Gaining a Deeper Understanding of the New Testament — 20160207

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the_four_evangelistsI have already shared something about the similarities that exist within the three Synoptic Gospels. I would now like to share something about the dissimilarities.

Some events are recounted by only two of the Evangelists, others are proper to only one. Even then, the two accounts of the same event differ at times. For example, Matthew and Luke give the history of Jesus’ infancy, whereas Mark does not. Yet these two accounts of Matthew and Luke differ considerably. This holds true for the genealogies of Jesus that they present. Also Matthew and Luke share the same three temptations of Jesus but the order is changed. Even the reports of the Lord’s resurrection present no uniform traditions. One would think that there would be a uniform presentation of this most important event.

Although in general there is agreement in the arrangement of the Gospel materials, it must be noted that there are some differences. Where one author groups the material together in one place, the other scatters it throughout his work. The parable section is common to all three, but each has a different number of parables. Although Luke and Matthew share many of Jesus’ sayings not found in Mark, the sayings are organized in a different fashion. In Matthew the sayings are grouped in five great discourses of Jesus (43:2,16) whereas in Luke much of this material appears during Jesus’ long journey to Jerusalem (9:51-18:4). The two best examples of this are the number of petitions to be found in the Our Father (Matthew 6:9-15; Luke 11:21-4); and the number of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-11; Luke 6:20b-22).

Luke follows Mark’s over-all order much more closely than Matthew does. Perhaps the best   way of summarizing the content similarities and dissimilarities and also the arrangement among the Synoptics is to give a detailed comparison of Luke and Mark. Careful study of this detailed comparison will help the reader to understand the different method of the two Evangelists and show him the complexity of the interrelationships.

The Synoptic Problem as we know it did not arise until the middle of the 18th Century. Even then, thorough   investigation of the problem did not begin in earnest until the early 19th Century. The early Church Fathers did not treat this question explicitly. Augustine was aware of some of the difficulties. He actually wrote a book on the literary relationships of these three Gospels.          More to follow!

CALLED TO HOLINESS — 20160207

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So the call to holiness is, in truth, a call for spiritual renewal so that we might grow in our likeness of God as seen in Jesus Christ. By spiritually educating ourselves in the faith, we make a decision to separate ourselves from the values of this world and focus our lives on the values of God’s Kingdom made real in this present life. It means taking a radical step toward commitment to the Lord and living the WAY that He modeled when He was physically here on earth. It is only when we freely enter into full communion with Christ, person to person, can we become Godlike and consequently realize our full humanity. Then we begin to live as Christ wants us to live and as He Himself lived. This means, in practical terms, that we are non-conformists. We turn our backs on what may endanger the soul. We refuse to follow the fashion of the many and follow instead in the footsteps of the few.
The first Christians never had any doubt that they must be different from the world. They knew the world would most certainly hate them, and would probably kill them. But they did not fear death or the world, for they knew their Lord had overcome both. Over against this, lies the modern cry for conformity. Our society, by its many social pressures, encourages uniformity under the banner of equality. Yet the true follower of Christ does not behave as human pressures compel him, but as the WAY of Jesus compels him. He accepts the Lord as the leader of his life. If enough Christians were to respond to the Gospel in this way, they would indeed transform the whole world.
The biggest problem is that there are many loud voices that say they speak in the name of the Gospel or the WAY of Jesus but are, actually, a distortion of the Gospel. One of the basic criteria that can be used to determine whether one is living according to the Gospel is this: Is the way suggested a way that is filled with LOVE, FORGIVENESS, and NON-JUDGMENT of others. Is the way suggested how Jesus lived?

The Spirituality of the Christian East — 20160207

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Ladder of Divine AccentThe 12th Step on St. John’s Ladder, FALSEHOOD, includes RUMORS and GOSSIP. He states that if it is indeed a grievous sin to bear false witness against our neighbor, is it not also a terrible thing to spread unfounded gossip about our neighbor? Nowhere is the propensity for self-justification more apparent than in the sin of gossip and slander. We frequently hear Christians spreading malicious rumors about others and justifying it by saying, “I heard this from a reliable source.” Several things must be said about this. No doubt this reliable source received this information from another reliable source, and that  reliable source found out from another reliable source. Before you know it, a malicious rumor has spread and become exaggerated over time through a chain of reliable sources. Meanwhile, a person’s reputation has been ruined, or others have become secretly suspicious of him, all because you could not resist a bit of juicy gossip. Spreading malicious rumors about someone is not much better than bearing false witness against him. Believing that it is true and even if it is true, does now give us the permission to share it with others.

Reliable or not, founded or not, we should not spread such rumors. Just as we would not like others to expose our sins, mistakes and stupid off-the-cuff remarks, so too we should not   expose the shame of others. Keeping our mouths shut, even if we know for a fact what someone has done, is the easiest expression of love and compassion. Yet how few of us manage even that.

It seems that we humans find it very easy to gossip and spread rumors. I guess it is because at some level we think that it makes us look better if we expose the weaknesses of others.

The Divine Liturgy and Our Worship of God — 20160207

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Holy Eucharist IconIn the Eastern Church’s experience, a sacrament (more appropriately called Mystery) is primarily a revelation of the sacramentality of creation itself, for the world was created and given to man for conversion of creaturely life into participation in divine life. If in baptism water can become a laver of regeneration, if our earthly food (i.e., bread and wine) can be transformed into partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ, if with oil we are granted the anointment of the Holy Spirit, if, to put it briefly, everything in the world can be identified, manifested and understood as a gift of God and participation in the new life, it is because all of creation was originally summoned and destined for the fulfillment of the divine economy – ”then God will be all in all.”

This sacramental understanding of the world – all creation – is the gift God has given us in the Person of Jesus. It is the light that permeates the entire life of our Church – our entire liturgical and spiritual tradition. Sin itself is perceived as a falling away of man, and in him of all creation, from this sacramentality by choosing the paradise of delight – by choosing to no longer live according to God’s plan but according to one’s own plan which is corrupt and mortal. If this is so, then Christ accomplishes the salvation of the world by renewing the world and life itself as a sacrament – a union of all creation with its Creator. For a Mystery (sacrament) refers to God’s world as He first created it and to its fulfillment in the kingdom of God. It has a cosmic dimension, one that truly embraces all of creation and   returns it to God as God’s own and by this, it manifests the victory of Christ. It is not just by chance that our seven Mysteries (sacraments) deal with the seven most basic mysteries of human life. Think about it. Life, Love, Forgiveness, Commitment to the Service of God, Sickness and our human, spiritual dimension are all truly mysteries. The Church, by having us celebrate them, helps us to more fully understand them.

I know that this might sound quite esoteric. We humans tend to think in concrete ideas. It says that God       created all things and then put man in charge so that he might, by voluntarily responding to God’s help, support all creation in being transformed into a clearer reflection of God.

GREAT FAST PASTORAL OF THE UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC HIERARCHY OF THE U.S.A.

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

“Be merciful just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36)

There is a story of a mother who was pleading with Napoleon Bonaparte for mercy on the life of her son, an army officer, who had been sentenced to death for treason. The emperor called the young officer’s crime an unforgivable betrayal of the nation, which it undoubtedly was, and that justice demanded his life.

“Not justice!” cried the mother, “Give him mercy!”
“He does not deserve mercy”, was Napoleon’s curt retort.
“But”, said the mother, “if he deserved it, it would not be mercy!” This mother’s wise reply immediately softened the heart of Napoleon who spared her son from the sentence of death.

As we know, this year our Lenten journey is taking place during the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, inaugurated by His Holiness Pope Francis last December in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

We are called to be merciful as our heavenly Father is merciful. But before we are able show mercy to anyone else, we are called first to open our own hearts so that we can accept the gift of mercy freely given to us by the Father. This sounds easy enough in theory, but opening our hearts to God is, at times, not as straightforward as we may think. Because in order to accept this gift of mercy, we must first admit to ourselves and to God that we, abject and sinful human creatures, are indeed, in dire need of his mercy. We are called to acquire an attitude of sincere penitence and humility, which is not always easy for us who have grown up on a diet, served up by our modern society, of pride, entitlement, and self-sufficiency.

This is why the Church, in her great wisdom, has given us the great spiritual gift of this holy season of Great Lent. The unique and evocative prayers and services of Great Lent are such that they instill in us, firstly, a recognition of our own faults and failings and secondly, a desire for personal conversion and a return to the loving arms of God the Father and his mercy. And so, over and over again in the divine services we pray: “Lord, have mercy.”

One of the saints of the Byzantine church writes the following: “This expression – Lord, have mercy – is appropriate, since we should not ask for anything except for mercy. As sinners we cannot, nor dare not, say anything to our Loving Master except have mercy.”

Our limited human intellect cannot, of course, even partially grasp the depth and breadth of the mercy of God for us. The word mercy in English is the translation of the Greek word eleos, which has the same root as the old Greek word for olive oil, a substance which was used in the ancient world as a soothing agent for bruises and minor wounds. The oil was poured onto the wound and gently massaged in, thus soothing, comforting and making whole the injured part. This should immediately bring to mind of course, the gospel parable of the Good Samaritan and the traveler who poured olive oil on the wounds of the man lying beaten and left for dead at the side of the road. (Luke 10:29-37)

So when we pray “Lord, have mercy”, we are praying in effect: “Lord, soothe me, comfort me, take away my pain, show me your steadfast love.” This mercy refers to the infinite loving kindness of God, his compassion for us his suffering children, his desire to lift us up from our pain and sorrow and sinfulness. It is in this profound sense that we pray “Lord, have mercy” with such great frequency and fervor throughout the divine services.

If we are called to embrace the mercy of God with open arms and hearts for ourselves, then how much more are we called to share this gift with others and to witness to this gift in the world? Like the traveler in the gospel parable we too are called to be a good Samaritan to those in our lives whom we meet, even accidently, in our daily lives, who have need of the soothing balm of God’s mercy to be rubbed into their wounds of body and soul, whether or not these wounds come from outside themselves or are self-inflicted.

Jesus never compromised on his ideals, but he did beautifully describe and embody God’s unconditional love, mercy and forgiveness for everyone: a beggar with leprosy, a Samaritan woman with five failed marriages, a traitor like Peter, a self-righteous human rights abuser like Saul of Tarsus, a prodigal son, an adulteress. The Gospel gives eloquent witness to this on many occasions. If Jesus showed a way of keeping the highest standards, while at the same time offering Living Water – love, forgiveness, mercy, to the least deserving of it, can we then, act any differently?

St. Isaac, the Syrian once said, “Never say that God is just. If he were just, you would be in hell. Rely only on his injustice, which is forgiveness, love and mercy”.

Our prayer today is that the Father’s gifts of forgiveness, love and mercy may brighten the path of our Lenten journey upon which we are now embarking and lead us spiritually renewed and refreshed to the Feast of Our Lord’s Resurrection!

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

+Richard Seminack
Eparch of St. Nicholas in Chicago

+Paul Chomnycky, OSBM (author)
Eparch of Stamford

+ Bohdan Danylo
Eparch of St. Josaphat in Parma

+John Bura
Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia

Great Fast, 2016

Reflections on the Scriptural Readings for this Weekend — 20160131

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LastJudgementThe next to last weekend before the Great Fast, the Church would have us listen to two readings that clearly tell us that the penance we do will not lead to salvation but only dispose us to live in a manner that will led us to salvation. St. Paul says to the Corinthians that the food we eat or do not eat will not being us “closer to God”. What he suggests is that choosing to eat or not eat certain foods will only dispose us, because the act of fasting develops within us discipline, the ability to live as a child of God, to live as Jesus lived.

Matthew’s Gospel then articulates how it is that we must live if we wish to gain salvation. The actions that Matthew articulates have nothing to do with actions that violate any of the Ten Commandments. So very frequently Christians think that they will be judged on how they kept the Commandments. On the contrary, Matthew’s Gospel presents a much different picture. The Gospel clearly states that how we treat the least of God’s children is how we directly treat God.

This, of course, all makes perfect sense if we truly understand the revelation that humans were created as temples of God’s own Spirit. So anything we do to others is done to God Himself.

his is why we are called to unconditionally love others as Jesus loved others, regardless of what others do to us. This is the real challenge of the Jesus message. How do I love others without any regard to how they treat me? How do I, for example, return hatred and rejection with love?

Of course we have an example in the Person of Jesus. He clearly showed us unconditional love for others. He was able to do this NOT BECAUSE HE WAS GOD, but because He had God’s Spirit within Him as a human person. We can never use the excuse that we cannot imitate Jesus because He was God and we are only human. Jesus, as a man, endured suffering, rejection and hatred as a man precisely because He loved God.

God never expects us to do something that is beyond our power. By setting the criteria for achieving salvation to be how we treat others, He knows that we have the ability to learn how to unconditionally love and forgive. Otherwise He would never have set the criteria for salvation to be love of neighbor.

As we prepare for the Great Fast, let us ask God to help us.

Understanding Our Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church — 20160131

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1507060_848314515197967_2751624803318588973_nAlthough I believe that all of my   readers already have some idea about how the Eastern Church observes the Great Fast, I would repeat some traditional suggestions.

Recommended Minimal Effort

  • On the first day of Lent (February 8) and Good Friday (March 25) observe a Strict Fast, abstaining from meat and dairy products.
  • Abstain from meat on All Fridays of Lent and also on Holy Saturday (March 26)

The Church sees this as a minimal effort

A Strict Lenten Tradition

  • Fast from meat and dairy products all the days of the Fast, even on weekends, from February 8 until   after Easter services March 27
  • Abstain from meat beginning the day after Meatfare (January 31)
  • Abstain from dairy products the day   after Cheesefare (February 8)

Church tradition highly recommends this observance if physically possible

Modified Strict Lenten Tradition

A modified version of the strict tradition calls us, in addition to the minimal effort, to abstain from meat on all Wednesdays and Fridays of Lent and all the days of Great and Holy Week.

I believe, although I am probably in the minority with this belief, that none of this should even be done under the sense of “obligation.” God wants free people to love and worship Him, not slaves. Church traditions have proven to be effective in helping us grow.

All spiritual practices should be thoughtful and reasonable, knowing that we do them to help us spiritually grow. God will not love us any more or because of what we choose to do. He loves us unconditionally. We engage in ascetical practices to help us understand how much He loves us. Specific practices during the Great Fast can open our hearts and minds to celebrate Easter in a manner which professes that we know that God loves us.

We should never engage in strict practices if we are sick or physically unable. Religion is reasonable. Again, our approach to religious practices must be intelligent, remembering that they are meant to help us focus our attention on our spiritual lives. God doesn’t need anything from us.

My counsel as your spiritual father is to thoughtfully and prayerfully use the time of Lent for spiritual growth. Integrate into your life any activity that helps you focus on your spiritual life. Do whatever it takes to make God, in a very special way, the center of these next forty days and prepare you to personally celebrate Easter.

Gaining a Deeper Understanding of the New Testament — 20160131

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image269I began sharing with my readers what is call the Synoptic Problem, namely that the three first Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, have similarities and dissimilarities. The course of the life of Jesus and His activity are presented in a similar fashion. The Baptizer appears; Jesus is baptized by him and enters into the desert of temptation. After this He begins His public life. The greater part of Jesus’ activity centers in Galilee and in the regions boarding it. His journey to Jerusalem and His trial there are told in similar fashion. All three accounts close with His crucifixion and resurrection. The framework is expressed in the chart at the bottom of the page.

There is no attempt by the Synoptists to present a biography of Jesus as such. Nor do them seek to depicted his personality. Their desire is rather to report in popular speech the words and works of Jesus and the impression these made upon those surrounding Him. These Gospels, therefore, consist of separate units of narrative and discourse that appear to be complete in themselves. These units are often in sequence without any temporal or spatial connection. There are also sections in which similar materials are placed together (e.g. Sabbath stories, parables). The Synoptics are also marked by the separate characteristic sayings of Jesus, short discourses and fragments of discourses. A particular penchant for parables is also evident. In much of this they are quite unlike John’s Gospel.

Many passages show a striking agreement in language or wording. Sometimes all three will agree on an Old Testament quote that is different from both the original Hebrew text and the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew). The words of Jesus are often reported in identical Greek. Sometimes all three or at least two of the Synoptics use unusual Greek language constructions or the same comparatively rare Greek words. Occasionally whole sentences or groups of sentences correspond practically word for word.

So there are similarities between the Synoptic Gospels. There are also, however, dissimilarities.

Activity Matthew Mark Luke
Introduction & Birth

Prior to Public Ministry

Galilean Ministry

Journey to Jerusalem

Passion & Resurrection

 1:1 – 2:23

3:1 – 4:11

4:12 – 18:35

19:1 – 20:34

21 – 28

 ———-

1:1-13

1:14 – 9:50

10:1-52

11 – 16

 1:1 – 2:52

3:1 – 4:13

4:14 – 9:50

9:51 – 18:43

19-24

CALLED TO HOLINESS — 20160131

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The Call to Holiness is an invitation by God to gain a proper perspective on the Eastern view of salvation. The Eastern Church has a distinctive anthropological outlook which has definite implications. In the main, Eastern anthropology looks forward to the renewing of the image of God. The underlying anthropology is not necessarily more positive but, instead of operating mainly in guilt-concepts, it looks upward, so to speak, to the image of God to be fulfilled in mortal human beings. This sets the tone for the rest of our understanding of salvation.

The view of the human being in the Christian East is based upon the notion of “participation” in God.” This “natural” participation, however, is not a static givenness; rather, it is a challenge, and the human being is called to grow in divine life. Divine life is a gift, but also a task which is to be accomplished by a free human effort.

A person becomes the perfect image of God by discovering his or her likeness to God, which is the perfection of the nature common to all human beings. The Greek term homoiousios, which corresponds to likeness in Genesis 1:26, means precisely that dynamic progress and growth in divine life and implies   human freedom. In Greek patristic thought there is no opposition between freedom (likeness) and grace (God’s image in human beings): the presence in man of divine qualities, of a “grace” (God’s image) which makes him fully man, “neither destroys his freedom, nor limits the necessity for him to become fully himself by his own effort: rather it secures that cooperation, or synergy between the divine will and human choice which makes possible the progress “from glory to glory” and the assimilation of man to the divine dignity for which he was created.”

I’m not sure whether this is all making more sense or not. I’m also not sure whether my readers see the real difference between Western and Eastern spirituality. The way that the Eastern Church sees humans and the way that the Western Church does is considerably different.
Think about this!

Smart and Stupid Ways to Think About God — 20160131

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Picture1One of the common myths that our modern society has spawned is that science has the answers to all of the things that we do not understand. It searches for truth about how nature operates. Its theories and laws explain a host of phenomena. But science tends to ignore the other side of truth. Philosophical truth. Ethical truth. Moral truth. Emotional truth. The theories and laws that explain nature’s most baffling phenomenon: people.

Science does not   answer these questions: How should one person treat another? What is the correct way to offer charity? How do you deal with guilt? How do we live for ourselves without becoming selfish? How do we live for others without also becoming martyrs?

Can science answer these questions?

Can any experiment, no matter how exacting, measure the human heart? If it could, would the world be in such a pickle? Who could look at the threat of atomic warfare, ecological destruction, urban decay, and not question the truth of science? Isn’t it time we admit that science, too, has earned its share of doubts?

On the other hand, is religion any better? Didn’t it perpetuate a lot of bigotry and superstition in the name of truth? Didn’t it often encourage poverty and ignorance as a sign of piety? Didn’t it frequently require us to trade real-world happiness for other-world rewards? As we look around the world today, don’t we see that many promote bigotry, prejudice and judgment of others in the name of religious beliefs?

This is why the idea of God, the pure and uncontaminated idea of God, is such a radical notion. Now, despite competing claims of truth by religion and science, the idea of God asserts that there must be, can be, only one truth: God. And this Truth is the source of both scientific truths and also human truths. God is the source of the laws of nature and the laws of the human spirit.

The idea of God means there can be only one complete truth. One ultimate truth. Science, religion, all individual truths, are at best only partly true. Parts of the elephant. Not the whole. God and Truth are truly inseparable. They are one and the same. What is Truth? In truth, only God could possibly know.

What has been very interesting to me is how we humans form our ideas about God. My PhD Dissertation actually looked at the elements that go into our individual mental creations of Who God IS – our image of God.