The Canonical Problem: One Church, One Eucharist, One Bishop

St. Ignatius of Antioch 

The one term that is used-and misused-among the Orthodox people more often than the Arabic word tux (right order or right practice). The term implies that a practice being conducted in the church today has lost its meaning or canonicity because a “newer” practice has taken its place. This type of language is common amongst the people. “This is the tux…this is not tux”, is the language used whenever one observes the movements and actions of the priests and bishops. This is an indication that a canonical problem exists within the church and a solution needs to be proposed by the synod of the church. Unfortunately the existence of such a problem is seldom admitted. The opinions of the laity have been forgotten and the clericalization of the church has taken over the mind of the individual. We have let the clergy and bishops make decisions divorcing the work of the church into two groups-laity and clergy. Everyone simply claims the fullness of canonicity of his own position and, in the name of it, condemns and denounces as uncanonical the ecclesiastical status of others. The concern for both parties is not for truth, but for victories in the form of church building projects, new creation of bishoprics, ordination of a priest “against the will” of the people. The opinions of the people matter in so much when voicing the opinion of the majority. We live in a society that breeds and teaches the majority wins-taking shape in our governments and in the system that governs our economy; capitalism. How can this poisoned atmosphere change the minds of the laity towards the clergy? How can we respect the hierarchy and its decisions? In Toronto we are living at a time when Orthodoxy is coming of age. A 50 year history has been established and growing quickly. Yet the constant cry for a bishop has taken over the minds of the individuals mostly amongst the youth. We teach our children to be “proud” of the Orthodox faith, we constantly congratulate each other on our achievements about different historic events, yet, if we were true to the spirit we ought to repent in sackcloth and we ought to cry day and night for the sad state of the church finds itself in today. The idea of having a bishop or not having a bishop in Toronto we cannot deny or nothing can justify the fact: our church is divided. To be sure, there have always been divisions and conflicts amongst Christians, but for the first time-in a long time-division belongs to the very structure of the entire church, both in Canada and Egypt. We must wake up and be horrified by the situation the people of the church finds itself in. We must own up to our mistakes and find the courage to re-think it in the light of the Orthodox doctrine and tradition, no matter what it will cost to repair the damage that has been created by the canonical problem. The problem of wanting a bishop in Toronto has grown in the past few years and it has come to the fore-front of the dialogues in recent months (July and August 2014) prior to the visit of the Pope of Alexandria (Pope Tawadros the 2^nd). Unless, we admit the existence of the canonical problem, and secondly, put all our thoughts and energies into finding a solution, the façade we have created with million dollar churches and magnificent facilities hinges on the brink of extinction if we cannot find a solution. St. Peter taught us that judgement must first begin with us in order to progress in the knowledge of God: “For the time is come that judgement must begin at the house of God: and if it first begins at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” (1 Pet 4.17).

In order to demonstrate the need and importance of the bishop we shall look to the writings of Ignatius of Antioch-a second century bishop who was martyred in the city of Rome. On his way to Rome he wrote a series of letters to different churches in different cities. The letters of Ignatius are one of the most important early witnesses, outside the New Testament, to the development of both the church structure and theological reflection. The emphasizes of his letters focuses on the centrality of the bishop, surrounded by his presbyters (priests) and deacons, for the composition of the church; without these three orders the community cannot be called a church as he wrote to the Trallians (3.1). He urges the Smyrneans, for example, to follow the bishop as Christ follows the Father, and do nothing pertaining to the church without the consent and knowledge of the bishop; without him, they are neither to baptize nor hold an agape meal, and only that Eucharist which he, or the priests, celebrates is to be considered certain; in sum, “whenever the bishop appears, let the congregation be present, just as wherever Christ is, there is the catholic Church” (Smyrneans 8). That there is only one Christ means that there can only be one Eucharist, one altar, one bishop (Philadelphians 4). The importance of the bishop and the need of a bishop to this city were understood early on as representing the unity of the church through the priests, deacons and laity. The body of Christ made this union happen as long as “all the pieces” were present in the work of the church. However, this emphasis Ignatius places on the bishop should not be misunderstood as a mono-episcopacy. The obedience that the Smyrneans owe to their bishop, for instance is also due to the presbyters (priests) [Smyrneans 8.1]. This is only made possible first and fore-most with the presence of the bishop. Ignatius likewise, writing to the Magnesians and the Ephesians urges them to do nothing without the bishop and priests as they are to obey and subject to one another (Magnesians 7.1; 13.2; Ephesians 2.2; 20.2). This is again only possible with the presences of the bishop in the city. As such, the unity of Christians with their one bishop, in the one Eucharist celebrated on the one altar, is dependent upon a prior unity in the apostolic faith established by Christ. If the bishop ceases to be present then the church is divided and broken. Based on this understanding of the bishop according to Ignatius it is important for every city in the world to have a bishop present working with his priests and deacons to unite the church in the body of Christ.

This then takes us back to the city of Toronto. Pope Tawadros has announced that he plans on making the city of Toronto the archdiocese. Much confusion has been brought out in the form of many questions by the laity. Is this archdiocese the main hub to all of North America? Is this archdiocese connected with Cairo? If so will Toronto then, being an archdiocese, be getting a metropolitan? Will it be getting a general bishop? These questions and more have been going around about the news of Toronto becoming an archdiocese. The role of the archdiocese is set around as the main city for the metropolitan who has other cities under his jurisdiction. For example the metropolitan of Jerusalem has the UAE as part of his diocese but still remains the metropolitan of Jerusalem. Clarification is needed in order for the people to understand the status of Toronto. However, what is clear is that many believe the Pope to be the bishop of Toronto and this is incorrect. According to the canons of the church the Pope only has jurisdiction in Alexandria (and now Cairo). Canon 2 of Constantinople says, “The bishops are not to go beyond their dioceses to churches lying outside of their bounds, nor bring confusion on the churches; but let the Bishop of Alexandria, according to the canons, alone administer the affairs of Egypt; and let the bishops of the East manage the East alone…” The canonical problem present in Toronto needs to admitted to and corrected by the synod of the church. The church, as Ignatius has pointed out previously, needs a pastor to take care of its people. As long as there is a Coptic presence in any city in the world a bishop must be present. If the bishop is not present how then are the priests given authority to celebrate the Eucharist? Is there a way out of this?

There is no denial that the unity of the church, as expressed in the canons, is expressed, through the unity of the Episcopate (bishopric). St. Cyprian of Carthage wrote in the third century, episcopatus unus est. This means that each local church is united to all other churches, revealing her ontological identity with them, in its bishop. Just as every bishop receives the fullness of his episcopate from the oneness of the episcopate (the entire synod of bishops) which is expressed in the plurality of those who have consecrated him, this fullness includes the unity of the entire church. This unity is given its lived reality in the body of Christ (the Eucharist). The unity of the church is formed in the parish which gives the authority to the bishop. It is the bishop who unites all in the body of Christ. If the bishop is not present then the church ceases to exist. Lastly, the requirements of our Orthodox canonical tradition, the solution of our canonical problem coincides, strange as it may seem, with the most practical solution, with common sense. By looking back to the history and tradition of the church we are to see life and truth as the source that governs our lives today. You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free-free to follow the glorious truth to fulfill in this great country the mission of Orthodoxy.  

The Eucharistic Understanding of Marriage

An excellent book that tackles marriage from a historical perspective and ties in many issues in our modern time that couples face in marriage. 

The paradigm (starting point) of Marriage is Christ. And if Christ is the starting point off Marriage that brings us together in the anticipation of the kingdom then marriage is connected to the Eucharist. The difference between a "secular" marriage and a "christian" marriage is the Eucharist. It is through the Eucharist that the unity of the couple is manifested in the body of Christ. The connection is alluded to in the wedding story of Cana (Jn 2.1-11). The text is pointing to the climax of the marriage service which brings together the Baptism and Eucharist. The water is transformed into wine, so the life of the sinful human being in transfigured through the presence of Christ into the reality of the kingdom. Our life is transformed once we are united in the bond of matrimony. This explains why today the marriage service done within the full context of the church service is conducted within the entire liturgy. The culmination our our baptismal duty to the church which is to mission to the entire world and this culminates in the partaking of the divine gifts. Unfortunately, many have misunderstood marriage and the majority of all marriages are performed outside of the context of the liturgy.

Even in the early church when the administrative work was missing (before Constantine became emperor the church was not united) the church understood the importance of marriage and the Eucharist. Terturllian writing in the second century writes that marriage is arranged by the church, confirmed by the oblation (Eucharist), sealed by the blessing, and inscribed in heaven by the angels. The church had this understanding that marriage was not only important to civil society (each couple had to be registered a practice that still continues to this day) but their joint participation in the regular Sunday liturgy, in the presence of the entire community (not a private affair as is practiced today) was blessed by the Bishop or priest. The marriage became an eternal union when the Eucharist was distributed to the entire community. Ignatius of Antioch echoes a similar sentiment of Terturllian when he says those who get married must unite with the knowledge of the bishop, so the marriage may be according to the Lord, and not by human desire (Letter to Polycarp 5.2).

What makes a "sacrament" is not necessarily a set of specific, visible gestures, accomplished by a valid minister. The church itself-being a mysterious union of God with his people-is the sacrament as St. Paul talks about the mystery of salvation (Eph 3). When the union of marriage is done, this is indeed "sacrament", for the mystery of salvation is applied to the individual commitment. But all these "sacraments" are completed in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is itself a wedding feast as St. Paul reminds the community in Corinth that separating the table of thanksgiving is a mistake that needs to be corrects (1 Cor 11). After the wedding ceremony the couple are constantly working out their salvation in the body of Christ. Elder Elisha of Simonopetra tells us that marriage is a great sacrifice. This sacrifice is realized through the life of prayer. As prayer unites us to God our marriage unites us also to God through our struggles and pains within the marriage life. If we come to understand marriage through the lens of the Eucharist then and only then will a marriage be able to be made holy for the life of the world. But if we continue to think that marriage is based on materialistic (what kind of job they have and how much property do they own) objects then the 50 percent divorce rate (In the west countries) will continue to rise.    

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Therefore, don’t think that you aren’t praying. You pray daily, if for the sole reason that you have decided to offer yourselves to God, and to live apart, against the worldly mindset. Thus you should know that this constitutes prayer. This is prayer. Prayer is when I become a monk, to offer myself to God. This is prayer.

You pray when you offer yourself to the church and as a sacrifice towards each other within marriage. One who gets married, therefore, in his married life, is a prototype. Marriage is a return to the former state in Paradise, in other words. It is to offer yourself in the married life, for what does it do? To offer myself to someone else is to sacrifice myself for the other.

No one can distinguish the lay person from the monk, for what are they? Being a monk is a return to a former state, in other words, that of Paradise, without compromises.

We sell our freedom to God, because God is our freedom.  

Elder Eliseus (Elisha) of Simonopetra on Sacrifice in Marriage and Monasticism  

Matushka Juliana Schmemann on Mission

Fr. Alexander and his wife Matushka Juliana

A good friend shared this quote by Matushka Juliana Schmemann and it had me thinking about the paradigm of mission the church has been preaching to the people. Unfortunately mission has been based on a backlash, a misunderstanding of Christ and the Eucharist. Mission today has been reduced to a few fallacies based on the idea that we need to break away from "old archaic" ways of doing "certain actions" within the church. To give a few examples priests think that the liturgy must be done in English and the Arabic needs to be thrown out of the church (speaking about context of countries where the main language is English) and that we must incorporate worship songs into the service. Now I am not saying an all English liturgy is bad or worship songs need to be axed. On the other hand mission needs these tools in order to baptize all nations because if we are not using the language of the land as a tool for mission then all we have done is impose our own cultural heritage in country that does not share those heritages. Mission first and foremost as Matushka Juliana stresses is based on what we have to offer to people.

We must offer Christ to all. Christ is our starting point and our goal. Christ took on our humanity in order that we might share in his body. This is the paradigm the church needs to operate on. When translating this paradigm to mission it is no different. Mission begins and ends with the person of Christ. If Christ ceases to be our starting point then the church will become nothing more than mere activities done in light of social gatherings to cater to the needs of people. When theology is false Christianity is reduced to nothing more than mere activities. Mission is rooted in theology, a theology that is lived and expressed for the life of the world. Mission rooted in theology is a dynamic expression of what it means to be a Christian. Christianity being a way of life is a life lived for others. Mission is rooted in how we treat others through our offerings to them. (The first part of the liturgy is ironically known as the offertory). We offer ourselves because Christ showed us what it means to be a human through his incarnation. Our lives being rooted in the person of Christ has become a life offered to others. The first Orthodox missionaries who came through Alaska realized the importance of preaching the faith through the culture of the natives in Alaska and individuals such as St. Innocent and St. Herman understood this and were able to adapt the faith to the natives. Sadly today many Orthodox Churches have failed in this regard to missioning to all nations.

When you walk into a church today you will find the liturgy prayed in the language of the motherland (Arabic, Russian etc.) and the vernacular is not used. Worship songs are being incorporated into the service because we think this is what it means to be Christian. This however, is all rooted in the understanding that if we copy and paste protestant songs and continue using the old languages we will appease both the younger generations and the older generations. This however is not true. In fact the opposite is true in that many youths are leaving the church and the church fails in its missionary activity. The church, in order to be a place of mission must be rooted in the people who make the body of Christ. We must figure out how to talk to the people and the culture we are brought into (in my particular example-Canada). When we figure this out we must begin to incorporate this into our liturgy and language of mission. Simply coping and pasting does not solve the issue to the problem. We must be engaged in the culture in order to find beauty which is rooted in the person of Christ. Many have asked how does this look like? Are we to incorporate rap music in our hymns? Of course not (because this again is copying and pasting) however we must study carefully the culture and once we have come up with what it means "to be a Canadian" and how to express this in the liturgy it is only then that we can truly serve those around us through the context of mission. It is only then that the following words by Matushka Juliana will resonate throughout the life of the church.  
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I never stopped trying to exercise my missionary efforts while teaching or talking to or counselling my students. I wasn't bent on having them join my church, but I was trying to be contagious and to instill in them a sense of faith, of trust, of beauty, and finally of joy. 

My idea always was, and still is, to try to discover what is missing in a person's vision of life, what venue to use in order to reach people on their own ground. Whenever I feel a void, I try to fill it with hope and higher expectations from real life; not career, nor knowledge, but the poetic sacred aspect of life, so often missing from people's lives.

I insist that it is our sacred duty as those blessed with such abundant blessings from our life: our faith, our church and its services, Pascha, the beauty of nature, faithful friends, etc., to share these blessings with any and all who come into our lives, who cross our path and who dwell, if even momentarily, in our line of vision...

...Every one of us, every day has a chance to proclaim one's faith and love in deeds and works, in compassion and love, in bringing peace and being truly grateful. 

This is mission. Give unto others what we have in abundance." 

+ Matushka Julianna Schmemann, "The Joy to Serve" (Montreal: Alexander Press, 2009) 78-80. 

Father Robert Barron's 7 Keys to the New Evangelization

Fr. Robert Barron spoke recently on Evangelization and how to be an effective missionary! This is by far the most refreshing talk I have heard on this topic given by Fr. Barron! His non-reductionist approach to beauty, goodness and Christ being our starting point to Evangelize the world is presented clearly and to all who are interested in missionary work within the church. I personally loved all 7 points as they touched upon aspects that the world needs however the first two really got to me! Two points I think we as Christians take for granted. 

Firstly, we forget that our faith is beautiful and it is to be held by all. We learn to love and out of this unconditional love we see the beauty that is present in all. By appreciating the beautifulness of creation and how God created everything good we learn to see Christ in all and by seeing Christ we use everything in the world as a tool to evangelize and bring beauty and genuine love to every human being.

Secondly, we must be honest with those who approach us or whom we approach when speaking about the faith. We cannot dumb anything down in order to "get more people to come to the church". This is a reductionist approach. We must be honest in presenting the faith and through our honesty people will see the good and appreciate it more. If we cannot be honest with the people around us how can we be honest when we partake of the Eucharist! Being honest means being ourselves. We are broken individuals working together in the body of Christ. When people see this and realize how beautiful it is when we are honest with them it is only then that Christ will take a hold of their hearts and transform it for the glory of His kingdom. 

I have attached on the bottom the talk that was given by Fr. Barron in Los Angeles California!        

1. Lead with the Beautiful

It's less threatening. We are a beautiful religion. Truth/Goodness make people defensive. You can come to learn to love from beauty. Start from the goodness of the faith, then move to the truth. Look at what Pope Francis is doing by leading with the beauty of a holy life, then leading people to the good and to the truth.

2. Don't dumb down the message

It doesn't help when we allow faith to become the most dumbed down subject in society. Evangelize by being clear, articulate, and smart-with the full arsenal of our tradition. A dumbed-down Catholicism will not serve.

3. Preach with Ardor

We need some fire! As Aristotle notes, in the end people only listen to a really excited speaker. Muster up some excitement for the Gospel! "I don't think the purpose of Vatican II was to modernize the Church. The purpose of Vatican II was to Christify the world. It's goal was to send us out light-bearers to the end of the world. Ardor comes from clarity about the Resurrection: the risen Jesus is the Good News! People don't die for myths, legends, and literary devices-they do it for a resurrected Jesus! We need to be clear about that.

4. Tell the Great Story

There is a temptation to present a "pure Christianity" without the Old Testament story. This means the story is an abstract version and Jesus is more of a "Gnostic guru". But there is something haywire in presenting Jesus without the Old Testament. He is an Israelite. If we forget Israel, we forget who we are. The fulfillment of the story of salvation needs to have the story told from the beginning. Jesus can't be understood without placing him within the history of Israel and the Messiah that all of Israel has always waited for. He is the new Adam, Moses, Abraham, David, etc. The new Eden is now established in the person of Jesus. If you de-Judaize Jesus, He becomes just another spiritual teacher. Evangelization is a subversive message that there is a new king in town!   

5. God does not need us...and He loves us anyways

Embrace Irenaeus' understanding that God is perfect and doesn't need us. What a great truth that is! "There is no greater humanism possible than Orthodox Christianity." God's love is perfectly selfless. He is not a rival to us nor wants to get something out of us. He wants us to be "fully alive". He's like the bush in Exodus 3 that is on fire, but not consumed-that's an image of God taking on human flesh. He never destroys us when He comes into us; he enhances us. Jesus is the burning bush.  

6. We are made for God

Everyone is wired to want a relationship with God. Everybody has a hungry heart, to quote Bruce Springsteen. We are all looking for God. We don't just want truths or goods-we want truth and goodness itself. To evangelize is to tap into that desire. We all sometimes run after false gods, but the church needs to be the new Elijah who publicly and vigorously challenges the priests of the false gods (wealth, pleasure, honor, power). Only in giving yourself away in love is meaning found. The church is meant to be a light to the world; we can't keep it to ourselves.

7. Use the New Media

Before using new media, Catholic evangelists must become very adept at old media, namely books. Immerse ourselves and others in the tradition of the Church. But then, yes, yes, yes to the new media. We would be horribly derelict if we didn't use the tools we have before us. We can't allow others to control the world of new media. Statistics show that the majority of those who become atheists do so through new media. We need to be present online. 

Elder Sophrony on Liturgy

Liturgy is the essence of the Christian life. Liturgy is the starting point in which we Christians begin to live our life for the world. When we tell others to "come and see" that usually entails bringing that individual to a liturgical service. Whether it is vespers or the liturgy the point being made is that the liturgy is our starting point. What it means to be united in the body of Christ begins with the chalice which was offered to us on the cross and glorified through the resurrection. Our joy and hope rests in the resurrection of our Lord. This is why the last offering given by Christ was received through the last supper meal Christ shared with his disciples. The last supper has become a form of unity build on love between human beings. Christ offered himself for the sake of humanity and in doing so bestowed his unconditional love for us through the last supper meal as his last act before the cross. This is how we today share in the body of Christ. The highest point of the liturgy is the Eucharist, the meal of love which binds us in the body of Christ. Elder Sophrony has spoken beautiful words on the liturgy and in doing so let us see how the liturgy penetrates the life of a Christian.
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We Christians live Christ within the Divine Liturgy, or rather Christ lives within us during the Divine Liturgy. The Divine Liturgy is a work of God. We say: "Time is a creation of the Lord". Among other things it means now is the time for God to act. Christ liturgizes, we live with Christ. The Divine Liturgy is the way we know God and the way God becomes known to us. Christ celebrated the Divine Liturgy once and this passed into eternity.

His divinized human nature came to the Divine Liturgy. We know Christ specifically in the Divine Liturgy. The Divine Liturgy we celebrate is the same Divine Liturgy which was done by Christ on Great Thursday in the Mystical Supper. The 14th through 16th chapters of the Gospel according to John is one Divine Liturgy. So in the Divine Liturgy we understand Holy Scripture. The early Church lived without a New Testament, but not without the Divine Liturgy. The first records, the written hymns, exist in the Divine Liturgy. In the Divine Liturgy we live Christ and understand His word.

As Christ cleansed His disciples with his world and said to them: "You are already clean because of the world which I have spoken to you" (John 15.3) and He washed the feet of His disciples with water, during the Sacred Washing, so also in the first section of the Divine Liturgy He cleanses us that we might attend later His table of love. The purpose of the Divine Liturgy is to convey Christ to us. The Divine Liturgy teaches us an ethos, the ethos of humility. As Christ sacrificed Himself, so also should we sacrifice ourselves. The type of the Divine Liturgy is the type of impoverishment for us.

In the Divine Liturgy we try to be humbled, because we have the sense that there is the humble God. Every Divine Liturgy is a Theophany. The Body of Christ appears. Every member of the Church i an icon of the Kingdom of God. After the Divine Liturgy we must continue to iconify the Kingdom of God, keeping His commandments. The glory of Christ is to bear fruit in every member His fruit. This explains His word: "Herein is my father glorified that ye bear much fruit" (John 15.8)."

Elder Sophrony of Essex 

The Great Commission

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing the in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to end end of the age."  Matthew 28.18-20.

The great commission spoken by Christ to conclude the gospel of Matthew speaks of the role the church is meant to live out. The church is first and foremost a mission to all nations. Many countless examples can be given about missions to all of the nations. The greatest example is the Apostle Paul travelling throughout the Roman Empire and preaching the good news to all nations. Another example that is closer to home is St. Innocent and St. Herman of Alaska who came from Russia carrying the good news to the natives of Alaska. The Great Commission is the expression of love in the body of Christ beginning in the chalice and being preached to all nations. However, the paradigm has been shifted with the immigration of different ethnic groups moving to America and Canada. We must critically evaluate the great commission that has been brought with the immigration of these different ethnic groups to the west. Is the church still living the words of Christ spoken to conclude the gospel of Matthew? If you were to walk into a Greek, Russian, Serbian, Egyptian, Syrian, Italian, or any church does the church represent the nation it is present in? Can we critically and truly say that all nations are represented within the church today? Or are we caught in our "ethnic ghettos" that when we see an individual that is not "of the same ethnic background" we begin to gossip and whisper in each other ears judging the individual forgetting first and foremost we are all sinners? Sadly, many times we think that the church is the source of salvation for only "me" and no one else deserves this salvation OR if they want to practice they must practice "under our own terms". Professor Schneider said a profound statement that is relateable to these questions we are considering...

"Orthodoxy has to tell the world what the world needs and what that need truly is...this is missiology, this is mission outreach, missiology doesn't say come to the Orthodox Church because we're the true Church or because we have the true Tradition and only with us will you find salvation...missiology says I can help you understand yourself in ways you never imagine...and what is what we mean when we sing 'God is the Lord and has revealed himself to us'".
Professor Richard Schneider

The great commission is build on love for the human being! What it means to become a human within the church and to mission to the world is not about throwing a Bible to someone expecting him or her to come to the faith but rather it is how we relate to each other. Christ did not come and speak to tax collectors and prostitutes but he eat with them and sat down with them to serve them! If we are called to emulate Christ in our actions because Christ has become our example of what it means to be God then we to are called not only to speak to the homeless and hungry but to sit with them and bring them into the church and give them the bread that gives life to all. The mission of the church is not to baptize the "rich" but also the poor. The church is the mission to all nations not seeing color or race but seeing Christ in all. The church is the place were we, being given life in death, become poor in order to speak to the poor, become hungry to speak to the hungry, become rich to speak to the rich, become Christ in order for others to see Christ in us. Bishop Anastasios wrote on this exact idea when he said:

The saints of the church did not simple speak for the poor, but, above all, shared their life. They voluntarily became poor out of love for Christ, in order to identify with Him, who made Himself poor."
Bishop Anastasios of Albania, Mission in the way of Christ, 11.

St. Paul echoes the same message when he said that he became a Jew in order to speak to the Jews, he became a gentile to speak to the gentiles. How does this translate today? The great commission in focused around the society and world that we live in. Many speak of the society and world as being a "evil and bad place". However, how can this be if God created everything and it was good? We must be engaged in the world and society in order to see Christ in all. In order to live out the great commission for the life of the world we must become Americans and Canadians to all in order for all to see Christ in us. We must emancipate ourselves from the cultural ghettos we can created for ourselves in order to live out the great commission. St. Paul deals with this same issue when he found out that Jews and Gentiles were sitting at different tables at the table fellowship. He was outraged, and rightly so, because the body of Christ had been fragmented by this action. This is no different today with our actions! We have fragmented the body by creating specific "mission" churches and designating other churches for specific ethnic groups. We have fragmented the body of Christ by celebrating multiple liturgies and designating them as "a youth liturgy" the "adult liturgy" the "English liturgy" and by dividing up the community in this fashion we have divided the body of Christ. The great commission, the calling to live out the body of Christ can only produce fruit in the unity of the church. The church has never known division and it will never see division. Division of the church is a man made concept that has distorted the great commission. The Ecumenical councils was meant to unite the church but it has divided the church. The great commission lies in the person of Christ as the community comes together from all nations sharing in the one body.  

In the epistle of Barnabas, a second century writing, in the sixth chapter he writes "a human being is earth that suffers". This profound statement speaks volumes to the calling to mission to all nations. What it means to mission to all nations rests in how we see each other as human beings. If we continue to box people in as "doctors" and "priests" and the list can go on we lose the true value of the human being. The human being is the creature made in the image and likeness of God. When we mission to the nations we do not see race ethnicity or culture but rather we see Christ who is in all. We need to learn to drop our "ethnic walls" we have created for ourselves because of the fear that grips our hearts! Let us become the church of Christ that missions to the nation and not the church that we keep to ourselves!   

Liturgical Experience

Last week I was speaking to my father about the progression of the church from the 1st century to the modern times. We concluded that the beauty of the church is not about how "it has stayed the same", which it has, but rather the progression of the faith throughout the century has made the church what is it today. Many complain that the church is out of date and that 3 hour liturgies need to be dropped. I would challenge such an idea and ask the question since when did 3 hour liturgies ever remain the same? In the early church celebrating the Eucharist probably took less than an hour however, the fellowship spent at the church house probably lasted the whole day. Liturgy should then not be viewed as an "3 hour service" but liturgy should be taken in as the service of love. Liturgy lived for the life of the world is the liturgy that people can see Christ in us. By seeing Christ and seeing the love we live by then Christ becomes the ever present reality for the life of the world. Liturgy by definition is the ever lasting work of the people. It is not about a priest doing a few funny things in front of the holy of holies but it is the work of the people coming together in the body of Christ to fulfilled the commandment of Christ. To go out to the rest of the world and to preach the word of Christ baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. In the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom the priest always recites "Your own of your own we offer unto you, on behalf of all and for all". The work of the people is the liturgy that is lived for the life of the world. The following is a nice passage I came across from a book I was reading that relates the message of the progression of the liturgy. Enjoy. 

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Liturgical Experience

'During divine service be trustful, as a child trusts his parents. [...] Cast all your care upon the Lord [...]; "Take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in the same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father, which speaketh in you." Long ago has the Lord freed us from this care, having by His Spirit taught the Church what to say, how to pray, at divine service." Such an attitude to the worship of our Church does not stem from conservatism.

Nor were the Church's hymnographers inspired by the principle of newness. New elements do not come into Orthodox worship from any feeling that past forms are stale, but for positive reasons:

• 1) Teaching - for example when heresy threatened, or a Feast was instituted to focus more specifically on an event such as Christ's birth.
• 2) New events, such as a saint's canonisation or a miraculous deliverance.
• 3) An aspect of life is made the subject of common prayers - for instance, the environment, or a child's beginning school.
• 4) Local celebrations and adaptations are more widely adopted.
• 5) God inspired the composition and its insertion without any previous pastoral decision giving rise to it.

Orthodox teenagers were speaking disparagingly about forms of worship they had experienced at an ecumenical service.

Girl: 'They even had guitars in church.'

Another girl: 'We had to sing - and mime! - a "harvest" thanksgiving chorus about MacDonald's hamburgers!' [I was treated to a rendition.] 

S.M.: 'I'd feel an idiot singing that in a church! But be careful to get your reasons for being so scathing right! At least they were thanking God, singing about Christ. That's quite something nowadays. You can glorify God by a guitar. Or just enjoy it anyway, there's no sin in that. The really important point is not that it was laughably corny, but that it is a mistake to keep adapting the Liturgy, to replace inspired services. It is not wrong in itself to add another means of worshipping for other moments.'

Girl: 'The girls at school don't want it; the teachers make it up to try and be up to date.' 

S.M.: 'Yes, to "keep the young people in Church". C.S. Lewis says, "If something is not eternal, it is eternally out of date." Look at the rock charts. By the time you compose a service based on this week's style and get it approved by a liturgical committee  you'll be ages behind the fashion and have to start again. And there's no guarantee you're inspiring truth about God. It is not a service tested by centuries of praying saints. I'd rather struggle to pray like St. John Chrysostom myself. It's more sure. And it will take me a lifetime to get all I can out of it. The things that don't matter so much can change week by week.'

The saints who expressed reservations about elaborated hymnography in comparison with monologistic prayer (monologistic means concentrated in a short phrase; the Jesus prayer is the most widely practised of this type) were not rebels. Some ascetics live at such a depth of prayer that they have less need of liturgical richness. For the rest of humanity, the forms of our public services take people in a positive direction, freeing their minds from heterogeneous preoccupations. Common worship is also valuable as means of uniting with others in prayer. Athonite monks are taught that even thought prayer in the cell can go deeper than prayer in the church, monks who conclude that it is therefore better to skip the services will not gain grace in their cells.

+ Sister Magdalen of Essex, "Conversations with Children: Communicating our Faith," (Essex: Stavropegic Monastery of St John the Baptist, 2004) 194-6. ISBN 1 874679 21 5

St. Ephraim the Syrian - On the Power of the Cross

The Cross abolished idolatrous adulation, enlightened the whole universe, gathered all the nations into one Church and united them with love. The Cross is the resurrection of the dead. The Cross is the hope of Christians. The Cross is the staff for the lame. The Cross is comfort for the poor. The Cross is the deposing of the proud. The Cross is the hope of those who despair. The Cross is food for the sailors. The Cross is haven for the bestormed. The Cross is the father for orphans. The Cross is comfort for those who mourn. The Cross is the protector of children. The Cross is the glory of men. The Cross is the crown of elders. The Cross is light for those sitting in darkness. The Cross is freedom for slaves, wisdom for the ignorant. The Cross is the preaching of prophets, the fellow-traveler of apostles. The Cross is the chastity of maidens, the joy of priests. The Cross is the foundation of the Church, the establishment of the universe. The Cross is the destruction of idolatrous temples, temptation for Jews. The Cross is the cleansing of the lepers, the rehabilitation of the enfeebled. The Cross is bread for the hungry, a fountain for the thirsty. The Cross is the good hope of monks, clothing for the naked.

By this holy armor of the Cross Christ the Lord has terminated the omniconsuming bowels of Hades and blocked the many snares in the mouth of the devil. Having seen the Cross, death trembled and released everyone whom she possessed with the first creature. Armed with the Cross, the God-bearing apostles subdued all the power of the enemy and caught all peoples in their dragnets, and gathered them for the worship of the One Crucified. Clothed in the Cross as in armor, the martyrs of Christ trampled all the plans of torturers and preached with plainness the Divine Cross-bearer. Having taken up the Cross for the sake of Christ, those who renounced everything in the world settled in deserts and on mountains, in caves and became the fasters of the earth.

But what language is worthy to praise the Cross, this invincible wall of the Orthodox, this victorious armor of the Heavenly King?! By the cross the Almighty One bestowed unspeakable blessings on humanity!

Therefore on the forehead, and on the eyes, and on the mouth, and on the breasts let us place the life-giving Cross. Let us arm them with the invincible armor of Christians, with this hope of the faithful, with this gentle light. Let us open paradise with this armor, with this support of the Orthodox faith, with this saving praise of the Church. Neither in one hour, nor in one instant, let us not forget the Cross, nor let us begin to do anything without it. But let us sleep, let us arise, let us work, let us eat, let us drink, let us go on our way, let us sail on the seas, let us go across the river, let us adorn all our members with the life-giving Cross. And let us not be frightened 'by the terror of the night, nor by the arrow that flies by day, nor by anything roaming in darkness, nor by any calamity, nor any noonday demon' (Ps. 90:5, 6). If, O Christian, you will always take up the Cross of Christ on yourself as a help, then 'evil shall not come towards you, nor any scourge come near your habitation': for the opposition power seeing it trembles and leaves.

- St. Ephraim the Syrian

The Liturgy for the life of the World

Icon from St. Silouan Orthodox Church in Toronto-Feeding of the 5000

 The Institution Narrative of the liturgy proclaims that Christ gave up his life for the world. The liturgy is the expression of the Christian for the life of the world. By seeing Christ present and partaking of Christ within Liturgy, this allows the entire the community to see Christ in the world becoming witnesses of Christ through our very actions. By allowing liturgy to become the means to our life, liturgy will become a means of mission for the entire world. The liturgy is not an archaic form of worship; the liturgy is instead the offering of the Bread of Life on behalf of all believers for the life of the world. The priest recites, during the Anaphora of St. John Chrysostom's liturgy, "Your own of your own we offer unto you on behalf of all and for all". This bread, the bread of life, is offered on behalf of all and for all. This Bread of Life is the same bread that became the sacrifice for the life of the world. Within the Byzantine tradition of Lent the third week is dedicated to the veneration of the cross. The cross is brought out and venerated as we are reminded during the half way point of Lent that the cross will become a stumbling block to those who do not believe, but to those who accept the cross, it will become the source of life. Through Christ’s own mystical death we have been received into the everlasting life. The cross has become the source of all power for the Christian who embraces it but shamefulness to those who have not accepted the calling of the cross. The weakness of the cross has become the strength to those who believe. 

St. Paul reminds us of this when he said that “my strength is made perfect in weakness”. The Cross, having become the source of power, became the power that enabled the liturgy to grow through the offering of the Bread of Life. Christ having become the sacrifice on the cross became our mediator between us and God. We are then constantly reminded of Christ because the climax of the liturgy is the unity of the one body in Christ. As we receive the Eucharist we are reminded that the liturgy is not a show that has a beginning and an end, but rather, the liturgy is constantly in motion for the life of the world through the living Eucharist. As Christ gave his life up for the world we to must learn to give up our life for the world. We have been made dead in Christ through our baptismal renewal and made alive in Christ through our Chrism and participation of the Eucharist. As the priest tosses the water at the end of the liturgy (Coptic Rite) it reminds the gathered community of our baptismal renewal that we are made alive through our own death in Christ. The living liturgy becomes that which, is lived out in His image and likeness. 

The joy of the resurrection is the expression that all Christians need to express in order for others to see Christ in us and for us to see Christ in others. If we make Christ our starting point then the living liturgy will become the expression for all Christians for the life of the world. This life made perfect in Christ is not categorized by egotistic, individualistic and capitalistic ambitions. Christ, being our starting point, lies within the community of love living in the joy of the resurrection serving as a constant reminder that liturgy is not just a mere three hour service on a Sunday morning but the liturgy is the expression of what it means to be united in Christ's body. Liturgy is the life for the world as Christ gave up his life for the world we to be called to give up the world for the life in Christ in order that all might see Christ.