screen. So what makes us think this is not also happening when the Bible is produced on the big screen?

The reading of Scriptures is a crucial part of every Christian’s spiritual journey, but there are verses which don’t flow well, for the big screen. If movies were limited to just the written verses, the classic “Ten Commandments” would have been much shorter a movie and Charlton Heston would have been much less famous. I noticed the last time I watched the movie, (and I LOVE the movie) I had my Bible open. What was said in two verses in my bible was more than thirty minutes on the screen. How? Fiction and fantasy is the only way.

But it isn’t only the fictional additions that we must be concerned with. The Orthodox Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, has been interpreting the Holy Scriptures since they were first written (speaking specifically of the New Testament) and the Sacred Tradition requires us to “stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.” (2 Thessalonians 2.15) We must be extremely careful anytime we hear the Holy Scriptures interpreted by anyone, including within the Church. Are the interpretations consistent with the Teachings of the Holy Apostles? Are they in line with the understanding of the Church Fathers, who themselves were loyal to the teachings of the Holy Apostles when they first sanctioned the Bible with Canonical Authority.

If you plan to watch this new movie about Jesus, or Noah opening March 28^th, then I caution you to sit with your spiritual father afterward about what the movie teaches. The visual impact of the movie will make it difficult for you to “forget” the incorrect teachings in favor of the Church, but prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit will help as well.

I suppose, from my vantage point, these two movies might comprise a new attack on the Church, since they are being released during the Great Lenten journey while we are seeking a closer relationship with God. Many will flock to the movie theater “seeking a deeper relationship” rather than finding it in the Church. What they are likely to find is partial truth and fantasy about a god who is not the same as The God who revealed Himself to the Church.

The Dangers of Fasting

Yesterday, besides being the day in which the Church commemorated the Last Judgment, was the last day to eat meat until Pascha. If you are fasting according to the teachings of the Church, today begins your long journey of finding food substitutes and new vegan recipes for your favorite meals. The Great Fast is almost upon us. It actually begins NEXT week, but the Church begins our fasting one week early by asking us to abstain from meat beginning this week. Last week was known as Meatfare Week, while we rushed to make use of the meat in our refrigerators before it spoils. This week is known as Cheesefare Week, and is the final week of dairy before the Great Fast. Fasting is such an amazing spiritual discipline of the Church, but it can be misused so many ways, so today I thought I would warn you of about some danger signs that your fasting is on the wrong track.

1.       You know the fasting guidelines of the Church, but you insist on creating your own plan for Great Lent – Anytime you look on the teachings and sacred traditions of the Church as a buffet menu from which you can pick and choose which practices you like and which you think are not valid, you have lost the entire purpose of fasting. Fasting is a spiritual discipline through which we learn to subdue our ego and desires. If we instead feed our desires by choosing our fasting routine, we have lost the opportunity to conquer our ego, and fasting becomes nothing more than a diet regiment. If you are unsure where to begin your fasting, it is better to ask your spiritual father, than to make up your own plan. He has received the grace of God through Holy Ordination to guide you along your spiritual journey.
2.       You view fasting as “giving something up” for Great Lent as a sacrifice for God. The term sacrifice, as used in the Church, means “to make holy” and is not associated with what has become a practice of “self-denial.” The Great Fast is not meant to deny your body the things it craves. It is meant to sanctify your heart. The idea of “giving something up” for Great Lent is more of a punishment rather than a discipline, and leads to resentment of the Church rather than the purity of your heart.
3.       You scrutinize every food label just to make sure nothing forbidden has been included. You search for “may contain whey from milk” as a warning that the food doesn’t “pass muster” on your Orthodox menu plan. As with any rule in the Church, you must keep focused upon it purpose. Bread in general is a fasting food, but nearly ALL bread in the store has at least one ingredient that “breaks the rules” if you read the ingredients panel. If you need a piece of toast with breakfast, it would be better to have it (without butter obviously) than to worry that there “might” be egg in the dough. With the industrialization of the food industry, it would be nearly impossible to find “legal” bread unless you make your own.
4.       You have never fasted before, but THIS year you decide to keep the strict fast. This might be the most dangerous warning sign of all. As with any discipline, you must gradually increase the practice. Otherwise, you are destined for failure. Compare fasting to running. If you want to run a marathon, you would NEVER just put on your shoes and begin to run 23 ½ miles. You must first build up your stamina before the race. The same caution must be used with fasting. If you want any benefit from your fasting, you will allow your spiritual father to help you with where to begin, just like you would allow a trainer to create a running and training routine.

 Here are more posts on fasting