Important Areas That Deserve Our Attention

My beloved syndiakonoi (co-workers) in Christ God,

As we are about to embark on the new ecclesiastical (Church) year, September 1st, we all need to re-examine closely areas of importance within our church, areas which should concern every member (steward) and family of our parish.

What are these areas?

Worship (Divine Liturgy). For the Orthodox Christian worship on Sunday and throughout the week is indispensable and irreplaceable. Worshipping the Almighty God for the Christian believer is just as important as the air that we need to breathe and live. Attending the divine services of our Holy Church as a Christian family is absolutely necessary to maintain communion with our Creator. There is no life without the communion with God through worship, prayer, and the reception of the Holy Eucharist. Through the Divine Liturgy, through our Lord Jesus Christ and His new covenant with us, He, heals our nature, He unifies the inner man--heart and mind are joined in union with God, and He gives perfect forgiveness. 

This is we receive when we attend and participate in the Divine Liturgy:

a) "cleansing of soul",

b) "remission of sins",

c) "communion of the Holy Spirit",

d) "fulfillment of the Kingdom of Heavens",

e) "boldness toward God",

f) "not unto judgment or unto condemnation".

(Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom)

What more can we ask for?

Another area of deep concern is the parish ministry of religious education for all of our children.

A greater effort must be made to teach all of our parish children the Orthodox Christian Faith. To know who our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, is and to follow His Commandments. To learn Christian morality, values, principles, the new life that He has given us. The purpose of the church as a hospital and a place of healing and reconciliation, the grace that a believer receives through the sacraments, the Lives of the Saints, the veneration of the Mother of God, the veneration of the holy icons and Saints, holy Fathers and Mother of the Church and more. To, through faith, come to feel God's unconditional love within heart, and soul, and for all of mankind. 

Parents support the efforts of our volunteer teachers to educate every child in the parish.

Stewardship

Stewardship is the most Christian way of giving to God and our church. Stewardship is Time, Talent and Treasure. All three are needed it if our church continues to exist. We must support our local church with everything we got. God has blessed with many gifts and all of us should respond with love and gratitude. In other words, we must reciprocate in kind.

Philanthropy

As members of the human family, we must always show concern and we must help those in need. There are countless opportunities to make a difference in the life of others. I have learned over the many years of my diakonia (ministry) that most people are looking for large sums of money but for human touch, for brotherly love. The recognition that they are just as human as all of are. To respect them as equals and to treat them with dignity and respect.

These are some of the important areas of concern that we should all contemplate on.

In Christ's Service,

+Father George

The Four Orders in Church Government

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

THE FOUR "ORDERS" IN CHURCH GOVERNMENT

An ancient visitor to modern Christendom would be shocked to find that factions have pulled away from Apostolic Christianity not just over doctrinal matters but even over the issue of how the Church is governed. Thus, in quite a recent development, some religious bodies call themselves Congregational (ruled by the people), others are Presbyterian (ruled by the elders), still others are Episcopal (ruled by the bishops).

The New Testament teaches that all four "orders" which form the government of the Church--laity, deacons, presbyters, and bishops--are necessary to the proper functioning of the body of Christ. All four are clearly visible in Saint Paul's First Letter to Timothy.

(1) The laity are also called "saints" (Romans 1:7; 2 Cor. 1:1; 1 Tim. 5:10), the "faithful" (Eph. 1:1); and "brethren" (Col. 1:2). The laity (Gr. laos) are all the people of God, the "Priesthood" (1 Peter 2:4-10). Technically "laity" includes Clergy, though in our day the world usually refers to those in the Church who are not ordained. It is from among the laity that the other three orders emerge.

(2) The Deacons, literally "servants," are ordained to serve the Church and must meet high qualifications (1 Tim. 3:8-13). The Apostles were the first to take on the service tasks of deacons, and when the workload became too great they called for "seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business" (Acts 6:3). Besides serving the material needs of the people, deacons occupy a crucial role in the liturgical life of the Church.

(3) The Presbyters, or Elders, are visible throughout the New Testament. Their ministry from the start was to "rule," "labor in the word" and teach true "doctrine" (1 Tim. 5:17) in the local congregation. Saint Paul "appointed elders in every church" (Acts 14:23) and later instructed his apostolic apprentice, Titus, to do the same in Crete (Titus 1:5). From the word "presbyter" came the shorter form "priest," which was used in the early Church and finally became "priest." In no way is the ordained Christian Priesthood seen as a throwback to or a reenacting of the Old Testament Priesthood. Rather, joined to Christ Who Is our High Priest "according to the order of Melchizedek" (Hebrews 5:6, 10), the Orthodox Priest is likewise a minister of a New Covenant which supersedes the Old.

(4) The Bishop is the "overseer" of the congregation and clergy in a given area. Often the terms "bishop" and "elder" are interchangeable in the New Testament (Acts 20:17, 28), with the bishop being the leader of the elders. The qualifications for bishop in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:7-9 underscore this role. Nevertheless, "bishop" is a specific office both in the New Testament and in the early Church. The Twelve were the first to hold this office (in Acts 1:20 "office" is literally translated "bishopric") and they in turn consecrated other bishops to follow them. For example Timothy and Titus are clearly of a separate order from that of elder (see 1 Timothy 5:17-22; Titus 1:5). Early records show James was bishop of Jerusalem by A.D. 49 and functioned accordingly at the First Council there (Acts 15:13-22). Peter is on record as the first bishop of Antioch prior to A.D. 53, and later first bishop of Rome, where he was martyred about A.D. 65.

Perhaps the strongest early reference outside the New Testament to the presence of the four orders in church government occurs in the writings of Saint Ignatius, bishop of Antioch from A.D. 67-107, the very heart of the New Testament era. To the Church at Philadelphia (see Rev. 3:7-13) he writes of "Christian [laity] at one with the bishop and the presbyters and the deacons..." (Ign. Phil., salutation; italics added).

In the Orthodox Church authority is resident in all four orders, with the bishop providing the center of unity. His authority is not over the Church but within the Church. He is an icon of Jesus Christ, "the Shepherd and Overseer [literally, "Episcopos") of your souls" (1 Peter 2:25). Church leadership is not one or more of the orders like a symphony orchestra, a family, the body of Christ, where all the members in their given offices work together as the dwelling place of the Holy Trinity.

___________________________

the qualifications for bishop according to the new testament

1 Timothy 3:17 - Titus 1:7-9

"This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to tech; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God); not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil."

+

"For a bishop must be blameless, as steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort, and convict those who contradict."  (Titus 1:7-9)

QUALIFICATIONS FOR DEACONS

"Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.  Let deacons be the husband of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.  For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 3:8-13).

(Source: The Orthodox Study Bible)

_____________________

"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostomos

+++

With agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George 

On Mortal Sins, Repentance and Forgiveness (Part II)

Icon of the Mother of God “Virgin of the Tenderness” of the Pskov Caves

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

+

ON MORTAL SINS, REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS (Part III)
"The Evergetinos, A Complete Text," vol. I of the First Book.

A brother was beset by the demons of lust. It so happened that the brother once passed by a village in Egypt and saw a beautiful woman, who was the daughter of a pagan priest. On seeing her, he was wildly aroused and, under the influence of his passions, went to the father of the girl and said: "Give me your daughter as my wife."

"I cannot give her to you," the pagan priest answered, 'without asking my god. Wait a bit.'

Indeed, the pagan priest went to his god's oracle (through which, as we know, the Devil speaks) and asked: 'A monk came to my home and wants my daughter as his wife. Shall I give her to him?'

The demon hidden in the oracle answered him: 'Ask him if he will deny his God, his Baptism, and the vows which he made as a monk.'

When the pagan priest returned, he said to the monk: 'Will you deny your God, your Baptism, and your monastic vow?'

Indeed, the monk accepted his terms. But immediately he saw something bright come from his mouth and, like a dove, go up to the heavens.

Right away the pagan priest ran to the demon and said: 'Behold, the monk did all that you asked.' Then the demon said to him: 'Do not give your daughter to him as a wife, for his God has not departed from him, but is still helping him.' So once again the pagan priest went to the monk and told him: 'I cannot give you my daughter as a wife since your God continues to remain near you and help you.'

On hearing this response, the monk was deeply moved and said within himself: 'Even though God in His singular goodness has bestowed upon me so many good things, I, wretch that I am, have denied Him, His holy Baptism, and Monastic vows. But despite my denial, God has not departed from me, though I have so great betrayed Him, and continues to help me. After that, do I not have a duty to run to Him, grounded in the surety of His boundless goodness?'

Having now recovered from the dizziness of passion, the brother left immediately for the desert and went to his Geronda (Elder), to whom he confessed his denial, as well as all of his thoughts.  With kindness, the Geronda (Elder) told him: 'Brother, remain with me in my cave and fast two days at a time for three weeks: that is, you can fast strenuously for two days and on the third relax the fast. And I will ask God to forgive you.'

The Geronda (Elder) did indeed grieve for the brother and entreated God with earnestness:' 'My God,' he would say, 'give me the soul of this monk and receive his repentance.'

God, merciful as He is, heard the sincere and fervent prayer of the Geronda (Elder), especially since it came forth from genuine love.

When the first week of the cloistered monk's penance had been fulfilled, the Geronda visited him and told him: 'Have you perhaps beheld something?'

'Yes,' the monk answered, 'I saw a dove high in the heavens in front of my head.'

The Geronda (Elder) said to the repentant monk: 'Take care of yourself and ask God with the whole of your soul, without cessation, to forgive you.'

With these recommendations, the Geronda (Elder) once again departed.

As soon as the second week had passed, the Geronda (Elder) came again to the cave where the monk was cloistered:

'So, how is it going, brother? Perhaps you have again seen something?' He asked with fatherly concern and care.

'Yes, Geronda (Elder). I saw the dove next to my head.'

The Geronda (Elder), having advised him anew to pray with earnestness and to stay in a state of vigilance in his soul, took leave.

When, at last, the third week had elapsed, the Geronda (Elder) went to the cloistered monk and said to him: 'Have you seen anything more?'

With joy, the monk answered: 'I saw the dove come and perch on my head. So, when I stretched out my hand with joy to grab him, he flew into my mouth.'

When the Geronda (Elder) heard this answer, he thanked God and said to the repentant monk:

'Do you see, my brother? God has accepted your repentance. Therefore; be careful with yourself from now on.'

Crying, the emotion-filled brother answered the Geronda (Elder): 'From now and ever after, Father, I will remain near you, and I shall not leave until I die.'

And, indeed, the monk remained with the loving Geronda (Elder) and never left.  (Orthodox Heritage)

________________

"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" --Saint John Chrysostomos

+++

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

On Mortal Sins, Repentance and Forgiveness

Icon of the Mother of God of Georgia

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL.

+

ON MORTAL SINS, REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS
Source: "The Evergetinos, A Complete Text."

[Note: "A mortal sin is that sin for which a person does not repent. No one is so good and so merciful as God. Yet a man who remains obstinately in sin and will not repent--not even God forgives him. We are deeply sorry when we sin, nevertheless, we gladly embrace every excuse and occasion for sins" (Abba (Father) Mark)]

Through the works of the Devil, a brother who lived in a small monastic house regularly fell to immorality; nonetheless, he forced himself not to put aside his monastic habit. After finishing his services and his rule of prayer, he would entreat God with groans: "My Lord, whether I wish it or not, save me, for I, mud that I am, crave for the stench of sin; but Thou, as God All-Powerful, are able to prevent me from sinning. For, if Thou hast mercy on the righteous, this is nothing of note; and, if Thou, by the same token, savest the pure, this is nothing admirable; these, by virtue of the measure of their struggle and virtue, are worthy to enjoy Thy goodness. Master, let Thy mercies do their miracle, and show to me Thy endless love of man; for the poor man has entrusted unto Thee, that is, he who has been deprived of all the virtues."

These and similar things the brother said each day, with eyes filled with tears; whether he had happened to sin or not.

Anyway, one night, according to his habit, he fell into the loathsome sin of immorality; but immediately at midnight, he got up to fulfill his rule of prayer. The Devil, who has led the brother into sin, would literally go mad at the hope that the sinful brother held out for his salvation and his effrontery; as the Devil saw it, to place himself before God by his prayers. So it was that this time he decided to appear visibly before the brother, telling him: "You wretch! How do you not become red with shame in standing before God? How do you dare to bring the name of God to your lips? Are you so brazen that you dare even chant?"

To these words of the Devil the brother answered:

"This cell is a forge: you give a hit with the hammer and receive one; thus I will continue to fight against you until death and wherever I am on the last day of my life. So take heed: grounding my courage in the limitless goodness of God, I tell you on my oath and assure you that, on the name of Him Who came to call sinners to repentance and to save them, I will not cease to pray to God in defiance of you, until you cease to war against me. And we shall see who shall win; you or God."

Hearing these decisive words, the Devil said to the brother: "All night, from now I will not war against you so that I am not responsible for your gaining the victory's crown for your patience." From that moment, the Enemy departed from the brother's presence. 

And the brother, who had been so assaulted up to that time, came to contrition and thereafter sat and wept unceasingly for his sins.

Often he thought to himself: "You do good in weeping." But he would respond to this thought: "Away with such good; for whether He saves a man's soul or not, it is not God's desire that any man, having sported his soul in all kinds of disgraceful deeds, should then merely sit and lament for this waste (but that he should actively repent)." (Orthodox Heritage)

(To be continued)

__________________________

"Glory Be To GOD For All things!" - Saint John Chrysostom

+++

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George  

The Blessing of Alms

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE

+

THE BLESSING OF ALMS
By Bishop Leontius of Neapolis ("Life of John the Almsgiver")

One day the all-wise John (the Almsigiver, 610-619 A.D.) heard of a generous giver and so he sent for him privately and said jokingly: How is it that you became so generous? Was it natural to you, or did you put constraint up yourself?

Some to whom he put this same question stood shamefacedly before him and would not answer, whilst others would tell him their story. One man whom the Saint questioned answered as follows:

"As a fact, master, I neither give anything nor do any good; but the little I do give and do from that which comes to me through Christ and your prayers I came to do in this way. Formerly I was very hardhearted and unsympathetic and one day I lost money and was reduced to poverty. Then my reason began to say to me: 'Truly, if you had been charitable, God would not have forsaken you.' And thereupon I decided to give five coppers [pholleis] a day to the poor. But when I started giving them, Satan immediately checked me by saying: 'Those coppers would really have been enough to buy a bath-ticket or vegetables for your family.' Then I felt at once as if I were taking the money out of my children's mouth and so I gave nothing."

But I noticed I was being mastered by this vice, so I said to my slave: "I want you to steal five coppers daily without my noticing it, and give them in charity." For I am a money-changer master.

The money-changer continued:

"My slave, worthy fellow, began by stealing ten coppers, and occasionally even a shilling [keratin]. When he noticed that we were being blessed, he began to steal gold crowns, [trimisia] as well, and give them away as well. One day I was expressing my astonishment at God's blessings to us, I said to him: 'Those five coppers, boy, have greatly benefited us. So now I want you to give ten.' At that, the slave said to me with a smile: 'Yes, be thankful for my thefts, since but for them we should not even have bread to eat today. However if there can be a just thief, I am he!' and then he told me that he had given shillings and even crowns. So it was through his faith, master, that I grew accustomed to giving with all my heart.

 The holy Patriarch was much edified by this story and said: "Truly I have read many stories in the lives of the Fathers, but I have never heard anything like this! (Orthodox Heritage)

______________________

"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostomos

+++

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

The Cup of Christ (Part III)

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

+

THE CUP OF CHRIST (III)
By Saint Ignatii Brianchaninov

If the Cup appears to you to be unbearable, deadly, then it reveals that, although you bear Christ's Name, you do not belong to Christ. For the true follower of Christ, the Cup of Christ is the Cup of joy. Thus the holy Apostles, after having been beaten before the gathering of the elders of the Jews, went out from the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the Name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 5:40-41). The righteous Job heard bitter news. Tiding after tiding came to pierce his steadfast heart; the last of these was the hardest of all; his sons and daughters had been struck down suddenly by a cruel and violent death. In his great sorrow, the righteous Job rent his clothes and sprinkled his head with ashes. And then in submissive faith he fell down upon the ground, and worshipped the Lord saying: "I myself came naked from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, the Lord taketh away: as it seemed good to the Lord, so has it come to pass; blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21).

Entrust your heart in simplicity to Him whom all the hairs of your head are numbered: He knows the measure of the healing Cup that you should be given. Look often on Jesus standing before those who put Him to death; He was delivered to death, to be slain as a defenseless sheep. Do not take your eyes from Him, and your suffering will be transformed into heavenly spiritual sweetness: the wounds of your heart are healed with the wounds of Jesus. "Suffer ye thus far," said the Lord to those who wished to defend Him in the garden of Gethsemane, and He healed the ear that had been struck off (St. Luke 22:51). "Thinkest thou," replied the Lord to him who had tried to take the Cup from Him, "that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall presently give Me more than twelve legions of Angels?" (St. Matthew 26:53).

In the time of misfortune do not seek the help of man; do not lose precious time. Await help from God: by His command and in His own time will people come to your help. The Lord remained silent before Pilate and Herod; He made no attempt to justify Himself. You must imitate His holy and wise intention of certain conviction.

Whether the cup comes to you as a gradual gathering of clouds, or as suddenly as a furious whirlwind, say to God, "Thy will be done." You are a disciple, follower, and servant of Jesus. Now Jesus said: "If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be" (St. John 12:26). But Jesus spent His life on earth in sufferings; He was persecuted from His birth to the grave; from the time of His swaddling clothes malice was preparing for Him a violent death. Nor was malice satisfied by achieving such an aim, but tried to uproot the very remembrance of Him from the earth.

In following Him, all the chosen of our Lord pass by the road of temporary suffering to a blessed eternity. While bodily pleasures dominate us, it is impossible that a spiritual state should also prevail in us. That is why our Lord ceaselessly offers His Cup to those He loves, so as to keep them in deadness to the world and to enable them to live the life of the Spirit. Saint Isaac the Syrian said: "The man who is sent unceasing sorrow is known to be especially under God's care. Pray to God, that He may avert all calamity and every trial from you; but when sorrows come of themselves, do not be afraid of them, do not think that they have come by chance, or by force of circumstance. No, they are allowed by the inscrutable Providence of God. Filled with faith, and the fortitude and magnanimity born of it, swim fearlessly amidst the darkness and howling storm into the peaceful harbor of eternity: the unseen hand of Jesus Himself will guide.

(To be continued)

____________________________

"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostomos

+++

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George