Tag: Christianity

Theologians sometimes try to express the meaning of Jesus’ resurrection in one sentence: In the resurrection, God vindicated Jesus, his life, his message, and his fidelity. What does that mean?

Jesus entered our world preaching faith, love, and forgiveness, but the world didn’t accept that. Instead, it crucified him and by that seemingly shamed his message. We see this most clearly on the cross when Jesus is taunted, mocked, and challenged: If you are the son of God, come down from there! If your message is true, let God verify that right now! If your fidelity is more than plain stubbornness and human ignorance, then why are you dying in shame? 

What was God’s response to those taunts? Seemingly nothing, no commentary, no defense, no apologia, no counterchallenge, just silence. Jesus dies in silence. Neither he nor the God he believed in tried to fill that excruciating void with any consoling words or explanations challenging people to look at the bigger picture or to look at the brighter side of things. None of that. Just silence.

Jesus died in silence, inside God’s silence and inside the world’s incomprehension. And we can let ourselves be scandalized by that silence, just as we can let ourselves be scandalized by the seeming triumph of evil, pain, and suffering in our world. 

God’s seeming silence in the face of evil and death can forever scandalize us: in the Jewish holocaust, in ethnic genocides, in brutal and senseless wars, in the earthquakes and tsunamis which kill thousands of people and devastate whole countries, in the deaths of countless people taken out of this life by cancer, and by violence, in how unfair life can be sometimes, and in the casual manner that those without conscience can rape whole areas of life seemingly without consequence. Where is God in all of this? What’s God’s answer?

God’s answer is the resurrection, the resurrection of Jesus and the perennial resurrection of goodness within life itself. But resurrection is not necessarily rescue. God doesn’t necessarily rescue us from the effects of evil, nor even from death. Evil does what it does, natural disasters are what they are, and those without conscience can rape even as they are feeding off life’s sacred fire. Normally, God doesn’t intervene.

The parting of the Red Sea isn’t a weekly occurrence. God lets his loved ones suffer and die, just as Jesus let his dear friend Lazarus die, and God let Jesus die. God redeems, raises us up afterwards, in a deeper, more lasting vindication. Moreover, the truth of that statement can even be tested empirically.

Despite every appearance to the contrary at times, in the end, love does triumph over hatred. Peace does triumph over chaos. Forgiveness does triumph over bitterness. Hope does triumph over cynicism. Fidelity does triumph over despair. Virtue does triumph over sin. Conscience does triumph over callousness. Life does triumph over death, and good does triumph over evil, always.

Mohandas K. Gandhi once wrote: “When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been murderers and tyrants, and for a time they seem invincible. But in the end they always fall. Think of it, always.”

The Resurrection, most forcibly, makes that point. In the end, God has the last word. The resurrection of Jesus is that last word. From the ashes of shame, of seeming defeat, failure, and death, a new, deeper, and eternal life perennially bursts forth. Our faith begins at the very point where it seems it should end, in God’s seeming silence in the face of evil.

And what does this ask of us?

First, simply that we trust in the truth of the Resurrection. The Resurrection asks us to believe what Gandhi affirmed, namely, that in the end evil will not have the last word. It will fail. Good will eventually triumph.

More concretely, it asks us to roll the dice on trust and truth, namely, trusting that what Jesus taught is true. Virtue is not naive, even when it is shamed. Sin and cynicism are naive, even when they appear to triumph. Those who genuflect before God and others in conscience will find meaning and joy, even when they are deprived of some of the world’s pleasures.

Those who drink in and manipulate sacred energy without conscience will not find meaning in life, even when they taste pleasure. Those who live in honesty, no matter the cost, will find freedom. Those who lie and rationalize will find themselves imprisoned in self-hate. Those who live in trust will find love. God’s silence can be trusted, even when we die inside of it.

We need to remain faithful in love, forgiveness, and conscience, despite everything that suggests they are naive. They will bring us to what is deepest inside of life. Ultimately, God vindicates virtue. God vindicates love. God vindicates conscience. God vindicates forgiveness. God vindicates fidelity. Ultimately, God vindicated Jesus and will vindicate us too if we remain faithful.

Sofia, April 18, 2024

Photo: bta.bg     

The grave of the recently departed Patriarch Neofit of Bulgaria was vandalized twice in the past week, causing outrage in Bulgarian society.

His Holiness led the Bulgarian Church as primate for 10 years until his repose on Patriarch Neofit of Bulgaria reposes in the LordThe Patriarch was in poor health in recent years.

“>March 13. He is buried at the St. Nedelya Metropolitan Cathedral in Sofia. He is remembered as a meek and humble servant of God.

The vandal removed and broke the cross at the Patriarch’s grave and damaged part of the marble surrounding his grave.

Fortunately, the acts of desecration were caught on security camera footage, which police were able to use to detain the culprit, reports the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency, with reference to a statement from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The 37-year-old man faces a punishment of up to 3 years in prison or imprisonment. A forensic psychiatric examination of the vandal has been commissioned. “The man leads a nomadic lifestyle and clearly has mental disorders,” said Commissioner Georgi Gechev.

Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!

Blessed Marie-Anne, born Esther Blondin in 1809, grew up in a pious French-Canadian family in southern Quebec. As a young adult, she worked for a merchant as a domestic servant, and later for the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame, who taught her to read and write.

Esther decided to enter the convent, but was forced to abandon her plans because of her poor health. But knowing how to read and write allowed her to become a teacher, and eventually a director at a parochial school.

At the age of 39, Esther sought to combat illiteracy in her area by founding an order that would teach boys and girls in the same school. In 1848, this was a radical idea, as schools were separated by gender.

Eventually, Esther received permission for her order, and founded the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Anne. She took the name Marie-Anne, and became the superior. The order’s chaplain gave Marie-Anne a difficult time, eventually having her removed as superior and preventing her from ever holding an administrative role again.

Blessed Marie-Anne spent the last 32 years of her life working in the order’s laundry and ironing room without complaint. Although she was demoted, her order continued to spread throughout Canada and the United States.

Blessed Marie-Anne died in 1890 and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2001.

Florence, Arizona, April 16, 2024

Photo: YouTube     

A new collection of penetrating homilies from a Russian New Martyr of the 20th century, explaining the Divine Liturgy is now available.

Homilies on the Divine Liturgy is a collection of homilies that the Holy Hieromartyr Seraphim (Zvezdinsky) delivered during exile in Diveyevo. The homilies, translated by Fr. Zechariah Lynch, are now available from Uncut Mountain Press.

Watch a video trailer for the new publication:

​

Fr. Zechariah describes the book:

These homilies, so full of light, hope, and witness to the Lord Jesus, were proclaimed during the dark times of fierce Soviet persecution in the early 20th century. In the year 1926, during his exile in Diveyevo, St. Seraphim delivered over twenty homilies on the deep grace and life present in the Divine Liturgy. These homilies were recorded in writing by the servant of God, Tatyana Artsybusheva and subsequently preserved for the faithful in samizdat form. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the homilies were formally published for the general edification of the Orthodox faithful.

Overflowing with the hope of immortality in the face of passing mortality, these homilies will edify, strengthen, and illumine the reader. Full of love and respect for the living tradition and history of the Divine Liturgy, St. Seraphim instructs and calls his listeners to enter deeper into Christ Jesus, who is the eternal Sun burning deep at the center of the Divine Liturgy and filling it with His grace and life. ​​​​​​​Overflowing with the hope of immortality in the face of passing mortality, these homilies will edify, strengthen, and illumine the reader. Full of love and respect for the living tradition and history of the Divine Liturgy, St. Seraphim instructs and calls his listeners to enter deeper into Christ Jesus, who is the eternal Sun burning deep at the center of the Divine Liturgy and filling it with His grace and life.

About St. Seraphim:

Saint Seraphim (Nikolai Zvezdinsky) was born on April 7, 1883. He came from a devout family which held a special love and connection to St. Seraphim of Sarov. Seraphim became an archimandrite and then was ordained a Bishop by his Holiness Patriarch Tikhon. Bishop Seraphim arrived in his assigned city of Dimitrov on January 25, 1920. The three years he would spend here left an unforgettable and lasting impression upon its inhabitants. Bishop Seraphim supported the Church when surrounded by hostile forces and the godless Soviet government. Bishop Seraphim was arrested six times by the Soviet Secret police and remained under constant surveillance. He possessed the gifts of clairvoyance and healing of the sick; but the greatest gift God gave to Seraphim was prayer. He was always dedicated and fervent in prayer. He was very sincere and prayerful when serving the Divine Liturgy. He even composed prayers. In 1927, while in exile in Diveevo, the Panagia appeared to Bishop Seraphim. “I cannot describe her amazing beauty!” he exclaimed. On August 26, 1937, the Soviet secret police executed Bishop Seraphim by firing squad in the city of Omsk. The Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church canonized Bishop Seraphim (Zvezdinsky) as a hieromartyr in the year 2000.

Learn more about St. Seraphim in the article, ““We Live Only Through Our Christ!”Such a brilliant, fiery preacher and chanter of the Divine Liturgy as the bishop of Dimitrov, St. Seraphim (Zvezdinsky), Moscow never saw. It is not without reason that people called him the “Moscow Argyrostom” (Silver-tongued). But his main sermon was his life, which was a complete example of patient, unmurmuring, martyric cross-bearing.

“>We Live Only Through Christ!” OrthoChristian has published a two-part translation of St. Seraphim’s works St. Seraphim (Zvezdinsky) of DmitrovSt. Seraphim (Zvezdinsky) of Dmitrov”>On the Battle with the Main Sins.

Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!

The commission said the rule change is part of its effort to “carry out the law” in accordance with the PWFA, which was passed in 2022.

The 19th, a pro-abortion nonprofit, celebrated the rule change, saying that, “at a minimum,” it means employers must provide unpaid time off for abortion.

After first announcing the planned change in the Federal Register in August 2023, the commission allowed 60 days for public comment. During that time the commission received 54,000 comments against the inclusion of abortion and 40,000 in support.

Despite the 54,000 comments against it, the EEOC said it would move forward with the rule change. The commission said that though it “recognizes these are sincere, deeply held convictions and are often part of an individual’s religious beliefs,” it believes that the decision to include abortion is “consistent with the plain language of the statute, congressional intent, and federal courts’ interpretation of the statutory text.”

“The commission agrees with comments expressing support for inclusion of abortion in the proposed definition of ‘pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions’ for which a qualified employee could receive an accommodation, absent undue hardship,” the EEOC said.

EEOC Commissioner Kalpana Kotagal said the change is consistent with the PWFA and “advances the promise that pregnant and postpartum workers should not have to choose between their health and a paycheck.”

His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on the eve of the Thursday of the Great Canon (2017) gave a word about the passion of lust.

Photo: Natalia Goroshkova/Pravoslavnaya Zhizn     

The The Thursday of the ”Standing of St. Mary of Egypt”When Mary of Egypt was nearly overcome by temptations, she fell down on the earth and prayed. And what do we do in such situations?

“>Standing of St. Mary of Egypt is usually served on Wednesday evening. This is a long service, the only service in the year in which the entire Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is read. The Life of the great ascetic, Venerable Mary of EgyptCovered by the cloak, the ascetic turned to Zosimas: “Why do you want to speak with me, a sinful woman? What did you wish to learn from me, you who have not shrunk from such great labors?””>St. Mary of Egypt, who struggled against the passion of lust for seventeen years, is also read.

—Your Beatitude, what is the root of the passion of lust?

—The root of the passion of lust is in human Pride and Vanity Destroys Good DeedsThe experience of the spiritual life of our brothers in Christ, who achieved knowledge of the purpose and meaning of life, provides examples of the attitude with which we must enter the opening gates of the Holy Lenten days.

“>pride, in man’s resistance to submit to the one moral law that the Lord has given him. The very name of it (in Church Slavonic this is called bludnaya strast. The root, blud, implies getting lost, losing the way) tells us that he who has it has gotten lost in his feelings—he has ceased to understand which of his feelings are good, and which are bad; that bad feelings shouldn’t be indulged, that they should be resisted. The passion of lust makes a person empty, and this is clearly demonstrated in the Savior’s The Parable of the Prodigal SonThe parable of the Prodigal Son is inexhaustible. It contains such a multitude of themes, that it is difficult to enumerate them. Each man, who delves into it with reverence, finds the answer for himself to questions about his own spiritual condition.”>parable of the prodigal son. The prodigal son left his father’s house for a distant land and there wasted all his possessions, living prodigally. He made himself empty, was in great want, and nearly destroyed himself entirely.

—According to the teachings of the holy fathers, how can we struggle against this passion?

—The holy fathers teach that in order to conquer the passion of lust we need prayer and fasting. You won’t purify yourself completely right away, and one fast will not make you an angel. You need to purify yourself gradually. St. Mary of Egypt came to the desert, suffered and tormented herself for seventeen years, and the passions attacked her like wild animals. She endured it all and struggled with them, and the Lord cleansed her. By the end of her ascetic struggles, St. Mary’s soul had already acquired peace, and she rejoiced in her time in the desert. It is the same for a person who gradually goes from fast to fast, striving to limit himself from fast day to fast day, keeping within the boundaries of divine law, and finally reaching the measure of perfection.

Exercising the virtue of temperance is not a recipe for a boring life, Pope Francis said, but rather it is the secret to enjoying every good thing.

If one wants “to appreciate a good wine, savoring it in small sips is better than swallowing it all in one go. We all know this,” the pope said April 17 at his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

Continuing a series of audience talks about vices and virtues, the pope focused on temperance, which the Catechism of the Catholic Church defines as “the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods.”

Temperance is “the virtue of the right measure” in what one does and what one says, the pope said. “In a world where so many people boast about saying what they think, the temperate person prefers instead to think about what he or she says.”

“Do you understand the difference?” Pope Francis asked people in the square. It means “I don’t say whatever pops into my head. No, I think about what I must say.”

A temperate person does not allow “a moment’s anger to ruin relationships and friendships that can then only be rebuilt with difficulty,” the pope said. Temperance with words is especially important in families to keep “tensions, irritations and anger in check.”

“There is a time to speak and a time to be silent, but both require the right measure,” he said.

Being temperate, he said, does not mean never getting annoyed or frustrated, Pope Francis said, but he kept repeating the phrase with “the right measure” and “the right way.”

For example, “a word of rebuke is at times healthier than a sour, rancorous silence,” he said. “The temperate person knows that nothing is more uncomfortable than correcting another person, but he or she also knows that it is necessary; otherwise, one offers free reign to evil.”

A temperate person “affirms absolute principles and asserts non-negotiable values,” the pope said, but he or she does so in a way that shows understanding and empathy for others.

In other words, he said, a temperate person has the gift of balance, “a quality as precious as it is rare” in a world given to excess.

“It is not true that temperance makes one gray and joyless,” Pope Francis said. On the contrary, it increases “the joy that flourishes in the heart of those who recognize and value what counts most in life.”

Sofia, April 17, 2024

Photo: bg-patriarshia.bg     

The grave of the recently reposed Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was desecrated recently.

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church reported yesterday, April 16:

Unknown individuals have desecrated and vandalized the grave of the the Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia Neofit of blessed repose, located under the colonnade of the St. Nedelya Metropolitan Cathedral.

The cross has been removed from the grave and part of it is broken, as well as part of the marble surrounding the grave of the deceased primate of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Law enforcement has been notified of the incident and actions are being taken to find the perpetrators.

A follow-up report from the Bulgarian Church notes that the grave was actually desecrated twice, on both Saturday and Monday.

His Holiness Patriarch Neofit reposed in the Lord on Patriarch Neofit of Bulgaria reposes in the LordThe Patriarch was in poor health in recent years.

“>March 13 following a lengthy illness. He was laid to rest on Patriarch Neofit of Bulgaria laid to rest (+VIDEO)His Holiness Patriarch Neofit of Bulgaria was laid to rest in Sofia on Saturday, March 16.”>March 16.

The attack comes just days ahead of the 40th day memorial for Pat. Neofit.

Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!

In a new report released April 17, Catholic migrant advocates detailed accessibility issues facing asylum-seekers using CBP One, the mobile app run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to secure appointments needed to claim asylum and legally enter the United States.

Since January 2023, migrants in Mexico have made more than 64.3 million requests for appointments to enter the U.S. using the app since the Biden administration issued rules making it a starting point in the American asylum system at the U.S.-Mexico border, CBS News reported in February. Those requests represent the number of times appointments are requested — not the number of individuals making them — as one person can make multiple appointment requests.

The documents obtained by CBS showed that nearly 450,000 migrants have been allowed into the U.S. under the process in the 13-month period between January 2023 and February 2024.

In a new report by Jesuit Refugee Service USA and Boston College School of Social Work, Catholic migration advocates spoke with those using the app as they waited for an appointment in Mexico to begin the asylum process in the U.S.

The report calls for the federal government to address what it described as inequitable issues still facing the app, such as increasing the number of available appointments per day.

“Currently, the issue that we’re seeing is that there’s a limited amount of appointments per day,” Joshua Utter, advocacy officer at JRS USA, told OSV News. “And we really want the U.S. government — if this is going to be the way to get entry into the U.S to go forward with your asylum claim — they should be more transparent about the process and provide information that’s easily understood for the people that have to use it.”

Utter noted getting an appointment does not equate to being granted asylum; it is merely the first step in the application process.

“They’re trying to take the steps necessary to make sure that they’re entering the country legally,” he said of asylum-seekers trying to use the app.

“The issue we’re seeing is so many people are waiting and waiting for months at a time and it leads to a lot of uncertainty. It has a negative impact on their mental health and well-being, and then it also forces people to take desperate measures to try and get to enter into the U.S.,” Utter said. “And if the U.S. government wants to reduce those irregular crossings, then they should focus on providing, strengthening those pathways that they’re currently encouraging people to use.”

The report also highlighted the logistical challenges to vulnerable migrants presented by use of the app, primarily, having access to a smartphone on which to use it, but also access to wifi and a means of charging a phone. In some cases, migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. came to Mexico with one or two devices among a family group, or had older, outdated phones that did not have 5G capability, or their phones were lost, damaged, or stolen on their journey.

“This need for a smartphone at the border also highlights literacy and digital literacy issues, which are required to navigate CBP One,” the report said. Other risks involved with smartphones along the migration route include misinformation, digital information’s vulnerability to robbers or kidnappers seeking ransom for migrants, unreliable internet access, and digital footprints that can expose locations and identities.

Father Alejandro Olayo-Méndez, a professor at Boston College’s School of Social Work, stressed experiences of violence, such as kidnapping, were common themes faced by those seeking asylum and recounted by those the report surveyed.

“The conditions in which people wait are precarious,” Father Olayo-Méndez told OSV News, adding “the level of violence is very high, the level of violence that people experience. People are really fleeing very complicated situations.”

In one such instance highlighted in the report, a woman identified by the pseudonym Gabriela, a Honduran mother of four children said, “I had the necessary things to live in my country. I had a piece of land, a little house, and a way of living. It was simple but enough. Then the maras (members of a type of gang that originated in the U.S.) threatened to take away or recruit my 15-year-old.”

After the maras failed to recruit her to sell drugs for them, Gabriela said, “one day they approached me and told me, ‘since you could not work with us, maybe your son can work with us. He is a boy, so maybe he will understand better. You have one week to think about it.’”

Gabriela said she did not wait a week: “I left everything and fled to protect my child. I do not want them to take him away or that something may happen to him.”

The report stated that “the journey taken by people seeking safety in the U.S. comes at a great cost.

“Not only leaving behind their homes, livelihoods, and social connections, migrants and asylum-seekers risk dangerous conditions and the threat of violence in order to arrive at a place of refuge and opportunity,” it said. “These challenges are only exacerbated when digital obstacles and misinformation complicate entry and the right to seek asylum in the U.S.”

The report recommended the government continue to improve the CMP One app, and make it more accessible to people who have “limited digital literacy.”

It concluded, “These changes will play a critical role in alleviating humanitarian concerns and improving well-being at the U.S.-Mexico border by reducing the time one must wait in limbo to obtain refuge.”

Russia and Kazakhstan, April 17, 2024

Photo: diaconia.ru     

Several dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church are providing assistance to flood-affected regions of Russia and Kazakhstan. In Kazakhstan, 1,043 private residential buildings and 298 courtyards were flooded. More than 18,945 people were evacuated, including 8,202 children. Transport links with 63 settlements have been disrupted.

Priests, volunteers, and sisters of mercy deliver food, water, clothing, and basic necessities to temporary accommodation facilities and distribute them to those in need who apply to church help centers. They also help with accommodation and evacuation, reports the Russian Church.

According to official data, as of April 15, 193 settlements in 176 municipal districts, 15,641 residential buildings and 29,993 household plots remain flooded in Russia.

The report covers the activities of more than 20 dioceses, which have provided tons of humanitarian assistance in the form of:

• food and water

• hygiene products

• medicine and medical equipment

• cleaning supplies

• clothes

• pillows, blankets, and bed linen

• cots and mattresses

• candy for children

• toothbrushes and toothpaste

• toilet paper

• and more

On April 14, His Eminence Metropolitan Peter of Orenburg made a procession along the Ural River with a piece of the Holy Cross, a piece of the Robe of the Mother of God, and the Tabyn Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, and served a moleben to stop the flooding.

On April 13-14, 420 loaves of bread baked at the Iveron Convent in Orsk were distributed. Residents and staff of the assisted living home operating at the monastery have decided not to celebrate any birthdays and to cut back on entertainment events for two months in order to save money to help those in need.

Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!