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All Things Are Droplets of the Love of God

12/5/2021

 
We celebrated St. Prophyrious's feast day just a few days ago (December 2nd) and as we conclude another year, and a challenging year at that, I thought I would share some refreshing words from this wonderful saint.

'Take delight in all things that surround us. All things teach us and lead us to God. All things around us are droplets of the love of God — both things animate and inanimate, the plants and the animals, the birds and the mountains, the sea and the sunset and the starry sky. They are little loves through which we attain to the great Love that is Christ. Flowers, for example, have their own grace: they teach us with their fragrance and with their magnificence. They speak to us of the love of God. They scatter their fragrance and their beauty on sinners and on the righteous.

For a person to become a Christian he must have a poetic soul. He must become a poet. Christ does not wish insensitive souls in His company. A Christian, albeit only when he loves, is a poet and lives amid poetry. Poetic hearts embrace love and sense it deeply.

Make the most of beautiful moments. Beautiful moments predispose the soul to prayer; they make it refined, noble and poetic. Wake up in the morning to see the sun rising from out of the sea as a king robed in regal purple. When a lovely landscape, a picturesque chapel, or something beautiful inspires you, don’t leave things at that, but go beyond this to give glory for all beautiful things so that you experience Him who alone is comely in beauty. All things are holy — the sea, swimming and eating. Take delight in them all. All things enrich us, all lead us to the great Love, all lead us to Christ.'


May our loving Lord truly give us spiritual eyes to see Him in all things and give Him glory at all times.

In Christ,
Fr. Steve

Stewardship As Communion

11/9/2021

 
Kοινωνία [koinonia / koy-nohn-ee'-ah] and oἰκονόμος [economos] are the two Greek words for communion and steward. As with many Greek words, it is easy to reduce these words down to narrowly thinking they have a simple singular meaning. However, the reality is that these words have been used for thousands of years in conversations throughout the ages and across countless texts. To reduce both words down to only a simplistic definition is to limit the ability to see how they are closely related to each other and how central they are to our lives as Christians.

We typically don't think of stewardship and communion being related to one another as we may think of stewardship being something we do (e.g. giving money as a steward or managing our affairs) and communion as something we experience (e.g. communing through the Eucharist or having fellowship at fellowship hour). Yet if we look deeper, we can start to see how these two relate to each other.

First, we see that our stewardship enables communion. Practically speaking, if we weren't stewards of our local parish there wouldn't be a parish to come in contact with each other. Communion cannot occur without some sort of stewardship first, some form of offering of time, talent and treasure. If we didn't want to offer our time to make the effort to come to church, then we would remain islands, isolated from one another alone and estranged. If we didn't use our God given talents to cultivate ministries to be the hands and feet of Christ, then our community would have no life and leave the door of communion with each other shut. If we didn't offer a portion of our treasure to the church, we wouldn't have all the means to facilitate an environment to grow in love and communion with one another. Although obvious, it is a simple fact that without stewardship, communion is just not possible.

Pressing into this concept more deeply, we see that when God created the material world in Genesis, he gave a ministry to mankind to be stewards over all creation. This ministry of stewardship St. Peter talks about in his 1st epistle - 'But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people' (1st Peter 2:9). If we are all part of this royal priesthood, called to be stewards over all creation, we should ask ourselves what is the end goal of this vocation? Is it just to have more fish in the sea, to be able to have dogs do tricks, and to make sure that we have food each day from our crops? No, our stewardship exercised in the royal priesthood is to bring the creation into communion with each other and with the Trinitarian God. We are called to 'make of one's life a liturgy, a prayer, a doxology, to make of it a sacrament of perpetual communion' (Paul Evdokimov 'The Struggle with God'). Thus God has ordained all of humanity with this priestly role to be stewards in every aspect of our lives to usher into communion and union with Him.

As we reflect upon both the practical and theological connections between stewardship and communion, let us personally consider how we live our stewardship as a conduit of communion with one another. Let us consider St. Paul's words that 'God loves cheerful givers' because joy is the root of both stewardship and communion. When we practically live out our stewardship we are filled with joy because we see the fruit of communion that opens up. When we enter into the joy of communion, be it through the Eucharist or fellowship, it inspires us to stewardship, to build up the Church and help those in need, to expand joy beyond just ourselves.

May our loving Lord help us all to be faithful oἰκονόμος of our lives to bring the joyful fruit of kοινωνία into our lives, the lives of those around us, and to all the world.

In Christ,
​
Fr. Steve

Love and Freedom

9/28/2021

 
Last month Fr. Matthew in Beaverton wrote a wonderful reflection for the St. John's newsletter that I have been reflecting upon over the month. I thought I would share it with all of you as things in our world intensify and the world throws around love and freedom in ways that sometime differ from our Christian understanding of them. I pray that the reflection below helps us maintain the essential interdependence of love and freedom.

*********************
Dear Beloved in Christ,

Each liturgical year begins and ends with a feast of the Theotokos. Last month we celebrated her falling asleep (August 15). This month - as we begin the new year on September 1 - we celebrate her nativity (September 8). The entire story of our salvation through Jesus Christ is told within the lifespan of the Theotokos.

On the Annunciation, the Archangel Gabriel came to Mary and announced the good news of God's desire to save humanity through His Incarnation. Mary's final words to the angel were, "Let it be to me according to your word." (Luke 1:38) With these words, she united humanity with divinity. She became the Theotokos, and God became her Son by receiving human flesh from her.

The Panagia's assent restored humanity, which had been estranged from God through the choice of Adam and Eve. Thus she became the New Eve, the one who kept her will in union with God's will.

At the very core of our Faith is this same freedom and choice that each of us face: Do we unite ourselves with God's will, or do we choose to depart from Him? It is a choice that is made each and every day, many times throughout the day. If we love God and choose to be in harmony with the divine will, then we move toward life and immortality; if we do not and we choose the opposite, then the natural outcome is death and corruption.

We have complete freedom - a freedom is given to us by God, who does not compel or impose or demand. Orthodox Christianity has no requirements. All of the commandments of God, the teaching of Jesus, the canons of the Church, the writings of the Holy Fathers, the practices of the Faith, are not requirements. They are invitations. If we desire communion with the All-Good God, then we follow these; and the more that we follow them (in the right spirit), the more that we participate in divine grace, becoming sanctified. However we are free to reject the invitations. Jesus said, "He who would come after me, let him deny himself..." not "You must come after Me and you better deny yourself!"

God has given us absolute freedom because He desires our love - and love can only exist where there is freedom. Love cannot be coerced, demanded, or taken, or it ceases to be love. Anything that is called "love" but is imposed or is filled with expectations and demands is not love.

Imagine a church where the priest says, "Did you give your 10 percent?" or asks at the chalice, "When was your last confession and did you complete your communion prayers?" or demands to know exactly how each parishioner follows the fast. (We may know of denominations or religions like this...) You can see how essential freedom is, so that love can exist.

In our society today, we have many things that are called "love." People demand that we love them through this action or that allegiance. They tell us, "If you love me, then you will..." Yet the opposite is always implied: "You do not have love unless you do this," or "If you don't do this, then I will resent or hate you."
 
As Christians, we are to have no expectation of love from others. Regardless of whether others love us or not, we express our love outward toward others, with no expectation of reciprocity. It is foreign to our Faith that we would expect or demand actions from others for the sake of their "love" for us, or as a condition of our love for them. Our Lord has no expectations of love. He ceaselessly gives of Himself out of His love for us, irrespective of what we do or don't do for Him. He has no demands and He never coerces.

Love is a voluntary movement outward, and it can only exist where there is freedom - the freedom of a person to reject or accept the love. If it is love, it will bear the rejection or embrace the acceptance.

We cannot have expectations of others. When we do, we move out of the realm of love and into the realm of judgment or of coercion: Others don't do what we expect or demand, then we judge them or we try to make them change. Thus division is borne out of our own expectations. This is the way of the world, and it must be rejected. Let nothing come between the love that we have for one another! "Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2).

We live in a time when our Christianity is put to the test, when the limits of our love are put to the test - even by our own brothers and sisters in Christ. We must ask ourselves: Do I love as Christ loves? Or do I judge, putting myself above others? "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35).

The only path of the Christian is the path of Christ: self-sacrificial love that makes no demands and does not require love in return. Just as Christ loves us whether we hate Him or love Him, so likewise we must love others irrespective of how they feel about us or what they do to us.

May our parish community continue to emulate Christ in His self-sacrificial love, in a spirit of freedom rather than coercion. May we "judge not, lest we be judged and condemn not, lest we be condemned." (Luke 6:37) May we bear with one another in love, "endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph 4:1-3) having no expectations or demands of others.

In this community of love and of freedom we shall be sanctified!
*********************
In Christ,
Fr. Steve

A New Church Year, A Fresh Start

9/2/2021

 
A New Church Year, A Fresh StartOur Church, like our daily lives, is full of calendars and cycles. Just like our annual calendar has a distinctive start to the new year each January 1st, our ecclesiastical new year starts on September 1st each year. Historically, this was the time of harvest, preparations for the coming winter and the following year. It was a time of thankfulness for God's provisions for the previous year, seeing His sovereignty to enable us to complete another year, and entreat Him to bless this coming year.

As we look back at the past year, we may have a hard time finding our Lord with so many challenges and sufferings we, and our world, have experienced. Some of us have been thoroughly beat down by real hardships and illnesses, confused by information overload, or feeling like failures or guilty telling ourselves we should have done more. We may have stepped back from coming to church regularly to try to just survive.

As a priest of almost one year now, I share more in the struggles that all of you face and I lament with what you in your sorrows and trials. Yet despite all of pain and anguish we have all faced, here we stand, as a community of faithful Christians seeking Christ's will and His mercy. Through our small community and fellowship with one another we have been able to stay sane and be able to see glimpses of Christ through the darkness around us. Through the Divine Liturgy, we have been nourished by the True Life of Christ to experience something beyond this shadowy world. Through confession we have been able to pour out our sins, struggles, and fears to receive guidance and forgiveness.

With the coming of the new Church year, the Church offers us another blessing, a fresh start. A fresh start to reconnect with Christ, with one another and return to His Church regardless of what happened last year. Not to fulfil some religious obligation, not because the priest is telling you to, and not because it will magically make all our problems go away but because it is the one place where we can find Truth and Life. Amidst the shifting sands of our life and the chaos in the world, it is the only rock to cling to for stability. It is the place that welcomes all of us, no matter where we are, becoming a hospital for our torn souls. 

May we all take this blessed opportunity of a fresh start to come to the Lord with our fears and the tragedy in of lives. To put on the armor of light to stand with the Lord to face the new year in the ark of salvation, His Church; with each other, with the saints and Angels, and with our Holy Mother, the Theotokos.

In Christ,
Fr. Steve

The Tomb of the Theotokos

8/3/2021

 
In August each year we enter into a unique, 2 week period of fasting (8/1-8/14) and preparation to celebrate the dormition (the falling asleep) of Christ's mother, the holy Theotokos (8/15). The small Paraklesis service to the Theotokos is offered frequently during this 2 week period to supplicate the Theotokos for her prayers just as we would ask anyone else to pray for us. For some of who are newer to Orthodoxy, this is a feast that may seem unfamiliar to us and we may not be sure how to approach this beautiful and grace filled feast.

To help all of us learn and deepen our understanding of this beautiful feast day, I would like to invite everyone to come to a special presentation about this feast day and the tomb of the Theotokos. In 2018 I was blessed to be able to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and one of the holy sites we visited was the tomb of the Theotokos. I will be offering brief perspectives from historical, biblical, patristic, and liturgical viewpoints on this incredible feast along with walking you through pictures of the tomb of the Theotokos so you can get a glimpse into this incredible holy site.

The presentation will be offered on Wednesday, August 11th at ~6pm, after Paraklesis (the service starts at 5pm).

I hope everyone is able to attend so we can all learn and grow together!

In Christ,
​
Fr. Steve

The Centrality of the Divine Liturgy

6/22/2021

 
​How do we participate in the Divine Liturgy? This liturgy, the work of the people, is so rich many books are written about its depth of meaning and history. It has developed over the centuries into what we do today but with the same sense of otherworldliness. By God’s grace we ascend into the heavens. There is an action happening that we should become more and more aware of to aid us in our level of participation in it. In answering the question about how to participate in it, the first two steps might be attending the services as often as possible and paying attention, the latter sometimes being a challenge because of the “dirt” of the world we have on us when we enter.

If you were to attend a hockey match, your appreciation of the contest would depend on the degree to which you understand the rules and strategy of the game. Likewise, as we understand the action of the Diving Liturgy, we will enhance our participation and come to understand that the nave (the inside of the church where the laity stand) is not filled with observers only. The laity do not simply watch with their spiritual eyes the priest rise to the heavens with the angels accompanying him; no, they go with him to be with the Lord Who is serving the Liturgy as the Great High Priest.

This is key, but it is not the end of the story. There are specific things the laity does to take part in the Liturgy, the first being preparation. One should speak with one’s priest about how to prepare before receiving the Body and Blood of Christ. This is not a matter of reading a book about the Liturgy but includes some kind of prayerful preparation. If we fail on this aspect, we will be playing catch-up during the service and, similar to being at the hockey match, might miss the scoring of a goal.

During the Liturgy, there are various actions the laity can take part in. There are times when we cross ourselves out of reverence, to perhaps increase our attentiveness and promote inner sobriety. We thus place ourselves in a position of humility before the Almighty God Who has made this liturgical provision for us out of love and mercy. We can offer prayers for loved ones far or near. There are times to make a low bow if one is able out of humility. We should sing the responses with the choir; this should be done with reverence and listening, so as to follow the leader, so to speak, and not try to impress others near us with our beautiful voice or disrupt the beautiful flow of the service.

We can gradually learn the hymns by listening to the choir, singing softly with them so they can teach us. We recite certain parts of the Liturgy, such as the Trisagion Prayers, the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed. We read the pre-Communion Prayers with the chanter. Some use a prayer rope as a reminder to pay attention. The icons around the nave can also aid us in the same way.

Let us arrive on time, and hopefully for Orthros, out of respect for our Lord and Savior, Who at the perfect time allowed Himself to be crucified for us. Familiarity is very helpful. So regular attendance during all liturgical seasons should be our regimen. Reading the day’s Scripture readings, learning the hymns, and reciting the spoken parts as a community can be very enriching to our soul.

As we take part in the Diving Liturgy, we do just that. Each time, we move one Liturgy closer to eternity and take a nano-step toward becoming, by God’s grace, a restored image of the Creator.

In Christ,

Fr. Steve

What Does the Resurrection Mean To Us?

6/1/2021

 
In the story of the Paralytic we see Jesus performing a miracle, the paralytic sharing his healing with the Jews, Peter raising Tabitha from the dead and Tabitha’s good deeds all leading people to belief or potential belief in Christ.  People believed because of actions, of seeing the power of the Resurrection. We are supposed to be vessels, but that may not look the same from one person to another. How does this connect with the Resurrection? We have a question to ask ourselves.

What does the Resurrection mean to us? What is Pascha? The end of a long fast? The day to take a deep sigh of relief, throw some leaves around the church, eat different stuff, drink some wine 5 days a week instead of two? Come to church less often? What does the Resurrection mean to us? As little Christs, we enter into His Resurrection; we celebrate Him as Light and Life; and we look forward to our own resurrection. We are asked to BE. We are asked to DO. This is a life-giving combination.

Part of being a Christian is sharing the light of Christ with the world. This is important because each person is made in the image of God and has permanent eternal value. We share in the task of helping others to see their value in a relationship with God. How do we do that? No matter our actions in that regard, this can be said. If we are praying and in the process of knowing God, we will not be able to hide it; the light we gain from knowing Him will shine toward others and cast aside the darkness of the world in our little sphere. We don’t have to go out of our way, on a mission trip, become a priest or bishop, pass out tracts, preach from street corners. We will exude a sweet fragrance that others will want. People are always watching. If we are genuine, that is the best witness.

Even good deeds have a power of their own, but good deeds that flow from a profound sense of the love of God for oneself and those around us have the power of the Spirit of God. That acts of mercy must flow from a prayerful life is demonstrated by the fact that people seem easily swayed toward even heretical beliefs when they see good works being done on their behalf. It is a both/and world: works of mercy and kindness plus speaking the truth in love. To balance this, we also have the advice of the holy ones: “If they have not asked a question, don’t give them an answer.”

This is a good kind of pressure to have on us. We must be constrained to be ready to offer the good Gift to others by possessing the life of God by way of a life of prayer. We are behooved to know God and thus know who we are. Therein is a fountain of power, strength, the good knowledge, and ultimately HEALING, which is the heart of the Orthodox faith. Therein is the strength and power of gifts of mercy which should characterize us and will change the world around us.

To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

Fr. Ed

The Reality of the Resurrection

5/13/2021

 
Christ is Risen!

As we enter into this beautiful, bright, and joyful season of the Resurrection I think it is appropriate for us to stop and truly reflect on the reality of the Resurrection. It is tempting and easy to go back to 'normal' life after Holy Week and Pascha or to possibly have the 'Pascha blues' since we miss the intense spiritual struggle of Great Lent, Holy Week, and Pascha.

The reality of the Resurrection however doesn't mean that we 'backslide' in our spiritual life but that the Resurrection, and it's potency, becomes the new reality in which we live. We take courage in the Eternal Conqueror who has marked permanent victory over all evil, sin, death, and the devil, as well as whatever challenges are before us. We continue to press on in our faith knowing that the worst tragedies that we struggle with have ultimately been swallowed up by the Resurrection. This of course doesn't mean that we do not experience the sufferings and sorrows of life but that their reach is temporary. That despite the darkness and pain we experience here and now will end when we meet our Resurrected Lord.

To finish my reflection upon the reality of the Resurrection, I would like to share a beautiful except from one of my favorite little books which can be an ever present remembrance for us whenever we look at the icon of our parish, the icon of the Holy Resurrection: 

"The icon which depicts the Descent into Hades shows Christ already in glory as he voluntarily descends into the place of greatest darkness, into the place of the greatest separation. It is not called "the descent into hades", but "The Resurrection".

But what does all this mean today when the descent into Hades is an ever-present reality? It means, I believe, that God is now absent nowhere, in no situation. Even when men wish to exclude Him, God is still present. He is present crucified in all the evil of the world. This is the only answer to the mystery of evil.

What is God doing? He is crucified in all the horror of the world and yet, at the same time, he Resurrects us, offering us the power of the Resurrection, that powerful hand held out lays hold of us, not by the hand, because one can give or not give one's hand, but by the wrist. Christ's hand seizes Adam by the wrist, seizes Eve by the wrist in that extraordinary meeting of the two Adams, the first and the last.

That hand is always there, in the darkest of shadows. We must understand that the Christian God, the God to whom I wish to bear witness, is not some sort of celestial potentate who crushes us. As St. Paul says in the epistle to the Philippians, God has 'emptied Himself'. He has destroyed Himself out of love for us. He has emptied Himself, has poured Himself out unto death, even the death of the cross. That God should open Himself in order to make us enter into Him, that is the mystery of the Descent into Hades.

…He descends into the lowest place imaginable, into the deepest darkness in existence in order to destroy the power of darkness and the abode of demonic forces."

From the book 'No Matter How Deep the Darkness, He Descends Deeper Still' by Fr. Anthony Coniaris

Journey To Pascha

4/6/2021

 
Desiring to commune with the Divine Pascha...let us pursue victory over the devil through fasting (hymn from clean week).

"From the middle of Lent, the Sunday of the Cross, we begin to see our journey's end, and the radiant feast of the Resurrection comes into view. Lent is a journey to Pascha. It is thus a season of joyful expectation. If we take Lent seriously, the journey is arduous, but this makes Pascha all the more radiant and joyful. But throughout Lent, we are never allowed to forget the Resurrection which fills all things, all ascetic labors, all solemnity, sorrow, and contrition, with gladness and brightness. 

It would be a mistake to think of the sacrifices of Lent in purely negative terms - in terms of struggle and deprivation. We are to think of Lent as liberation. Lent calls us to sacrifice many of those things which, while they tend to occupy such a central position in our lives, while they seem to us to be so important, are in reality things we can do without. Lent is thus the rediscovery of that which is most essential in our lives. In this rediscovery, we return to God and to the very meaning of life.

Thus, having stripped ourselves of all that is pretty and futile, having cast off the burdensome baggage of our worldly and often complex lifestyles, we can truly experience Lent as liberation and purification, as the necessary, fruitful, and wonderful journey to the joy of Pascha."

From the Book 'Meditations for Great Lent' - Vassilios Papvassiliou

In Christ,

​Fr. Steve

Let Us Begin with Joy

4/6/2021

 
This month we enter the spiritual arena of Great Lent. It is tempting to greet this incredible season of grace with sadness or annoyance because of all the 'rules' we have to follow. We feel like we can't eat things we want to eat, we have to go to more services, we have to do more prayers, and so on. The truth of the matter is that rather than following 'rules' we are invited to elevate our perspective on life in general. We are invited to look beyond the temporary and look to the eternal. What we find in this perspective, is that we actually find a joy that far exceeds how much we like eating hamburgers or binging TV shows. We find the actual joy of our Lord.

Fr. Thomas Hopko, of blessed memory, wrote a wonderful book called 'The Lenten Spring'. In the second chapter he expresses how the essence of Great Lent is to be filled with Christ's joy. Here are a few excerpts that underscore this reality:

Let us enter the Fast with joy, O faithful.
Let us not be sad.
Let us cleanse our faces with the waters of dispassion, blessing and exalting Christ forever.
Let us begin the Fast with joy.
Let us give ourselves to spiritual efforts.
Let us cleanse our souls.
Let us clean our flesh.
Let us fast from passions as we fast from foods,
taking pleasure in the good works of the Spirit and accomplishing them in love
that we all may be made worthy to see the passion of Christ our God
and His Holy Pascha, rejoicing with spiritual joy.


Repentance and joy, compunction and consolation, godly grief and spiritual rejoicing are joined together in perfect union in the person who fights for the Lord.

May we all enter into the beautiful season of Great Lent with joy, seeking to cultivate bright sadness throughout our journey so that we can fully enter into the Paschal radiance of our Lord's resurrection.

In Christ,

Fr. Steve
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