Saturday, November 30, 2024: St. Sebastian of Jackson
2 CORINTHIANS 8:1-5
LUKE 9:57-62
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Christ is in our midst.
I’ve often observed an interesting phenomena, one that is seemingly obvious, one that you would assume to be somewhat common sense, but not so common. When a parish embraces the ethos of their patron, incredible things happen. But so oftentimes, parishes and communities don’t really embrace the ethos of their patron. And so, fruit that could be borne forward is not really brought forth. Things may be fine, but there’s so much that is seemingly unrealized.
There’s something very powerful that happens when a community recognizes who has been given to it to watch over it. And in that synergy, in that cooperation, and in that looking to that patronage, incredible things can happen.
Today we’re commemorating St. Sebastian of Jackson, an incredible man, Serbian, born in America, first American-born priest. We look at this incredible man, and we see something amazing. We see a man who saw that it is not fit for one to put his hand to the plow and to look back. St. Sebastian, from his early life, loving the things of the church, loving the church, her services, the solemnity of the worship of God.
And this vision of the solemnity of God, the profound worship, the beauty, the sublimity of Orthodoxy, this is what led St. Sebastian to be so inspired, that he saw the kingdom of God in the Orthodox Church for what it was. Something beyond just national borders, something beyond just national tradition. St. Sebastian’s burning desire was that the people of America would have the true apostolic faith.
And so St. Sebastian labored tirelessly to realize this vision. And in that vision, he reveals the ultimate understanding of the Gospel. The ultimate understanding of what it means to be Orthodox. The ultimate understanding of what it means to worship God: love.
Love. St. Sebastian had profound love. And we know this because St. Sebastian lived without material means. St. Sebastian labored in such a way that he often barely survived on the meager donations that was given to him.
This is a profound expression of his love. The great St. Tikhon was so impressed with St. Sebastian. He was so impressed with his labors, with his zeal, with his love. That although unfortunately because due to human politics, it seemed that he could not make St. Sebastian a bishop. Although a worthy bishop he would have been made. St. Tikhon nonetheless bestowed upon him a miter, a jeweled miter.
And in this gift we see how profound St. Sebastian’s love is. He sold that miter. That one award – which, for a priest there are not many. And for a man of that caliber, even fewer. And the one award that he was given, he sold it. He sold it that he could give the money and the proceeds to further the mission and to help the people of God.
Love. St. Sebastian’s apostolic work, his humble life as a monastic. These things are all bound together with his great love for the Orthodox faith. His great love for the people of God, no matter what nation they were from. So today we look to St. Sebastian and we see what it means to not turn your hand from the plow.
We look to St. Sebastian and we see what it means to have deep profound love for God. We look to St. Sebastian and we see what could be possible for us if we recognize our firstborn. He’s one of us.
St. Sebastian is an American saint. St. Sebastian is someone who we should look to as Americans to understand what’s missing in our lives. So that God willing, we can bear forth much fruit.
Through the prayers of St. Sebastian, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us.
Tuesday, November 26, 2024: St. John Chrysostom
1 THESSALONIANS 1:6-10
JOHN 10:9-16
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Christ is in our midst.
Today is a glorious day. It’s a day in which we truly celebrate one of the great lights of the Church, St. John Chrysostom, the Archbishop of Constantinople. St. John is this rare example of an epitome of all things according to Christ. St. John, whose very devotion was manifest in his desire, his willingness, his unflinching ability to be poured out for the sake of Christ.
St. John Chrysostom was a preacher of the highest order, and a preacher of the highest order because of his focus on Christ. St. John’s words are powerful and eloquent, but not with a worldly power, and not with an eloquence that is fleshly. Quite the opposite, actually.
Oftentimes, if you read the homilies of St. John, you’re struck. His eloquence is not flashy, but it’s brilliant. It’s the kind of light that you get from the sun. It warms you. It covers you. It’s everywhere.
The light that we get oftentimes in our modern day, we turn on the light in the house, and the light fills everything. It’s not the same. It doesn’t have the warmth of the sun. It doesn’t seem to permeate and get everywhere the way the sun does.
These are the words of St. John Chrysostom. He has a way of saying something, and you can tell, you know that Christ is in the mix. You know that Christ is permeating the very words.
St. John’s words were also infused with a power. The power and the ability to practice what he preaches. And as the Gospel today says, St. John’s not a hireling, but truly a shepherd. Suffering mightily for the sake of his flock and for the sake of Christ. St. John being exiled. St. John being put out of his own diocese for speaking the truth. And yet, St. John persevered.
We have a saying in the church. Many are familiar with it, but many may not know where it comes from: Glory to God for all things. These are the last words of St. John Chrysostom as he was dying in exile. St. John was mocked, put out unjustly. But St. John never reviled, he never cursed.
And in fact, St. John took the opportunity, even in the midst of his own exile, in poor health, cold, deprivation. St. John took the time to encourage his spiritual daughter, the deaconess Olympia. And through those words encouraged his flock.
And as he was dying in exile, seemingly defeated, St. John uttered these famous words, Glory to God for all things. Truly a pastor, truly a shepherd, truly a Christian to the very end. St. John never fought for his Episcopal throne, for the sake of power, but he fought for his throne for the sake of Christ.
And so even now today, we reap the benefits of such a dedicated Christian. Every Liturgy, we celebrate the Liturgy that he wrote. And so, may his words continue to be written on our hearts.
May the words of Christ continue to flow through him and to us. May we heed the words of this true pastor. May we give God glory for all things.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Monday, November 25, 2024: Nuns of Shamordino
ROMANS 8:28-39
MARK 13:9-13
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Glory to Jesus Christ.
Today we are commemorating, we are honoring the holy nuns of the convent of Shamordino. This brave sisterhood, who under the understanding of holy obedience, employed in their defense and in their devout love for God, holy resistance. These nuns, who were interned into the Solovki concentration camp, under the godless, atheistic Soviet regime, suffered mightily, for they understood this profound insight: that holy obedience will cover all things.
That in fact, this Gospel today, they understood very intently in their hearts, to be anxious for nothing. That the words that would be uttered, would be the very words given by the Holy Spirit.
These nuns under holy obedience, trusting in the word and the protection of their spiritual father, were given strict orders to not participate in the work programs within this terrible camp of Solovki. And in doing so, they unravel this great mystery, which is seemingly hard for so many of us to understand, which is this: the resistance that Christ calls us to, is absolute. It is only possible when one has a resolute understanding of no compromise.
When they were seemingly bribed, when they were seemingly enticed to just participate in whatever little work programs, whatever little ways that the godless regime would seek to compromise their integrity for this obedience, they would refuse, uttering, “We will refuse to work for the regime of the Antichrist.”
And each time they refused to participate, even in subtle ways, even in ways that would have seemingly given them some sort of physical ease during this time, they would refuse, trusting in this holy obedience, trusting that the obedience to their spiritual father’s word would cover them, would protect them, would strengthen them, and it did. They endured such terrible tortures, such as being tied in straitjackets, being doused in water, so that the straitjackets themselves would begin to shrink upon them and to pull their joints out of socket.
These holy nuns, unwavering in their faith, unwavering in their devotion, and unwavering in their resolve for holy obedience, they are an example to us. We who are not under duress, physically speaking, but psychologically, through ideology, through manipulation of the propaganda that we take in, we so oftentimes give in to compromise. We so often receive the dainties that the jailers of this world offer to us.
I would encourage all of you, my sons and my daughters, to look to the holy nuns of Shamordino and other great confessors like them who refused to compromise, who understood that there’s no need to have a script, there’s no need to worry about what you’re to do. The only thing that God asks of us to have is resolve, this resolve to trust, and this resolve that the trust in holy obedience to Him, to keep His commandments, and that His Word is true, that we will suffer for His name’s sake, but if we suffer, we will inherit so much more.
Because as the Epistle today said, we are more than conquerors. But it is through this resistance, it is through attaining this wisdom, this is the only way that we can acquire this. So let us resolve to prepare ourselves. Let us see where we are being tempted, even now, to compromise with the world.
Let us see where the Lord would have us to strengthen ourselves with resolve and obedience to His commandments, so that if He sees fit, we may be found worthy to suffer a greater degree for the holy kingdom of God.
Through the prayers of the nuns of Shamordino, Lord Jesus Christ our God, grant us holy resolve, and great wisdom. Amen.
Sunday, November 24, 2024: St. Martin of Tours, St. Stefan, St. Menas
GALATIANS 6:11-18
LUKE 10:25-37
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Christ is in our midst.
In the Gospel today, we hear the very familiar and famous account of the Good Samaritan. The Good Samaritan being so familiar that there’s the word Good Samaritan, the euphemism Good Samaritan, is used even sometimes in secular context. It’s such a well-known parable. There’s so many things we could point to in this parable.
But today, I wanted to highlight something very interesting, perhaps. The situation is such that we often forget that the Good Samaritan is a parable. So in other words, the Lord is using this parable, this teaching, to actually expose something. Remember, the reality is that there is a lawyer who has come – and this lawyer is really a representation of Israel and the spiritual state of Israel as a whole – he’s come to test Jesus.
And so the Lord uses this parable to deal with this man. So in other words, you have a situation in real time of a man coming to test, not actually looking for an answer. And this is one of the things I want to hone in on. He’s not actually looking for an answer. He’s looking to test the Messiah, looking to test God. He doesn’t necessarily realize, obviously, that He’s God. But nevertheless, neither do we when we test Him, do we?
So many times we come to God with false, vain desires, requests. And sometimes, to be very fair to us as human beings, we don’t recognize that our motivations are false. So many times, we don’t recognize that we are really asking, testing God. We don’t realize it. But nevertheless, we are testing God. We are asking with false intentions, if you will.
And so God, in His mercy, Christ, in His mercy, he answers the man honestly. He answers the man truthfully. He answers the man in such a way that if the man was willing, he would be able to not only have the answer that he was looking for, but he would get the answer that he wasn’t looking for, but he needed. Yes, I’ll say it again. He’ll get the answer that he wasn’t looking for, but it was still the answer that he needed.
The Lord says to him, how do you read the law? You are supposed to know everything about the law. You will know what’s expected of you and the people of God. How do you answer?
Love the Lord God with all your heart, with all your strength, with all your soul, with your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.
Now, in that answer, there’s this thing called the Shema, which was essentially the creed that the Jews had beforehand. “Hear, O Israel, the Lord God is One.” And then after that follows “Love the Lord God with all your strength, mind, soul, heart,” all of this.
And in that answer, and in that creed, you find, if you will, the formula, the makeup of what it means to be a human being. You see, you have a soul. And your soul has, as the fathers say, these three powers, these three abilities. And so your soul is comprised of these three things. It’s comprised of a mind, which the fathers call a nous. It’s comprised of a heart. Love the Lord God with all your heart. It’s also comprised of a will. These three things, this is what the soul does.
You see, the mind, the nous, this is the thing that understands, that seeks and discerns, the what. The heart is what desires. It desires, it sees what it wants. But the will, the will, that’s the power, that’s the strength. So you’re to love the Lord God with all your intellect, and not booksmarts, sons and daughters, with all your heart. You’re to desire. Everything in which you are to desire should be aimed towards God. And then your ability to act, your strength should be also aimed towards the worship and the love of God.
This was the answer that the man gave, and it was the correct answer. However, however, this is the ancient problem: It means nothing. It means nothing. Because without the other, you cannot express those powers accurately. They become self-reflective. They become distorted.
In monasticism, one of the highest expressions of monasticism is for one to become a hermit, to become a recluse, a hermitess. And very few find this. Very few are allowed and blessed to do this. Very few. So much so that on the Holy Mountain, if one desires to leave their monastery to become a hermit, they have to go before the council. Their spiritual father has to bless them. But even then, they need to go before the council. They can’t just go and wander off. Some do, unfortunately. But this is the way it’s supposed to be.
Why? Because it’s of the utmost danger. It says in Proverbs, “A selfish man isolates himself.” And so when a monastic goes off to become a hermit or hermitess, it’s never out of, it’s never blessed for it to be out of selfishness, out of, “I want to achieve some level.” It’s always about an inward place in which they’ve come, where their love for God has gone beyond the limits.
Because without the other, you cannot properly express the powers of your soul. Your mind begins to turn inward in the wrong ways, not in a self-reflective way, but in a Luciferic way. Your will begins to turn inward, not in a self-reflective way, but in a Luciferic way. Your appetite, the things you desire, they begin to turn inward, not in a self-reflective way, but in a Luciferic way.
Lucifer, the light bringer. You begin to see your own light, your own goodness, your own virtue, your own strength. And this is a delusion, and this is deception.
And so you need your neighbor. Without you having your neighbor in which you can properly exercise these powers of the soul, you become like a demon. You become an intelligence without love. You begin to desire without love. You begin to act and move in your will without love. Everything becomes an object of your desire, of your intentions, and of your will. Everything becomes an idol. Unless you have the love of your neighbor, there’s nothing for you except for this delusion.
This expression of what it means to be made in the image of God, and this is why the human is tripartite, because the powers of the soul. This is what it means to be made in the image of God. And that image is only complete when one begins to practice the work of communion, of being able to have communion with the other. And so the good Samaritan is this icon, if you will, that Christ puts forward for the lawyer.
Because with his heart, we see he already desired the good. The Levite and the priest desired what? They desired out of vanity to keep their good reputation. “I have to get to the temple. I have prayers I have to do. I have to get to the temple. I have to take care of the temple. I have my duties I must do.” Their desire was not towards God. It was so that people would know they’re doing the right thing. This is where their appetite was.
The Samaritan, we know very clearly, he desired the good things of God, because when his mind discerned that a man was in need, his mind understood, his will was easily engaged, and he was able to take his strength and do the thing. He was able to not only stop whatever he was going to do on the way, but he was able also to see the money that he had for what it was, you see? He had money, but to him it was not an idol.
His mind, his nous, understood the purpose of money, and he used it correctly. He used it for the sake of love, for the sake of compassion. This is what all of the Mosaic and Levitical law is about. But the Jews didn’t see it. We don’t see it. But the Samaritan saw it.
So he desired the things of God. Desiring the things of God allowed his mind to see the proper situation, and from seeing the proper situation, then his strength, his will was engaged. He was able to go out of his way and give up the money for the sake of love.
That is the solution. That is what it means to be a human. That is what it means to be made in the image of God. And that is what is lost when you begin to continue to justify yourself and to seek God with the wrong, dishonest intentions.
This whole little discourse I outlined for you means nothing if you don’t begin that first step of don’t test God. Be careful. Be very careful about what you ask for in prayer. There are no lies that convince the court. He sees all things.
And so if you ask, ask rightly. Ask out of the heart that has been trained – heart, appetite, remember? To love the things of God, not religious experience, not religious information. Love.
The love of God and the love of neighbor. This is how we find eternal life.
Lord Jesus, purify us and help us. Make us beings that are whole and one. Amen.
Friday, November 22, 2024: Mother of God Quick to Hear, St. Nektarios, St. Iakovos
COLOSSIANS 4:10-18
LUKE 13:31-35
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Christ is in our midst.
In the 10th century, around this time, there was a monk on the Holy Mountain who worked in the kitchen. And this monk, for some reason being awakened at night, went to the kitchen where his obediences were. And there he beheld, above the door, an icon of the Mother of God. He heard a voice saying to him, “Do not come here and stand in this place any longer.”
And this monk, bearing a torch, soot from the torch began to darken the icon. And the voice said to him, “Do not darken my icon.” This monk, thinking that his brethren were playing a trick on him, began to ignore the voice and then proceed further into the kitchen with the torch.
This very moment, the monk was struck blind and unable to see, groping in the dark in terror for what had just happened, began to call upon the Mother of God, asking forgiveness for his impudence, for his disobedience, for his carelessness. And so, our Dear Lady, the Holy Mother of God, she, at this point, heals the man and says, “Tell your brothers and let all know that I am quick to hear.”
Today we are commemorating St. Nektarios of Aegina, this incredible saint, this modern witness to the glory of God, how God works in the lives of those who suffer; how God works in the lives of those who are willing to endure the sufferings, the slander, the shame of men, of the world, of those who would even be in the Church.
St. Nektarios, a great saint, because of incredible injustices in which he suffered, and truly he suffered them because he patiently endured these things with such an unwavering faith in our Holy Mother, the Lady Theotokos, that at the time of his death, very soon became aware and apparent to not only all those who recognized St. Nektarios’ saintliness, his spiritual children, and those who had come in contact with him, but especially his enemies. His enemies became aware of the great sin that they had committed by slandering the goodNektarios.
Now, St. Nektarios, his devotion to the Mother of God is seemingly unrivaled. Through him, we’ve been given incredible works of prayer, of repentance, catechetical works. But of all his works, and there are many that he’s given us, none shine brighter than his devotions to the Mother of God.
St. Nektarios, who wrote Agni Parthene, also known as Rejoice O Bride Unwedded, but also he wrote this prayer to the Mother of God, which I want to read to you, and share with you the beauty of a saint who is devoted to the Mother of God and recognizes not only for those who slander him, for the world in which he was suffering, but also within himself, this unwavering willingness to see not the sin of others, but the sin even within himself.
This prayer of St. Nektarios: Take away from me, O Virgin, the fetters of sin, of my lusts and other transgressions, the terrible carelessness and the over-caring, the evil curiosity and the talkativeness, the useless incontinence and the haughtiness, the negligence, the drunkenness, and the lack of mercy, the bad desires, the terrible impurity, the extravagance, the darkness, the great insensitivity. Take away the tendency to say jokes, the enjoyment, the prodigality, the laughter of immorality and every evil.
Give me, O maiden, fasting, carefulness, vigilance, and perfect obedience. Give me carefulness in all and acute discernment, silence, order, and holy patience. Grant to me, O lady, eagerness to work, and to attain my perfection, and zeal for virtues and exercise. Keep, O most holy one, my soul, my heart, and my mind in holiness and guarded in virginity.
May we dare to utter this prayer of St. Nektarios to our Holy Lady. May we even dare to attain to such heights.
Through the prayers of St. Nektarios and St. Iakovos, Holy Lady, hear our prayers and bring us to the heights of heaven that we may honor your Son. Amen.
Wednesday, November 20, 2024: 33 Martyrs of Melitene
Homily for the Mount Tabor School Liturgy.
COLOSSIANS 3:17-4:1
LUKE 12:48-59
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Christ is in our midst.
I’m going to ask you guys a question. How many of you clean your room without your mommy and daddy having to ask you to do it? Very good. There’s a couple of you, but shouldn’t we all clean our rooms without our mommy and daddy having to ask us to do it? Yeah, yeah.
In the Gospel today, Jesus says some things that are kind of confusing. He talks about, He comes not to bring peace, but to bring division. He talks about moms, and sons, and daughters, and brothers, and people in a family not getting along. So it can be kind of confusing because we know that Jesus is kind, Jesus is loving, Jesus is merciful. And Jesus wants us to be kind, and loving, and merciful to each other.
So what do you think He’s saying? Why do you think He’s saying this? Well, Jesus also said right before that, He talked about a servant, different kinds of servants. And that there are some servants who do not do their master’s will, but they should know it. This is really important because you have to understand something, guys.
Jesus came to the earth, Jesus came to the world born, you know, as a baby, right? Because pretty soon we’re going to be having nativity, right? And Christmas time is what about? What’s Christmas about?
The birth of Christ.
The birth of Christ. So God becomes man in the flesh, right? So why did God come? Why was Jesus born? Well, Jesus was born to teach us what God had always wanted us to learn, how to be like Him. Does that make sense? Jesus came to teach human beings, right, the way that God had always wanted us to live.
And so when we don’t really pay attention to that, then there’s a problem. You see, God doesn’t want you to always do the good just because someone’s telling you. Because there comes a point where if your mom and dad tell you something and you don’t know it, that’s fine.
But if they keep telling you something to do, and it’s the right thing to do, and you don’t do it, what would you call that?
Disobeying.
Disobeying. And there’s another very difficult word, but a good one. Do you know this word, rebelliousness? Do you know this word? What is rebelliousness? Who knows what that means? What is rebelliousness? Speak up, we can’t hear you over some babies.
Going against the word of your parents.
Going against the word of your parents. And so this rebelliousness is very problematic. And this is why Jesus is talking about, you know, fathers being against sons, and mothers against daughters, and brothers against sisters, because of this rebelliousness.
Because, see, what happens is, when people don’t want to follow the will of God, and they want to follow their own way, it will always cause problems and divisions. Always. And so Jesus is saying, “Listen, you don’t need Me to tell you every time to clean your room. You don’t need Me to tell you every time what the right and good thing is. If you have a problem with your brother or your sister, make sure that you fix it.”
At the end of the Gospel when He says, when you’re going and you owe your brother something, and they’re going to the magistrate, you better make sure you take care of your brother, because if not, every last penny you’re going to owe. And what He means by that is, when people would get in arguments, “You owe me this. No, you owe me that. Well, fine, we’re going to go to the judge.”
Right? And as they’re going to the judge, they’re arguing, but what Jesus is saying, the whole time that you’re arguing and going to the judge, you should be trying to work that out together. Because by the time you get to the judge, it’s not going to work out like you think it is.
Better that you work it out now with your brothers and sisters while you can, because that’s what I want you to do, before you get to the judge when it won’t be as nice as you think it is, you see. God wants all of us to do the right thing, not just because we’re being told it’s the right thing, but because we know in our hearts that it is the right thing to do. God wants us to clean our rooms without having our mom and our dad ask us, because it’s the right thing to do.
And we should always want to do the right thing. And when we do the right thing, because we want to do the right thing, you know what happens? That’s when we have unity. That’s when moms and daughters, fathers and sons, brothers and sisters, sisters and sisters, that is exactly when they get along.
When both parties want to do the right thing because it’s the right thing, not because someone else is telling them to do it.
God is giving you something very precious, and this is the last thing I’m going to say. God’s giving you a free will. Do you know what that means? What does that mean?
You can do what you want and God will not control you.
It means that you can do what you want and God will not control you. God will discipline you. God will allow things to be difficult to try to teach you. But ultimately, if you keep disobeying, you’re telling God basically, “I don’t want to listen.” Remember that where we talked about rebelliousness? “I want to be rebellious and I’m going to do my own thing.” And then Jesus says, “Okay, if you want to do that, but just know that when you go to the judge, it’s not going to be very good.”
So let’s remember what God wants us to do. He wants us to do these things, not because we’re being told, but we should do the good for the sake of the good. Okay? And when we do that, we’ll all be together in peace and in harmony.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sunday, November 17, 2024: St. Joannicius the Great, St. Nicander
LUKE 8:41-56
GALATIANS 2:16-20
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Christ is in our midst.
As the people of God, as Christians, we must always be aware of the situation in which we are placed, situational awareness. You have to have it in the streets, you have to have it in the world, you have to know where you’re at, who’s surrounding you, who would seek to do you harm.
The people of God, Christians, have three enemies: the world, the flesh, and the devil. And although those three things may cooperate and seemingly be the same thing, they’re not, there’s a difference.
I’m often keen on trying to make all of you aware of the wiles of the devil, but I want to speak about another enemy, the flesh. I want to speak to you about your flesh and about how the flesh is keeping you, making you sick, preventing you from entering into a place of healing.
Today in the Gospel, we hear of this woman with an issue of blood for 12 years, and let’s be clear what this meant for her. Her issue of blood made her unclean and made her unable to participate in society in a way that would be life-giving. So in essence, she was basically trapped in a living death, perpetually isolated from all those in her community. Perpetually encased, if you will, in shame. This woman’s life was a living hell, it was death.
Now we do not know the source of her illness, but we do know that she sought every means available to her, and we can assume that she did have means, financially speaking, but she had gotten to a place where even that was depleted of her.
Now, I submit to you, that what kept her perpetually in this place of a living death was her fleshly understanding and the fleshly understanding that her culture had of God. We oftentimes, Orthodox Christians, we oftentimes have just enough awareness of what we think God, quote-unquote, is asking of us to keep us trapped in a living hell. A loveless marriage, if you will.
Where we do, we know enough to do just enough to not feel completely free and to just go to the world like we kind of wish we would in our hearts. And we’re just crushed underneath the guilt of our religious obligations, or I should say the lack thereof. Our prayer rules, the Tradition of the Church, the expectations of our communities or parishes or marriages or families, instead of giving us life, they give us guilt, they give us death, and we feel stuck.
This is not the fault of the Church, this is not the fault of God, this is not the fault of your mom, your dad, your brothers, your sister, your husband, your wife. It’s because we have a fleshly understanding of the things of God. You see, that woman, it wasn’t until she brought this place of desperation, which is really the place in which her flesh was crucified, if you will, that she began to say, “I need life.”
I need life. And so this is why so many of us, we get stuck in this cycle. And we’re stuck in a cycle because we’re doing things, quote unquote spiritual things, in a fleshly manner. We’re doing spiritual things in a way like we’re going to pay our way out of it. I’m going to say enough Jesus prayers. I’m going to say enough prayers. I’m going to do enough of this.
A priest doesn’t give you a penance of prostrations and prayers, thinking that if you do just enough, then God will be made happy. A priest gives you a penance of prostrations and prayers to break you. Because it’s only until that shell of your flesh, your pride is broken, can you be able to receive the grace of God. So many of us, we think we know better.
“I’ve read this and that. I’ve done this and that. I believe this and that.” And you’re still dying. That’s not God. That’s not me. That’s not your godfather. That’s not your parents. It’s our fleshly understanding of spirituality. You have no power.
You have no freedom. Because you’ve given over your freedom and your power to your own self-determination, your flesh. It is your enemy.
Your flesh is not serving you. Your flesh is the reason why you’re caught in that vice night after night, isn’t it? Your flesh is the reason why, well, you look at your spouse and you’re just not quite sure sometimes. Your flesh is the reason why you’re wondering, “What am I doing with my life? I wanted to pray. I wanted to do X, Y, and Z.”
It’s your pride. It’s your flesh. Your self-determination. Your self-love. All of these things, by the way, I would even argue this is a worse enemy than even the devil. Because the devil can do nothing to you unless God allows it.
And the world, well, if you’re not being led by the flesh, the world becomes very easily disgusting. The only reason why the world is attractive to you is because your flesh is running the show. Our flesh is the very thing that’s killing us. Our understanding of things in a fleshly, self-determining, “I’m going to fix it. I’m going to make it right. I’m the one. I’m the boss. I, I, I, I.” This is the problem.
This woman, she found liberation. She found freedom. She found power. And she actually began to understand the purpose of the law because she broke the law, you see. She shouldn’t have touched Christ, quote unquote. She was unclean. She shouldn’t have been in the throng of those people. She was unclean. But the law brought her to an understanding of something.
It brought her to this place where “I’m being crushed, and unless I do something, I’ll never find life.” It’s interesting to me because in regards of the daughter of Jairus, do you notice that Christ brought Peter, James, and John? And Peter, James, and John, they’re also the same ones who saw Christ transfigured on the mount.
Many of us are too weak to deal with our own tragedies. Many of us are just, we can’t handle it, so we have to turn away. But you know what’s interesting is God is faithful, and so he realizes, well, if you can’t face your own cross, then maybe you can look upon the cross of another. If you’re not willing to see your flesh be crucified, maybe you can see what it looks like for someone else’s flesh to be crucified.
And so God will put people in our lives for us to gaze upon. Crossbearers. Pay attention, everyone, are you ready?
That person you’re at odds with, that’s the one. Christ is going, “Peter, you’re hard-headed. James, you’re not ready yet. And oh, my dear John, my beloved, let me show you something.” And He’ll take you aside, and He’ll show you death. Not your own death, because you can’t handle it yet.
He’ll show you someone else’s death. He’ll show you the person that you hate. He’ll show you the person that you’re mocking. He’ll show you the person that you’re angry with. He’ll show you all the things so that you can see them bear their cross. So that you can see them do the thing that God is asking them to do, so you can see how it’s done.
Now the trick is, don’t let the flesh sneak up again and ruin this opportunity. Because the reason why Christ brought you along, like Peter, James, and John, is because you weren’t able to do it in the first place. Your flesh made you a coward. Your flesh made you too timid. Your flesh made you hard-hearted.
But God can also use the flesh to bring you to a place of desperation, like that woman with the issue of blood. And the flesh can also bring you to a place of desperation, like Jairus. Who, did you notice, when they said, “She’s dead, don’t bother the Master, let it go.” A lot of us would be like, “Yeah, but you know what, forget it. I’m going to dive headlong into self-pity. Forget it. I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to fall apart, forget it.”
Yet, Jairus pressed on; he said no. And Jairus, like the woman with the issue of blood, had some faith. He said, “No. I’m still bringing the Master to the home because I need Him to. I need her to live.”
Faith is not given to you through a fleshly understanding of, “I did all the things. I read all the things. I know all the things.” Faith is given to you through desperation and pain. How else will you know to embrace the Cross?
Don’t be so long in the tooth, my children. Don’t be so down. Christ encourages us to face the hard things now. Because that woman was healed. And she experienced life. And Jairus’ daughter was raised from the dead. But you can’t have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat.
Heavenly Father, help us to embrace the hard things now, that we may receive the good things in their due time.
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Homily for the Mount Tabor School Liturgy.
COLOSSIANS 1:18-23
LUKE 11:42-46
Father emerges from the altar wearing a crown.
Is it a king?
Am I a king? Are you sure? Can I come and tell you what to do now? Am I a king? Are you going to pay me money? Are you going to let me tell you where you can put your carrots and where you can put your trees? Am I a king?
Father goes back into the altar, then re-emerges wearing a mask and brandishing a pair of tongs.
Can I operate on you? Am I not a doctor? Can I get your tonsils?
Father goes back into the altar, then re-emerges as a priest.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Christ is in our midst.
Am I a priest?
Will you let me hear your confession? If I tell you how to know God, how to find God, how to treat one another, will you listen to me?
When I tell you how to find God, and I tell you how to treat one another, do you expect me to also find God and to pray? Do you expect me to treat others the way that I am telling you to treat others?
Your feelings might get hurt if you found out that I was telling everybody here how to pray, but I didn’t pray myself. Wouldn’t that make you feel kind of funny? You’d be disappointed in me, wouldn’t you? If you found out that I was saying we should be kind to people, but I wasn’t kind to people; if I said we shouldn’t be mean, we shouldn’t steal, but I was being mean and I was stealing, you’d be disappointed, wouldn’t you?
In the Gospel today, Jesus is talking to these people, the Pharisees. You keep hearing about the Pharisees.
And the Pharisees, they were supposed to be like the priests, like the teachers of the people of Israel. But Jesus uses a word which is very important that I want you guys to know this word. Are you ready? I want you to pay attention: “hypocrite.”
Hypocrite. Do you know what a hypocrite is? A hypocrite is someone who acts one way, but then does something else. Kind of like me putting on a mask and pretending to be a doctor. Or me putting on a hat and pretending to be a king. Or the Pharisees, they were teaching about God and teaching about the things of God, but they weren’t doing those things themselves.
They wanted to teach all the things that made people look at them and want to listen to them and be scared of them. But they weren’t teaching the things that were important to God.
They weren’t teaching mercy. They weren’t teaching love. They weren’t teaching justice. Do you know what justice is? Justice is to do the right thing according to what God wants. That’s what justice is. And that’s what a priest is supposed to do, and the Pharisees did not do that.
And so when Jesus calls them hypocrites, he’s calling them actors. People putting on a mask pretending to be something that they’re not. And this is the worst thing to do to someone. Because to be a priest is very special. And it’s a very difficult job. Because more precious than gold, more precious than pearls or rubies, are your souls.
And it’s the job of a priest to make sure that those souls are good and clean and holy. And so the way a priest does that is not by acting a certain way, but being a certain way. And every single one of you, God wants the same out of you: to not act a certain way, to actually be a certain way in your hearts.
We should not be hypocrites. We should not act and put on masks. Now, does this mean that we’re going to be perfect? No. I’m going to tell you something.
God doesn’t want or think that any of us can be perfect. But what He wants is for us to try. To really try. He wants us to be faithful in trying. And what that means is, here’s what this means. God wants us to be faithful in trying, meaning that even though if we didn’t succeed one time, we don’t give up. And we keep doing it. We keep trying to be the thing that God wants us to be. That’s what He means by faithful. Marina?
Inaudible.
Perfect. And you keep trying. And so, a person who tries to be good. A person who tries to have love and kindness and justice – that person is not a hypocrite, because that person is actually trying.
And so, as long as we’re actually trying from our heart, we will eventually become good and kind in all the things that God wants. All we need to do is to keep trying. No masks.
God wants to see us as we are.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Sunday, November 10, 2024: St. Job of Pochaev, St. Theofil, St. Paraskeve, St. Dimitri of Rostov
GALATIANS 1:11-19
LUKE 8:26-39
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Christ is in our midst.
In the world, especially in the last few years, we have become, as a society — and hear what I’m saying, if you feel this doesn’t apply to you individually, even to this community, you can still see it in the world — there has been an obsession with disease. We’ve become obsessed with doing everything possible to avoid catching a disease. So much so that things that would seemingly be immovable, we’ve decided to move all for the sake of avoiding a disease.
Now, some of us may remember that time, and we can remember how maybe we were viewed as mad, for not necessarily not caring, but not being so obsessed with the disease. And the reason for that is because, as Christians, who are in the bosom of the Church, we understand more than anyone the seriousness of true disease, real disease.
The Church has always understood sin as a disease. The Church has always understood sin as a disease, not simply a moral failing. Sin is not just simply you not doing the right thing, but it’s a disease that affects the members of your body, your mind, and more importantly, your soul. And so because of this, we understand that the symptoms go far beyond just things of a physical nature.
When we look today in the Gospel, we see the Lord coming to the land of the Gadarenes. And in this place, we recognize the first thing — it’s a play on words, if you will — it says that the Gadarenes were opposite of Galilee. And geographically, it is opposite of Galilee, but there’s a play here because it is the opposite of Galilee in a spiritual sense also. Those who inhabited the place of the Gadarenes, they fed swine. They kept swine. They should not have had pigs. And so their rebelliousness, this is the beginning of their sin.
So now we should not be amazed that there is a man who’s overtaken with demons. And in our time now, we’re in another kind of satanic panic. Some of us may remember it from the 80s when every single backwards record was a message of the devil. And it was, but nevertheless. We’re in another satanic panic.
My brothers, my sisters, there’s no more devils now than there was before. It’s just that they’re more open. The sickness is out in the open now. No one’s hiding the proverbial cough, if you will. It’s just out in the open. So with this, we should understand something. That man who became possessed with a legion of demons, he didn’t just catch a cold by accident.
So much of the concern over the other disease was, “How am I going to get it? How do I avoid it? What can I do?” And the mystery, the unknowing of how do you get the disease in the first place, was part of the trap, you see. And this is how the demons still work. You should not think that that man became possessed like he caught a cold: “Well, I don’t know. He was just walking through and all of a sudden he just became infected.”
No. He lived in a land of rebelliousness. And that land of rebelliousness is what opened him up to become infected. If you think that I’m being a bit hyperbolic, I assure you I’m not. Because what we so often forget is we think that when we talk about demons, we’re talking about little purple bugaboos that want to come and make you look at something that you shouldn’t look at, or maybe make you drink too much of something, or something of that nature.
Your inability to forgive your wife, your inability to obey and listen to your husband or your parents, that “shh-shh” when you steal a little bit of that money from your boss, that’s where it comes in. Don’t be mistaken. You don’t need to slaughter a goat and to bow down before black candles. And it does begin to affect not just how you think, but it begins to affect how you move.
The person has given over to gluttony and then they begin to be unable to participate in that passion of gluttony. What happens to them? It changes their body. The person has given over to envy, anxiety, unforgiveness. Does it not begin to weigh on their nervous system? Does it not begin to give them high blood pressure? Does it not begin to give them diabetes? Does it not begin to make them not be with their families?
That man in the tomb, do you think that he was with his family? Do you think that that man who was possessed, did he have relations with his family? Was he sitting down to have a nice dinner? Were they celebrating Shabbat together, joyfully? No.
That man’s whole life was turned upside down and inside out by this disease. What’s important to also recognize is that we can think, “Well, it’s the demons, it’s the demons, it’s the demons.”
Do you notice at the end of the Gospel that even the Gadarenes, the rest of the people, they’re like, “Get out of here, Jesus.” No demons there, but still sin. Jesus comes to liberate the man and then you ask yourself, because the Gospel brilliantly doesn’t tell you, “Oh, the demons spoke through the man.” That’s not what the Gospel says.
It says, “He cried out in a loud voice.” Why? Because he became so enmeshed with the demons and the demons became so enmeshed with him, you couldn’t tell where one began and one ended. The disease overtook his system to such a complete degree that only God could separate those two things.
Does this not happen to us? If you think it doesn’t, how many times has your guardian angel said to you, “Come pray, put the phone down, don’t watch that, don’t take that second bite, don’t say that to her, listen to what he’s telling you.” How many times has your guardian angel said that and you said, “Shut up”? “Shut up.” And then it gets a little bit harder next time to not take that bite, a little bit harder to not forgive your sister, a little bit harder to say no.
Because they travel as thought and then they infect the mind and then once they’ve infected the mind, they go into the deeper recesses of the heart and now your emotions are no longer yours. And now you’re really sick. And you’re sick to such a degree that only Christ can save you.
But this is where it becomes tragic because now you don’t want to come near to Christ. And so this is why I say to you, be careful. Be careful.
Because this disease which the church takes the utmost seriousness, this disease of sin, it isn’t just the devils. And more importantly, that first symptom is it will not want you to be close to Christ. He cries out, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High? Why have you come to torment me?” And they cried out, “Get out of here. We’re afraid of you and you’re going to ruin our pig operation.” Which they knew they shouldn’t have had. They should not have been keeping swine.
You see, sin, the disease worked its way through. And that first symptom was the very Antidote Himself you do not want. You do not want to go to services.
St. Theophan the Recluse, he says very succinctly: the first sign of approaching of sin, the first sign of approaching of the devils is the aversion to services, the aversion to pray. It can seem innocuous. You may have had a long week, but a long week twice, three times, four times?
Maybe you went to bed. We’re all good, virtuous people. We’ve been out all night giving alms and charity and praying and maybe we can’t say our rule.
That happens once in a while, right? Two nights in a row, three nights in a row, four nights in a row, you’re not praying? Be careful. Be careful. You might have a sniffle. Be careful. You might have a low-grade fever. Be careful. You might have a bit of a cough. And that sickness is going to lead to true death. True death.
Because once you’ve come to a place where not only are you avoiding Christ, but when He comes to you — and He will — and you say, “Get away from me,” that, my sons and my daughters, my brothers and my sisters, that is death. That is the final death.
Now, do you notice how merciful Christ is? Do you notice that Christ, He was not angry with the demoniac. He didn’t see him as a foe to be vanquished. He loved the man. And so He liberated the man from his oppressors. And they were his oppressors. The fathers tell us, we know what the demon’s intention was. How do you know what the demon’s intention was? They have no problem playing a long game.
Their goal was to eventually kill the man. Not just spiritually, not metaphorically, literally. They’re waiting for the time in which that man would take his own life or be in some unfortunate circumstance in which he would be ended.
How do we know? Because the Lord, the mercy He showed, was not to the demons, but for all those who bore witness, including us, to show us, in mercy, what you think your friends are. And that’s what happens, by the way. When you start saying yes to your vices, you begin to treat them like your friends, you see.
Those demons went into the pigs, and God allowed it to show what their intention is, and it’s to kill you. It’s to kill you. Make no mistake. What you may think is just a passing little moment, a bad habit, they’re laying a trap for you. And if they can, they will kill you. The church takes this disease very seriously.
You’re all members of the church. This is your tradition. You need to take this disease very seriously.
We are exposed to the contagion like never before. Every single one of us are carrying a box of disease in our pockets right now. Every time we open up that box of disease, and we think we’re just doing something harmlessly, we’re just getting infected and breathing in the disease.
And I know, we don’t want to hear it, but I’m going to tell you, because this is your soul. This is your salvation. The devil has found new ways, if he can, to take the life of believers.
Be careful. Be healthy. Be vigilant.
Keep your souls clean. Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us.
Wednesday, November 6, 2024: St. Elesbaan, Mother of God Joy of all Who Sorrow
Homily for the Mount Tabor School Liturgy.
PHILIPPIANS 2:24-30
LUKE 11:9-13
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Christ is in our midst.
Madeleine, what’s your favorite food?
Birthday cake.
That’s a good food. Can you imagine – it was your birthday not too long ago – a wonderful, wonderful birthday cake.
You’re so excited, right? It’s your birthday, everyone’s singing. And then when you open the box for the birthday cake, it’s a bunch of batter. All squashy and just uncooked. How would you feel? It might taste good. It’s not quite the same, is it? And it’s definitely extra messy, isn’t it?
Felix, what’s your favorite food? What’s that? Macaroni and cheese? Okay. So, you tell Mom, “I want my favorite,” and she says, “Okay, honey,” and you’re so excited, you have your fork, you have your glass of milk, and then she brings you a bowl of raw noodles and dried cheese powder. Would that be good? It wouldn’t be good, would it? No.
You couldn’t eat the thing that isn’t cooked yet, right? Because even though we want macaroni and cheese, even if you microwave it, it takes a little bit of time, doesn’t it? Yeah? And a birthday cake, no matter how bad we want it, it takes time for it to be cooked, right, to be baked? Yeah. Yeah.
In the Gospel today, the Lord tells us that we should keep knocking. Keep asking. Ask, and it will be given to you. Knock, and it will be opened. And what He’s saying is, our Heavenly Father, right, He’ll give us the good things that we need.
But I think that what’s really important for us to realize is that He says, “Keep knocking.”
Because the problem isn’t so much that God isn’t going to give us good things, because Jesus says, no, no, no, right? If your earthly fathers, who are not God and not perfect, if they know how to give you guys good things, how much more will the heavenly father, who’s perfect, perfectly good, perfect wise, God’s timing is always perfect. God’s timing is never off, right? He’ll always give us good gifts at the right time. So it’s not that we won’t get something good. It’s that we don’t get it when we want it.
We want something now. We want it to happen now. But the problem is, some things take time. Nobody likes to eat raw, hard, crunchy noodles and dry powder. It’s different to lick the bowl of batter versus just eating a whole bowl of batter. They’re not the same.
In order for that batter to become cake, it takes time. And so often, when we’re knocking and asking God for something, the reality is that God’s not slow, it’s us who needs the time. We’re the cake that needs to sit a little bit longer, and we’re the noodles that need to be cooked a little bit longer to become softer.
Our hearts are often so hard. And so God has to allow our hearts to change. When we go to confession and we say, “I was mean, I was bossy, I was rude, I stole, I lied…” Every time we do that, that’s like God checking the cake in the oven, taking the little toothpick and being like, “Okay, maybe a little bit longer.” But we need to have that check.
We need to make sure the toothpick goes in, and when it comes out, it’s clean, right? That’s how it works, isn’t it, right? So we have these things that God’s given us: confession. That’s one way that He checks to make sure the noodles are soft, right? Our prayers. Every time we pray, especially when we don’t want to, the best time to pray, guys, you know what the best time to pray is? When you don’t want to pray.
When you just want to say, “I’m tired, I want to watch TV, I’m mad.” That’s the best time to pray, actually, because that’s the time when putting the toothpick in, making sure the cake is baked all the way through. All those times when we say, “Okay, I’m going to choose the right thing, even though I don’t feel like it,” that’s speeding up the process.
And the more that you do that, the sooner you’ll get your macaroni and cheese. The more that you pray when you don’t want to, the more you go to confession when you don’t want to, the more you read the lives of the saints when you don’t want to, that’s the sooner the cake is going to come out of the oven. And I’m going to tell you something, if you do that, it’s going to come out right at the perfect time.
So, the Holy Spirit, ask the Holy Spirit to help you to have the right kind of patience so that when the cake is ready, it’ll be delicious, okay? In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Sunday, November 3, 2024: St. Hilarion
2 CORINTHIANS 11:31-12:9
LUKE 16:19-31
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Christ is in our midst.
How many of us this morning were a bit annoyed, a bit miffed that it was raining? How many of us this morning were a little upset that maybe traffic was a little bit difficult? Maybe your hair got wet. God forbid, maybe there was some mud on your shoes. How many of us were really bothered, just annoyed just a little bit by the rain? Surely, if you were, you forgot or you did not know that we’ve been in a drought, that we’ve been needing rain.
How many of us have actually enjoyed a salad before? How many of us have actually tasted the miraculous combination of lettuce and carrots and onions, tomatoes, the way that the flavors play together, even the textures? Very few of us because we completely douse it with sugar-infused, oversaturated dressing.
How many of us have been to a nice steakhouse, an actual steakhouse? In California, they call it a “sizzler,” not the ones where you get the microwaved onion rings and all that, but the one where you had to say no to something else to take your wife out, that kind of steakhouse.
Do you notice they don’t put a bunch of stuff on it? It’s just maybe some pepper and salt. Why do they do that? They would smack you if you asked for steak sauce, and they would kick you out if you asked for ketchup. It would be insulting. Why? Because the quality of the beef that you’re about to eat, the skill and the effort that the chef put in to give you something just right with that crust on it, that’s an insult. It’s an insult.
Today in the Gospel, the Lord speaks to us of this rich man Lazarus. Excuse me, this rich man and Lazarus. And so much can be taken from this. Right off the bat, we see something profound: that Lazarus has a name, and Lazarus’ name is known even to this day, but the rich man, he doesn’t even have a name. He is all but forgotten.
But the thing I want to point to, which is important for us today, is that the rich man suffered his fate not because he had wealth and abundance. It’s not why. It’s because he worshipped – his whole life was about that abundance. See, it says in the scripture, he fared sumptuously every day. And if that’s not enough for you, you know that he ignored Lazarus.
I want all of you to really ask yourselves this, adults. Children, just hold on. Why are you here? Why did you desire to become Orthodox? Catechumens, you know, why do you want to convert? What do you think the purpose of it is?
An Orthodox experience without the ascetical life is by definition not Orthodox. Why? Because without the ascetic life, you curse the rain and the drought. Without the ascetic life, you throw out the vegetables that give you nutrients, and you open your mouth and pour down your throat ketchup and sugar.
It doesn’t matter whether you believe or not. Because the rich man, he didn’t believe and he fared sumptuously. But you will open your eyes one day. And you have to ask yourself, what will you see? This world that we live in, this world in which we choose, and let’s us be very clear with each other, we choose it. It’s not forced upon you. You cannot blame the demons. You cannot blame your mom and your dad. You choose. You choose to be a glutton. You choose all these things to hide away.
And so the church gives us the antidote. The church gives us the anti-venom so that we can begin to taste life. St. Moses the Black, he said, “If a man labors and his prayers are not in harmony, his labors are in vain.”
How are you to understand that? If you’re saying prayers, but you’re not struggling, your prayers are in vain. Your prayers are in vain if you’re not struggling. And what does that struggle look like? Well, in the Epistle today, St. Paul speaks about how he was lowered down a hole in the wall, running in fear. Why? Was St. Paul doing something wrong? Was St. Paul hiding because of his sin? Was St. Paul a coward? Nay. St. Paul was not a coward. St. Paul was not causing sin.
St. Paul desired to stay in the body a little bit longer for our sake. You see, St. Paul, he says also, “I’ve been given a thorn in the flesh from Satan by which I would be buffeted.” Do you notice he’s not blaming Satan for his hard time? He’s not blaming Satan for keeping him from going to the heights of religious experience.
Nay. In fact, he’s thanking God for that thorn in the flesh. Why? Because St. Paul understands what this life is for. Why? Because St. Paul tasted paradise.
You cannot taste paradise if you are drunk off the gross material things of this world. There is no maybe. There is no hack. You will not find another way. If you do not find the way that the tradition has given us, you will find no other way.
And the trick is, we can say to ourselves, well, why does it matter? But it does. Because that little gross bit of pleasure that we’re chasing, that is nothing compared to what God has for us. And that’s the tragedy.
We’re all living for pleasure. But yet, we live in such a way to keep us from the true pleasure. The pleasure that comes from the spiritual life, from knowing God, from experiencing God.
You can’t know your wife, truly, unless you understand her in the Spirit. You can’t know your husband, truly, unless you understand him in the Spirit. You can’t love your children, truly, unless you love them in the Spirit.
Everything else is vanity, and everything will fade away. It isn’t an option on the table. It isn’t something you can choose like a soda at the fountain. It’s the only way. And I know, tonight, we’ll be tired. And the day after that, something else.
But this is why the church gives us Gospels year in and year out. And this is why our prayer rules are what they are. Because we forget. We forget that there’s a drought. And we forget that salad dressing isn’t good for you. And this is why I encourage all of you: before you take Holy Communion today, just consider. Just consider what’s being said. Consider what it would look like to find that thing that you would boast in, like St. Paul is talking about.
Surely, there must be something in your life. You don’t have to drum it up. You don’t have to create it. Surely, there’s something in your life that you’re complaining about. And surely, that very thing, with faith, you can turn into this thorn in the flesh in which you can boast. Because you can boast, but you should boast in the infirmities in which you have.
Surely, we can find some broken place and say, “Here God, this broken place, will You bless it? Will You sanctify it? Will this broken place be set aside for Your glory? May this be at least one spot in which I can say, ‘I struggled willingly.’”
Because here’s the thing. Was Lazarus in paradise because he suffered? Nay, because it rains on the just and the unjust alike. The difference is, the just, they don’t curse the rain because they’re inconvenienced; the just fill their cisterns while everyone else complains and lets the water go into the ground worthless.
You don’t need to rack your brain to find the place in which you’re wounded and broken. You just need to have the courage like St. Paul and say, “Here, in this space, I will boast. Here, in this space, in this situation, God, I’m inviting you in. Show me paradise.”
Through the prayers of St. Paul, Lord Jesus Christ, our God, grant us the wisdom to boast in the right things.
Friday, November 1, 2024: St. John of Kronstadt
PHILIPPIANS 1:27-2:4
LUKE 10:1-15
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Christ is in our midst.
In the Gospel today, the Lord gives this request: pray that laborers be sent. Pray that laborers would be sent, that the harvest would be full, and be brought in. This harvest of souls – the most precious of commodities, human souls – the thing that both angel and demon fight over, the thing that God himself cares for, longs for, desires, human souls. The harvest is plentiful, but laborers are few.
And so oftentimes, we can hear these words of the Lord and we imagine them in a different context. We imagine them, like so many of the words of the Lord, apart from ourselves. We very rarely say to ourselves, “What are you saying to me, Lord? What are you saying to my time, to my generation?”
Today we are commemorating St. John of Kronstadt, one of the greatest saints in the history of the church, definitely one of the greatest saints of the modern times. St. John laboring in this place of Kronstadt, Kronstadt being a seaport town filled with all the things that come along with a seaside town: sailors, prostitution, drunkenness, poverty, illegitimacy, illiteracy. All of these things, this is the world in which St. John found himself trying to desperately bring the light of the Gospel.
Now, we can sit now in 2024 and we can be amazed at the work of St. John: daily Liturgies, giving words to people, encouraging people, working miracles, all of these things, we look at St. John and say, “Wow, that’s amazing. But not me, in my town, and not in my parish. But that was very good then.”
When you hear the word of the laborer, and even now, you can say, well, what are you getting at, Father Turbo? You’re going to tell us about how St. John was this great laborer, and how we should be like St. John, and you’re going to make a correlation between Kronstadt and, let’s say, the East Side of Kansas City? I’m not going to do any of that. I’m going to tell you who the real laborer was. And this is where all of you come in.
Before St. John was St. John, before he was this priest holding daily Liturgies, people lining up, just begging a day to get a blessing from him, to get some sort of connection or glimpse from him, before any of that, St. John was a young priest overwhelmed with his assignment. And this woman, who was in grief, needed a miracle. And she came to St. John, and she said, “St. John,” excuse me, not St. John, “Father John, my son’s sick. Please, pray for him.” So St. John, he begins to go through the motions, like any young priest would, trying to fumble with the book, trying to say some memorized prayer. And she says, “No, Father John, pray.”
And in that moment he realized, “Me going through the motions isn’t going to do anything for this woman and her desperation. The only thing – the only One that’s going to help this woman is God. And if I can’t muster the willingness, the ability, the love to actually do my job, which is to reach out to God and to intercede on behalf of this woman who’s desperate, then what is the point?” And it’s from that moment that St. John learned how to pray.
You tell me, who’s the laborer? If that woman didn’t come to him in desperation and said to him, “No, you pray. Don’t go through the motions, Father John. Pray.” There would be no St. John of Kronstadt. There would be no miracle-working man that we could set on a shelf and say, “Wow.”
It was that woman’s desperation. It was that woman’s faith. She’s the one that brought the harvest. She’s the one that made the saint. It was from that moment, that seed, Holy Russia was birthed.
So. What can God do with us? He can do anything that we’re willing to let Him do. We just have to have enough desperation. We have to be willing to be laborers. We have to be willing to bring the harvest right where we’ve been planted. We have to be willing to actually pray.
Through the prayers of St. John of Kronstadt, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us.