Gaining a Deeper Understanding of the New Testament — 20161211

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As I suggested in the last issue of this article, it is important in considering the power of the New Testament (NT) to consider three things: the Word OF Jesus, the Word ABOUT Jesus, and Jesus AS THE WORD. I then briefly presented some ideas about the Word OF Jesus. I would now consider the Word ABOUT Jesus.

Throughout the NT we encounter the expression “Word of truth” as a synonym for the Gospel proclamation. “Truth” signifies both the message of revelation and the divine reality that is revealed. Christ Himself IS the truth in that He both announces and embodies that truth. The “Word of truth” is a creative word that engenders “children of God” by introducing them into the new life of the Kingdom, implicitly or explicitly through the sacrament of baptism. Thus St. Paul can declare that “the Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe”, precisely because “the Word of God operates in you who believe.” The amended passage of I Peter 1:22-25 also makes clear the fact that in apostolic times the saving power of the word – like that of the sacraments – was known to be contingent upon faith and repentance: “Having purified their souls by obeying the truth through the Spirit, to exercise unfeigned fraternal love… having been regenerated not by corruptible seed, but by incorruptible, through the living and abiding Word of God,” the faithful are joined to Christ through a constant renewal of their baptismal commitment. Because of the truly indispensable role of faith and repentance in the work of salvation, the sacrament can only be conceived by cooperation between man and God.

It should be remembered that our Eastern spirituality stresses the fact that our salvation is accomplished when we cooperate with God’s graces (help) and more deeply actualize the potential within us to be like Jesus, the Christ. This is the true understanding of an idea that all my readers should be very familiar with, Theosis. Of course Theosis cannot be real in our lives without faith and repentance which is more clearly understood as metanoia.

Metanoia, as I am sure my readers will recall, is a transliteration of the Greek μετάνοια, and can be defined as “a transformative change of heart; especially: a spiritual conversion.” The term suggests repudiation, change of mind, repentance, and atonement; but “conversion” and “reformation” may best approximate its connotation. Prayer and penance, of course, helps!

Learning Our Faith From the Greek Fathers of the Church– 20161211

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Some of the questions the early Church had to answer were: How was Jesus a human being and how can we make sense of His humanity in light of His divinity? Can genuine divinity and humanity be joined together? What kind of union was this? Was such a union even possible? Perhaps Jesus possessed a human body controlled by a divine mind. Or maybe his body was not real after all. Then again, perhaps Jesus possessed a real body and a genuinely human mind but a divine will. To what extent was Jesus human after all? Perhaps he was more like an angel, a third type of personal, created being – part human, part divine.

And what did Jesus come to accomplish? Apostles such as Paul, Peter and John were absolutely insistent that Jesus’ life, death and resurrection had overcome sin and its destructive effects on humanity and God’s creation at large. In what way had God conquered sin in the lives of those people who believed in Jesus? Apostolic teaching indicated that Christ’s crucifixion and subsequent resurrection had broken the spine of sin. How? How did human faith and belief tap into the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection? In what way was the exercise of faith related to God’s power? To human freedom? How were the glorious realities of Christ’s work and person communicated to those who believed in him?

Perhaps the greatest surprise of all was the ascension of Christ back to heaven, just when all seemed to have been accomplished and fulfilled. Jesus left his small band of brothers and sisters behind at the very moment when they appeared to need his guidance the most. Why would he do such a thing? Clearly Christ’s departure surprised his early followers. If He truly wanted to influence humanity, why didn’t He just stay and build the group of His followers?

Luke records that, after the disciples had received extended postresurrection instruction from Jesus, they asked, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom of Israel? Jesus’ response no doubt caught them off guard: “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. Think about this. God reveals and then leaves it up to humankind to either embrace or reject His revelation. FREE WILL!

CALLED TO HOLINESS — 20161211

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All of the Fathers of the Church who wrote about developing a prayer life, tell us that it is important to develop a “habit” of prayer. In order to develop this habit, we must think about making our time for prayer “regular”, that is at the same time each day. In addition to this, the Fathers tell us that we must always “start small”, that is not overwhelming ourselves with the amount of time spent at prayer. Start small and build up the time that you spend in prayer, that is the approach.

So, for example, start with spending five minutes each day, at a particular time, in prayer until you automatically do it in a very consistent manner – you don’t let anything distract you from spending that five minutes with God. Once you see that you have developed a habit doing that, spend eight minutes in prayer. If you have to use a timer, then use a timer. Remember, the pur-pose of this is to develop the habit of prayer – something that you always do.

After than you can again increase the time you spend in prayer, always realizing that it is not the amount of time you spend, it is the fact that you consistently spend some of your time in prayer.

It seems that the foundation or basis of any spiritual growth is the establishment of a prayer life.

Again it doesn’t matter what you use as prayer. It can be a combination of formula prayers together with your reflection. Eventually, personal prayer means that we just think about God and His presence in our life. Prayer becomes that time that we spend just thinking about ourselves as creatures created in His image and given the power to grow in His likeness. Prayer eventually becomes this quiet time wherein we wait for God’s enlightenment (i.e., ideas, insights and even inspirations). If we open ourselves to God, He will eventually begin speaking with us, not in words but in thoughts and ideas. He will never push His way into our lives. We have to open the door to our hearts and minds and invite Him in. This will eventually happen if we pursue the “habit of prayer.”

The Divine Liturgy and Our Worship of God– 20161211

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My commentary on the Divine Liturgy has reached the point where we have completed the sequence of praying to the Father, remembering the words and actions of the Son and invoking the Holy Spirit to transform the gifts we bring, the symbols of life. In the process we become aware of Christ’s presence in our midst and we also ask God to transform us into persons who embrace the same attitudes and behaviors of Jesus – who realize that God became incarnate in order to help us learn how to live this earthly existence and achieve the true meaning and purpose of our lives. After these prayers and actions, we include our commemorations of those who have believed in this way (saints) and the Mother of God. It is important to note that the commemoration of the Mother of God was not initially in the Divine Liturgy at this juncture. It was inserted at this point to confirm what the Councils declared, namely that she is the MOTHER OF GOD, the Theotokos.

In the same way that the Hymn of the Incarnation was inserted into the Divine Liturgy to affirm the belief of Jesus as both God and Man, so this prayer was inserted to affirm that we believe that Mary is the Mother of God. The congregational prayer that follows these commemorations is a direct statement of our belief about Mary. She is “more honorable than the Cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim” and she “gave birth to God the Word” and she is the Mother of God.

While this hymn to the Mother of God is being sung, the priest has a series of silent prayers which, at one time, were said aloud. Again these prayers are a continuation of the commemorations – those who we remember during our communal prayer. Among those are John the Baptist and the saint(s) of the day and the entire episcopate and clergy.

The priest then indicates that we offer this “spiritual sacrifice” for the “whole world”, our “civil authorities”, and “those in the service of our country.” He then adds this: “Grant them, O Lord, a peaceful rule, that we also, sharing their tranquility, may lead a tranquil and calm life in all piety and dignity”.

It must be remembered that the early Church was ruled by the emperor – the civil authority – who was the head not only of the State but also the Church. That is a whole history which is important to understand.

Understanding Our Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church — 20161211

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St. Cyril of Alexandria

I would continue sharing information about the establishment of the major feasts of our Church. The feasts of the Presentation and the Transfiguration also originated in Jerusalem during Cyril’s episcopate. I shall deal with them later since the reasons why they were established in Jerusalem differ from the reasons that I have already presented for the previous feasts.

The historical situation does not substantiate the assertion of some liturgical scholars that Cyril’s liturgical innovations in the 350s and 60s were not adopted elsewhere until the 380s and 90s because they were ahead of their time or because of events surrounding Cyril’s consecration. Cyril was an isolated anti-Arian bishop in a staunchly Arian territory. Both to attack the Arian conception of the nature of Christ and to assert administrative independence from the Arian metropolitanate of Caesarea at a time when Jerusalem’s claim to importance was just beginning to be recognized, Cyril instituted a series of liturgical celebrations which publicly put forth the orthodox conception of the nature of Christ. They did so, moreover, in a manner which filled the vacuum of traditional cyclical festivals and communal demonstrations of unity left by the official demise of paganism under Theodosius I.

The real reason for the gap between the Cyrillian Group’s inception and reception was political. Arianism was in the ascendancy in the time of Constantine II and Valens. At one time or another Arian bishops held the sees of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, among others. There is no evidence of the general acceptance of a single feast outside of the Core Group before Theodosius I. It was only after the Arianizing emperors died and Theodosius I came to power – after he began removing Arian bishops from their sees, after he required profession of the Nicene Creed (which is believed to have been based on the baptismal creed of Jerusalem), after he called the Council of Constantinople which condemned Arianism and asserted the divine and human natures of Christ in one person – that these feasts spread beyond Jerusalem to be kept through-out the East. This was neither an effort to catch up with Jerusalem’s liturgical practices, nor the Council’s vindication of Cyril’s past actions. Rather, the acceptance of the Cyrillian Feasts throughout the major cities of the East implied an acceptance of the underlying theological concepts. It was at the same time that these bishops gave approval to those concepts at the Council of Constantinople.

PASTORAL MESSAGE OF THE UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC HIERARCHY OF THE U.S.A. TO OUR CLERGY, HIEROMONKS AND BROTHERS, RELIGIOUS SISTERS, SEMINARIANS AND BELOVED FAITHFUL

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 CHRIST IS BORN!

Once again we focus our attention and recall with affection and devotion the marvelous miracle in which “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn. 1:14). The God-Man Jesus, sent by our merciful Father with love to all of humanity, came to save us from sin and from ourselves. Jesus came to empower us to live life to the full. It is little wonder, then, that the Story of Christmas is so appealing to young and old and to rich and poor alike.

Well before December 25th, we become preoccupied with Christmas preparations. Beyond all this, one searches for the true Spirit of Christmas in order to lift our individual and collective spirits to reflect again on the celestial chorus: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace to all who enjoy His favor” (Lk. 2:14). We can catch a glimpse of the Spirit of Christmas as we savor the fellowship enjoyed by our families whose members gather from far and wide to be together for our Christmas Eve Holy Supper. And yet, such fellowship is but a shadow of that divine fellowship enjoyed by all mankind as a result of the Birth of the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. “To all who did accept Him He gave power to become Children of God” (Jn. 1:12) indicates a radical change which this divine fellowship entails: God became human so that human beings might become like unto God.

Therefore, the celebration of Christmas ought to raise certain questions for each one of us. How is my personal life affected? How does the Christmas Event relate to our society with all its challenges? If we travel mentally around the world, what do we see? Violence of all sorts, physical and sexual abuse, violation of the rights of the unborn and defenseless, unconcern for the poor and migrant, abandonment of children and the elderly, the unjust aggressions suffered by Ukraine, the horrific massacres in the Middle East and Africa, are a fraction of our society’s illness which should cause us to wonder if the story of Christmas will ever succeed in getting across to all people its principal message. That message is simply that the salvation of each of us must be through love and in love. This ­­fantastic message of Christmas is, for very many, the greatest secret still yet to be fathomed: God’s love for all has been revealed in the Word made flesh!

This greatest secret revealed in humanity of God’s only-begotten Son is like the sun radiating sunshine to one and all. Likewise, all of us who are receptive of God’s “greatest secret” personified in our Lord Jesus Christ, must show some sort of transformation. That is precisely what is signified in the Christmas Story told over and over again in every language and to all people.

Our Lord Jesus Christ was born in the shadows of an incredulous world. Of all peoples, the Christmas miracle was first announced to shepherds, so-called insignificant people of Bethlehem. Considered to be on the lowest rung of society’s rating, those shepherds chosen by God, must have had their self-esteem and self-worth lifted to high heaven when they heard the Good News proclaimed: “Behold I bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you: He is Christ the Lord” (Lk. 2:10-11).

Convinced of the great love which Christmas reveals, we receive power to become children of God. Realizing that power from God-made-Man, we can then proclaim by word and example, at home and in society, that which underlines all the fellowship, carol-singing, gift-giving, and merry-making: “Yes, God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not be lost but may have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16). That is why we joyfully and devoutly exclaim, “Christ is born. Glorify Him!”

A blessed and joyous Christmas to all of you. May the mystery of Jesus’ Birth bring you the grace to renew yourself and live a God-centered Christian life all through the New Year!

Christ is Born!

+Stefan Soroka
Archbishop of Philadelphia for Ukrainians
Metropolitan of Ukrainian Catholics in the United States

+Paul Chomnycky, OSBM
Eparch of Stamford

+ Bohdan Danylo
Eparch of St. Josaphat in Parma

+John Bura (author)
Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia

Very Rev. Richard Janowicz, Apostolic Administrator
St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy in Chicago

Christmas 2016

Reflections on the Scripture Readings for this Weekend — 20161204

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ten-lepers-iconThe readings assigned for this weekend are taken from Paul’s letter to the Colossians (3:12-16) and Luke’s account of Christ healing ten lepers. I would offer this reflection by combining my thoughts on these two readings.

In St. Paul’s Letter, he writes to the Colossians about the “Practice of Virtues”. He reminds them that, because they are “God’s chosen ones,” they must clothe themselves with “heartfelt mercy, with kindness, humility, meekness and patience”. He then writes to them that they must dedicate themselves to “thankfulness”.

The Gospel story, I truly believe, also highlights the need for “thankfulness.” Jesus cured ten lepers and only one came back to express his thanks to Jesus. The man who came back and offered thanks was, as the Gospel describes him, a “foreigner,” that is a Samaritan. Because of their imperfect adherence to Judaism and their partly pagan ancestry, the Samaritans were despised by ordinary Jews. Samaritans also harbored antipathy toward the Jews. That the Samaritans were separated from and looked down upon by the Jews makes them important in the New Testament. Jesus indicated that a new attitude must be taken toward the all others.

Lepers were typically ostracized from Jewish society because of their sickness. Religious Jews were forbidden to have any contact with them. It was believed that leprosy was God’s punishment.

It is interesting that “thankfulness” is at the very heart of our Christian faith. The communal worship service we celebrate together is properly called an “Eucharistic” or “Thanksgiving” Service. We hold that central to our growing in our likeness of Jesus is the development of an attitude of “thankfulness” to God for all that He has given us, especially for the life He shares with us. It is only when we become thankful for our human life do we become united with Christ.

As I think about the Gospel story, several thoughts come to mind. First, when we don’t practice the virtues that Paul speaks about, we separate ourselves from others and the followers of Christ – we separate ourselves from the “Body of Christ,” the Church. Second, we need to be thankful for not only the easy things of life but also for the challenges since they become opportunities for us to grow in our trust and hope in God. And third, we must realize that anytime we ostracize others because they don’t believe like we do, we manage, in effect, to separate ourselves from God Himself.

CALLED TO HOLINESS — 20161204

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I am sure that everyone and anyone who attends church services has a real awareness that PRAYER is an essential part of the call to holiness and an important ingredient in any attempt at personal transformation or change. Prayer helps to establish a personal relationship with God and fortifies any efforts at personal change. The important thing is to learn how to pray.

It has often been said that prayer is really a conversation with God. It must have a personal dimension to it. The problem that most people encounter is that, because God is invisible, they find it difficult to make their prayer a conversation. More often than not, people resort to formulized prayers – that is prayers written by others or the Church as a means of communicating with God. This is where most people start. They recite a number of standardized prayers with the hope that they are communicating with God. There is, of course, nothing wrong with this in our initial attempts at a real relationship with God.

It is important to remember, however, that when we use formal prayers, we must pause and also listen to any response to the prayer. God responds in many unique ways: (1) a new thought comes to mind; (2) a new insight surfaces; or (3) a new inspiration expresses itself.

God’s response is typically not like regular human conversation, although it could be. It usually seems to be more like a new idea that is triggered in our thoughts. God operates this way so that He honors our independence and free will. He never outright tells us what to do. He allows things to happen that cause us to think and come up with solutions and ideas ourselves.

While this is true, we still have to be vigilant and open ourselves to the movement of the Spirit within us. God has planted His Spirit within us to help us and guide in our spiritual growth. Of course we first have to want to spiritually grow and change. We can disregard the insights that the Spirit causes to appear in our lives. God, in His Spirit, however persists and continues to try and help us grow.

The Divine Liturgy and Our Worship of God — 20161204

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Holy Eucharist IconKey to our understanding of the Divine Liturgy is our understanding of the idea of Anamnesis. This word is taken from the Attic Greek word ἀνάμνησις meaning “reminiscence” or “memorial sacrifice”. In Christian worship it is the liturgical statement in which the Church refers to the memorial character of the Eucharist, that is to the Passion, Resurrection and also the Ascension of Christ. It has its origin in Jesus’ words at the Last Supper, “Do this in memory of me” (Greek: “τοῦτο ποιεῖτε εἰς τὴν ἐμὴν ἀνάμνησιν“), (Luke 22:19, 1 Corinthians 11:24-25). It is a key concept in liturgical theology. In worship the faithful recall God’s saving deeds. This memorial aspect is not simply a passive process but one by which the Christian can actually enter into the Paschal mystery. It truly signifies our belief that when we recall all that God did for us through the Person of Jesus Christ, we, like the disciples of Christ before us, actually participate in those events.

I realize that this is a very difficult idea to comprehend. How can it be that we actually participate in the past events of salvation history. We think of them as past events! How can they be events which are present to us. It is an act of actualizing past events in our life – concentrating on them and be-lieving that we are actually a part of them in some way. This all requires, as you might immediately guess, faith and a deep sense of God’s presence in our lives. Remember, we can’t prove that any of this is true or that it actually happens. We believe it happens and I would add my faith that I truly believe that it happens. We just don’t know when and only know that the Holy Trinity causes it to be.

Of course this is why many refuse to believe in the true presence. I also believe that sometimes people misunderstand this faith mystery since we always talk about “body” and “blood” and fail to state that “Christ” is truly present. Remember what we pray: “For we do not bow to flesh and blood but to You, our awesome God.” For Christ to be present it cannot be just the accidents of His human person but must be Him as a person. He told His disciples that He would be with us for all time. He is with us by His real presence in Communion. Again I must hasten to assert that this is something WE BELIEVE and not something that we can prove. I, for one, choose to believe in His real presence. I hope you do too.

Gaining a Deeper Understanding of the New Testament — 20161204

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20161030In the last issue of this article I indicated that it was important in considering the power of the New Testament (NT), that we consider three things: (1) the Word OF Jesus, (2) the Word ABOUT Jesus, and (3) Jesus AS THE WORD. I would first consider the Word OF Jesus.

The power of Jesus’ Word becomes literally visible with the healing miracles. Evil spirits are exorcized by His Word (cf. Matthew 8:16; Luke 4:36), a word that can heal even at a distance if it is received with faith (cf., Matthew 8:8). By His word, “even the winds and sea obey Him” (cf., Mark 4:41). The nature-miracles attest to His authority over creation itself. Yes, His words, we see, are directed particularly towards men, establishing the criteria for salvation or judgment (cf., Mark 8:38; John 12:48, Hebrews 4:12) and affirming His ultimate authority to forgive sins, a power that only God can exercise (cf., Mark 2:7).

This fact directly relates Jesus to the work of God in creating all things as mentioned in Genesis. We hear in Genesis the description of creation being brought about by God speaking a word. This directly connects Jesus not only to God the Father but also to the act of creation accomplished by simple “words” spoken by God. And God said: “Let there be bright lights in the sky to give light to the earth and to identify the day and the night; they shall bring about the seasons of the earth, and mark the days and years.” And so it was! According to Genesis, God simply spoke what He wanted to bring into existence and, speaking the word, it came into existence.

This is one of the reasons why we say that Jesus is the WORD of God. The Father has the idea! The idea is then expressed in a WORD, which is the Son. And then it actually comes into existence through the POWER of GOD, the Holy Spirit. Each Person of the Holy Trinity plays an integral role in bringing about creation – bringing all things into existence.

Jesus is the WORD, the LOGOS, of God – He is the expressed sounds, in modern thinking, that express the THOUGHT/IDEA that God had/has. But the WORD alone cannot bring the idea into existence. The SPIRIT, the POWER of God is the life-giving force that brings the WORD into existence.

We know that in human language WORDS express what a particular society has agreed to call things that exist. The word of a thing allows others to know to what we refer. Once expressed, things become real.