Tag: christian

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Seeds of Martyrdom

The Lord said this parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold.” And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.” As he said these things, he cried out “He who has ears to hear, let him hear. (LUKE 8:5-15)

A seed wants to grow because of all the energy inside God plants a seed inside us that wants and strives to become holy. The seed is the word. The Word is Jesus Christ. God’s word is buried in the earth through his death. And he grows up inside us because we were buried with Christ and we rose with him. Jesus’ love and holiness grow within us, striving to produce what is holy in our thoughts and intentions. Striving to make our desires holy, to make our attitudes holy, to make our preoccupation holiness and love. The seed of the Word of God strives to make our choices, identities and our actions holy.

The seed is Jesus’ love that we see in his death on the cross. The seed is the power we see in his resurrection. The seed of Jesus the crucified and risen one pushes and strains to make our goals holy, to make our jobs places where we are holy, to make our friendships holy and lifegiving, to make our marriages holy, to make our families holy. This is the “fruit” that Jesus speaks about.

What threatens the growth of the seed? The first recipient of the seed is a Christian. But Jesus says that, “The Devil takes the word away from their hearts.” When we do not allow our longing to be sanctified, we lose our child-like faith and become distracted.

But the second group of recipients do keep the word in their hearts. They receive it with joy but do not allow the word to become their identity. Jesus is not “who they have decided to be.” He is someone who has done good things for them. They recognize that Jesus is full of love, but they have not decided to only define who they are, exclusively, by the holiness of Jesus Christ.

So they fall prey to temptation. They become of two minds. “I love Jesus,” they say, “but I have the right to do this other thing. I love Jesus but I desire what is pleasurable.”

Desire wins. We think about what we desire. We are very familiar with it in our minds, if not in our actions. We see it in our minds’ eyes. We dream of it. It feels natural. If we have not spent time imagining Jesus’ holiness to the point where it is familiar, if the holiness of Jesus has not become a home in our minds where our thoughts can settle and live, then the desires for sin that arise within us fit our identity like a hand in a glove. It just fits, so we follow that path.

The last seed in the parable dies. These are Christians who has preserved within themselves the child-like awe of knowing Jesus. They have given up their identity to Jesus. Whatever opinions and “fight” they had inside, they put it down and leave it behind to follow Jesus. They are not easily distracted by temptations because the temptations don’t fit them anymore. It’s like a glove that is too big; it falls off easily.

But life is hard. This person gets scared. It is hard to have time to go to church. It requires saying no to other things. Fear of missing out is a real fear. It is hard to make space for tithing. It is hard to prioritize community and service. It is hard to disappoint other people and explain to them, “no, I can’t do that, I have a commitment with my church.”

Who you have chosen to be Becomes a public statement. It is no longer just private. That is scary.

Jesus speaks about the wheat bringing forth “fruit.” In his language, seeds were included within the category of “fruit.” A seed-fruit has to fall off the stalk and get planted in the ground, j ust like the first seed, the seed of Jesus, the Word of God fell onto the ground. Jesus died. If our faith matures, we will die with Jesus. We will become martyrs.

When the seed of the Word of God inside us matures,  we look for any opportunity to be holy. When someone new comes into the church, we look at them and recognize this is what we have desired. This is what we have been praying for and waiting for. We have desired what Jesus desires, which is that all should be saved. All people should be included. We desire that everyone should have community and fellowship.

If we have desired this, we will have taught our children to desire this. They will recognize the opportunity immediately. When the word has matured within us, we look eagerly for the opportunity to serve, to volunteer, to participate, to give and to build.

When we have allowed Jesus to our identity, our choices take on a natural and determined holiness. We get in the habit of holiness. We become urgently concerned to discard anything that doesn’t fit; any sins of thought, word and deed We have to run to confession to get rid of them because they don’t fit with who we have decided to be.

We are not easily offended by people in the church. Because our identity is serving and building the church. We are not choked by our pride. When we are watchful, we see the moment when it comes, the moment for martyrdom.

It’s like the person who watches for the perfect sale at the clothing store. When she sees it’s half-off, she swoops in and pounces, buying three dresses for herself and a sweater for her sister, who isn’t as good at finding sales.

The martyr seeks the right opportunity to use what God has given them. For example, they can sponsor a refugee. They see a need to foster a child. The church needs to get over the hump financially, and this person gives a much bigger gift than they have ever given before.

This is a Christian who recognizes that the desire they have had for giving something deeply personal, the desire to truly sacrifice, can now be fulfilled. The right moment came along.

Such a moment is an opportunity that only God can orchestrate. The person who has allowed Jesus to completely recreate their desires, thoughts, choices, identity and habits: this person will recognize it right away.

God has given us reminders to help us recognize these possibilities. We have reminders surrounding us. Here. We have a great host of examples of people who have answered that call. That is why we have icons. The icons show us people who were just Christians. The moment for martyrdom came, and they were prepared. The moment for service to the Church came along. The moment of great personal sacrifice came, and they had equipped themselves with the word of God in their hearts. God opened a door for them. They walked through it into holiness.

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Offering the Bread of Life

“Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

The Jews came to the Lord and said, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

“       Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

         “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

         Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

         At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

         “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

         Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

         Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

         On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

         Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

         From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

         “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

         Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

         Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve?”

(John 6:27–70)

In the Gospel of John, this story comes immediately after the stories of the feeding of the five thousand and Jesus walking on the water. The crowd speaking to Jesus saw the feeding of the five thousand. They did not see him walk on the water, but they were puzzled that he could be on the other side of the lake without a boat. They come to investigate. Jesus tells them, “You are only interested in me because I do practical things for you.”

Jesus knew that he was “suspected” of being the Messiah. They wondered if they should make him a king after he fed the people. His reply to them was “You’re only interested in food,” but it was actually a roundabout way of saying, “You want me to create a new nation. You want me to resolve conflicts and bring peace and the rule of law and prosperity to our people. You want me to rescue the nation. You want me to be the messiah as you have imagined him.

I, however, want to give you something else – something from God. I do want to rescue you, but not in the way you imagine it.”

So they ask, “What should our vision be then? What kind of new nation are you going to create? How does it work?”

Jesus says, “Following me and trusting me is the new law and the new way of living. You must see me as your only hope. Then, you will be part of my new nation – the people of God. Being one with me is the solution to all your problems.”

They ask Jesus for a sign. We could express their question like this: “Can you prove that you truly are the one who is going to save our nation? Is there some kind of divine proof, like when God rescues the Israelites out of Egypt?” Incidentally the feeding of the five thousand happened right around the time of the Passover, according to John. All the miracles, plagues, parting of the Red Sea etc., these were called “signs” in the Old Testament. After the Passover, the people ask Jesus for a “sign.”  

Jesus had just multiplied the loaves and fish and fed the five thousand! And they want him to convince them now by another miracle. Jesus says, “You have to make up your mind. At some point, it becomes evident that you don’t want to understand.”

The people talking to Jesus did not want to understand that the only possible explanation for Jesus’ miracles was that he truly was the Son of God. No one else could have done what he did. But if these people recognized his divinity, they would have to allow him to teach them and reshape their expectations.

When do we not want to understand? We love the stories of the lives of the saints. We don’t love the lifestyle of obedience, faithfulness, and prayer that those saints lived. Do we want to understand that the former is dependent on the latter? We pretend that faith is a matter of dogmatic statements and incense.

We pretend that we can separate theology from our mundane calling to make our spouses feel loved even when they are not acting like someone who deserves to be loved. When someone has hurt our pride and doesn’t give us the recognition we think we deserve, where is our unshakable belief in Christ’s way at that moment? We don’t want to understand that serving and forgiving others is the greatest miracle possible. We want “the divine” brought to us on a platter at a convenient time.

What the people in the gospel story needed was to go from being the people for whom miracles are done, to being the people who follow their God into the desert. At the first Passover, God invited his people to a meal in which they would eat the Passover lamb. They would paint the blood of that lamb on the doorposts of their houses, and wait for their God to deliver them.

Now, Jesus offers the same invitation, even though few of them would have the patience to accept it. In his Passover, the new Passover, the true Pascha, Jesus offers his flesh and blood. We offer our lives together with his. That is the great miracle, the sign that saves the world.

That meal is the place where the people for whom God has done wonders (previously the plagues in Egypt, at this time the healing of the blind and the casting out of demons), become the people who follow God and learn his commandments. Previously the people followed Moses into the desert on their way to the promised land. Jesus invites us to follow him on the road to the cross.

We know about this story, but we are often forgetful. What can we do to rediscover a sense of wonder at this calling? How can we see the difficult road to the cross as a miraculous sign of God’s strength? Can we be dumbfounded at the miracle that God has called us to drive the speed limit? God called me to do the dishes: Oh great wonder! How can we see this narrow path as miraculous, to the point where it pushes all ambivalence away?

The crowd that listened to Jesus expected their Messiah to recreate the ancient nation of Israel. Jesus says, “I am not going to call you into a geographical area to be a nation in the usual sense. I will perform a miraculous intervention in your life, but it will not be what you expect.

I am going to call you to be one with me. That is how you will be the invincible and blessed people of God.”

Jesus says, “How does God save his people? He sends me. I am what God is giving you. I am the bread of life. You can live and prosper if you have me.”

And he goes even further. “You must eat my body and drink my blood!”

Consider for a moment that Jesus teaches about the Eucharist to people who refuse to acknowledge the power of his miracles. God not only teaches us about the holy Mystery of the Eucharist, he also invites us to receive his holy body and blood – even though we do not always acknowledge his divinity with our actions, attitudes and words. Jesus offered his teaching and his miracles to people who were ambivalent about him at best. He allows himself to be received into the house of a sinner. In our case, he accepts being received into the house of our bodies though we are full of sin and faithlessness. This is his extreme humility and self-emptying. And the self-emptying is the proof of his Divinity. His love and patience is his awesome power! That is the sign that Jesus promises his people.

What kind of miracle happens in the Eucharist?  Someone baked the bread we use in communion. You gave tithes to buy the wine and to pay for this building. Someone built the iconostasis. The choir showed up to sing. You showed up to pray. These are all divine miracles. The power of God to make humans holy is a miracle. Jesus describes the miracles with these words (go back and read the passage slowly): Come to me. Believe. “Look to me,” which means we rely on him. Be drawn (up) by the Father. We are taught and hear the Father. We eat!

The miracle is that God is working inside of you so that you may offer the sacrifice of the Eucharist. You and I offer these things to God. God sends down His holy spirit upon us and upon the gifts spread forth. The miracle is not only in the presence of Christ in the bread and wine, the healing is not only in your receiving it. The fact that you offer it is also a miracle. When you obey your calling to offer it, that is also healing for you. The miracle is both Jesus’ sacrifice that we partake of, and also your sacrifice. That is what happens when we receive the body and blood of Christ.

This is eternal life. This is theosis. Eternal life is offering your work, time and worship. Eternal life is a clean heart that Christ has created in you. Eternal life is coming back time and time again to that which is your only hope, receiving something that you cannot receive anywhere else: oneness with God and the presence of God within you.

Eternal life is saying “Where else can we go?” Jesus gives us moments of crisis in our life where we have to choose. We need moments when it’s do or die; moments that put you up against the wall and say, “make up your mind.”

Jesus’ teaching about the Eucharist at that moment, in that place, to those people, was just such a “make up your mind” moment. Most of the people left. But the ones who stayed came to the realization – you might say they received the revelation – that they had nowhere else to go!

You are in dire need of a crisis. You need to be put in a position of being forced to choose. You need to find out that Jesus really is your only hope. Whatever challenges God sends you, and whatever makes you suddenly “find religion,” this is for your salvation. That helps you not to be of two minds.

Then you have an easier time believing that the hard work God is calling you to is the only hope you have. Giving is the only hope you have. Faithfulness is the only hope you have. These are the words of eternal life that Jesus gave his disciples. This is what no one beside Jesus can offer us.

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2024 Autumn Youth Retreat in Alberta

November 8-11, 2024
Thank you for your interest in participating in the Autumn Pan-Orthodox Youth Retreat!
With the blessing of Fr. Phillip Eriksson, rector at Holy Martyr Peter the Aleut Orthodox Church in Calgary, we are hosting a pan-Orthodox grade 7-12 youth retreat on November 8-11, 2024.

Our hope is to provide an additional opportunity for Orthodox youth in various jurisdictions
across western Canada to gather for a weekend of fellowship and learning.

Location

Salem Acres Bible Camp
Elnora, AB (1 hr. east of Red Deer)

Arrival

Friday, November 8
Between 6:00-7:00 PM

Departure

Monday, November 11
Between 10:00-11:00 AM

Youth Information Package
Youth Registration Form
Volunteer Information Package
Volunteer Registration Form

Contact Emily Schwanke at youth@saintpeter.ca if you have questions, or need further information.

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Fall Retreat at St. Vincent’s, 2024

November 22-23

Be Who You Are in the Body of Christ

Mother Melania, Abbess of Holy Assumption Monastery, California

Sessions

  • Friday 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
  • Saturday 9:30 am – 3:30 pm lunch provided
  • Saturday Youth Time 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Please RSVP for lunch by contacting Sarah S.

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Orthodox Christian life is liturgy.

An Orthodox Christian is responsible for saving the world. We do this by joining our lives to the life of the Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ. We are part of the body of Christ who is always saving the world.

In order to save the world, Orthodox Christians provide their community with life-giving worship. We provide a holy space, liturgical services and a community life. We keep a flame burning at the end of the candle.

We hire a priest. We bear the expenses of owning the building. We offer our time and our work. We cultivate the life of Jesus in our hearts and homes through prayer, fasting, giving and learning. All of this brings about worship here in our city. That will save the world. We listen to the words of St. Saraphim of Sarov (a Russian monk who lived in the 1800’s) who said, “acquire the spirit of peace and a thousand souls around you will be saved.”

We call our worship and our work liturgy. The word liturgy is Greek, and means the “work of the people” or the “work on behalf of the people.” In ancient Greece, a leading citizen of a city who was the head of a large family would be called upon to fund a new public amenity. This was a “liturgy.” Or perhaps he was obligated to pay for one week’s cycle of sacrifices to the gods on behalf of the city in order to ensure the gods’ protection. That was also a “liturgy.” It was his duty as a citizen of means to provide that which benefited the whole city.

We, of course, believe in one God. Our God who saves us in order to enable us to become worshippers in spirit and in truth. Our God invites us to his Liturgy. When Jesus died, he was offering his life and his death as a liturgy. When Orthodox Christians meet together to pray to our God, we are adding our lives to the Divine Liturgy.

Today, when we use the word liturgy, we are usually talking about the Sunday service that culminates in communion. Technically, funerals and weddings are also liturgies, but normally we mean the eucharist. We offer bread and wine as a sacrifice to God along with all the work we do to make the liturgy happen. In return, Jesus gives us that which he sacrificed: his body and blood. Every time we add our offerings to the timeless offering of Christ, this benefits everyone in the whole world, especially the people who receive the communion directly.

In Liturgy we offer God:

Our minds
When we encounter each new situation in life, we encounter it with our minds. So our minds must be healed from the corruption of sin. By praying the words of the Church we start to think like the Church. By reading the Bible we start to think like the Bible. We start to think like Jesus. We act more like Jesus. We live like Jesus and we die like Jesus. By reading the lives of the saints, we start to have the attitude of the saints. A life of prayer and worship moulds our minds and makes us holy, so that our actions in every new situation may be holy.

Our time
We attend church as often as possible. Church is the gas station where we fill up our tank. You do not know when you may be called upon, as a fellow sojourner in the next seat. Perhaps you will be the one whose kindness and listening are needed. Perhaps you have the words that need to be spoken in that moment. You might make all the difference just by being there and being available. But you are not available if you are not there.

Our money
No one pays the church’s bills except us the members. Giving to God is an act of great faith, and it helps the giver to become bold in prayer.

Our conscience
We offer our conscience to God. We ask for forgiveness constantly. We confess our sins (to a priest) as often as possible. We find hope in learning more about our own shortcomings because then we can cooperate with the work of the Holy Spirit which heals us and changes our attitudes and our habits. As a result, we cause others less pain and sorrow.

Our hearts
By investing our energy in prayer, confession, worship and work, we grow to be emotionally invested in the Kingdom of God. We begin to long for other people to find the same hope. We feel this longing deeply. We become like family with the other people in the church. In the Divine Liturgy, the priest says, “let us lift up our hearts.” And we answer, “we lift them up unto the Lord.”

The one who loves is taking a great risk. We take the risk of being grieved when those we love are hurt. That is the cost of loving in a corrupted world. Jesus paid the cost of his infinite love for us who are dying, by entering the grave with us. He calls us to the same work. We weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15).

We offer our heart’s hope. The more we come to church, the more we find that we have become dependent the Divine Liturgy for our peace of mind and wellbeing. We deliberately foster a dependence on God. God becomes our only hope. And many of the things we used to hope in are of no use to us now. We are no longer trying to love two masters (Matthew 6:25), but love the one master who said, “abide in me.” (John 15:4)

Orthodox Christian life is a gift of love which we give to God. We pray, “thine own of thine own we offer unto thee in behalf of all and for all.” We do this not because God needs it from us, but because this is the only way truly to be alive. Life that is truly human, fulfilling, healthy and joyful is the life of a person who offers this sacrifice to God together with the rest of the church.

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