|
The
>Now=
and the
>Not
Yet=
- July 3, 2011
Healing of soul and body – July 24, 2011
Healing of the world=s
soul and body – August 14, 2011
Musings on Monasticism – August 28, 2011
God's Providence – September 20, 2011
One Side or the Other – October 9, 2011
Faith – October 30, 2011
Christmas - it's all about me
–
December 11, 2011
New Year's Forgiveness
–
January 9, 2012
January Reflections
–
January 29, 2012
Martyrdom/witnessing by Lenten practice
–
March 6, 2012
Pascha - Not just once a year
–
April 8, 2012
God's Hands, our hands
–
May 1, 2012
Into the Day
–
May 20, 2012
The
>Now=
and the
>Not
Yet=
- July 3, 2011
Hope speaks to
us of the ANow@
and the ANot
yet.@
To have hope implies that we need not be satisfied with what is now, that there
may be Aa
better tomorrow.@
It allows us to have the courage to proceed, even when experiencing difficulty
and apparent roadblocks on our life-journey.
Our Festival
of Hope at the Cathedral of St. John in Parma combined the theme of hope with
that of marriage, our year-long focus.
On May 1 in
Rome, the beatification of Blessed Pope John Paul II drew 1.5 million people. On
the same day, in Pakistan, Osama bin Laden was killed. Both provided hope to
various people.
The
beatification the pope taught, among many other lessons, that love, as
experienced in sacramental marriage, is the only true sign of hope. It was love
that brought Pope John Paul to forgive his attempted-assasin and allowed the
Holy Father to proceed with his faith journey. The killing of a man, as
necessary as that may have been militarily, will have little lasting effect.
Marriage is a
God-designed principle that
Abears
within itself the germ of man=s
[ultimate] future@
(John Paul II, 1982). He went on to say that as a sacrament of living day to
day, it provides us an irreplaceable hope.
Various human
ideas and plans give a ray of hope for future centuries, but only the salvation
in Jesus Christ can provide hope for eternity. God=s
gift to us of true sacramental marriage is a symbol of how that can be.
In his thesis
for a master=s
degree at our Byzantine Catholic Seminary, Christopher Singel showed how the
life of the two, who become one in the mystery of marriage, can be understood
from the perspective of theosis (divinization) to which each person is called.
This entering into the divine is what will truly and ultimately unite the two.
This process
will be the only way that humanity will be united, as well. The church, the body
of Christ on earth, faces challenges as it proceeds toward the full communion of
the saints, just as a married couple faces challenges as they proceed toward
full union with God and thus communion with each other
B
after death and its companion demands are removed.
The name of
our newspaper, Horizons, was chosen to help us understand that the horizons
should direct us to hope. As we witness the sun rising from the eastern horizon,
we remember how the Lord continues to come. As we look toward the western
horizon, we realize our final goal and are encouraged to collaborate with God in
bringing all humanity to it.
Nothing short
of this will provide sure hope.
Healing of soul and body – July 24, 2011
In my recent
informal visit to one of our parishes, the pastor shared with me a message from
a priest, who offered our Prayer before Holy Communion as an example of an
appropriate preparation thereof. The priest stated that such a prayer may help
the many of us who often fail to realize the full meaning of receiving the holy
Eucharist.
Not long
afterwards, I noticed how someone misspoke the prayer, asking that
Athe
partaking of your holy mysteries, O Lord, be
Y
for the healing of the soul and of the body@
instead of Athe
healing of soul and body.@
I=m
not sure why the person changed the words.
Certainly, to
me it suggested that the healing could be separated to the separate
Aparts@
of the human person, something not really supported by Christian teaching. When
the body is healed, the soul is affected and vice versa. The many healing
miracles of Jesus testify to this. Remember how Jesus connected one=s
sins being forgiven to the person=s
being healed bodily.
The healing
power of the holy Eucharist and the other holy mysteries/sacraments is to be
understood as a healing of the relationship between us and God and his
life-giving, health-filled plan for us.
The theme for
this year=s
eparchial pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Mariapoch is taken from the
Paraklis Service to the Mother of God: You shall heal the sorrows of my soul,
you shall cure the illness of my body. I=m
sure this dual statement is to help us understand the extent of, and
interrelationship of, healing, not two separate healings.
The Fathers of
the Church were clear that soul and body were created as one and not one after
the other. Similarly, healing occurs as one. What is healing for one is healing
for the other.
The holy
Eucharist and the other holy mysteries are truly for the healing for soul and
body, not like a magical pill but as a return to the healthy way of life with
God.
We are all in
need of healing. I pray many will take advantage of our annual pilgrimage. Many
have found healing by participating in the sacraments available, from the
silence of the setting, as well as through devotion to Our Lady of Mariapoch.
Healing of the world=s
soul and body – August 14, 2011
You shall heal
the sorrows of my soul, you shall cure the illness of my body. This, the theme
for this year=s
eparchial pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Mariapoch, could be voiced by
the world as an entity.
To be sure, we
are thankful for those who are working to heal the world=s
broken peace, economy, equality, ecology, etc., with political, scientific and
other such tools. We may consider this the healing of the body of the world. But
humanity=s
soul is also in need of healing
B
and the two cannot be separated.
How can the
world know bodily health (peace among peoples, economic security, equality,
etc.), if we approach problems with violence and war, if we greedily take what
belongs to others, if we kill babies in the womb, if we deny the privileged
position of the life-long marriage of one man and one woman, if we allow people
to suffer. The world is in need of healing
B
soul and body.
On the other
hand, if God=s
gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of
the Lord are the basis for efforts, they will bear fruit.
While visiting
the summer church school at Annunciation Parish in Homer Glen, Ill., I saw the
children making masks and capes to become superheroes. In a picture sent to me
later, a girl was demonstrating her super power of
Aforgiveness.@
The members of
the church each have power, spiritual power. We exercise
Asuper
powers@
of forgiveness, counseling, teaching, exhortation, alms-giving, shepherding,
working for unity, compassion, love, faith, strengthening through the
sacraments, motivating, social service, prayer, deliverance and more. But what
we do invididually cannot be compared with what can be done as the church.
The church is
a holy communion, the body of Christ, and healing will come through the
interpersonal relationships between the People of God. The church is the temple
of the Holy Spirit, and healing will come by uniting our whole person to the
movement of the Holy Spirit, shared in a special way in holy Communion.
The world is
in need of healing. As we receive holy Communion for the healing of soul and
body, may our holy communion be for the healing of
Asoul
and body@
of the world, as well.
Musings
on monasticism - August 28, 2011
This last
week I had the very pleasant opportunity to visit an Orthodox women’s monastery
in New York, where our Christ the Bridegroom Community are on an extended visit.
When I returned home I was greeted by a publication of St. John’s University
School of Theology, which included an article about what is called “new
monasticism.” The following are some of my (less than well-developed) thoughts
gained from my visit and from reading the article.
The “new
monasticism” is a movement of “intentional Christian communities,” reminiscent
of the communes of the 1960’s. They have adopted language from traditional
monasticism, but little else.
Most of what
they term “marks” of this movement should actually describe our parishes, e.g.,
hospitality to the stranger, submission to Christ’s body, the church, fostering
community and support for singles and married, living relatively close together,
commitment to prayer and worship, opportunity to be separate from worldly cares.
In contrast
to this was the monasticism I experienced in New York. This form of life is
quite counter-cultural. Set miles away from what someone once called the
“world of what’s happening now,” the nuns have welcomed a form of life that
could not be adopted by most, but that should be a model for the rest of us.
The
separation from the worldly and contact with the earthly, which we all
experience during Divine services, allows for an intimacy with the Divine and
with the whole of His creation.
The walls of
their cloister are solid but “porous” allowing them to shut out world cares
while permitting their life to influence the lives of all.
Sr. Christine
Vladimiroff asserts that a monastery “should be a clear and radical model … of
the reign of God that is emerging in the midst of the world.” Having focused on
marriage last year, the Kingdom of God, especially from the focus of monasticism
will be our eparchy’s theme this year. In the “Our Father” we pray “Thy kingdom
come” but also “For thine is the kingdom.” The kingdom is already here but not
fully. We’ll continue to rely on our nuns and monks to help us to know how to
help build God’s kingdom in the family, in the parish, in society at large.
God's Providence - September 20, 2011
The following was written to be
presented at the closing ceremony of this year’s Uniontown pilgrimage.
“It is time for the Lord to
act.” These words from Psalm 119 are voiced by the deacon at the beginning of
the Divine Liturgy.
Not long ago, a Facebook
friend posted on his wedding anniversary that “Marriage is an act of God.”
God acting… Usually when we
hear of “an act of God,” we are speaking of some disaster – a lightning strike,
a hurricane or a tornado – something for an insurance claim.
Surely, for many, if not most,
of us, this pilgrimage has been an opportunity to witness God in action. We
participated in the Divine Liturgy, or perhaps we received healing through
sacraments or were inspired by sermon or prayer.
This year’s pilgrimage theme
directs our attention to God’s active presence, his providence, by looking to
“Mary, Mysterious Treasure of God’s Providence.”
Sometimes, we feel like God has
abandoned us to our own devices and at other times like God is controlling our
lives like a puppetteer.
Things
actually happen in God’s providence. Surely, his becoming man of the Virgin Mary
is the summit of that providence.
The concept of providence
includes (1) God created the world and sustains it; (2) What we do and decide
relies on God’s power; and (3) Everything, even what seems to be bad at the
moment, will lead us toward God’s ultimate purpose. (‘from him and through him
and for him are all things.’ Rom 11:36)
St. Ignatius Loyola has been
unfairly paraphrased to say, “Pray as if everything depends on God – work like
everything depends on you.” Perhaps a better way would be “Pray and work because
everything depends on God but remember that God has chosen to rely on your
help.”
Indeed, God acts at times
without the cooperation of humankind, as in a hurricane or an inspiration from
nature. But through God’s providence, he continues to act through the agency of
you and me.
Let’s not allow ourselves to be
discouraged by the signs of the times. All things will be directed to God’s good
end. As we leave this pilgrimage, we can also say, “Now is the time for the Lord
to act,” because we, like Mary, our Mother, are prepared to accept what God
gives us and indeed cooperate with Him to His good end.
For those times we fall short
in doing our part, we rely on God’s direct intervention. For those times we work
against God, we pray for God’s mercy.
One side or the other - October 9, 2011
Recently, I had to cross a narrow bridge with
only two lanes, both going in my direction. (There was another bridge for the
other direction.) Since I will not drive close to either edge of a bridge, I
decided to straddle the center even though that would block both lanes. (Thank
God there were only two patient drivers behind me.)
This solution to my dilemma seems to be an
acceptable one for other problems as well. “Follow the middle way,” we are often
advised. Compromise is quite appropriate at times. At other times, there is no
appropriate compromise.
Shortly after crossing the bridge, I was
speaking with a group of nuns who told me that, in order to attract students,
they decided to discontinue teaching religion in their school. I was reminded of
a conversation with a teacher from our St. Mary’s School in Cleveland whose
student insisted she not teach a particular moral truth because the student’s
mother disagreed with it. The teacher did not give in.
My abovementioned journey took me to the
funeral of Basilian Father Athanasius Pekar, a well-learned priest whose
writings helped to share, in a popular manner, our Church’s teachings,
traditions and spirituality. I was reminded of how we dare not try to create the
truth but rather learn it well and pass it on in a way that will be received.
The Lord Jesus taught us that He is “the way,
the truth, and the life.” (Jn 14,6) – the only way to abundant life. We cannot
hope to reach our destination of abundant life in the Kingdom of Heaven by
straddling between His way and any other way.
Parents, religious and civic leaders alike
all need to follow the comment that a priest recently shared with me: (which I
may not recall exactly) “I shall have an accounting before God of my ministry.
If people didn’t know the truth because I was afraid of hurting feelings, I
shall be judged. If people fail to follow God’s way even though they heard the
truth, they will be judged.”
We must commit to the true side, for
straddling the middle is not helping anyone and indeed may place us as
roadblocks on their life journey.
Together with the Truth, we shall build God’s
Kingdom.
Faith-
October 30, 2011
Soon, our Christ the Bridegroom Monastery
will take another step toward becoming a full reality. One day they will join
our eparchy’s well-established Holy Protection Monastery and others, including
Mt. St. Macrina Monastery and Holy Dormition Monastery, some of whose members
are serving here.
This year’s stewardship theme “Together,
building God’s Kingdom” is inspired by the witness of the monastics. We’ll
consider many different elements of the monastic life throughout the year.
Clearly, a most obvious characteristic of the
monastic life is their total consecration to God, willing to do so because of
their gift of FAITH.
Pope Benedict recently, in announcing an
upcoming Year of Faith, taught how faith and giving oneself to God mutually
support each other. It is faith together with self-abandonment that allows us to
know with certainty the meaning of our life.
Faith unites the individual to Christ and
makes him/her a living member of his Body. (cf. CCC 1816) In the monastic life,
this personal relationship with Christ is lived out in community through a
common life of prayer and mutual charity (“Together, building the Kingdom of
God”).
Through this prayer they deepen their
relationship with Christ and realize an encounter with Him that directs their
life.
This prayer will build on study and
meditation to intellectually understand what God has taught us (the tenets of
faith).
Although most of us are not called to this
consecrated life, we share in the need to develop our faith-relationship with
God. With age, our zeal to build this relationship may wane. We need to allow
God to re-energize us.
There is an all to common experience of
religion without faith, counterbalanced by a so-called religionless
spirituality. The members of the Church need to be called back to faith.
Pope Benedict is calling on the Church to
make opportunities for us “to adhere fully with intellect and will to what the
Church proposes.” This will come with study but also in prayer.
He expressed hope that the Year of Faith will
be “a summons to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the one
Saviour of the world.”
We know that following the lead of the
monastics in a life of conversion is the only way to deepen our relationship
with God and to enjoy the fullness of life.
Voluntary poverty -
November 20, 2011
“I’ve been poor and I’ve been rich. Rich is
better.” (attributed to Sophie Tucker and others)
Most Americans are able to remain between
being rich and being poor. Many, however, have taken advantage of the
opportunities to become extremely wealthy, both through honorable means and
not-so-honorable ones, often at the expense of pushing others into poverty. This
country’s recent protests highlight the dissatisfaction with the divide between
the very rich and the rest of society.
Most other countries’ socialist efforts to
even out the wealth have failed. In some, there has become no wealth to share.
Fortunately, there are much better-educated
economists and leaders than I to make the political decisions needed to heal the
present situation. There are, however, certain God-inspired principles from
which such decisions should be made and on which we Christians should rely.
God has expressed that our wealth does not
affect his love for us. He tells us that we are actually blessed when we
identify with the poor. He invites us to come to him empty-handed.
I was reminded of this in reviewing the rule
of life developed by our Christ the Bridegroom Monastery. In their acceptance of
poverty as a valued characteristic of their life, they referred to true wealth
as our relationship with God and with all else as his creation. The document
quotes the Old Testament book of Song of Songs: "I am my beloved's and my
beloved is mine" (Sg 6:3).
With this relationship in mind, our concern
for the poor is heightened. The great patron of our Sisters of St. Basil stated
"The bread which you do not use is the bread of the hungry; the garment hanging
in your wardrobe is the garment of him who is naked; the shoes that you do not
wear are the shoes of the one who is barefoot; the money that you keep locked
away is the money of the poor; the acts of charity that you do not perform are
so many injustices that you commit." (St. Basil the Great)
The solution to the world’s economic crisis
can not be found without an acknowledgement of, and commitment to, our
relationship with God.
At Thanksgiving, we Americans give thanks for
our blessings primarily by prayer and by joining together for a special meal.
Let us not just give thanks for what we have,
let us thank God for what we have, especially our relationship with him, and
share that wealth with others.
Christmas – It’s all about me - December 11, 2011
Someone recently recounted that
his philosophy of life was “It’s all about me. As soon as you understand this,
the better.” (I believe he was joking.)
Most children can’t help
believing that they are the center of the world until they are taught
differently. Especially at Christmas, a child believes “Christmas is all about
me” because the others enjoy giving them gifts and experiences which may
strengthen this perception. There is nothing wrong in this for these allow the
child to realize “I am loved and I am worthy of being loved.” This is a very
important message of Christmas, of God’s becoming a human.
As time goes on, the children
will understand better their position in the world.
One could say “Christmas is all
about me” because God makes himself like me. It is not reason to be proud but in
fact humble. “… be humble, for God is with us.” (Compline hymn)
We honor a great person in our
midst by our humility. The lives and even the clothing of monks and nuns are
signs of this humility. I was especially touched by this as I cut the hair of
Mother Theodor a at her vesting. The nuns of Christ the Bridegroom Monastery
choose to wear loose fitting dark clothes; other nuns in more active ministry
find other ways of demonstrating this humility.
We join the monastics in
looking to “God becoming human” with humility. We echo the words of the
centurion,“Lord I am not worthy that you should come under me roof, but only say
the word ….” (Mt 8:8). Not only did God the Father “say” the word, but he did
come under our roof -- the “Word (God the Son) became flesh” (Jn 1:14). With
this, God has told us that his love for us is so great that he makes us worthy
of himself, “partakers of Divine nature” (2 Pt 1:4).
One can also say “Christmas
-it’s all about me” because “God is with us.” The incarnation is not something
from the history books but continues to be in the present – in my present. “God
in man – man in God; this is even now a reality.” (Pope Benedict XVI, 2008)
We acknowledge his presence in
our lives but also in that of others. In humility that mirrors that of God, we
want everyone to know that “Christmas is all about you.” We do this when we
proclaim
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
New Year’s Forgiveness -
January 9, 2012
Forgiveness, A Catholic
Approach by R. Scott Hurd is a book I received as a Christmas gift. It is an
easy read but filled with fine reflections on the topic. As we enter another new
year, I offer some considerations from the book to take us from “the first step
of forgiving to full reconciliation.”
Forgiveness is a decision,
but more. It is a process, letting go of resentment takes time; we may
have to forgive over and over. It is also a gift of love; it is neither
earned nor deserved.
Forgiving is good for the
forgiver. “Charles Dickens wrote, ‘Without a willingness to forgive those who
have hurt us, it is not likely that our lives can go on in any meaningful
manner.’”
Our forgiving provides a model
for others. “… the Catechism of the Catholic Church (no. 1657) describes the
family as a ‘school’ of forgiveness.”
The concept of forgiving goes
against the commonly accepted idea of fairness. It’s not fair to expect me to
forgive. That’s true but it is God’s plan for the salvation of the world.
There are a number of hallmarks
of true forgiveness: no exceptions, no strings attached, forgiving even before
forgetting, not being expected to “be a doormat,” only through forgiving can
reconciliation happen, “… we can’t forgive without God. … ‘To err is human; to
forgive, divine.’”
Forgiveness needs to be received
before it can be given. We’ll never forgive another if we believe we do not need
the forgiveness of God and of others. How beneficial is our approaching God
through the ministry of the priest. It opens a door to a fuller life.
We know that joining together
with the people of God at the Holy Eucharist to receive the Body of Christ,
broken for us who are broken, brings healing as well. We receive the Holy
Eucharist for the “forgiveness of sins and for the healing of body and soul.”
“To make us responsible, he [God]
allows us to face the consequences of our actions. He doesn’t impose the
consequences; they spring from our choices. In other words, when we sin, God
doesn’t turn his back on us; it’s we who turn our backs on him. Sin is it own
punishment. That’s why Mother Teresa could insist, ‘God does not punish.’ So why
should we punish ourselves? Let’s forgive ourselves instead. Then, let’s forgive
others.”
What a fine New Year’s resolution
to seek and offer forgiveness.
[All quotes are from Forgiveness, A
Catholic Approach by R. Scott Hurd, 2011, Pauline Books & Media, Boston,
MA.]
January prayer reflections - January 29, 2012
Our Church directs us to pray for various
intentions in the month of January. We begin the year praying for peace. Praying
for vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and consecrated life and prayers for
the cause of human life and for Christian unity follow.
To be sure priests and deacons take
personally the words of St. Paul to Timothy, when he challenges Timothy to be a
worthy minister. (cf. I Tim 4:6-16) Those called to serve at the altar realize
their obligations to the Truth (vs. 6), the Way (vs. 8), and the Life (vs.16).
But are not these words directed to the
Christian community, as well? Those who have been called to a consecrated life
in community realize it. Their personal life journey is placed into that of the
community.
The universal Church, our eparchy and our
parishes similarly are called to follow this counsel.
It is our responsibility to allow the message
to permeate life. (“…our hopes are fixed on the living God who is the savior of
all, but especially of those who believe.”,vs.10) This message must be carried
to all people, first of all to each other in the Church.
This is a message of Life, of respecting
human life, whereby we are able to cooperate with God for our own participation
in salvation.
We are reminded that “… physical training is
important but spiritual training is valuable in every respect, since it holds a
promise of life both for the present and for the future. “ (vss. 7-8) The
efforts we make for the temporal needs of the church do not compare with what we
do to grow in the spiritual life, especially by our participation in the Divine
Liturgy.
The characteristics of our community (number,
age, education of our members) should not keep us from boldly exercising our
faith. We can and must be an example by our “speech, conduct, love, faith, and
purity.” (vs. 12)
Our faith, in its fullness, is a gift, to be
used. We must be “diligent” and “absorbed in them, so that your progress may be
evident to everyone. (vs. 15) We dare not give up: “persevere in both tasks, for
by doing so you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.” (vs. 16)
Those who have been called to consecrate
their lives to church ministry understand these words for them. Together we do,
as well.
Martyrdom/witnessing by our Lenten practice -
Mar 2012
Recently Pope Benedict XVI welcomed 22 new
cardinals . Cardinal Dolan related that at the start of the ceremony the Pope
spoke of the color red “as a sign of our readiness to shed our blood for the
strengthening of the faith, the peace and tranquility of the people of God, and
the liberty and growth of the Church. Get it? Blood! Red!”
Cardinal Dolan challenged his well-wishers to
“joyful witness,… solidarity” asking them if they are ready “… to shed [their]
blood?”
Cardinal Dolan remarked, “As Blessed John
Paul II observed, ‘If something is not worth dying for, it’s not worth living
for.’ God, family, faith, freedom, one’s country, friends, honor, virtue, life
itself, the Church—all worth dying for . . . all worth living for!”
Many of the Church’s martyrs died in the
early years of the church. Many lost their lives to evil governments even in
recent times. Hopefully, we Americans will not have to face this level of
martyrdom but self-sacrifice is required of us all.
We in the Eparchy of Parma have special
martyrs to whom we can turn for inspiration. This year has been dedicated to
Blessed Bishop Theodore Romzha, martyred Byzantine Catholic bishop of Mukachevo.
In Holy Protection Monastery in North Royalton, Ohio, there are substantial
relics of two martyrs: Saint Maximina and Saint Hyacinth.
Saint Maximina, the wife of a priest, was
martyred with her husband in 304 A.D. in what is now Serbia and her body
transported to a catacomb in Rome. Prayers to Saint Maximina are reputed to have
produced many miracles.
St. Hyacinth at the age of about sixteen was
martyred in 109 A.D.
These three martyrs collectively provide for
us the witness that all of us, clergy and laity, men and women, young and old,
are called to self-sacrifice for the salvation of the world.
One of the themes of the Great Fast is that
of martyrdom. Those that fast also martyr themselves for Christ. The following
are excerpts from vespers of the Great Fast:
“O martyrs, … heaven received
you, opening to you the gates of Paradise, where you dwell, delighting in the
Tree of life.”
“Boldly you armed yourselves with courage for
battle.”
“You are living sacrifices and spiritual
offerings and perfect incense burnt to God.”
Let us pray to our martyrs that by our Lenten
practices we may find eternal life by uniting to the Holy Cross, the tree of
life, be armed to engage in spiritual warfare, and offer worthy worship.
Not just once a year - April 19, 2012
A monk was asked, “Why do so many people
come to church only on Pascha (Easter)?” He answered, “Perhaps because they
don’t miss Christ enough.”
Surely, resurrection is worthy of special
observance, but we cannot possibly grasp its fullness unless we relate it to
the person of Jesus Christ himself, true man but also true God. If we do, we
will want to encounter him as often as possible.
Our often-used troparion is ABOUT Christ,
“Christ is risen from the dead….” But other hymns are TO Christ: e.g., “Your
resurrection, O Christ our Savior, ….” Our Pascha (Easter) observance is
indeed an encounter with the risen Christ and not just a celebration of an
event.
Many seem to have a habit of looking at
the negative aspect of things. The resurrected life of Christ that we
celebrate gives reason to be optimistic but more than optimistic – hopeful.
Being optimistic may allow us to overlook the difficult and certainly the
impossible. Resurrection doesn’t overlook the real fact of death and yet it
gives hope for life. To be hopeful of eternal life, we accept the real facts
of life and death, our own and that of Jesus Christ.
Without the reality of the resurrection
of Jesus Christ, resurrection is just an idea. One can certainly argue
against such an idea or proposition.
Only to a life -- said the desert Fathers
--is there nothing that can be opposed. To know Christ, to relate with Him,
we must engage in prayer and fasting, worship, sacraments, scriptures. We
must walk with him through the Great Fast and Holy Week if we are to know
the fullest hope and joy of the Resurrection. We must commune regularly with
him if we are to realize the fullest hope and joy of our own eternal life.
Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia quoted
Fr. Henri de Lubac: “Suffering is the thread from which the stuff of joy is
woven. Never will the optimist know joy.”
He added, “Real hope and real joy are
precious. They have a price. They emerge from the experience of suffering,
which is made noble and given meaning only by faith in a loving God.” The
hope and joy that come from faith in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ will
be such a great treasure that we’ll want to return to celebrate it as often
as we can.
Let us realize that our hope is only in
the risen Christ. Let us invite others to do so, as well as we proclaim:
Christ is risen! Indeed he is risen!
God’s hands, our hands - May
1, 2012
“With his probing right hand, Thomas searched your life-giving side, O Christ
our God.” From the Kontakion for Thomas Sunday
The image of the use of
hands to develop a faith-relationship with the Lord provided more than a little
food for thought. In one of the Paschal evening hymns, Thomas’ using his hand to
“search” out the Lord is balanced by an earlier image of Jesus’ offering his
hand to Peter when Peter was sinking. Our faith relies on our interaction with
God just as in a hand-clasp.
In the ceremony of the
enthronement of Metropolitan William, the pastoral staff was placed into his
hand, entrusting into his hands the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh as well as the
American Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church sui iuris. He was commissioned
to pastor the people, sharing with them the loving care of God and leading them
in responding to that love.
As I was meditating on this
in my chapel, I was struck by the hands of the saints in the icons. The martyrs
hold the cross or a branch; the bishops, a staff; the teachers, a book; the
deacon, a censor. In the Annunciation, the Mother of God’s hand is raised in
surprise and acceptance; on the iconostasis, her hand points to Jesus. Each of
us is asked to use our hands, that is our lives, for different purposes within
the Church.
As important as it is to
consider our hands, we must also be aware of the “hand of God.”
In his homily, Metropolitan
William expressed the pressing “… need to present Jesus Christ and his gospel
teachings in a way that touches our people.” His use of the word “touch” brought
me back to this meditation. In another vesper hymn, we sing, “When Thomas had
been touched by the Lord, He cried out in a loud voice: You are my Lord and my
God; glory to you!”
We take courage in the words
of psalms 137 and 138:“… you stretch out your hand… With your right hand you
save me; …discard not the work of your hands.” “If I take the wings of the dawn
or dwell at the sea’s furthest end, even there your hand would lead me; your
right hand would hold me fast.”
We join Metropolitan William
in placing ourselves in the hands of God and in committing to use our hands as
we are called to continue the work of salvation.
To our Most Reverend
Metropolitan William and to all those entrusted to his pastoral care, God grant
many years. Christ is Risen!
Into The Day
Recently, I explained to someone how the
daily prayer in the Byzantine Catholic Church (and others) correspond to a
rather different perspective than the calendar day of midnight to midnight. In
our reckoning, the day begins with dusk and continues through the night and the
following daylight.
This follows the Hebrew model as
we read in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. When God created the world,
each step recounted ends with “And evening came, and morning followed the first
(or second, third, …) day.
But one may note that after
working for six days, God rested. Thus, one would expect that night or rest
should be understood as a reward for the work of the daylight hours.
Truly creation does seem to
correspond to this model.
But Jesus Christ is risen from
the dead and all creation is created anew. The Father rested on the seventh day
after creating. Jesus rested in the tomb for three days before being raised to
the new life, before re-creating.
In a way, this echoes the words
of Jesus, who took the word “Amen” from the end of Jewish prayer and used it in
the beginning of many statements, “Amen, amen, I say to you…”
Living in the light of the
resurrection, we use, and build on, the gifts of God just like we work in the
daylight hours because we have enjoyed a night of rest.
Our Eparchy is in the initial
stages of preparing for our Eparchial Assembly 2013.
The priests and deacons of the
Eparchy met to discuss this. It was a fine meeting of sharing and discerning, a
foreshadowing of more such gatherings to include all the faithful of the
Eparchy, clergy and laity, mature and younger, men and women, ….
The Eparchy’s 40+ years and our
Church’s over 100-year presence in this region were not years of rest, but they
were gifts of God from which He expects us to build and grow. Just like light
differs from the dark, so the future will certainly require us to reconsider our
plans and means of responding to challenges.
We know we share in the power of
the resurrection because we have been raised through the tomb of baptism. We
know that God wants us to live and to be alive. He wants us to share in, and
work for, the ever-new creation.
Christ is risen from the dead. By
death, he trampled Death. And to those in the tombs he granted life.
|
