The Greater the Sin, the Greater the Repentance

On the fifth and final Sunday of Great Lent the Church commemorates Saint Mary of Egypt as a joyous example of repentance. At the threshold of our final week of Great Lent, the Church urges us to consider our need for repentance. Maybe the story of a woman stuck in her sin might be encouragement enough for us to consider our repentance. We all sin, but is the Church telling us we all need to move to the desert like Saint Mary of Egypt?

In the Orthodox Christian understanding of sin, all sin is sin, but not all sin is equally dangerous. If we consider that sin is like a wound, all wounds require healing, but not all wounds require the same level of treatment. Some wounds, like paper cuts and rug burns, while uncomfortable will heal with a bit of TLC. Other wounds, like knife cuts may require stitches. They are more painful and require a slightly more painful treatment. Still other wounds, like cancer require chemotherapy and radiation treatment. These types of wounds are so severe, if we endure no treatment we will most surely die, while the severe treatments will allow us time, even if we are not cured, to gather our life into order and prepare for our eventual death.

Sin is treated in much the same way. Certain sins require a brief confession and are conquered with maturity and proper attention. Other sins require a longer confession and a regiment of repentance with prayer and fasting. Still other sins are so dangerous that after a lengthy confession an intense detailed period of repentance with prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and maybe even a period without permission for Holy Communion leads us to purity.

What the story of Saint Mary of Egypt can offer us this final week of Great Lent is the courage to repent. We might not all be called to live in a desert for forty-seven years like Saint Mary of Egypt, but we still must repent. As we draw closer to our Holy Week Journey and the Passion of Christ and the Feast of Holy and Great Pascha, allow repentance to be a real part of your journey. Whether your sins are “paper cuts” or if you have been in a “spiritual knife fight” repentance is always part of your healing.

The Gift of Priesthood

In the Old Testament, God established His priesthood in order to lead the people in their worship and offerings to God. It was the responsibility of the priests to know the particular service and accompanying prayer to bless the life cycle of the people of God. God even established a special area in His House which was reserved for the priests to carry out their religious functions. In response, God would bless His priests by allowing for their support by the Temple.

In today’s reading from Hebrews, Saint Paul reminds us of God’s original purpose of His Priesthood. “BRETHREN, the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. For a tent was prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence; it is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain stood a tent called the Holy of Holies, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, which contained a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. These preparations having thus been made, the priests go continually into the outer tent, performing their ritual duties; but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood which he offers for himself and for the errors of the people.” (Hebrews 9.1-7)

The Temple Priests of the Old Testament were a foreshadowing of Christ Himself. What they worked to accomplish in the Temple symbolically, Christ accomplished in Himself. Since Christ has come and accomplished everything He intended, the Priesthood changed. We priests no longer are limited to offering sacrifices to God, although we still are blessed to serve as Priests of God who have been appointed to lead the people to God. The Old Testament Priesthood was a foreshadowing of the current priesthood, because when we celebrate the mysteries of the Church, we offer the precious Body and Blood of Christ in truth, not symbol.

Speaking as a priest, I am incredibly blessed each day not only to offer prayers on behalf of the people of God, but to be allowed to share in the blessings and struggles of His people. The life of a priest includes happy moments and stressful moments shared in the life of our parishioners. One element of the Old Testament Priesthood has not changed. We are still blessed by God when He allows us this privilege. Celebrating the many services of Great Lent, sometimes alone in the Church on behalf of many who are busy at work, is a constant reminder that God has blessed me to be a priest. Thank you.

Hail, O Bride Unwedded

On the fifth Friday of Great Lent the Greek Orthodox Church, and some other Orthodox Churches, celebrate the service known as the Akathist to the Theotokos. The service, built upon the service of Compline (the service I wrote about yesterday), includes a complete acrostic canon in honor of the Theotokos. According to Church Tradition, the hymn was originally written as a prayer to honor the protection of the Theotokos after the City of Constantinople was spared from being destroyed by invaders after the city processed in prayer around the city walls with the Holy Icon of the Theotokos.

An acrostic poem is a poem (prayer, etc) in which the first letter of each verse combines to spell a particular word. In the case of the Akathist to the Theotokos, each verse begins with the next letter in the Greek alphabet. Thus, there are 24 verses in the entire canon. The canon is divided into four stanzas, each sung separately the first four Fridays of Great Lent. On the fifth, the entire canon is sung. Each alternating verse ends with the praise, “Rejoice, O unwedded Bride” and “Alleluia”. Between each stanza is sung the hymn, “O Champion General” the Kontakion which commemorates the victory of Constantinople.

“O Champion General, I your City now inscribe to you Triumphant anthems as the tokens of my gratitude, Being rescued from the terrors, O Theotokos. Inasmuch as you have power unassailable, From all kinds of perils free me, so that unto you I may cry aloud: Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.”

While we might now have stone walls that protect our souls from evil invaders, we can still be protected by the prayers of the Theotokos. As you stand (Akathist means “not seated”) tonight during Church, remember to ask the All Holy Theotokos to protect your soul so you can honor her and her Son, our God with prayer and fasting the rest of the Great Lent.

The Devil Never Stops

The other day I invited you to let me know how your Great Lenten Journey was going by using the “Tell us what you think” form on my website. Today’s Daily Lenten Journey post is a response to a comment I received yesterday....“Once I set foot out of the church it seems the devil is always trying to trip me up. More so during lent than not.”

One of the allures of a monastery is that many people think monastics don’t have temptations like those of us in the world. This is especially true when we visit a monastery for a few hours and return home filled with peace and looking forward to growing closer to God once we return to our routine. Then suddenly, once we step across the property line (it seems) the devil begins with a vengeance trying to beat us down. The same thing can, and often does, happen when we attend Lenten services in the Church. Once we leave the Church, the temptations start all over again. When this happens to you, first you must understand YOU ARE NOT IMAGINING THINGS. The devil is indeed trying harder to trip you up.

Great Lent, if we are taking it seriously as our Daily Lenten Journey has been urging us, is a period of INCREASED spiritual intensity, similar to a visit to a monastery. First we shouldn’t be surprised that while in the Church for Lenten services (or any services for that matter) we feel closer to God. We are in His physical presence. Secondly, we should not be surprised that we notice the real difference between the temptations inside the Church (there are ALWAYS temptations) and temptations outside the Church. As the Church teaches, and we sing in the Cherubic Hymn, “Let us lay aside all earthly cares that we may receive the King of All,” when we enter the Church (Heaven on Earth) we change our focus, or at least we should.

Everything seems fine so long as we are inside the Church, smelling the incense, hearing the bells, singing with the chanters or choir, venerating the Holy Icons and Relics, and feeling the hard marble floor on our knees as we do our prostrations as we worship God. This will in fact lift our spirit closer to God. Then we leave the Church and return to the world. Remember our Daily Lenten Journey post from earlier about Adam and Eve being kicked out of the Garden. Once they left the comfort of the Garden they (we) had to suffer the reality of a world without God’s protection.

In a similar way, though God DOES protect us, when we leave the Church after services and return to the world, we are entering a world that is not focused on God. Just as Adam and Eve had to focus attention on survival, so do we have to survive. Our attention outside the Church is suddenly returned to “How am I going to pay the bills this week?” And once we begin to turn our attention away from God, as Eve turned her attention toward the Tree in the Garden, the devil has an open window through which to attack. And attack he does.

So why does he try more during Great Lent than at other times? There are two reasons. First, he isn’t actually trying harder. We might just be more aware of his temptations because we are working harder to remain focused on God. Imagine Eve in the Garden for a moment. Imagine she has her back to the Tree and staring constantly at God. The devil might be jumping up and down behind her, but she never realizes. This is like us being in Church during Great Lent. Then she turns and sees the Tree and seeing its beauty and imagining how tasty is must be (See the story in Genesis 3), she also sees the devil jumping up and down next to the Tree trying to get her attention. NOW, she has to work harder at ignoring the devil’s temptation along with the Tree and turn her eyes back toward God. The more she contemplates the Tree, the harder it gets to turn her eyes away.

The second reason is seems like the devil is trying harder during Great Lent is because he is trying harder. Once Eve turned her attention completely toward the Tree the devil had to work much less to convince her to eat the fruit. The truth is, the more the devil has our attention the less he has to work for it.

So during Great Lent, when we are working more intensely to focus our attention on God, the devil has to work harder to compete for our attention, and the more we focus on God the more we are aware the devil is behind us jumping up and down. So it isn’t surprising that you feel greater temptations during Great Lent once you leave the Church, but that doesn’t mean you give up the fight. It just means you are making progress. The more you work to keep your attention on God, the more the devil has to work to get your attention away from Him. Whatever you do, don’t give up because the devil never stops!

Using the link to the left, “Tell us know what you think” and let us know about your Lenten Journey, and we can share your story with others. Together we can help each other Live A New Life In Christ.

Why we use prayer books

During Great Lent the Church offers a special service known as Great Compline. There is also a Small Compline which is part of the daily services offered mostly in monastic communities and in the private home. The service receives its name from the Greek word, Αποδείπνον, which is translated as “after supper” indicating when the prayers are offered. You could say the Compline is the service we pray not immediately before we go to bed, but between supper and bed. While normally the Small Compline is a personal prayer offered in front of our icons throughout the year, the Great Compline is offered as a community in the Church.

As I mentioned during the first week of Great Lent, we should look at the services and readings prescribed by the Church to better understand the emphasis the Church desire for us in our life. One such opportunity it the PRAYER OF MANASSES, KING OF JUDA offered ONLY during the Great Compline. Here is the text of that prayer.

O Lord, Almighty, the God of our Fathers, of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and of their righteous seed; who created the heaven and the earth with all their adornment; who bound the sea by the word of your command; who shut up the abyss and scaled it with your awesome and glorious name; whom all things dread and before whose power they tremble, because the majesty of your glory is unbearable and the threat of your anger against the sinners unendurable; yet the mercy of your promise is both, immeasurable and unfathomable, for you are the Lord most high, compassionate, long-suffering and all merciful, and relent on the wickedness of man.

You, Lord, in the multitude of your goodness promised repentance and forgiveness to those who have sinned against you, and in your infinite compassion appointed repentance for sinners that they may be saved. Therefore, Lord, the God of the powers, you have not appointed repentance for the righteous, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who have not sinned against you, but you appointed repentance for me the sinner, for I have committed more sins than the grains of the sand of the sea.

My transgressions have multiplied, Lord; my transgressions have multiplied, and I am not worthy to look up and see the height of the sky from the multitude of my iniquities, being weighted down by many iron  chains, so that I cannot raise my head; there is no respite left for me because I provoked your anger and committed evil before you not having done your will and not having kept your commandments. And now I bend the knee of my heart, beseeching your goodness.

I have sinned, Lord, I have sinned and I acknowledge my transgressions; but I beg and ask of you: Forgive me, Lord, forgive me and do not destroy me with my transgressions; do not be angry with me forever and keep my evils in me, and do not condemn me to the depths of the earth; for you are God, the God of those who repent, and in me you shall show all your goodness; for even though I am unworthy, you shall save me according to the multitude of your mercy, and I shall praise you without ceasing all the days of my life. For every heavenly power sings your praises, and yours is the glory unto the ages of ages.

If we allow the words of Manasses to become our words, this prayer will most definitely launch you into the last two weeks of Great Lent. 

Make a Change

There have always been two ways, one of life and the other of death. Since the earliest days of the Church the Holy Apostles confirmed this truth in “The Teaching of the Apostles to the Nations” which was written around 70AD. This teaching of the Apostles was not created by them as we can see from today’s reading in Proverbs 15:7-19.

The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the minds of fools.  The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.  The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but he loves him who pursues righteousness.  There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way; he who hates reproof will die.  Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD, how much more the hearts of men!  A scoffer does not like to be reproved; he will not go to the wise.  A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken.  The mind of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly.  All the days of the afflicted are evil, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast.  Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble with it.  Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fatted ox and hatred with it.  A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.  The way of a sluggard is overgrown with thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.

The way of life described in Proverbs and in “The Teachings” might seem unachievable by today’s standards. It might seem like the Church is expecting an unreasonable level of dedication from members in the 21^st Century. It might seem like the Church is out of town and “old fashioned” in her teachings and laws. It might be, but it isn’t.

The Church’s way of life has been given to us by God incarnate, and guided by the Holy Spirit into all truth through the Holy Apostles. This way of life, as I have said already in our Daily Lenten Journey, can be trusted. It is the worldly life that needs to be reevaluated, not the Church. Continuing with our theme this week of renouncing the world, I invite you to consider your decisions from yesterday, and make your own judgment based upon today’s’ reading in Proverbs. I invite you to evaluate your options today and ask yourself if you could have lived a life more in line with the Church. And then.....make a change.

Let me know how it goes....Using the “Tell us what you think” link on my blog, let me know how your decisions are going. I would love to hear (and share with others) how your Daily Lenten Journey is going.

You Can't Climb to Heaven until You Renounce the World

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT Hello. My name is Father Athanasios Haros and I'm the Pastor here at the Transfiguration of Our Savior Greek Orthodox Church in Florence, South Carolina. I'm your host for Be Transfigured Ministries. Here at Be Transfigured, as we say, we invite you to live a new life in Christ. We feature our sermons and our Bible studies and other special events in the life of the Church. We do it to inspire you to join us living a new life in Christ. I hope you'll join us. I'll be back in a moment after this video to share some information about our ministry.

As we are celebrating today the memory of a holy man in our Church history, St. John of the Ladder, we call him, St. John the Climacus, because he wrote a book called On the Ladder of Divine Ascent. Today, the Church commemorates this holy saint.

This book that he wrote, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, I put these different steps in your Church bulletins but I want to begin this morning by drawing your attention to the first step. If you have your bulletins, look at your bulletin. Step number one on the divine ascent, how to get to heaven, step number one, it says on the renunciation of the world.

We are in the middle of our Great Lenten journey, a period of increased fasting, a period of increased Church attendance, a period of increased prayer, a period of increased scripture reading, a period of increased helping of the poor. All of this, my brothers and sisters, if we are living the life of the Church, all of this has been given to us this many weeks and we still have a couple of weeks left so we can focus on this first step that St. John is reminding us of. Until we can renounce the world, we cannot climb to heaven. I'm going to say that again because it's incredibly important. Until we are able to renounce the world, we cannot climb to heaven. We cannot, my brothers and sisters, hold on to the earthly things to our comforts, to our wealth, to the ways of life of the world, and still try and reach heaven. It is not possible.

That's what our Great Lenten journey is about: understanding, accepting, embracing, and practicing renouncing the world. That was the message last week when we talked about the holy cross. We talked about our suffering. This week, we're going to look further now with the understanding that we want to get to heaven and that we have chosen to let go of the worldly things. It's a big presumption because it holds us so strongly.

We are so bound to our worldly things. We are so bound to the way we want to do things in life. We live in a culture, as we know, that reinforces this mentality. We live in a culture that reinforces the idea that we can have whatever we want whenever we want it, as much as we want it. Anyone that we see that doesn't agree with us, we find ways to get them out of our way so we can have and we can collect and we can gather all of these worldly realities to our life. That includes sometimes even in the face of sickness.

As I mentioned last week, the Cross is an understanding of suffering. In this morning's Gospel, you see a man whose son was suffering and it says that he bought his son to the apostles and the apostles couldn't save his son so he comes to Christ and he says, "If you can do anything, your apostles couldn't do anything," as if to tell God, "Why is it not happening like I want, God?"

If we're honest with ourselves, we will admit that we have been in the same place as this father many times in our life. It may not necessarily be with physical illness but if we are honest with ourselves, just how many times have we placed ourselves in the position of saying, "God, it hasn't happened yet like I want it to. Come on, God. Can't you do something for me?" It could be a job, it could be a relationship, it could even be something as simple as building a new home for our family. We find ourselves constantly impatient with what God has to offer us because we want it now on our terms. We want health, we want wealth, we want comforts now. We don't want to wait.

Our Lord, being the complete loving and patient God, says, "Oh, you faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me." God is ever so patient with us, my brothers and sisters. Even in those moments of complete selfish begging that we do in front of our icons, we want it now, we want it on our terms, even at those moments when we're completely ignoring what God has asked us to do in life, He turns to us and says, "How long am I going to be with you until you realize that these worldly things are not what's going to bring us happiness?" These comforts in life are not going to be what sets us on a firm foundation for the future. In the patience of God, He's going to say to us, "How long am I going to bear with you, my children, until you realize that you have to be willing to let go of all these things if you want to join Me in heaven," the Lord is saying.

He says, "Bring him here to Me." There's the center, middle section of the Gospel, which is the dialogue between Him and the boy and the demon and the fathers. The demons throw the boy into the fire and he's suffering and the boy is healed. God was going to heal him but He wanted the people to understand that we have to have patience in life when it comes to the things that we are asking from God. The apostles pull him privately and they say, "Excuse me, God, Lord. Don't you remember you told ..." This isn't how it's written in here but you can imagine how the apostles are thinking now. "Remember, Lord, you told us that we had the power to cast out demons. How come we couldn't cast out this demon?" Our Lord says, "This particular kind of demon can only go out through prayer and fasting."

It is only when we have the patience to put our complete faith in God, it is only when we're willing through fasting to let go of all of the worldly pressures in our life, all of the worldly desires in our life, only then will this demon be able to come out of us. That's what Great Lent is all about, renouncing the world, patiently praying to our Lord. What did the father say? "I believe. Help my unbelief." That should be our call, my brothers and sisters. You wouldn't be here this morning if you didn't somewhat believe. You wouldn't be here this morning sitting in this Church if there wasn't some kernel of faith in your heart.

You know, as a parenthesis, I love the way the modern Greek translates this particular verse. The modern Greek says, "I believe. Help me, however." [GREEK] "Help me, however, because my faith is weak." It is in prayer and fasting in this wonderful Great Lenten journey that the Church gives us that we are going to strengthen our faith, my brothers and sisters. It is in this prayer and fasting of this Great Lenten season that we're going to learn that we don't always have to follow the ways of the world to put our children and our families on a sure foundation for the future. God is our foundation.

Just as one final reminder, St. Paul reminding us that God in his ultimate patience came and set up a covenant for us. He made an oath because he knew that we were weak. St. Paul says, "Thus, God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise," that's us, "the immutability of his council, confirmed by an oath that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope," St. Paul says, "we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, in which enters the presence behind the veil where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus having become high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek."

The Lord has given us a promise, my brothers and sisters, and He doesn't go back on His promises. The promise is that He is going to bring us with Him to heaven. That is our hope. Our hope is not in a college education or in a good job or a sizable estate to hand down to our children. That is not our hope. That is the hope of the world. As St. John of the Ladder writes, In just step one, on the renunciation of the world. We cannot climb up to heaven until we're willing to leave all of these things beside.  Through prayer and fasting, we can accomplish just that and we can cast that demon out of our life and be raised with Christ into heaven.

That's our call this week, my brothers and sisters. In your daily prayers, throughout the day at noon every moment on your lips should be the words, this week, "I believe, Lord. Help my unbelief." God has already promised to strengthen that belief through prayer and fasting, which is our Great Lenten journey. Glory to God for all things.

Well, I'm back and I hope this video was an inspiration to you. I hope it helps you live a new life in Christ. Please share our message of hope with your friends and family and invite others to live a new life in Christ. Find more information about Be Transfigured Ministries by joining us on our website at LiveANewLifeInChrist.org. You can also find many of our videos on the Orthodox Christian Network, our partners at myocn.net. As we say at Be Transfigured, until next week, God bless you and don't forget to live a new life in Christ.

Be Transfigured is a production of the Transfiguration of Our Savior Greek Orthodox Church in Florence, South Carolina and presented by the Orthodox Christian Network. Contributions in support of this ministry may be sent to Be Transfigured, 2990 S Cashua Dr, Florence, South Carolina 29501 or online at our website at www.LiveANewLifeInChrist.org.

You Don’t Have to Leave

There are two weeks left of Great Lent, and yesterday the Church reminded us, through the commemoration of Saint John of the Ladder, that the first step of journey in our climb to heaven is our need to renounce the world. In the next two weeks, as you prepare for Holy Week, take a few moments to consider how you renounce the world every day.

As Christians we often say we live in the world but are not of the world. The reason we are called ‘saints’ is to affirm the reality that our live is found not in or on the Earth but in heaven. Our hope and future rest in heaven. Yesterday Saint Paul reminded us, “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6.19-20)

Our Great Lenten journey has been about shifting our hope from worldly desires to heaven. Your fasting and prayer will do much these next two weeks to assist you in your goal to renounce the world, but you don’t have to leave. Leaving would be an act of cowardice, but living in the world but not desiring the world is an act of courage.

It’s not my Age; It’s my Knees

Yesterday I was blessed to celebrate Divine Liturgy at the Paracletos Monastery located outside of Greenville, SC. Following Liturgy, as is part of the custom of most Greek Orthodox Monasteries, everyone is invited to the refectory for fellowship with the Abbess. Faithful bring appropriate refreshments (fasting recipes etc.) and everyone enjoys listening as the Abbess shares spiritual wisdom.

Since we are still in Great Lent, and this week has been focused on the Cross, the Abbess spoke with great inspiration on the importance of the ascetic life for Christians – the life of the Cross. Throughout the conversation, one topic the Abbess discussed was the important roll prostrations play in our Orthodox life. At the end of about an hour, an elderly woman of 99 years apologized, “All these other things I do, but I can’t do prostrations. Is that ok?” We chuckled as the woman walks with a cane and is physically quite frail. The Abbess said, “Prostrations are for the younger ones. At your age there are other things for you to do.” The woman said, “It isn’t my age; it’s my knees!” We laughed!

Today the Church commemorates Saint John of the Ladder, so named for the famous book he wrote titled, “The Ladder of Divine Ascent." The book is made up of 30 chapters (called rungs on the ladder) that lead to heaven. Step One is “On Renunciation of the World,” and is the beginning of our spiritual journey. We cannot climb to heaven unless we first desire to leave the world behind. This woman “got it” and inspired all of us today. With a cane in one hand and a smile she dared to be frustrated that she was unable to do prostrations.

So many of us half her age search for excuses to not offer prostrations to God in worship. We search for comfort and wealth. We seek the ‘easy way’ rather than the Cross. This old woman knew the important things in life. In her heart she was on her knees in front of God, somewhere we all to spend more time.

The Deaf Speak

Living in the South, I have become accustomed to hearing “testimonies” from complete strangers. This practice includes the habit of sharing what earthly blessing God has given. It may be healing, a new job, or sometimes even a reconciled relationship, but it ALWAYS includes a feeling of worthiness that God has chosen to pour out His blessings. In actuality, this custom is nothing new.

In today’s Gospel lesson we hear of another healing by God followed by a testimony...

At that time, Jesus returned from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of Dekapolis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they besought him to lay his hand upon him. And taking him aside from the multitude privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue; and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And he charged them to tell no one; but the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well: he even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak." (Mark 7:31-37)

Faced with the complete awe of being healed by God, this man could never conceal his praise for God, even though God had commanded him to remain silent. It begs the question. If God has done something wonderful in your life, why don’t you share a testimony with others? So many of us go through life totally silent to the blessings that God has given to us, I often wonder if anyone even feels His blessings at all.

If you have been wondering what blessings God HAS done for you, take a moment today and contemplate how you have been healed or experienced some sort of blessing from God. Then follow that up with sharing your thanks to God by calling a friend and sharing what God has done for you. Sometimes we just need to be reminded how God does indeed work in our lives. Maybe your call will inspire someone to reflect upon how God has blessed them.

Then invite them to Church to share along with you in thanking God for His blessings. The crowd responded to the man who had been healed by proclaiming, “He has done all things well,” and many more believed in God. Testimonies can be contagious when the deaf speak.

How Much do you Trust God?

What if God were to call you this afternoon as tell you take your family and move to another city? He doesn’t tell you why, and He doesn’t allow you any time to debate with Him. You either accept His commandment or not. It’s  your choice, but you will ONLY receive His blessing IF you accept, without hesitation, His commandment to pick up and move. And to top it off, you are an old man, and had to take your nephew along with you and ALL your possessions. The only hint of protection is that He will curse anyone who curses you. This is exactly what happens in today’s reading from Genesis.

Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.  And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves."   So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.  And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions which they had gathered, and the persons that they had gotten in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.  Then the LORD appeared to Abram, and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. (Genesis 12:1-7)

Fortunately for us, God rarely speaks with such force nowadays. Chances are you won’t be called by God in the middle of the night to get out of town, but you will be asked to trust that He knows what is best for you and your family. And fortunately for you He has given us His Church to guide us in the way He wants us to live. When you make the most of your Great Lenten journey, and allow the Church to guide you along the road of life, sometimes it even feels like you are moving to strange land.

The world you have become so comfortable in is filled with temptations and distractions that spending Great Lent without certain foods, attending Church services rather than going out with friends, giving charity to the poor rather than building up your bank account, can all begin to feel like God actually did send you to a foreign land. That’s because you were meant to live with God in paradise, but (if you remember the first and second week of Great Lent) you now live in this world struggling until you are ultimately reunited with God.

When Abram trusted God and took his family to another country, He was blessed to become the Father of many nations. We’ll learn more about how God rewarded Abram’s faith next week. Until then, ask yourself, “How much do you trust God?” 

Sweet to the soul

Do you desire God? This past Sunday, Jesus said, “Whoever DESIRES to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.“ (Mark 8.34) It is not by accident that Christ focuses upon our desires when He speaks of salvation. In creating human beings God grants to each one of us the complete and total FREE WILL. Then He invites us to follow Him and love Him. If He had not granted us free will, then our following Him would not be an act of love, but mere obedience. But God wants us to love Him.

Today’s reading from Proverbs begins, “A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul; but to turn away from evil is an abomination to fools.” (Proverbs 13.19) We have to be careful when we read this verse, because it would be too easy to immediately presume that ANYTHING we desire would be sweet to our soul. After all the verse doesn’t have a limitation to desire, except to extend the verse to include an inspiration to turn away from evil. Here is the complete reading from Proverbs:

A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul; but to turn away from evil is an abomination to fools.  He who walks with wise men becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.  Misfortune pursues sinners, but prosperity rewards the righteous.  A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.  The fallow ground of the poor yields much food, but it is swept away through injustice.  He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.  The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, but the belly of the wicked suffers want.  Wisdom builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down.  He who walks in uprightness fears the LORD, but he who is devious in his ways despises him.  The talk of a fool is a rod for his back, but the lips of the wise will preserve them.  Where there are no oxen, there is no grain; but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.  A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness breathes out lies.  A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain, but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding.  Proverbs 13:19-14:6)

When you consider the entire passage from today, you can appreciate the danger of picking just one verse and building an entire theology around that verse. But that is exactly what so many Christians in today’s world strive to accomplish. Today’s passage is definitely attempting to urge to holy living, which is we desire it, will be sweet to our soul.

That really is what Great Lent is about, desiring the holy life. With the Great Fast having such a huge focus during Great Lent, it helps to put into action the very warnings in today’s reading from Proverbs. If we desire to turn away from evil, if we desire to be wise, if we desire to be satisfied, if we desire abundance.....then we will seek the wisdom of God, but we can’t seek God’s wisdom so long as we are focused on pleasing ourselves.

Take a moment today and reflect on how you have been focusing on your own desires rather than the desire of God. Then take a good look in the mirror and say to yourself, “I desire God. I will deny myself and follow Him to the Cross.” Great Lent is a journey that must be desired if it is to have any benefit. But if you desire it, it will be sweet to your soul.

Preparing for Illumination

If you are paying close attention during the Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts this evening, you are going to notice something different. For the past few weeks, the Litany for the Catechumens included prayers for their continued learning and growth in the faith. Normally, the Litany for the Catechumens includes the following petitions:

• Catechumens, pray to the Lord.
•  Let us, the faithful, pray for the catechumens.
•  That the Lord will have mercy on them.
•  That He will teach them the word of truth.
•  That He will reveal to them the gospel of righteousness.
•  That He will unite them to His holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
•  Save them, have mercy on them, help them, and protect them, O God, by Your grace.
•  Catechumens, bow your heads to the Lord.

Beginning THIS week, the Church adds additional petitions.  As we approach Great and Holy Pascha, the day of baptism for the Catechumens, the Church includes ADDITIONAL petitions.

• All catechumens depart. Catechumens depart. All who are ready for illumination come forward. Pray all of you who are preparing for illumination. Let us pray to the Lord.
•  Let us the faithful pray to the Lord for our brethren who are preparing for holy illumination and for their salvation.
•  That the Lord our God establish and strengthen them, let us pray to the Lord.
•  That He illumine them with the light of knowledge and piety, let us pray to the Lord.
•  That He may make them worthy in due time of the baptism of regeneration, the remissions of sins, and the robe of incorruption, let us pray to the Lord.
•  That He may regenerate them with water and the Spirit, let us pray to the Lord.
•  That He may grant them the perfection of faith, let us pray to the Lord.
•  That He may number them among His holy and chosen flock, let us pray to the Lord.
•  Those who are preparing for illumination, bow Your heads to the Lord.

It is a good reminder of that our Great Lenten Journey is about preparation for Pascha, and at least in the ancient Church, for Baptism. For those who are already Baptized, it is still more than just preparation for Pascha; it is a period of rededication and recommitment to Christ and His Church. It is for our continual illumination and unification with the Church of Christ. Let’s make the most of it. This week the Church begins to turn up the intensity of our spiritual struggle. Don’t give up, remember the Cross, and if you remain steadfast (see the past couple days) you will be prepared for illumination by Christ and your Pascha candle will shine for all eternity.

God’s Promise

When God makes a promise, you can count on it always being true! In today’s reading from Genesis, we hear God establish His eternal promise that He will never again destroy the Earth with a flood. He sealed His promise with a rainbow as a sign in the sky. When we hear the word “sign” in this context we have to understand what it means for our understanding of Scripture. “It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.” (Genesis 9.14-15)

When God gives us a sign, it serves to remind us of a promise that God has made, in this case, the promise that God would never again destroy the Earth with a flood. I once heard someone dismiss the rainbow as a sign from God by describing the scientific truth of how light is refracted and breaks into different colors. Unfortunately the person was unable to separate science from faith. It is true that rainbows are refracted light, but science is limited in its abilities. If you consider that rainbows are only visible after a rain storm, it seems completely feasible that we can be reminded of God’s promise.

There is no need to experience faith in conflict with science, just because we can understand how nature functions. It also doesn’t mean that God’s has not both made the promise AND created the rainbow. The rainbow doesn’t cause the rain to stop. It merely reminds us of God’s promise never to destroy the earth with a flood. So far God hasn’t destroyed the earth with a flood, because when God makes a promise, you can count on it always being true!

Suffering is Real

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

Hello. My name is Father Athanasios Haros and I'm the Pastor here at the Transfiguration of Our Savior Greek Orthodox Church in Florence, South Carolina. I'm your host for Be Transfigured Ministries. Here at Be Transfigured, as we say, we invite you to live a new life in Christ. We feature our sermons and our bible studies and other special events in the life of the Church. We do it to inspire you to join us living a new life in Christ. I hope you'll enjoy this. I'll be back in a moment after this video to share some information about our ministry.

As a priest, you can imagine I have the distinct opportunity of witnessing a lot of suffering in life. As a priest of the Church, as a priest of God, I have a unique opportunity of sharing in the suffering and grief and struggle of our families. Sometimes even of complete strangers who know I'm a priest. When they're struggling with something, they might even see me on the street corner or in one of our restaurants and stop me and share with me a particular struggle that they're having. It is a opportunity for me and I would even say it is a blessing that I have.

Unfortunately, in our world today there is a trend, a tendency in our society to try and pretend that we could somehow in life eliminate suffering. That somehow it is possible to go through life and never suffer. There are entire movements in our society. One that comes to mind that has gotten a lot of attention lately, we used to call it suicide, but now they call the right to die movement. If you remember, there was this big, public awareness of this particular woman in Oregon who having been diagnosed with cancer decided she didn't want to suffer, nor did she want her family to suffer, so she decided to kill herself instead.

This is a tragedy in our society because all of us know we cannot avoid suffering. It is real. It is painful. There are so many ways that we suffer. As human beings, some of us suffer physical ailments. Some of us suffer emotionally. Some of us struggle because of a job situation. Some of us struggle because of a strained family situation or a friend situation. Some of us have mental situations that we're struggling with in our mind. Each and every one of us is struggling with something today, right here and right now.

That's why I believe, my brothers and sisters, it is such an opportunity and a blessing when I am blessed to be able to share that suffering with all of you because in our suffering we grow stronger. In our suffering we tend to draw closer to each other as a family, but most importantly, we tend to grow closer to God when we struggle and when we suffer. It is a great blessing for me to be allowed to share that with all of you.

The reason I think it is a tragedy in our society, because if we try to avoid suffering, we quite honestly are simply avoiding our human reality and we try to escape life which is what this women in Oregon chose to do. She decided to escape life, instead of as the Church teaches and as Christ invites us in this morning's Gospel to welcome our struggling and to welcome our suffering.

Our Lord this morning says, "He who desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospels will save it." If we go through life, my brothers and sisters, trying to eliminate every possible suffering, trying to avoid every struggle in our life, we will lose what life really has to offer. That is the opportunity to grow closer to God.

As I have grown these last several years, I have come to appreciate when St. Paul said that he was thankful for the thorn in his side. As in my own life, I have realized that the more I understand my own struggle in life, the more I understand the things that I suffer with, the more patient I am with everybody else. The more mercy I tend to have on other people. The less frustrated I get, the less angry I get because I realize if I am struggling and the way that I am struggling, the more I understand that the more that I understand that everyone is struggling and everyone is suffering. It actually gives me the ability in any little way that I have to offer to offer the grace and mercy of God. This is why St. Paul reminds us that we have a High Priest who can sympathize with our weakness. In all its points He was tempted as we are, yet without sin.

When Christ, my brothers and sisters, invites up to embrace our suffering when he says, "Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me." He literally means to follow Him in understanding each other's pain and suffering. That is how we're going to be able to live the love that Christ has to offer us. If we go through life always turning the page and wanting to avoid our suffering and wanting to avoid our struggle and wanting to pretend that we can somehow make everything always wonderful and rosy, we will go through life focused only on ourselves. We will not be able to see each other. We will not be able to feel each other's pain. As we heard last week in the gospel with the paralytic, we will not as friends be able to lift each other up when necessary, if we are so focused on trying to pretend that we can go through life without a struggle.

Our Gospel this morning, my brothers and sister, halfway through Great Lent is reminding us what our Lenten journey is all about. It is to help us train ourselves to embrace the struggle of life, to embrace the suffering of the cross. At the end of the Divine Liturgy we're going to take the Precious Cross and we're going to process it all the way around the Church as a reminder of our destination of Great Lent. We're going to join Jesus Christ at the Cross on Holy Thursday and Holy Friday. That is why we are engaged in this Lenten journey. Not simply because out of custom, but because we want to follow God.

The only way we can follow God, my brothers and sisters, is to embrace our struggle and to embrace our suffering. The Cross of Christ is a reminder that God has reversed death. God has taken the reality of suffering and he has made it life giving. Only we Christians can fully understand that reality of God. This is why we as Orthodox Christians always maintain a Cross of Christ in our Church to remind ourselves that the instrument that used to mean death now means life.

Unfortunately for many of us brothers and sisters in other Christian traditions, many don't even have a cross in their Church. If they do have a cross, it is never the cross that includes Christ crucified as we have our Stavromeno behind the Altar. Because so many of our brothers and sisters go through life trying to pretend that there is no suffering. But life only comes when we decide to give our life up for Christ. Our Lord says, "He who desires to save his life will lose it. He who loses his life for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it." This is the message of our Great Lenten journey. The Church has offered us this fine tuned way of life. 2,000 years tried and tested by holy men and women of the Church; life of fasting.

If you have not embraced the fast yet, my brothers and sisters, I invite you embrace the fast beginning today. Take as much of the fast into your life as you are able. If you need help, talk to me and I'll help you set up some kind of a fasting situation for you. But in the fasting of our Great Lenten journey is how we learn to embrace our struggle.

I was in Atlanta this past weekend, as you know and we had a beautiful meal. Completely Lenten, it was delicious, but I really would have liked a hamburger. I have to tell you. I really would have liked a hamburger. In that moment, I was reminded Great Lent is not about me. Now, I have to be honest, you can look at me, I'm not suffering from food deprivation here, but I have come to appreciate even in the struggle of searching for the recipe. Even in the struggle, especially because I was out of town, trying to find a restaurant to eat that had some kind of a menu that supported fasting. Admittedly, it was a small struggle. Okay, we found a place. It was the health food place. They had hummus and they had wraps and things like that, but we had to go searching for a place. We had to decide that maintaining the fast was important enough for our life that we wanted to go out of our way. It would have been much easier to drive to the McDonald's which was right next to the hotel and get a hamburger, but we didn't.

In those small ways, my brothers and sisters, is how we learn to embrace the struggle that God has given us. I'm here to tell you if we cannot learn to avoid a hamburger, there is no way we're going to be able to avoid the other sinful temptations that are coming our way. The Church knows what the Church is doing. The Church has been guided by the Holy Spirit these 2,000 years. As St. Paul reminds us, our High Priest, Christ, who gave us this way of life, he knows how it feels to suffer. He knows what it is to be hungry for 40 days. But he also knows the benefit in that struggle. The opportunity for us to spend a few weeks where our relationship with God is more important than our own comforts and our own desires.

Halfway through Great Lent, the Church reminds us don't stop now, don't give up. The destination now is in sight. It's like all those road trips I used to take as a young man. You get on the highway, you start driving and you see the sign. I used to drive many times from Denver to Kansas City. It's about 550 miles. You leave the city of Denver and one of the first things you see is Kansas City 500 miles. As you're going, eventually you see a sign that says, Kansas City 100 miles. It's no accident that the highways does it to remind us where our destination is and to remind us, don't worry, you're going to get there.

In that same way, the Church lifts up the Cross today. Like that sign post on the highway, you're halfway there. The destination is in sight. Don't pull off now, don't give up now. Dedicate yourself to making it to the end of the journey to embrace Christ and follow him and to join him at his Cross on Holy Thursday and Holy Friday. That is the great blessing that is offered today. We'll sing, “Your Cross, your precious cross, O Master, we venerate and we glorify Your Holy Resurrection.” In our struggle is life. There's life in the Cross. There's life in the way of life for the Church. If we want to follow Him. "Whoever desires to follow Me," Christ says. It's up to us to join Him at the Cross. Glory the God for all things.

I'm back. I hope this video was an inspiration to you. I hope it helps you live a new life in Christ. Please, share our message of hope with your friends and family and invite others to live a new life in Christ. Find more information about Be Transfigured Ministries by joining us on our website at liveanewlifeinchrist.org. You can also find many of our videos at the Orthodox Christian Network, our partners at myocn.net. As we say at Be Transfigured, until next week, God bless you and don't forget to live a new life in Christ.

Be Transfigured is a production of the Transfiguration of Our Savior Greek Orthodox Church in Florence, South Carolina and presented by the Orthodox Christian Network. Contributions in support of this ministry may be sent to:

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or online at our website at www.liveanewlifeinchrist.org.

Be Steadfast in Great Lent

The fourth week of Great Lent starts off with advice for to remain steadfast. “He who is steadfast in righteousness will live, but he who pursues evil will die.” (Proverbs 11.19) It has been a long three weeks, but with the Veneration of the Holy Cross yesterday recalling our need to embrace the struggle of Great Lent and meet our Lord at the Cross, today we begin another week of intense prayer, fasting and almsgiving to defeat evil in our lives.

Last week I suggested making an appointment for Holy Confession. I pray you took advantage of your Spiritual Father and offered your confession. This week I would like to encourage you to seek out a ministry in your Church, or better, in your town or city, where you can serve other people in some sort of charity. Today’s reading in Proverbs also reminds us, “One man gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.” (Proverbs 11.24) We grow closer to our Lord, richer in blessings from God, when we serve and give to others.

As you contemplate the second half of Great Lent, now that you have, more or less, perfected the fasting part of your journey, move it to the next level and add charity into the mix. Attend the Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts, Great Compline, and any other services you can attend in the Church, but don’t neglect serving others with charity. Great Lent is a journey of prayer, fasting, AND almsgiving. Without any one of these, you won’t have the full benefit.

Next Stop; The Cross

Beginning today you are going to notice a change this week in the way the Church keeps Great Lent. Today is the mid-point (Sunday wise) of Great Lent and the Church lifts up the Holy and Precious Cross of Our Lord as a reminder of our destination. Much in the same way as a cross-country road trip, as we approach our destination, we are offered road signs that help us keep focused. Without them, we might lose hope that we will ever reach our destination.

Today’s Gospel is from Mark 8.34-9.1 -  “The Lord said: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power."

There are two main points I wish for you to understand about the Holy Cross and your Great Lenten journey. First, it is voluntary. Christ didn’t say, “Hey, get behind me,” but, “If anyone wishes to come after me.” Second, it is about placing heaven as more important than this world. “For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?”

Great Lent is a voluntary journey for someone who desires to follow Christ into Heaven, and the Church has developed this season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to remind us that if we are in a battle between the passions of this life and the glory of the next. That’s where the Cross comes in to play. Besides being the vehicle of Christ’s Holy Passion and therefore gives us life, the Cross becomes our vehicle for choosing Christ.

When we deny ourselves as expressed in our fasting from passions, we voluntarily join ourselves to Christ and dedicate our souls to His way of life. When we take up our cross, expressed in our Great Lenten journey to struggle against worldly things by helping the poor and attending more Church services, we voluntarily follow Christ into heaven.

Great Lent has been a struggle to keep the past three weeks. You may have even broken the fast or missed Church a few times, or more. That’s ok, because you still have three weeks ahead to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Christ. It won’t be easy, but it is worth it.....Next stop....the Cross!

You Reached the Half-Way Point

CONGRATULATIONS! Today marks the half-way point of Great Lent – Day 20! It might seem strange, but although Great Lent is forty days long, and today is day twenty, Holy and Great Pascha is May 1^st which is still 29 days from today. Wait a minute……is something wrong with my calculator or this one of the “calendar issues” that we talk about? Neither.

Great Lent is forty days of prayer and fasting in preparation to for Pascha. But there is something between Great Lent and Pascha, namely the Feasts of Lazarus and Palm Sunday, and Holy Week. Holy Week is a separate season on the Church calendar which I will speak more about during Holy Week. In the meantime, focus on prayer, fasting, almsgiving, Holy confession, and the worship of God; and your journey will be blessed by God.

Sometimes we have to fight the temptation to constantly look ahead at the celebration, lest we forget the work and dedication that is necessary for us to get through Great Lent. Today is a day, like last weekend, we eat oil and wine. Tomorrow is the Veneration of the Holy, Precious and Life Giving Cross to remind us that, though we are half-way along our journey, the Cross is our ultimate goal.

Have a blessed Lent

An Offering of Thanks

Yesterday I mentioned how we give thanks to God, and today we read in Genesis the example of how best we can offer our thanks to God. “Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.” (Genesis 8.20) You have arrived at the end of another week of Great Lent and you should be thankful. God has preserved you in your fast and prayers. You may have had a moment of weakness. You may have had many moments of weakness, but God has still chosen to preserve you in your struggle.

Imagine how Noah might have struggled for so long a time in the Ark. Then even though the Ark had set ground, he still could not exit the Ark until God had given him permission. FINALLY, God told Noah to exit and the first thing he did was to build and altar to God and make an offering to Him.

This weekend will by our chance to attend Church for the Divine Liturgy and make an offering to Him, both financial and spiritual, as an expression of thanks that He has preserved you this long in the Fast. Even if you haven’t had a perfect Great Lenten journey this far, you are still able to repent and rededicate your life to Him. It isn’t too late to turn your life around. You may still feel a few waves crashing against you, but rest comforted knowing that you have chosen to enter into the Ark of Salvation and give thanks to God.

We Need the Church

As human beings we sometimes feel paralyzed without help. We
sometimes feel we can’t possibly reach Christ. At that moment it helps to
always remember we have the Church to help us. Just as the paralytic whose
friends lifted him over the wall so he could reach Christ (Mark 2.1-12), the
members of the Church have been given to us to help us in those moments we can’t
do it alone. If the paralytic had been alone, he would have remained outside
the house and never reached Christ. We can’t reach Christ without the Church,
as we profess in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. We believe in One Holy
Catholic and Apostolic CHURCH, and just as the paralytic needed his friends, we
need the Church.

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

Hello. My name is Father Athanasios Haros. I'm the pastor here at the Transfiguration of Our Savior Greek Orthodox Church in Florence, South Carolina and I'm your host for Be Transfigured Ministries. Here at Be Transfigured, as we say, "We invite you to live a new life in Christ." We feature our sermons, and our Bible studies, and other special events in the life of the Church. We do it to inspire you to join us living a new life in Christ. I hope you'll join us. I'll be back in a moment after this video to share some information about our ministry.

When I was in eighth grade my Sunday school teacher asked me a question, asked all of us there in the class. She said, if you were on an airplane and the pilot was on the recording there saying that you were about to crash, what would you be thinking about? We were in eighth grade. We're going to miss our mom, we're going to do this, we're going to do that. She said, I want you to always know, if you're in any situation like that, that somewhere in the world, there is an Orthodox Christian praying for you. I have never forgotten that because as I grew older and understood time zones, and realizing just for very practical things, there is at least one Church or monastery in every time zone of the world.

Which means we're celebrating the Liturgy, we just read the Gospel. Now, in an hour, there's a whole other series of Churches in the entire world that will begin the Divine Liturgy and read the Gospel, the same Gospel that we just read. Will pray for travelers. It was a comfort to me, even though I was only in eighth grade, to know that because I was part of this global Church, untied in some mystical way ... I have to admit as an eighth grader, I had no clue how we were connected. I'm still not quite sure I understand it. I was comforted knowing that I had someone praying for me somewhere in the world at that moment. That is the incredible benefit that God has given us in His Church.

In this morning’s Gospel, we hear a perfect example of it. Here is this paralytic. Christ is teaching in this house, and it is so filled with people listening, you can't even get in the door. This paralytic is being brought by his friends and they can't get in. If it wasn't for his friends, first of all, he wouldn't have been there to begin with. Second of all, if it wasn't for his friends, and he had arrived at the house whether he had dragged himself or however he would have gotten there, he would have been stuck remaining outside the door. His friends didn't give up hope in him. His friends climbed up on to the roof. Tore a hole in the roof, lifted him up over the walls, down through the hole, and placed him right in front of God.

What did the Lord say? It says in the Gospel, "Seeing their faith." Christ knew that he wouldn't have been there if it were not for those four friends. He says, "Your faith has made you well." We need the Church. We can't do it alone, or we're going to be stuck outside the doors. When you need it, when you need that extra boost, you're not going to call the friends you go to the bars with, you're going to call your friends from Church. "Listen, I'm really having a tough time today. I'm really finding it difficult to be motivated, to live like God wants me to live." Or the practical things. "John, it's Lent, but I've got nothing to eat but hamburgers." "Okay, I'll be right over, I got some soup, my mom just made it."

This is true. This is the great benefit that God has given us in His Church. Where we are paralyzed in our weakness like this paralytic. Our friends are strong enough to lift us up, and the serious things too. Sitting in your dorm room, it's finals, it's been a long semester. You're not quite sure if you can really make it to the end. Mentally your spent. Emotionally, you haven't slept in four days. Not only are you panicking about the exam, but Yiayia calls and says, "Don't forget to go to Church on Sunday." How am I going to get to Church? I have all this stuff to do. Thank God for OCF. Thank God that you have a group of people on your campus, at least most of you do, who you can call and say, "I can't do it, I need help." "I'll come pick you up, we'll go to Church."Don't ever sell each other short.

When we say in the Nicene Creed that we believe in one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, we believe very specifically that the Church helps us be saved. Not the brick and mortar Church, although that has blessings too. But the people of God, that my Sunday school teacher way back when tried to help me understand. Some Matushka, somewhere some Staretz, somewhere some Geronda to somewhere praying for me because I have maybe no one to pray for me. I might feel I'm all alone. You may feel sometimes you have no one. I want you to remember in those moments, you have me, and you have the Bishop, and you have each other praying for you so you don't get left outside the door in your paralysis, in your sins, in your struggles. Then Christ will say, "Get up. Rise and take up your bed and walk." We'll know that it was because of our friends at Church, not on the football team that helped get us there.

We have been mystically in our baptism united to each other. One to each other, and to Christ. Christ lifts us up, He gives us the Church, and sometimes our friends have to put us up over the wall inside the house. Don't ever forget that in your lives. I have never forgotten and I promise you, that in those moments when I didn't think it was going to make any sense, I remembered the words of my Sunday school teacher. I have thanked her multiple times since then. She said to me, "I said that, really?" A very holy woman. She's still alive. A very holy woman. You're not alone. We have Christ in each other and the Church. Glory to God for all things.

Well I'm back and I hope this video was an inspiration to you. I hope it helps you live a new life in Christ. Please share our message of hope with your friends and family, and invite others to live a new life in Christ. Find more information about Be Transfigured Ministries by joining us on our website at liveanewlifeinchrist.org. You can also find many of our videos on the Orthodox Christian Network, our partners at myocn.net. As we say at Be Transfigured, until next week, God bless you, and don't forget to live a new life in Christ.

Be Transfigured is a production of the Transfiguration of Our Savior, Greek Orthodox Church in Florence, South Carolina and presented by the Orthodox Christian Network. Contributions and support of this ministry may be sent to, Be Transfigured, 2990 South Cashua Drive, Florence, South Carolina, 29501, or online at our website at www.liveanewlifeinchrist.org.

The Lord God is my Strength and my Song

You will say in that day: "I will give thanks to thee, O LORD, for though thou wast angry with me, thy anger turned away, and thou didst comfort me. "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation." Isaiah 12.1-2

Words of comfort can come from God at any moment, and in any form. Today’s words from the Prophet Isaiah finish with these words of hope and gratitude that God has not held our sins against us. As we approach the end of our third week of Great Lent, it is good to remind us that our sins have not been held against us.  God has come to save us. His Cross, which we will celebrate this coming Sunday, has brought life to the world. We can trust God and know that He will save us.

I can’t help but share my thoughts about how we share our gratitude to God for not holding our sins against us. Too many in our modern world understand God’s mercy as free license to continue a life of sin, not even attempting a life of holiness. Too many in our modern world understand God’s unfailing love as license to ignore repentance. “If God is going to love me no matter what, why should I change? God made me this way, and He loves me.”

If we were genuinely thankful for God’s mercy, then we should live a life of continual repentance. While it might be impossible for us to live without sin, that should not be considered permission to stop trying. We owe our dedication to God as thanks for His Cross. “The LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

The Ark of Salvation is the Church

Today’s Reading from Genesis 7.6-9 - Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark, to escape the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah.

Just when you think you are about to drown in the struggles of life, remember these few verses from today’s reading in Genesis. At the old age of six hundred, Noah and his family were taken into the Ark and saved from the flood. You may not be six hundred, but you WILL be taken into the Ark of Salvation and saved when you join yourself to Christ.

As we read the stories of the Old Testament, we must remember that God, since that moment when Eve ate the fruit, was been preparing the world to receive the Savior Christ. Stories such as the Great Flood remind us that as human beings we tend toward sin and death, but God never forgets us.

The Church is the Ark of Salvation and when we join the Church, we join Christ and enter into His Ark to be saved from the flood of death that surrounds us. Noah and his family floated for many days on the waters until they subsided. Likewise we will float for many days until the waters subside and we enter into God’s Kingdom.

This is an appropriate image to hold during Great Lent, when our fasting and increased prayer, worship, and almsgiving attract the attention of the devil who continually sends waves of struggle against our life. The waves won’t last forever. Noah eventually set his feet on dry ground, and you will eventually set your feet in heaven.

Great Lent is about Wisdom

Today’s Reading from Proverbs 8.32-9.11 - And now, my sons, listen to me: happy are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. Happy is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For he who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD; but he who misses me injures himself; all who hate me love death." Wisdom has built her house, she has set up her seven pillars. She has slaughtered her beasts, she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table. She has sent out her maids to call from the highest places in the town, "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!" To him who is without sense she says, "Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave simpleness, and live, and walk in the way of insight." He who corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man and he will increase in learning. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.

When we hear the teachings of God we might be taken by the boldness of His words. We are happy only when we keep His ways and listen to Him. When we watch for Him we find life. As we approach the half-way point of Great Lent, it is good to be reminded that there are two ways of life, one of God and the other of death. Christ said, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.” (Mark 8.35)

This coming Sunday we will celebrate the Veneration of the Holy Cross, a symbol of death that represents life. Great Lent is about dying to the world so we can life in Christ. It is about increasing in the wisdom of God. But don’t give up now; you’re almost halfway through the fast. This is week three of our annual growth in the wisdom of God.

The Grace in Orthodox Worship

While at a retreat for college students this past weekend, I witnessed the power and grace of Orthodox Worship. Following the service of the Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos (sung the first five Fridays in Great Lent) a young woman approached to receive Holy Confession. She had an urgent look on her face, but we couldn’t go just then as the next activity for the retreat was about to begin. Calmly (she REALLY wanted to confess right then!) I told her we could go as soon as this activity was completed. She agreed.

As promised, as soon as the activity was completed, we went into the Chapel for her confession. Of course I can’t and won’t tell you what she confessed, but that isn’t really what is important for this particular blog post. You see the woman isn’t even Orthodox. In fact she hasn’t been to Church ANYWHERE for more than three years. Her friend, who is Orthodox, invited her to attend this weekend retreat for college students, so she came not know what to expect.

Anyone who has been Orthodox Christian since birth cannot truly appreciate what this young woman experienced. Orthodox worship can be overwhelming even for members of the Church. Incense, standing a long time (especially for the Akathist Hymn – the service is actually named “Non-Seated” for goodness sake), strange melodies, pictures of unknown people on the wall, people kissing this strange pictures; you get the picture. Nothing about this young woman’s first Orthodox worship experience was familiar to her.

But there she was, face to face with Orthodox Christian worship and the Holy Icon of the All Holy Mother of God, and she was moved (I suspect) forever, at least enough that she felt the need to confess right then and there. Looking back, I think it must have been similar to the stories in the Holy Scriptures. “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’... Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” (Acts 2.37, 41)

This young woman didn’t ask for Holy Baptism. I doubt I would have consented if she did, at these in the middle of a retreat, but I am confident the Holy Spirit spoke to her heart. For that I am thankful and personally strengthened. The power of our worship is something we should never ignore. Do you have a friend like this young woman who hasn’t been to Church in years? Invite her to Church the next chance you get. The Holy Spirit might speak to her too, because there is grace in Orthodox worship.

By the way, since the young woman is not Orthodox Christian,  I listened to her confess to God, but was unable to offer the prayer of forgiveness as I am limited to only offering the prayer for Orthodox Christians.