Last weeks sermon by His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses
 
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
 
Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, on this Sunday we are still in the midst of the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple that took place forty days after the birth of the God-Man. In the temple we encounter with Saint Simeon the manifestation of the greatest and most extraordinary paradox since time began.
 
As it says in the hymns of the Church, ‘The Ancient of Days is carried as a small Babe in the arms of His Virgin Mother into the Temple in the fulfillment of His own law.’
 
These words boggle the mind.
 
When we confront this reality, it is eminently obvious to us that there is no faith like our faith and there is a great distinction between the God of Israel and the many gods of the nations and their mythologies. The mind of man could not conceive that the Beginningless God Who created all things from nothing would become a small babe in order to fulfill a law that He gave to His creatures in order to show his love for us and in order to show us the way. Our unproud God has shown us the way to salvation through taking this path of humility.
 
I have read many and various tracks wherein people attempt to outline the similarities between Buddhism and Christianity or many and various other religions and Christianity and to be sure, there is no teaching or doctrine in any other religion that comes even remotely close to this.
 
And so now, in today’s Parable of the Prodigal and the Pharisee, our Savior, the God-Man reiterates this principle of humility, for He said
 
Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
 
As you know, the Pharisees were strict keepers of the law and looked upon as righteous. The Publicans on the other hand we those that collaborated with the hated Roman authority to collect taxes. Furthermore, they made their fortune by overcharging the taxes and keeping the surplus, and thus they were looked upon as illegitimate members of the house of Israel.
 
The Pharisee stood and prayed, “O God I thank Thee.”
 
Thus far he made an excellent beginning, in fact, this is how spiritual men have advised that we begin all of our prayers. Then he added those foolish and infamous words:
 
“…that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess."
 
And so this Pharisee looks around and judges this other man that is found in the Temple, rather than facing God alone in the Temple. When we enter the church we should understand that this is a place of judgment and we should stand to face God and speak to Him. If we spend our time in Church looking around or idly chatting we rob ourselves of spiritual profit and, perhaps, never come to an experience of real prayer. I know parents with children need to keep an eye on them, but there are times, during prayers of repentance, that, even in group prayer we need to perceive ourselves in the community of believers, yet alone before God. If we exercise the awareness that there will be that day of final judgment wherein each of us will stand alone before God and have to make a reckoning, we will not be distracted with the affairs of others and will be more intense in our efforts during these opportunities to reconcile ourselves with God.
 
Instead of thanking God for His grace the Pharisee compared himself with men who are under the sway of sin. Instead of comparing himself to the virtuous in order to see what was lacking in his own life, the Pharisee abandoned self-examination in order to ridicule his brother. To make things worse, he also begins to congratulate himself in his virtues.
 
Is it spiritually wise to count our seeming virtues and congratulate ourselves? To answer this we need only remember the words of Solomon, “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble” (Prov 3:34).
 
The wise Saint Paul gave us a model for intelligent spiritual reflection, when he said,
 
“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3: 13-14).
 
Saint Anthony the Great explained a bit more for us concerning the correct attitude we all need to embrace regarding virtue and our progress therein, exhorting his disciples,
 
“Progress in virtue is not measured by time, but by fervor and fixity of purpose.”
 
In other words, in the life of virtue what is done is past and will not secure us for the future. Our past deeds can illumine our minds and help us for the future, but vigilance is required. If we do not keep our fervor to fix our will to remain obedient to God, we can become complacent and negligent and loose all of our former labors. There are the many examples from past and present of men that began well and practiced virtue and confessed the faith, only later to lose sight of their purpose and become compromised and a mere shell of their former selves.
 
Saint John Climacus explains for us the three ways the devil tries to subvert our efforts in the virtues. First, the devil tries to prevent us from doing any virtuous deed at all. Then if he doesn’t succeed at that, he attempts to lead us astray and make sure that whatever we do, it is not done according to God. [For example; when some seeming spiritual deed is actually done not for Christ and His Church, but for a personal agenda]. And if the devil fails in all of the above, he then tries to deceive us and puff us up with vainglory for our accomplishments. This vainglory can give birth to Luciferic pride which separates one from God.
 
Whenever any teaching concerning the virtues arises, the words of Saint Mark the Ascetic should always be included in the lesson. In his treatise On Those Who Think That They Are Made Righteous By Works, Saint Mark the Ascetic explains why it is spiritual deception to count up our virtues:
 
 “Every good work which we perform through our own natural powers causes us to refrain from the corresponding sin; but without grace it cannot contribute to our sanctification.. The self controlled refrain from gluttony; those who have renounced possessions, from greed; the tranquil, from loquacity; the pure, from self-indulgence; the modest, from unchastely; the self-dependant, from avarice; the gentle, from agitation; the humble, from self-esteem; the obedient, from quarrelling; the self-critical, from hypocrisy. Similarly, those who pray are protected from despair; the poor, from having many possessions; confessors of the faith, from its denial; martyrs, from idolatry. Do you see how every virtue that is performed even to the point of death is nothing other that refraining from sin? Now to refrain from sin is a work within our own natural powers, but not something that buys the kingdom” (Philokalia Vol I, p. 127, Saint Mark the Ascetic).
 
Works are necessary, but no matter what we accomplish, we are saved by the grace and mercy of God.
 
The saints of God are never overly confident, but rather even after much progress and labor they are filled with humility. Saint Moses the Ethiopian was once asked to come to a gathering of the fathers and to make a judgment on a brother who was convicted of sin. At first he refused to go, but then he consented to attend. As he went put a basket filled with sand on his shoulder. This basket had a hole in it and the sand trailed behind him. When he entered the assembly, some of the brethren asked him what this meant and he said for all to hear, ‘I am come to judge a brother for his sins and the sands of my own sins which I do not see run out behind me.’
 
And so, the saints teach us to hate sin and never despise the sinner. A young monk in Scete once asked one of the older monks, “What does it mean to hate sin?” The more experienced monk replied, “to hate sin is to condemn sin in ourselves, but to justify our neighbor.”
 
We need to hate all sins because they separate us from God, but we need to hate and fear pride all the more. We need only remember the words of Solomon, “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble” (Prov 3:34).
 
Next in the parable, our Savior describes the example of the Publican:
 
“And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto Heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be gracious to me a sinner.
 
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
 
Whenever we approach prayer, whenever we come to Church, we need to remind ourselves that we are here to accomplish something. If we do not come with pain in our heart, then the experience can be empty and our exercise unfruitful. No matter what station we have in life, no matter what progress we have made spiritually, it is the Prayer of the Publican, the prayer of a broken hearted, humble man that we all need to use as our model for prayer. We are all tempted in many and various ways and we offend God in ways that we do not understand, but our God is merciful. If we approach God with genuine pain of heart and abasement, our offering is accepted. “—A heart that is broken and humble, God will not despise.”
 
We do not praise the Publican for his deeds, but for his unshakable faith in our Merciful Master and his spiritual discretion in knowing how to approach God. Saint Gregory Palamas unpacks for us one aspect of the Publican’s discretion and the depths of his pain of heart:
 
…Sometimes we humble ourselves when we pray and may we imagine that we will be rewarded with the same justification as the Publican. But it is not so. We must consider the fact that the Publican was despised by the Pharisee to his face, even after he had abandoned sin, and he condemned himself with contempt, not only not contradicting the Pharisee, but joining in with his accusation against him.
 
When you abandon evil doing, do not contradict those who despise or reproach you because of it. Join them in condemning yourself for what you are like and, though contrite in prayer, take refuge in the forgiveness of God alone, realizing that you are a rescued publican. Many have called themselves sinners, and so do we, but dishonor tests the heart…
 
[Homilies of Saint Gregory Palamas, Translated by Christopher Veniamin, Vol. 1 p 18-19]
 
Saint Gregory makes a very important point. To call to mind one’s sins and to sigh for a moment is not repentance. We only repent when we take ownership for what we have done wrong and are ready to endure what it takes to be healed. The phenomena of a supposed repentance on one’s own terms that avoids the detection of Church authority is pride and spiritual deception, from which may the Lord deliver us all.
 
In our endeavor to encounter our Lord through prayer let us remember the following words of Saint James the Brother of the Lord:
 
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you Cleanse your hands, ye sinner; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up” (James 4: 7-10).
 
When we come to Church, let us remember this parable and that the temple of God is a place of judgment wherein we each make answer for ourselves alone. If we do this we can imitate the Publican and entreat God with soul cleansing pain of heart and find reconciliation with God. Our God loves us and wishes to justify us, to purify us and make us His sons and daughters.
 
May God bless your efforts for this season of spiritual struggle and labor at virtue, and may you acquire spiritual wisdom. Amen.

By His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses

The Lord said, As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them that love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them that do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be sons of the Most High: for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore compassionate, as your Father also is compassionate (Luke 6:31-36).

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have just heard a Gospel reading that begins with a passage that is quoted in part by many in a slightly revised way, “Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.” This is saying is called the golden rule by many and, for many, this is the definition of basic common human decency. We all can appreciate that we should treat people as we would like to be treated. There are watered down, popularized versions of this verse, such as, “if you scratch my back, I will scratch yours” or we can get alone and negotiate for a “win-win or no deal” as they say in management circles.

But our Savior is saying much more than this, so it is the rest of this passage that we need to pay careful heed to.

If ye love them that love you, what thank have ye, for sinners also love them that love them. And if ye do good to them that do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same,

that is, fallen man is capable of this.

And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.

Here our Savior is not limiting us to simply doing to others that which we want to be done to ourselves, He is calling us to a completely transformed life.

It is written in the Old Testament that man is made in the image and likeness of God, the image because of reason and free will and the likeness because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Adam and Eve sinned and from that time, the Holy Spirit departed from them and death reigned and sin was a major component in the life of all men. The goal of life became self-preservation and self-indulgence, that is, men lived self-centered existence.

Now through Baptism and the Eucharist we once again receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. If, after Holy Baptism, we begin a new way of life we become a new creation and these great things our Savior speaks about in today’s Gospel passage become possible. Fallen man can work out deals of win-win, fallen man can say, if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours, but it is only with the help of the Holy Spirit can we attain to the things our Savior is describing.

With His next words, our Savior raises the bar very high and calls us to achieve something that is extremely difficult:

But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be sons of the Most High: for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore compassionate, as your Father also is compassionate.

From these words of our Savior we can see that our struggle is not simply to fulfill an external set of rules. Christianity is not just a moral code. The Christian life is lived in the heart and it is only through trying to manifest this new creation in our own hearts in our attempts to cooperate with grace that we can even come close to attaining to anything of what our Savior talks about in today’s gospel. How can we find it within ourselves to forgive our enemies? It is almost natural for fallen man to be vindictive and remember wrongs. How can we find it within ourselves to be compassionate as our Heavenly Father is compassionate? We cannot live according to the old man and achieve this. God became man in order to make a new creation of man. Our calling as Christians is to struggle to manifest eternity and the triumph over death and sin in our own hearts. If we fail in this virtue, we fail as Christians, if we succeed in this virtue we have hope of eternal salvation for eternity is manifested in our hearts.

It is a great struggle to transform the heart, and the only way we can overcome tendencies towards self-preservation and self-indulgence, is to experience the higher good. Saint Isaac the Syrian wrote, that ‘unless a soul is intoxicated with faith, that person cannot be healed of the malady of the senses and overcome attachment to material things.’ In other words, unless we are truly familiar with the things of God, the scripture of God, unless we have an active prayer life, unless we fight that struggle in our hearts and weep and entreat God until we find the consolation of the grace of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us, there is no way in the world we can fulfill these commands.

On this day also we celebrate the feast of the Protection of the Mother of God. This feast commemorates the vision of Saint Andrew the fool for Christ and Ephiphanius his disciple in the church of Blachernae in Constantinople. The saints saw a vision of the Mother of God spreading out her veil to cover the faithful with the grace that was given her by God. This spiritual reality is set before us in the depiction of the holy icon of the Protection of the Mother of God. In the icon the Mother of God spreads her hands over the congregation and she is encompassed by an array of many saints and intercedes in our behalf. This feast is a great encouragement for us all. We have the Mother of God and all of the saints for spiritual allies. There are times when it seems impossible and beyond human nature to overcome the raging of our hearts. We have the Mother of God who can root out evil from our hearts and protect us even from the negative inclinations found within.

So on this day let us resolve to look to our Savior and become familiar with the things of God, so that being intoxicated with faith we can lift our hearts and minds on high, even when we have to forgive our enemies, even when we are called upon to be compassionate even as our Heavenly Father is compassionate. Amen.

By His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses

At Mid Feast give Thou my thirsty soul to drink of the waters of piety, for Thou O Savior didst cry unto all, whosoever is thirsty let him come to Me and drink. Wherefore O Well-Spring of Life, Christ our God, glory be to Thee.
- Dismissal Hymn for Mid-Pentecost

Beloved Christians,

Christ is risen!

We keep the feast of Mid-Pentecost, wherein we bask in the grace of Pascha and look to the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. In the dismissal for this feast we hear the voice of our Savior, as it is recorded in the Gospel, crying unto all, “Whosoever is thirsty let him come to Me and drink.” Our Savior calls, but it is for us to come unto Him. Our Savior Himself explains how this is accomplished:

If any man would do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but He that seeketh the glory of Him that sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him. (John 7: 17-18)

And thus is explained the workings of grace. By responding to our Savior’s call through doing His will, we gain the capacity to know of the doctrine of God. Our Savior warns us that there will be those that speak of themselves and seek their own glory, but they are not of God. Seekers of grace and truth need great vigilance and discernment and we are called to “Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7: 24).

Righteous judgment acknowledges that doctrine is essential to our salvation. When He offered the Cup of Salvation, our Savior Himself said, “Drink ye all from it, this is the Blood of the New Testament.” To be united to our Christ, we must acknowledge that the Testament or saving doctrine is inextricably intertwined with Eucharist and the Eucharist is the Blood of self-sacrificing love, shed by the God-Man.

It is through the priesthood that we partake of the grace of Holy Baptism and the Sacred Eucharist. For this reason the saints taught that God’s greatest gift to mankind is the priesthood. The priesthood is an awesome ministry that is accomplished by fallible men. The human element at times intrudes into the sacred and our faithfulness is tested. We see in the history of God that many were allowed to endure much at the hands of vain men. Today we live in an age of confusion wherein churchmen act arbitrarily and Holy Tradition and Canonical order are trivialized. People lose heart and some begin to say that they “don’t believe in organized religion, etc.” Let no one be confused by this. The Church is not “a religion,” or a human construct. The Church is a mystical union with the God-Man Christ. Where there is the genuine Eucharist and self-sacrificing love, there is Christ. The exalted can fall away and the humble sinner can be lifted up. We cannot confuse the sacred ministry of the priesthood with the failings of the individual.

Our Savior Himself foretold that there would be scandal and false teachers. One can gain solace by reading the history of the people of God in Old Testament and the lives of the saints in the New Testament. At times these stories rival or surpass the scandals found in fiction. But the thread that is woven throughout is God’s call to repentance and return to His will.

Let us return unto God by our works, hearkening to the words of Saint Peter:
Be diligent to add faith to virtue and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things be in you and abound, … ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-8)

In Christ,
+Metropolitan Moses

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Words of solace and a call to vigilance, by Saint Cyprian of Carthage...

By His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses

We have very recently celebrated the great mystery of the Epiphany or appearance of the God-Man, Jesus Christ. The revelation of the Holy Trinity was made manifest, and now, because we celebrate an early Pascha this year, we are already at the portals of Great Lent and from afar we espy the Feast of feasts, the mystery of the death and resurrection of God Incarnate. How do we, men and women of the 21st century approach this mystery?

We live in a country that is confused with certain notions about what it is to be a Christian and how Christians live the spiritual life. The dominate religion in America, modernist Protestantism, carries with it the idea that the Church is personality based and entertainment oriented. The witness of Church history demonstrates that Orthodox Christianity is neither. We cannot allow ourselves to be influenced by these later day false notions, but we must nurture our souls from the wellsprings of authentic Holy Tradition in both doctrine and way of life.

One cannot separate the Christian life and spirituality from what the Russians call podvig (which means spiritual labor). There is a passage in the writings of Saint Isaac the Syrian that illustrates this point wherein he says, “Prayer without bodily labor is a miscarriage.”

We all understand the concept of physical therapy. We should all understand that, for the sake of our own spiritual therapy, it is essential for us to struggle according to our own capacity throughout our life and especially during this time of Great Lent.

I am reminded of the words of a commentator on the life of Saint Athanasius the Great, “It was not as a theologian, but as a believing soul in need of a Saviour, that Athanasius approached the mystery of Christ.” – That is, as a soul in need of saving therapy in Christ. The writer of this quote made a wise observation concerning Saint Athanasius, but what was lost on him is that this is precisely how all true theologians throughout the history of the Church approached the mystery of Christ. Neither theology or the spiritual life are exercises in abstract speculation. One must come to spiritual health in order to attain to knowledge of God.

Great Lent is a time of great opportunity. We should see the fast as a time Christians set aside for spiritual cleansing, a time to “come to ourselves” and return to the knowledge of God. We simplify our lives in order to prepare for Holy Week, so that we come to a deeper understanding of the voluntary death and resurrection of the God-Man, Jesus Christ.

Which brings us to the theme of the Second Sunday of the Triodion, the parable of the Prodigal Son. In this parable we have depicted for us the path of error and separation from God and again the path of knowledge and return unto God.

We are shown a young man who was led astray by his own wayward desires and the suggestions of the evil one, which lead him to separation from his father’s house. Because of this separation, from wealth he fell into poverty through seeking fulfillment in riotous living. This poverty was so profound that it left him completely empty spiritually. The husks of his coarse life could not fill his belly, that is, dissipation could not satisfy the inner man. Yet -- the pain of this emptiness had a positive effect on this young man and at long last he “came to himself.” When he saw how far he had fallen he did not remain there but he determined within himself to change.

His first act of change was to humble himself and begin the first four steps of repentance that are found in the Beatitudes. He became poor in spirit, he mourned, he became meek and he hungered and thirsted to once again be in his Fathers house. Through this spiritual activity he found some comfort and hope for his journey. Next, he rose up and took the long and arduous labor of the return to his Father’s house.

Along the way he rehearsed to himself exactly what he would say to his Father. “I am not worthy to be called your son. Receive me as one of your hired servants.”

Metropolitan Antony Khrapovitsky comments on this gospel passage in his book on Confession, giving us an insight into the process of genuine repentance. Metropolitan Antony exhorts the priest confessor:

It will be useful to remind the penitent of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, and ask him: "Why was the father of the lost youth so convinced of his amendment that he prepared a feast with singing, dancing and, of course, wine, without being afraid that it would start his son on another binge after his involuntary hunger and sobriety?"

"Because," you must answer, "in the first place, the Prodigal Son punished himself: he sentenced himself to the position of a hired servant, expressed his intention to become a slave instead of a master. Secondly, in order to fulfill this good resolution, he had undertaken the podvig of a long and difficult journey and the podvig of abasing himself and supplicating his father, although previously he had found it burdensome to live with his father in plenty and kindness, as he had a self-willed and unsubmissive soul.

In exactly the same way, if the Lord expressed Himself so confidently about Zaccheus — "Now is salvation come unto this house" — it was precisely because Zaccheus of his own accord, and without waiting for any demands to be made, sentenced himself to a complete mortification of his passion. He promised to perform a feat very difficult for a lover of possessions — to give away half his property and repay fourfold those he had defrauded.

Metropolitan Antony was a physician of souls and he understood the human condition quite well. Self centeredness and self-love are a barriers to repentance. Self justification and laziness springs from this destructive form of self love. How easy it is for us to simply say, “I have repented” and do nothing of any real significance towards our own spiritual healing. How easy it is to deceive ourselves into thinking we are repenting when that is not the case at all.

Repentance is not a noun, it is a verb. Repentance requires action. We can measure our repentance if we compare our actions to the actions of this repentant prodigal or Zaccheus.

The young man in the parable recognized that he misused his inheritance and the authority that came with it through dissipation and that the only way to return unto his Father was to do violence to himself and humble himself and as Metropolitan Antony put it, “become a slave instead of a master.” To put it another way, genuine repentance is demonstrated only when we recognize wherein we have sinned, take ownership for the sin and responsibility for the effects of sin and resolve to do something about it that is directly contrary to the sin. Anything less is not repentance.

But this young man did indeed repent and as it is written, “… But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.”

It is written in the scriptures that ‘a man is entangled in the chords of his own sins.’ If we seek healing from sin, we must begin by cutting the chords of our former actions by humbling ourselves and forcing ourselves to an opposite virtuous action with the sure hope that our heavenly Father will be there to receive us.

And what came next? As Metropolitan Antony pointed out, the erring son made himself a slave instead of a master and said, “Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.”

And through this, the son was fully restored, as it is written in the Gospel, “But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the first robe, and put it on him (signifying the restoration of the baptismal robe); and put a ring on his hand (signifying the gift of Holy Spirit), and sandals on his feet, (to enable him to tread upon the evil one): and bring hither the fatted calf, and slay it; and let us eat, and be merry, (signifying the Mystical Banquet of Holy Communion): for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.

We all have gone astray and wandered from God to one degree or another. Now is the time, during the Great Lent to “come to ourselves” and set our mental gaze upon the Fathers house.

It is only by entering this house that we partake of the mystery of the God-Man, Jesus Christ. Nothing is more important than this! Let us begin our return through humbling ourselves. Let us prepare for that Holiest of weeks wherein we encounter our Savior’s voluntary Passion and Death for us. Let us prepare to stand at the foot of the Cross, awestruck at the mystery of our Savior’s self-sacrificing, co-suffering love for us. Let us prepare to encounter Resurrection and Life springing forth from the tomb.

May God grant you all spiritual increase and may you all have a soul profiting Great Lent and a radiant Pascha, through the grace and love for man of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ and of the Father and Holy Spirit. Amen.

By His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses

Thy Nativity, O Christ our God, hath shined the light of knowledge upon the world: for thereby they that worshipped the stars were instructed by a star to worship Thee, the Sun of Righteousness, and to know Thee, the Dayspring from on high. O Lord, glory be to Thee.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Beloved Orthodox Christians,

Angels proclaim God’s great wonders and the humble shepherds rich in faith seek out the new born Savior, Christ the Lord. And as we hear in the gospel appointed for liturgy things new and old are revealed, for the star leads the wise men to Jerusalem and they proclaimed the marvel to the King and his court

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. (Matt 2:1-3)

All things are made new at these glad tidings. Truth Incarnate appeared and the promise of the ages was fulfilled and the light of God-knowledge shined upon the world, yet Herod the king was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Perhaps it is understandable that the king would be troubled concerning a star and a prophecy that declared a new king promised from of old, but how was it that all Jerusalem, that is, those for whom the promise was made of old were troubled and perplexed? Was there no one that showed a pious interest and followed the wise men? The humble shepherds sought out the new born Christ and in contrast to this, the spiritual leaders of Jerusalem, the chief priests and scribes showed no interest and failed to follow the wise men. This, even after they proclaimed the prophesies from of old:

And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the Prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a Ruler, who shall shepherd My people Israel. (Matt 2: 4-6)

If one was a believer in the prophecy, one would also believe that the God of Israel Himself was setting in motion deliverance for the people of Israel. Yet, if one had one’s own comfort and status as one’s his highest priority, then this could have been bad news indeed.

How is it that the very priests were so deceived? Our Savior Himself gives us insight into why when he addressed the multitude, “How can ye believe, which receive glory one of another, and seek not the glory that cometh from the only God?” (John 5: 44)

The Lord is God and has appeared unto us and His manifestation separates lovers of God from lovers of this world. Perhaps there were those in Jerusalem that considered themselves believers or gave lip service to some form of belief, yet there was something in their lives that became a higher priority than remaining faithful to the Covenant with God or His prophesies. All we have to do is to look around us at many of the Orthodox leaders today and their betrayal of Orthodox ecclesiology to understand that there are many variations on this theme. Alas, people are confronted with the light of God-knowledge and the teachings of the Holy Fathers on the Church, and they turn their eyes away.

Lest we imitate them we must, in our own day, consider what is best for Israel, the people of God, the Church. Our Savior came not for those who are wise in their own conceits, not for those who are full. If we are to be saved we must seek God on His terms, not ours. Christianity is not convenient. In order to be saved during these last times, each and every one of us, young men and elders must imitate Saint Paul when he was confronted by our Savior outside of the walls of Damascus and likewise say, “Lord, what will Thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6)

There are times when a stand for truth can bring temptations. When we are tempted to backslide or compromise in times of temptations let us look to the Babe in the manger Who, shortly after His birth, became a refugee to flee the wrath of the tyrant. Our Savior’s life is example enough for us, if we desire to be faithful to Him.

We Orthodox are few indeed, but we should always rejoice and remain steadfast. If we suffer temptations from the world, let us not be confused. As Ignatius of Antioch wrote in his epistle to Saint Polycarp of Smyrna:

Let not those who seem worthy of credit, but teach strange doctrines, fill thee with apprehension. Stand firm, as does an anvil which is beaten. It is the part of a noble athlete to be wounded, and yet to conquer. And especially, we ought to bear all things for the sake of God, that He also may bear with us. Be ever becoming more zealous than what thou art. Weigh carefully the times. Look for Him who is above all time, eternal and invisible, yet who became visible for our sakes; impalpable and impassible, yet who became passible on our account; and who in every kind of way suffered for our sakes.

--Epistle of Saint Ignatius of Antioch to Saint Polycarp of Smyrna Chapter 3

During these days of rejoicing let us give thanks to our God Who, being above all time, entered time for our sakes. Our Christ became Incarnate so that we may commune with Him. Let us weigh carefully the times by striving to receive the light of God-knowledge through our careful sifting of the writings of the Holy Fathers, that by so doing we may walk in the light of His Truth and may partake of His Body and Blood. Amen.

A Sermon of His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
 
On this Sunday we commemorate the Forefathers according to the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ. We remember especially the Patriarch Abraham, to whom the promise was first given, when God said to him, “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen 22:18). This promise was given two thousand years before the birth of our Savior Christ.

For the Dismissal Hymn of the feast, we chant:

By faith didst Thou justify the Forefathers, when through them Thou didst betroth Thyself aforetime to the Church from among the nations. The Saints boast in glory that from their seed there is a glorious fruit, even she that bare Thee seedlessly. By their prayers, O Christ God, save our souls.

The Gospel for this feast is the parable of the Great Banquet, which is a type of the gathering of the faithful, as it is found in the Gospel of Saint Luke. One can easily contemporize today’s parable:

‘They all at once began to make excuse. The first said unto him, real estate is more important: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have an investment in livestock, business, machinery, electronic equipment, etc., I pray thee have me excused. And another said, because of my family affairs or ethnic or community pressures, I pray thee have me excused.’

Before we squander the limited time of our life, we need to spiritually reflect upon the significance of our Savior’s words. Our Heavenly Father has called us to the Great Banquet and given us the guiding light of His unchanging Truth. We have come from diverse backgrounds, we have had various experiences on our way and had to confront different errors, yet, as Orthodox Christians, our common journey is to this Banquet, to be united with the Holy Trinity. What is it that we partake of at this banquet? Saint Isaac the Syrian explains in one of his homilies that the nourishment we partake of is love. This love is attained through union with God. As our Savior prayed unto the Father:

That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one. (John 17:21-23)

The oneness of the Father and the Son is by nature, our oneness with them and each other is by an effort of our free will and grace. This banquet is singular and is to be found only in the Father’s house, that is, the Church. The Evil Ones’ goal is to sow the seeds of confusion and false notions (heresies) and through them, divide and break this union of love. The Holy and God-Bearing Fathers have taught us how to cast down the might of the Evil One, and we can find life and union with the Holy Trinity as long as we do not allow anyone to separate us from their teachings.

We partake of the banquet both here and in the age to come. When we gather as a Eucharistic community in the Church, we partake of the banquet of love. Thus, the Church is not simply an administrative body, but rather it is a mystical union. The Church is not some abstract idea. We are united to one another in our local Eucharistic community, made into one body, the Body of Christ, through Baptism and the Sacred Eucharist in the bond of love.

On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit overshadowed the Holy Apostles and granted them the charism to baptize and to consecrate Holy Communion. They were also given the grace to appoint successors, i.e., bishops, in each land. Through the grace given to him, from the beginning, the bishop of each local church manifested this mystical unity in the bond of love. Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer, a disciple of Saint John the Theologian, explains some facets of this mystery of union with the Holy Trinity through the Eucharist his Epistle to the Philadelphians:

Take ye heed, then, to have but one Eucharist. For there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup to [show forth] the unity of His blood; one altar; as there is one bishop, along with the presbytery and deacons, my fellow-servants: that so, whatsoever ye do, ye may do it according to [the will of] God.

I have confidence of you in the Lord, that ye will be of no other mind. Wherefore I write boldly to your love, which is worthy of God, and exhort you to have but one faith, and one [kind of] preaching, and one Eucharist. For there is one flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ; and His blood which was shed for us is one; one loaf also is broken to all [the communicants], and one cup is distributed among them all: there is but one altar for the whole Church, and one bishop, with the presbytery and deacons, my fellow-servants.

-- Epistle of Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians

Thus in the Great Banquet of love, oneness is manifested in the Eucharist through the one bishop in the local Church. The local bishop ordained presbyters (this word means elders in Greek) and deacons to help minister to the rational flock of Christ. In the early Church the bishop, presbyters and deacons concelebrated at one single altar in any given city. Later, when the Church grew in size, certain elders (presbyters) were commissioned by the bishop to act, with his blessing, as his personal representatives and to serve the liturgy consecrate the Holy Eucharist in his name in separate parishes throughout the territory of his diocese. This concept of the spiritual reality of one altar for each local Church was expounded by Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer throughout his many epistles:

Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it.

-- Epistle of Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrneans

Up until the 8th Century in some locations in the Orthodox west, the local bishop would take out from the Eucharist that he consecrated, a portion called the Fermentum. Deacons would carry the Fermentum to every altar in the diocese for it to be placed in the chalice at each liturgy with the Eucharist consecrated by the presbyter. This demonstrated how much  they desired to have before them the Apostolic principle of Eucharistic unity in one bishop.[1]

To this day, in every part of the world at every service throughout the Orthodox Church, in the local parishes, chapels or monasteries, the serving presbyter or deacon commemorates his own ruling diocesan bishop. In addition, during key parts of the liturgy, the deacon addresses the presbyter as “Holy Master” and not as “Holy Father” as he does at all of the other services, in order to emphasize the fact that the presbyter is representing the one bishop in whom there is found Eucharistic unity.

As is obvious from what has been quoted, in the Orthodox Church, the relationship of a bishop to his flock is outside of the categories found in secular organizations. From ancient times, a ruling bishop was said to be “wedded” to his see and when a ruling bishop died and the local see was vacant, the diocese was declared to be "widowed." When a see is “widowed” the Christian flock assembles, in canonical order, to find a new bishop. In times of trouble when an entire local Patriarchate falls into heresy, as has happened in the past and as has happened recently in the case of the great contemporary heresy of ecumenism, a presbyter may commemorate, "the episcopate that rightly divides the word of truth," at the local liturgy, but as soon as there is peace and order is restored, it is required that he place himself back within the hiearchical structure of the Church by acknowledging the canonical authority of a right-believing, right-teaching bishop. Without the bishop, the canonical order of the Church is absent. As Saint Cyprian of Carthage wrote in his 66th Epistle, “The bishop is in the Church and the Church in the bishop.” As the saying goes, “One hundred presbyters cannot make one bishop, but one bishop can ordain one hundred presbyters.”

Oneness of mind are hallmarks of this unity in the Eucharist in the bishop of the local Church, as Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer so eloquently wrote in his Epistle to the Ephesians:

Wherefore it is fitting that ye should run together in accordance with the will of your bishop, which thing also ye do. For your justly renowned presbytery, worthy of God, is fitted as exactly to the bishop as the strings are to the harp. Therefore in your concord and harmonious love, Jesus Christ is sung. And do ye, man by man, become a choir, that being harmonious in love, and taking up the song of God in unison, ye may with one voice sing to the Father through Jesus Christ, so that He may both hear you, and perceive by your works that ye are indeed the members of His Son. It is profitable, therefore, that you should live in an unblameable unity, that thus ye may always enjoy communion with God.

-- Epistle of Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians

In this very early teaching by one of the truly great Fathers of the Church, there is already an emphasis on the unity of the body of the Church here on earth through the local bishop, in order to establish oneness with God Himself. Anything that would disturb, undermine or violate this unity found in a local Church through the Eucharist and the ruling bishop is repugnant to the Holy Church and the Canons. Saint Ignatius of Antioch uses even stronger language:

Moreover it is in accordance with reason that we should return to soberness [of conduct], and, while yet we have opportunity, exercise repentance towards God. It is well to reverence both God and the bishop. He who honours the bishop has been honoured by God; he who does anything without the knowledge of the bishop, does [in reality] serve the devil.

-- Epistle of Saint Ignatius to the Smyrneans

In times of confusion or turmoil, it is the responsibility for every individual Orthodox Christian, according to the best of their ability, to make sure proper measures are met in order to safeguard the Canonical order of the Church.

During these days when we prepare for the feast of the Incarnation and Birth of the God-Man Jesus Christ, let us take the time to spiritually reflect on these truths and know that the only way we can complete the journey to the Banquet of Love is to labor for that unity found in the local Church through the Eucharist and bishop.

“And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one.”

Amen.

[1] See John D. Zizoulas, “Eucharist, Bishop, Church,” p 220, Holy Cross Orthodox Press

A Sermon of His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
 
On this day we celebrate the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos at the tender age of three years old and her progress in her mystical union with the Most High God. Today a new genesis unfolds before all. In the first Genesis our Creator and God created the heaven and the earth and all that in them is, and when all was ready he took virgin earth and made man, breathing His Spirit into him. But alas, through our first parent’s disobedience God’s original plan was frustrated and the race of man became subject to death (and this was so that sin might not be made immortal, as the Fathers teach). Adam and his offspring made from earth, were doomed to return to the earth, yet they were given a promise of redemption.

Now, when the fullness of time came, we see the Virgin, born of a promise from God proclaimed by the archangel Gabriel to barren Joachim and Anna, born as an answer to prayer and fasting. From the race of men God formed a new marvel that far surpasses that of old. She who, though of the same nature as us and made of the earth like unto us, through her entry into the Holy of Holies is prepared to become a new creation. The Virgin enters in and the whole world is made new. Though a tender child of three, the Virgin begins an unprecedented life of mystical converse with the Most High. She who by the unceasing direction of her will towards the Sun of Righteousness, has become a vessel of the Holy Spirit and in an extraordinary way, the heavenly Tabernacle. And God’s Angels hymn her with songs of praise, as it says in the Kontakion for the feast.

We celebrate the great acts of God and the co-operation and synergy of the Most Holy Theotokos with the Divine Will for our salvation. Through her entrance and progress into the Holy of Holies, we enter into the Holy of Holies, that is, the mystery of our salvation begins: the Incarnation and dispensation of her Son and our God culminating in a new life wherein we participate in the life of the Holy Trinity. God made this new heaven and she walks the earth and enters the Temple that we might be lifted up from the earth and become temples of God and inheritors of His everlasting habitations in the heavens.

In the service for the Feast of the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple Zacharias is referred to as the Great High Priest, when he was not the High Priest of Israel. Why is this so? This is a spiritual interpretation, in that he ministered to the Heavenly Tabernacle that dwelt in secret in the Holy of Holies.

As Moses grew up in the midst of the household of Pharaoh and the Egyptians did not understand that he would one day lead Israel from bondage. So also, this little child in the midst of the Temple was almost invisible to the many thousands that frequented the environs of the Temple and they could not conceive the fact that the Most Holy Theotokos would be the source of our liberation from the bondage of sin.

When did this all happen and where? We can avoid the many arguments concerning dates and say that we approximate and fix the year that the Most Holy Theotokos made her entry into the Temple in either 11 or 12 B.C.. And who built the Temple? We know that it was Herod, who is called “the Great” by historians, lived from 73 B.C. to 4 A.D. He was an Idumean, the son of a military man named Antipater who, with the help of the Romans, ruled from “behind the throne” of the legitimate ruler from the Hasemonian dynasty, Hyrcanus. After the death of his father, Herod married the daughter of Hyrcanus, in an attempt to legitimatize his link to the ruling house of the Jews, but he was always ready to kill whomsoever he perceived to be a threat to his rule and control of what became a Jewish vassal kingdom of the Romans. Without Roman rule, Herod would not have a place in the Jewish kingdom. At a time when it seemed his rule was threatened he killed his father-in-law Hyrcanus. Later he arranged that his brother-in-law Aristobulus be made High Priest. Aristobulus was from the Hasemonian dynasty and a legitimate choice for high priest. For this reason he was extremely popular with the Jews and fearing his popularity, the tyrant Herod had him drowned in an “accident.” From this point on, the high priests were not of the legitimate lineage and were put in place by the tyrant Herod, i.e., not according to the proper order.

Shapiro, A modern Rabbi comments, “As a result of Herod's interference and the ever-spreading Hellenistic influences among the Jewish upper classes, the Temple hierarchy became very corrupt. The Sadduccees, a religious group of the wealthy, who collaborated with the Romans in order to keep their power base, now controlled the Temple, much to the chagrin of the mainstream Jewish majority, the Pharasees, and of the extreme religious minority, the Zealots.”

This was the state of things “in the fullness of time” when our Creator fulfilled His promises. These events were prophesied to take place when ‘a ruler failed from the house and lineage of Judah.’

Just as today, there were faithful adherents to Holy Tradition on one hand, and those that were “Hellenize-Secularized” and being lead astray on the other. There was a tyrant then, there are tyrants now. At that time there were priests who were faithful to all aspects of Holy Tradition the proper order concerning the things of Israel and priests who compromised themselves for the sake of the tyrant, just as we see today.

When we look at the historical setting for this feast, we are confronted with cooperation and synergy with the Divine Will on one hand and egoism and arbitrary disregard for Holy Tradition on the other. And as we face the problems of today we see that every generation is confronted with the same choice. Let the tyrants of the world conspire, let them violate the order of things Divine, there will be a day of reckoning for all. Our life may be hidden and we may be seen as insignificant in the eyes of the world, but if we imitate our Lady, the Most Holy Theotokos and live a life of mystical converse through prayer and direct our will to the Will of God, we also can become vessels of the Holy Spirit.

May we ever be faithful to the Divine Will and let us rejoice and set our gaze on high praising and blessing the Theotokos. To her, then, with a great voice let us cry aloud: Rejoice, O thou fulfillment of the Creator’s dispensation.   Amen.

Gospel For The Fourth Sunday of Saint Luke
A Sermon of His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses

A Sower went forth to sow.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Not an angel or an ambassador, but the Lord of Glory Himself came to redeem us.

A Sower went forth to sow.

The Timeless One clothed Himself in humility, and took the form of a servant, and entered time for us the lowly. He trod upon the pathways of men that He might draw nigh to us and save us.

A Sower went forth to sow, but He constrains no one. We of our own free will can receive the seed of the message of salvation, or we of our own free will reject this seed and not bring forth fruit unto salvation.

A Sower went forth to sow, and the seed fell in to a variety of types of earth. This earth and the locations described in today’s parable signifies our hearts and the condition or state we are in and our attitude towards the Sower.

As it is written, “And when He was asked by the Pharisees, when the Kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said, The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the Kingdom of God is within you.” Lk 17:20-21

Parables have a twofold purpose. To the stiff-necked the message is kept in a shadowy form, yet for the believer great mysteries are portrayed in a few words. There are many facets to a parable. One word can signify many things.

Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

What is this wayside? It is the realm of heresy, the realm of false notions that have nothing to do with the “Faith once delivered to the saints” that the Apostle Jude proclaims in his epistle. These are the teachings concerning faith and morality that are outside the boundaries of the Fathers of the Church and Holy Tradition. —Through deceit and false notions demons and their helpers take away the word of salvation. In this realm the heart is trodden down and compacted, made hard and the word of Truth Incarnate does not penetrate.

Many call themselves Christian and trample down the teaching of our Savior. Alas, they do not understand that this trampling is what destroys their capacity to understand and be illumined and saved.

One can safely say that Ecumenism is the way side, the heresy that justifies all heresy and claims that the truth and the true Church has not yet been found. Whether wittingly or unwittingly, we make the choice daily either for the way side or the Way of Truth. Do we familiarize ourselves with the teachings of the Holy Fathers and try to gain an understanding of the mind of the Church, or do we choose to read only secular or questionable material? When we read the things of God, we partake of a transforming grace. Let us seek our own profit and the grace of salvation.

They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a time believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

How can we prepare ourselves in order to avoid falling away? The soil is conditioned by our will. Broken up through patient endurance of the various hardships that inevitably come. It remains as rock when we avoid the podvig or struggle that is essential in the spiritual life.

“…We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us. “(Romans 5:3-5)

“It is not possible with out temptations for a man to grow wise in spiritual warfare, to know his Provider and perceive his God, and to be secretly confirmed in his faith, save by virtue of the experience he has gained.” (P. 355 Saint Isaac the Syrian)

Without prayerful struggle there is no experience gained in spiritual perception and in time of tribulation one is only scandalized or confused and falls away.

The Ascetics of old had the saying, “Give blood and receive Spirit.” This is similar to Saint James the Brother of the Lord’s saying, “Faith without works is dead.” Christianity is not an abstract philosophy, it is a way of life.

As Vladika Anthony said, “the essence of Christianity id the renunciation of life’s pleasures; it is to be found in striving for purity; in the readiness to suffer for the Truth; in the acquisition of the feeling of constant love for God and men, and in the forgiveness of the offences of enemies.”

How can we prepare for the tribulation of the last days? Only by living the Christian life. Only by striving to become partakers of the grace of the Holy Spirit through keeping the commandments and through patience in the tribulations of day to day living.

And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

The thorns choke! This is about time and what occupies our time. Our time is choked with cares, choked with acquiring riches, choked with self indulgence with the pleasures of this life. And finally there is no time left and we have not brought forth any fruit and are bound hand and foot and cast into outer darkness. The seed of the Word of God, the call to the wedding banquet of the Son of The King, has been choked, that is crowded out. --I had other things to do! What a tragedy!

The greatest temptation of our age, the age of information—is that much of it is misinformation and distraction. We all want to manage our money well, but we don’t seem to understand that for the sake of our eternal well being we have to intelligently manage our time and energy. The Elder Ieronymous used to say, “the day you don’t find the Savior in prayer, that day is lost unto eternity.” We have only so much time to spend. Daily let us ask ourselves am I investing my time wisely?

But that on the good ground are they, which in a good and upright heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. And when He had said these things, He cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Our Savior constrains no one, He spake to the multitude, “he that has ears, let him hear.” In other words, “Let him respond to My call.” Do we take this seed up into our hearts and carefully preserve it? Do we bring to mind the significance of the message of the word? That we are called to be sons and daughters of the Most High in a completely extraordinary way. That through our membership in the Body of Christ we are participants in the life of the incomprehensible Trinity.

In order to nurture this seed that it bring forth fruit, we must walk with great sobriety. These are the days of the spirit of Anti-Christ wherein error and confusion abounds. We see that over the last fifty years, heresy and false understandings of ecclesiology have made inroads even into Orthodox Churches to an alarming degree. One must remember that Judas was one of the twelve disciples and Nicholas, one of the original seven deacons became a leader of a heretical sect. We are the rational flock of Christ and not an irrational herd. Each and every one of us is responsible for soberly discerning error and guarding the word of truth and ordering our life aright.

As Saint Paul, the Apostle to the nations wrote to the Ephesians:

"I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ… And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ." Eph 4:1-7,11-15

Let us hearken to the words of Saint Paul and reject the various forms of error and preserve the word of Truth. Amen.

A Sermon of His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses

Today we celebrate the Universal Exaltation of the Cross. The origin of this feast goes back to the time of the discovery of the true Cross by Saint Helen, the mother of Saint Constantine.

But it was Saint Constantine who first encountered the mystery of the Cross the day before the famous battle at the Milvian Bridge. Saint Constantine was opposite the city of Rome, on the other side of the bank of the Tiber river, considering his prospects for the battle the next day and saw a vision of the Cross. He then also saw a dream that night wherein Christ appeared unto him. Afterwards he asked Christian clergy in his entourage what this vision might mean, they affirmed “...They affirmed that He was God, the only begotten Son of the one and only God: that the sign which had appeared was the symbol of immortality, and the trophy of that victory over death which He had gained in time past when sojourning on earth.” As we all know, Saint Constantine became a worshiper of Christ and won the battle the next day and freed Rome from the tyrant Maxentius.

Later, after peace was afforded to the Roman Empire through the efforts of Saint Constantine, Saint Helen was inspired to make pilgrimage to the land sanctified by the footsteps of our Savior. Saint Helen sought out the Cross of our Savior, When the proper cite was located, as the story goes, she would throw pieces of gold down to where they were digging in order to inspire them. Their efforts were not fruitless, but they discovered not one but three crosses. How to identify the Cross of Christ? The crosses were placed one by one upon a woman that was nigh unto death and when the True Cross touched her she was completely healed. It is also said that the touch of the Cross raised a dead man.

The Patriarch of Jerusalem at that time, Saint Makarios, solemnly took the Cross in his hands and the enthusiastic crowd called out that they could not see the great object of their desire, The Cross, because of the multitude. Then Saint Makarios lifted the Cross on high and blessed the multitude.

On this day, we also celebrate the appearance of the Cross in 1925 in the area of Mount Hymettos, outside of Athens. The Traditionalist Orthodox who refused to accept the Papal calendar that was imposed on the State Church of Greece were being persecuted for their faith. For the feast of the Exaltation in 1925, many of the faithful planned to attend the service at a small chapel outside of the city, in order to be left alone. The police heard of the plan to hold services there, but by the time they arrived there were so many people present they dared not attempt to break up the service. Late into the night an enormous Cross was seen in the sky, not just two intersecting lines, but a three bar Cross. The Cross was lifted up and exalted for all to see for a long time. All traditionalists refer to this miraculous Exaltation of the Cross in the sky on the very feast day of the Exaltation of the Cross as a Divine confirmation of our sacred calendar.

The Cross which is lifted up on high today is a spiritual ladder which leads to heaven just as that ladder the Patriarch Jacob saw. How, it may be asked, is it that in some commentaries of the Fathers the ladder which Jacob saw is interpreted as a symbol of the Theotokos? Clearly it is both. Our Savior, moved by love for lowly man, clothed Himself in humility and took on our lowly nature, being born of the Holy Theotokos, thus putting on our flesh. By this singular and unique deed the Most Holy Theotokos became the ladder by which our Savior came down. He took on all that pertains to our nature, save sin, toiled and sweated for our sake, and at the last, mounted the Cross and was slain, Thus leading us up unto the heavens. We ascend by no other way, except the Cross. The Cross is the source of all good things. Without the Cross, there is no resurrection.

Today we celebrate the great mystery of the Cross, the essence of Christianity. The tree of disobedience that slew Adam is nullified by the Cross. Wood is healed by wood, the wood of obedience, the wood of humility, the wood of co-suffering love. As Metropolitan Anthony once wrote:

“The essence of Christianity is the renunciation of life’s pleasures; it is to be found in striving for purity; in the readiness to suffer for the Truth; in the acquisition of the feeling of constant love for God and men, and in the forgiveness of the offenses of enemies.”

It is necessary to deny ourselves in a heroic spirit. We are to be crucified through the cutting off of our will in obedience to the rules of the Church, in our efforts of self-sacrificing love, in patience and long-suffering. It is easy for a man to be deceived into making what appears to be a sacrifice, but as it turns out, is in reality for vainglory or an investment for some kind of return. True self-sacrificing love looks only to God and is ready to give up something for His sake.

In our “post-Christian era” there are many concepts proffered in the market place of ideas, quasi religious writers express their ideas on the power of myth and that religion is a consequence of a human need and that all religion is essentially the same, etc., etc.

Long ago, Saint Justin demonstrated that Christianity is unique and not similar to pagan myth. At best, mythologies borrow bits and pieces from the truth and make parodies of spiritual reality. As Saint Justin proclaimed in his Apology to the pagans in defense of Christianity, the one thing the pagans do not have is the mystery of the Cross.

And rightly so, what mortal man or sinful demon could ever fathom the depth of the love of God! The idea that our omnipotent God Who dwells in Unapproachable light would take on the form of a servant and not only that, but also tread the path of humility and death is beyond what any man could conceive of. A stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks, but unto them that believe, the mystery of Co-suffering, self-sacrificing love. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have life everlasting.”

Let us exalt the Cross in our love for the truth and the love that we have, one for another. Amen.

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From Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History (c. A.D. 260-340)...

A Sermon of His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses

On this day we commemorate the Beheading of the Forerunner and Baptist John. The Church holds Saint John in exceedingly high regard, calling him a celestial man, an earthly angel, the culmination of the Prophets and Apostle to the Apostles. What is more amazing is that our Savior Himself called him the greatest born of woman, yet, despite all of this, God allowed that he die such a seemingly tragic death.

When we look into the matter we see that, although Saint John is considered a martyr and witness for the truth, he was not correcting Herod for a false teaching on a point of doctrine or desecrating the worship of the Most High God. Saint John was simply pointing out to Herod that he had violated the moral law of God.

It is important to note that theoretically Saint John could have compromised, he could have said that ‘Herod is not teaching the Israelites to worship idols’ or ‘this is a moral issue and not a point of doctrine and therefore I could ignore the whole matter and not risk the wrath of the king,’ but he did not. Out of love he desired to offer a spiritual remedy for the sin in the king’s life and for this he was beheaded. From this we learn that violation of the moral law of God is no trivial thing.

Much has been written about Herodias and her daughter, but I think that it is timely to focus on the man who gave the order for the beheading of Saint John the Baptist. Herod the tetrarch, a man who knew somewhat of the law given by God to His people. It is written in the Gospel of Saint Mark that Herod 'heard John gladly and did many things.' This indicates much. Herod conversed with Saint John and it is no stretch to assume that there was a time, before Herod took his brother’s widow to wife, when there was a good relationship between Herod and Saint John. More than likely, he listened gladly concerning doctrine. Furthermore, if, as the Gospel relates, he heard and did what Saint John told him, Herod could have very well been an almsgiver and shown mercy and outward virtue in various ways. Yet, it was plain for all to see that when Saint John admonished Herod for the sake of his own salvation to do the right thing on this one point, the man who formerly had a good relationship with Saint John turned against him, imprisoned him and then beheaded him.

Upon hearing such deeds, we become indignant at the lawless outrage committed against the minister and saint of God, but of course we know that God takes all things into account. Saint John suffered indignities and outrage for a short season and he abides in the glory of God for eternity.

And when we consider Herod, it is evident that he is the ultimate victim of Satan because, despite his other virtues, he chose to follow his own will and not the moral law of God and this lead to the greater sin of killing not just an innocent man, but the greatest man born of woman. In his gospel commentary on this passage, Saint John Chrysostom points out that if Herod had hearkened to the call to repentance from Saint John the Baptist, and done the right thing, few indeed were the people who would have heard of Herod’s sin. But the pride of arrogance and abuse of authority lead to further tragedies and now, even after…

so great a time has passed, and yet the memory of that which was done hath not faded away, but alike Persians and Indians, Scythians and Thracians, and Sarmatians, and the race of the Moors, and they that dwell in the British Islands, spread abroad that which was done secretly in a house by a woman that had been a harlot.

-Saint John Chrysostom, Commentary on Gospel of Matthew, 80th Homily

Alas, the man who heard Saint John gladly and did many acts of virtue is known throughout history for his infamous deeds and not his former virtue, all because he refused to do the right thing.

We see this story repeated throughout Church history, how men in positions of power who begin with a greater or lesser degree of virtue, reject God’s will, fall into sin and violate the moral law of God. And what is worse, when a minister of God admonishes them, because of their pride of power, they attack the messenger of God who is attempting to get them to do the right thing for the sake of their own salvation.

One example from Church history that comes to mind is from the life of Saint Niphon, Patriarch of Constantinople. Saint Niphon was born in Greece and was tonsured a monk at an early age. He spent his early years of monasticism on Mount Athos, mostly at the monastery of Dionysiou. It is interesting to note that the main church of that monastery is dedicated to the holy Forerunner and Saint Niphon had a special veneration for him. Because of his renowned reputation for meekness and spiritual wisdom the holy Niphon was chosen to become Bishop of Thessalonica. After two years of serving the Church in Thessalonica, he was elected to the vacant see of Patriarch of Constantinople. The saint held his post in Constantinople for a few years and subsequently, because of intrigue, the Sultan banished him from Constantinople to live in exile in Jedrene. The Wallachian (Romanian) Prince Radul heard of the wisdom of Saint Niphon and ransomed him from the Turks, convincing the saint to oversee the Church in Wallachia (present day Romania).

At first Radul was very solicitous towards the saint and helped him in his spiritual endeavors. Some time passed and Radul abandoned his wife and began living with another woman of noble rank. Eventually Radul found some unscrupulous bishops and clergyman to justify his deed and, although there were no grounds for divorce according to the canons, they granted him a divorce and married him to the paramour. Saint Niphon reproached Radul for this and Radul threw off his mask of piety and threatened the former Patriarch. Saint Niphon could have said that, it is just a case of morality, not heresy or part of Church order and it is better to compromise, but he did not. He stood his ground lest there be many other imitators of Radul. The tyrant’s working assumption was that because of his high position, the law of God did not apply to him. There is an old saying, “one does not tell the King, ‘you transgressed the law.’” There are many examples in history of men who embraced this ideal and were corrupted by their misuse of power to their own perdition. Better for men in positions of authority to meditate in their hearts the words of our Savior, “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom they have committed much, of him they will ask the more. (Luke 12:48)

At length, Radul exiled the saint from his former residence and told his lackeys that they should offer Saint Niphon no assistance and that anyone who helped the saint would lose his life. With God’s help, Saint Niphon found safe conduct out of Wallachia, but also predicted a bitter end for Radul and many tribulations for the people of Wallachia. As prophesized, Radul, who had brought a curse upon himself, died a miserable death and the local state and Church of Wallachia underwent many woes because the leaders were complicit in his sin. Saint Niphon returned to the monastery of Dionysiou on Mount Athos and reposed in peace. After many afflictions, order was restored in Wallachia and the saint’s disciple Neagoe Basarab became ruler of that land.

Let us bow before God’s inscrutable providence, which at times allows insult and outrages against His ministers. Let us not be confused if the tyrants of this age attack the men of God with assassination or exile. God is the ultimate judge of all things. It is for us to follow in the footsteps of the saints.

We do not know what lies ahead for us in an increasingly anti-Christian culture. Contemporary society trivializes and mocks the idea of Christian morality, and seeks to influence our children. There are elements in society that speak from positions of authority and seek to groom our youth for their eventual acceptance and participation in unchristian behavior. We must be vigilant and walk wisely and according to knowledge. We cannot live like unto those who know not God.

It is wise and fitting to seek the blessing of God for every aspect of our lives and we gain a blessing by following His moral law. We are the work of His hands and He knows what is best for us as individuals and as families and as a Church. If we are admonished for our own correction, let us not imitate the ways of the proud, but the ways of the meek. As we see from many examples and common sense, anger and repentance cannot both dwell in a man.[1] Let us remember the words of the Lord, recorded by the Prophet Esaias, “"But to this man will I look: even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at My word.”(Esaias 66:2) A true sign of repentance is contrition. In the later years of his life, whenever the Apostle Peter heard a cock crow, he remembered his sin of denial and wept. Let Saint Peter be for us an example to imitate in our own repentance.

On this day wherein we commemorate the beheading of the Forerunner, let us pay heed to the importance that the men of God have attached to the moral law of God and let us not become confused if we see someone suffering some indignity for this truth. The saints fought for this principle to preserve order in the Church for their own and future generations.

May God preserve us all in unity amongst ourselves and with such saints as Saint John the Forerunner and Saint Niphon, by whose intercessions may we increase in spiritual knowledge unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ Jesus. (Eph 4:13)

Amen.

A Sermon of His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses
On the Gospel of St. Matthew 14:22-34

Today’s gospel passage contains one of the most encouraging and hopeful messages for us all.

Our Saviour just completed feeding the five thousand and sent both the disciples and the multitudes away.  He then went up onto a mountain to pray in solitude, not because he needed to separate Himself from the multitude to converse with the Father, since He is everywhere present and fills all things, but so as to show Himself as an example and a pattern for us all.

The disciples were in the ship rowing until the fourth watch of the night and the wind was contrary. They were discouraged and anxious and our Saviour passed by, walking on the water. Upon seeing him, they thought He was a spirit. Our Saviour called out to them to them saying, “Fear not, it is I.” Saint Peter in his ardour and zeal said, “If it is Thou, bid me come on the water.” And our Saviour bade him to come. So Saint Peter undertook to approach our Saviour, and seeing the wind boisterous and the waves of the sea, thoughts began to enter his mind. He reasoned also concerning the great depth of the sea, which as a fisherman he knew so well. These things filled his mind and he became distracted even in the presence of our Saviour. His faith began to fail him and he started to sink, yet even in his failings he knew Who to turn to, and cried out, “Lord save me!”

Our Saviour replied, “O ye of little faith, why didst thou doubt?” Clearly warning us that lack of faith is an obstacle to any of the works of virtue and the grace of God.

It is good to reflect at this point on the character of Saint Peter. Saint Peter was a good man with many virtues. He demonstrated his humility when our Saviour worked the miracle of the great catch of fish and in astonishment Saint Peter humbly said, “Lord depart from me for I am a sinful man.” Saint Peter had zeal and love—but his faith was not always as it should have been. Time went on, St Peter saw miracles, healed the sick and even experienced the Transfiguration. Then he endured another more grievous tempest than before—our Saviour’s voluntary Passion.

At the Mystical Supper our Saviour warned Saint Peter that, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have made supplication for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou hast turned again, strengthen thy brethren