Learning Our Faith From the Greek Fathers of the Church — 20160131

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St Gregory Palamas

St Gregory Palamas

I would continue sharing the thoughts of Gregory Palamas about Christ and the Holy Trinity. What the Three Persons do, he says, they do together, in unison. As St. Gregory of Nyssa teaches:

We do not learn that the Father does something on his own, in which the Son does not cooperate. Or again, that the Son acts on His own without the Spirit. Rather does every energy which extends from God to creation have its origin from the Father, proceed through the Son, and reach its completion in the Holy Spirit.

Here we have the classic schema of the divine economy: from the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit – the divine operation of the Most Holy Trinity is always from the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit.

But the fact remains that the distinction of persons, the diversity in God the Holy Trinity, is also necessary to maintain, since only one of the Three Divine Persons became man; only one of the Holy Trinity was born and crucified, though this is accomplished with the consent of the Father and the Holy Spirit. It is true, of course, that the Father gives His only-begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit testifies of Him as Lord and God. But the distinction of persons remains. We see this most concretely in the mystery of the Divine Eucharist, where the Spirit is present in Holy Communion as well as the Son, but it is a different kind of presence: the Spirit did not become incarnate, therefore the Spirit has no body and blood. We receive the body and blood of Christ, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, not the body and blood of the Holy Spirit.

Hopefully as you reflect on this, it will become much clearer why the Fathers went to such great lengths to find the words that they did to express Who Christ is and Who God is!

St. Gregory Palamas also points out that Christ is not only the Sole Revealer of God, He is also the Sole Revealer of God’s purpose in His creation of man. God does have a purpose for our creation. In simple terms, what is true of Christ’s humanity can also be true for us – by grace. Christ is unique in that the     union of human nature with His divine Person is hypostatic or personal. But the consequence of this hypostatic union, namely, the exchange of the natural properties of each of His two natures, serves as a model for our own salvation and deification. What is true of Christ’s humanity can also be true for us – by grace, that is to say, as a gift. If you reflect upon these ideas of Gregory you will probably sense how different they are from Western Christianity.       This is our heritage!

The Spirituality of the Christian East — 20160131

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Ladder of Divine AccentAs I shared during the 11th Step of John’s Ladder, when the tongue is not submitted to God to be disciplined and purified, it will inevitably become a tool for sin. Our words may become a weapon to hurt our neighbor, by saying cruel things to them or by slandering them. Talking too much may lead us to making a distasteful joke or mocking someone in jest when they are in a fragile frame of mind. Talking too much even on matters of theology can lead us to speaking heresies, without thinking.

Another obvious sin that is empowered by the gift of speech is FALSEHOOD. This is by no means an easy subject to tackle, because falsehood is a very broad word. It covers a whole range of things, from breaking the ancient commandment of “bearing false witness”, which is a direct violation of the mother of the commandments which is to “Love your neighbor as yourself”, to being   untrue to others. This is why St. John includes in this 12th Step: LYING, RUMORS, GOSSIP, FALSE PROMISES and HYPOCRISY.

St. John points out that we cannot put all lies into one category, let alone condemn every lie as sin. He mentions an example from Scripture that liars frequently lied in order to justify their love of falsehood.

A similar case of lying out of necessity is to be found in Genesis (12:11-13) when Abraham tells his wife to say she is his sister, for fear envious men will kill him and his wife for themselves. St. John is naturally concerned that people will go on appealing to these passages in order to avoid dealing with the passion of falsehood. At the same time, he does not deny that the Old Testament saints committed no sin by lying in those cases.             More to follow!

The Divine Liturgy and Our Worship of God — 20160131

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Holy Eucharist IconWe cannot deny the fact that our Divine Liturgy is symbolic in nature. It is important, however, that we truly understand the idea of symbolism as it pertains to the Liturgy. The most prevalent, “current” answer to this question of symbolism consists in an identification of the symbol with a representation or illustration. When it is said that the “Little Entrance” truly “symbolizes” the Savior’s coming out to preach the Gospel, it is understood by this that the rite of entrance represents a certain event of the past. And this “illustrative symbolism” has come to be applied to worship in general, whether taken as a whole or in each of its separate rites. And since this interpretation of “symbolism” is undoubtedly rooted in the most pious of feelings, it would occur to very few that not only does it not correspond to the basic and original Christian conception of worship, but actually distorts it and provides one of the reasons for its present decline.

The reasons for this lie in the fact that “symbol” here designates something not only distinct from reality but in essence even contrary to it. It should be noted that the strong emphasis on the “real presence” of Christ in the Eucharistic gifts grew primarily out of a fear that this presence would be degraded into the category of the “symbolic.” But this could only happen when the word “symbol” ceased to designate something real and became in fact the antithesis of reality. In other words, where one is concerned with “reality” there is no need for a symbol, and, conversely, where there is a symbol there is no reality. This led to the understanding of the liturgical symbol as an “illustration,” necessary only to the extend that what is represented is not “real.” Thus, two thousand years ago the Savior came forth to preach the Gospel in reality, and now we illustrate this act symbolically in order to recall for ourselves the meaning of the event, its significance for us.

Symbol, much like the word Myth, has become distorted in our modern use. It is important that we don’t reduce what we do during the Divine Liturgy to mere symbolism, that is something that isn’t real. We believe that Christ is truly present Body and Blood in the Eucharist. His presence is real.
Much more about this!

Further Thoughts About the WAY of Jesus — 20160131

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pantocratorIn the last issue of this article I shared with you our belief that Christ is living within us. Christ’s indwelling is His way of being our guide, friend and Lord. We do not have to go far to find Him or to discover His will so that we can do it; we only have to listen within for His voice. Of course if we always have the radio or television blaring or we’re always on the telephone, we can’t ever hear His voice.

Therefore, we know that Jesus lives within each of us and speaks to us all the time. We do not hear His voice as an audible experience, but rather as an inner voice comparable to the thoughts in our minds. An important part of the nature of a Christian, an important part of the new nature that Jesus give to us in Baptism, is being in constant communion with Christ within us. When we listen to Him and follow His way, we become His friends. This communication is, of course, broken off when we engage in selfish acts. All sin is a selfish act! A spirit-filled Christian life – a life of virtue and love of others – truly opens up our communication with Christ.

Selfish acts draw us back into our old selves and our false selves. When these selves rule us, our views of       ourselves, the world and God become distorted and disoriented and spiritual growth becomes difficult, if not truly impossible. All the different voices within us begin to fight for a chance to be heard. There is the child’s voice, the voice of the law-giver, the practical voice; there is a guilty voice, an optimistic voice, a pessimistic voice, a fearful voice; there is the voice of the trickster, the voice of wisdom, the voice of selfishness, and the list could go on and on. All of these voices are parts of our personalities. Sometimes they function on their own as well, speaking to us when we do not ask them to do so.

When we engage in selfish acts, we remove from our midst the only master that has the only authority to take charge of them all – Christ. Only He can bring direction to the inner self. Through sin, the false self tries to assert leadership, but because that self has no real authority, it is quickly overthrown by one after another of these voices. No wonder that when we look within we often become afraid and confused, and we want to run away!

This is one of the chief effects of selfish acts in our lives: fear of self and fear of the spiritual world we can find within. The only real way, however, to spiritual growth is to LOOK WITHIN and find Christ within us.

Reflections on the Scriptural Readings for This Weekend — 20160124

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prodigalsonThe two readings for this weekend are powerful in their message. Our Epistle is taken from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. Paul asks his readers this very poignant question: Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? Paul then makes this statement: For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.

Why did Paul write this to the Church he founded in Corinth? He wrote this because he had received word that members of the community were not living up to how he told them Jesus taught them to live, namely a moderate, virtuous life. In fact his letter was rather pointed in condemning how many were living.

Paul clearly connects the Jesus WAY with how one lives. Think about it. What does it mean to you that YOU are the temple of God’s Spirit? That very thought should cause a person to try and live a virtuous life.

Our Gospel reading is, perhaps, one of the most moving of all of Jesus’ parables. I suspect that there is no   one who, hearing this parable, isn’t touched almost to tears. I believe that all of us have found, at some point in our early lives, ourselves “rehearsing” something to say to our fathers after we have done something stupid. And I suspect all of us have experienced, or wished we could have experienced, the father’s response to our rehearsed apology. It is so touching.

And then again, I suspect that those who have siblings probably can relate to the older brother’s response to the father’s loving kindness and forgiveness. Too often sibling rivalry, especially during early childhood, causes one sibling to question if a parent is too lenient.

So this parable seems to have the power to touch so many people for so many different reasons.

I further think that this parable also challenges our ideas about God, who is seen in the person of the father in this parable. What kind of God is our God? If God is merciful, will humankind just take advantage of His love and choose not to lead a virtuous life? Is the threat of punishment the only stimulus that can cause people to lead virtuous lives?

To me these readings present a powerful message and a different approach to religion. It is based on the premise that if we truly understand who we are in God’s creation, we will freely choose to lead virtuous lives to bring the Father glory. Why do you choose to lead a virtuous life? Knowing of God’s unconditional love, how do you choose to live?

Learning Our Faith From the Greek Fathers of the Church — 20160124

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St Gregory Palamas

St Gregory Palamas

According to St. Gregory, Christ is at the heart of all the great revelations of God to humankind in both the Old and New Testaments. As examples of this there are: The three men or angels that appeared to Abraham at Mamre: Christ is the central angel (Genesis 18: 1-33). (This is the way that the Byzantine Church represents the Holy Trinity. The famous icon of Rublev is the perfect example). The man with whom Jacob wrestled at Peniel, which means “the Face of God”, after which he exclaims, “for I have seen God face   to face, and my life is preserved. And the greatest Old Testament theophany of all: Moses’ vision of the burning bush on Sinai, with the disclosure of the Name of God, “I AM”. It is Christ that is referred to as the Angel of the LORD, Who spoke with Moses from the Burning Bush; and it is Christ Who is “I AM” – as is also witnessed to most clearly on almost every icon depicting Him. (Look at the nimbus, the halo around His head, you will find ώ ΌΝ (omega, omicron, nu) which literally means “the   being” or more precisely “He who is”)

These revelations, and many more besides, are truly revelations of Christ. In all of these great events in the history of our salvation, St. Gregory teaches us that it was none other than Christ Himself that was revealed first and foremost; precisely because it was He, and not the Father or the Holy Spirit, Who became flesh. In other words, because it was the will of God the Holy Trinity to save us by coming as the Messiah, that is, by the Incarnation of the Son and Word of God.

But if it is indeed true that “he that has seen the Son has seen the Father” (John 14:9), and that “no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3), then the revelation of Christ must at the same time be a revelation of the Holy Trinity.

St. Gregory teaches us that the Christocentric character of God’s dispensation towards man should not blind us to the great mystery of the unity and common action of the Holy Trinity. Ultimately, in other words, Christology and Trinitarian theology are one and the same doctrine. You cannot believe that Christ is God and Man if you don’t believe that God is Three-In-One. The two beliefs are not only intimately but also intrinsically united. These are truly wonderful, mysterious beliefs.

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CALLED TO HOLINESS — 20160124

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transfigurationAs I shared in the last issue of this article, before union with God can take place, two things must   happen: God must reach out to us and we must respond. When God’s hand of grace is grasped by our hand of faith, the result is salvation, wholeness, union with God. We work with God, yet all is by grace. The notion of merit is foreign to the Eastern Church. Thus, although salvation is a gift of God, we do have a part to play in it. We need to grasp by faith the hand of Christ that is already extended to us. That   grasping of the hand of Jesus by faith becomes a powerful tool for Theosis.

Most of the Fathers of the Eastern Church distinguish between the image and likeness in order to show the dynamic character of the acquisition of virtues and of deification. According to this distinction, God’s image in man determines the sum of possibilities for realizing the likeness – that is, the potentiality of the likeness of God as manifested in the Person of Jesus, the Christ. The likeness, however, is constituted by the image’s fulfillment. It consists of the image’s blossoming forth, consistent with its integral nature, and resides in the realization of its perfection. Whereas the image is natural, the likeness is virtual or acquired – it is to be realized by man’s free participation in God’s deifying grace. St. Basil explains the Genesis text in this manner: We possess one, image, by creation and we acquire the other, likeness, by will. In the first it is given to us to be born in the image of God. Being in the Iikeness of God is formed in us by the will. Our nature possess potentially what belongs to the will, but we procure this for ourselves through action. If in creating us, the Lord had not taken precaution in   advance to say, “Let US make” and “in the likeness”, if He had not bestowed upon us the potential to become the likeness, we would not be able to acquire the likeness of God by our own might. But behold, He has created us potentially able to be like Him.

This idea forms the core of Eastern Spirituality!

The Divine Liturgy and Our Worship of God — 20160124

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Mystical Supper

Mystical Supper

It is my experience that, influenced by the sacramental theology of the Western Church, the true nature of the Divine Liturgy for many, even priests, is solely focused on the “consecration” of the gifts. Too soon do people seem to forget that the Divine Liturgy, and also other services within our Church, are designed to bring the Church into true existence. We are called to be Church, that is followers of Jesus.

To truly become Church, we must first desire and sense that we are in God’s Kingdom. Second, we must want to listen to Christ’s teaching and that of His initial followers so that we might learn how to live. Third, we must voluntarily offer our petitions, praise and worship to Him, believing Him to be a loving God. Fourth, we must believe that by praying to the Father, repeating the words of Jesus and invoking the Holy Spirit, that Jesus, soul and body, will be in our midst. That is, we must believe in His real presence. Fifth, we must, with love, receive the transformed gifts with a true and loving heart, which is demonstrated by our willingness to unconditionally love and forgive all others, regardless of what we think they have done to us. And last, we must want to make God’s Kingdom real by how we live as we go forth from our encounter with Jesus.

Having shared all this, I am saying that the focus is not just on the changing of the bread and wine into the real Body and Blood of Christ so that He is truly present in our midst, but also on how this Divine Liturgy changes us.

The history of the Church has been filled with great struggle concerning the meaning of the true presence of Christ in the transformed gifts. Of course there was also a great struggle in the Church to understand Who Jesus really is. There has always been a tendency to either make Him more God than Man. This same struggle, I think, has been within Christianity concerning the Eucharist.

We must guard against reducing the Divine Liturgy just to the act of transforming the gifts. In order to do this, we must first understand the idea of a symbol. It has long been normal to speak of the symbolism of our worship. We can hardly doubt that our Divine Liturgy is symbolic. But what is understood by this term is very important.

More to come!

The Spirituality of the Christian East — 20160124

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Ladder of Divine AccentI would conclude my remarks on the 11th Step of John’s Ladder by adding just a few words on the use of social media (e.g., Facebook and Twitter). I really am not a luddite. Social media can be very helpful. The aggression and venomous judgmentalism one so often finds, however, in these places, especially even on religious discussion forums, is breathtaking. It may be the case that many a “troll” is by nature a quiet person, but put him in front of a screen and the poison comes spewing forth! But useless online chatter is not always of an aggressive or judgmental nature; sometimes it is a cry for attention. It may be that the cause of constant talking (and that includes incessant tweeting and Facebooking) is a desire for recognition, a need to be noticed and appreciated.

The solution to controlling, or rather, purifying our speech (whether our words are spoken or written) is   purifying the heart. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings fort evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks (Luke 6: 45).

The more pure our hearts, the more pure our speech; the more considerate and thoughtful and recollected we are through a life of prayer and contemplation, the less harm our words will cause. Thus only the pure in heart are able to purify the tongue and use it as a tool for good without it leading us time and again into a whole host of troubles.

This is the eleventh step. He who succeeds in taking it, says St. John, has with one blow cut off a host of evils. Hopefully, my readers have found some value in the first 11 steps of John’s Ladder. Don’t expect to climb the Ladder quickly. Sometimes two steps forward and one step back!

Smart and Stupid Ways to Think About God — 20160124

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As I stated in the last issue, There are some ways to think about God, as human as they are, that are simply false. That’s why the Bible, especially the Old Testament, talks so much about idols, or graven images. That’s why, back in ancient times, making any image of God was strictly taboo.

God forbid we, in our bumbling human way, should create a picture so beautiful we pray to it as God, instead of a representation of God. We must remember that we do not worship icons. We worship Who the icon represents. Sometimes we Eastern Christians have been accused of worshipping icons because we actually take time to venerate them by kissing and touching our heads to them. We do not worship icons. They are used to remind us of the people WHO we remember as being real and part of salvation history.

God forbid we should create an image, an idea, a theory, so captivating we mistake it for God Himself. That’s truly the idolater’s error. When we do, we worship our creation instead of God. We worship our idea instead of God. In essence, what this really means is we’re worshipping ourselves!

If we have a false sense of self, we cannot help but create a false god. If we have a false sense of values, we cannot help but create a god that’s worthless. But rather then realize the problem lives in us, we pin it on God. Excuses, excuses! It’s our dishonesty toward ourselves that creates our disillusionment with God.

If we’re serious about thinking about God, we also have to think more seriously about ourselves. If we really want to delve into the mystery of God, and get reliable answers, we’ve got to look inward, find the real McCoy, the genuine article, our true selves. We’ve got to have the courage to grow psychologically. To improve ourselves. To heal ourselves. It means to expose all our inner falsehoods to the light of day. We have to do a lot of personal work. And the more we clean up our act, the cleaner our view of God.

But admittedly, if our view of God changes as we do, we’re left with some very uncomfortable questions: What is truth? Whose truth is truth? Can we ever know for sure that truth even exists?

I wonder how many of my readers have ever thought about WHO GOD IS? I do believe that all of us have an image of God (i.e., idea of God) within us. Sometimes because of childhood experiences, that image may not be a healthy image.
Who is God for you?