The Catalog of Good Deeds

If you consult the internet or poll a few parents, you’ll find a wide variety of ideas about how to manage children in church. I’m here to tell you that I’ve mixed it up quite a bit throughout my worshipping career so far. Something to keep in mind is that as a priest’s wife, I’m solo parenting during liturgy, and my toddlers are much more likely to run for the altar to find daddy. This dance might be a little different for your family, and that’s okay. Here are some phases we’ve gone through together, along with some commentary.

1. Sitting at the back

In a few parishes we’ve served and participated in there were many reasons I sat towards the back. Either it was the practice of other parents (and we could all help each other back there), convenient for the many quick exits I had to make with two kids in diapers, or the architecture made it advantageous (one parish didn’t have a narthex into which I could disappear as needed–it simply opened directly to the outside, which was pretty troublesome in winter with a newborn and a toddler). When my second child was fresh out of the oven, the back of the church was a place where I could nurse discretely under a blanket while still singing along to the service and keeping my toddler in check.

Maybe you’re in a place where being towards the back is best. However…

2. Sitting at the front

…as my children have grown older (beginning elementary school), we’ve moved towards the front of the church. With years of weekly liturgical practice they know it’s expected that they stand up for longer periods of time. They are capable for standing more still. And with the beginnings of reading, they can participate. My eldest has even expressed a desire to stand with the choir. The front is quite often an easier place for kids to be because they can see all the icons and all the action–sitting at the back means that they’re looking at other people’s legs, and that’s quite boring. I definitely noticed a higher level of engagement when we made the move towards the front, but it took awhile before we were ready to make that leap, because…

3. Bring books into church

The biggest challenge with very young children is simply to keep them occupied and physically in the service. The things that are happening in the service are simply beyond what young children can understand, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t benefit from every minute of exposure.

Books can help. Bringing a favorite book can keep a child still and help them to learn that liturgy is the normal place for them to sit and be. While they look at the book, they are hearing the prayers, learning the melodies, all in the background of their minds. When they look up from the book, they see the church. It becomes another place of their own. It gives them the opportunity to observe and ask questions.

But I don’t let them bring just any book. Because this isn’t just any service–it’s the service of the Resurrection. This isn’t a place to bring you favorite fantasy fiction novel, but I’m not going to tell my toddler that “Goodnight Moon” can’t be a church book from time to time.

I’ve also cut out the icons from expired paper calendars and laminated them into little books for preliterate chlidren. They may not understand exactly what an icon means beyond the simple concept that they’re pictures of people, but it’s a wonderful way to be able to whisper the lives of the saints into your youngest’s ears. That way the icon become another normal, routine, effortless element of their life.,

4. Don’t bring books into church

But then, there’s the distraction part of bringing books into church. Maybe you fight over how many books they’re allowed to bring. Perhaps they drop them–loudly and often. After a time, books became an attention drain I had to manage with my children, rather than a tool I could use when my goal was to keep the kids in the services as much as possible. We slowly transitioned from kids’ books to picking up a book of the liturgy text and so that I could teach them to follow along and pay even more attention to the service. Again, each child transitions at a different rate with this; my toddler needs one or two board books in church, my nearly-literate kindergartener enjoys looking at Bible story books, and my second grader follows along in the liturgy book.

5. Let the kids draw and doodle in church

When my children were very young, the sermon was almost the hardest time for them to sit still and quietly. For one thing, it always seems easier for a kid to listen to someone other than their parents, and so when their father started delivering the sermon, it was almost as though they all decided to act out together in that moment.

It began with letting them draw. Just pen and paper, a few sheets, and it kept them quiet. But I discovered they would lose focus on where they were–drawing scenes of cartoons and goofy things, as kids do. So I told them that if they listened closely to the gospel and sat still during the sermon, they could make a drawing about the gospel’s story. One pen, one piece of paper, no fussing. I’d make them sign and date the drawing so I could connect the gospel reading to their interpretation, and remark on it more in-depth, or show it to their father later. It spurred dialogue. Sometimes, the kids would want to copy the icon of the day, and when we were stuck in the narthex with an outraged baby, they could really study the icon and make it their own.

This worked on days when the gospel was a narrative, and the sermon on the shorter side. Sometimes we had to leave anyway because they were fighting over who had the better writing utensil. But on the days when it worked, they were listening and engaged and created some interesting and thought-provoking art.

6. Don’t bring art supplies into church

Again, like the books, the drawing idea can become a fixation and distraction. Once my children were prone to extending their drawing time, draw things other than what was instructed, fighting over pens and other things, I informed them that they were old enough to listen through the service without the need to draw. Occasionally I do allow continue to allow gospel drawing, since that remains an effective way for them to learn listening skills and process the lesson.

7. Talk to Your Priest

One of the most important things you can do is talk to your priest and to discuss your plans for how you’re training your children to engage with the liturgy. Sometimes the priest can even offer suggestions for where to sit or stand, or even reassurance that your children really aren’t as loud as you think they are. In many cases, priests I know have said that the noises they hear from time to time tell them that their congregation is healthy and growing–a squawk from a baby is its own wonderful offering of praise when it’s in the middle of worship.

This is especially important if your child has unique developmental needs or even just plain ol’ behavioral struggles. You can work together with your priest to find a way to minister to your child, no matter where they are. And your priest may be able to connect you with a seasoned parent or someone in the parish who can stand with you and help you manage worship and Sunday School. Get your priest on your parenting team.

8. Be Prepared for Feedback

The arrival of a lone young family to a congregation can be conspicuous and difficult. Sometimes it’s a shock to other worshippers, who are more accustomed to a quieter service. Or perhaps you’re in a large congregation and they don’t know your family very well and thus don’t know how to help your dear little ones on their faith journey. Maybe it’s simply that you’ve been used to doing things a certain way and find that in this new place, folks seem to expect things to go a little differently, and having your kids in tow makes it more obvious. Sometimes, you’re one of many young families, struggling together to get your kids to the service on time, and not to distract one another, but the group energy of the kids can get out of control.

I know many parents who have taken comments from other worshippers and let it keep them from church. This is unfortunate, but it’s important that others know this happens, because they must weigh their words heavily with love. Parents of younger children are especially vulnerable, because they are likely to be early on in their parenting journey and perhaps a little sleep deprived.

But parents, it’s super important that you try not to take any comments personally, and to examine them carefully for good nuggets of wisdom. I struggle in my own way to acknowledge that I could have done better, while simultaneously feeling indignant because I gave it my all on a given Sunday morning. It can feel unjust and intrusive to have someone offer even constructive criticism, when what they’re criticising are often inherently irrational and unpredictable beings that you are training to become (somewhat) civilized.

Feedback–positive or negative–is going to happen. Prepare yourself. Don’t take it personally, but listen to it patiently and prayerfully. Some useful phrases I have in my back pocket for dealing with difficult comments are,

“Thank you for reminding me, we’re in the process of learning.”

“I’m sorry to hear that my children’s behavior was a distraction to you.”

“Church is full of challenges for children.”

These phrases can feel sort of weak and general, but I know they’ve helped me depersonalize and prevent myself from becoming defensive, as well as keeping more pointed inquiries at bay (very few others really needs to know the details of exactly what my child was doing or frustrated with).

But honestly more often than not I’ve had feedback from people who simply love that they heard a few noises from a baby in church. And sometimes the horrified face you get when your toddler makes a run at the altar is mirrored by a joyful smile on the other side of aisle (not that you want that to happen over and over again). I’ve had feedback from people who are genuinely worried that things are okay with my kids, and have asked if I need help. When that happens, it’s enabled me to come to a place where I feel comfortable asking them for help.

9. Ask For Help

This is easier for some than others. Perhaps you’re in a situation where you don’t know many people from the parish, or your child has special developmental needs that require a good deal of coaching. It’s especially important that you make your needs known to others, so that they can help you and worship doesn’t feel like a battleground (although there are some seasons where it’s likely to feel nothing but). This is difficult, because perhaps you’re embarassed or you feel particularly alone in your fight. But what you have to say is important–your voice may be the thing that gets the community involved in making things accessible for children and those with developmental or physical challenges. And don’t forget: other people want to be needed and useful, and you have a gift for them–an opportunity to be important, needed, helpful, and involved.

Last Words

Young children genuinely can’t stand for hours on end. Let them be children. Don’t make them stand still out of fear of you. Coax that skill like growing a plant. It will look dormant for a long time, but keep watering it, and a sprout will appear. Have hope. Listening looks different for every child. Sometimes they look bored. Sometimes they’re drawing. Sometimes they actually look like they’re listening. Let them listen their own way, but teach them what behavior tells others that they’re listening–that’s a different skill. Take breaks and gather your strength. Keep trying new things. What you found worked yesterday may not work on this day. Don’t despair. And kids have unbounded curiousity, so ask them questions to keep that going. If they learn the why, the what will make sense and it will become embedded in their hearts.

The purpose is not to have perfectly behaved children in church. As parents, we’re playing the long game–our purpose is to pour love into their open hearts, and help the seeds of faith grow slowly over time. With consistency and ingenuity, we can help them do just that.

Source: http://www.familylifeministry.atlanta.goarch.org/joyful-noise-engaging-young-children-in-church-pt-2/

1. Prayer is a specific activity that must be a part of a person’s life. It is, as the catechism says, "a lifting of the mind and heart to God." It is a talking with God, and a listening to Him. It is communion with God in the most direct, experiential way.

2. Christians must pray. We cannot substitute anything in the place of prayer. We cannot think that prayer is "anything good that we do" in the sense of replacing the actual act of prayer about which Christ spoke when He said: "When you pray, go into your room and close the door, and pray in secret…" Although everything good done by man glorifies God, the specific activity of prayer must be retained and perfected. "If you are not successful in your prayer, do not expect success in anything. Prayer is the root of all." (Bishop Theophan)

3. When we Christians pray, we must be consciously aware of the fact that our prayer goes on "within God"; that in prayer we are already somehow "inside of God." We are not lonely, isolated creatures attempting by our prayer to call out in solitude across and unpassable abyss to a God "way out there." We are in God. The Holy Spirit is in us, making us Children of God in Christ, enabling us to call the Transcendent, All-Holy God, "our Father". "For you are in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God really dwells in you… for all who are led by the Spirit are sons of God…when we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is the Spirit Himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God…for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words…" Romans 8.

4. Prayer is not merely the recitation of words. Prayer may begin by reading or saying the words of prayers. But a mere reading or saying of words, without feeling or attention, is not prayer. It is not even poor prayer. It is not prayer at all.

5. Prayer is learned only by praying. No one can teach another to pray. But a good way to begin to pray is to use the prayers of the prayer book. This is so because, since "we do not know how to pray," the Holy Spirit reveals in the prayers of [the Son and] the saints the proper form and content of prayer. In the prayers of the books — especially the Lord's Prayer — we not only pray truly by putting ourselves into the words of the prayers, but we also learn what we must pray.

6. The catechism classifies prayer in three types: asking [for ourselves in petition and for others in intercession], thanking, and praising. A fourth category can [also] be added: the prayer of questioning or complaining to God. To learn to come to God in every situation, and with each of the four categories operating all the time, is a very important achievement: the achievement of a prayerful life.

7. What may we ask for in prayer? For everything good; and nothing good is too small. For what should we thank [Him]? For everything. For what should we praise [Him]? For everything. About what may we question? About all things not understood. About what may we lament and complain? About all that is frustrating, confusing, and tragic in our lives. But in all things: thanksgiving and praise, for this is the essence of faith. And in all things: Thy will be done.

8. Prayer must be private, personal, and secret. It cannot be limited just to the liturgy ["common work" or services] of the Church. Strictly speaking, the liturgy of the Church is not merely a form of personal prayer, a form done corporately and openly, together with others. Liturgy is more than a prayer. It is gathering, being together, singing, celebrating, processing, announcing, teaching, listening, interceding, remembering, offering, receiving, having communion with God and each other, being sent into the world with an experience of something to be witnessed to. Its efficacy depends upon our personal prayer done alone in secret. The liturgy cannot be our only prayer. If it is, we should seriously question its meaning and power for us.

9. How can we begin to pray? Just by beginning. But how to begin, with what sort of methods? Everyone's way will be different, but the saints give two absolute rules: be brief, and be regular. These are the pillars of prayer. Brevity to ensure humility, to discourage despair, and to enable us to do what can reasonable be done. And regularity to build the rhythm of prayer into the rhythm of life as an unchanging element of our existence. It is a million times more effective and pleasing to God to have a short rule of prayer rigidly kept at regular times than to "do a lot" just any old time, whenever we happen to do it.

10. Suppose we cannot — or will not — be regular in prayer, not even with the shortest of rules? Is everything lost? Not at all. In this case we are told by our saints to take a small prayer or just a few words (like the Jesus Prayer, or "Lord, have mercy", or a line from a Psalm) and to say it as often as we can, whenever or wherever we happen to be. Anyone can do this, as it requires nothing but to do it, and it can lead us to union with God.

11. "Remembrance of God" is the purpose of prayer — to "walk in His presence", to stand before His Face", to be conscious of His Spirit in us making us His children. Remembrance of God is the way to keeping His commandments, and doing His commandments is our salvation and life.

12. What about sweet feelings, consolations, comforts, visions, images, sentiments, emotions, graces of special sort? Forget them all! They are not the purpose of prayer, not the purpose of Christian faith. If God wants to give them to us, we will get them. But we must not seek them or look for them. We must reject and doubt them if we think that we have them. This is the doctrine of the Orthodox saints. For faithful prayer has one singular goal: to allow us to accomplish God's will.

13. Prayer is in no way separated from good works and social action. When prayer is perfect and we see the Face of God in communion with Him in the depths of the Trinity, He shows us two things: He shows us Christ's Cross and our brother. True prayer teaches us, as the Elder Silouan of Mount Athos has said, that "our brother is our life." There is no touching God, no genuine prayer, which does not directly result for the one who prays in the sufferings of Christ for the love of creation.

14. If we are not willing to do the commandments of Christ and to take radical decisions and actions toward God, ourselves, others and the very world we live in, then we had better not even begin to pray. For in prayer, God will push us to do things, things our natural man might not want to do. To dare pray (as one Church father put it) and not to do what prayer will demand of us is to court insanity. If we are not ready to "put up" in our life, we had better "shut up" in our prayer. "It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God" Hebrews 10:31.

15. "Young man, do not forget to say your prayers. If your prayer is sincere, there will be every time you pray a new feeling containing an idea in it, an idea that you did not know before, which will give you courage. Then you will understand that prayer is an education […]" (Dostoevsky). Prayer is a teacher. By praying, we are taught of God by God Himself. And one of the things that we learn is itself how to pray. "O Lord, teach me to pray: pray Thou Thyself in me" (Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow).

By Father Thomas Hopko

Source: http://www.stgeorgegoc.org/worship/prayer

Theophany Season

Theophany, sometimes called Epiphany, is upon us (Богоявление in Russian, Θεοφάνεια in Greek). The sixth of January is the official date that the baptism of Christ is celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is not to be confused with the Western holiday also called Epiphany which is a celebration of the magi presenting the baby Christ with their gifts.

The word Theophany means “Revelation of God;” Theophany therefore marks the revelation of the Trinitarian nature of God when Jesus was baptized. Those who witnessed heard the Father’s voice from Heaven, saw the Spirit descending upon Jesus, and could see Jesus in the flesh, whom God confirmed to be His Son with His voice.

Theophany Icon

The symbolism of this icon is deep and rich. There is one particular part I want to focus on for this blog entry.

Christ is purposely depicted with little or no clothing. But why is that significant?

All throughout the creation narrative in Genesis we see God creating and then saying it is “good.” Man and woman were created together in God’s image. They were both beautiful, and while they lacked physical garments, they were clothed in the glory of the “image” and “likeness” of God. However, when they fell into sin, they hid in shame until God brought them garments of skin to wear (which symbolizes the sinful tendency that now obscures our true nature). Their natural beauty was transformed into an object of shame. Adam and Eve fell, and with them fell creation.

Now, enter Jesus Christ: he represents the second Adam (1 Cor 15). In shame and nakedness, Adam hid. Yet Christ comes in his majesty, both as God and man, both in glory and nakedness completely unashamed, representing the beauty of the undefiled human made possible through Him (and in the subsequent centuries, Christians were often baptized without any clothing, shedding the garments of the “old man” to die in Christ and be resurrected in Him). But why was Christ baptized if He had no sin?

While Christ was baptized in the Jordan River, it was really the Jordan and all of creation that was baptized in Christ. As Canticle Four of Compline of Theophany states, At Thine appearing in the body, the earth was sanctified, the waters blessed, the heaven enlightened, and mankind was set loose from the bitter tyranny of the enemy.

We see the beginning of a new creation in Theophany. Things are being set right. Christ has come not only to cleanse and restore mankind, but to adopt us as heirs into his Kingdom. And when we receive His glory, not only are we redeemed, but we draw all of creation with us into the final restoration. That is why “creation groans” in eager expectation, awaiting the glorification of the children of God. (Rom 8)

A few other notes about the Icon:

- At the top the Holy Spirit is descending upon Jesus as a dove, the Holy Spirit is depicted in a Mandorla. In this manner, The Father, using His own pre-eternal and consubstantial and subracelestial Spirit as His finger, crying out and point from heaven, openly declared and proclaimed to all that the one then being baptized by John in the Jordan was His beloved Son, while at the same time manifesting His unity with Him.” (St. Gregory Palamas, Homily 60.15). St. John Chrysostom also emphasizes that the Gospels state the Heavens were opened, the Spirit descends upon us so that we can ascend with Christ and the Spirit to the Father in Heaven. For the first time since the fall of mankind, the Heavens were opened to us.

- The angels on the right side are waiting to attend and dress him after the baptism is over.

- John the Baptist, while baptizing Jesus is usually turned away or looking at the Spirit descending upon Christ. This signifies that Theophany is about elevating Jesus Christ. If this were an Olympic race, it would be as if the Old Testament (John the Baptist and all before him) were passing the baton to the New Testament (Jesus Christ and all of the saints).

- There is an axe near John the Baptist, which reflects his warning that our lives must bear the fruit of the Spirit or else we will be removed. We cannot get comfortable or spiritually lazy.

- Jesus is not submerged in the water, for creation was baptized in Him, not vice versa.

- Lastly, the strange little creatures riding fish at the bottom represent the Jordan River and the Sea, both fleeing at the sight of something much bigger and greater than themselves entering the water. As the Psalms say:

- Psalm 73:14 –Thou did establish the sea by Thy might, Thou did break the heads of the dragons in the water.

- Psalm 76:15 – The waters saw Thee, O God, the waters saw Thee and were afraid; the abysses were troubled.

- Psalm 113:3 – The sea beheld and fled, [the River] Jordan turned back.

Theophany Music

There are several hymns sung during this season, but the forefeast Troparion hymn confirms some of the things I write about here: O Adam, be glad with our first mother, Eve; hide not as you did of old in Paradise. Seeing you naked, He has appeared now to clothe you in the first robe again. Christ has appeared, for He truly wills to renew all creation. If you can get a copy of The Festal Menaion produced by Mother Mary and Met. Kallistos Ware (St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press), then you will find nearly 100 pages of deep theology regarding this feast day.

Theophany Celebrations

During this time of the year, a beautiful ceremony is carried out and holy water is prepared in each parish. Congregants are free to take the holy water home with them. A portion is kept and used by the church throughout the year.

Also, house blessings are completed during the subsequent weeks using the holy water prepared during the Feast of Theophany. It is not unusual to give a small gift to the priest who has blessed the home (many priests do not receive a salary and these types of events help carry them financially through the year) and/or you may cook a meal for him. Don’t take offense though if he has several house blessings lined up for that day and does not have time to sit down for a full meal.

Source: http://www.orthodoxroad.com/theophany-icon-explained/

What is poverty of spirit? Saint Gregory says there are two kinds of riches: Material wealth and Virtue. Now the Lord instructs us not to put our trust in accumulating material riches.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. (Matt 6:19-21)

In other words everything material is subject to decay or loss. On the other hand the Lord commands us to strive for spiritual wealth. These once gained cannot be lost.

Gregory points out that there are two kinds of poverty. We can be poor in virtues like justice, wisdom or prudence. When we are poor in this sense we lack what is most important. But another kind of poverty is where we are voluntarily poor in all that has to do with sinfulness. Gregory says, "He who is the man whom the word presents as enjoying that poverty which is called blessed, whose fruit is the Kingdom of Heaven."

The aim "of the life of virtue," says Gregory, "is to become like God." But he acknowledges that for mankind to live without passions and sinfulness is impossible. What we can do is to imitate God to the extent that is possible based on our nature. "If we do this," he says, "you will have put on the blessed form."

Our downfall comes when we make our aim to follow our passions, to seek only pleasure from material things or sensual pleasures. To become like God we must aim for a life based on virtue. This will come with a voluntary humility. We must voluntarily give up the aim of sensual and material pleasure. Paul advises that this is the way of Christ, "Who for us became poor, being rich, that we through His poverty might become rich. (2 Cor 8:9)"

Gregory highlights that the kind of humility we call "poor in spirit" is not easy to obtain because we are filled with pride. This was the downfall of Adam and Eve. To purge this from our way of being, Jesus advises us that we must remove it from our character by trying to imitate Him who became poor of His own will. The apostle Paul says,

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant. (Phil 2:5-7)."

As Gregory says, "The Ruler of rulers, the Lord of lords puts on voluntarily the garb of servitude. The Judge of all things becomes a subject of governors; the Lord of creation dwells in a cave; He who holds the universe in His hands finds no place in the inn, but is cast aside into the manger of irrational beasts. The perfectly Pure accepts the filth of human nature, and after going through all our poverty passes on to the experience of death. Look at the standard by which to measure voluntary poverty!"

Gregory gives us some advice about how to overcome our pride by examining our nature. Think of our creation. We are made from clay. He says, "the high dignity of the proud is related to bricks." He sarcastically advises to beware of uncovering the shame of our relatives, things we don't want others to know about us, for if we do our pride might be uncovered. Then he become quite descriptive.

Do you not look at both ends of man's life, where it begins, and how it ends? No, you pride yourself on your youth, you look at the prime of your age and are pleased with your handsome appearance, because your hands can move quickly and your feet are nimble, because your curls are blown about by the breeze and your cheeks show the first signs of a beard. You are proud because your clothes are dyed in brilliant purple and you have silk robes embroidered with scenes from war or hunting or history. Perhaps you also look at your carefully blackened sandals delightfully adorned with elaborate needlework patterns. At these things you look but at yourself you will not look? Let me show you as in a mirror who and what sort of a person you are.

Have you never gazed at the mysteries of our nature in a common burial ground? Have you not seen the heaps of bones one on top of the other? Skulls denuded of flesh, fearful and ugly to look at with their empty sockets? Have you not seen their grinning jaws and the other limbs, strewn about at random? If you have seen these things, you have seen yourself. Where will then be today's blooming youth? Where the lovely color of your cheeks, the fresh lips, the fine brilliance of the eyes flashing under the circle of their brows? What will then have become of the straight nose beautifully set between the cheeks? What of the hair falling down to the neck, and the curls round the temples? Where will be the hands skilled with the bow, the feet controlling the horses? The purple and fine linen, the mantle, the girdle and the sandals? The neighing horses with their race-course? What will have become of all the things that now feed your conceit? Where, in these bones, are all these things about which you are now so greatly puffed up? What dream is so fleeting? What are these hallucinations? What shadow eluding touch is as unsubstantial as the dream of youth that vanishes the moment it appears?

He does not stop here but then addresses those in middle age:

But what shall we say about the middle-aged, who are, indeed, settled in years, but whose moral life is unsettled, and whose pride is a growing disease, though they call this moral cancer highmindedness? The foundation of this pride is usually high office and the power that goes with it. For they are affected by it either in the office itself, or whilst preparing for it; even talking about it will often fan the latent disease. But what words could penetrate their hearing which is already filled with the voice of the heralds? Who shall convince people in such a frame of mind that they are just like actors parading on the stage? For these, too, don a delicately polished mask and a gold-embroidered purple robe, and proceed solemnly in a chariot. Nevertheless the disease of pride does not invade them on account of this. But their frame of mind remains at the procession the same as it was before they appeared on the stage; and later they are not sorry to have to descend from the chariot and to discard their dignity....

For they imagine themselves master over life and death, because, having to judge men, they bestow on some the sentence of acquittal, while condemning others to death. And they do not even realize who is the true Master of human life, who determines the beginning as well as the end of existence. ...

Hence he ought to be poor in spirit, and look at Him who for our sake became poor of His own will; let him consider that we are all equal by nature, and not exalt himself impertinently against his own race on account of that deceptive show of office, but, being truly blessed, he will gain the Kingdom of Heaven in exchange for humility in this transitory life.

Then he concludes his discussion as follows:

Would you like to know who it is that is poor in spirit? He who is given the riches of the soul in exchange for material wealth, who is poor for the sake of the spirit. He has shaken off earthly riches like a burden so that he may be lightly lifted into the air and be borne upwards, as says the Apostle, in the cloud walking on high together with God.

Gold is a heavy thing, and heavy is every kind of matter that is sought after for the sake of wealth–but virtue is light and bears souls upwards. Truly these two, heaviness and lightness, are opposed to each other. Therefore, if a man has attached himself to the heaviness of matter, it is impossible for him to become light. Since, then, we ought to tend to the things above, let us become poor in the things that drag us down, so that we may sojourn in the upper regions.

The Psalms show us the way: He hath distributed, he hath given to the poor, his justice remaineth for ever and ever.

Source: http://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.com.by/2009/08/1st-beatitude-poor-in-sprit.html

People like that say one thing, but something else is in their heart; on their tongue it is, “Lord, have mercy!” but inside, “Have me excused.”

St. Theophan the Recluse

In Christianity, we constantly use familial themes: we call each other “brother” and “sister,” we call upon God as “Father,” we get together and partake from one Cup, after each service we sit down for a meal at the common table, we are taught to care for each other as one would for family… but do we adhere to these teachings? Do we think of our Church as our home, of God as our Father and of each other as a brother or a sister? Quite the opposite often appears to be true. In this age of individualized consumerism, we often treat our Church as a spiritual “supermarket.” We properly recognize that the Church offers us treasures, but instead of communing we consume. If our soul is alive and hungers for God, we come to Church more frequently; if it is on its way to atrophy, we do not feel much of a need and seldom come to Church; and if our soul does not require food any longer because it neither lives nor grows, we may find our way to Church once every few years, if ever. But when we do come, we act like shoppers, rather than children of the kingdom. As in a supermarket, we browse for what we need or like, we “sample,” we may smile at another “shopper” or ask a question at the “customer service desk.” We are untouched by the lives of others and we keep our own life private, hidden from other “shoppers.” We may even like the “store” enough to show up for a “sale” or a “promotion event,” but soon move on with our thoughts, our feelings, our life, with our “loaf of bread” in our shopping bag.

Our consumer-like behavior starts with the least noticeable things: we treat the very building of our church and its grounds as if they belong to someone else. We see trash on the walkway—why pick it up? We see items out of order in the narthex—why bother? It is not ours, we do not know where it belongs. Aren’t there people who work here? Isn’t there staff? “Clean up on isle 2!” This attitude of separation from the Church begins with benign things, but it enters our prayer and our very being. Our Father calls us to attend His Divine Feast. He calls us to the Holy Eucharist—we may come if it is not too inconvenient. Having received an invitation from our relatives to attend a family gathering or a celebration, we make arrangements, travel plans, feel bad if we cannot go due to circumstances beyond our control, call and apologize… But when God, our heavenly Father, calls us to His service, we think nothing of just not showing up. At best, we have reasons: “I have bought a piece of land… I have bought five yoke of oxen… I have a business… Have me excused” (Luke 14:18-19, Matthew 22-5). Even when we are present at the Liturgy, we are absent from it. Liturgia by its very definition is “common work,” but we stand with a wall of our self-importance all around us, alone in a Church full of people, thinking private thought and praying private prayers. We watch the Liturgy, not taking part in it; we are consumers, not participants in a common work. We completely forget that the Church is not a concert or a spectacle, nor a neighborhood supermarket, it is the Body of the Living God, it is our home, the ark of our salvation, the ship which takes us to the calm harbor.

As in any living body, a member of the Body of Christ is either fully connected with all its members and is nourished by the same Blood, or he or she is cut off and dead. A foot cannot be by itself, choosing when to be in the body and when to leave because it is inconvenient, when to help the body walk, and when to say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body” (1 Cor. 12:15). In the same way, a member of Christ’s Body is connected to the Whole by the Blood which runs through all its members and is either fully living with and in the Body, or is cut off from it and is dead to it. Why is it so important to be in the Body rather than just near it? Because there is no “individual” salvation, alone, by yourself, in your own body. Because only Christ’s Body and no other conquered death, only Christ’s Body and no other ascended into heaven, and if we are to have hope of salvation, we must be in that Body and no other.

So, how do we enter into the Body and stay in it? The Sacrament of our salvation is Liturgia or “common work,” and we are to become co-laborers with God. The Holy Spirit draws us to the doors of the Church, Christ heals and restores us, and the Father adopts us and gives us strength to be victorious in our struggle against sin. But we must answer the call of the Spirit and enter, we must preserve our baptismal garment unsoiled, we must also adopt God as our Father and His children as our brothers and sisters. We can start with small things: treat the church as our home and others as our family, try to show genuine interest, care, and love toward the lives of others, consider every church service as an invitation from the Father to a family feast and be there if possible. And when you come, do your best to be a participator in the common work, not merely a spectator. These external things, even if done sometimes with effort, will internalize and undoubtedly reflect in our prayer: not “I came to the Liturgy,” but “we came to the Liturgy”; not “I am praying,” but “we are praying”; not “I am taking Communion,” but “we are entering into Communion”; and not “I am being saved,” but “the Body of Christ is being saved.”

Of course, there is room for solitude in Christianity, for privacy, for lonely silence and for secluded prayer, but not at the core of it, not in the Liturgy and not in the Eucharist. Christ said, “where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). If we do not learn to be in the Body, to live in it in this temporal existence, how can we hope to spend eternity in it after we depart this world? And if we cannot learn to act like God’s children in the physical matters, what hope do we have to suddenly one day transcend into the spiritual realm? Let us then gather together not in our names, but in God’s, and let us celebrate the Divine Liturgy as our common work, let us be co-laborers with Christ and with one another, let us Commune with His Body and be connected by His Blood, because only in this can we have hope of salvation.

By Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov

Source: https://frsergei.wordpress.com/2010/01/02/on-consumerism-in-church/

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