The Woman at the Well

And upon this came his disciples, and marveled that he talked with the woman (Jn.4:27)

Holy Tradition tells us that St. Photini, the Samaritan woman to whom Christ spoke at Jacob’s well, was so moved by her experience that she repented of her sinful past and went on to become an equal to the Apostles, preaching the Gospel in spite of suffering fierce persecution at the hands of the Roman Emperor Nero.

Christ was certainly entering into uncharted territory at the well. Jewish men did not speak to women who were unaccompanied by their fathers or husbands, let alone a Samaritan woman. The Samaritans were not pure bred Jews, and did not worship in the exact same manner, and as such were branded as heretics. Yet there He was, in spite of knowing all the sins she had committed, treating her with the dignity, respect and love deserving of every human being. By Jewish standards, though, He wasn’t doing the “right thing”.

So often I encounter Orthodox Christians who suffer from what Fr. Seraphim Rose of blessed memory called “correctness disease”. They believe that a person really isn’t Orthodox unless they follow the letter of the law, or adhere to a certain tradition within the Church. They would shut out anyone who deviates from what they’ve determined to be the “correct way”. This is not the example the Lord gave us, this is not true Orthodoxy, this is not the teachings of the Gospel, this is not love.

Some years ago, a young Episcopalian man from southern California walked into an Orthodox church in San Diego where he was greeted warmly by the priest. Perhaps the priest could have simply ignored him, or chased him away with cold-hearted diatribes of theological exactness. Thank God the priest didn’t do that, thank God he treated the man with love. Today, that young man is known as Metropolitan Jonah, the Primate of the OCA.

The responsibility of being a witness to Orthodoxy lies upon all of us, priest and laity alike. Some day, you may meet a “woman at the well”, and when that day comes you will have the opportunity to bring that person to the living waters of True Christianity by one simple act: being a Christian.

The Journey to Repentance

There’s an old joke that goes: How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb? Only one, but the light bulb has to really want to change. : Funny, perhaps, but many a true word has been spoken in jest.

The Greek work for “repentance”, metanoia, literally means a change of mind. When we misbehaved as children and then apologized to our parents, we would usually hear that sorry doesn’t cut it. How true! In confession, sorry doesn’t really cut it - it’s only the beginning. It’s not enough for us to just be sorry for what we did, but rather we need to make a sincere effort to change our ways; and not just what we are doing, but how we are thinking. If that sounds impossible for you to do, you’re right. We can’t do it on our own, but like with everything else in life, true repentance requires God’s intervention. There’s one catch, though: God won’t force repentance upon us; we have to ask for it with a sincere heart. It’s only when we truly want to change that change becomes possible.

Most of you are probably familiar with the tale of The Emperors New Clothes by the Danish poet Hans Christian Anderson. An Emperor hires two men who promise him the finest suit of clothes made from the most beautiful cloth. The men are con artists, and pretend to make the suit, telling the Emperor that it’s invisible to anyone who was either stupid or unfit for his position. The Emperor, of course, can’t see the suit, but pretends that he does for fear of appearing stupid; and naturally his subjects go along with it. When the men report that the suit is finished, they pretend to dress him. The Emperor then goes on a procession through the town showing off his new "clothes". During the course of the procession, a small child cries out, "But he has nothing on!" The crowd realizes the child is telling the truth. The Emperor, however, holds his head high and continues the procession. For the Christian, the con artist is the Devil, who convinces us that our sins are “normal” and “acceptable”, or worse yet, that we have no sins at all! We’re certainly not fooling God, only ourselves.

When we finally “come clean” and begin to realize just how sinful we are, then, and only then, will the abundance of God’s mercy begin to work within us. Coming to confession in true repentance is essential, but repentance isn’t limited to Sunday confession, it’s a continuous part of the life of a Christian. Start right now, while you’re reading this blog. Don’t wait until tomorrow, or the “next time”, because that may never come. Once you’ve begun your journey to repentance, be patient with yourself. You’re going to fall many times on the road that leads towards the Kingdom of Heaven, but each time you fall, keep right back up, repent, and continue along the Way. Never forget, though, that you never walk this journey alone, for the Lord says: Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. (Isaiah 41:10).

A Few Additions......

It was great to see everyone at Divine Liturgy today. The choir sang particularly well, which made for a very prayerful service.

I've been pretty lazy about updating my blog, so I've resolved that with God's help I'm going to try and post more often. Perhaps smaller entries are in order, with an occasional longer article when I have more time to write.

You've probably noticed the slideshow on the left. Those are the photos that were posted on our original website, and if you click on them it will bring you to my photo album where you can view them in more detail.

As many of you are aware, our heritage is very important to me, and my prayer is that it will be preserved for many years to come. A SS. Peter & Paul Heritage festival, in which we will celebrate our history, is in the works right now. In the meantime, if any of you have any pictures and/or stories you would like to share, please let me know.

Flag Raising at SS. Peter & Paul Cemetery

St. Thomas Sunday

……..be not faithless, but believing. (John 20:27)

Today is St. Thomas Sunday, in which we commemorate the Apostle Thomas. It was he, who because he was not present the first time Our Lord appeared to His disciples after His Resurrection, that refused to believe Christ had risen from the dead unless he saw Him and touched his wounds. The Gospel today recounts how eight days later, with Thomas now present, Christ appears to them again and chastises Thomas for his unbelief. The incident forever identifies Thomas as the doubting one. Yet, it was Thomas who, when Jesus was planning to return to Judea to raise Lazarus from the dead in spite of the dangers to His own life, faithfully declared “Let us also go, that we may die with Him” (John 11:16).

Doubt is the seed of faith. The more we struggle with doubt, the stronger our faith becomes in order to overcome it. That’s because in our hearts, in spite of our doubt, we truly want to have faith, we truly want to please God. Like Thomas, we are willing to die for Christ, and indeed we have taken on that purpose by virtue of our baptism. We must be willing to let our own will die and let the Will of God take over. Each one of us will struggle with that until our last breath, but our All-Merciful God, who knows our hearts and sees our struggles, will be with us every step of the way.

I have learned much from the experiences of the past few weeks. What looked like an overwhelming task from the outside, a newly ordained priest facing his first Pascha, was never once a source of anxiety for me. God was merciful - in spite of my doubting thoughts of “How am I going to get this done?” - He provided His servants to direct and sing in the choir, those who prepared the church for the Feast, and so many more who gave me their love and support. He gave me His peace, the peace that passes understanding, and in the end, everything went smoother that I could have ever imagined.

What a joyous and blessed Pascha we had! May our Lord grant that this same joy remain in your hearts always, and may He continue to bless our Cathedral with peace, as we endeavor to love one another, as He has commanded.

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

Unction: For the Healing of Soul and Body

One of the unique aspects of Holy Week is the administration of the Sacrament of Holy Unction, the anointing with oil, to all those present during a special service on Wednesday evening. This particular service is nearly identical to that which is performed upon the sick, and is done so that we may prepare ourselves for Christ’s death and burial.

In the Epistle of St. James we read: is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders (priests) of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him (5:14-15). This sacred act entered into the Tradition of the Church through the sacrament of Unction, in which the priests, through prayers and anointment, intercede for the restoration of physical and spiritual wholeness to the afflicted. The sacramental oil used in the Greek Tradition is pure olive oil, symbolic of mercy (the Greek words for ‘olive oil’ and ‘mercy’ have the same root), while the Russian Church uses oil mingled with wine, the inclusion of which is reminiscent of the blood of Christ shed upon the cross for the salvation of men. The Russian practice also reflects the influence of the parable of the Good Samaritan, who used both oil and wine in treating the wounds of the man that lay beaten in the roadway. Ideally, seven priests celebrate the service, but in practice there are fewer, and on most occasions only a single priest administers the rite.

Every year, on Holy Wednesday evening, many people gather in church because they are seeking to be healed of their physical ailments. Many may stay away because they are healthy, or at least they think they are, but there is a deeper aspect which is often overlooked. We are material and spiritual beings, composed of body and soul, both of which are inseparable until the moment of death, and both of which participate in the activities of the other. We are sick, regardless of how we feel physically, because our souls are infected with the sickness of sin.

While physical illness is a result of our sinful nature, it is in fact beneficial to us if used properly. God, in His great mercy, permits our illnesses so that we may always remember our human frailty, and so that we should not trust in ourselves but in God, who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust will still deliver us (II Cor. 1:9,10). When St. Paul wrote these words, he was speaking about the trials and illnesses which he encountered during his ministry. He knows that God will raise the dead on the Last Day, but in fact the Resurrection occurs every day. When God brings us out of the gates of Hell, out of the spiritual death of sin through our repentance, when He delivers us from the despair of grievous illness or unbearable personal trials, He has in fact raised the dead.

Those who come with faith to receive Holy Unction will be healed according to that faith. This healing may or may not be immediately evident. It may come in the form of the relief of physical symptoms, or in the form of the peaceful acceptance of God’s will. It may have many other spiritual fruits, which we will realize over time. In any case, if we believe, a healing will take place, and it is a healing that all of us need, especially as we prepare ourselves to greet the Risen Christ.

Faith vs. Reason

If the work of God could be comprehended by reason, it would be no longer wonderful, and faith would have no merit if reason provided proof. - St. Gregory the Great

The link between Christianity and philosophy is as old as the Church itself. As the land of Judah was occupied by the Romans, Christ came into a world dominated by classic Greek thought. By the first century, Judah was fully Hellenized. The early Christians successfully fused the worldliness of Judaism with the mysticism of Greek philosophy, giving Christians the best of both worlds.

Faith is now, and always has been, essential to the life in Christ. However, it wasn't long before the western world felt it necessary to challenge traditional Christian thought by developing arguments for the existence of God based upon reason alone. In the second century, Anselm of Canterbury developed the Ontological Argument, contending that God must exist because the non-existence of God is inconceivable. The Cosmological Argument, whose most famous proponent was Thomas Aquinas, had several distinct versions. Aquinas argued that the since all things must logically move from potential to actual existence, then there must be an unmoved mover or first cause, who logically must be an uncreated being. In the 18th century, Immanuel Kant developed the Moral Argument, noting that since humanity's goal is moral perfection, God must exist in order to guarantee that achievement.

Man was given a reason-endowed soul, and God expects us to use it for His glory. But Christianity is based on faith, and not on logic. The Creed we pronounce during our daily prayers and at every Divine Liturgy professes what we believe but not why we believe. That's because faith is something that transcends words. Faith demands that we not only believe God exists, for even the demons know that, but also that God can and will work in our lives in ways which often seem unlikely or even impossible to the human mind, if we are willing to allow Him to do so.

It has been rightly said that for those who believe, no explanation is necessary, and for those who do not believe, no explanation is possible. The faithful need no arguments, no proof, and no explanations. They simply turn to God and say "I don't know how and I don't know why, I just know."