Category: Personal Reflection

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Pantokrator Monastery at Ntaou Pendeli

Entrance to Transfiguration Chapel at Pantokrator

Monastery

Today we visited and venerated the relics of the Holy Fathers of the Pantokrator Monastery at Ntaou Penteli. Our Transfiguration Parish in Austin TX is blessed to have  relics of these martyred Fathers  in our Holy Altar. This link will relate the  history of the Monastery for your understanding: http://www.pantokratoros-tao.gr/index.php/en/     The convent is growing and building a new Church Temple to the Glory of God. The Commemoration of these Martyrs is the Tuesday of Bright Week

God Bless ….Fr. G.

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Who is God?

Have you ever considered the possibility that your idea of God is too small?  What do you think about when you hear the word “GOD”?  Maybe, it would help if we consider some of the Church’s teachings about God.  First, let’s ask the basic question  Who is God?”  There are certain fundamental Orthodox teachings on this question.  When we try to define God, we come to Mystery.  Beginning with that question: What is God?  The Church says “GOD IS” – He is beyond all human understanding, language, and abilities to grasp or describe.

God is Love; whoever sought to define Him would be like a blind person trying to count the grains of sand of the sea shore.  – St. John Climakos

God is a God, who out of Love, reveals Himself to his creatures and creation.  Our God is a Personal God, that is why the question is WHO is GOD and not WHAT is God.  Our God is a TRINITARIAN GOD.  What does this mean?  The nature of God as Trinity is explained St. Basil in this way:

The Father is the origin of all, the Son realizes, and the Spirit fulfills. Every thing subsists by the will of the Father, comes into being though the action of the Son, and reaches its perfection through the action of the Holy Spirit…The number three therefore comes to your mind: the Lord who commands, The Word who creates, the Breath who confirms and what can it mean to confirm, if not to make perfect in holiness.

                                              Treatise on the Holy Spirit – ST BASIL OF CAESARIA.

Think about the description of the nature of God, as we can understand him.  Keep in mind; we can never understand the essence of God.  Yet, all Three Persons of the Holy Trinity share the same essence (Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed).  They are unique persons; they are distinct but never separate.  They have but one will, the will of the Father.  NONE of three ever acts separately and apart from the other two. Metropolitan Kallistos Ware states, “They are not three Gods but one God.”  What is it about God that we experience and know?  We Orthodox view what and how we experience the Trinity in this way.

      • GOD’S ESSENCE – WHAT “IS”, THE INNER BEING OF GOD, IS TOTALLY TRANSCENDENT.  MAN CAN NEVER KNOW THE NATURE OF GOD AND GOD’S OTHERNESS.  THIS IS BEYOND OUR ABILITY OR CAPACITY TO COMPREHEND.
      • GOD’S ENERGY – GOD’S OPERATIONS OR ACTS OF POWER.  THESE REVEAL GOD IN THE WORLD TO HIS CREATION.  THIS IS CALLED GRACE, LIFE AND POWER AND IT FILLS ALL THINGS.

 God is love (1 John, 8). The Persons of the Holy Trinity relate to one and another in a bond of LOVE, a perfect outpouring of selfless communion that is continuous, constant and mysterious.  This is the nature of the relationship of the life of God as Trinity.  Our destiny is to share this love and to express it in our lives.  When we talk about God, we mean the Holy Trinity; and when we will speak of Christ, the second person of the Trinity, we speak of the Son of God revealed and encountered in the created world.  In Christ, empowered by God’s Holy Spirit and through our Baptism and Chrismation, we have the potential to partake in the nature of God as Trinity (2 Peter 1, 3). 

For Orthodox, the true image of God and the true nature of man are revealed in history by one event.  God has revealed Himself to us in Christ.  Through the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos,. Christ accomplishes this by His Incarnation in the Flesh.  The Incarnation of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, reveals the image of the Father to the world and only through Him, in the Holy Spirit, can we KNOW God the Father (St. John 17, 25-26).  The hymn of Christmas, by St. Romanos the Melodist, summarizes the theology of incarnation with this phrase, “A new born child; God before the Ages”. 

The Incarnation is an act of GOD out of love.  It is an act of God identifying with our nature and of sharing His Nature with us.  The nature of God as Trinity was the topic of the first two Ecumenical Councils; the next five great Councils dealt with who is Jesus and what is His relationship to us, His creation.

      • JESUS CHRIST IS FULLY AND COMPLETELY PERFECT GOD.
      • JESUS CHRIST IS FULLY AND COMPLETELY PERFECT HUMAN.
      • JESUS CHRIST IS NOT TWO PERSONS BUT ONE.
      • JESUS CHRIST IN HIS HUMANITY IS LIKE US IN EVERY WAY,  SAVE HE IS WITHOUT SIN.

Earlier we said, the Godhead is a perfect community of love shared between the THREE Persons of the Trinity.  The Incarnation is also about sharing and participation.  Christ shares our humanity, even to death on the cross.  This act of perfect Love enables us, in Christ, through His Spirit to participate in the life of God.  We are called to intimate communion, even friendship with our Lord.  The entire history of Christ in the world can be summed up in one word ENCOUNTER.  Through Him, in Him and with Him, we encounter the Living God.  Christ assumed our human nature and our human body.  He transformed them with the Glory of God and showed us the true original beauty of our created potential.  He presents it to His Father, wholly transfigured, so that we might share in the Nature of God.

This is the reason why the Word of God was made flesh, and the Son of God became the Son of Man: so that we could enter into communion with the Word of God and by receiving adoption might become the Sons of God.  Indeed, we should not be able to share in immortality without a close union with the Immortal.

                                                                                                St. Ireneaus of Lyons

In Christ, we are called to KNOW the Father.  This knowledge is the prayer of Christ before his crucifixion.  His Resurrection abolished the hold which death had on us since our fall.  His Accession granted us an intercessor at the Throne of God.  At Pentecost, He asks the Father to send His Spirit to continue His Presence among us.  His Second Coming will give the righteous immortality and perfect communion with God.  These words of prayer explain our relationship to God the Holy Trinity. 

My hope is the Father, 

My refuge is the Son.

 My Protection is the Holy Spirit,

O Holy Trinity – Glory to You.

                                            St. Ioannikios the Great

Christ is Risen!
Fr. George

 

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“With the Fear of God, with Faith and Love, Draw near”

 

“With Fear of God with Faith and Love… ”

During Great Lent we are given the medicine of eternity, Holy Communion, not only on Sunday or Saturday, but during the week at each Pre-Sanctified Liturgy.  At every Divine Liturgy, we are called to partake of Christ with the  words: “With the Fear of God, with Faith and Love draw near” The fear of God is not the type of fear that means we are petrified and so terrified of God that we quake and live in horror; instead this “fear” is awe, reverence and veneration.  We know the holiness of God as Trinity and our separation from Him caused by our own sinfulness. This awe requires us to look at ourselves honestly and to understand the great gulf between us and Our Lord.  But, there is more to the invitation to the Chalice than fear. There are two more phrases that we need to consider. 

With faith!  How can we approach God without faith?  We understand the great gulf between us, but faith can overcome this separation.  This faith is faith in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, Our Lord becoming one of us; truly God and truly Man.  This faith is a faith in His great mercy. His love and mercy for His creation is so great that  He put on our humanity through the Theotokos and by the Holy Spirit. His love for us allows us to relate personally to Him. He assumed our nature to decrease the separation between us.  This mystery is beyond our understanding. The result of His love for us is to lessen the “fear” we have of Him, but to increase the awe we have in our hearts for His great love for us. How can we fear a God who loves us so much as to become man for our salvation?  Can we live in dread of someone who is there waiting for us to reach out to Him. He waits so that His strength supports us in every moment of our weakness no matter what that is.  With faith, we are certain that He is our gentle shepherd who searches us out when we’re lost and carries us on His shoulders when we’re too weak to walk to Him. This faith is a faith in God’s love for us. This faith is an assurance of Christ’s continued presence among us, His people. 

When we realize Christ is there in the chalice waiting for us, there is only one response – Love.  Love for God, a burning desire for Him to be the centre of our life.  With the invitation of the Church, we are called to partake and become one with Him. Not only are we invited to become one with Him,  but also to become one with all who share in His Cup. This is true love, to become part of each other. Love is only love when it is shared with another. Christ became one of us and shared our nature because of His love. By sharing Him, we share in each other. It is a miracle of His love that we enter into an intimate relationship with each other as a community of faith.  As we partake of Holy Communion, “With the fear of God,  with Faith and Love,” not only do we draw near to Christ; but equally near to each other. The closeness of this bond is the unity that makes us the Church, Body of Christ with one head – Our Lord God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Answer the invitation!  Let us meet Christ and each other at His Cup of Love each time we are prepared to be one with Him.  Have a blessed Great Lent!

Yours in His Love…… Fr. George

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Basic Question

Do I know what the Church is? 

This might at first appear to be a foolish questions to ask and I do not ask it lightly. This fundamental question is most appropriate as we prepare to welcome Christ being born in the world. Most adults in the Church are too embarrassed to admit what we don’t understand or what we don’t know. For many of us asking ourselves this question we really must answer, “I don’t truly know what the Church is!” We might answer it is a place I go to pray or a place I go to be with other Orthodox Christians. The basic truth of our faith is that our God is a personal God who humbly came to earth, being born in a manger, so that each of us could enjoy a personal relationship with Him. This is the miracle of Bethlehem. Knowing this, the most basic question we should ask to help answer the question: “What is the Church?” is another question: “Do I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?” 

Through God’s Holy Spirit, we are no longer lonely individuals. We become personally united with Christ and through Him with each other. The Church transcends time and space. It has cosmic dimensions that connects us with Christ and all our fellow Orthodox Christians. This bond is not limited even by physical death. The Church is Christ and all who are joined with him.  This miracle is the mystery of faith.  As St. Paul explains in his letter to the Hebrews: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen” (Hebrews 11, 1). We cannot see the Church, yet it is! It is for us the ultimate reality, the Kingdom of God on earth and a foretaste of heaven. This is as personal a relationship as we can experience. This is the answer to the ultimate question that makes the Church a reality in our lives. Once again, St. Paul says it best, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”    

 After His Crucifixion and Resurrection and Ascension, Our Lord sent His Holy Spirit to empower us; so that we could truly live our life with Him. With our Baptism, we become new creatures in Christ. At our Chrismation, we are given, as a free gift, His Spirit to allow us to grow in Him.  By partaking in Holy Communion, we become united to Christ. The added dimension is that we are also united to everyone who participates in His Body and His Blood. The Church is actualized when we, as the faithful, come together and become the Body of Christ. This is the mystery that began in that manger in the cave of Bethlehem.  As His Nativity approaches, let us look to Christ to enlighten us to truly be the Church, to have Christ born in our hearts as He was born of the Virgin. Only in this way can we know Him and know within our being that we are the Church. 

I pray you all have a blessed Nativity.  May Our Lord continue to bless you, your family and all of us. ….Fr G

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Christ the Only Priest

 

 

 

On Sunday, I was ordained into the Holy Priesthood in Our Holy Orthodox Church. In the Prayer of the Cherubic Hymn prior to the Great Entrance, the priest prays the words of St John Chrysostomos. The saint has  succinctly captured what every priest must feel especially when he thinks of his unworthiness: “…for to serve You is great and awesome even for the heavenly powers.” These feelings are something that I will carry with me each time I am privileged to serve the Liturgy.  Even though, I cannot speak with you all personally, I do want to thank you all for your prayers and your support. His Eminence Metropolitan Isaiah, Dn Paul and Fr. Vasileios were there at the altar with me and their prayers very much strengthened me. Even more than that day, when I reflect on their wisdom and example, I will find them models to emulate and inspire.

For so many years, His Eminence has been the icon of Christ for those of us in our Metropolis. His humble spiritual leadership has been a blessing to us all. He will always be in my prayers. As I said in my remarks prior to the ordination, I have been blessed to work with many bishops, priest and deacons all my life. I cannot name them all individually here, but each, those in God’s Kingdom, and those serving His people now are shining examples of dedicated servants of Our Lord.  My biggest sadness on that day is that because of our present crisis my children and grandchildren were not personally with me. They were missed more than I can say, I thank all my family for their support and encouragement.

The icon above is called Christ the High Priest. It is always found on the throne of the bishop in every Orthodox church. This is to remind us that Christ’s priesthood is THE priesthood of the Church. As St Paul reminds us in his epistle to the Hebrews, Christ is the priest, “Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” All bishops are icons of His priesthood. As the continuing presence of the apostles in the Church, it is they that connect us to His ministry and safeguard the treasury of tradition in the Church and as the words of the liturgy remind us their role is to “rightly teaching the word of your truth.”

That same prayer we spoke of above is the only prayer in the Divine Liturgy designated for the priest to read for himself. This  beautiful prayer emphatically teaches us a great lesson:

 

“….make me worthy, your sinful and unworthy servant,

to offer these gifts to You. For You are the Offerer and

the Offered; the Accepted and the Distributed, O Christ

Our God…..

Fr Alexander Schmemann in his wonderful book Eucharist reminds us that we enter the church as individuals to be formed by His Holy Spirit into one body, the Body of Christ, with Our Lord at our head. Together, we ascend to God’s throne to worship the Lord. As we approach the Holy Chalice for communion, we must know that we are being given communion by Christ, we receive Christ, His body and blood to become one with Christ and with each other. As the above prayer teaches us that it is Christ the Priest that is offered and is the offerer. As a new priest in His Holy Church this is the greatest lesson that I must always keep in my heart. I ask  that your prayers strengthen me and that our Lord grant me His peace each and every time I stand before His Holy  Altar. God Bless…..fr.g

 

 

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St Sophia and Her Beautiful Daughters

St Sophia, Pistis, Elpis and Agape

A  MOTHER’S  LOVE

Today our Holy Church commemorates St. Sophia (Σοφία) and her three  daughters. The young girls, Faith, Hope and Love [or Charity] (in Greek: Πίστις, Ἐλπὶς καὶ Αγάπη and In Russian: Vera, Nada and Lyubov) were, as tradition tells us, only 12, 10 and 9. This story is well worth recalling and  warrants our reflection.  Each May, we in America and other countries in the world celebrate mothers, and yet on September 17 we Orthodox also look to a Christian mother for inspiration. St. Sophia and her daughters lived early in the second century after Christ during the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. They were of the patrician class. St. Sophia was widow, raising three girls on her own. She was a devout woman of faith when being a Christian was dangerous. Nonetheless, she raised her daughters to love Christ and to put their trust Him.

We all know that the love of a mother transcends our understanding. St Sophia’s love for her young girls was strengthened by her love for Our Lord.  Hadrian called for St. Sophia and her daughters to renounce their faith in Christ. To accomplish his aims he cruelly subjected each of St .Sophia’s innocent young girls to gruesome tortures trying to influence Sophia to renounce her faith. This loving mother had bolstered her daughters faith by assuring them of Christ’s love and of the glories of His heavenly kingdom. They faced their trials confidently and totally committed to Christ. No amount of torture inflicted on them could weaken their faith. From the oldest to the youngest, they accepted their trials only looking to Christ and their ultimate reward. They endured ever more pain and suffering. No amount of cruelty could weaken their commitment to Christ. Each of these innocent young girls earned the crown of martyrdom fortified by their mother’s faith and prayers. St. Sophia received the earthly remains of her beautiful daughters and gave them a Christian burial. Overcome by her grief, St Sophia died at her daughter’s graveside joining her daughters in God’s kingdom. 

This story with all its poignant details gives us the understanding that no earthly evil can separate us from the love of Christ. Each of us lives our life with Christ’s protection. Each of us must confess our faith, even under the most difficult circumstances. Each of us, as parents, have a calling to mold the faith of our children and to teach them to love Christ above all else.  Faith, Hope and Agape are examples that teach us it is not the years we are given, but how we use those years in His service. St Sophia, the loving mother, teaches us that Christ should always be the strength and foundation of our life and the  protector of our family. Holy saints of God, Sophia, Pistis, Elpis, and Agape never cease interceding for us. God bless….dn. george

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This Day of Remembrance

St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine

Today is a sober day of reflection for all Americans. As time goes by there is a natural tendency to forget events and their impact.  September 11th. should not be one of those days. We mourn the loss of so many of our fellow citizens both on that day and those that have succumb to injuries from that day. We should never forget those who perished in the infernal fires and the first responders whose courage we marveled at on that day. 

For us Orthodox Christians the day has additional significance because we lost the humble and historic church of St, Nicholas, destroyed that day. The reconstruction of St Nicholas Church has been a long time coming. It now appears that with the leadership of His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros and the generosity of many of our fellow Orthodox believers that St. Nicholas Church and National Shrine is being erected once again. We can be truly grateful to Our Lord for this blessing.

Today, I would ask you all to set aside a moment or two to remember those who sacrificed their lives and the many families that have been impacted as a result of this tragedy. 

O Lord comfort those who morn and give them your joy and

Healing!

O God of spirits and of all flesh, You trampled upon death

and abolished the power of the devil, giving life to Your world.

Give rest to the souls of Your departed servants in a place 

of light, in a place of green pasture, in a place of refreshment, 

from where pain, sorrow, and sighing have fled away. As a 

good and loving God, forgive every sin they have committed 

in word, deed, or thought, for there is no one who lives and 

does not sin. You alone are without sin. Your righteousness 

is an everlasting righteousness, and Your word is truth.

For You are the resurrection, the life, and the repose of Your 

departed servant, Christ our God, and to You we offer glory, 

with Your eternal Father who is without beginning and Your

all-holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever 

and to the ages of ages.  AMEN.

May their Memory be Eternal!

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God Save Your Church!!

    • Icons of the Church of Our Saviour of Chora

    The Holy Church of Our Saviour in the Country(Chora) – ἡ Ἐκκλησία τοῦ Ἁγίου Σωτῆρος ἐν τῇ Χώρᾳ, is one of the greatest churches and monastery complexes of Constantinople. Originally build by St. Constantine the Great and continually rebuilt and adorned from the 4th to the 14th centuries, it falls victim to the tyrannical whims of a present day dictator. All these sacred icons and more are now to be desecrated by the decree of the Turkish government. It is being established as a mosque. These steps are part of a continuous attack on the Orthodox Christian legacy of Byzantium. If you wish to be inspired by the other priceless great icons of the Church link to https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=images+and+Icons+of+Chora+Church&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

    This current persecution comes only one month after the Blessed Hagia Sophia was opened as a mosque. Let us pray most especially for Our Patriarch and the Patriarchate because these calculated moves are a direct attack on its position in Constantinople. Please take the time and write our elected representatives decrying the lack of Religious Freedom in Turkey. As an Archon of the Great Church, I urge you to stand with us to protect our Church. This effort can be assisted by educating yourself and signing a petition at: https://www.archons.org

    God Bless….dn. g

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    Simple Faith

    YiaYia
    Child

    Last Sunday, the 10th Gospel of St. Mathew spoke of faith. It reminded us that if we had the faith of a mustard seed we could move mountains. In thinking about faith, I reflected that we often hear that children are the Church of tomorrow. What dribble!  Children and young people are the Church today; but they are not alone. We all assemble as the Church. I have a problem that many of you who know me can confirm, I tend to approach faith intellectually. I read, study and search out answers. The photos that I used today illustrates that which I envy, YiaYia’s simple faith and a child’s innocent faith.

    We read in the Gospels, Our Lord says many times: “your faith has made you well.” (Mark 10, 52.) What is faith? In the 11th chapter of his Letter to the Hebrews, St. Paul has a beautiful reflection on faith. Parts of the chapter are read as Epistle readings on the Sunday of the Holy Fathers (the Sunday before The Nativity of Christ in the Flesh – Christmas) and on the Sunday of Orthodoxy (the first Sunday of Great Lent). But, I believe one of the most touching thoughts is captured in the very first sentence of St Paul’s Epistle:

    Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11, 1)

    One of the strengths of the Church is that each of us learn from one and another. It is said we are all responsible for teaching children. The beauty is that we can learn from everyone in the Church. If only we stop and try to quietly follow the examples of faith around us; it will help our own spiritual growth. YiaYia can teach all of us.  Grandma’s faith is born from years of prayer. Sittie’s trust in God gives us all an example, which will guide us.  Last Saturday, we celebrated the Dormition of the Theotokos, the Panagia is the model of the Church; remember her words: “Behold I am the handmaiden of the Lord; let it be according to your word.” ( Luke, 1, 38)  Trust in God, by putting things in His hands. YiaYia has learned the Theotokos’ simple faith; and she shows us this in her unbounded love.  As we approach faith, we must learn both from YiaYia and from our children. Children share YiaYia’s simple trust in God.  YiaYia’s trust is born from prayer, and a child’s trust is born from innocence. They are two examples from different ages of life, but are they really that dissimilar? Putting faith in God gives both, YiaYia and a child, a serene confidence and a peaceful reliance on His Love. Knowing that God loves us no matter who we are, should allow us to put our hearts at ease. We have children, YiaYia and what is more important the example of the Most Holy Theotokos to guide us. Let us declare, as did the father of the epileptic boy: “I believe; help my disbelief!” (Mark 9, 24). God Bless….dn g

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