 Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. She went out and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. After this He appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they sat at table; and He upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw Him after He had risen. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Amen. Mark 16: 9-20 (Third Eothinon Gospel) Christ is Risen!
The day after Pascha is a very important day in your life! Why? Because it sets the tone for the rest of your year until next Lent. There is no “virtual” church today. During most years, the Holy Week journey is exhausting for us physically. And emotionally. This year, with “virtual” church, the “come down” from Holy Week is likely to be different. We didn’t actually go to church each day, or see friends, or receive sacraments. In fact, many of us probably struggled to stay engaged. Which is why today is the most critical Bright Monday we’ve ever had. We didn’t get as much of a spiritual infusion as we usually get during Holy Week probably. It’s back to home schooling kids, trying to manage work, home and them. Holy Week might have been a good diversion from the coronavirus news and collateral concern but those things will be right back front and center today. Hopefully you took away something positive from the Holy Week journey. If nothing else, hopefully you are more committed to making the journey next year. When we sang “Let all things begin anew in the Light of the Resurrected Christ,” it didn’t mean that all of our problems got wiped out. It means that we have new lenses through which to see our challenges. Hopefully in the last week, even with “virtual” worship, we have gained a new lens of forgiveness, a new lens of optimism, a new lens of hope. Hopefully we have received an infusion of patience as well. So, today, when you have the urge to say something unkind, be purposeful in refraining from that. When you have the urge to cut someone off in traffic, be purposefully patient. When you have the urge to snap at someone, resist that. If the Resurrection was a sign of Christ healing the fissure between us and Him, we should use the Resurrection as an opportunity to heal the fissures between us and Him and us and one another. For the next forty days, we will greet each other with the words “Christ is Risen” and we will respond with “Truly He is risen.” Will we faithfully do this? Or will the joy of the Resurrection quickly pass from our lips as well? I use the Paschal greeting in all correspondence and I try to answer the phone the same way, even when I know the caller isn’t Orthodox. It is a small and simple way to keep Christ in the conversation, in the consciousness. Christ is Risen, and that matters. That matters for our whole life. As we read in the Gospel of John at the Resurrection, which is the scripture quote, “to as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become children of God.” When our parents took us out to dinner for our birthdays, or did special things for us, we were grateful. Gratitude seems very fleeting in the world today. Someone does something for us, and we think almost immediately what else will they do for us? If the first sin was ingratitude, then we have to offer the Paschal greeting with a sense of gratitude. More important, we have to live the reality of Christ’s resurrection with gratitude. To say, “Christ is Risen but I’m still going to pick a petty fight with my spouse, or my coworker or with someone” doesn’t fit. Neither does “Christ is Risen and I will be a maniacal driver.” Or “Christ is Risen but I’m going to make people nervous every time they see me.” Or “Christ is Risen and nothing is going to change in my life from two weeks ago.” Christ is Risen and that matters. Christ is Risen and that calls us to change. Christ is Risen and that calls us to action. Christ is Risen and that calls us to continue to grow TOWARDS Him. Last week, you set aside extra time for God. Make sure you set some time aside for Him today, and tomorrow, and every day. Resurrection Day! O peoples, let us brilliantly shine! Pascha, the Lord’s Pascha! For Christ our God has out of death passed us over into life, and likewise from earth to heaven, as we now sing unto Him a triumphal hymn. (From the Matins of the Resurrection, Trans. by Fr. Seraphim Dedes) I invite you to be different today than you were a week ago! +Fr. Stavros St. John the Baptist, Tampa, FL
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 “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you have no life in you...For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. ” (John 6:53, 55). All of us have been invited to some friend house for dinner. Imagine going, sitting down at the table, and not eating anything—just watching everyone else eat. Surely it would be strange, even an insult to the ones who invited you. Do I do the same at the Divine Liturgy of the Lord? In the history of Orthodoxy, there have been differing answers to the question, “How often should I receive Communion?” But this question would have ben foreign to the early Church. Today, answers range from once a year, to every week, to as frequently as possible. St. Basil the Great took Communion at least four days every week. At the end of the first millennium, St. Symeon the New Theologian communed every day with tears in his eyes. With regard to frequency of Communion, there is little argument that Christians received It more frequently in the early centuries of Christianity than in recent years. Weekly reception was the common practice of the Church in the Acts of the Apostles and beyond. This practice changed during subsequent years due to various theological arguments and interpretations, one of which was an extreme emphasis on the evil of human sin versus the holiness of the Eucharist. Man, it was thought, was just too unworthy to receive! On the basis of this extreme position, reception was sadly reduced to once a year. In fact, the Holy Fathers taught that the reception of Communion can and does heal sin. In the 5th century, St. John Cassian attempted to correct the practice of infrequent Communion when he wrote, “We must not avoid Communion because we think that we are sinful. We must approach it more often for the healing of the soul and the purification of the spirit. It is much better if, in humility of heart, knowing that we are never worthy of the Holy Mysteries, we would receive them every Sunday for the healing of our diseases, rather than, blinded by pride, think that after one year we become worthy of them.” St. Theophan the Recluse in the 19th century taught, “There is no salvation without Communion, and no progress in life without frequent Communion.” The Celebration of Preparation Today, the Church fervently urges frequent reception of Holy Communion—one eats at the Lord’s Supper. When Jesus said “Take, eat, this is my body” He meant it. Take and eat. The Bread of Angels becomes the pilgrim’s food, and that food can make whole our frail and aching hearts and souls. All that the Divine Host asks is that we come to His Supper prepared to receive the Cup of Life and the Bread of Eternal Salvation. How do we do this? 1. Make ready. On Saturday evening, do we stop to reflect on what it is we will do Sunday morning, presuming that we are going to Divine Liturgy(!)? Our attention, our focus needs to turn to the Divine Liturgy on Saturday evening— what it is, the miracle given to us, how it fits into our human behavior and our spiritual life. Reading Sunday’s Scripture passages and Gospel reflection in the Bulletin that is sent to us weekly helps us make ready, pauses our hectic life, and sets a new and different tone for “The Lord’s Day.” Just before we receive, the Priest chants: “In the fear of God, with faith and love, draw near!” On Saturday evening we can begin that process. On Saturday evening, really? Yes—it’s another one of those “costs of discipleship”! 2. Fast and pray. Go to the hermitage of your heart. Spend time alone with God. Talk to Him and lay it all bare before Him. There are also many prayers of preparation for Holy Communion online or in the Orthodox Prayer Books. Find one for yourself and use it every week. The Canon of Preparation for Holy Communion is a popular one. In addition, keep the fast that is appointed before Communion. It creates in the body a sense of the hunger of the soul for Christ. Remember, you are preparing your whole person and every facet of you to receive your Lord! 3. Come home. This will require some soul- searching. “Whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of St. Paul’s point was that we need to approach the Holy Mysteries with a clean and pure conscience—not a perfect one. We need to name our failings and sins, own them, and ask forgiveness. They are breaches of love. Confession is the chance to set things right with the Lord. We ought to go to Confession regularly to literally hear the words of Christ’s mercy and compassion. When is the last time you heard those words? Never be afraid! We need also to be reconciled with any in our life against whom we are angry, holding a grudge, resentful, or harbor evil thoughts—or who bear the same against us. (Matthew 5:23-24) Another “cost” of discipleship! Adopting this new approach to receiving the Divine Mysteries requires askesis, a spiritual struggle. We are re-orienting our life—no easy task! It brings with it, however, untold rewards deep down in the soul of us. Go in Peace I leave you with the encouragement of St. John of Kronstadt: “If your heart is right in your bosom; if, by God’s mercy, it is ready to meet the Bridegroom, then, thank God, it is well with your soul, even though you may not have succeeded in reading all the appointed prayers (before Communion). For the kingdom of God does not come in words, but in power....” May God give each of you that mighty power! Please pray for me. + Rev. Fr. Dimitrios J. Antokas Source: myocn.net  Archbishop Averky of Syracuse, of blessed memory, once said of converts, "they are like envelopes, they have a tendency to come unglued".
Many a convert, once they've embraced the Orthodox Faith, mistakenly given themselves over to a zealotry that is without any form of temperance. They, in their excitement at having found "The True Faith", almost over night take on external formula that seems more "spiritual", and makes them feel they are on the fast track to sainthood. They'll notice when another parishioner seems careless in the making of the sign of the cross, all the while demonstrating for all around them, the proper way. Making sweeping signs of the cross that are done in such a way as to be almost a caricature, they follow up with profound bows, distracting fellow worshipers in the process. They make a production of the fast periods, making sure their non-Orthodox family and friends know the seriousness of the Orthodox fasting periods. Their icon corners can be larger than the pious old woman who has been Orthodox all her life, and who is known for the sanctity of her tender care for others. These people become spiritual gluttons, while taking their new found faith into a sensuality and pride that is miles from the holiness that comes from years of struggle. Their public displays of Orthodox, often distractions for fellow worshipers, what with all the profound bows, icon kissing, and candle lighting, can actually be diversions from the important confrontation of one's own personal sin. In their newness to Orthodoxy they throw themselves into the externals and public displays, while preventing themselves from entering into the mystery of faith that comes only with the acquisition of a humble and contrite heart. Our longing for drama and excitement in our new found faith, can, if we let it, become a distraction, leading to spiritual pride, rather than the holiness that comes with humbly receiving the faith by following the example of holy people whose lives are often hidden from us. If our Orthodoxy is expressed primarily in the externals, we put ourselves on the fast track to becoming followers of the Pharisee, rather than imitating the humility of the Publican. My own spiritual father, Archimandrite Dimitry of blessed memory, gave me the best of advice, when he said, "little by little". Taking little steps, with the guidance and direction that comes from one's priest or spiritual father, or by council with that pious little old lady, whose face radiates the light of Christ, we will be able to enter into the Kingdom, having gained the humility and joy that does not necessitate being extravagant with the externals. That said, the sight of faithful coming late to Liturgy, and leaving after communion, is sad indeed. The bottom line is that everyone of us needs to personally be converted to Orthodoxy. Converts have a lot to share with those who were raised from birth in Orthodoxy, for the sight of a newly converted Orthodox Christian demonstrating his faith by external witness, should be the catalyst for those raised in the faith to make a greater effort at truly entering into the services with the historic external forms of worship. With love in Christ, Abbot Tryphon Taken from Abbot Tryphon's FB Page |
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