The Catalog of Good Deeds

Last week, I dropped by a friend’s house and found him on his hands and knees in the front yard. He was frantically searching for something. I went over to him and asked what was going on. He told me that he had lost the only keys for his truck and had to find them. I immediately dropped to my knees and joined the search. After about 10 minutes of fruitless searching I suggested that we stop and start from the beginning. I asked him to tell me exactly where he was when he lost the keys. He said he was inside the house! After a moment of silence to gain my composure, I asked him what in the world he was doing searching for his keys in the front yard, if he had lost them inside the house! He explained to me that there was more light outside and thought it would be easier to search for them!

This modern parable (no I didn’t really find my friend looking for his keys) provides a good picture of this modern world we live in. There are so very many people looking for happiness; looking for “God”; looking for meaning to life; looking for healing for their emotional pains and scars… but sadly, they are looking in the wrong places! They are looking in places that “feel good”, or in a place that seems to be popular on television, or in an easy place to get to (one that doesn’t interfere with having fun). It is very much like the guy searching in the wrong place for those car keys because it is lighter outside, or the air is fresher, or because his neighbors are outside, or because he didn’t want to mess up the inside of the house.

There’s an old country western song about “lookin’ for love in all the wrong places” that seems pretty appropriate. They may find something… but not what they really wanted or needed. Many folks are looking for answers to those tough questions in life or looking for healing from those pains, yet they refuse to acknowledge the Lord. They want physical or psychological answers to issues and they want no part of any spiritual answer. There are some things that we do need a physical or psychological help with, but to leave God out of the picture is simply discounting the ultimate healer and helper.

This world has done its best to discredit the impact the Lord can truly make on someone’s life. They would have us thinking that God’s power doesn’t measure up to our hard hitting problems. It is better to look for life’s answers any place but with God. Many years ago, we lived in a small town that had an enormous problem with drugs and their young people. The City Council even advertised in the local paper asking if anyone knew of a way to help. The ministerial group of the town contacted them about a group that had enormous success working with young people using drugs. A meeting was set up and the very first question asked by the City Council was: “This group isn’t going to mention God are they?” They were told that God was the very foundation of the answer to this problem. They refused to even listen any further…they wanted the drug problem to be solved without God in the picture.

The Holy Scriptures speak to us about what can happen when a person searches in the right place: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”; “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, Who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him”; “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you”.

Besides dealing with the pains of life in this way, many folks also seem to search for the TRUTH in exactly the same way as the man with the lost car keys. So many folks have bought into the idea that truth can somehow be “relative”. In other words, whatever is true for you is truth…we all arrive at our own truth. This sounds so very nice, but it totally misses reality.

There really is TRUTH in this universe and no matter how much we may believe a lie, it will never become the TRUTH! Gravity is a nice example! I can believe with all my heart there is no such thing as gravity; I can proclaim to everyone who will listen that gravity is a fable; I can write best-selling books about the lie of gravity… but if that “truth” is ever tested by me stepping off the roof…well you all know that I will have discovered the hard way that gravity does indeed exist!

TRUTH is an absolute! Unlike the fairies of Peter Pan, TRUTH will continue to exist whether we believe it or not. This holds fast in both the physical realm and the spiritual realm! TRUTH is something we should pray for: “Guide me in Your truth and teach me” (Psalm 25:5). The words of the Holy Prophet Isaiah would seem to fit our world today as they did in his day: “Truth has stumbled in the streets… and they turned away their mind so as not to understand” (Isaiah 59:14-15). May we never turn our minds away from the TRUTH, rather may we be seekers after the TRUTH!

When those pains of life or tough questions come our way, may we all humble ourselves and seek the Lord. There is only One who claimed to actually be the TRUTH…not simply to teach the truth or to point us toward the truth…Jesus Christ said: “I am the Truth…” (John 14:6). He is the One, Who has the healing touch and the answers. And may you have a heart that hungers for the TRUTH (and nothing but the TRUTH)!

God bless you all, each and every day!

By Fr. Stephen Powly

Source: https://upwordglance.com/2016/04/13/lost-keys/

We all remember the story about the Lord making a whip and casting moneychangers and merchants out of the Jerusalem Temple. Do you know why they got to be there in the first place? Let’s explore some historical facts to make this Bible story more clear…

Holy Evangelist John the Theologian recounts, And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: and when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; and said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. (John 2: 13‒16).

Note that, judging by the context, it happened in the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. He had just started making miracles. Many interpreters of the Holy Scripture believe that the Lord committed that act in order to forestall claims of his apostasy, which could be made after He started healing people on Sabbaths. That was how, showing his zeal in defense of the House of God, He proved once again that He wasn’t against God.

What Did Jews Need Moneychangers For?

Each Jew had to donate half a shekel (approx. 8 grams of silver) to the Temple. At that time, the Jews used Roman coins because they were under Roman rule. There were images of Roman emperors on those coins. The God’s people considered the emperors’ faces to be idolatry. Therefore, Roman currency wasn’t suitable for donations to the Temple. That was where moneychangers stepped in. They exchanged Roman coins for other coins without portraits on them.

However, people had to pay an exchange fee, too. The moneychangers, greedy to earn as much money as they could, forgot about the holiness of the place and started acting like robbers.

Who Was Disturbed by Trade Operations in the Temple?

Sellers of animals and birds weren’t perfect, either, as they were charging exorbitant prices for their products. Just consider this: it wasn’t easy for some people to get to the Jerusalem Temple and participate in a holiday. Scorching heat, a long road, lack of all kinds of comfort… Naturally, it was cumbersome to bring one’s own animal for the offering. That was why people preferred buying everything they needed right on the spot. It made the merchants who sold animals super-rich because they knew that people would buy their animals no matter how expensive they were.

But that’s not the end of the story. The enterprising merchants and moneychangers set their shop right in the inner yard of the Temple, where Gentiles were allowed to worship. What could be more damaging to the awe and sacredness of that holy place?

How Many Times Did Jesus Drive the Moneychangers out of the Temple?

Finally, another interesting fact. An attentive reader will notice that the story of driving the merchants and moneychangers out of the Temple is described in the Gospel according to Matthew, too (Matthew 21:12,13). However, Matthew puts that episode in a completely different context: it occurs not in the beginning of the Lord’s public ministry but near the end of it (just a couple of days prior to his Passion). It isn’t a mistake, though. Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria explains that the Lord simply did it several times…

By Ilya Alekseev

St. Elisabeth Convent

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. (Luke 1:30-31).

Finally, the event that prophets had predicted and ancient patriarchs had anticipated came true: God visited his people. All of those who expected the coming of Messiah died with the hope that He would come eventually. The righteous men of Old Testament hoped that their children or great-grandchildren will have the chance to live in Messianic era. Finally, that time came. The Messiah was born of the Most Holy Theotokos and brought peace and grace to the world, not just for the Jews but also for Gentiles.

The Most Pure Virgin spent her entire childhood in the Temple, praying, fasting, and getting ready for the great calling that she couldn’t even dream of. At last, the Angel of God announced the Good News to the Blessed Virgin, and She became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women (Luke 1:28).

What do we see in this passage? An incorporeal angel talks with Virgin Mary and tells her something no-one had ever heard since the Fall of our forefathers—words that startled the Pure Virgin. There had been another ethereal being who had talked with a different woman, and we feel the consequences of their conversation even now. Eve heard strange words, too: ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:5). Our foremother fell out of unity with God and trusted the words of satan, God’s adversary, more than God’s words In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (Genesis 2:17).

According to God’s plan, the Second Eve, the Most Holy Virgin Mary, was to correct the failure of the first Eve. She was to fulfil God’s will about her and thus restore the honor of all women. Mary’s noble action and her dialog with Archangel Gabriel is remarkably well described in worship books of the Orthodox Church.

Orthodox worship is a very profound, lively, and prayerful way of reading the Holy Scripture. This way of reading the Bible is so creative and so deeply rooted in the Word of God that the holy creators of church hymns even went so far as putting words you cannot find in the Holy Scripture into the mouths of the Theotokos and Archangel Gabriel.

Ode 3 of the Canon contains a very interesting and profound prayerful contemplation on this passage. The Most Holy Virgin replies to the Archangel, My foremother followed the serpent’s advice and lost the divine food of the Paradise, therefore I am afraid of your strange greeting, ashamed of the fall (cf. Ode 3 of Annunciation Matins Canon). If only Eve had reacted in the same manner. She had to be afraid to fall. She had to be afraid of that strange promise, ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:5). Eve failed that test, and the very beginning of human history is marked with the Foremother’s fall. However, at the dawn of the New Testament era at the time when the human race was about to be restored, Mary, the chosen Mother of all Christians—the best that human race could give God—says yes to God and submits herself to his will, saying, Behold the handmaid of the Lord (Luke 1:38).

St. Theophanes the Branded, the author of this canon, puts even more amazing words into Archangel Gabriel’s mouth, I stand in the presence of God and I was sent to announce God’s decision to you. Why are you afraid of me, O All-Immaculate, for I tremble in your presence? Why are you in awe, O Queen, when I revere you even more? (Ode 3 of the Annunciation Matins Canon). The words of the Archangel reveal an astonishing but delightful fact about the Christian faith: humans are more honorable than angels! Humans are the pinnacle of creation. We are those called to sanctify and transform the material world with our labor and prayer. It was human nature that the Word of God acquired. It was human nature that sits to the right hand of God the Father in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s the honor bestowed on us humans. That mind-boggling aspect of our faith is illustrated by the iconostases of Orthodox churches where Theotokos and St. John the Baptist are always closer to Christ than Archangels Michael and Gabriel.

The Mother of God will accomplish her mission. Nine months after the Annunciation, the One who is incessantly praised by angels and archangels will be born as a human baby. The Theotokos will hold in her arms the One who cannot be contained by the entire Universe—the One at whose sight all creation trembles. She will give birth to the Son whom the Father loves; the Father’s Chosen One who is pleasing unto Him.

I have put my spirit upon him:

he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

He shall not cry, nor lift up,

nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

A bruised reed shall he not break,

and the smoking flax shall he not quench:

he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

He shall not fail nor be discouraged,

till he have set judgment in the earth:

and the isles shall wait for his law. (Isaiah 42:1-4)

By John Nichiporuk,

a Bachelor of Theology,

specialized in Biblical Studies.

The Catalog Of Good Deeds, 2018

See full Nativity infographics here.

I imagine that very few Orthodox have ever observed the rite for the tonsuring of a monastic. The first time I observed the rite was during my stay at St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Seminary in Pennsylvania, where a priest who had been recently elected bishop was being tonsured a monk prior to his episcopal consecration. The Orthodox Church has for many years held to the practice of only choosing its bishops from among the monks, doubtless on the basis that only those who have proven themselves humble in their monastic life should be trusted to exercise authority over their fellows. Our present practice of hustling episcopal candidates from the monastery altar to the episcopal throne without their having actually spent any real time in the monastery doesn’t quite fulfill the rationale for choosing only monastics as bishops, but that question cannot be examined here. Here we simply look at the rite of monastic tonsure and the life to which it was meant to lead.

In the beginning, there was no specific rite of tonsure or liturgical way to make a monk. A monk (from the Greek monachos, or “solitary”) was anyone who had left the world to dwell apart. There were no promises made or formal clothing given. Monasticism consisted simply of the individual’s choice to depart from society and live on its fringes, either completely alone or in the company of a few like-minded solitaries. This occasional choice soon grew into a movement, as men came flooding into the deserted fringes of the world in enough numbers so as to constitute a kind of desert city. These men came with all kinds of motivations, and from all kinds of backgrounds. To avoid chaos and catastrophe, the flood needed to be organized and institutionalized, which it was. In this process of institutionalization, several names tower above others—names like Anthony, Pachomius, and Euthymius. One liturgical fruit of this long process of institutionalization is our present Orthodox rite of monastic tonsure.

The present Orthodox rite of the little schema—what in the West would be “final vows” wherein the novice pledges himself to permanent monasticism—begins with the candidate prostrating himself (or herself) before the abbot (or abbess). As befits such an occasion, the abbot offers many words of caution, warning the candidate against taking such a momentous step impulsively or casually, for there could be no turning back if the candidate later changed his mind the next morning. The candidate was regarded as dying decisively to the world, and being born again to a new life, which is why the newly-tonsured monk was given a new name. Dying is for keeps, and so is monastic commitment—hence all those long exhortations from the Abbot.

In the service, the abbot next questions the candidate, asking what he wants, in order to elicit the reply that the candidate wants to live a life of asceticism among the monks, and that he is choosing this life freely. The candidate pledges himself to sobriety, chastity, poverty, piety, and obedience, and to stay in his monastery to the end of his days. After another long exhortation, the time for the actual tonsure arrives. Tonsure (or the cutting off of one’s hair) since ancient times has signified consecration to God. As long ago as the giving of the Mosaic Law, Nazirites offered their hair to God as a sacrifice, an image of offering their entire bodies to Him. The new monk therefore is shorn as a sign that he now belongs no longer to the world of men, but to God alone, sitting in solitude before Him. Nowadays, the actual shearing is minimal, a snipping of a few token hairs, rather than a full cropping, but the intention remains the same.

Before cutting the candidate’s hair, the abbot places the scissors on the Gospel Book. He then points to the scissors and instructs the candidate to take the scissors and give them to him. Having received them, the abbot then throws them back down on the Gospel Book and repeats the request another two times. By insisting that the candidate give him the scissors not once but three times, the Church makes clear the candidate’s determination to become a monk. And by taking the scissors from the Gospel Book (and not simply from a table), the Church expresses that the new monk is receiving the scissors and his new monastic life from the hand of Christ Himself. It is a wonderful bit of imagery.

After the tonsure, the new monk is dressed in the clothing of his new state: a long robe, a paraman (a square of cloth on which the cross is represented), a riassa or long-sleeved robe, a leather belt, a long mantle, a monastic veil, and a prayer rope. The service concludes with the other members of the monastery giving the kiss of peace to the new monastic, each one asking the newly-tonsured monk his (or her) name. The monk’s new life of solitude and struggle has begun.

It is fair to say, I think, that the secular world has little appreciation for Orthodox monasticism. Buddhist monks seem to be admired, and certainly the Dalai Lama is always sure to make the Best Sellers List, but in general, the world is somewhat perplexed by what seems to them to be a spectacular waste of time and talent. All those young and gifted people vanishing from the world into a monastery, like stars sliding into a black hole—what’s the point? Wouldn’t it be better for everyone if they remained in the world and offered their time and talents for the good of society? An older and angrier generation of Marxists denounced the monks as parasites on society (part of the bourgeoisie). In our day, the critics of monasticism may not go that far, but they do a fair bit of head-scratching trying to figure out how the people under the monastic veils could sensibly choose such a seemingly non-productive life. Certainly there is more than enough work to go around if we would help our suffering world. Shouldn’t the monks come out and lend a hand?

In fact, the monks are lending a hand through their prayers. I pray regularly every day, but my little rule of prayer is nothing compared to the exertions going on behind the high walls of Mount Athos, as they pray not only for themselves but for all the world. Of course, if one doesn’t believe that prayer “works”, then one must regard those exertions as futile. But Christians do believe that prayer works, and that our merciful Lord hearkens to the prayers offered in faith. Indeed, if the fervent prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much (see James 5:16), then the monks are offering an incalculable service to the world as they ceaselessly intercede for it.

Also, monks provide a service for the Church at large, for they help preserve its saltiness, and without them, the Church would be in perpetual danger of losing its saving savour (see Matthew 5:13). God calls His Church to be in the world but not of the world, and the long history of Byzantium proves that this is a tall order. The Church often finds itself functioning as an established State-church, working hand in glove with Caesar, and enduring all the temptations to moral compromise which have always attended such a working relationship. The monks in their monasteries form a counter-balance to Caesar, a standing reminder that the Church belongs ultimately not to this age, but to the age to come. Monasticism thus represents the institutionalization of the Church’s eschatological nature, an in-your-face witness that we are all just sojourners in this world, and that we are just visiting this planet.

We may not often see the monastic rite of tonsure, and in North America, Orthodox monks are comparatively few and far between. But this tonsure and the life it represents are crucial to the health of the Church. If the Church here is to thrive, we need to see this rite used even more than it is now.

By Fr. Lawrence Farley

Source: http://myocn.net/tonsuring-monks/

By Fr. Andrew Lemeshonok

Fidelity is the greatest family value. If a partner cheats on another partner, family disappears. It is a breach of trust. People can continue to coexist, sleep in one bed and eat at the same table but it won’t be a family if they don’t trust one another.

You’ve got to fight for your love and for family values. You’ve got to humble yourself down and bear one another’s burdens. Let me give you an example. An individual might think, “I like having fun but my spouse isn’t as lively and energetic as I am. I would like him or her to be more entertaining. See how that other person is having fun! I wish s/he was mine! I’m out of luck…” That’s all, the family is devalued and starts to cringe at the edges. All it takes was one thought, just one thought! If one doesn’t confess it, that thought will stuck in his or her head. And then a Mr. Perfect or Ms. Perfect will appear out of the blue. The person will look at him/her and think about him/her all the time. As far as the former partner is concerned, his or her attraction dissipates, and everything about him or her becomes gray and bland. How horrible it is: just one thought, just one crack, just one brick out of the wall—and that’s the end.

Or take a person who has a certain job. He is satisfied with his work. He is paid and treated well enough, too. Accidentally, that person happens to see a list of his colleagues’ salaries. What does he see? It turns out that he earns less than everyone else. There are other people who work less and earn more. Imagine that?! Just a day before, that person was satisfied and said, “Praise the Lord, I’m so lucky.” Now, he can’t sleep nor eat. He complains that he doesn’t want to work there any longer because he doesn’t get the reward he deserves. See what envy does, even if nothing has changed, in fact.

That is why it is so important to examine ourselves, to control our own minds, and by no means allow sins to nest inside us for a long time. We should go and confess immediately. We should realize that it is wrong. Praise the Lord that others earn more money. Praise the Lord that they are treated better than we are. Praise the Lord that they have better working conditions. I shall thank God for what I have. A grateful person always has enough, believe me.

November 30, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

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Lost Keys or How We Look for the Truth in Wrong Places

Bible Stories: What Did Moneychangers Do in the Jerusalem Temple?

Annunciation as the Beginning of the Nativity Story

Becoming a Monk: a Closer Look at Monastic Tonsuring in Orthodoxy

What Epitimia Is and What We Should Do with It

The Importance of Preserving Family Values and Gratitude

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