tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59912478409005747292024-03-13T15:56:00.096-04:00Agape"Whenever physical hunger turned cruel against me, I found my gratification in prayer. Whenever the biting cold of winter was unkind to me, I found my warmth in prayer. Whenever people were harsh to me (and their harshness was severe indeed) I found my comfort in prayer. In short, prayer became my food and my drink, my outfit and my armor, whether by night or by day." Fr. Matta El Meskeen (Matthew the Poor)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.comBlogger180125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-59618028264755856952017-12-03T21:00:00.000-05:002017-12-03T21:00:12.558-05:00The Hersey of Clericalism<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In short, clericalism is <i>de facto</i> denial of the Church as the Body of Christ, for in the body all organs are related and different only in their functions, but not in their essence. And the more clericalism “clericalizes” (the traditional image of the bishop or the priest – emphasized by his clothes, hair, e.g., the bishop in full regalia!), the more the Church itself becomes more worldly; spiritually submits itself to this world…Fr. Alexander Schmemann, Taken from his Journals, Page 310. </td></tr>
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Growing up I was taught that a liturgy can never be celebrated without the active presence of the laity. As I began to ponder this point it began to make sense to me. However, I did not see it the other way around, which is to say, if we do have the laity but the "priest is not present" then the celebration of the liturgy cannot go on. This understanding is simply not true. It is the people who make up the church and it is the gathering of the people that allow for the celebration of the liturgy to take place.<br />
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What is clericalism? Clericalism is the idea that elevates ordained priests to some "higher" position within the church. People are sold on the fact that priests are not "normal humans", that they possess special "powers" acquired on the day of ordination, and based on the power given to them are separated from the rest of the church community. I do believe these ideas may be correct in some instances. I also believe the priests receive divine grace from God however in understanding what this means we have overturned the definition and misunderstood the priesthood entirely.<br />
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Many believe the liturgy is something that the priest "does". The priest becomes the provider of services (i.e. Liturgy, Baptisms, Marriages etc) and the people come to partake of these services because somehow the work of the priest allows them to be present for the liturgy or baptism etc. This is simply a misunderstanding that breeds the culture of clericalism that is alive within many church communities today. Even the language and attitudes people have towards these services deepen the divide between community and individualism which gives life to clericalism. For example, people "order various services" (i.e. Baptism) by making an appointment with the priest and make sure to invite there "close" friends and completing the service in isolation of the wider community. Everything that church provides and gives is bestowed on behalf of all and for all. Individualism and isolation is the starting point of empowering the priests to a level that deems "special status", while somehow the laity is on a "lower" level than the priest. Some people do understand they must participate in the life of the Church when they involve the entire community. But many lay people treat the church as a shop of spells and the priest is the one dispensing them.<br />
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Contrary to what you may believe, priests do not possess anything that the church does not possess. The royal priesthood, which is mentioned at large in the book of Hebrews and 1 Peter (2.9) applies not only to the priest but to all who are in the body of Christ. The body of Christ can be partaken of by all who come and see and taste from the bread which gives life to all. Therefore, the priesthood cannot "exist" outside of the church, instead, the priesthood is a quality based on what the church has given to us and in giving us the body of Christ we are then called to be the priesthood for the life of the world. If we understand the priesthood as a natural way of life, given to us by the church, then the liturgy also become the function of the church as a way to restore life and not something that is performed for 3 hours on a Sunday morning. The Liturgy is the life of the church in union with Christ and not a product produced by the clergy and purchased by the laity. The liturgy has no price! The liturgy is the gathering of the people united in love which is lived out for all who come and taste the beauty of all that is good.<br />
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Sadly, the way religious services are organized today is reduced to a show at the expense of the laity. Private prayers are done out of sight not allowing the laity to participate in the active service. Of course, the people should be praying during the service, and we usually conclude that this is how the people are active in the service. Consider the following: if a priest is not serving and is simply praying in the church during the liturgy officiated by another priest, we say the priest is <b>not serving</b>, even if he takes communion. This is the status of the laity in our churches: they are <b>not serving</b>.<br />
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It is true that a priest cannot serve the liturgy alone, but the "where two or three are gathered together" clause requires only one chanter in addition to the priest and this fulfills the rule. Imagine if we require a larger group in order to celebrate the liturgy. People would feel responsible to be in church in order for the liturgy to take place. The laity would feel a sense obligation to be in the church in order for the liturgy to take place. Think of the liturgy as a family gathers for a dinner. Can the dinner take place if one member of the family is not present? The dinner can proceed on but it would not have the same feeling. Everyone would be talking about the one missing family member. Can this rule also apply to the liturgy? If we can change our mindset about the liturgy, beginning with the process of the faithful coming together, with God's children answering the call of the Father and gathering like olive shoots around His table (Psalm 128:3), alive, growing, producing fruit, and connected to one root. The idea that the liturgy begins with my willful act of manifesting my membership in the church by gathering together with my family in Christ for the common work of the liturgy may become more real for the laity.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-22312986585910335042016-08-01T14:38:00.001-04:002016-08-01T14:38:44.422-04:00Challenges of A Psychotherapists<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"In my early professional years I was asking the question: How can I treat, or cure, or change this person? Now I would phrase the question in this way: How can I provide a relationship which this person may use for his own personal growth?" - Carl Rogers. </td></tr>
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I have had many people ask me about what I do in the hospital and I have posted previously (scroll down in the older posts) about my role as a chaplain. Another role that Chaplains have or another hat we wear is the hat of a Psychotherapist. Psycho what? Yep! Psychotherapist!<br />
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Thinking about seeing a therapist but confused about the different titles? Psychiatrist, psychologist, psychoanalyst, psychotherapist. Point being is that there are a lot of psychos in the world :) So what is a Psychotherapist?<br />
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A Psychotherapist is really an umbrella term for any professional who is trained to treat people for their emotional problems. Depending upon their academic degree and clinical training, a Psychotherapist can be a Psychiatrist, Psychologist, Social Work, or Chaplain (among others), and work with individuals, couples, groups, families, communities to help navigate them with the emotional distress present. We use many different techniques to assess and provide different interventions. Many models of assessment and interventions are present so I won't unpack them all here but I would like to touch upon one point; the challenges a Psychotherapist faces. Our work can be demanding and sometimes we don't see "results" (whatever that means) immediately. According to Joyce Marter, a Psychotherapist, she believes the challenging to maintain a happy medium between letting clients rinse and repeat unhealthy patterns can be a challenge:<br />
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">One of the
most challenging aspects of conducting therapy is finessing the balance between
meeting clients where they are at and also encouraging them to grow. I believe
we all unconsciously recreate patterns in our life that are familiar to us as a
way of working through our issues.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">When a
client presents for therapy, I will honor their emotional experience and
reflect empathy as a way for them to express and release feelings that may be preventing
them from moving forward. I will gently but directly encourage them to identify
themes and patterns in their life that are no longer working for them.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">When
clients are ready to make positive change[s] in their lives, they will learn
from these insights and empower themselves to choose roles and relationships
that promote wellness, happiness and success in their lives.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">However,
sometimes we need to repeat these patterns over and over until we are ready to
look within ourselves and make the changes. It is difficult when clients focus
on others (who they cannot control) and continue to cycle in a way that is
self-limiting.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">It is at
these times that I need to practice healthy detachment with love–the ability to
unplug from my clients’ stuff and understand that they are exactly where they
should be in their journey and they will make positive changes only when they
are ready.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">I often
refer to the Serenity Prayer, which is, “God, grant me the serenity to accept
the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can and the
wisdom to know the difference.” This reminds me that I should focus on
everything that is within my power as a therapist, such as providing empathy,
compassion, insight, interpretations, coaching on how to change self-talk and
perspective, and increase copings skills and awareness through
psycho-education.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">I need to
continually remind myself to let go of that which I cannot control, such as the
clients’ responses, behaviors, progress, etc. I remember when I was in graduate
school, a beloved professor of mine said, “Joyce, you are very good at being
empathic and breathing people’s stuff in. You need to remember to breathe it
out.” Her words were very wise and I reflect on them daily as I continue to
grow as a clinician.</span></i></div>
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Creating positive change is taxing on the people you provide support to. And, naturally, it is also emotionally draining for clinicians. Christian Hibbert, a clinical Psychologist and postpartum mental health expert, tries her best to prevent emotional overwhelm as she summarizes in the following: </div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "inherit" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">For me,
the toughest part about doing therapy with a client is ensuring I do not get
consumed with the emotional drain. I strive to be fully present with my
clients, to listen carefully and feel what they are feeling. Empathy and
connection in the therapeutic relationship is key to helping the client make
change, and it is rewarding to get to know these wonderful people in such a
deep and intimate way.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "inherit" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">However,
it can also be very draining. I used to work longer days and I would come home
depleted, with little left for my family’s needs. But now I work shorter days,
which helps keep my energy levels up.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "inherit" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">I also
prepare myself before sessions through deep breathing and visualization
techniques that help me feel prepared to be with my clients, to empathize and
feel with them while they’re there with me, but to also leave it all in my
office when I go home.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "inherit" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">I don’t
let the emotional experiences “stick” to me like I used to, and that makes
doing therapy so much healthier for me, which makes me a better psychologist
for my clients.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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This was just a tad bit of what a Psychotherapist is and what it is that we do. Our work can look different depending on the place of work and the environment we find ourselves. However, one thing is certain with all Psychotherapist; the care of the human being is what pushes us to be present with everyone we come into contact with! </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-84988417776318501392016-03-26T15:09:00.004-04:002016-03-26T15:09:46.473-04:00Faith: The Place of Mystery <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I've been reading Brene brown's book "The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who you Think You're Supposed to be and Embrace who you Are". Dr. Brown is a social worker and is a research professor at the University of Houston. This book focuses on vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame, shared ten guideposts on the power of wholehearted living-a way of engaging with the world from a place of worthiness. I recommend this book to any who's felt down at any point in life. This passage on faith touched me and I hope you enjoy it as I did.<br />
__________________________________________________________<br />
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I've come to realize that faith and reason are not natural enemies. It's our human need for certainty and our need to "be right" that have pitted faith and reason against each other in an almost reckless way. We force ourselves to choose and defend one way of knowing the world at the expense of the other.<br />
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I understand that faith and reason can clash and create uncomfortable tensions-those tensions play out in my life, and I can feel them in my bones. But this work has forced me to see that it's our fear of the unknown and our fear of being wrong that create most of our conflict and anxiety. We need both faith and reason to make meaning in an uncertain world.<br />
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I can't tell you how many time I've heard the terms <i>having faith</i> and <i>my faith</i> in my interviews with men and women who are living the wholehearted journey. At first I thought that faith meant "there's a reason for everything". I personally struggled with that because I'm not comfortable with using God or faith or spirituality to explain tragedy. It actually feels like substituting certainty for faith when people say, "There's a reason for everything".<br />
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But I quickly learned from the interviews that faith meant something else to these people. Here's how I define <i>faith</i> based on the research interviews:<br />
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<i>Faith is a place of mystery, where we find the courage to believe in what we cannot see and the strength to let go of our fear of uncertainty. </i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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I also learned that it's not always the scientists who struggle with faith and the religious who fully embrace uncertainty. Many forms of fundamentalism and extremism are about choosing certainty over faith. </div>
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I love this from theologian Richard Rohr: "My scientist friends have come up with the things like 'principles of uncertainty' and dark holes. They're willing to live inside imagined hypotheses and theories. But many religious folks insist on <i>answers</i> that are always <i>true</i>. We love closure, resolution and clarity, while thinking that we are people of 'faith'! How strange that the very word 'faith' has come to means its exact opposite". </div>
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<br /></div>
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Faith is essential when we decide to live and love with our whole hearts in a world where most of us want assurances before we risk being vulnerable and getting hurt. To say, "I'm going to engage wholeheartedly in my life" requires believing without seeing. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Brene Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who you Think You're Supposed to be and Embrace who you Are. Pages 90-91. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-31863926404543145042015-12-22T19:25:00.000-05:002015-12-22T19:25:33.345-05:00The Joy that allows for a Peaceful Death<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The following is a excerpt from Henri Nouwen's On Dying and Caring. He speaks about two kinds of joy and paints an image of what it means to die a peaceful death. I hope this resonates with all of you as it did with me.<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Two of the
greatest joys experienced are the joy of being different from others and the
joy of being the same as others. The first of these I saw while watching the
1992 Olympics in Barcelona on television. Those who stood on the rostrum and
received their bronze, silver, and gold medals experienced joy as the direct
result of being able to run faster, jump higher, or throw farther than others.
The difference might have been extremely small, but it had great significance.
It was the distinction between defeat and victory, between rueful tears and
ecstatic joy. This is the joy of the hero and the star, the joy that comes from
successfully competing, winning the prize, receiving the honor, and walking
into the limelight. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I know this joy
myself. I know it from getting an award at school, from being chosen the leader
of my class, from receiving tenure at the university, and from seeing my books
published and receiving honorary degrees. I know the immense satisfaction that
comes from being considered different from others. These types of achievements
dispel self-doubts and bestow self-confidence. This is the joy having “made
it”, the joy of being recognized for making a difference. We all wait for this
joy somewhere, somehow. It remains the joy of the one who said, “I thank you God,
that I am not like everyone else” (Luke 18:11-12). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The other kind
of joy is harder to describe but easier to find. It is the joy of being the
brother or sister of all people. Although this joy is closer at hand-more
accessible-than the joy of being different, it is not as obvious, and only a
few people ever truly find it. This is the joy of being a part of that vast
variety of people-of all ages, colors, and religions-who together form the
human family. This is the immense joy of being a member of the human race. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">At several times
in my life, I have tasted this joy. I felt it most acutely in 1964, when I
walked with thousands of people in Alabama from Selma to Montgomery in a civil
rights march led by Martin Luther King, Jr. I will never forget the joy I
experienced during that march. I had come by myself. Nobody knew me-nobody had
ever heard of me-but when we walked together and put our arms around each
other’s shoulders and sang “We shall overcome one day,” I experienced a joy I
had never experienced before in my life. I said to myself, “Yes, yes, I belong;
these are my people. They may have different way of life, but they are my
brothers and sisters. They love me, and I love them. Their smiles and tears are
my smiles and tears; their prayers and prophecies are my prayers and
prophecies; their anguish and hope are my anguish and hope. I am one with
them”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In an instant,
all differences seemed to melt away as snow in the sun. All my comparing
disappeared, and I felt surrounded by the welcoming arms of all humanity. I was
aware that some of the people with whom I held hands had spent years in prison,
were addicted to drugs or alcohol, suffered from loneliness and depression, and
lived lives radically different from mine, but they all looked to me like saints,
radiant with God’s love. They were indeed God’s people, immensely loved and
radically forgiven. All I felt was a deep sameness, a profound communion with
all people, an exhilarating sense of brotherhood and sisterhood. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I am convinced
that it is this joy-the joy of being the same as others, of belonging to one
human family-that allows us to die well. I do not know how I or anyone else
could be prepared to die if we were mainly concerned about trophies we had
collected during our best years. The great gift hidden in our saying is the
gift of unity with all people. However different we are, we were all born
powerless, as we all die powerless, and the little differences we live in
between dwindle in the light of this enormous truth. Often this human truth is
presented as a reason to be sad. It is not seldom called a “sobering truth”.
Our greatest challenge is to discover this truth as a source of immense joy
that will set us free to embrace our mortality with the awareness that we will
make our passage to new life in solidarity with all the people of the earth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">A good death is
a death in solidarity with others. To prepare ourselves for a good death, we
must develop or deepen this sense of solidarity. If we live toward death as
toward an event that separates us from people, death cannot be other than a sad
and sorrowful event. But if we grow in awareness that our mortality, more than
anything else, will lead us into solidarity with others, then death can become
a celebration of our unity with the human race. Instead of separating us from
others, death can unite us with others; instead of being sorrowful, it can give
rise to new joy; instead of simply ending life, it can begin something new. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Henri Nouwen, Our Greatest Gift: A Meditation on Dying and Caring, Pages
21-24.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-67676795043865007712015-11-12T08:55:00.000-05:002015-11-12T15:17:53.672-05:00What Does it Mean to Forgive? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://musicplusfaith.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Forgive.png" height="265" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a permanent attitude". Martin Luther King Jr.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The following is passage from Jean Vanier's book, "Becoming Human". This section is taken from the final chapter on, "Forgiveness". <br />
____________________________<br />
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">To forgive is to break
down the walls of hostility that separate us, and to bring each other out of
the anguish of loneliness, fear, and chaos into communion and oneness. This
communion is born from mutual trust and acceptance, and the freedom to be
ourselves in our uniqueness and beauty, the freedom to exercise our gifts. We
are no longer contained and held back by fear, prejudices, or the need to prove
ourselves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So the sense of
belonging that is necessary for the opening of our hearts is born when we walk
together, needing each other, accompanying one another whether we are weak or
strong, capable or not. This belonging will not bring feelings or superiority
if we are walking towards inner freedom. It will not seek to exclude but to
include the weak, the needy, and the different, for they have a secret power
that opens up people’s hearts and leads them to compassion and mutual trust.
This belonging becomes a song of gratitude for each one of us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Of course, all this
takes time. But are we not all called to take this journey if we want to become
fully human, to conquer divisions and oppression, and to work for peace? If each
one of us today begins this journey and has the courage to forgive and be
forgiven, we will no longer be governed by past hurts. Wherever we may be-in
our families, our work places, with friends, or in places of worship or of
leisure-we can rise up and become agents of a new land. But let us not put our
sights too high. We do not have to be saviours of the world! We are simply
human beings, enfolded in weakness and in hope, called together to change our
world one heart at a time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Jean Vanier, Becoming Human,
Forgiveness, Pages 162-163. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-14880961432763876302015-10-09T14:23:00.000-04:002015-10-09T14:23:04.889-04:00The Path to Freedom<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-ved="0CAcQjRxqFQoTCPjY6YH7tcgCFYwzPgoddkEAag" href="http://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRxqFQoTCPjY6YH7tcgCFYwzPgoddkEAag&url=http%3A%2F%2Flonemoon89.deviantart.com%2Fart%2FThe-path-to-freedom-83786581&bvm=bv.104819420,d.cWw&psig=AFQjCNEdO-14kh5gjqR1MYnsHBKgS0Fa-g&ust=1444499563940624" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border: 0px currentColor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img height="300" id="irc_mi" src="http://img14.deviantart.net/7177/i/2008/115/d/3/the_path_to_freedom_by_lonemoon89.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Being human is difficult. Becoming a human is a life long process. To be truly human is a gift." Abraham Heschel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The following is a passage from Jean Vanier's book, "Becoming Human". This section is taken from the chapter, "The Path to Freedom". <br />
_____________________________<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">To be free is to know
who we are, with all that is beautiful, all the brokenness in us; it is to love
our own values, to embrace them, and to develop them; it is to be anchored in a
vision and a truth but also to be open to others and, so, to change. Freedom
lies in discovering that the truth is not a set of fixed certitudes but a
mystery we enter into, one step at a time. It is a process of going deeper and
deeper into an unfathomable reality. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In this journey of
integrating our experience and our values, and of what we might learn we listen
to others, there may be a period of anguish. We need to find links between the
old and the new, links that will permit the integration of new,
consciousness-expanding truths into what we already know and are living-our existing
certitudes. As human sciences develop and the world evolves, we are called to
grow into a new and deeper understanding of the source of the universe and of
life. As we participate in this, our sense of the true expands. Freedom is to
be in awe of this source, of the beauty and diversity of people, and of the
universe. It is to contemplate the height and breadth of all that is true. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Freedom is to accept
that when we belong to a group, a race, a tribe, a family, a community, a
religion, that none of these are perfect, that each has its limits and
weaknesses. Every community of humans has its light and its darkness. We are
all part of something greater than ourselves. We all flow from a source that is
unfathomable and we are all journeying towards it, carrying with us the light
of truth and love. Each of us is called to be in communion with the source and
heart of the universe. The infinite yearnings of our hearts are calling us to
be in communion with the infinite. None of us can be satisfied with the limited
and finite. Each cone must be free to follow the Spirit of God. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And this freedom is for
love and compassion, to give our lives more totally and more freely to others.
It is the freedom to be kind and patient. This freedom does not seek personal honours;
it believes all, hopes all, bears all, and endures all. Freedom does not judge
or condemn but understands and forgives. Freedom is the liberation from all
those inner fears and inhibitions and that we need to ask forgiveness of those
we have hurt. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">There is a freedom that
I sense exists but that I do not have. I cannot always describe it but I do
want it. I sense I still have a long road to walk in order to reach this
freedom. I see the goal but I am not yet there. I love and want it but
sometimes I am frightened on the road I must take. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I am frightened of the
disappearance of my walls of defense, sensing that behind them there is an
anguish and a vulnerability that will rise up. I see that I still cling to what
people think of me and am fed by the way people love, want, and admire me. If
all that fell away, who would I be? But that is where freedom lies, the freedom
to be rejected, if that is the path I am to take in order to live more fully.
Is that not the freedom that Jesus announces in his charter of the Beatitudes,
when he says, “Woe to you when people speak well of you”? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Jean Vanier, Becoming
Human, The Path to Freedom, Pages 117-119. </span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-54112702523476452662015-08-28T18:00:00.001-04:002015-08-28T18:00:23.232-04:00Belonging <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<img src="https://achristianpilgrim.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/henri-j-m-nouwen-quote.jpg" /></div>
<br />
The last entry looked at how we as humans can use strength and weakness to live with others. Becoming human is a struggle of finding your strength in weakness. For the following entry I would like to look at belonging and what it means to belong. Living in Canada this can be a difficult task because of the multicultural environment we find ourselves living in. Toronto is culturally the most diverse city in the world. What does it mean to belong?<br />
<br />
Belonging, like anything else, can be a place of opening up as well as a place of closing in. It is a place where we discover what makes our humanity. Family, language, humanhood, culture, food, communication, love and respect for others sums up this notion of belonging. If we accept this then we must accept that at the heart of belonging, is the fact that, we have received our existence from others and need to grow and develop as individuals, physically, psychologically, and humanly. <br />
<br />
Let's use the example of a child to see how a child can become a product of the society that we build around ourselves. Belonging is not an individual act but involves an entire group. The child goes to school, shares in the life of the community, and discovers a wider sense of belonging with others from the same city, region, country, religion, language and culture. Sometimes the child meets people who are different, strangers, people with disabilities, immigrants, people from different religious backgrounds etc. The child will quickly pick up, through the adults attitude whether such people are to be accepted and loved or ignored, or even ostracized because they do not belong. And so from a young age we learn, without realizing it, that those who are different, those who standout, are either acceptable or dangerous. <br />
<br />
When a child acquires a language and learns how to relate to adults, to friends, to God, when he learns the customs and values that have been taught to him through his culture, how to deal with death, pain, sorrow, he cannot but think that what he has been taught is the only way of being and living. As children we learn that there is a right way and a wrong way of doing everything. We do not ask questions instead, we obey. As we grow to adulthood we begin to questions the values learned during our childhood. This is why many adults and youth go through a crisis of faith and of trust. Belonging begins from day one. We must constantly seek to grow our humanity by accepting everyone as a human being. "Differences" should never be a factor in accepting others. Let us cultivate a society that nurtures the ideals of love and acceptance no matter how one looks, talks, or eats. To be a human is to belong and to belong is to love all without any pretext or conditions. Love is at the heart of belonging and once we belong to a community we learn to love unconditionally. <br />
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-65119360762961841682015-08-12T17:37:00.000-04:002015-08-12T17:37:06.681-04:00Strength in Weakness<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<img src="http://www.larchedaybreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/JV-Quote.jpg" height="352" width="640" /></div>
<br />
The last entry looked at the humanistic approach involved in Chaplaincy. I would like to expand this and speak on what it means to be weak and how this relates to becoming a human being. Becoming human is a title for many books written in the last century. Authors like Jean Vanier, John Behr and Olivier Clement have written on what it means to become a human. Becoming human, I can define from reading these books, is based on the idea of constantly seeking the good and beautiful in all that we do. In order to seek the good and beautiful we must however understand that, in order to find beauty and goodness, we must come from a place of weakness.<br />
<br />
The paradox of weakness and strength can be difficult to understand. One can say, "How can I find beauty and goodness when I am lying in a hospital bed and I do not have control over the condition that has taken a hold of me?" People are infuriated by weakness that sometimes even the beautiful cry of a child can be a distraction. Weakness awakens hardness and anger in all of us. Equally dangerous, sometimes less obvious, weakness can lead people to a possessive love. However, in this mystery of weakness it can open our hearts to compassion; the place where we are concerned for the growth and well-being of the weak.<br />
<br />
I see this on many levels in the hospital. The nurse, doctor, physiotherapist, occupational therapist and many more constantly seek to help others who are in a position of weakness trying to restore them to a position of strength. To deny weakness as a part of life is to deny death, because weakness speaks to our ultimate destruction of not being in control which is death itself. To be sick or dying is a stage of weakness and as that weakness becomes more apparent we begin to deny it all together.<br />
<br />
If we deny our weakness and the reality of death by constantly seeking to be powerful and strong, then we deny part of our being creating a space of illusion, a bubble that becomes harder to break. To be a human being is to accept who we are, this mixture of strength and weakness. To be human is to be bonded to each other with our weakness and strengths, because we need each other. Lastly, weakness that is recognized, accepted and offered back is at the heart of belonging, which brings us together as a community of love.<br />
<br />
I leave you with the beautiful words of Jean Vanier. Jean Vanier published a book called Becoming Human, inspiring me to write this post. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in wanting to understand and grow their knowledge of what it means to become a human being.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Weakness carries within it a secret power. The cry and the trust that flow from weakness can open up hearts. The one who is weaker can call forth powers of love in the one who is stronger. Do those who are stronger respond with love because in an unconscious way they identify with the one who is weak? Do they, in some way, know that one day they too will be weak and will cry out for help, recognition, and love? </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Jean Vanier, Becoming Human, 40. </b></div>
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-90547323715391261402015-08-01T21:25:00.002-04:002015-08-01T21:25:20.862-04:00The Humanistic Approach to Chaplaincy <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<img height="400" src="http://www.theimperfectprincess.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/CarlRogersQuote1.jpg" width="400" /></div>
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One aspect that has really caught my attention during the last six months is a concept that has been popularized by Henri Nouwen. The wounded healer is the affirmation that all humans are wounded yet we find healing through the same wounds that make us vulnerable with each other. Henri Nouwen sums up the role of the priest, pastor, imam, rabbi, pendant etc. beautifully connecting the role to the wounded healer:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
The Christian leader, minister or priest, is not one who reveals God to the people-who gives something to those who have nothing-but one who helps those who are searching to discover reality as the source of their existence. In this sense we can say that the Christian leader leads humans to confession, in the classic sense of the word: to the basic affirmation that humans are human and God is God, and that without God, humans cannot be called human. The Wounded Healer, Page 43.<br />
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The Humanistic approach to providing care was made popular following World War 2 by Carl Rogers. Carl Rogers was an influential American psychologist and was one of the main founders of the humanistic approach (client-centered care) in the medical field. This approach seeks to understand human personalities and human relationships in order to provide counseling, psychotherapy and education to all. Rogers was found to be the 6th most eminent psychologist of the 20th century and second, among clinicians, only to Sigmund Freud. The overall understanding of the humanistic approach can be summed up in the following manner: </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
"Before every session, I take a moment to remember my humanity, there is no experience that this man or women has that I cannot share with them, no fear that I cannot understand, no suffering that I cannot care about, because I too am human. No matter how deep there wound, they do not need to be ashamed in front of me. I too am vulnerable. And because of this, I am enough. Whatever their story, they no longer need to be alone with it. This is what will allow there healing to begin". Carl Rogers. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The broken human being is the paradigm into which healing can begin. If the chaplain or any medical care provider begins to understand their own brokenness and see that it can be used as a way to heal others then this is the starting point in which everyone can be restored in that image and likeness that God intended us to be fashioned in. One aspect of the humanistic approach deals with the development of personality. The last step to be achieved in the personality development is the "rich and full life". Carl Rogers summarizes this in the following way: </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
"This process of the good life is not, I am convinced, a life for the faint-hearted. It involves the stretching and growing of becoming more and more of one's potentialities. It involves the courage to be. It means launching oneself fully into the stream of life". Carl Rogers, 1961.</div>
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Becoming a human being is a process that consists of struggles and pains. The humanistic approach speaks to this struggle and challenges us to open ourselves and become vulnerable so that we can seek healing from those who are integrated in our lives. If we cannot open up as human beings then we cannot begin to understand the struggles and the pains that our patients and loved ones go through. Becoming human involves the process of being, living and opening up ourselves to pain and sorrow. Once we open ourselves we can start to heal and become healers for everyone. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-5884072440165666032015-06-29T15:19:00.004-04:002016-10-07T19:51:27.450-04:00Spiritual and Religious Care: The Role of the Chaplain<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="400" src="https://matthewayars.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/wounded-healer-image.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="331" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h1 class="quoteText" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">
“Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.” Pema Chodron</h1>
</td></tr>
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This post has been long overdue. It sadness me when people approach me and tell me that I should give up my profession as a chaplain and pursue teaching instead. This shows me how uninformed people are about chaplaincy and what it is that a chaplain does within the medical system. I hope to use this post to dispel any of those misconceptions people might have and I hope if anyone has any questions to ask because no question is ever a bad one.<br />
<br />
Chaplains usually belong to a team (department) called spiritual and religious care. We are an integral part of the healthcare team, providing spiritual care to patients, families, and staff of all faith backgrounds 24/7, throughout the hospital. The role of the chaplain is to relate to patients, family, staff or other partners-in-care, as a whole person (seeking to reach the individual from a holistic perspective), with a particular focus on the spiritual or religious needs. Spiritual care affirms the inherent dignity and value of all persons, and respects different spiritual perspectives and practices-which may, or may not be rooted in a religious tradition. A wildly misunderstood point is that we only care for those who have a particular faith which is simply not true. We provide to care to all even those who express that they are an atheist or agnostic or pagan.<br />
<br />
Spiritual care professionals (or chaplains) are first and foremost healthcare providers. We are part of the healthcare team and are no different from doctors, nurses, social workers or any other allied health profession involved with the care of the patient. So the next natural question people ask is what do you do? What do you say or give a patient?<br />
<br />
Some of the "things" chaplains do, and I will provide some points as to what we do or what we can offer for the care of the patient, family or staff. We help people to rediscover meaning and significance in times of illness, crisis, and loss. We provide mindful and heart-felt listening. We help by assisting in identify and access inner resources for coping. We help by providing end-of-life bereavement support. We help by providing the space and time for mediation support in situations of conflict. We help by facilitating connections between patients, families or staff and spiritual leaders from diverse religious communities. We help by leading and facilitating ceremonies, rites of passage, religious rituals, meditation and prayer catering to the specific religious or faith tradition the patient belongs to. The list can go on but what is important in all of this is the attention to the human being at a time when he or she might think all hope is lost. We provide that support for the patient and family during difficult times. <br />
<br />
Now I will mention a few points on what I AM NOT! I am not an ordained priest. Chaplains do not have to be ordained in order to be a chaplain. This is a misconception that sometimes I see from the medical team when they make a joke about me not having a white collar or white hair. Anyone with the training and passion for caring for patients can be a chaplain. Many times I get people telling me that "I am too young and wasting my life in this line of work". That is simply not true at all. You can be ordained and be a chaplain but it is not a requirement. If anyone is contemplating chaplaincy you can be reassured you do not have to be ordained in any way shape or form. Being an ordained minister is one type of ministry and chaplaincy is another form of ministry.<br />
<br />
Lastly, why does it matter? It matters for many reasons. Firstly, staff feels directly and indirectly supported by the presences of a chaplain on the unit which helps reduce compassion fatigue. Spiritual care enhances patient connection with community support. Studies have shown that spiritual well-being is linked to their overall quality of life. Spiritual care can support increased health and shorten recovery periods. Religion and spirituality of any kind are often cited as major sources of support and coping. Also, many patients in acute care want to receive spiritual care and support from the little as listening to patients to providing prayer support to making a referral for a patient who needs access to community resources (IE. clergy to take confessions or give communion). These sample reasons and much more is why chaplains are needed in the medical system for the care of the patient, family members, and staff members. I hope this has helped clear the air to all my friends who have asked me about chaplaincy and the type of "things" we do for patients. If you want more information or have any questions feel free to ask! I leave you with this video when I was a student at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre:<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-44167402920037299082015-06-20T17:37:00.002-04:002015-06-20T17:37:08.461-04:00Beauty Will Save the World-Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Chora_Anastasis1.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Firstly, we must
respect all human life (those who are rich and those who are poor) because just
like the rich build our society the poor teach our society. Secondly, the quote
points to a central theme within humanity; the struggle and tension between
physical and spiritual beauty in the midst of suffering. In the midst of trial
and suffering how can one see beauty clearly? Beauty is a path leading to the
truth but the modern world is disfigured and trapped in darkness. How can we
overcome this train of thought? Authentic beauty unlocks the desire of the
heart, the craving to know, to love, to unite with others and to reach beyond
our capabilities. If we acknowledge that beauty touches us closely, that it
sores us, that it has the ability to open our eyes, then we rediscover the joy
of seeing and most importantly to grasp the profound meaning of our existence.
This is portrayed in the life of the idiot. The saving power of beauty could
not overcome his sickness, but nonetheless illumined his vision, “What matter
though it be only disease, an abnormal tension of the brain, if when I recall
and analyze the moment, it seems to have been one of harmony and beauty in the
highest degree-an instant of deepest sensation, overflowing with unbound joy
and rapture, ecstatic devotion, and completest life?” In the midst of his
suffering, he saw, in a paradoxical manner, the heart of reality. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The fight for beauty is
a battle of the soul and is linked to the crisis of faith. Dostoevsky indicated
this tension in his epic, </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Brothers
Karamazov</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">, “The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as
terrible. God and the devil are fighting there and the battlefield is the heart
of man”. What looks beautiful might not be beautiful, and what seems terrible,
such as a dead body, may show true beauty. Dostoevsky manifests this tension by
placing the idiot in the midst of his suffering and insanity to speak the line,
“Beauty will save the world”. Beauty is understood only in paradox. How can we
see beauty in that which is good? We won’t appreciate beauty if we see it in
good actions. However, when we encounter suffering or maybe death, it is at
those moments that we begin to appreciate and clearly see beauty. As an
individual dies we remember all the good moments and events he or she enjoyed
when they were alive. Beauty that begins to develop from the deepest and
darkest point of the heart is the starting point of authentic beauty.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">For good or bad, beauty
has power. This power is not found in materialism and secularism but rather it
is a power that illumines the path toward truth and goodness. If beauty does
not point toward the truth and the good, it becomes divorced from our beings.
It becomes a darkness, which makes human beings turn on each other. </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Idiot</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> demonstrates this when he
said, “Such beauty is real power…with such beauty as that one might overthrow
the world”. This beauty can be found in every simple act done with our fellow
human. From eating a meal to talking to the stranger on the bus, beauty has the
power to save humanity from utter destruction. When beauty sheds its light in
the right direction, it saves the world, not overthrow it. It is in suffering
that we find joy. The realism of suffering is scandalous (Christ on the cross),
but suffering represents itself as an opportunity (Christ rose from the dead).
We must learn to work with each other to overcome the darkness imposed by the
deceptive beauty the world throws our way (materialism etc). In contemplating
the suffering of Christ, in particular, we see a beauty which starts with
Christ taking on our fallen nature and overcame the darkness. Christ suffering
leads to the resurrection, a resurrection not done as a selfish act but rather
as a redemptive one. This explains why the icon of the resurrection is always
showing Christ rising from the dead holding in his hands Adam and Eve. It is a
challenging beauty, but a powerful one-with power to transform our own
suffering and lack of beauty. It is a beauty that scares us and makes us
vulnerable and ultimately is the same beauty that will save the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Dostoevsky was a
Christian philosopher, and a person who contemplated the mystery of man. Even
as a religious individual he allowed himself to grow as a free-thinker and a
powerful artist. Being a religious man, a free-thinker and an artist were not
differentiated in him and did not exclude one another, but penetrated all his
thoughts and works. In his beliefs, he never separated truth from good and
beauty. In his artistic creativity he never placed beauty apart from good
and the truth. I agree with how Dostoevsky intertwined these three topics
because these three lived only in unity with each other. If we separate the
good, truth and beauty, they all become an indistinct feeling, a powerless
surge; truth becomes empty words; beauty and good become nothing more than a
mere idol. These three, understood in unity, form one absolute idea. The human
body, having been revealed and become God, fitting into itself all aspects of
Christ-becomes the greatest good, the highest truth, and perfect beauty. If
Christ is understood as the perfect human, the one who personifies all that
is good, beautiful and true, then we are called to live and to be held in the
same standard as Christ. Truth is good, perceived by the human mind; beauty is
the same good and the same truth expressed in living form. The full expression,
the end, the ultimate goal, and being united to God-already exist's in
everything. This is why Dostoevsky said that beauty will save the world. The
world and life comes in full circle to its creator. If beauty saves the
world then all that is beautiful and good is expressed in truth through humanity.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-86026019184616719032015-06-14T13:54:00.001-04:002015-06-14T13:54:05.947-04:00Beauty Will Save the World-Part 1 <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.pravmir.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/anthony.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Unless we look at a person and see the beauty there is in this person, we can contribute nothing to them. One does not help a person by discerning what is wrong, what is ugly, what is distorted. Christ looked at everyone he met, at the prostitute, at the thief, and saw the beauty hidden there. Perhaps it was distorted, perhaps damaged, but it was beauty none the less, and what he did was to call out this beauty" Metropolitan Anthony Bloom</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Great Russian
writer Fydor Dostoevsky wrote, “Beauty will save the world”. I never thought
much of this. Going to seminary challenged my way of thinking and the more I
was challenged the more I was forced to think outside the box. I began to read
more of Dostoevsky’s works and came to the conclusion that this challenge is
not to be feared but embraced. At first I thought this idea was romantic,
something expressed by such sentiments as “there’s beauty in everything, if we
would only stop and appreciate the beauty around us.” This idea suggests there
is a divorce between the world and ourselves. Today, I realized what Dostoevsky
meant; beauty is the paradigm of our life. Beauty is not an influence that is
found outside of human life; it is the principle which characterizes all
that we do. Everything we do must be done with beauty. From the moment we wake up
to the moment we sleep we must see the beauty in everything. This does not mean
we are trying to make our waking up and going to sleep “beautiful”, rather, it
has to do with the way in which we execute the task; the way we live every
minute as we do what we do. It has to do with being attentive to the activity
at hand, acting without being concerned with how we look as we act. Acts of
beauty are innocent, not concerned with appearances or the perception of
peoples' thoughts; it is not concerned with being treated fairly, with showing
off or making impressions. I would even go as far as to say that it is not even
concerned with acting out of certainty that this action “is God’s will”. Beauty
is simply making the beautiful gesture. All that we do and say is beautiful.
Why? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">If we look to the
starting point of scripture we see this is the paradigm that is given. God
created everything and he saw that it was good. All that was created was good
and God let it be. Beauty is at the centre of all God’s creation. Beauty is
where God is present. As I was cleaning the putrid washroom at work, I suddenly
realized that I must do this seemingly repulsive work as a beautiful gesture.
This is the only free action available to me. If I act out of resentment
(because others are not cleaning the washroom like I am), or anger (because no
one takes care of the washroom), then I am a slave to myself and my work will
be exhausting. The opposite of this can also become a form of slavery also. If
I work out of a sense of pride (I’ve got to make the washroom look good) or
cleaning the washroom because it is my duty ("God expects me to do it" and
somehow this will make me a good person), I am still a slave to myself. The
only way to go about this task with joy, as a free human being, is to work in
the presence of God realizing God is present in all. This is how beauty will
save the world. When we realize we are free and doing actions by living for
others. All my actions and thoughts become a beautiful gesture and if humanity
comes to this understanding it is then the world will be saved through beauty.
The paradigm is found in living for each other. If we can see that we are
created in the image and likeness of God, it is then that we will realize that
beauty will save the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Dostoevsky spoke these
words in his classic, <i>The Idiot</i>,
because the struggle between humanity’s understanding of good and evil was
ever-changing during his time (19<sup>th</sup> century). Dostoevsky used the
main character from the book to speak this line. Out of the mouth of the idiot,
comes a clearer vision of beauty and reality that those around him did not see.
His clarity and way of thinking heightened even in the midst of his sickness.
Can the words of an idiot set the tone for our response in the modern world? In
a world that is characterized by its madness, maybe only the idiot is sane. It
seems that we must trust him, now that the words of an idiot have become the
stepping stone to everyone’s salvation. In a world that has largely rejected
the ability to reason to know the truth and the moral order toward the good,
this is the time to show humanity how beauty can save all. Beauty and its
simplicity can show both the intellectuals and the uneducated that we are all
created equal and created in order to live for one another. This quote is
significant for many reasons. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">To be continued...</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-12824955310080608872015-06-06T10:36:00.000-04:002015-06-06T10:36:00.881-04:00Healing the Wounds of Chalcedon <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I collaborated with the main editor of <a href="http://www.theologues.com/" target="_blank">Theologues</a> regarding the council of Chalcedon. He allowed me to write a small entry on the history of the council and the implications for all Christians today. The following is the link to the original post (<a href="http://www.theologues.com/the-church/healing-the-wounds-of-chalcedon/" target="_blank">click here</a>). I would like to thank Zach very much for giving me the opportunity to write on a delicate topic that needs to be treat with care and love. My philosophy is based on love; a love that unites in the body of Christ. Chalcedon was an event that for many, and I mean many, reasons divided the body of Christ. However, with time, wounds have begun to heal and I believe we are in a position today to finally let out a deep breathe, and with with confidence say, we can start moving forward and living out that unity once again! Leave your comments and questions and I hope this small piece will deepen your search for the truth! <div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.theologues.com/the-church/healing-the-wounds-of-chalcedon/" target="_blank">Healing the Wounds of Chalcedon</a></span></div>
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<img height="235" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTDR97aKMsRZIDgiIHCy_ZFJhfrtiZ9xCvkF8bzAjBA5JofeBJ0dw" style="text-align: left;" width="320" /><img height="240" src="http://www.patriarchateofalexandria.com/modules/news/thumb_large.php?id=4357" style="text-align: left;" width="320" /></div>
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<b><u>Top:</u></b> Patriarch Ephrem II of Antioch and Patriarch John X of Antioch </div>
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<u><b>Bottom:</b></u> Patriarch Tawadros II of Alexandria and Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria</div>
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<img height="266" src="http://thecatholiccatalogue.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/935070_158427224333618_2065247474_n.jpg" width="400" /></div>
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Pope Francis and Patriarch Tawadros II </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-29019613401459611282015-05-28T15:32:00.003-04:002015-05-30T14:41:47.040-04:00Theosis: Becoming God<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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/mgqow477Uwl2cMdKeqfYLbEJYRUPAjsKmbdxYlxxmIEtvAcCSwJBuluD2rECBEK0A0OViaW1RzLV7qfiNTCtTpPIDt43XVt6GMc0FO2XCbd9+6p+F+oSGZwG5115J5hPqIGhiKFqUyDzDKF/CVWDVTMhbztj3oDd78jwSLaH0lJic/bAPDvr0Vuw+1oImr3rfjZbTsZAA5AyUMfUpnld/Cr4lSYe2Vz/D/SQ3S0LEhnv3/SabE2UII91qw568WTiftqUzAEvRnGmqnw0uHd3xQ3iPClOaJfc1y0tccFazozphSYrEmEQwC+nDomeHhIhD8yea5/itq708Cp0y5enkr/AIYvADmwWZpFjJ7oa6YGNA/VRTje9mfxSOMPERy83CYY/EbrAEPr36oCRA1b9U54eNLdRXnrg6nQg9qEANnTnXtkswsG85d68/RS7YnF8qVfjVSYGF+HVv7svRNGiljqlxMvREMrdBI+QLqv/VGILQwwUqS2Z7d+isU2JyRVg9OhF2VZiabiY4jCDDK/AWZzmt6YDRJ6LRpj2VV2XFXj3f4Vs2XhBU5Fi3j8qmbKjs+j0Cu2xI3DFwfaysHQ2VrXGUzkwfiQAwFfhb4WI+TsyKglMOybVtZDmHdLiz8HyKUhwJdTHXKyI2Kn/wBuxBZ6hq+ac7OnsRXRDYNi1Ob05raePtneFqZOUG+oXzTO6IY0t5lYIbc6pP8AUMFBdmPtRNMJNMUINLD5S/bbbo1Y5cmXmXjmIK9BZHnaQgdmzrcv0rFMheHPyVX2dHUa2Vnl/wAR34Kg3IRN4IeCqR9S7PaIliYYvLQlUTFCZBEYIjXyitY55Lsu0cII4SO+Cou2NiuGuKkcLedEbYXgp8r9kSw+OwQeYfdUqZtXcI3h1bmjsNtyElhFTQ/HRbYvYEf+VHpvU9AkWM2HFC7w01dxlp1Txr7aqIkLEm4omY+38hWA7fEBDEObstsT9RuL31r41dUqfhTCGNR5Uokc2YYSwLajK6v+AobgLN3EaoOVeZP1BF9wEkVLcg4AzXRNr/UcqVg4iC53QKGrnn0Xz9FiIx/LJn9m7pmtpu1IzBu71MqU5cLCqrXs2VHNJxCG/FuyTnsrbsPbUUzEgxH+RD0yd/YL6Bws9pQju4prwXzJ9Fw/844HNfTuz4gZMBrbtx1QfFGtFNo6LiSaGrrKSwb8URMVHNvFbYmawpX4r7I3HBj0AGlKMkuOms4q5p33mtrI+JphIqvJKXTBvRsWIf3ujcMN38QK9jSzUuswmHLiI06cfVFCEAcBp5c03Dg98dkIBGUo2vijKln/ACiO7CHP8j7ITZuH3IAMzU8SosUYZ2IET/hACIeMVQTxomICPdTOkDvusi4dFy/ZcbNfRvTkrjseIggitX6aKm7LwkQ34Tq4r48Vb/p0knd0A71ZYMeQyUxuGhXTZ5frfX1UuPw1AW8M/BDYOUQasTom0cG8LW9kvu3gVA9pWFMS0goDARG1eynEwAgOHEVHP6SqT+MbE3sm328m5V5PdLrn6g4LaltCzZ0mKEkWh4+2i32vA8A65lEYaHSmtD0ZZj4HlxDkUjrmahPdNrI6SFWMGa53urXhIhuhuvmVUYR+baFlZNmTHAzosnEhwhNr1siUdMh4fpIsbh2irYnPmXT+P17zQWLk1Gi5zTqkIOhU0lLZ+yYSKwpHjNlgCLW508FdzAN1qswSLaUDRVsR5dlQCWuiUZbXLiYJXL9u7NELx5WPkLdVTds4YQ1Fj21l0za8oGXGNQSOnuqLtWUTJc17yXpuG1S5mcrPiNBrX4G4lUufAAXhahs7i+fghph/rs1RE9xEzX8afCHmAuUc4pQrF9FkCYDxb4X0xsGJpEJOlwF83/QsoxTS1wXHyvpTY8A+zAOAHGyV8WINNqMDot4PdRbRIDOSdMu3p4JAIN6Ik5nrX0Vix8gEVDFg5y4+6B/2hhDtyWNhV0sISa4YS5DEMAK0rZ3yQe0ZxEMTPvGw5mp8CmU0NU2Q0jC7x3jXTllfuqfWrg3mPw/N0HUadgkuFw+5CBXmR1PmfNe4yYYIXAcmwr5snf2QTW3Hole3YWLg0NBoGvnmmLKup4BOfnRYlsCVVtmYIRRxChcPo/yitjy92Yxv4jMBNvpjZzRypg/xiEXUU9kRtXZ25OMTsLkd8Qq0A14cx3VFXBOCNk0iDNF7phIjGlELgot+UKEkgHyr7LJEZH4m4bRI3sw5jtwpaYghGYvDiMb0JqL5OpNmkRBjccL9Q6mBEPDVmz9q+iyLCgtGKHNm6pe+pyaT7IgNzIRcADn996L2ZA8JzXkApx0XsZLG79lKKhzlMKIgKn4ykw8082JECSku0If+Y3uL+adbCzt2yhwyJTu5P5I9E4iWhvk/stwOK0jictlx40UxOUoCkASTb0sAbwpcJ1DAlH1GfwbvmruHKt7U/mhUPaMZEMVs7268lU9oy3wrsLNTpk16K17RipE7Mxr6FVycAcLlQU0TnhkBhPmEy4hOqPJc0xcDE01+UN9vedqm/HT19E3xkr8oqZ+/9DqgcLERMc2tXi2icFolefjMKzf6ZygZ53tO++C+i9ltFLgMJf8AFr9O+S+ZNjYr7GKlxgloiDnYr6U+m43kCpNX8a5JVxTFMeqKbBoR2P7oqZCQDagDB9OAsgd+tRo7U5N4JrNmgddf67dLZ35F6N334IKyB6pZWEFCmExHJlKRS3JbGDSvr+lIJbltDX9eSdtchIS+ZLNakBy9fRsklnkxRtDSEPcOSf1dPcZKii/GHqfBwo5WzxBepOvsmFGoxgkmSh3tcdkN9KYoGTCBQgA8S/smOOkmMOP5Q8e9Fzn6Q2ofxYkVAK6TKmOKZ+6wqVHNOoIp7RseqEwBYUDVtpmpsTDvHeF/WyiMowxuLRevTVGSIPyAPSvW6DuqgLvEGCs2NxpKIwU0Rw7puPFu2RcJyZvfgo4cMIai/MsiYAyRXD2nZH0mnqtuws3aHTisB7PdVrGafKXvImSjGhVbasLTTxz6MnGw4CISc6JJtFjNsn+yRS3urHBCbXOKACYZ98dFGb3P9N5ftSshzfs9/C53mljUTDVJvqUfgLpvDF3mlW3oHg+Vq48q1tsVQud7X/jG2nPVIps7/gA4N4VKsO1YmhmP/iTfnSnFVbacR+zBcU04V9064dBp+6ZX3/p7BU3av8jFxOSUyB+Y4VOVje90x2mK3+LO6BkzxB+RqchfzTUwkTjzIvdMc+XDDwpyX0/9M4Qy5EuEv/GEHz7ZfK2Exu7GI8wXdrnM8LL6z2HNMeHkREVilQREZuwKU8Vd+WD5qzHYI7qSKEvYjqh5j86deNfZMzC+SHMpsjx8XQNu6ELVYgoYHvZ9L5EqQQRClSdain9hEwyQSGHenJFypLXZMm1dWyxFJLoMKx9yKeHj5LSOSHqfN/6TKYRpTXwYISeXe2VLa59PJbMrQVBpwuGbDh+3NhzlxM+gNarrGDeEBySG5UyZuao+CwAhihBAYsfDNXSVNpQ5eyZ3dOBI2QxqB3qjC0QbryPfoiZEW8HN89QcvH3QApn010U0mJonAofVKq/Myeq0Yc5TmXCLqTkyHwcRatrCin74Zrz1d8u9EzpDEr1te7IbH4gQQ6fvwU0UQHfbKubWxJiiZ82usmZMo23o63Z2QkLxFzf9UyVk2bD+ISnA4ZzSyscqXuhsu8l31ORF5VEaQsPfmh5kYfw89USeffLwQmIN7aCr6vyUO2wgmboiSg9tQvAiJF6Ht9MrqLap/AhaD6VenioFzbbEBME3/r7pBtiR/wAUFOPkys23ITDDM4wnnRJ9r4XewwIZh593Tzhrppe/8Jxct1GfJcw2mPyIr314JTOhrXsa+ieY4NEzWc30y80txckuSPFmyTV4lecfhxUWFl70Q5gcQLL652XK3ZMqFzSCH04cl8l7PmgRgxZNf5su8fTX+pMuKCGCZeGFt7eDFg1qdhLOIUH1GN0jZXpiV0h6WIHNYw5dsq1h/q/DxWjHUhvhHYfb0iK0yD/9AJM5ldhy0/PZauoHqE6C3ByS+RjoIv4xwnRiFP8Ac0PdlZt1p3GeyyNJEEIfESQfKzr2Gcfj5UkM59Vsy7YTn7rN9Fc6kyGoA+jPbj5oyRGYRnxZFS5bRXLZVp4Z3U0OFJNBQBeruqwYI6JIwEmQvMNGWeuVEfIheooclrhtnnOg78EfBhwKW6FudV5y8vGxAMlHUqLpUsmJoaU1f4UnEmg7dDzMRDAPyIeySY/bJipA4GpqlABeZKc29q94EI/am1ABuwmvDVKcNCYiNSoZMBiLm5T3ZuBq57B91pp6Ji4Mt2QEbgMMIRx18kWSvDEBx+ENHOr3eo91BgDb7JWZeZKIOdOiDjDl2z8aokEgGgfh4IeYd1yWby+LLMgwP+qzN1kqJmzvfp+lPNhEULZG3gl8czMVrXP0RWFnPR/MLRmyu9hHMFUNu4UwuGPOvFV/AgNFKi4D/wCpseIFl0ramA+5DRhTrmqBtTY5cghjDUEajMIy1uPBMHYppQqiszH1D7qifVP0/FBEYqGEuQa9RzVWnSiOS6biJsQG7OhMcP8AlDZrORkUlxWxpcdYIh4seVXXoaNUPGM+iW3FuJ7HsVQYJMD/AJQk8uK3GFgyJHirNP8ApyO4b1SudsiblCe+i1IBQRpOHRL4MKf/ABmNwPfbLeEToP4x+Q/S9m4CZCf4xN/1Ki34xRj4/oduohREIuRt7ESiHJBFov1RWbD/AOpWIZ4ojE13I6NSip5xJIIitZRmGFizeL8bZqj6TX/VlWDnDIK6Fgf9WpsETkONHA9uPkrvsH/VLDTiIY/+MtcxA2AXA993H8e6KCgNyIvHsoOtw+g/pnuMKfEd1yvqiVhn8v7CZYbDmEByDm1unFRR42XAGuK0zq3F7IDEbYjNIAAOI6JXcXNWrjYfPnRUtuHOOYTafihCK307PJIsZts1EPifXkl82ZFEd4nvJeGVkTwPUIVtIDKe0bOnT+rKjn4kxE72fhbXLNbSakftbwyfF2R+CwcRYhu/6ViAdkU+o1rURgcMWcjSjpvLjMIsf2oYIGoAtXArwJ4qNMbJRUd4hytsTNYcRQC3fJaSi39KKObvH8cnemjWWQzG4nhw+e6rtCkMxCMk1Pv+kNi51WNuWR5L0Yj8gK29u/BCY0GKLLh1VXNwup0+bKikzmO6Te3eankTtyKtjwpX0QMUB3gHo1Wtl30W8UR9n4VVQIRTmA+6sYmudB45+XygtpYARigr+kvgxMYLu/h7I+Riy1WDUd8hz7orHO6E8J9M6mlVXF4KIUNL5JLjdiCOu6H1BbyddJxEiGYCc+Pfok2KwLG1DZlwfUpGQY9Ewp3bag0vH6rn3/ok2H+ER5bvbKGPZk4fAN3ur6ZQGRHDOx1UE6Xegbr7olvEa6t4VA50x7lc8m4WaKmo/wCqEn4HeAeB3tlTwV+xcY3YSBcAg5MWe1FFBKgMTfyYOToXsWsjfxtwG6nhDj8K92hrj08/3XOJmzJf/lKi6F+vFLsVgoB/ARCgvDV/FdYOzZZyvo7Z8UFitiSiKwvwcv61Us4s3/Jvz3Uv4aHfS79R/S5OZEMNGckPfy4clFOhhIoCCNR2y6dO+mJBD7pFcifIJXtH6RH/ALcTcyT5gHsIunxGi44MeqEq8OrM8/RdamGJ6hi/RDiGI1AfvRWOdgn+VtKwULVFUjL5OFcXbQNlXIMJHFRhVtcnZMsPsYCsVTXPWicwgZALWIqurssn3b3YGEtjwghy5V4iil3SGYN7IsgC1T2FtGCzC6mSd1l4pO6XRzGDe3h6rJOE3qkX6eHBHQ4YAuaqUBVgyuNaByoCLBgUD19eajmyyL6pi9+HNQGS9q9V0zupbUPVKRBvavy77Cmhgz8dPlMv9v36+ayKUO9O3VSJC0NcFLjh2sOmRyUceFBFT78OibGUG5ZefbKGZJNdPPLooG0Fc2sUohkmHTRkYMMLt37KcyD33ZSQytewoJPZWdWlDiVu5MpfvOGi/XmpjLGXOpotYcOHcH0VQ9wOFkXg7rP9nAa2Jv3mtItni4r8qeANRz3opg/VXID/AKhlUNRw6qtbR+nYYo4WDD8jEcqgigNAalAY/YRlgxQvEABuirk7zkMA0Tiiuu+s+2MkS24rNgAyB0Pz4EO6m0yYgnqFScLs7dnmXDDFukb0VGEJaghizFLJjN2Zw7qrEYFqZPBBXD6tR2qMx3380Tb1nUm6QcfsqtM2U/TJ/VDTthDLWtedlcDK7Yd/2Vp9kZjvosBWcEY2/eOqMiWuaxYmDksC8JuvY8ysWKXbKV4K07us3/dYsXMyFMLdl4VixcqLBCtgsWLgFy8IWov3wWLFMKQvYiwWl/PyIXqxVO6kIeYS9+HqpIS6xYsScFaFbbrWJ08wF5CX8f2sWKe3qP2VRstoTYd5rdr8l4sUsALJVStN6rcvMspQsWK2xEfN1zl7FValYsVjnKqFsy03arFiktB3XL//2Q==" 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Theosis (Greek for "making divine", Deification; to become gods by grace) leads to reconciliation and union with God achieved through a relationship or synergy between God and humanity. Union with God is not based on fusion (in a physical sense) but on free will. Since God created us with free will and all that is created by God is good, we have the potential to experience this union in all aspects of life (I.E. work, school, friendships, relationships, conversations, human interactions, prayers etc.).<br />
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Theosis should not be understood as a philosophical theory but is grounded in scripture, tradition and the writings of the early Christian writers. <br />
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The following scripture passages summarizes Theosis:<br />
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<em>Psalm 82.6:</em> I said, "You are gods"; you are all sons of the most high. <br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="OLE_LINK5" title="OLE_LINK5"></a><em>2 Peter 1:3–4:</em> God’s “divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” through the knowledge of God, who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these things, He has given us His great promises so that we “may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”<br />
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<em>Romans 12:1–2:</em> We are to present our bodies as a “living sacrifice,” doing so as part of our spiritual worship. And we are to “be transformed” by the renewing of our minds into the likeness of God.<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="OLE_LINK3" title="OLE_LINK3"></a><em>1 Corinthians 3:16</em><em>; 6:17:</em> We are reminded that we are God’s “temple” and that “he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him”—union with God.<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="OLE_LINK4" title="OLE_LINK4"></a><em>Galatians 2:20</em><em>:</em> “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="OLE_LINK9" title="OLE_LINK9"></a><em>Philippians 1:21</em><em>:</em> “For me, to live is Christ.”<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="OLE_LINK10" title="OLE_LINK10"></a><em>Colossians 3:3</em><em>:</em> We have “died” and our lives are “hidden with Christ in God”—total participation in Christ.<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="OLE_LINK11" title="OLE_LINK11"></a><em>1 Thessalonians 5:23</em><em>:</em> May God “sanctify you completely”—complete conformity to the image and likeness of God.<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="OLE_LINK12" title="OLE_LINK12"></a><em>2 Thessalonians 2:14</em><em>:</em> We were called by God “for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="OLE_LINK13" title="OLE_LINK13"></a><em>1 John 4:17</em><em>:</em> “Because as He is, so are we in this world”—the possibility of deification, total participation in Christ this side of eternity.<br />
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<em>John 17:22:</em> In His high priestly prayer, Jesus says that He has given us the glory that the Father gave Him.<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="OLE_LINK14" title="OLE_LINK14"></a><em>Revelation 21:7</em><em>:</em> At the beginning of the <em>eschaton</em>, Christ says of each of us, “I will be his God and he shall be My son.”<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="OLE_LINK15" title="OLE_LINK15"></a><em>1 John 3:2</em><em>:</em> “We know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="OLE_LINK16" title="OLE_LINK16"></a><em>Philippians 3:21</em><em>:</em> Christ will “transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body.”<br />
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The early Christian fathers bore witness to Theosis. More often it was the Alexandrian Fathers who preached and defended Theosis as being the aim of the Christian life. It was because of Christ's incarnation, death and resurrection that we as humans are able to achieve this union in God through Christ. Christ show's us what it is to be God in the way he lived and died as a human being. The following are a few quotations from the Fathers writing on Theosis: <br />
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<em>St. Athanasius:</em> "God became man so that men might become gods".<br />
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<em>St. Gregory of Nazianzuz</em> (who's liturgy is prayed in the Coptic Church): "Man has been ordered to become God"...and..."For that which He has not assumed He has not healed; but what is united with God is also being saved".<br />
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<em>St. Basil the Great</em> (who's liturgy is prayed in the Coptic Church and Byzantine Church): “From the Holy Spirit is the likeness of God, and the highest thing to be desired, to become God.”<br />
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<em>Origen</em> noted that the spirit “is deified by that which it contemplates.” <br />
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<em>St. Cyril of Alexandria</em> commented that we are all called to take part in divinity, becoming the likeness of Christ and the image of the Father by “participation.” <br />
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<em>St. Irenaeus</em> noted, “If the Word is made man, it is that man might become gods.” <br />
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Theosis is a truly <em>catholic</em> understanding of the goal of our relationship with God in Christ. It is through Theosis that we can truly become human. St. Irenaeus reminds us that, "The glory of God is a living (alive) human being". In God we live and become life for others. The reason for our existence is made whole in God's existence (taking on human flesh) and the reason the Creator united with us was to complete, in its fullness, the bestowing of His grace on us because he gives abundantly. The best of gifts that God could have given us was His own self and it is because of this gift we are able to unite with Him. This is the first steps in achieving our potential in Christ! <br />
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Of the centrality of theosis and of theosis in Orthodox missiology, His Eminence Metropolitan Geevarghese Mar Osthathiose (Indian Orthodox) writes: </div>
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<i><b>“Salvation is more than liberation of humanity or humanization, but divinization of the humanity and the cosmos. Finite salvation of the created is not infinite liberation, that is the infinite divinization as humanity is not created for one another alone, but for the Creator as well.</b></i></div>
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<i><b>The aim of salvation is not restitution of the unfallen state and Adam and Eve, but elevation to the status and fulness of the Second Adam, which is called Christification or Trinitification.</b></i></div>
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<i><b>The first Adam fell when tempted, but the Second Adam did not fall. Therefore our aim is not just humanization, but theosis. It is for this theosis that the Incarnation took place as "good news of a great joy which will come to all the people" (Lk 2:10)...</b></i></div>
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<i><b>Ulltimately all the differences and separations between human beings will be dissolved in a mutual sharing of beingness (perichoresis) where 'thine and 'mine' are different in the case of property, purpose or will, but different only in different personal and group identities with full openness to penetrate each other...</b></i></div>
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<i><b>The aim of mission can't be anything less than the deification, unification and reconciliation of all churches and the whole world into the unity of the measure and the stature of the fullness of Christ. It is not humanization or socialization but divinization, which is social transformation in the model of Holy Trinity, which may be called Trinification. The aim of mission is not only Theosis but along with it the establishment of the Kingdom of God.” </b></i></div>
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<b>+ </b><a href="http://www.geevarghesemarosthathios.org/home.html"><b>Metropolitan Geevarghese Mar Osthathiose</b></a><b> . “Sharing God and a Sharing World” (India: ISPCK & CSS, 1995), 150-152.</b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-20290438087681874212015-05-16T18:02:00.003-04:002015-05-16T18:02:51.833-04:00Hymns of St. Ephrem: Nisibene Hymn-Christ's Victory over Death (Part 2)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen! Continuing on our theme of the death and resurrection of Christ we will continue to look at poetry that explains to us what it is that Christ did through his death and resurrection. The following is a poem entitled, "Christ's Victory over Death" (part 2), which explains how Christ destroyed death!<br />
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This will be the last poem in this series on explaining the death and resurrection of Christ. If you would like more material please do not hesitate to contact me!<br />
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Blessed is Christ! He gave to us the dead, hope for life, and consoled our race. Although now we are subject to decay, we will be renewed. </div>
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Listen, you mortals, to the mystery of the resurrection which is hidden now, but in the Last Days will be revealed in the Holy Church. </div>
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Jesus a traveler [in the realm] of Death for three days, liberated his captives, robbed his camp, and renewed our race. </div>
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Previously Death had prided himself and boasted, saying: “Priests and Kings are enchained in my dwellings.” </div>
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But the glorious Warrior suddenly broke into the realm of Death; as a thief his voice stole therein and put an end to his glory. </div>
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The dead in Sheol perceived the fragrance of life and began preaching to each other that their hopes come to fulfillment. </div>
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Death reigned over mortals from the beginning, until the one Sovereign shone over and destroyed his pride. </div>
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His voice, like peals of mighty thunder, readied the dead and heralded to them that they were liberated from bondage.</div>
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The following hymn is found in Metropolitan Hilarion, Christ the Conqueror of Hell: The Descent into Hades from an Orthodox Perspective, 131.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-6122652637337882882015-05-09T15:32:00.000-04:002015-05-16T17:56:23.798-04:00Hymns of St. Ephrem: Nisibene Hymn-Christ's Victory over Death (Part 1)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Christ is Risen. Indeed He is Risen! Continuing on our theme of the death and resurrection of Christ we will continue to look at poetry that explains to us what it is that Christ did through his death and resurrection. The following is a poem entitled, "Christ's Victory over Death", which explains how Christ destroyed Death!<br />
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Another poem, "Christ's Victory over Death," presents the story of Christ's descent into Hades, victory over Satan, and the devastation of Shoel: <br />
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This whole region is the region of the dead; terrifying darkness is the keeper of its treasures; its lord, Death, roars as a lion every day...</div>
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Who can imagine the terrors of this region? Who will describe by what horrors it is surrounded? Everyone who enters it, shudders...</div>
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Death rejoices and makes merry, Sheol jubilates but keeps silent.</div>
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With gladness she opens its gates and gulps down ages and</div>
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And as this fierce tyrant is accustomed to swallowing up the beautiful ones, so he has swallowed up and stolen the most Beautiful and the Most Holy One.</div>
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He ushered him in into his halls and concealed the Giant. But the Strong One arose in glory, bound Death in his own dwelling, enchained and deposed the Tormentor, who boasted o f his power over humanity.</div>
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Finally he plundered the insatiable Sheol who gulped down and tormented even the bodies of the righteous; he cried out and the demons trembled, and darkness shrank from his voice.</div>
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He put to terror the hordes and retinue of Death; that moans in his fetters; loudly howls Sheol in her</div>
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Death has been put to shame, the head of this rebel, who willed to become God, has drooped. The voice of Christ resounds in the realm of perdition, and the rebel, besieged, has surrendered.</div>
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Christ has cried out to Adam in the darkness, into which he had been plunged, and said: “Where are you beautiful Adam, once seduced by the counsel of a wife?</div>
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Rise up now, O splendid one, rise up, you majestic and corrupt image! The head of the dragon has been crushed, Death and Satan are put to death.”...</div>
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Adam rose up, bowed down to the Lord who had come in search of him, and said: “Together with my own children I bow down to you, my Lord, who has come to restore us, the fallen ones.”</div>
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The following hymn is found in Metropolitan Hilarion, Christ the Conqueror of Hell: The Descent into Hades from an Orthodox Perspective, 130-131.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-3428285583372304212015-05-03T11:35:00.001-04:002015-05-03T11:35:18.697-04:00Hymns of St. Ephrem: Nisibene Hymn-A Dialogue between Death and Satan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen. Continuing on our theme of the death and resurrection of Christ we will continue to look at poetry that explains to us what it is that Christ did through his death and Resurrection. The following is hymn 52 which serves as a dialogue between death and Satan! <br />
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Hymns 52-68 present a collection of dramatic dialogues in verse between Satan and Death, interspersed with the poet’s remarks. Satan and Death, who have “never prevailed and will never prevail,” argue with each other about which side the victory is on. In the course of this argument Satan and Death do no more than prove their helplessness in the face of God; they talk about Christ’s death on the cross as the source of their own torment and defeat. Each stanza is accompanied by a refrain that bears the central message: “Praise to you, O Son of the Shepherd of all, who has saved his flock from the hidden wolves, the Evil One and Death, whom he has swallowed up," “Praise to you, who has prevailed over the Evil One and through your resurrection has triumphed over Death.” In a condensed form the refrains contain the principal theological idea, which the reader would otherwise have to derive from the dialogues between Satan and Death. This particular way of presenting the material serves a didactic purpose and enables the reader to grasp the core idea of the poem in greater depth. The dialogue between Death and Satan in Hymn 52 demonstrates this.<br />
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I heard Death and Satan loudly disputing which was the stronger of the two amongst men.</div>
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Death has shown his power in that he conquers all men, Satan has shown his guile in that he makes all men sin.</div>
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<u><b>Death:</b></u> “Only those who want to, O Evil One, listen to you, but to me they come, whether they will or not.”</div>
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<b><u>Satan:</u></b> “You just employ brute force, O Death, whereas I use traps and cunning snares.”</div>
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<b><u>Death:</u> </b>“Listen, Evil One, a cunning man can break your yoke, but there is none who can escape from mine.”</div>
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<u><b>Satan:</b></u> “You, O Death, exercise your strength on the sick, but I am the stronger with those who are well...”</div>
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<b><u>Satan:</u></b> “Sheol is hated for there is no chance of remorse there: it is a pit which swallows up and suppresses every impulse.”</div>
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<u><b>Death:</b></u> “Sheol is a whirlpool, and everyone who falls in it is resurrected, but sin is hated because it cuts off a man’s hope.”</div>
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<u><b>Satan:</b></u> “Although it grieves me, I allow for repentance; you cut off a sinner’s hopes if he dies in his sins.”</div>
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<b><u>Death:</u></b> “With you his hope was cut off long ago; if you had never made him sin, he would have made a good end.”</div>
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<b><u>Chorus:</u></b> “Blessed is he who set the accursed slaves against each other so that w e can laugh at them just as they laughed at us.” </div>
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Our laughing at them now, my brethren, is a pledge that we shall again be enabled to laugh, at the resurrection.</div>
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The following hymn is found in Metropolitan Hilarion, Christ the Conqueror of Hell: The Descent into Hades from an Orthodox Perspective, 126-128. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-32345174090680474832015-04-25T18:35:00.001-04:002015-04-25T18:35:57.499-04:00Hymns of St. Ephrem: Nisibene Hymn-A Dialogue with Satan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen! Continuing on our theme of the death and resurrection of Christ we will continue to look at poetry that explains to us what it is that Christ did through his death and resurrection. The following is hymn 41 which is a dialogue with Satan.<br />
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In this hymn, humor, a distinctive feature, also serves as a literary device. Characters appear to ridicule themselves by acknowledging their own weaknesses and falsehoods while at the same time they present arguments that attempt to prove the contrary. Matters may be depicted distortedly because the despicable characters dwell on them. Therefore it is up to the reader to unravel this unassuming riddle and to define the original, intended message of the text. For instance, in Hymn 41 Satan delivers a long speech on how, despite his old age, he still does not neglect small children but takes care of them. This care consists of his attempt to accustom youngsters to evil from a tender age. The following example is the entire text of Hymn 41:<br />
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Said the Evil One: “I am afraid of that Jesus. He will destroy my ways. I am a thousand years old and have never been idle: Nothing in creation which I saw did I neglect or miss, and now comes he, who teaches profligate chastity. I weep now, for he has destroyed everything I had built. For it took me much effort and labor to entangle the whole of creation in wiles.”</div>
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<b><i>Blessed is he who came and destroyed the guiles of the Evil One.</i></b></div>
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“I used to set off with the fastest [runners] and would outrun them. I would do battle, and confusion of crowds would be my weapon. I would rejoice in people’s agitation for it gave me a fast opportunity to harden the onslaught of the crowd. By means of a crowd I built a great mountain— a tower reaching up to heaven. Had they declared war on the heights [of heaven] how much simpler would it have been for them to overcome that one on earth!”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who came and destroyed the guiles of the Evil One.</b></i></div>
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“Along with time and its benefits I struggled prudently. The people heard that God is one, but made for themselves a multitude of gods. Because, having seen the Son of God, they rushed toward the One God, so that under the pretext of confessing God to deny him. On the pretext of being zealous they ran away from him. Thus, every time they would be found perverse, for they are godless.”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who came and destroyed the guiles of the Evil One.</b></i></div>
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“I am a great many years old, but I never despised a child. I have taken particular care of infants, so that from the very beginning they would acquire bad habits, so that their defects would grow with them. But there are foolish fathers who do not harm the seed I have sown in their sons. And there are such who like good farmers, uproot vices out of the minds of their children.”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who came and destroyed the guiles of the Evil One.</b></i></div>
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“Instead of chains I bound people by sloth, and they sat down in idleness. I deprived their senses of everything good: their eyes— from reading, their lips— from psalm singing their minds— from learning. How excellent they are at barren stories, how expert at empty talk and stories, but if the word of salvation falls on their ears, they will push it aside, or stand up and leave.”</div>
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<b><i>Blessed is he ‘who came and destroyed the guiles of the Evil One.</i></b></div>
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“How many satans are inside a man, but it is me everyone curses! For the anger of man is like a demon, who every day harasses him; other demons are like wayfarers, they leave when they are compelled to, However, when anger is concerned, all righteous put it under oath, and cannot eradicate it. Instead of hating a destructive envy, everyone hates a weak and miserable demon!”</div>
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<b><i>Blessed is he who came and destroyed the guiles oft he Evil One.</i></b></div>
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“The magician and a snake charmer was put to shame, he who binds snakes every day; a viper inside of him rebels, for he cannot subdue the lust within him. Concealed sin is like an asp; when someone blows on it, he gets burned. Even if he catches the viper through his craft, falsehood has invisibly struck him: he puts the snake to sleep by his incantations, but also arouses great wrath against himself by his very incantations.”</div>
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<b><i>Blessed is he who came and destroyed the guiles of the Evil One.</i></b></div>
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"I have prepared my sting and sat waiting. Who is able to subject anyone to his own opinion?...(line is missing in the original text)...Who else is so patient with everyone? And little by little I led him astray, so that he fell into listlessness.” “The one [who] shrinks from wrongdoing, habits subject him: little by little I trained him, until he fell under my yoke; and grew accustomed to it, so that he did not wish to abandon it.”</div>
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<b><i>Blessed is he who came and destroyed the guiles of the Evil One.</i></b></div>
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“I have noticed and seen that patience is able to overcome everything. In the time when I triumphed over Adam, he was alone. So I left him, till he begat descendants and meanwhile looked for another job to do, so that idleness did not overtake. I began to count sea sand, so that through this my spirit became more patient and to train my memory, so that it did not let me down, when sons of men will become a multitude. Before they became numerous I tested them in many ways.”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who came and destroyed the guiles of the Evil One.</b></i></div>
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Servants of the Evil One argued with him and refuted his words by objections:</div>
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“Here Elisha revived a dead one and won over death in the high chamber, and brought to life the son of the widow; now he is bound in Sheol.” However, the intellect of the Evil One is far greater: he beat them with their own words: “How can Elisha be overpowered if in Sheol his remains still bring dead to life?”</div>
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<b><i>Blessed is he who came and destroyed the guiles of the Evil One.</i></b></div>
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If Elisha who is so weak has such a great power in Sheol that he could revive the dead, then how many dead ones would be resurrected by the death of strong Jesus? Thus, following that you may learn, how considerably Jesus surpasses us, my friends! For, behold, his cunning has deceived you, and you have not been able to discern his greatness, for you simply compared him with prophets.</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who came and destroyed the guiles of the Evil One.</b></i></div>
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“Therefore your consolation is in vain”— said the Evil One to his comrades. “For how could Death take hold of the one who resurrected Lazarus? And even if Death would be victorious over him, this is because he would subject himself to it. And if he subjects himself to Death voluntarily, you should be still more terrified, for he would not die for nothing. Great tumult he has caused us, for having died, he would enter'in to revive Adam.”</div>
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<b><i>Blessed is he who came and destroyed the guiles oft he Evil One. </i></b></div>
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Death looked out of its cavern and was astounded for he saw Our Lord crucified and said: “Waker of the dead, where are you? Will you become my nourishment instead of sweet Lazarus, whose taste is still on my lips? Jairus’ daughter will come to look at your cross; the son of the widow will look up at you. The tree has ensnared Adam for me; blessed is this cross which has ensnared the son of David for me.”</div>
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<b><i>Blessed is he who came and destroyed the guiles of the Evil One.</i></b></div>
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Death opened its gullet and said: “Have you never heard, O Son of Mary, about Moses who was great and surpassed everybody? About how he became a god and performed divine actions, put firstborns to death and saved firstborns, warded off death from the living ones? However, I ascended to the mountain with this Moses; [God] handed him over to me let his might be praised! No matter how great was the son of Adam lo, dust returns to dust, for he came from earth.”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who came and destroyed the guiles of the Evil One.</b></i></div>
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Satan came with his servants to look at Our Lord in Sheol and to rejoice with Death, his ally.’ But he saw Death sad and mourning for the dead, who at the voice of the Firstborn, returned to life and went forth from Sheol. The Evil One began to console Death, his relative: “You have not lost as much as you have acquired. Unless Jesus is within you, in your hands you will hold all who have lived and are living.”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who came and destroyed the guiles of the Evil One.</b></i></div>
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“Open to us [the door], so that we can see and laugh at him. We will respond and ask: “Where is your might?” It is three days already, so let us tell him: “O, three days old, you have resurrected four days old Lazarus. So bring yourself back to life.” Death has opened the doors of Sheol, and the light of the face of the Lord gushed out from there, and like the Sodomites they were destroyed groping and looking for the door of Sheol, but it has disappeared.</div>
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<b><i>Blessed is he who came and destroyed the guiles of the Evil One.</i></b></div>
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The following hymn is found in Metropolitan Hilarion, Christ the Conqueror of Hell: The Descent into Hades from an Orthodox Perspective, 119-126. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-2862629072648643542015-04-18T18:40:00.000-04:002015-04-25T18:15:25.338-04:00Hymns of St. Ephrem: Nisibene Hymn-Resurrection of the Dead <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen! Continuing on the previous blog the following is another hymn written by St. Ephrem the Syrian (306-373). The previous hymn was number 35. This hymn is 37. Enjoy!<br />
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Hymn 37 has the theme of the resurrection of the dead connected with reference to Ezekiel’s prophecy:<br />
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Death shed tears over Sheol seeing that her treasuries were despoiled, and he said: “Who has stolen your riches?” .. .</div>
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“I saw that Ezekiel in the valley, who resurrected the dead as he was bidden. And I saw the bones in disarray brought into motion. There was a commotion of the bones in Sheol, for a bone sought its companion and would reunite with its pair. And no one asked there as well as no one was asked: Are those bones indeed going to be brought back to life?’ For without questioning the voice of Jesus, the Ruler of Creation, has resurrected them." </div>
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“Sheol was afflicted as she saw them (The entire hymn is a monologue by Death). She cried for Lazarus, as he abandoned [her]. Inside and outside there was weeping; for his sisters wept for him as he came down to me to the grave, and I wept for him because he left it. Upon his death there was a great mourning among the living, and in Sheol there was a great mourning as he rose.”</div>
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“Now I also have learned the taste of grief of those who bemoan their loved ones. If dead are so pleasing to Sheol, Still more, how much they should have been loved by their fathers! . . .”</div>
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“That suffering (hasha) which I bring to humans, which afflicts them because of their loved ones, eventually, has befallen me. For when the dead will leave Sheol everyone will undergo resurrection. Only I alone will undergo torture. And truly, who will be able to endure this which still lies ahead of me? For I will see Sheol in solitude (balhudeh), for that voice which destroyed the tombs, has emptied it. And he took out the dead that there remained.”</div>
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“When one reads prophets and learns about fair wars, one who meditates upon the life of Christ, learns charity and compassionate mercy. And if he thinks about Jesus as a stranger (nukhraya), (This term is used in relation to false gods as opposed to the true God) he offends me. No other key would match the gates of Sheol, except for the key of the Creator who has opened them. He will open them [again] at his second coming.”</div>
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“Who can knit the bones together, if not the power which has created them? The parts of the body who can join if not the hand of the Maker? What will restore the bodies but the finger of the Creator? The one who treated them and turned into [dust] and destroyed, only he is able to renew and resurrect. No other God can enter and restore the creatures which do not belong to him.” (Literally, who are not his!)</div>
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“If there be any other divine power existing, I would be very glad if it could visit me. It would go down into the entrails of Sheol and learn that there is only one God. Mortals who erred and preached about many gods, are now bound in Sheol for me, and their gods were never saddened because of them. I know only one God and only his prophets and apostles I acknowledge.”</div>
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The following hymn is found in Metropolitan Hilarion, Christ the Conqueror of Hell: The Descent into Hades from an Orthodox Perspective, 117-119. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-14361994654404267772015-04-11T08:24:00.001-04:002015-04-11T08:27:34.639-04:00Hymns of St. Ephrem: Nisibene Hymn-The Descent into Hades<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen! The next few blog entries (hopefully for the remaining 50 days of this joyous feast) I will try and post from the early Church Fathers (mostly poetry) on what it is that Christ did through His death and Resurrection. The feast of Pascha (Resurrection) is the pinnacle of the Christian faith. However, we have been stuck with how to "prove" Christ's resurrection without really understand what it is that he really did through His resurrection. I hope the next few blogs will enlighten us all.<br />
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St. Ephrem the Syrian (306-373) was born in the region of Nisibis. He eventually found himself later on in life in the region of Edessa. There he founded the “school of the Persians,” a school for refugees, which later became a very important theological center for the entire Syriac-speaking Christian world. While the main subject of study in this school was the Holy Scriptures, a significant emphasis was also attached to church singing and recitation. With this in mind Ephrem composed his exegetical treatises as well as a host of poems for the school on theological, ethical, historical, and ecclesiastical themes.<br />
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The most detailed account of the descent can be found in the “Nisibene Hymns” (Carmina Nisibena), written in the form of a <i>madrasha</i>. As such, the “Nisibene Hymns” are characterized by a regular syllabic rhythmical pattern, which makes them suitable for congregational singing. In each hymn, stanzas in a fixed meter end in a common refrain (‘onitha). Hymns 35-42 are of particular interest to us as they are collected under the general title, “On Our Lord, Death, and Satan.”These are treated as a thematically unified whole along with hymns 52-68, which follow under the common title, “On Satan and Death” and are also connected with our subject.<br />
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In these works many strophes, and therefore much importance, are given to monologues by the chief actors—Sheol, Satan, and Death—and to dialogues between them. (Similar dialogues are found in the “Gospel of Nicodemus” and in the “Questions of Bartholomew” et al.) Hymn 36 contains a monologue by Death, who boasts that no one has escaped his power, be they prophets or priests, kings or warriors, rich or poor, wise or foolish, old or young. There were only two escapees: Enoch and Elijah. In searching for them Death goes “to the place where Jonah came down,” but even there they cannot be found. Death’s monologue is suddenly shattered by a vast panorama of the resurrection:<br />
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Our Lord subjected his might, and they seized him so that through his living death he might give life to Adam. He gave his hands to be pierced by nails to make up for the hand which plucked the fruit; he was struck on his cheek in the judgment room to make up for the mouth that ate in Eden; and while Adam’s foot was free his feet were pierced; our Lord was stripped that we might be clothed; with gall and vinegar he sweetened the poison of the serpent which had bitten man.</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who has conquered me and brought life to the dead to his own glory</b></i> (Refrain written on behalf of death)!</div>
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Death'. “If you are God, show your might, and if you are man, make trial of our might! Or if it is Adam you are wanting, be off: he is imprisoned here because of his debts; neither cherubim nor seraphim are able to secure his release: they have no mortal amongst themselves to give himself up for him. Who can open the mouth of Sheol, dive down and bring him up from thence, seeing that Sheol has swallowed him up and holds him tight for ever?”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who has conquered me and brought life to the dead to his own glory!</b></i></div>
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“It was I who conquered all the sages; I have them heaped up in the corners of Sheol. Come and enter, son of Joseph, and look at the horrors; the limbs of the giants, Sampson’s huge corpse, the skeleton of cruel Goliath; there is Og, the son of the giants, too, who made a bed of iron, where he reclined: I cast him off it and threw him down, I leveled that cedar at Sheol’s gate.”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who has conquered me and brought life to the dead to his own glory!</b></i></div>
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“I alone have conquered many, and now the Only-begotten (ihidaya) seeks to conquer me! I have led off prophets, priests, and heroes, I have conquered kings with their array, giants with their hunts, the just with their fine deeds—rivers full of corpses I cast into Sheol, who remains thirsty no matter how many I pour in! Whether a man is near or far, the final end brings him to Sheol’s gate.”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who has conquered me and brought life to the dead to his own glory!</b></i></div>
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“I have spurned silver in the case of the rich and their presents have failed to bribe me; owners of slaves have never enticed me to take a slave in place of his owner, or a poor man in place of a rich, or an elder in place of a child. Sages may be able to win over wild animals, but their winning words do not enter my ears. All may call me ‘hater of requests,’ but I simply perform what I am bidden.”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who has conquered me and brought life to the dead to his own glory!</b></i></div>
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“Who is this? Whose son? And of what family is this man who has conquered me? The book with the genealogies is here with me— I have begun and taken the trouble to read all the names from Adam onward, and none of the dead escapes me; tribe by tribe they are all written down on my limbs. It is for your sake, Jesus, that I have undertaken this reckoning, in order to show you that no one escapes my hands.”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who has conquered me and brought life to the dead to his own glory!</b></i></div>
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“There are two men—I must not deceive— whose names are missing for me in Sheol: Enoch and Elijah did not come to me; I looked for them in the whole of creation, I even descended to the place where Jonah went, and groped around, but they were not there; and when I thought they might have entered paradise and escaped, there was the fearful cherub guarding it. Jacob saw a ladder: perhaps it was by this that they went up to heaven.”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he ’who has conquered me and brought life to the dead to his own glory!</b></i></div>
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“Who has measured out the sea sand and only missed two grains? As for this harvest, with which illnesses like harvesters are daily busied, I alone carry the sheaves and bind them up. Sheaf-binders in their haste leave sheaves, and grape pickers forget whole clusters, but only two small bunches have escaped me in the great harvest that I have been gathering in by myself”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who has conquered me and brought life to the dead to his own glory!</b></i></div>
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“It is I,” says Death, “who have made all kinds of catches on sea and land: the eagles in the sky come to me, so do the dragons of the deep, creeping things, birds and beasts, old, young and babes; all these should persuade you, Son of Mary, that my dominion reigns over all. How can your cross conquer me, seeing that it was through the wood that 1 was victorious and conquered at the beginning?”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who has conquered me and brought life to the dead to his own glory!</b></i></div>
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“I should like to say much more— for I do not have any lack of words!— but there is no need for words, for deeds cry out close by; I do not, like you, promise hidden things to the simple, saying that there will be a resurrection; when, I ask, when? If you are so very strong, then give a pledge on the spot so that your distant promise may be believed.”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who has conquered me and brought life to the dead to his own glory!</b></i></div>
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Death finished his taunting speech and our Lord’s voice rang out thunderously in Sheol, tearing open each grave one by one. Terrible pangs seized hold of Death in Sheol; where light had never been seen, rays shone out from the angels who had entered to bring out the dead to meet the Dead One who has given life to all. The dead went forth, and shame covered the living who had hoped they had conquered him who gives life to all.</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who has conquered me and brought life to the dead to his own glory!</b></i></div>
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“Would I were back in Moses’ time,” says Death, “he made me a feast day; for that lamb in Egypt gave me the first fruits from every house; heaps upon heaps of firstborn were piled up for me at Sheds gate. But this festal Lamb has plundered Sheol, taken his tithe of the dead and led them off from me. That lamb filled the graves for me, this one empties the graves that had been full.”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who has conquered me and brought life to the dead to his own glory!</b></i></div>
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“Jesus’ death is a torment to me, I wish I had chosen to let him live: it would have been better for me than his death. Here is a dead man whose death I find hateful; at everyone else’s death I rejoice, but at his death I am anxious, and I expect he will return to life: during his lifetime he revived and brought back to life three dead people. Now through his death the dead who have come to life again trample me at Sheol’s gates when I go to hold them in.”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who has conquered me and brought life to the dead to his own glory!</b></i></div>
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“I will run and close the gates of Sheol before that Dead One whose death has plundered me. He who hears of it will wonder at my humiliation, because I have been defeated by a dead man outside: all the dead want to go outside, and he is pressing to enter. The medicine (In the Syriac tradition it is a symbol of Christ) of life has entered Sheol and brought its dead back to life. Who is it who has introduced for me and hidden the living fire in which the cold and dark wombs of Sheol melt?”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who has conquered me and brought life to the dead to his own glory!</b></i></div>
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Death saw angels in Sheol, immortal beings instead of mortal, and he said: “Trouble has entered our abode. On two accounts am I tormented: the dead have left Sheol, and the angels, who do not die, have entered it—one has entered and sat at the head of his grave, another, his companion, at his feet. I will ask and request him to take his pledge (rahbona) and go off to his kingdom.”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who has conquered me and brought life to the dead to his own glory!</b></i></div>
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“Do not reckon against me, good Jesus, the words I have spoken, or my pride before you. Who, on seeing your cross, could doubt that you are truly man? Who, when he sees your power, will fail to believe that you are also God? By these two indications I have learned to confess you both Man and God. Since the dead cannot repent in Sheol, rise up among the living, Lord, and proclaim repentance.”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who has conquered me and brought life to the dead to his own glory!</b></i></div>
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“Jesus king, receive my request, and with my request, take your hostage, carry off, as your great hostage, Adam in whom all the dead are hidden— just as, when I received him, in him all the living were concealed. As first hostage I give you Adam’s body, ascend now and reign over all, and when I hear your trumpet call, with my own hands will I bring forth the dead at your coming.”</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who has conquered me and brought life to the dead to his own glory!</b></i></div>
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Our living King has arisen and is exalted, like a victor, from Sheol. Woe is doubled for the party of the left, dismay for evil spirits and demons, suffering for Satan and Death, lamentation for Sin and Sheol, but rejoicing for the party of the right has come today! On his great day, then, let us give great praise to him who died and came to life again, so that he might give life and resurrection to all!</div>
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<i><b>Blessed is he who has conquered me and brought life to the dead to his own glory!</b></i></div>
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This hymn presents a clear theological statement: Death tries in vain to impede Christ’s entrance into Sheol. Having descended into it, he resurrects everyone there and leads them out. Sheol is left bare and destitute; there are no longer any dead inside. Only the evil spirits (demons), Satan, Death, and Sin remain waiting in Sheol for the second coming of Christ. On this day Death himself must hand over his victims to Christ. Ephrem does not segregate the prophets and the righteous from the rest of the dead but calls our attention to the fact that everyone is saved and resurrected in Christ.</div>
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The following hymn is found in Metropolitan Hilarion, Christ the Conqueror of Hell: The Descent into Hades from an Orthodox Perspective, 108-116.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-12787097365285692712015-04-04T18:33:00.002-04:002015-04-04T18:33:58.378-04:00Let us Give Thanks<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The gospel of John tells us that eternal life begins in knowing our creator (Cf. Jn 17.3). Christianity lies in the words of Christ. Union with God is the aim of a life worth living. In knowing God we seek eternal life. However, this knowledge is not meant to puff up, convinced that it can know everything, including God (leading to the fall of Adam), and all the while remaining ignorant of the fact that our fall lies precisely in the decay of genuine knowledge. Adam's alienation from God, in his literal sense of choosing a life not in God, but in itself and by itself, Adam chose to "know God" which means to believe through that faith about which it is said that "even the demons believe and tremble". Adam ceased to know God, and his life ceased to be that meeting with God, that communion with him-communion with all of God's creation-all of which gives life as depicted in the book of Genesis. Humanity at it weakest point thirst a great thirst. The Psalmist proclaims, "my soul thirsts for the living God". The same God in which we thirst for, the God in which we seek union with, Adam chose to know God through his ego and selfishness. <br />
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Thanksgiving is the joy, fullness, presence, of knowledge of God. Knowledge as communion and knowledge as unity leads to thanksgiving. Knowing God transforms our life into thanksgiving, and thanksgiving transforms eternity into everlasting life. Fr. Alexander Schmemann sums it well when says that the Church above all is one big chorus of praise constantly called to give thanks: <br />
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<i>If the entire life of the Church is above all one continuous burst of praise, blessing and thanksgiving, if this thanksgiving is raised up both out of joy and out of sorrow, out of the depths of both happiness and misfortune, out of both life and death, if the most bitter graveside lamentation is transformed by it into a song of praise, “Alleluia,” then it is because the Church is the meeting with God, which has been accomplished in Christ. Fr. Alexander Schmemann, The Eucharist, 176.</i></div>
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It is Christ's knowledge of God that has been bestowed to humanity as a gift of thanksgiving. Christ has shattered the gates of hades and opened to us the gates of paradise. After Christ trampled down death by death, and when forgiveness of sins was sealed through Christ's act of death and resurrection, then there remained only praise, only thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, which unites us with God, thanksgiving which united all human beings. St. Paul reminds us that he became a Jew in order to win the Jew, he became a Greek in order to win a Greek. Thanksgiving does not need a barrier or ethnic background. Thanksgiving only requires on condition; love. Thanksgiving is granted to us as precisely a pure thanksgiving, like those prophets (Moses) who where in the presences of the face of God. When we realize we stand in the presence of God it is then that we will be able to genuinely start giving thanks for God's creation and offer it to all for the life of the world. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-41128758106615691512015-03-26T17:47:00.000-04:002015-03-26T17:47:14.402-04:00Death is no Longer Fearsome <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">17th Century Bulgarian Icon of St. Athanasius</td></tr>
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That <b>death has been dissolved</b>, and the cross has become victory over it, and it is no longer strong but is itself truly dead, no mean proof but an evident surety is that i<b>t is despised by all Christ's disciples</b>, and everyone tramples on it, and no longer fears it, but with the sign of the cross and faith in Christ tread it under foot as something dead. Of old, before the divine sojourn of the Savior, all used to weep for those dying as if they were perishing. But since the Savior's raising the body, <b>no longer is death fearsome, but all believers in Christ tread on it as nothing</b>, and would rather choose to die than deny their faith in Christ. For they really know that <b>when they die they are not destroyed</b>, but both live and become incorruptible through the resurrection. And that devil, who formerly exulted wickedly in death, "<i>it pangs having been loosed</i>" (Acts 2.24), only he remains truly dead. And the proof of this is that human beings, before believing in Christ, view death as fearsome and are terrified at it. But when they come to faith in him and to his teaching, <b>they so despise death that they eagerly rush to it</b> and become witnesses to the resurrection over it effected by the Savior. For even while they are still young in stature they hasted to die, and not only men but also women practice for it with exercises...For as when a tyrant has been defeated by a legitimate king and bound hand and foot, all those that then pass by mock him, hitting and reviling him, no longer fearing his fury and barbarity because of the victorious king; in this way death also having been conquered and placarded by the Savior on the cross, and bound hand and foot, all those in Christ who pass by trample on him [death], and witnessing to Christ <b>they mock death</b>, jeering at him, and saying what was written above, <i><b>"O death, where is your victory? O hell, where is your sting?"</b></i> (1 Cor 15.55).<br />
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Excerpt from On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius (p.108-109). </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-59994139677677656512015-03-07T16:50:00.001-05:002015-05-04T16:27:56.354-04:00Lenten Reflection: Healing <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The church is place where one seeks healing. The purpose of the Church is to heal us, to overcome the divide between God and humanity which is caused by sin leading to our very death. Healing is achieved when we are united to one another and to God in the Body of Christ, which is the Church.<br />
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How is this healing achieved? When we come to know Christ, when we become one with Him and with one another then the healing process takes shape within all of us. Everything the Church does, through it's liturgical and sacramental life, is directed at restoring our relationships between God and creation. Our restoration is made possible through our interaction with creation which unites all of creation including all of humanity. The real meaning of Christian healing involves the whole person. The healing is made possible through the salvific events of the church, the Eucharist, Baptism which initiated us into the body of Christ.</div>
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As members of the body of Christ we enter this "membership" through Baptism which takes of the old "man" and puts on the new "man". The Eucharist is the means by which this membership is realized and continues to be lived out. In fact, everything the Church sets out for us, prayers, sacraments, feasts, have the Eucharist as their goal. We are the Church when we gather together, to celebrate the mystery of the incarnation, death and resurrection on behalf of all. Not only do we remember these events of the past, but we become partakers of Christ in the present, sharing in His divine nature for the restoration (healing) of soul and body. It is in the Eucharist that the famous line spoke by St. Athanasius is realized: "God became man, so that man might become god". This is what it means to be united to God and become divinized in His body; the Church.</div>
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Humanity and all of creation is created to be in union with God and the Eucharist is the realization of this union. True healing is precisely the restoration of union with God, the restoration of the proper relationship between God and creation. Every time we partake of the Eucharist we receive this grace of healing. This healing not only affects humanity but enters all of creation through our restoration with the one in whom salvation was realized through his body; the body which we all called to unite with. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-39694100008886875722015-02-22T00:24:00.000-05:002015-02-22T00:24:04.572-05:00Forgiveness Sunday <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In the Orthodox Church the Sunday before the start of Great Lent is known as Forgiveness Sunday. Vespers is celebrated in the evening and following vespers we ask for the forgiveness of all the parishioners while the choir sings, "Christ is Risen" and other joyful hymns. This is a beautiful service and one that speaks to the meaning of what Lent means. In the following Fr. Alexander Schmemann spells out the meaning and beauty of Forgiveness Sunday and tells us how we can benefit from it as we start our Lenten Journey. Enjoy!</div>
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In the Orthodox Church, the last Sunday before Great Lent – the day on which, at Vespers, Lent is liturgically announced and inaugurated – is called Forgiveness Sunday. On the morning of that Sunday, at the Divine Liturgy, we hear the words of Christ:</div>
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"If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses..." (Mark 6:14-15)</div>
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Then after Vespers – after hearing the announcement of Lent in the Great Prokeimenon: "Turn not away Thy face from Thy child for I am afflicted! Hear me speedily! Draw near unto my soul and deliver it!", after making our entrance into Lenten worship, with its special memories, with the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian, with its prostrations – we ask forgiveness from each other, we perform the rite of forgiveness and reconciliation. And as we approach each other with words of reconciliation, the choir intones the Paschal hymns, filling the church with the anticipation of Paschal joy.</div>
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What is the meaning of this rite? Why is it that the Church wants us to begin Lenten season with forgiveness and reconciliation? These questions are in order because for too many people Lent means primarily, and almost exclusively, a change of diet, the compliance with ecclesiastical regulations concerning fasting. They understand fasting as an end in itself, as a "good deed" required by God and carrying in itself its merit and its reward. But, the Church spares no effort in revealing to us that fasting is but a means, one among many, towards a higher goal: the spiritual renewal of man, his return to God, true repentance and, therefore, true reconciliation. The Church spares no effort in warning us against a hypocritical and pharisaic fasting, against the reduction of religion to mere external obligations. As a Lenten hymn says:</div>
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In vain do you rejoice in no eating, O soul!</div>
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For you abstain from food,</div>
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But from passions you are not purified.</div>
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If you persevere in sin, you will perform a useless fast.</div>
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Now, forgiveness stands at the very center of Christian faith and of Christian life because Christianity itself is, above all, the religion of forgiveness. God forgives us, and His forgiveness is in Christ, His Son, Whom He sends to us, so that by sharing in His humanity we may share in His love and be truly reconciled with God. Indeed, Christianity has no other content but love. And it is primarily the renewal of that love, a return to it, a growth in it, that we seek in Great Lent, in fasting and prayer, in the entire spirit and the entire effort of that season. Thus, truly forgiveness is both the beginning of, and the proper condition for the Lenten season.</div>
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One may ask, however: Why should I perform this rite when I have no "enemies"? Why should I ask forgiveness from people who have done nothing to me, and whom I hardly know? To ask these questions, is to misunderstand the Orthodox teaching concerning forgiveness. It is true, that open enmity, personal hatred, real animosity may be absent from our life, though if we experience them, it may be easier for us to repent, for these feelings openly contradict Divine commandments. But, the Church reveals to us that there are much subtler ways of offending Divine Love. These are indifference, selfishness, lack of interest in other people, of any real concern for them -- in short, that wall which we usually erect around ourselves, thinking that by being "polite" and "friendly" we fulfill God’s commandments. The rite of forgiveness is so important precisely because it makes us realize – be it only for one minute – that our entire relationship to other men is wrong, makes us experience that encounter of one child of God with another, of one person created by God with another, makes us feel that mutual "recognition" which is so terribly lacking in our cold and dehumanized world.</div>
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On that unique evening, listening to the joyful Paschal hymns we are called to make a spiritual discovery: to taste of another mode of life and relationship with people, of life whose essence is love. We can discover that always and everywhere Christ, the Divine Love Himself, stands in the midst of us, transforming our mutual alienation into brotherhood. As l advance towards the other, as the other comes to me – we begin to realize that it is Christ Who brings us together by His love for both of us.</div>
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And because we make this discovery – and because this discovery is that of the Kingdom of God itself: the Kingdom of Peace and Love, of reconciliation with God and, in Him, with all that exists – we hear the hymns of that Feast, which once a year, "opens to us the doors of Paradise." We know why we shall fast and pray, what we shall seek during the long Lenten pilgrimage. Forgiveness Sunday: the day on which we acquire the power to make our fasting – true fasting; our effort – true effort; our reconciliation with God – true reconciliation.</div>
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Fr. Alexander Schmemann, 1982. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13494869989083275276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991247840900574729.post-77725397438446385092015-02-18T19:36:00.003-05:002015-02-18T19:38:12.538-05:00Behold: Dying, we Live! <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The following is a small reflection by Fr. John Behr, the dean of St. Vladimir's Seminary and my Patristic and Old Testament teacher. Fr. John allowed me to explore the topic of death in a way that I have never heard before. His starting point is Christ and the cross. How do we understand Christ's death in relation to humanity as a whole? If Christ is our starting point then we must understand how it is that He died. This following reflection was taken from the St. Vladimir's blog website: <a href="https://svotssynaxis.wordpress.com/2014/04/18/behold-dying-we-live/" target="_blank">https://svotssynaxis.wordpress.com/2014/04/18/behold-dying-we-live/</a>. Let us contemplate on this reflection as we begin the lenten season and consider our own death in the body of Christ. How does this take shape? How do I die in Christ? Let us see what Fr. John has to say on this. I pray for all that you have a blessed season of lent and I pray that we find Christ in all during our journey this lenten season. </div>
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Pascha approaches: we should reflect once again on this crux of our faith, orient ourselves anew by the perspective that it offers, and enter afresh into its mystery.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhppfg8ZXNAVndf9q_0qoYMhA4td4PEiVy5R2TDUHkGl6wOmBr8JmwbbaAdAP_6Bnxmv8ajjB3BpBMTOrRFv5gFuMxgM-wclF4x6dEoI6A9RhYTtNhqfjONVNUhOAyrO6JrKYlCgdrVb_sD/s1600/kastoria_21363358983760.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhppfg8ZXNAVndf9q_0qoYMhA4td4PEiVy5R2TDUHkGl6wOmBr8JmwbbaAdAP_6Bnxmv8ajjB3BpBMTOrRFv5gFuMxgM-wclF4x6dEoI6A9RhYTtNhqfjONVNUhOAyrO6JrKYlCgdrVb_sD/s1600/kastoria_21363358983760.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Man of Sorrows. Double sided icon;<br />
Byzantine Museum Kastoria,<br />
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By his death, his voluntary self-offering in love for us, Christ has destroyed death and granted us life. We say such words so often, that we frequently become immune to the stumbling-block and scandal that they present, and so overlook their implications for us. By dying, as a human being, Christ has shown us what it is to be truly divine: Lordship manifest in service, strength in weakness, wisdom in folly. If he had shown us what it is to be divine in any other way (acting, for instance, as a superhuman god), we could have had no share in him and his work. The fact is that we are all going to die, whether we like it or not. The only question is how we are going to die? Clinging to all that we think is ours, our own life and possessions, our own status or merit? Or following him on his path to Golgotha, laying down our life in love for him and our neighbors? Living, yet still dying, or dying to live.</div>
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<b>The Witnessing Body</b></div>
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By his action, by his shed blood and broken body, Christ has called us to be his Church. We like to use the language of the Church triumphant, the glorious body with a mission to bring the whole world within its fold and so manifest the Kingdom of God upon this earth. And indeed this is our mission: Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit . But we must never forget that the glory of this body is one that is only seen by those whose sight has been trained to look upon the cross and see the Lord of glory. As St Athanasius put it, the more that the Lord is persecuted and humiliated, the more his glory and divinity is manifest … to those that have eyes to see.</div>
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And this continues, he affirms, in those who now constitute his body, those who take up the faith of the cross and willingly submit themselves to death, that he might live in them. Such a one was Blandina, the slave girl, the epitome of weakness in the ancient world, who was hung on a stake to be eaten by wild beasts. Spectators in the stands only saw another seemingly misguided fool dying for their entertainment, but those who struggled alongside her in the arena “saw in the form of their sister the one who was crucified for them.” Dying, Christ lives in her, so that she now lives eternally.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Blandina</td></tr>
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<b>The Scandalous Body</b></div>
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Let us never forget that this <i>is</i> the glory of the body of Christ, the Church, in this world, this <i>is</i> the life we profess to live, this <i>is</i> the inauguration of a kingdom not of this world. As we endeavor to extend this kingdom, we must of course strive to ensure that our behavior does not provide a scandal or stumbling block to others. At a minimum, we must hold ourselves to the highest standards of the society in which we live. But we must equally not fall into the error of supposing so doing is enough for the body of Christ to be in “good order”: as the body of Christ, we will be a laughing stock, held in scorn and derision – let us never forget this, and let it always be for the right reason!</div>
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Troubles such as those that currently beset the Church have done so from the beginning, and they can easily become an occasion for loss of faith, especially if we set our stock solely on the “good order” of this world. Indeed, one of the desert fathers of old warned that in days to come one will scarcely find faith left on this earth, and that the struggle to keep the faith in such times will be greater than any ascetic feat performed of old. If such troubles can be an occasion for despair, they can also be a powerful impetus to make sure that our focus is properly oriented, that our faith is in Christ alone.</div>
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We live straining towards the future, the coming Christ, nourished by the hope that he offers. Let us not then be weighed down by the cares of today, for they too will pass; let us instead prepare ourselves for the still greater struggles ahead. But we can only do this if our sights are truly set on the Kingdom inaugurated by the Passion and manifest in those, in us, who by dying live.</div>
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<b>Let us Forgive all in the Resurrection</b></div>
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Forgiveness is at the heart of the mystery of the Resurrection: “let us forgive one another so that we may cry aloud, ‘Christ is Risen!’” We cannot claim to be Christians, to dare to greet one another with this paschal greeting, unless we do so with a forgiving heart. But the depths of this forgiveness is not plumbed if we think that this means the repentance of others and our forgiveness of them, resulting in a peace, or rather a truce, that suffices us. Christ came to call the sinners, so that if we would be amongst the called, this is how we must regard ourselves, the chief, indeed, amongst the sinners.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The embrace of Sts. Peter and Paul. Vatopedi<br />
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We must be like the apostles: as Saul, confronted by Christ asking “Why are you persecuting me?” so becoming the great apostle Paul; as Peter, who before resuming his calling as a disciple, had to confess his love for Christ three times, standing by the burning coals, as he had denied Christ three times, warming himself by the burning coals, which harkens back to the vision of Isaiah who, seeing the Lord sitting upon the throne hymned by the seraphim, lamented “Woe is me, for I am lost; I am a man of unclean lips,” and so received the burning coal taken from the altar, hearing the words “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin forgiven.”</div>
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Approaching Christ in this way, as ourselves repentant and seeking forgiveness, our hearts will be broken so that the love and forgiveness of Christ can flow through us to others. Then we will be able to receive, from the same altar and with the same words of forgiveness, the medicine of immortality, so that dying we also may live.</div>
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<b>Unless a Seed Falls in the Ground</b> <b>and Dies</b></div>
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We are called to take up the Cross, to die with Christ, to become the one body of Christ. Our divisions are truly a scandal of our own making. Whether they are between persons, within an ecclesial body, or between ecclesial bodies, each and every one of us is responsible for our failure to make Christ present through our witness, our <i>martyria</i>, to a world that is increasingly alienated from God and increasingly thirsting for Christ. Clinging on to that which <i>we</i> value, whether our own dignity confronting that of others, a strife-creating indignation within our ecclesial bodies, or our pride in the distinctiveness of our own ecclesial body and the hierarchies of a long-gone era, we are like the seed that remains alone, rather than dying to bear fruit. If we are to be Christ’s one true Body, we must follow him by dying to everything that separates us from him, all that belongs to this world rather than to the Kingdom, and hold ourselves open to wherever he may lead us. Dying, then, we might begin make Christ manifest by how we live as his one body.</div>
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We are on the threshold of the Pascha of the Lord. This is not simply an annual event, that we might forget once we stop singing that “Christ is Risen!” It is rather the eternal mystery, present at every moment – every moment, that is, that we do indeed take to heart its proclamation and by dying, live.</div>
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<i>Fr. John Behr (SVOTS ’97) is Dean and Professor of Patristics at </i><i><a href="http://www.svots.edu/">St. Vladimir’s Seminary</a></i><i><a href="http://www.svots.edu/">.</a> His early work was on issues of asceticism and anthropology, focusing on St. Irenaeus of Lyons and Clement of Alexandria. After spending almost a decade in the second century, Fr. John began the publication of a series on the Formation of Christian Theology, and has now reached the fifth and sixth centuries. He has recently completed an edition and translation of, and introduction to, the remaining texts of Diodore of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia. He has also published a synthetic presentation of the theology of the early centuries, focused on the mystery of Christ. He is also a passionate cyclist, often rescheduling family events around the Tour de France. </i><i>Fr. John’s wife, a Tour de France enthusiast and armchair cyclist, teaches English at a nearby college, and their two sons and daughter are being taught to appreciate the finer points of French culture: the great “constructeurs” of the last century, Le Grande Boucle, and … cheese.</i></div>
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