Gaining a Deeper Understanding of Our Faith — 20160911

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capadociosAs I shared in the last issue of the Eastern Herald, early Christians, once they became convinced that Jesus was truly more than just a man, had to tackle the idea of Who God Is. Just as they had to come up with words to express how Jesus Is truly God and truly man, they had to find the right words to express how God and Jesus could also be ONE. I think that what I have already shared gives my readers a flavor of the struggle that transpired. The majority of the Fathers of the Church, especially the Greek Fathers found that what priests like Arius and Nestorius were teaching about Jesus, just did not seem right. As the fights escalated, the Emperor, who at that time was seen as the head of both the Church and State, called bishops and priests together and told them to figure out what the real truth is. The Council of Nicaea was the first attempt to hammer out an agreement about Who Jesus, the Christ, is.

After Nicaea, Basil of Caesarea, became one of the Fathers who contributed greatly to the development of Pro-Nicene theology. He presents an excellent example of the complex process of theological development and intra-ecclesial accommodation that was central to the emergence of fully pro-Nicene theologies. In some accounts Basil is the architect of the pro-Nicene triumph: he carries forward the Nicene torch long held by Athanasius, holds together different pro-Nicene factions, and develops an account of the distinctions between persons and essence of such power that the final victory of pro-Nicene theology under the Emperor Theodosius is truly inevitable. For others the victory of pro-Nicene theology in the 380s is largely the result of secular political moves, the work of Basil being of little or no importance. The truth lies somewhere in between: Basil’s theological and ecclesio-political work was of importance, but he was one of many architects of pro-Nicene theology. At the same time the accession of Theodosius in 379 was nothing if not providential for pro-Nicenes.

I would like to share over the next several weeks, Basil’s contributions to the development of a truly pro-Nicene theology. Why? Because Basil is one of the great Greek Fathers of our Church and someone who greatly influenced our Eastern Christian faith and spirituality. He is one of the Cappadocian Fathers and someone about whom every Eastern Christian should know.

CALLED TO HOLINESS — 20160911

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theotokosI suggested in the last issue of this article that the call to holiness is the call to develop the skills needed to enter into genuine human relationships so that you can enter into a real relationship with God. The first skill I shared was the ability to embrace and truly celebrate differences.

The second skill is to learn how to Listen Effectively. Listening is a crucial skill in boosting another person’s self-esteem, a silent form of flattery that makes people feel supported and valued. Listening and understanding what others are trying to communicate to us is the most important part of successful interaction.

Active or reflective listening is the single most useful and important listening skill. In active listening, we demonstrate that we are genuinely interested in understanding what the other person is thinking, feeling, wanting or attempting to communicate. It means that we are active in checking out our understanding before we respond with our own message. It involves restating or paraphrasing our understanding of the other person’s message and reflect it back to them for verification. This verification or feedback process is what distinguishes active listening and makes it effective. It signals the other person that we truly want to understand their thoughts and that we are not seeking to be “right”, and, therefore, suggesting they are “wrong”. While genuine relationships do allow for differences of opinion, they don’t typically confuse communication with debate. Relationships where one or both persons always have a desire to be “right”, are never effective or genuine. The desire to be “right” overshadows true respect of the other person.

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have your own opinion about various subjects. It does mean that you don’t approach communication with another person believing that you are “right” and they are “wrong”. Truth is always somewhere in the middle.

Gaining a Deeper Understanding of the New Testament — 20160911

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In order to insure the clarity of what inspiration is and is not, it is probably important to first state what inspiration is not. The following four points should be helpful. Inspiration is not:

1) mechanical dictation, or perhaps automatic writing, or any process which involves the suspension of the action of the human writer’s mind. Such concepts of inspiration are found in the Talmud, Philo and the Fathers, but not in the Bible. The divine direction and control under which the biblical authors wrote was not a physical or psychological force. It did not detract from but rather heightened the freedom, spontaneity, and creativeness of their writing.

2) an obliteration of the real personality, style, outlook, and cultural conditioning of the authors. This does not mean that God’s control of them was imperfect, or that they inevitably distorted the truth they had been given to convey in the process of writing it down. If God wished to give His people a series of letters like Paul’s, He prepared Paul to write them and the Paul He brought to the task was a Paul who spontaneously would write just such letters.

3) a quality that keeps corruptions from intruding in the course of the transmission of the text, but only to the text as originally produced by the inspired writers.The acknowledgement of biblical inspiration thus makes more urgent the task of meticulous textual criticism, in order to eliminate such corruptions and ascertain what the original text was.

4) to be equated with the inspiredness of great literature, not even when the biblical writing is in fact great literature. The biblical idea of inspiration relates not to the literary quality of what is written, but to its character as divine revelation in writing.

Inspiration must be carefully defined because of the varied uses of this term and the wrong ideas about inspiration being promoted today, ideas that are inconsistent with what the Bible itself teaches regarding inspiration. Inspiration may be defined as God’s superintendence of the human authors of Scripture so that using their own individual personalities, they composed and recorded without error His revelation to man in the words of the original autographs.

This definition can be broken down into its various parts. In subsequent issues I will note several elements that are vital to the understanding of this key concept of inspiration. Hopefully you, my readers, are getting a better idea of what we mean when we say that the Bible is inspired. Ask yourself: What do I think about the Bible?

Learning Our Faith From the Greek Fathers of the Church — 20160911

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Maximos the Confessor

Maximos the Confessor

Central to the Christology endorsed by the early councils was the vision of Christ as both the eternal LOGOS (Word) and the “New Adam,” who restored the unity of the whole humanity with himself as the divine model according to whose image human beings were created in the beginning.

In order to truly understand this, we must remember that there is no time in God and, therefore, God has been incarnate – has taken on human flesh in the Person of the Son – from all eternity, although it took place in human time. God has never been without a Second Person Who has a glorified human body. We were created in the image and likeness of the Son of God.

This calling us to be like Jesus Christ could not be automatic or magical: it required free human response to the Spirit and the cooperation of each human person and a “gathering” of free believers within the assembly of the Church. The “whole Christ” is manifested where two or three are gathered in his name and where, therefore, the Pauline image of the Body is concretely present. Indeed, that “Body” is the church realized most fully in the Eucharist.

Participation in the Eucharist was defined in christological terms: is was a participation in the resurrected and glorified humanity of Christ, assumed in the hypostasis of the Son of God and – in virtue of the “communication of idioms” between the two natures – penetrated with divine life, or ”energies,” or “grace.” Since in Christ, there was no confusion of essences or natures, neither were “those in Christ’ partaking of the “essence” of God, but of his human nature.

I know that this may seem confusing. I am talking, of course, about the Divine Plan conceived from all eternity. God always was incarnate, even though we human experienced it in time. He always had a plan for human beings – a plan which involved providing men and women with free will to choose to grow in the image and likeness of the human being that represented what He intended all human beings to be like – namely Christ the eternal Logos of God. God created humans in the image of Christ, His Son, and provides, through life, the necessary opportunities to grow in the likeness of Christ. Thus the meaning and purpose of life. A wonderfully devised plan to allow His creation to come to a voluntary response of love to His love!

The Spirituality of the Christian East — 20160911

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Ladder of Divine AccentIn this presentation of John Climacus’ Ladder of Divine Ascent I have now reached his 25th Step: HUMILILTY. John tells that:

Humility is constant forgetfulness of one’s achievements … the admission that in all the world one is the least important and is also the greatest sinner … It is the mind’s awareness that one is weak and helpless … and a grace in the soul and with a name known only to those who have had experience of it … It is also an awareness of who we are as God’s creation….

If pride is the sin that blinds us to reality, the passion that makes us think ourselves better than we really are, then humility is the virtue by which we see the truth. But if this is so, how is it that the saints never recognize their saintliness? Simply put: they see themselves in comparison to God. The sinfulness they see in themselves is the truth, because before God, who is infinitely holy, infinitely perfect, they cannot escape the reality of their unholiness and imperfection. Yet their response to this real sense of unworthiness is not one-sided. Along with their repentance and contrition there is indescribable joy, peace, gentleness and love. Why? Because they realize that God unconditionally loves them as they are. It is because they understand that their weaknesses are life’s gifts, given to them so that they might grow in their love of a Father Who does not demand perfection or accomplishments beyond their abilities, but Who only desires their voluntary and unconditional return of love as demonstrated by their willingness to love their neighbors as themselves.

Humility allows us to have an accurate idea of our strengths and weaknesses – to see ourselves as we truly are without any exaggeration. It also allows is to see ourselves as God’s creation, knowing that He has, from all eternity, called us by name to be His child. This is true humility. God created us and saw that we were good. Humility says this is true!

Reflections on the Scriptural Readings for this Weekend — 20160904

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nativitybvmAs we complete this sixteenth week after Pentecost, we hear the words of Paul to the Corinthians and another parable of Jesus Christ.

Paul tells us that NOW is the day of salvation. and he gives us the message of truth. The message is this: Jesus, who proved the truth of His message by His resur-rection, has shown us the way we must live in order to really achieve the fullness of life. Paul uses the way that he lives as an example of how to live like Jesus Christ. He finishes his letter by saying that while he and fellow disciple Titus seem to have nothing, in truth everything is theirs because they are doing the will of God in preaching the message of Jesus Christ. He truly implies that living in accord to Jesus’ teachings a person can and will have the fullness of life.

The Gospel parable that we hear today is about a man who gives his three servants various amounts of money to use while he is away. It is called the parable of the talents and appears in the Gospels of Matthew Luke, albeit with slight differences. In truth, it is all about using the talents God has given us to increase His Kingdom and to gain the fullness of life.

The first two servants find ways to use the master’s money to increase the amount. The third servant, afraid of the master, buries the master’s money in the ground so that he can return to the master exactly what he was given. As we hear, the master is angry that this third servant didn’t increase the amount he was given and, therefore, the whole amount is taken away from him.

The point of this parable is not the uncertainty of the time when the Lord will come, but rather what is done with the talents that God gives. The reward for fidelity is greater responsibility and admission into the joy of the Lord. Admission into the joy of the Lord means being admitted to a more intimate association with Him.

In essence the parable tells us that the talents given to us by God must grow with use or wither with disuse. The result of the disuse of our God-given talents is that we will miss the reward of being more closely united with Him, which is the goal of this earthly life.

What is important, I believe, is that we recognize that each of us has been given certain talents for the sake of growing in the awareness of God’s Kingdom. Of course we have to recognize the talents we have been given and not wish we had other talents. his

Learning Our Faith From the Greek Fathers of the Church — 20160904

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pantocratorIn the last issue I began sharing the thoughts of the Fathers on Christ’s Humanity and our ability to depict Him in iconography. Christ is the image of the Father. Therefore, if we image Christ we, in effect, also image the Father since Christ is the human image of the Father. However, since Christ’s personal identity is that of the Son of God, an image of Christ is an image of God, who makes himself visible as man. “In former times,” wrote John of Damascus, “God, who is without form or body, could never be depicted. But now [i.e., after the incarnation] when God is seen in the flesh conversing with men, I make an image of the God whom I see. I do not worship matter; I worship the Creator of matter, who became matter for my sake, who willed to take His abode in matter; who, through matter, worked out my salvation.”

As you might realize, many Christians cannot accept this fact. They still maintain that God is not someone who can be imaged. Yet, when you think about it, if we truly believe that Jesus is God incarnate and that, since God is One, although Three-In-One, then the incarnate God is imaged in the Person of Jesus.

Thus, an icon of Christ became a complete Christological confession of faith, presented visually – a mystery of salvation and communion that words can express only partially. In the Byzantine tradition, the intention of the artist was to represent the personal identity of the incarned God (hence the Greek letter in the nimbus, ho on, “the One-Who-Is”, the Septuagint version of YHWH, the name of God), but always under the historical traits of Jesus of Nazareth. So, to use the words of a sermon of John of Damascus on the Feast of the Transfiguration, “the things human become those of God, and the divine those of man, by the mode of mutual communication, and the interpenetration without confusion of the one into the other, and of the truly extreme union according to the hypostasis [or person]. For He is one God – He who is eternally God, and who later became man.”

If you study the true writings of the Fathers, it makes all kinds of sense. If Jesus is truly God and man and that which joins the two is really His personhood, then He becomes the true image of God in human form and the image of Jesus that we create through icons, is the image of God. Many, as you can imagine, cannot accept this truth.

Understanding Our Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church — 20160904

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patcathGiven that God is the Authority in the Church, how are Christians practically to understand and perceive His authority? Each person experiences God’s authority as a member of His Church. He speaks Truth in and through a people united to Him and one another. For this reason every Church member is actively involved in the process of discerning His voice, and every Church member personally experiences the fruit of His government.

God’s authority is real and absolute, but it can only be communicated and encountered personally. It is not an abstract, de-personalized legal decree, something standing aloof from one’s need to be personally receptive. Parents are to use their authority to love, care for and nurture their children. If children ignore or misunderstand that authority, however, they will never experience the good fruit of that authority. It is an authority in principle, not in application.

In the same way, the Authority of God is witnessed to only when each of His children is in responsive communion with Him. Here, each Christian from a mutual love, takes a responsibility to be aware, sensitive and receptive. Apart from such an attentive love, God’s authority will not be manifest within humanity. The Father’s authority is intended only for those who desire to live as His children. Outside of the context of this familial relationship, God’s authority is mutated. From a personal authority of communion, it becomes a legal authority of laws. Authority again becomes an it instead of a who.

All this being said, it is important for each of us to realize our own personal responsibility to the spiritual community we belong to. The community is only as strong as its weakest link, the least involved member. We owe it to one another to become active in the community since each of us bring to the community the particular talents and insights given to us by God to share with the community. Becoming involved in a church community is not like going to a show where we don’t know anyone there and don’t really care about anyone there. Church is all about caring about and being supportive of the others who are there, worshipping God with you. Why? Because Paul has reminded us that we are the Body of Christ extended in time. All the parts of the body must be working together in harmony for the body to be effective in creating God’s Kingdom in the here and now. So ask yourself, Am I providing strength to my Christian community?

Gaining a Deeper Understanding of the New Testament — 20160904

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As I shared in the last issue of this article, the Church recognizes two senses of Scripture, the literal and the spiritual. I already shared what the Church sees as the literal sense. The spiritual sense of Sacred Scripture derives from the unity of God’s plan of salvation. The text of Scripture discloses God’s plan. The realities and events of which it speaks can also be signs of the divine plan. There are three spiritual senses of Scripture:

The allegorical sense. We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ. Example: the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type of Christ’s victory over sin and also of Christian baptism.

The moral sense. The events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written “for our instruction”.

The anagogical sense. We can view realities and events in terms of their eternal significance, leading us toward our true homeland. Thus the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem.

The Church’s Scripture scholars are expected to work according to these principles to develop a better understanding of Scripture for God’s people. Two of the various challenges that must be faced by the Church are those who interpret the Bible only in a literal fashion and, on the other hand, by those who deny the supernatural aspects of the Gospels.

In the United States a certain number of Christians of many denominations have adopted the supremacy of Scripture as their sole foundation. This they do in the strictest literal sense without appreciation of the various literary forms that the biblical authors used within the specific cultural circumstances in which they were writing. The adherents to this approach to the Scriptures are often referred to as Fundamentalists.

The Church’s response to this approach is that Revelation is transmitted by Apostolic Tradition and Scripture together. The Church and Apostolic Tradition, which I have referenced before, existed before the written New Testament. Her Apostles preached the Gospel orally before writing it down. The Apostles appointed bishops to succeed them with the authority to continue their teaching. Scripture alone is insufficient to understand the message of Jesus. Sacred Tradition is essential to the understanding of the New Testament.

The Divine Liturgy and Our Worship of God — 20160904

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Mystical Supper

Mystical Supper

After we have praised the Father and remembered the words of the Son, we ask the Father to send down His Spirit and change the gifts which represent life and Jesus. We pray the EPICLESIS:

Moreover, we offer to You this spiritual and unbloody sacrifice, and we implore, pray and entreat You: send down Your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts lying before us and make this bread the precious Body of Your Christ… and that which is in this chalice, the precious blood of Your Christ…changing them by Your Holy Spirit.

The word Epiclesis is from the Ancient Greek πίκλησις (invocation or calling down from on high). This prayer highlights Eastern Christianity’s understanding that the Father accomplishes all things through the Son in the Holy Spirit.

There is, after the Epiclesis, a wonderful short prayer that the priest says silently which all should become aware of. The priest prays:

That to those who partake of them (the two gifts – bread and wine), they may be for the purification of the soul, for the remission of sins, for the communion of Your Holy Spirit, for the fullness of the heavenly kingdom, for confidence in You and not for judgment or condemnation.

Indeed, this summarizes why God, in the Person of Jesus, did what He did

on the night before He died.

I know that it is difficult to believe that somehow the bread and wine that we use, after we pray over them, are somehow transformed and that Christ is truly present with us. In more recent days I have come to realize that, if we think of the gifts are transformed only into His Body and Blood, that we fail to recall that it is Christ Who is present to us in these consecrated gifts. Indeed Christ is not just His body and blood but also His very person. So we believe in the REAL PRESENCE – we believe in Christ’s presence with us.

At the same time, if we truly join ourselves to Christ and offer ourselves together with Him to the Father in thanksgiving for life, then we too are transformed – are changed – into the anointed of God.

The Holy Eucharist – wherein Christ is truly present – is not an easy idea to comprehend. It is a mystery. Christ told His apostles, and therefore us, that He would be present with them. He achieves this by the Holy Eucharist.

I would ask you to think about this!.