The Catalog of Good Deeds

Both you and I have a long way to go to humility. We don’t know what humility is, for it is an attribute of the saints. Thankfulness is an attribute that we — each one of us — can acquire at any moment.

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh

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- What is humility?

- Humility is the ability to stick to God’s will always, in any situation and at any moment.

- This is not the definition of humility that we’re used to. How do we tally it with the understanding of humility as “feeling inferior to others”, which is typical of so many spiritual books?

- Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh used to say that we must be very cautious when talking about humility, for it is an attribute of the saints. Their works are written in plain language; when we read them, it appears to us that we understand what the holy authors meant. Yet, the Very Rev Dr John Behr, a famous Orthodox theologian from St Vladimir Orthodox Theological Seminary, who spent twenty years researching the works of the Holy Fathers, points out that they had a radically different way of looking at things. That is why it isn’t enough for us to pick up certain seeds of wisdom from their books. What we should begin with is learning to perceive things their way.

- How is humility born?

Humility is the fruit of love. Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh stated that humility is born when a human is amazed at God and God’s love. One starts to humble himself when he discovers that the LORD is good (Ps. 34:8). At that point, God’s will is revealed to that person not as something external and coercive but as the innermost law of life, and a more abundant one (Cf. John 10:10). This is when an individual begins to trust God for real and to rely on his will and his commandments as the best possible path and the best answer in any situation. As a rule, we force ourselves into submission to God’s will. However, true humility, rooted in the knowledge of God, loyalty, openness, and amazement at the love and the goodness of the Lord, unveils God’s will to us as the greatest and the most suitable option. The true humility based on the knowledge of God and genuine love is natural. When we suddenly decide to be humble, it’s merely an imitation, a fake. That is, we approach humility from the wrong direction.

- What should we do to master true humility?

According to Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, we should first of all learn to be honest with ourselves, God, and other people. Honesty is the beginning of true humility. You can’t build genuine relationships of love and friendship with another person if you lack honesty, trust, and openness. When you use tricks and lies, your relationships break up immediately. Likewise, you can’t have any relationship with God if you aren’t honest with yourself and with God in your prayers, your repentance, and your confession; if we don’t fight the desire to look at ourselves with someone else’s eyes and to make a false impression.

Of course, we should learn from Jesus Christ by reading the Gospel and following his example: Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart (Matthew 11:29). 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 made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:5-8). Remember his Prayer in the Garden: Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. (Luke 22:42). Jesus Christ has two natures, the human and the divine; He has two wills, and his human will was voluntarily conquered by the Divine will through obedience, openness, true humility, and self-sacrifice. God does not suggest that we do something that He didn’t do, something that He didn’t set an example of when He walked among us. When He became human, Jesus has shown to us full humility, obedience, and openness to the will of God the Father; He wants us to come and partake of his life, his attributes and traits. So be it, O Lord!

With that in mind, aware of the plentiful God’s love, how can we forget about being grateful and faithful to Christ? Honesty and thankfulness are at the outset of our path towards humility, and therefore, to Christ and His Kingdom. That is how Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh saw it.

Prepared by Nun Matrona (Lukashova)

August 13, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

All parents in every generation worry about their kids, and try to keep them safe. They not only do this by not letting them play in traffic or jab sharp sticks into hornets’ nests, but also by warning them against perennial dangers. In my gentler generation, my parents warned me about traffic dangers, urging me to look both ways before I crossed the street, and to extend my hand while crossing, making sure that the cars had stopped. When older I was warned against the dangers of “taking drugs”, a warning echoed in the wider culture (“Just Say No to Drugs”). A younger generation (my kids) were exhorted not to talk to strangers, and not to get into a car with them, even if they did promise you candy and they seemed nice. I even taught my kids a secret password, in case anyone came to get them at school claiming to be sent by me; if they did not give the password, our kids knew those claiming to be sent by me or their mother were lying. Increasing availability of drugs and increased reports of child abductions on the six o’clock news told us we were living in dangerous times. We needed to teach our children well if they were to survive, and grow up strong and healthy.

The times have become even more dangerous for children as we descend further and further into spiritual barbarism and as every last trace of Christian faith and morals is banned and banished from our western culture. It was physically dangerous to live in Europe during the time when the Black Death raged unchecked throughout the land; it is spiritually dangerous to live in North America now during this time of moral decay, and of these two dangers, the latter danger is the worse. Indeed, there is probably no more dangerous place on earth to live than in North America right now.

The dangers are many and varied, but here I refer to the danger that comes from the flood of pornography which sweeps our land like a demonic tsunami—or, to vary the metaphor, like an unchecked and raging pandemic. Lust was always a temptation for both genders, though some would argue that the temptation affected men more violently. Accordingly in every generation prostitutes plied their trade, winning the dubious accolade as “the world’s oldest profession”. (If the Genesis creation stories have anything to teach us, they teach us that farming is actually the world’s oldest profession, but never mind.) Also accordingly, previous generations bought pornographic images. In my day what passed for pornography consisted of pictures of naked women, posed coyly behind beach balls or draped over furniture. Playboy magazine specialized in such, and did its best to make such images mainstream and acceptable. I remember a Hustler magazine editor heatedly denying that what he published in his magazines was pornography. He claimed it was “art”. It was nonsense, of course, and his aim was simply to make money through the commodification of the female body (a form of visual prostitution). Even the people buying the stuff knew that it was not art but pornography, which is why it was often mailed to them in the advertised “plain brown wrapper”, and which is why stores selling it kept it behind the counter. The satisfaction of lust was the aim, and no one ever really read Playboy for the stories, no matter what they claimed.

But times have changed, and not for the better. Now the pornographic industry specializes not so much in coy images of naked women, but in sexual violence and female degradation. Women are referred to by a host of names no Christian should ever use, and subjected to practices that any sane person would regard as torture. Such things are not the occasional exceptions on the fringes for the pornographic industry. They are now the norm. And all this has become freely available through the internet. No one now needs to steel oneself to go into a store and ask for the naughty magazine kept behind the counter. One only needs access to a computer and with the click of a key or two, a multitude of images come flooding into one’s private room for free. And with the availability of “smart phones” able to access the internet anywhere, one doesn’t even need a private room. One can download images in school or at McDonald’s.

The danger and problem with this freely available porn is not just that it is sinful. It is sinful, of course, but the problem is graver than that. The real danger is that our young boys are feeding on such images at a younger and younger age, before they begin to have real relationships with girls, and these pornographic images and practices badly skew their developing understanding of sexuality. When therefore they later come to relate to girls and women, they will not regard the female as a person worthy of respect, self-sacrifice, and gallantry. The pornographic images will have dehumanized the female, and sex will not be about relationship, but about cruelty, debasement and the infliction of pain upon the vulnerable. Please note that I said “the vulnerable”, and not necessarily “the adult vulnerable”. All pornography eventually ends in child pornography, for none are more vulnerable than children. Pornography is addictive, for one becomes quickly and increasingly desensitized, and to get the same psychic “kick” one requires ever more explicit and shocking images, ever greater hardcore cruelty. The defenders of Fifty Shades of Grey should take note, for the book and its movie are symptoms of a new sickness, and an impetus for further descent into the degradation of women. That the book has been written, and the movie directed by women reveals just how badly feminism has lost its way.

The current availability of hardcore porn for young boys represents a frontal assault on their healthy development as men. It is now possible that an entire generation of men will arise who regard sexuality simply as an instrument for debasing women, and who make “Bros before hoes” their unspoken motto. Part of our task as parents is to warn our children of this danger, and to help them regard pornography as a dangerous temptation in the same way that ingesting crystal meth or heroin is a dangerous temptation. It must be avoided for the same reason—because it is addictive and will harm you. In this dangerous world, we must teach our children well. And the first step to teaching them well is to practice what we preach. If we would warn them of the dangers of porn, we must keep our hearts clean, and have nothing to do with it ourselves.

By Fr. Lawrence Farley

Source: http://frlawrencefarley.blogspot.com/2015/02/teach-your-children-well.html

Many people, especially those who are only in the beginning of their spiritual life, often like to think about the "last times", the coming of anti-Christ and the end of the world. However, we often forget about the unique events that have already had place about 2000 years ago. The last times in the history of the humankind have already begun with those events – no matter how much time it would take for the Second Coming of Lord Jesus Christ to happen on earth, the Church is already living in the period after the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the period of a new aeon and is already anticipating and revealing the Kingdom of Heaven in the Divine Liturgy.

None of these would happen if only the humanity could not show God the beautiful and pure flower – our Heavenly Queen, the Mother of God and Ever-virgin Mary, the One Who managed to bear the burden that no one could ever bear.

As St. Apostle and Evangelist Luke writes, “Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” (Luke 1:26-28).

Indeed, that wonderful greeting was the first Gospel itself, for it was the first time since the fall of the ancestors when people heard such an exclamation: “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you!” With that greeting of the angel, the Lord righted the ancient condemnation that had been put on Eve: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you” (Genesis 3:16).

So, if we say Christ is a new Adam because He is the originator of a new redeemed humanity, then Virgin Mary becomes a new Eve, who has obeyed God’s commandment. “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38), She said and thus gave the Lord an opportunity to save us. Without her consent, without her respond to the angelic message, our salvation would be just impossible: God love us and respects our free will, granted us by Him, and thus we had to be involved in our own salvation.

Virgin Mary said “yes” and the ancient prophecy of Prophet Isaiah came to life: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). And the words of Job do not seem so strange to us anymore: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:25-27) At the very moment when Mary agreed to become the Mother of Lord Jesus Christ, the door to the resurrection of any flesh opened.

Not without reason the icon of the Annunciation surrounded by four Evangelists is depicted on the Royal doors of the iconostasis in Orthodox churches. Through the Annunciation we got the possibility to save ourselves, to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The Annunciation is the very first Gospel that is delivered to us through four canonical Gospels of holy apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, which also reminds us about the Church hierarchy due to which our Church can be called the Apostolic one. Through the Annunciation and Mary’s consent, God incarnated in our world and now we can unite with Him in the most mysterious and sincere way – partaking of His Body and His Blood. All of these became possible at the moment of the Annunciation, when Virgin Mary agreed to serve in the work of our salvation, performed by Jesus Christ.

The word of St. John Chrysostom:

“And he [the Archangel] received all the commandments like these [from the Lord]: “Come, O Angel, become a servant of this awesome mystery. Serve this hidden wonder, as an answer to fallen Adam, who will come under my compassion. Sin has made he that is fashioned in my image to grow old, and has soiled my creation, and has darkened where I created beauty. The wolf has scattered my flock. The dwelling place of Paradise has become a desert. The Tree of Life is guarded by the flaming sword, and the place of nourishment is closed. I have mercy on him who was attacked, and I wish to make war with him who fought against him [i.e. the devil]. I wish for all of the heavenly powers to know, but to you alone I impart the mystery. Go to the Virgin Mary, go to the Spiritual Gate, of which the Prophet said: “Glorious things have been said of you, O City of God.” Go to my Rational Paradise. Go to the Eastern City. Go to her who is the worthy dwelling-place of the Word. Go to the second Heaven on earth. Go to the Light Cloud. Tell her of my coming, the Thunderstorm. Go to her who is my prepared holy place. Go to the Bridal Chamber of my incarnation. Go to the pure Bridal Chamber of my nativity in the flesh. Speak to the ears of this rational Ark, to prepare the entrance of my hearing. But do not be fearsome, do not trouble the soul of the Virgin...First cry out to her with a voice of joy, and tell Mariam: “Hail, O Full-of-grace,” that I might have mercy on Eve, who is full-of-shame.”

Reflections in the Church tradition:

Troparion — Tone 4

Today is the beginning of our salvation, the revelation of the eternal mystery! The Son of God becomes the Son of the Virgin as Gabriel announces the coming of Grace. Together with him let us cry to the Theotokos: Rejoice, O Full of Grace, the Lord is with You!

End of Part III

To be continued…

Click here to see full infographics.

Today marks the 20th anniversary of my reception into the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church — the Orthodox Church. I was just 22 years old at the time and still in college (I had something of a “career” in college, accumulating one BA, most of another, and three minors, all while working to support myself).

In 1998, April 19 was Pascha, and at that Pascha 20 years ago, it was between Matins and the Divine Liturgy, when I was received into the Holy Orthodox Church.

2018 was my 21st Pascha, including 12 as a presbyter. It never gets old but instead is newer every year.

A lot has happened these past 20 years, and I can’t say that I really knew what to expect. There has been both pain and joy, both loss and gain, over the past two decades.

But I will say that this faith is deeper and stronger and more pervasive in its practice than I could have imagined in 1997 when I first learned of it. It is also both more difficult and more merciful than I could have known 20 years ago.

I have a long ways to go, but here are six things that I’ve learned over the past couple decades, and I do hope that my old friend Chris (a cradle Catholic) will stop referring to me as a “recent convert” now. (Heheh.)

1. It’s way less work than I could have imagined.

My impression 20 years ago of Orthodoxy was that it was like a kind of life-long boot camp, in which one is constantly engaged in grueling effort — all that fasting (yes, we always mention the fasting first), prayer, long services, etc. — in order to repent of sin and acquire the Holy Spirit. When I was 22, the “hardcore” feeling of Orthodox Christianity is part of what drew me to it.

But eventually I found out that it becomes part of “normal” life. You don’t stay in boot camp forever. Eventually you get out on the ocean and have to just mind the ship. And that’s what most people do most of their time. Of course, there are periods (e.g., Lent or pilgrimages) when we kick it up a few notches, because we need to do that from time to time, but human beings can’t spend all their time at full intensity.

2. It’s way more work than I could have imagined.

When they said that Orthodox Christianity was about repentance, I didn’t really know what that meant. For sure, when I did my life confession before becoming Orthodox, I had a lot of sins that I confessed, many of which I was quite ashamed of. But I didn’t really know how many deep-seated tendencies toward selfishness, being closed off, anger, resentment (I could go on) I actually had. And I didn’t know how much practice it would take to see improvement on those things.

This is not to downplay God’s grace, of course. The point here is that God’s grace is freely available to those who freely reach for it. But I wasn’t very good at reaching for it 20 years ago, and I didn’t really even know that. I know it much better now, and I pray that, by grace, I am better at reaching for it.

3. It’s much deeper than I could have imagined.

When I became Orthodox at 22, I thought I understood Orthodox theology and practice pretty well. That’s why I became Orthodox, right? But here I am, 20 years later, with an M.Div. under my belt, with seminary 11 years in the rear-view mirror, with 11 years of priestly ministry, including 9 as a pastor, and there are still a lot of things I just don’t get. There are still a lot of things I’m just beginning to get.

I’ve had to learn to say “That just isn’t my field” when asked questions I’m not really qualified to answer. And I’ve also learned that there is still so much of this beautiful Kingdom to explore. Even with 20 years of Orthodox life behind me — nearly my entire adulthood — I feel like I’m just getting started! That’s a great feeling.

4. Prayer is much more than I could have imagined.

When I really began to start paying attention to just trying to keep a daily prayer rule, I noticed something. First, I should say that it was “easy” when I was 22 to say morning and evening prayers every day — no problem! But then at some point it wasn’t happening every day. And then I’d start again. And then I’d have long periods where I just didn’t actually pay much attention to it — including after ordination. What was so basic, easy and elementary at first became almost the whole of the struggle. Thank God, though, that He’s sent me guides to help me in this.

One of the things that I’ve seen clearly — some of it only just within the past few years — is that prayer actually does do something. It may not “do” the thing that I’m wanting, hoping or asking, but it really is an opening up of the person to the grace of God. One experiment that I did (at the behest of my confessor) was to notice how I felt at my worst times of day and then to see if there were any correlation between that experience and whether I prayed that morning. And you know what? There was!

Probably the biggest reason that I have been so inconsistent with daily prayer at times in my life is that I generally didn’t think it did anything. I had no problem being consistent with brushing my teeth, getting coffee, eating breakfast, etc., because I could see and measure the effects of doing those things. But I had never actually checked whether daily prayer did anything. Well, it does. In praying in the morning, I receive God’s protection from many temptations. I’m not perfect — far from it — but when I do that prayer, the day is observably different.

5. Parishes are much more different from each other than I could have imagined.

When I became Orthodox, I don’t think I’d even visited more than a couple other parishes than the one I was joining. I didn’t know how different the customs, the music and even the commitment levels could be from one parish to another.

I remember one of my first conscious moments of knowing that there were differences was when I was asked by a fellow seminarian why I was Antiochian (some 6.5 years after I became Orthodox). The answer was that it had been the parish closest to my house. His question presumed, however, that I had made some kind of conscious choice between different parishes and picked the tradition that suited me best.

I’ve now been an active member of 5 different parishes all within the same tradition, and wow! are they different from each other. Even the two “converty” parishes I’ve been part of are quite different from each other.

And now especially with getting a chance to do speaking engagements all over the country, I’ve seen a lot of different traditions and ways of doing things. The thing I’ve learned is that every parish is on a journey. None will remain exactly as they are. So when I become part of a parish’s life, even if it’s just for a day, I’m joining them on that journey. I’ve also learned that experiencing other traditions and even other ways of brokenness is an enriching experience.

6. The only way to be an Orthodox Christian is to focus on Jesus Christ.

This might seem like a no-brainer, but honestly, 20 years ago, I don’t think I really knew that. I sort of assumed it, but focus isn’t made of assumptions. We have to keep returning to Jesus, exploring Who Jesus is, exploring how Who He is shapes everything in spiritual life. He is the One Who opens the door for us, the One Who is the Way, the One Who accompanies us on the journey, and the One Who is the destination. Everything is about Jesus Christ.

Possibly the most important thing to note about #1 and #2 above is that in both cases, what I had to learn was that spiritual life isn’t about making me a better person (however defined). It is about learning how to invite Christ more deeply into every part of myself.

And one of the most important lessons I’ve learned in this regard is that I can’t let myself become focused on the brokenness of either myself or other people within the Church. I recently watched a video of someone who visited an Orthodox church one time and decided not to be Orthodox because he experienced a particular kind of brokenness in that parish. He then extrapolated outward that brokenness is what the whole Orthodox Church is about. This man was looking at us from the outside, so it’s perhaps understandable how he could walk away with such a false sense, but those of us on the inside do it, too. We make our spiritual lives about the brokenness, and sometimes we walk away or just check out because of it — either because I can’t do it well enough myself or because those around me aren’t doing it well enough.

But it’s about Jesus. It always has been and always will be.

By Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

Source: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/roadsfromemmaus/2018/04/19/20-years-of-being-orthodox-6-things-ive-learned/

I’m finally home from my running around all summer. It feels good to be (mostly) home for the next nine months.

One of my trips early this summer was to a clergy symposium. The speaker was Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos. I was amazed and blessed by both his presence and his teaching. It wasn’t that His Eminence Hierotheos said much that was particularly new or unknown—certainly not if you have read some of his many books that have been translated into English (such as “The Mind of the Orthodox Church” or “A Night In The Desert Of The Holy Mountain” or “Life After Death,” just to name a few). But he spoke with a kind of humility and gentleness that gave his words amazing power. Of the many pages of notes that I took, one of the quotes has particularly stayed with me this summer. The quote is this (at least as I wrote it in my notes): “The West emphasizes God’s justice as the highest rule or judgement; but the East emphasizes love: God’s love as a father.”

Now the reason this quote has stuck with me has nothing to do with the theological differences between western and eastern forms of Christianity. Rather, it has to do with the reality that although Orthodox theology emphasizes God’s Fatherly love, many of the fathers in the church, the clergy—myself chief among them—emphasize their rights rather than fatherly love when when it comes to dealing with conflicts with their parishioners.

Let me explain. Many Orthodox clergy are quite isolated. Commonly Orthodox priests live in communities where there is no other Orthodox priest with whom he can develop a friendship. There may, indeed, be a few other Orthodox priests within driving distance, but (as everyone knows) just because you share the same professional career as someone else, that doesn’t mean that you will automatically be good friends. And particularly in the case of Orthodox clergy, just because there may be a few Orthodox priests in a city, that doesn’t mean that they all speak the same language or share the same culture.

Consequently, when Orthodox clergy get together in meetings or at camps or for retreats, you will often find them huddled in small groups or paired off in intense conversation pouring out their woes, concerns, angers, fears and conundrums to one another. A theme that came up in more than a couple of the settings I found myself in this summer was the “rights” of a priest. Particularly, it came up in the context of rights of a priest vis-a-vis the parish or the parish council. For example, according to the constitution of a parish and the instruction of the bishop, a priest has a right to expect to be taken care of financially by the parish he is serving.

However, I also heard the word “right” being used in another context, a context that disturbed me somewhat, and this is what I would like to look at today. The context that bothers me is when I, or any priest, speak of a right to be respected as the father of a community. Now, on the one hand, it has been the consistent teaching of the Church from the earliest days that the grace of the priesthood is to be respected regardless of the worthiness of the man who bears that grace. This principle is not that different, actually, from respecting rank in the military or the office in politics. Whether or not I respect our Queen personally, I must respect her office. On the other hand, it sometimes happens that a man bearing the grace of the priesthood speaks or behaves in ways that are not worthy of respect. When this happens, it is very difficult for priests to hear lay people as they try to communicate to him that, although they respect the grace of the priesthood that he carries, certain of his words or actions are unworthy of that very same grace. In fact, apart from a miracle, it may be impossible for a priest to hear this.

Usually, the best you can hope for on a human level is that the priest’s bishop will be near enough and attentive enough to hear the bleating of the sheep, to hear their frustrations and concerns, and then to speak himself to the priest about the unworthy speech or behaviour. But even then, although it is much easier for a priest to hear and heed criticism from his bishop, even then it may be very difficult. It has been my observation that people in positions of respect and power often cannot hear the valid criticism, not only of those under their care, but even of those who oversee them. And I am not only talking about priests. I spent about 25 years in academia. If there is any position in modern society more unassailable then a priest by his parishioners, it is a tenured university professor by her or his students. I could tell you stories that would make your ears burn at the hubris and insensitivity and sometimes just plain cruelty of university professors. No, doctors, police, politicians, teachers, bureaucrats of all shapes and sizes, basically anyone with authority in society can be quite deaf when it comes to listening to the legitimate concerns of those under their authority.

But, you might say, shouldn’t priests be different? Shouldn’t priests have a higher standard? Shouldn’t priests be more—well, more Christian? Yes, I guess so, just, perhaps, as you would expect doctors to be healthier. But doctors don’t always follow their own advice either.

So what should we do? What should lay people do when they have a priest whose words or actions are unworthy of the grace of the priesthood? What should priests (or any person in a position of authority) do to better hear the voice of those under their care, especially when that voice is critical of them?

When a lay person is offended by the speech or actions of a priest, he or she should first and always pray. I can only speak to someone’s ears, God can speak to a person’s heart. Prayer isn’t our last resort, it is our first and only really effective response to conflict with others, especially within the Christian family. In addition to praying, in any conflict with a priest (or with any person for that matter) it’s generally a good idea to follow the advice of Matthew 18: 15-17. Respectfully, you should go to the priest privately and share you concern with him. If he doesn’t hear you, you should ask to speak to him again with one or two others. If he still refuses to listen, talk to your bishop. At this point, it is out of your hands. You have done all that you can do—at least all that you can do righteously. Of course if righteousness doesn’t matter to you, then there are all sorts of political ways to drive a priest out of a church. But think about it: if righteousness doesn’t matter to you, why are you expecting it in your priest?

But you might say, “He will destroy the Church! I have to do something.” Well, in case you have forgotten, praying is doing something. Whose Church is it anyway? Do you think you care more about the Church than God does? Ours is to pray and maintain righteousness even in difficult circumstances. If we fight fire with fire, if we resort to unrighteous gossip and back-room political maneuvering to get our way, how are we acting any differently from the priest we are offended by? Perhaps we receive the priest we deserve, as I heard Fr. Thomas Hopko once say.

From the other end, what can a priest do to listen better? Well, as a priest myself I can confidently say, I don’t know. One piece of advice that I heard my bishop give at a clergy meeting a long time ago has, however, been helpful to me over the years. He told the priests that they had to win the respect of the people through love. He said that it was not the priest’s business whether or not the people respected him. It is to the people’s advantage to respect their priest; but if they don’t, it is their business, not the priest’s. It is the priest’s calling to earn their respect through love.

These words remind me of a story I once read (I don’t remember where) about a man who returned home after ten years in a communist labour camp. When he left home, his wife was pregnant. When he returned, he had a nine and a half year-old son who perceived him as a stranger and an intruder on the intimate family relationship the boy had with his mother. There was no doubt that the father was indeed the father and that he had all of the rights of a father in the family. The father had a right to be respected. But even though the boy neither respected nor trusted the father and saw him only as a stranger, the father loved the boy. Yet the boy was incredulous. Even the words of the mother were unhelpful; in fact, her exhortations to him to respect his father only made matters worse. It only made the boy more confident that the father was an outside, corrupting influence destroying his family, and her earnestness even led him to consider running away. The wise father realized the boy’s frustration and anger, and very slowly, over a couple of years, worked to earn the boy’s trust and eventually his respect and love.

I have come to think that this is how I must learn to relate to my parishioners. On the one hand, I have been ordained and assigned by the bishop to pastor a certain parish. The “rights” or respect associated with this ordination and appointment are not in question. However, on the other hand, like the nine and a half year-old boy in the story, my parishioners do not know me. I am a stranger, an outsider to them. If I insist on my rights, if I insist on their respect, then there is a good chance that I will alienate some people in the community giving them an excuse to stay away from Church (to their own hurt—and perhaps to my condemnation on the day of judgement). But if, as a loving father, I can ignore the expressions of disrespect; if I can overlook matters that I might have a right to insist on; and if I can love, love and listen to the pain and confusion and cares of my parishioners, maybe over a few years I can earn their respect, earn their respect, not for my sake, but for the sake of their salvation and perhaps for my salvation also.

The theory of living together peacefully as a Christian family within the church is deceptively simple. To live it, however, will require all of us to die to ourselves and to trust in God with all of our hearts.

By Fr. Michael Gillis

Source: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/prayingintherain/2016/08/a-priests-rights/

1. God is the perfect good that we must love; sin is the utter evil that we must abhor and disdain. God is the immeasurable ocean of perfection, while sin is the abyss of evil. God is the goodness infinitely higher than all goodness; sin is the evil infinitely worse than all evil.

2. Wake up, O brother, be vigilant and seek to abstain from every kind of sin that defiles you. Upon partaking of the most pure Sacraments, say to yourself, “Now I am the house of God. How can I let myself to convert into the den of sin?”

3. Beloved brother, think about the love that God shows to you in the gift of the Holy Communion. It is in this Sacrament that his love reaches the apex of its perfection. Saint John the Evangelist states that Jesus having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. (John 13: 1). A furnace is known by its heat; similarly, the Lord’s love is known by the Sacrament of the Divine Eucharist.

4. We must love God more than anyone else because it is in him that the plenitude of all virtues—beauty, wisdom, might, holiness, majesty, goodness, infiniteness, life, peace, liberty, glory, justice, and salvation—abounds. All these are not God but they are God’s qualities.

5. The true sacrifice is almsgiving, doing all kinds of good, and cutting off passions.

6. When a pious and virtuous soul does not purify itself from minor sins, they do a lot of damage because if they remain in the soul for too long, it starts to pay attention to them; hence, chastity of virtue and the fragrance of the Divine grace withdraw from it, and it becomes extremely difficult for such a soul to achieve perfection.

7. The vocation of a Christian is that of a warrior. Regardless of how tempting worldly pleasures might appear, they can’t overcome a Christian warrior.

8. Faith is the power that dwells in the mind and the will of a human being. One’s mind is kindled by the heavenly light and stores the truths revealed to it by the Lord. Likewise, one’s will is moved by God to do everything that is true and is guided by the mind. When one’s faith is powerless, one’s mind can’t grasp God’s mysteries, while the will doesn’t want to love them even before the mind comprehends them.

9. You might ask: is it a sin to sleep peacefully, eat and drink well, and have fun? This is a question that you justify yourself with because, although it isn’t a sin, it encourages you to sin. It prevents you from tasting spiritual gifts from God.

10. It is hard to describe how pride devastates one’s soul. Consider this: the worst evil in this world is sin; the greatest good is Divine grace. Pride is the root of all evil. It opposes God’s grace and does us immense harm. It is the worst of mortal sins because it leads one to commit all other sins.

11. Christ and pride cannot coexist in one’s heart: where there is pride, there is no Christ, and vice versa.

12. O wretched man, do you want to know what you really are like? Consider this: Prophet Isaiah says that the nations are as a drop of a bucket before God (Is. 40: 15). Now divide that drop into the number of all people, dead and living and those who will live after we die, and see how tiny each of us is. You are that tiny particle of a drop of a bucket. Your powers are as negligible as you are. You are nothing, and your power is zero. You’ve solved this problem, now be proud of yourself, if you can. If you continue to think high of yourself even after that, behold: you’re very close to failure…

13. Persevere in this life so as not to hear the dreadful words of Christ, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things (Luke 16:25). Understand at last that the Heavenly Kingdom is achieved by those who exert themselves, as the Lord said, The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force (Matthew 11:12), and not by those who sit idle and comfortable.

14. While we are alive, we can turn our lives into the time of repentance and cling to the merciful Lord who is always ready to forgive us and grant us everlasting bliss in his paradise, even though we often forget about our sins.

15. Do not praise yourself and do not seek to be the first. Do not attempt to look better than others because that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God (Luke 16:15). Remember that the Lord can tolerate any of your sins except pride. Bring to mind the mockery, the insults, and the disgrace that Jesus Christ endured on the Cross. It will help you to humble yourself down.

From Homilies by St. Nicodemus the Hagiorite

Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds

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