Reflections on the Scripture Readings for this Weekend — 20170730

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The first assigned reading for this weekend comes from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. We have completed our readings from his letter to the Romans. In this reading, Paul addresses the issue of dissention in the Church in Corinth. He admonishes members to “agree in what you say. Let there be no factions; rather, be united in mind and judgment”.

The second assigned reading is St. Matthew’s account of the “multiplication of the loaves.” Some form of this story appears in all of the gospels, albeit the story is different in each of the Gospels. Matthew connects this incident with the killing of John the Baptizer and the withdrawal of Jesus from Galilee. Mark associates it with the return of the Twelve from their mission and a withdrawal into solitude for rest. The scene is not clear in any of the three synoptic gospels.

It is highly unlikely that very many of the crowd would leave home for a day’s journey without carrying some food. The modern Palestinian peasant would not be so improvident.

The ceremonial with which Jesus blesses and distributes the food anticipates the Last Supper. The Twelve hand out the food and collect the fragments, one basket for each. Matthew heightens the number of the people: uncounted women and children besides 5,000 men. The number is very probably exaggerated, and it is not the result of a head count in any case. Oral tradition tends to raise such figures.

The usual note of wonder that follows miracles is not mentioned here. The incident is related less for the element of the miraculous than as a symbol and an anticipation of the Eucharist and of the Messianic banquet. We must remember that this story was written down after the Resurrection of Christ. The association with the Eucharist is more explicit in John’s gospel, where the multiplication of the loaves is followed by John’s Eucharistic discourse (John: 6). It is a Messianic sign and symbol that will find its fulfillment in the true Messianic banquet, which is the Eucharist.

St. Matthew has abbreviated this story less sharply than others; but his abbreviations, achieved by the omission of some details and dialogue, have the effect of heightening the symbolic significance of this incident.

As I think about these two readings I gleaned this message: When we partake of Holy Communion, we must be aware that we should be “AT PEACE” with all others. Communion is the ultimate sign of union with God and our fellowmen. If I approach the CUP with hatred for anyone in my life, I truly don’t worthily receive Christ’s presence in my life. So, I should make sure that I ask Christ into my life with love for my fellowmen.

Understanding Our Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church — 20170730

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If a person researches the topic of “Spiritual Formation of Laity” that is contained in the second session of the Patriarchal Council of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, which was held in 1998, you will find something that was written by the Kyivan Grand Prince Volodymyr in the 11th-12th century. He shared with his people that Christian living must draw upon a person’s personal commitment to become like Jesus. His writing can inspire us today.

As we recognize the difficult history of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, we have to recognize her holiness and the absolute courageousness of her members during many difficult years. They are prime examples for us to imitate.

When the Kyivan Church entered into communion with Rome her spiritual heritage and her saints entered the communion with her. We can take pride and learn so very much from our Church’s past and also her experience in the catacombs of modern times.

We have to understand that the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church is of the Kyivan and Byzantine tradition and has its own Eastern theology and spirituality as well as worship practices. It is different from Western Catholicism. This difference, however, does not make us any less Catholic.
This, of course, raises the question: What does it mean to be Catholic? Does it mean that we have to have the very same theology and spirituality? Does it mean that we have to adopt all the liturgical practices and devotions of the Western Church?

To be Catholic means that we belong to a “communion of Churches” and recognize that, in accord with Sacred Tradition, we recognize the Patriarch of the West, the Bishop of Rome, as the first among equals who, like Peter, is called by God to keep unity among all the Churches. When you look at the history of the Church, you realize that Peter did not dictate to the other Apostles what to believe and how to worship God. (This is one reason why we have so many different forms of worship within the Catholic Communion). Each Apostle seems to have developed with the people he evangelized, a unique way to worship that had common elements.
What Peter also did was to make sure that all Apostles agreed upon some very basic beliefs. This was done by working to achieve “consensus” among the Apostles. The early Church governed itself through a Synodal approach – a gathering of all Church leaders and arguing and debating dogmas of faith and then eventually coming to a common consensus.

We know that after 1054 CE this was no longer possible and still is impossible. This will never be true again until Churches achieve “unity” and, of course, “communion.”
This is why our Church still maintains its own internal discipline, theology and spirituality. There is no “right” or “wrong” way. The way is directly connected to our history and traditions. Let us take pride in our own Tradition.

Learning Our Faith From the Greek Fathers of the Church — 20170730

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I would continue sharing the thoughts of St. Gregory about the mystery and wonder of the Trinity. He posed this further question: IF the Father as unbegotten and the Son as begotten are indeed distinct from one another, they are obviously not the same. How can they both be the same God? Gregory poses the question as follows: “For if to be unbegotten is the essence of God, to be begotten is not that essence; if the opposite is the case, the unbegotten is excluded. What logical argument can contradict this?”

All depends, Gregory argues, on what we mean when we say that the unbegotten and the begotten are not the same. He then certainly agrees, “the unoriginate and the created are not of the same nature.” Is such the case with the Father and the Son? “But if you say that he that begot and that which was begotten are not the same, the statement is in accurate. For it is in fact a necessary truth that they are the same. For the relation of father to child is this: that the offspring is of the same nature with the parent.” Think, Gregory coaches, of Adam. “Was he not alone the direct creature of God,” created in a unique manner by God?” Does this mean that Adam was the only human being? Hardly. Other humans “begotten” by normal procreative means are clearly also human. What is Gregory’s point? Just so neither is he who is unbegotten alone God, through he along is Father.

If so, how are terms such as unbegotten and begotten to be understood in terms of the unity of God? What are the possibilities? Well, “if the Son is the same as the Father in respect of essence,:” perhaps the Son is unbegotten. Such might be true, but only “if the essence of God consists in being unbegotten.” Scratch one possibility off the list of possible models.

I am sure if you have read the above closely, you, like me, are overwhelmed and confused. The arguments that went into the finding of sufficient words and ideas to express what we mean by God were and are highly complex. The Trinity, like the God-Man Jesus, are, of course, mysteries in which we can only place our faith and belief. The ideas of God being Three-In-One, connects us to God in a very intimate and deep way.
More to come!

The Divine Liturgy and Our Worship of God — 20170730

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When you seriously explore our Divine Liturgy, you find that we consistently pray to the Holy Trinity. Although we remember during the Divine Liturgy what Jesus did, we realize that it is our means of worshipping God Who is Three-In-One – Who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

So the Divine Liturgy is not worship of Jesus but, rather, the worship of God together with Jesus Who taught us HOW TO PRAY. He not only gave us the words of the Our Father, He also gave us a ritual which indeed is a worship of our Triune God.

It seems that in the Western world, a good number of people believe that we worship Jesus, especially since we include in the Liturgy the actions He performed at the Last Supper. We use the actions of Jesus to worship God, knowing that the Second Person is Christ, the Jesus Who is also God.

I know that this might seem to be confusing to some. It takes a lot of thought. Here I’m trying to make the distinction that we worship Jesus as God while using the actions of Jesus as Man. I would also hasten to remind my readers that it is our belief that while only one person, Hypostasis, informed both the Divine and Human natures of the Man Jesus, they were separate and equal – a great mystery which only an infinite God could accomplish.

Does this understanding make a difference? I believe that it does.

The next time you attend the Divine Liturgy, I would ask you to pay particular attention to the “person” that the prayers are directed. As I see it, there is only several prayers in the entire Liturgy that are directed to Jesus alone. All the rest are directed mainly to GOD, each ending with glorification to Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This, I think, makes our worship of God much different than Western Christian denominations. I find it absolutely important. Jesus, I believe, set us the Eucharist for two very important reasons: (1) that He might have a way to always be with His followers; and (2) that He might show us how to worship God, offering our very lives to Him in Thanksgiving for the Gift of Life and for joining us to God.

When a person begins to attend the Divine Liturgy with these thoughts in mind, worship changes. Think about it. I have to be thankful for my life, with all of its successes, struggles, joys, sorrows, challenges and relationships.

Are you thankful for your life? When you worship do you also believe that it is important that you are at peace with all of your fellowmen – you are in co communion with them?

CALLED TO HOLINESS — 20170730

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I have tried to stress in this article that our call from God, through life, is to become a person who clearly sees the meaning and purpose of life. Have you ever thought about why you are alive and why you are the person that you are? I am firmly convinced that we have to deal with the issue of why we are the persons that we are. I am firmly also convinced that God needs us to be who we are so that, at this moment, His creation is complete. We exit this world when we no longer are needed to complete God’s creation.

Of course this all requires that we think in a certain manner. Do you really believe that God has a plan for His creation, which includes us? Do you really feel, know and believe that God, from all eternity, conceived of you as you are and that He, through life, knows that the right combination of strengths and weakness which are yours, is the exact combination needed to help you grow in your likeness of God as seen in the Person of Jesus?

I truly believe that FAITH requires us to think in this fashion. If we believe in God and believe that He is loving, we must believe that He didn’t just have us come into existence without some sort of idea/plan

of how to give us the opportunities we need to fulfill the purpose of life. We also believe, however, that while He has a plan in mind for us, He doesn’t force His plan on us. Why? Because He gave us free will and He wants us to freely choose the way we want to respond to the meaning and purpose of life. This is how a loving Father behaves. A true Father never forces His will on us but, rather, only calls us to respond to His loving offerings to transform our lives.

The call to holiness, therefore, is God’s call, through life, to make sense out of this earthly experience and to choose how we want to live it. He has told us of His love through Jesus and only hopes, for our sakes, that we choose a path that will lead us to greater union with Him.

Salvation is an interactive process between God and us. He honors and respects our free-will actions. Why? Because He gave us free will and only desires our voluntary return of His love, like any good father.

The Spirituality of the Christian East — 20170730

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Eastern Christian spirituality is indeed centered in God; in fact, its very goal is communion with God, which is, it is believed, attainable through the accomplishment of His will. We clearly see this in the life of Jesus. He truly accomplished the Father’s will by revealing to humankind how to live this earthly existence. His primary task was to model how to live as a human being and how to deal with the various challenges of life. Jesus did this in a most superb manner. He showed us how to be what God wants us to be and to do what God wants us to do. Of course this requires us to believe that life puts us in the exact place we need to be in order to accomplish the task of becoming more like Jesus. It also means that God has willed to give us the exact combination of strengths and, of course, weaknesses to grow.

In the New Testament, the first letter of St. Peter refers to this fundamental command of God. He is attributed as saying: “…as He who called you is holy, be holy yourself in all your conduct; since it is written, ’You shall be holy, for I am holy.” That human beings should be holy by sharing in the happiness of God Himself is the meaning of union with God. We all are called “to be saints by becoming “partakers of the nature of God”. This is what Jesus meant when He said in His sermon on the mount, “You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Now we know that we truly cannot achieve, in this lifetime, the goal of being perfect as the Father, but we can, at least, be engaged in trying to become like His perfection as found in the God-Man Jesus. This is accomplished by attempting to do the will of God. And His will is that we personally transform ourselves.
What Do You Think?

FROM OUR DEACON CANDIDATE — 201707030

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TOPIC: Theology of Liturgy
By Len Mier

Thy Kingdom Come: Social Justice and Salvific Outlook in the Anaphora of St. Basil the Great Part 3

This is a continuation of the thoughts that Len had on the Anaphora of St. Basil the Great.

Mystical Supper

St Basil goes on to tell of salvation’s history that “when the fullness of time had come, you spoke to us through your own Son, the very one through whom you created the ages. Although he is the reflection of your glory and the express image of your person, sustaining all things by his powerful word… that he emptied himself taking on the form of a slave…that he might conform us to the image of his glory.” (Catholic et al., 2006)

St Basil finishes his recounting of salvation history with the consecration of the Eucharistic elements into the Divine Body and Blood of our Savior. This culminates with the anamnesis where we remember all that He has done for our salvation, making the moment real for us at the present time.

From this point forward in the anaphora, the intercessions, the focus begins to beseech God in prayer for blessings and care for all mankind. This portion of the anaphora starts out, “Rather, may we obtain mercy and grace together with all your saints who have pleased you since time began.”(Catholic et al., 2006) If we are to believe that we are transformed by the Eucharist lying on the altar, which we are to receive, then we must believe that we are called to give mercy and favor to those around us. St Basil goes on to list in much detail those things we need to do and people for whom we are to pray.

“These petitions are cosmic, ecclesiological, and eschatological in focus as they concern ‘All of God’s creation, all salvation, all fulfillment.’ It is within such a spiritually profound context that particular people prepare to commune in and with a Body much larger than themselves in a fashion that should transform every dimension of their life and world.”(LeMasters, 2015)

Likewise hearing those petitions we are called to do the things for which we pray. By doing Philanthropia for our fellowman, just as God did for us, we are now transformed by the Eucharist we are to receive, we become transformed in to that which we partake. In fulfilling the petitions we just prayed we are bringing about salvation on this side of the Kingdom and making the other side of the Kingdom real and present. “In order to pray such socially charged petitions with integrity, the members of the Church must enact the very Philanthropia and compassion for which they give thanks and pray.”(LeMasters, 2015) We as believers are called to do what we pray in liturgy. This makes liturgy Philanthropia also.

As St Basil tells his listeners in his homily to the rich:

You showed no mercy; it will not be shown to you. You opened not your house; you shall be expelled from the Kingdom. You gave not your bread; you will not receive eternal life. (Schroeder, 2009)
St Basil called this the Philanthropia to others the same as the example of Christ’s Philanthropia and his kenotic self-emptying for the salvation of mankind as opening phrases in the anaphora state.

Conclusion
St Basil with his keen sense of care and concern for the poor developed a link between the ideas of salvation and the living out of Christian philanthropy. This is seen in his homilies, liturgy, and the Basiliad he established. By living out what we pray in St Basil’s anaphora we are called to share in God’s philanthropy to mankind by making present His kingdom here on earth through our philanthropy. If we are to become that God-like being through Theosis which is equated to salvation we must become philanthropic beings in the image of Christ as experienced in Eucharistic sharing of the liturgy. This sharing truly makes the Kingdom present in reality on both this side of the Kingdom and bringing forth that which is to come.

Brown, P. (2002). Poverty and Leadership in the Later Roman Empire. Hanover, New England
[etc.]: University Press of New England.

Cabasilas, N., Hussey, J. M., & McNulty, P. A. (2010). A Commentary on the Divine Liturgy.
Crestwood, N.Y.: St. Vladimir’s Press.

Catholic, C., Byzantine Liturgical, C., & Intereparchial Commission for Sacred, L. (2006). The
Divine Diturgy of our Holy Father Basil the Great. Pittsburgh: Byzantine Seminary Press.

Druzhinina, O. (2016). Ecclesiology of St. Basil the Great : a Trinitarian Approach to the Life of
the Church.

LeMasters, P. (2015). Philanthropia in Liturgy and Life: the Anaphora of Basil the Great and
Eastern Orthodox Social Ethics. St Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly, 59(2), 24. Schroeder, C. P.
(2009). On Social Justice, St Basil the Great. Crestwood, N.Y.: St. Vladimir’s
Seminary Press.

***************
Although we use St. Basil’s Liturgy mainly during the Great Fast (there are other times that is appointed that we do not observe), it is the Liturgy which St. John Chrysostom used to formulate the regular Liturgy that we use during the rest of the Liturgical year.
What is important to note, however, is that our worship of God should lead us to DO SOMETHING to make God’s Kingdom more real in our present world. Our worship should stimulate us to make every effort to make God’s Kingdom real in our world RIGHT NOW!
Think about it. The Eucharist is meant to not only draw us into some real “communion” or “union” with our fellowmen of our Parish Family through the power of the Holy Spirit, but also into communion with all of our fellowmen.
We don’t always think about the IMPLICATIONS of our worship. Our worship is meant to help us truly impact our “personal transformation”, helping us to become like Jesus.
Think about this!

Gaining a Deeper Understanding of the New Testament — 20170730

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I have, in this article, been exploring information about the Canon – that is the official collection – of the writings of the New Testament (NT). It is one of our beliefs that God’s Holy Spirit has guided the development of all things that pertain to the Church – the group of followers of Jesus – and the NT is no exception to this rule. The Johannine epistles may have been composed in the 90’s. They are the product of the same school of writing that produced the Gospel, but it is open to question whether they were written by the same Johannine disciple who produced the Gospel.
The epistle of James is a diatribe resembling the format of the Stoic diatribes; it was composed in the Jewish-Christian atmosphere and adapted to the form of a letter. It is a very difficult book to date on internal grounds, and the date traditionally given (the 60’s) is proposed on the basis of its claim to be the work of James, presumably the bishop of Jerusalem whose death occurred in the 60’s. Many modern scholars suggest pseudonymity; even in antiquity the question about the authorship of the epistle was raised, creating doubt about its canonical character.

The epistle of Jude, attributed to another brother of Jesus, is to be dated earlier than 2 Peter, for the latter copies from Jude with some very interesting theological editing. Here again, pseudonymity has been suggested; however, neither with James nor with Jude is there anything that would absolutely preclude the traditional authorship.

Eusebius, writing ca. 325, is the first to speak of the seven epistles called catholic. However, he himself was not sure of the canonicity of all of them, and general acceptance of the seven in the Greek and Latin churches did not come till the late 4th century. (We must remember that “catholic” in this context did not mean the Roman Church. The word catholic means “universal.”)

Of the seven catholic epistles, 1 Peter and 1 John were the first to receive general acceptance. Both seem to have been known by Papias and Polycarp. The Muratorian Fragment mentions two Johannine epistles; its omission of 1 Peter may be due to the poor preservation of the text of the Fragment. Origen accepted 1 Peter and a short epistle by John. These two appear in all subsequent lists.

Reflections on the Scripture Readings for this Weekend — 20170723

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Our first reading this weekend includes Paul’s exhortation to the Romans “to be patient with the scruples of those whose faith is weak.” He calls them to “please” their neighbors in order to build up their spirits. And then he even adds this sort of prayer: “May God, the source of all patience and encouragement, enable you to live in perfect harmony with one another according to the spirit of Christ Jesus.”

Paul’s advice, in essence, is to live like Jesus lived since that way of living increases your greater union with God. He says: “Accept one another, then, as Christ accepted you, for the glory of God.” We bring God glory when we live like He intended us to live. He has revealed to us how He intended humans to live. He gave us a model in the Person of Jesus. Like Jesus we are to love others as we love ourselves.

Our second reading, taken from Matthew’s Gospel, contains two of Jesus’ miracles, namely the curing of the two blind men and the curing of a possessed deaf-mute. The structure of this part of Matthew’s Gospel may be related to the theological development of the miracle. In this section he includes, in addition to the two miracles we hear about in today’s reading, the curing of the ruler’s daughter. The three miracles touch death, blindness and the loss of speech and hearing. Matthew’s intention is to present a comprehensive summary of the saving power of Jesus.

When you think about these two readings together, you realize that the message is twofold. When we attempt to live like Jesus we are cured of (1) any “blindness” that prevents us from seeing the world and ourselves as God sees us, and (2) any inability to “speak about” or “hear about” the love of God for us and all of His creation. I truly believe that something wonderful happens to us when we look at life in a manner that God does. Despite life’s challenges and struggles, we see the goodness in life and we understand that all the events of life are meant to help us spiritually grow and become more like Jesus – to become more aware of being God’s children, created out of unconditional love.

When we can truly state to ourselves that we know that God loves us, I believe we begin to find the meaning and purpose of life and also the beauty and wonder of life. Life becomes the joyful experience that God intends

The Divine Liturgy and Our Worship of God — 20170723

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Mystical Supper

In the last issue I began to raise the issue of when the gifts of bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ – when Christ truly becomes present to us in the gifts of food, which represent human life.

The Western theologian’s of liturgy answer to this question is: at the moment when the priest pronounces the words of institution: this is my body… this is my blood. These words, for Western Catholics, constitute the “consecratory formula,” the formal, “necessary and sufficient” cause of the transubstantiation (changing of the gifts into the Body and Blood of Christ). We, as Eastern Christians, reject this notion. Eastern Christians believe and affirm that the transformation is only accomplished through the Epiklesis, the prayer of the invocation of the Holy Spirit. These words immediately follow the words of Christ.

We must remember that we believe, as Eastern Christians, that God accomplishes all things in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Western Church established the reality of a “formula” by which the gifts are transformed because they envisioned a hypothetical situation. What if a bishop/priest should die during the liturgy at the anaphora. How do you deal with the gifts. Are they transformed or not. So, they reasoned, if the Amen is said to the words of Jesus, whether for the bread or wine, then those gifts are transformed.

The Eastern Church believes that this is all a mystery of faith and we cannot pin down when God decides to act. She professes her belief that God always acts in the Son (because he has a human nature and therefore is connected to the world) THROUGH the Holy Spirit which represents the power of God. So the Eastern Church states that she doesn’t know when the transformation takes place but she believes it can only happen after we (1) pray to the Father, (2) remember the words of the Son, and (3) invoke the Holy Spirit.

This approach, as you might guess, is in line with the Eastern Church’s understanding of how the Creed was originally expressed. In the Eastern version which we use, both the Son and the Holy Spirit proceed from the Father. In the Western version, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.

A fine point? It all amounts to how we think that God works, even though we (i.e., Eastern Church) profess that we don’t really know HOW GOD WORKS. This is supposed to be a mystery, beyond our understanding.