Reflections on the Scriptural Readings for this Weekend — 20160724

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deisisAs we bring to an end the tenth week after Pentecost, we hear words from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians and from Matthew’s Gospel the story of Christ curing a possessed boy. I find that the combination of these two readings makes it very difficult to find a common theme. Therefore I would like to share with you the different thoughts I had from each reading. You may discover that you see a common theme. If you do, please let me know.

In the Epistle reading I believe that Paul shares with us the fact that if we attempt to follow the WAY of JESUS, we will probably end up not in the mainstream of our society. The Christian way of living was obviously contrary to the mainstream way of living in Paul’s time and, I can assure you, it is not the mainstream way of living in our time. I find that the Christian message actually puts us in the very middle of what I see as the extremes that seem to dominate our present society. There is the ultra right and the ultra left and those in the middle are disregarded. I cannot embrace the extreme Christian positions and surely don’t believe that the extreme liberal positions are the Way of Jesus.

Jesus’ message, I believe, was all about finding ways to love others. This requires, most of the time, that we don’t embrace extreme positions. It surely doesn’t mean forcing our values on others. Rather it means knowing our values and living in accord with them. I must be convinced that the Jesus message is God’s message.

I think the Gospel story challenges us to truly have TRUST in the God Who loves us. This challenges us, therefore, to trust that life will present the particular challenges we need to grow in our union with God. There are really no good or bad experiences in life but only challenges that, if we accept them with the belief that the challenges of life are only meant to help us grow, we will advance in our union with God.

If, however, we become possessed with the self-centered spirit which seems to pervade our society, we will not trust that God’s creation is given to us as a means of coming to know, love and trust Him. The only way that we can expel the selfish spirit of our society, that wants to possess us, is to work at developing a real relationship with Christ, Our God. We do this by our attempts to live the WAY of JESUS. I’m sure if you search your hearts, you will know what the WAY of Jesus is.

Understanding Our Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church — 20160724

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1507060_848314515197967_2751624803318588973_nIn last week’s Bulletin, because we remembered the Fathers of the first Six Ecumenical Councils of the Christian Church, I deviated from my thoughts on Sacred Tradition and presented a brief synopsis of each Council. These six Councils are the foundation of our faith and our Church embraces them completely and totally. In fact, they are a vital part of the Sacred Tradition to which we adhere and embrace.

The pronouncements that these six Councils made are also the foundation of the CREED that we profess. While some Christians embrace the same Creed, they deny some of the tenants that are contained in this Creed. For example, we believe, when we mention in the Creed that Jesus was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary and became man, that the virgin Mary is the Mother of God, the Theotokos. The Council of Ephesus decreed that Mary, because Jesus is one Person with two natures, must be considered the Mother of God incarnate. The Church does not see how Mary could be the mother only of the man Jesus.

This is what Sacred Tradition calls us to believe. There are, however, many modern Christian Churches that do not accept Mary as the Mother of God. They believe that she brought Jesus into the world but that she cannot be truthfully considered the Mother of God. Sacred Tradition, in maintaining the absolute unity of Jesus – fully God and fully man in one Person – tells us that she must be considered the Mother of God.

Further, Sacred Tradition has us embrace the belief that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father only and that, together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified. This is how the original Creed was written. Western Christianity changed the wording, maintaining that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son since He is the energy (i.e., love and life) that binds the Three Persons in the Trinity so that there is only One God.

The Sacred Tradition that we embrace tells us that the Father is always considered the source of Life and therefore both Son and Spirit proceed from Him. This is how the Church originally expressed it and sought to maintain monotheism – one God – although composed of Three, Distinct Persons.

Some believe it is only a matter of semantics. We believe that a Creed composed by several Ecumenical Councils, should not and cannot be changed. Why? Because decrees by truly Ecumenical Councils are guided by God’s own Spirit. The Creed in the West was not changed by an authentic Ecumenical Council.

Gaining a Deeper Understanding of the New Testament — 20160724

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image269Rabbinical tradition, with its doctrine of the pre-existence of Scripture and later bestowal of Scripture upon the human race through selected prophets, obviously tended to view the human person involved as a mere channel. Philo developed basically the same concept by applying Greek and and especially Platonic notions of inspiration to the production of the books of Scripture. According to Philo, the human factor (in his terminology, the prophet) becomes possessed by God, loses consciousness of self, and surrenders to the divine spirit, which then operates upon the communicatory powers of the human personality. This theory of ecstatic inspiration is modified in Philo by an accompanying doctrine of a prophet-interpreter, wherein the human personality remains more self-possessed and active. Nevertheless, it was the ecstatic and mantic theory that was the more prominent in his writing and that later proved to be the more influential part of his theory.

The Philonic theory of inspiration was not without Christian adherents. Athenagoras, the early Christian apologist, took over the mantic or ecstatic theory, pointing out that the prophets, when moved by the Spirit, lost the use of their reason and were played upon by the Spirit as a flutist plays on his flute. The Montanists held a similar mantic theory; indeed, they claimed to experience divine possession and fell unconscious when they prophesied. After his conversion to Montanism, Tertullian adopted and defended the same theology of mantic inspiration.

But the mainstream of early Christian thought always rejected the notion of a mantic inspiration of the books of Scripture. Hippolytus insists that the operation of the Word increased the vision and understanding of the prophets. Origen takes the same position; rejecting all identification of scriptural inspiration with the mantic inspiration of paganism, he maintains that under the force of inspiration the writers do not lose their free will but apprehend divine truth more clearly. This is also the basic position of Epiphanius.

Hopefully my readers are getting an understanding that the Church has, since its beginning, had to grapple with a number of different ideas. This is partially due to the fact these ideas about inspiration were extant in the world in which they lived.

Acquiring the Mind of Christ — 20160724

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christ_iconI have suggested that one of the ways to acquire the mind of Christ is to reflect upon the way He prayed. In order to understand how He prayed, I have been presenting thoughts on His perfect prayer, the OUR FATHER. After we ask Our Father for the courage and the insight to do His will on earth and it is done in heaven, we petition Him to Give us this day our daily bread.

In this fourth petition, by saying give us, we express, in communion with our brethren, our filial trust in our heavenly Father. Our daily bread obviously refers not only to the earthly nourishment necessary for our continued existence. Here, bread has two meanings. In the more literal sense, bread is a metaphor for all our material needs. It’s a simple prayer, as Saint Gregory explains:

When we say to God, Give bread, we do not ask for delights, riches, and flowery robes. We do not seek the beauty of gold, the glow of precious stones, and vessels of silver. We do not request an abundance of land, the command of armies, superiority in war, and governance over nations. We do not desire horses, cattle, and herds of other grazing animals. We do not aspire to possess a host of slaves, pomp in the marketplace and acclamation by setting up monuments or public portraits. We do not yearn for silk garments and musical ensembles. We ask for none of these by which the soul is distracted from the divine and noble cares. We pray only for bread.

However, we need more than simply food to sustain our bodies; we also need food for our souls, which will sustain us throughout eternity. Christ God teaches us that He’s the bread of life and that whoever comes to Him will never hunger (John 6:35). In saying this, Jesus was telling us that His Way of Living is nourishment for our souls. He proved this by giving us Himself in Holy Communion so that He might always be with us, supporting us in our efforts to become more like Him.

There are Christians who do not believe in the real presence of Christ in Holy Communion and believe that His Word – His ways of living and thinking – are sufficient nourishment. Christians who do believe in His presence in Holy Communion have, I believe, a decided advantage since they, if they believe, have a true indication of His support and His continued presence with us. Ask yourself this question: What does Holy Communion mean to me?

CALLED TO HOLINESS — 20160724

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Universal Call to Holiness

Universal Call to Holiness

The call to holiness, expressed in yet another way, is a call to understand creation, which includes us humans, the way that God understands and knows it to be. We are called to a deeper understanding of creation as a way to gain a true understanding of ourselves. When we seriously study creation, we discover that it reveals God to us.

First, what does creation reveal to us about God? To answer this we must look at nature itself. In nature we find beauty, balance and perfect design. You only need to look at a flower to find these qualities. It seems that the only thing that robs nature of its beauty is what mankind does to it.

Second, think of some of the unique things that we find in creation. For example, think about such wondrous things as DNA, electricity, fire and the molecular structure of all things. While we know much about these things, they still have the power to truly amaze a curious mind.

Third, think about the unique powers of human beings. We are able to think, create, imagine, love, learn, be curious about things, be empathetic, and solve problems. We are able to design products and even transform abstract, imagined things into reality. We are able to reach out beyond the boundaries of our own minds and experiences. It seems that if we can imagine it, we can make it.

So the call to holiness is also a call to wonder at the magnificence and majesty of God. He has conceived the beauty that is infused in nature and He is the source of the powers that we possess as humans. The very intricate and magnificent design of our universe speaks of the omniscience of our God.

The call to holiness is a call to recognize our God within not only creation but also within us. It is He Who has conceived and continues to conceive this wonderful universe of which we are a part.

Then, when you add to a real wonderment of our universe the fact that its Creator unconditionally loves us, you have to pause and offer praise. Just take some time this week to stop and smell the roses.

Learning Our Faith From the Greek Fathers of the Church — 20160724

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St. Cyril of Alexandria

St. Cyril of Alexandria

In 431 the Council of Ephesus, which marked the first and decisive victory of Cyrillian Christology over Nestorianism, expressed itself in a single doctrinal decision: the Mother of Jesus is to be properly designated in the prayers of the church, in preaching, and in theological dissertations as “Bearer of God” (Theotokos) or “Mother of God” (Meter Theou). The decision was concerned with Christology: it affirmed the personal identity of Christ as the preexisting and eternal Son of God assuming human nature (not simply a single human individual). Since a mother is necessarily the mother of somebody (not of a “nature”) and since this “somebody” in Christ was God, her proper identity was indeed “Mother of God.” It was inevitable that the Christological decision of Ephesus would also add a decisive new real emphasis to Christian spirituality: a special, renewed veneration of Mary – the woman through whom the incarnation occurred; the one human person who, by free concurrence with the greatest act of God’s love, made the union of divinity and humanity possible.

Actually, the attribution of the title of Theotokos was the only doctrinal decision taken by the church concerning Mary. However, the New Testament, particularly Luke, had already proclaimed her eminent position in the “economy” of salvation. (henceforth all generations will call me blessed Luke 1:48), and, since Irenaeus and Justin, the theologians had discerned her role as the New Eve.

The very emotionalism and exuberance of Marian piety were undoubtedly expressing a spiritual discovery of the human side of the incarnation Mystery. The role of that simple woman, who conceived in her womb the new life (truly her virginity was a sign of this “newness”), was a real reminder of the humanity of Jesus himself, and it gave a new form the message that free fellowship and communion with God were the true and real expressions of authentic human nature. One of the biblical analogies of this fellowship – that of the family – was fulfilled in the particular role of Mary, as the mother not only of Christ but of all members of his Body, the Church.

Nestorianism is the doctrine that there were two separate persons, one human and one divine, in the incarnate Christ. It is named after Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople (428–31), and was maintained by some ancient churches of the Middle East. A small Nestorian Church still exists in Iraq.

Gaining a Deeper Understanding of Our Faith — 20160724

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pantocratorWe look to the Eastern Fathers for a deeper understanding of God in Trinity. St. Gregory Nazianzen, one of the Cappadocian Fathers and who is sometimes called the minstrel of the Holy Trinity, tells us in one of his theological poems:

From the day whereon I renounced the things of the world to consecrate my soul to luminous and heavenly contemplation, when the supreme intelligence carried me hence to set me down far from all that pertains to the flesh, to hide me in the secret places of the heavenly tabernacle; from that day my eyes have been blinded by the light of the Trinity, whose brightness surpasses all that the mind can conceive; for from a throne high exalted the Trinity pours upon all, the ineffable radiance common to the Three. This is the source of all that is here below, separated by time from the things on high. From that day forth I was dead to the world and the world was dead to me. At the close of his life he longs to be ‘there where my Trinity is, and the gathered brightness of Its splendor. Trinity, whose dim shadows exalt me.

It is obvious from such words that St. Gregory had a true experience of God in Trinity. To him, the Three Persons of the Trinity were reality. The Trinity was not just an abstract idea that humans developed in order to understand God. Rather, the Trinity was real to Gregory.

If the very foundation of created being is change, the transition from non-being to being, if the creature is contingent by nature, the Trinity is an absolute stability. One would say, an absolute necessity of perfect being; and yet the idea of necessity is not proper to the Trinity, for It transcends the antinomy of what is necessary, and the contingent; entirely personal and entirely nature; liberty and necessity are one, or, rather, can have no place in God. There is no dependence in relation to created being on the part of the Trinity; no determination of what is called “the eternal procession of the divine persons’ by the act of the creation of the world. Even though the created order did not exist, God would still be Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – for creation is an act of will: the procession of the persons in an act ‘according to nature’.

What Gregory is saying is that God always was Triune in nature and that is His essence. The Trinity is not a mental construct that humanity has created in order to understand the relationship between God and creation. Rather, creation has shown mankind that God is Triune – that He is truly connected to His creation.

The Spirituality of the Christian East — 20160724

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Ladder of Divine AccentThe 23rd Step on John’s Ladder is, as I shared in the last issue of the Bulletin, PRIDE. We find that even among the most anti-religious of people, there is no sin that makes a person so unpopular as pride. We often hear people complaining that someone is “full of himself”. It is odd that the very people who reject religion and claim that “it doesn’t matter what you believe and do as long as you don’t hurt anybody” are the very people you always hear criticizing others for being arrogant or conceited. Since conceit is not actually doing anyone harm, it is hard to see what the problem is. Haven’t these people let the cat out of the bag and shown that they believe in sin and virtue as much as anybody else?

And while they may not be willing to admit it, pride is present in them also. It is present in all of us. The more prideful we are, the more we hate pride in others. The reason for this is simple: Pride is thinking you are better than others or that you deserve better than others. Therefore, when we ourselves are guilty of this or any other sin, we do not recognize it, or at best we justify it; but when we see it in others, we have no mercy at all. Pride is therefore ultimately an opposition to the second great commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” For the more we love others as we love ourselves, the less we will be upset that they are better, or better off, than we are.

Yet we still have not reached the ultimate depths of pride. In its purest form, pride is an opposition not only to the second great commandment, but also to the first: “Love your Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

Like St. Paul says, we should only boast in the great Love that God has for us and proved by His willingness to share His life with us. We are only who we are, with all of our talents and strengths, because God has given us these gifts. Pride in God’s creation offers praise to Him.

The Divine Liturgy and Our Worship of God — 20160724

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Diskos-458In the last issue of the Bulletin, I began a closer look at the prayers of the Anaphora, the core of our Liturgy. After the celebrant asks that the grace of Jesus, the love of the Father and the communion of the Spirit be with all those present, he exhorts the community to lift up their hearts. As people in Christ lift up the eucharistic gifts, they also lift up their hearts as well. In the Bible the heart of man stands for his whole being and life. Thus in the anaphora, as the Apostle Paul has stated, the whole person is taken up into that realm where Christ is now seated at the right hand of God. Paul wrote this:

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God (Col 3.1–3).

The manner of lifting up oneself to God is through thanksgiving. The word eucharist in Greek, as I am sure all of my readers already know, means thanksgiving. The eucharistic Divine Liturgy is preeminently the action of lifting up one’s heart and giving thanks to God for all that He has done for humanity and the world in Christ and the Holy Spirit: creation, salvation and eternal glorification.

The only way that mankind can come into true union with God and with creation is through thanksgiving in Christ. Jesus is the only man truly grateful, humble and obedient to God. In him, as the only Beloved Son of God and the only perfect Adam, all men can lift up their hearts and give thanks to the Lord: For there is one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all (1 Tim 2:5).

It is critical for us, if we are to derive the full benefit of the Liturgy, to come to worship with a heart and mind filled with thanksgiving. This means, of course, that we recognize the wonder of the gifts that God is sharing with us right now. He is not only sharing His life-force but also His ability to think and create. He shares some very wondrous gifts with us. Just think of all the wonderful abilities that we have as humans. I think the problem is that many times, as we face the challenges of life, we fail to realize how wondrous life really is. Let us truly give thanks to God for LIFE.

Let us truly LIFT up our hearts!

Reflections on the Scriptural Readings for this Weekend — 20160717

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As we complete this ninth week after Pentecost, the Church also has us remember the Fathers of the Six Ecumenical Councils (325-681 CE). These six Councils truly serve as the foundation of our Christian faith. I’ve decided, however, to reflect on the writings for the ninth weekend after Pentecost in this article and deal with the readings for the Fathers in the next Bulletin article Understanding our Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Faith. Why? Because I don’t want to pass up the chance to reflect on the story of Jesus walking on water and also on Paul’s words in his first letter to the Church in Corinth.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians that He tried to establish a foundation for their faith that was truly fashioned on the foundation that Jesus Christ laid. In the closing words of the passage that we hear today, Paul again shares with his readers a thought that is one of the hallmarks of his ministry: Are you not aware that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

I am sure that Paul’s question comes as no surprise to any Christian or to any of my readers. The image of human beings as the temple of God’s Spirit is truly a powerful image that should cause all of us to stop and think about who we are in God’s creation. It is an image, if embraced, that can change how we think about human life and ourselves. Paul’s wonderful image is, for me at this time, the most important part of his message.

The story of Jesus walking on water is, for me, a very significant and powerful image since water is the ultimate symbol of life. Scientists tell us that up to 60% of the human adult body is water. In fact they tell us that the brain and heart are composed of 73% water, and the lungs are about 83% water. The skin contains 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79%, and even the bones are watery: 31%. So water is the ultimate symbol of life.

The fact that Jesus walked on water tells us, symbolically, that He is the true revelation about the meaning and purpose of life. He called Peter to embrace this understanding of life. At first Peter did and then he allowed the cares of life to cloud his vision.

Jesus is the revelation about life and how to live it. We must not allow the cares of life to distract us from this vision but, rather, embrace the WAY OF JESUS. Why? Because His way of living truly brings insight into the meaning and purpose of life and, once we comprehend life, we can truly find peace and happiness.