Tag: Christianity

On this day we commemorate the inexorable Second Coming of Christ. The holy fathers have ordained that it be observed after the second parable of the Prodigal Son, so that no one who has learned from it of God’s love of for mankind will live in laziness, saying, “God loves mankind, and when I am separated from Him by sin, I will nevertheless be restored.” This terrible Day of Judgment is now commemorated, so that through fear of death and the expectation of future torment, those who live in laziness may be encouraged to strive for the virtues, not only trusting in the love of God, but also realizing that He is the righteous Judge, who will judge all men according to their deeds. In other words, those souls who have passed over to the next life must undergo judgment.

    

Before Meatfare Sunday, the Meatfare Sunday: The Last Judgment

“>Sunday of the Last Judgment, the Holy Church has established a universal Ancestors’ Meatfare Saturday, on which we perform memorial services for all Orthodox Christians who have fallen asleep from the beginning until now. Therefore, it is called universal. This year (the date is movable and depends on Pascha) the commemoration falls on March 9. There are three such universal commemorations in the Orthodox Church year: the above-mentioned Saturday; RadonitsaArchpriest Artemy Vladimirov speaks about what Radonitsa is, how to spend the day, and who to remember and who to commemorate.”>Radonitsa, celebrated on Tuesday of the second week after Pascha, when we share the joy of the Risen Lord with our departed loved ones; Trinity Ancestors’ Saturday, on which we remember the departed, because the day of Pentecost is the birthday of the Church. We commemorate all members of the Church, both earthly and Heavenly, as a single living body—the Body of Christ, united by Him and having Him as the Head. The entirety of the Church includes the reposed; it is us, the living, and the saints. After all, the Sunday after the feast of the Holy Trinity is All Saints’ Sunday. And the following Sunday is a national commemoration day in our land—Sunday of All Saints who shone forth in the Russian land.

In addition, there are other memorial services, the institution of which is associated with specific historical factors. St. Demetrios Saturday

“>St. Demetrius Ancestors’ Saturday is associated with the events of the Battle of Kulikovo, in which a great many Orthodox Slavs were killed. It is called St. Demetrius Saturday, because it is connected with the subsequent feast of Holy Great-Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica, a patron-saint of warriors. Or, for example, memorial services on the feast of the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church for the repose of all Orthodox Christians who suffered for the faith of Christ during the Soviet-era persecutions or were victims of political repressions. There are other days of special commemorations of the departed as well—for example, some Lenten Saturdays.

There are also the usual commemorations at the Liturgy, commemorations at forty Liturgies that people order, the reading of the “perpetual Psalter”, general memorial services (Panikhidas), litias or services of need (at people’s request)—the funeral service of the deceased, as well as memorial services and litias.

Saturday is the usual day of commemoration of the departed. This tradition goes back to the Old Testament, since Saturday is a day of rest, and the departed have already found rest in the Lord.

But why do we commemorate all Orthodox Christians who have fallen asleep from the beginning until now, precisely the day before the Sunday of the Last Judgment?

The answer to this question is given in the Synaxarion (from the Greek: “collection”; in this case, a collection of instructions for preparing Christians for Lent) for Meatfare Saturday: “On this day the Holy Fathers established the commemoration of all people who have died from the beginning in piety for the following reason.

“Since many have died suddenly on journeys, in the sea or in impassable mountains, in turbulent streams, in precipices, from illnesses and hunger, in fire, in ice, in war, from cold or from some other cause, funeral services were not performed over them, or over the poor and the wretched. The Holy Fathers, driven by love for mankind, ruled that the universal Church must have a day of universal commemoration of all the departed, adopting this from the Holy Apostles, to pray for those who for whatever reason were not commemorated as established, showing that this (Church commemoration) brings them great benefit. This is how the Church of God commemorates all the souls (all those who have fallen asleep) simultaneously. [There is no Church commemoration of suicides.—Auth.]

“Besides, since the Second Coming of Christ is remembered on this day, it is appropriate to commemorate the memory of the souls (of all those who once lived), imploring the Terrible and impartial Judge to show them mercy and grant them the promised bliss.

“Wishing to expound upon Adam’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden next week, the Holy Fathers first of all think about individual repose, so that having finished today with the final repose that concludes history, they can then start as if from the beginning (from Adam), and with that last trial with the incorruptible Judge, which will be at the end of time, striking fear in people in order to encourage them in their labors of fasting.

“On Saturday, we always remember the souls (of the departed), because Saturday (Sabbath) means rest for the Jews. And we perform prayers on the day of rest for the departed as for those who have found rest from everyday cares and all other cares. There is an established tradition to do this every Saturday, and on this the universal commemoration, to pray conciliarly, remembering all Orthodox.”

Why is it so important for us, the living, to pray for the departed? After all, their destinies are almost decided. There is no repentance for a person after death, and he cannot change his destiny, for the Lord said, “In whatsoever things I shall take thee, in these I shall judge thee.” Such people only await a reward for good deeds or retribution for bad ones in earthly life—for getting closer to God or moving away from Him, depending on their will.

But the Church and the Holy Fathers teach almost unanimously that through the prayers of the earthly Church—bishops, clergy and the kin of the departed—the Lord grants them His special grace, improving their fate in the afterlife. Moreover, prior to the Last Judgment, the destinies of the reposed have not yet been fully determined. Only after the Second Coming of Christ will both eternal torment in hell and eternal bliss in Paradise be completely determined. Before that, we can pray fervently for the repose of our departed relatives. And with our love embodied in prayer—be it in church or at home—with works of mercy performed for them, we can greatly help them by the grace of God and even have them delivered from eternal torment.

Here is an example from the above-mentioned Synaxarion: “Dionysius the Areopagite also speaks of how beneficial it is to commemorate the souls of the departed. This is confirmed by many others, and by the story of St. Macarius the Great, who having found the skull of a pagan, asked him: ‘Do those in hell have any consolation?’ And the skull replied, ‘They have great relief when you, father, pray for the departed.’ St. Macarius the Great prayed to the Lord for a long time, and wanted to know if it was of any use to the departed. St. Gregory the Dialogist delivered Emperor Trajan from hell through his prayers, although he then heard God command him never to pray for the impious again. Even Theophilus the Iconoclast was delivered from torment by the Righteous Empress Theodora and saved by the prayers of holy men and confessors. And St. Gregory the Theologian mentions in the “Oration for his Brother St. Caesareus” alms for the departed as a good deed.

“The great St. John Chrysostom says in his homily on the Epistle to the Philippians: ‘Let us assist them according to our power; let us think of some assistance for them, however small it may be, yet let us assist them… by praying and entreating others to make prayers for them, by continually giving to the poor on their behalf… Not in vain did the Apostles order that remembrance should be made of the dead in the dread Mysteries. They knew that it brings them great gain and benefit, for when the whole congregation stands with uplifted hands, along with a priestly assembly, and that awesome Sacrifice lies displayed, how can we not prevail with God in our entreaties for them?’”¹

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, the Mother Church does not call on us to take the passive position of the grieving and despondent, but the active position of Orthodox Christians, whose love is expressed by concrete deeds—commemorations at the Liturgy, for forty Liturgies that we order, the “perpetual Psalter”, memorial services (Panikhidas), litias, private prayers at home and almsgiving that will help our reposed close ones find eternal rest, as is rightly sung in memorial hymns, “in a place of brightness, a place of green pasture, a place of rest…”

Are you sick at heart and grieving for your reposed loved one? Don’t sit idly by and get discouraged—take the Psalter in your hands, read kathisma 17 or several other kathismas, the canon for the departed, and other memorial prayers. And you will not only do him much good, but with God’s help you will get rid of your own despondency.

As the eleventh and twelfth parts of the Creed proclaim, I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come. Amen.” Not this age, but the age to come. And God is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Mt. 22:32).

Let us also recall the final pages of the Holy Bible—chapters 21 and 22 of Revelation: And I saw a new Heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away… And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it (Rev. 21:1–4, 23, 24).

That’s what we’re waiting for. Only we ourselves must labor, and labor for our reposed loved ones with God’s help.

I would like to conclude with the words of the holy Apostle John the Theologian: He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus (Rev. 22:20).

St. Frances of Rome was born in the year 1384, into a noble Roman family. Frances felt a call to religious life, but her parents forced her to marry when she was 13. As Frances got to know her husband’s family, she found that her brother-in-law’s wife felt the same calling. The two women began to work together to help the poor. 

When the plague swept through Rome, one of Frances’ daughters died, and she turned more fully to charitable works. Frances gave all of her wealth to the sick and poor, and went door-to-door to raise more money. 

Frances opened a wing of her home as a hospital for the poor, and she began to see the great need for more institutions to help. She sought permission from the pope to form a charitable society of women. They followed the ideals of the Benedictine order, and carried on active charity and assistance for the poor. 

After she set up this society, Frances lived with her husband until his death. After he died, she moved to the society that she formed and continued her work. 

Frances died in 1440, and is the patron saint of widows and motorists. 

2 Chr. 36:14-17, 19-23 / Ps. 137:1-6 / Eph. 2:4-10 / Jn. 3:14-21

The Sunday readings in Lent have been showing us the high points of salvation history — God’s covenant with creation in the time of Noah; his promises to Abraham; the law he gave to Israel at Sinai.

In today’s First Reading, we hear of the destruction of the kingdom established by God’s final Old Testament covenant — the covenant with David (see 2 Samuel 7; Psalm 89:3).

His chosen people abandoned the law he gave them. For their sins, the temple was destroyed, and they were exiled in Babylon. We hear their sorrow and repentance in the exile lament we sing as today’s Psalm.

But we also hear how God, in his mercy, gathered them back, even anointing a pagan king to shepherd them and rebuild the temple (see Isaiah 44:28—45:1,4).

God is rich in mercy, as today’s Epistle teaches. He promised that David’s kingdom would last forever, that David’s son would be his Son and rule all nations (see 2 Samuel 7:14-15; Psalm 2:7-9). In Jesus, God keeps that promise (see Revelation 22:16).

Moses lifted up the serpent as a sign of salvation (see Wisdom 16:6-7; Numbers 21:9). Now Jesus is lifted up on the cross, to draw all people to himself (see John 12:32).

Those who refuse to believe in this sign of the Father’s love, condemn themselves — as the Israelites in their infidelity brought judgment upon themselves. But God did not leave Israel in exile, and he does not want to leave any of us dead in our transgressions.

We are God’s handiwork, saved to live as his people in the light of his truth. Midway through this season of repentance, let us again behold the Pierced One (see John 19:37), and rededicate ourselves to living the “good works” that God has prepared us for.

The state of the union “is strong and getting stronger,” President Joe Biden said in his March 7 address.

In his third State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, Biden said “this is no ordinary moment” in U.S. history.

“Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault here at home as they are today,” Biden said. “What makes our moment rare is that freedom and democracy are under attack, both at home and overseas, at the very same time.”

Biden appeared energetic and passionate in his delivery, stumbling over some of his words on several occasions, while vigorously jousting with lawmakers on the floor. The chamber was boisterous over the nearly 70-minute address with a smattering of lawmakers heckling the president and his supporters calling for “four more years.” House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican sitting behind Biden for the address, shook his head at several portions of Biden’s address while Vice President Kamala Harris repeatedly stood to applaud the president.

Biden opened his remarks with a pitch for providing military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, calling on Congress to rise to the occasion as Congress did in 1941, supplying European allies in the fight against Nazi Germany during World War II. Biden also sought to highlight his remaining policy priorities on issues like abortion, the economy, and immigration.

He also sought to convince voters that he should be elected to another term in what may be his largest television audience before November, as polls show increasing concerns about the president’s age. Biden is the nation’s second Catholic president and is seeking to become the first Catholic elected to two full terms.

Calling on Congress to approve additional aid to Ukraine, Biden said, “If anybody in this room thinks (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you, he will not.”

“But Ukraine can stop Putin if we stand with Ukraine and provide the weapons it needs to defend itself,” he said. “That is all Ukraine is asking. They are not asking for American soldiers.”

Biden reiterated his position that access to abortion should be expanded by congressional legislation, as well as access to fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization, following a controversial ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos should be considered unborn children under the state’s wrongful death law.

Biden at one point addressed justices of the Supreme Court who were in attendance directly, citing the majority opinion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case that overturned Roe v. Wade, where the justices wrote: “Women are not without electoral or political power.”

“You’re about to realize just how much you’re right about that,” Biden said.

In response to heckling from the controversial Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., during his comments on immigration, Biden noted the death of Laken Riley and held up a pin with her name that Greene had given him upon entering the House Chamber. Biden said Riley was “an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal” and expressed his condolences to her parents.

“My heart goes out to you having lost children myself, I understand,” Biden said.

The slain Georgia student who police say was killed by a man who illegally crossed the border has become a rallying cry for Republicans opposed to what they call Biden’s lax immigration policy.

But Biden criticized Republicans for rejecting a bipartisan deal that would have implemented new border security measures and increased the government’s capacity to adjudicate immigration cases. That legislation was criticized by Catholic migration advocates who expressed concern about the implications of the proposed legislation, particularly for those seeking asylum.

Biden said there was “a simple choice” before lawmakers.

“We can fight about fixing the border or we can fix it,” he said.

Biden also called for the construction of a temporary pier to deliver humanitarian aid in Gaza amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip following Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel.

Israel, Biden said, has a right to defend itself. He condemned the violence perpetrated against Israel that day but stressed Israel must allow more civilian aid into Gaza.

Biden also argued Hamas could end the conflict by releasing remaining hostages, halting its attacks, and surrendering those responsible for the Oct. 7 atrocities. Biden also stressed that Israel’s only path to lasting peace, including with its neighbors in the region, depended on a two-state solution with a viable Palestinian state.

Biden also addressed economic concerns, praising the role of unions in creating the American middle class, while also calling for the restoration of the now-lapsed extended child tax credit that was effective in reducing the number of families in poverty and child hunger, and a tax credit to help new homebuyers pay their mortgages until rates went down. He said these measures should be coupled with increasing tax revenue from billionaires and corporations.

Addressing concerns about his age head-on, Biden said that with age, “certain things become clearer than ever.”

“My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy, a future based on core values that defined America: honesty, decency, dignity, equality,” he said.

Biden said, “the issue facing our nation isn’t how old we are — it’s how old our ideas are.”

“Hate, anger, revenge, retribution are among the oldest of ideas,” he said. “But you can’t lead America with ancient ideas that only take us back. To lead America, the land of possibilities, you need a vision for the future of what America can and should be.”

The line was an apparent reference to his likely general election rival, former President Donald Trump, who has said in comments to his supporters, “I am your retribution.”

During the address, Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social, “He is so angry and crazy!”

Alabama’s Sen. Katie Britt, who delivered the GOP rebuttal to the speech, said Biden’s speech was “the performance of a permanent politician who has actually been in office for longer than I’ve been alive.”

Britt argued, “Our country can do better.” She singled out what she called a “crisis at our Southern border” and said “Bidenomics” has failed.

“Goodness, y’all,” she said. “Bless his heart, we know better.”

As Republicans have sought to distance themselves from the IVF ruling, Britt also said “we strongly support continued nationwide access to in vitro fertilization.”

IVF is a form of fertility treatment opposed by the Catholic Church on the grounds that it often involves the destruction of human embryos, among other concerns. Some pro-life groups have called Alabama’s subsequent enactment of IVF protections “ill-considered legislation” that fails to resist “an ideology that treats human beings as expendable commodities.”

The U.S. Constitution requires the president to “from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”

First dubbed the “Annual Message,” the practice has taken various forms throughout U.S. history, per the House Historian’s office, at times taking the form of a written message to Congress, while at others delivered in person by the president, and broadcast on radio or television.

On the day before International Women’s Day, Pope Francis addressed participants of the international conference “Women in the Church: Builders of Humanity” on Thursday at the Vatican.

The conference highlighted the witness of 10 women noted for their holiness: Sts. Josephine Bakhita, Elizabeth Ann Seton, Mary MacKillop, Laura Montoya, Kateri Tekakwitha, Teresa of Calcutta, Rafqa Pietra Choboq Ar-Rayès, Ven. Magdeleine de Jesus, and Bl. Maria Beltrame Quattrocch.

“All these women, at different times and in different cultures, each in her own distinct way, gave proof through initiatives of charity, education, and prayer of how the ‘feminine genius’ can uniquely reflect God’s holiness in the midst of our world,” the pope said in his address.

Francis acknowledged that throughout periods of history, women have been “largely excluded from social and ecclesial life” but that even in these times “the Holy Spirit raised up saints whose attractiveness produced new spiritual vigor and important reforms in the Church.”

Referencing his apostolic exhortation on the call to holiness from 2018, Gaudete et Exsultate, the Holy Father paid tribute to “ordinary” women who have faithfully lived their vocations and changed the world in quiet yet powerful ways.

“I think of all those unknown or forgotten women who, each in her own way, sustained and transformed families and communities by the power of their witness,” he said. “The Church needs to keep this in mind, because the Church is herself a woman: a daughter, a bride, and a mother. And who better than women can reveal her face?”

Francis spoke to the theme of the conference, which referred to women as “builders of humanity,” highlighting the nature of women as builders in cooperation with the Creator “in the service of life, the common good, and peace.” In his remarks, he focused on two aspects of this mission — the first about “style,” the way in which women bear love and compassion in the world.

“Ours is a time seared by hatred in which our human family, which needs to feel the power of love, is instead frequently scarred by violence, war, and ideologies that stifle the noblest feelings of the human heart,” Francis said. “Precisely in this context, the contribution of women is more necessary than ever. For women know how to bring people together with tenderness.”

He recalled St. Therese of Lisieux saying that she wanted to be “love in the Church.”

“She was right,” he said, “women, in fact, with their unique capacity for compassion, their intuitiveness, and their connatural inclination to ‘care’ are able, in an outstanding way, to be for society both “intelligence and a heart that loves and unites,” to bring love where love is lacking and humanity where human beings are searching to find their true identity.”

Francis also spoke about education — about how “testimonies of female sanctity” like the ones the conference was presenting “can encourage [women] to aim higher, to broaden the horizons of their dreams and their ways of thinking, and to aim to pursue high ideals.” He called for educational settings to not only be places of study, research, and learning, but also places of “formation where minds and hearts are opened to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.”

The pope told the participants that it is important to make the saints better known, “especially women saints, in all the depth and reality of their humanity. In this way, education will be increasingly capable of touching each person in his or her wholeness and uniqueness.”

At the end of his address, Pope Francis acknowledged the sufferings and injustices women face in many places in the world, calling on prayer and action, specifically when it comes to education.

“In certain contexts it is a cause of fear, yet the way to the betterment of societies is through the education of girls and young women, which benefits overall human development,” Francis said. “Let us pray for this and commit ourselves to this!”

The full text of the pope’s remarks can be found on the Vatican’s website.

“A perennial need within the Church is that more souls become contemplative, not just those in monasteries or cloisters, but hidden souls of prayer living in the world, mixing with the world, a leaven sanctifying it.”

— Father Donald Haggerty, “Contemplative Provocations”

Father Donald Haggerty is a priest for the Archdiocese of New York, serving at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

He has been a professor of moral theology at St. Joseph’s Seminary in New York and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Maryland.

And for many years he acted as spiritual director to Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, whose sisters — in spite of what many of us would consider their extreme asceticism — he describes as some of the happiest people he has ever met.

His subject is contemplative prayer. His books, all from Ignatius Press, include “Contemplative Provocations” ($14.18), “The Contemplative Hunger” ($17.95), and “Contemplative Enigmas” ($15.70), and his newest, “Saint John of the Cross: Master of Contemplation” ($19.95).

But the one that’s galvanized me during Lent is “Conversion: Spiritual Insights Into an Essential Encounter with God” ($17.95).

In it, he speaks of a pattern he’s observed through the years: the second, deeper conversion. Often a person, sometimes for decades, will lead a virtuous life, participate faithfully in the sacraments and develop a deep life of prayer.

At some point such a person might hit a wall.

The old ways don’t work.

Imaginatively inserting ourselves into a Gospel scene or passage, for example, as suggested by the Ignatian Exercises, becomes a grinding chore.

The Office, though prayed as usual, might leave us cold. A restlessness, a sense of something missing, of a call not yet quite heard or discerned comes to pervade such a person’s consciousness.

Not to despair, says Haggerty: Christ is calling us, desiring us, inviting us to a surrender of self more total than anything we’ve yet experienced.

This “second conversion” awaits “every soul serious about God.” It “demands a conscious interior choice on our part, a defining choice in prayer that takes us across a threshold of surrender to God.”

I can only speak for myself but I think for many of us the hesitation in crossing the threshold comes from thinking, deep in our hearts, that perhaps we’re not wanted. I know Jesus loves me but does he like me? Would he even be able to stand my annoying quirks, fears, neuroses if we hung out in person? (After all, no one else much can.)

Also if you’re a contemplative type, you learn early on that no one much is remotely interested in or remotely understands the North Star by which you live and by which you hope to die.

I can’t count the number of times, unable to contain myself after days of relative silence, that I’ve breathlessly related some astounding insight I’ve discovered in prayer only to be met by a slack-jawed stare. 

So you learn simply to accept that your real life is hidden. The world sees little value in such an existence, but you persist in believing that God does. You learn to persevere through long periods of aridity, desolation, staying seemingly stuck in various ways.

No problem: you don’t really expect anything else. There is always a flower, a bird, the sun, a kind word; a movie or book that captures the mystery and paradox of the human condition; the Gospels, a breviary.

There is always, thanks be to God, the Eucharist.

In fact, this irresistible attraction to the body and blood, to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, is a sign.

It’s not like so many people are falling all over themselves longing to offer up their own body and blood, Father Haggerty points out, that Christ doesn’t notice such a soul.

He’s noticed all along. He wants to share his secrets with us. And his secrets are his wounds.

“A sign of crossing the threshold into the ‘second conversion’ may be the sudden realization that it is the crucified Lord who dwells within our soul.”

The question becomes: So how far are we willing to go for him?

Haggerty describes what that willingness might look like: a widening consciousness of, and love for the poor. A desire for a simpler lifestyle around food, clothes, money.

Always deeper prayer, directed toward souls, which itself requires a life that is sacrificial.

In fact, the most valuable, radically old-new suggestion I took from “Conversion” was to practice a daily holy hour.

Adoration is of course ideal. Or we can sit in church before the tabernacle. And if for whatever reason neither of those is available, we can find a corner at home and pray in silence before a crucifix.

Is that extreme? Is that weird? Would I be trying to look “holy” in the eyes of God, the world, or worse, myself?

A whole hour? 

The time is long past for such waffling, says Haggerty. Am I willing to die for Christ or not?

“At some point long after an initial conversion, another leap of soul is necessary. A decisive ‘yes’ to Our Lord is demanded, as it was earlier in life, but from a deeper layer of soul, overcoming any barrier of hesitation. Spiritual conversions of this kind may be the most important acts in our life.”

On Seeing God Inside Yourself and RepentanceA genuine meeting with God should transform us so that we can become different, if we have really found Him.

“>Part 1
On the Father-Confessor and ObedienceThe main thing you should look for is that your father-confessor is the personality who will change you.”>Part 2

Mosaic of the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. Ravenna, Italy   

Our whole life is a cross

We have different moments in life—moment when we are sad and moments when we are happy. We are like the weather: it is cloudy now, it was sunny earlier, and it will possibly rain later. We cannot guarantee that we will remain in a state of grace and peace all the time. This is quite normal. But nevertheless, there is a certain danger when we come to a state of spiritual coldness and can no longer be inspired by meeting God.

St. John Chrysostom

“>St. John Chrysostom says that he was delighted every time he encountered manifestations of Divine Providence in the world created by God. And he always had two phrases—when he saw how good God was, he would exclaim with gratitude, “My Most Gracious Lord and Master!” or, “Glory to God for all things!” But we do not have such outbursts of gratitude to God. Why? I think our selfishness is the main cause. We no longer see God’s participation in our lives. We say, “I decide everything”, “I do everything”, “I know everything”. God leaves us alone for a while to see what we can do without His grace, and then we feel absolutely empty, worthless and devoid of meaning.

Orthodoxy is not necessarily a set of instructions in which we look for a philosophy that will change the state of our spirit with its help. Orthodoxy is not only about morality. If there is no God in morality, it is empty. Țuțea¹ said that “morality without God is like the railroad, when a route can change from station to station.” We want God’s presence in our lives; sometimes we feel sad, and this sadness should push us to move towards God and pray. Look, we have the prayer of St. Isaac the Syrian:

“Lord… I have no repentance, I have no compunction, which bring children into their proper inheritance. O Master, I have no tear of comfort. My mind is darkened by the affairs of this life, and hath no strength to look steadfastly toward Thee with groaning. My heart is grown cold from the multitude of temptations, and cannot warm itself with tears of love for Thee.”²

We seek God in the Holy Liturgy, which transforms us and changes our souls. It has been said that it “makes our souls God-like.” Do you see how beautifully the prayer before Holy Communion says that the Holy Liturgy nourishes our mind and makes our soul God-like?³ And the most important thing for us is to see God, to see the meaning of God and God’s work in our lives.

And our life shouldn’t necessarily be like a summer vacation camp. Because many people come and ask such questions: “Why does God want us to suffer?”, “Why do we suffer?” or “Why are we sad?” This life is given to us to achieve—it is our test, our labor to receive the Kingdom of God.

Fr. Dumitru Staniloae: The Cross as a Means of Sanctification and Transformation of the WorldThrough the Cross, Christ sanctified His body—the link with the world. He rejected the temptations sent to Him by the world, that is to taste the pleasures, to satisfy His needs unrestrained or to avoid pain and death. If we, in the same way, ward off the temptations of sin and patiently suffer the pain of death, sanctity can spread from His body to all bodies and throughout the world.

“>Fr. Dumitru (Staniloae) used to say that our world is like a gift on which God raised a cross. How beautiful it is! And unless we see the cross, we don’t know what to do with the gift. People always try to escape the cross in order to enjoy the blessings of the world—the gifts of God—without the cross. But our whole life is a cross.

What is a cross? We see Christ crucified, and at the foot of the Cross is all the malice of the world, all lies, revenge, and violence. And on the Cross we see our crucified life, with Christ transforming all this malice. So we should have the ability to transform things.

There is a legend about Midas—you know it—who had the power of turning everything he touched into gold. And now we are afraid that banks may go bankrupt. But we don’t invest in banks here—we invest in the “bank” of God’s mercy. This is our whole life. You see, this could be the title of a book, Life As a Cross. Or maybe the title of a novella about love, where God comes and offers Himself as a gift to man.

The The Cross is the Sign of the Savior’s Love for UsThe remembrance of Christ’s Cross, our bowing down before it and venerating it, are for the Christian the greatest consolation in all sorrows and tribulations, and it especially protect him from evil spirits on all the paths of his moral life.

“>cross! How do we bear it? We say that monasticism appeared in succession to martyrdom. The Psalter says that for Thy sake are we slain all the day long (Ps. 43:23). Sacrificing his life, a martyr dies in one day, but in the human soul there is daily martyrdom: crucifying your passions, lusts, working at self-improvement and changing. I don’t know, maybe acting against the character we have, maybe against the circumstances of life. But we should always keep in mind the idea that all these reasons should be transformed into paths to God. And we can succeed provided that we open our hearts to God so that He can enter our lives.

Archbishop Pimen of Suceava and Rădăuți And why should we be so gloomy when the saints remained in a state of bliss, no matter how sad or upset they were? St. Paisios the Hagiorite, whom I always remember and who is so dear to me, had writing paper and a board in his cell. He put them on his lap and answered letters he received. And he used to say, “I have so much joy in me that I want to charge batteries with it so that it remains for later.” Or, “If you put all my joy on one scale and all the joys of the world on the other, mine would be greater.” And he said that at the moment when the grace of God visits us (the elder spoke so simply that it was clear to everyone), “we become like children who have charged into a confectioner’s and do not know which pastries to enjoy first.”

Our lives should be beautiful and Christian. Sometimes we make our lives hard. Let us see tests from God in all these hardships. As His Eminence Pimen⁴ put it, “There are tests from God in our lives, but let’s not be gloomy.” Let’s not be gloomy and sullen; let’s give God our hand, and God can change us. Let’s truly trust in Him.

We may look for God knows what formulas, but God is reflected only in a pure heart, in a heart full of repentance and humility. I believe the search for God should be based on the principle of humility and repentance. And when we see Christ, we see Him in suffering, in sickness. You should not bear your illnesses and hardships in a sullen manner.

I remember Fr. Teofil (Pereyan), who related that when he left the village and enrolled in a junior college, he saw people greeting each other with these words: “I have the honor to greet you!” Why should we not have the honor to greet God? “Lord, I have the honor to greet Thee both in pain and in joy! It’s me!” Let’s not be beetle-browed like shopkeepers, like merchants who have not profited from their investments. They invested a lot, but they haven’t gained from it.

How can we always see the beautiful side?

This lack of meaning is very common in our country, and not only in our country, but in more developed countries as well. It is within your power to look for the meaning of life, but not as simple philosophy. From Antiquity to the present, various philosophers have been searching for the meaning of life and trying to assess it. But we must adopt this meaning and fit ourselves into it, and not look at it as a purely philosophical construct. We must make the meaning of life our own by our very lives.

At the same time, in order to understand the meaning of life we need a certain logic. For example, beautiful flowers are full of nectar, but they have no meaning for a fly, which flies by without noticing them. But for a bee they are the meaning of life. Therefore, we need a certain way of thinking and a way of seeing things. His Eminence Pimen used to say, “It is not difficult to live—it is difficult to weigh things up.” It is hard to weigh things up and find their true meanings.

According to the Holy Fathers, all problems in this life stem from the fact that we fail to fix in our mind that earthly life was not given to us in order to become immortal here on earth. Our whole life is steps towards the Kingdom of God. Here we must pass an exam, and there, in the Kingdom of God, our true life will begin. We are just passing through here.

Here words are only words, and philosophy remains only philosophy. St. Gregory Palamas says that one word can be refuted by another, one philosophy refutes another, but who can refute Life? Life is a testimony, and the lives of the saints are evidence that they were able to find the meaning of their lives and live beautifully.

Fr. Dumitru Bejan⁵ had a book about the joys of suffering. Just imagine, seeing the meaning of life in suffering! When the priest was released from prison, he was all maimed and mutilated, and when he walked down a street, people saw him all emaciated.

“Where are you coming from, father?”

“From Paradise! From Paradise!”

That is, from prison. He related that when he came out of the prison gate, he looked back in tears, because there he had felt God most of all—in prison!

And we build all sorts of constructs in our minds. We read so many books on personal development to find a purpose in life. People invent a whole slew of creeds that they can believe in and thus get rid of suffering and bitterness. But the Savior says, Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Mt. 11:28). They deceive themselves. Some say: “This new religion helps us see the glass as half-full.” Why don’t you see the glass full to the brim? Why be content with only half?

There is a prayer at the Divine Liturgy, when after praying on the ambo the priest enters the sanctuary and utters, “O Christ our God, Who art Thyself the fulfilment of the law and the Prophets… fill our hearts with joy and gladness.” He ask that God fill them, like a cup, with joy to the brim, and not half-way! We are not content with only half.

And let’s not bear this suffering, this cross, with a frown, but rather with joy. We can find the meaning of life everywhere. But we are so sated, so satiated, so preoccupied with our problems that we can no longer lift up our heads and look up at God. Therefore, sometimes when God sees that a person does not recognize any of His gifts and His goodness, He allows distress and sorrows, which are a warning and a call from God. He calls us to Himself, and we begin to see meaning in everything. But if not, we get depressed.

I have seen statistics that thirty-five percent of the world’s population or of the United States take antidepressants. Their lives are empty, and they try to fill this void with politics, news, games, TV, smoking, drugs, etc. There are people who make declarations of love to each other, and after a month, two, three or a year they separate. And they say that everything is fine with them, everything is wonderful, but then they go to psychologists or psychiatrists. Elder Paisios said that “when father-confessors become rare, then doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists will abound.”

So, we need this search for the meaning of life, because unless we are anchored in God, our lives will be of no use.

The other day I came across a news report about a ten-year-old child who saw no point in life and threw himself off a roof, committing suicide. He left a note saying that he had been suffering because his peers had not accepted him into their company because of his poverty. And then I saw a news piece about another child, I think from Peru. It was reported about him that guards found him doing his homework under a street lamp, under a lamppost. He was doing his homework there. That’s how you can find meaning: Ask God for it, and He will show it to you.

What’s not to like about “Dune: Part II”?

The sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 box office hit features special effects that would have amazed us only a few years ago, set in a complicated, not-so-brave world created by the visionary late science fiction writer Frank Herbert, author of the Dune novels. The story weaves a tapestry of themes and references to history, religion, technology, political intrigue, ecology, and even, ironically, mystical powers.

It is sometimes alleged that popular culture has a tendency toward the simplest and away from the complicated, but “Dune,” with its generations of fans, is a counterexample.

Herbert himself admitted allusions to Arthurian tales in his personal “Dune” universe. But others include the feudal civilization of the Holy Roman Empire, colonialism as it played out in Islamic countries (think Lawrence of Arabia), a world economy dependent on unevenly distributed energy sources, a religious caste of women with unusual powers who represent a kind of deep state power behind the thrones of the great families that, in unceasing rivalry, play games with the balance of cosmic power.

Like the first installment, this year’s sequel is mostly set in Arrakis, a desert planet rich with a precious natural resource: “Spice” not only powers space travel but can also open human consciousness to knowledge of the past and future. The planet’s indigenous have taken refuge from their colonizing oppressors in its cliffs and caves, while finding ways to survive without virtually any water.

The movie plays down some of the Islamic references (the book talked about jihad and mujahidin, but moviegoers probably have enough uncomfortable memories of Afghanistan) but Paul Atreides (played by Timothée Chalamet) is still recognized as the “Mahdi,” the same word for the messianic savior traditionally awaited by Shiite Muslims.

Just before the sequel starts, the dukedom of Arrakis has been taken away from the vicious House Harkonnen by the galactic emperor and given to Paul’s father, Leto Atreides. The move is revealed as a trap set by the emperor for the Atreides family, whom he fears as rivals. When the empire attacks Arrakis with troops disguised as Harkonnen soldiers, Leto is killed while his wife, Jessica, and their son, Paul, barely escape.

Jessica, who belongs to a secretive caste of women with secret powers known as the Bene Gesserit, and Paul hide among the Fremen, the Bedouins of Arrakis, who live in the desert and who even manage, to a degree, the enormous sandworms that are the source of the precious spice.

There are signs that Paul is the Fremen’s long-awaited messiah figure, and when they realize it, set out to train him in all things Fremen. Along the way, Paul gets to know Chani, a Fremen woman warrior (played by singer-actress Zendaya), who gradually falls in love with him.

A guerrilla war develops between the Fremen and the Harkonnen forces. Paul’s abilities grow while his mother moves to another part of the planet to exercise some spiritual leadership and encourage Paul to accept his fate as the messiah.

But Villeneuve made some telling adjustments to the original “Dune” story, like giving Chani a greater role. In the book she is devoted to Paul and is the mother of his son, but in the movie is a Fremen leader who opposes some of the ideas of Paul and his mother. She detests Paul’s veneration as Mahdi by some of her fellow Fremen, whom she dismisses as “fundamentalists,” and considers religious hope as a form of enslavement.

Herbert was against the exaltation and divinization of leaders, which he said was “painful,” but the metamorphosis that happens to Paul in the series of books, in which he himself becomes a monstrous sandworm, is a much more complex and grotesque process than the stereotypical distrust of religion expressed in “Dune: Part II.”

With increasing boldness, many “influencers” on social media have accepted as axiomatic that religion is not a part of the solution to the world’s problems. “Fundamentalism” is the new enemy of human progress. While Chani doesn’t say so explicitly, her attitude resembles the old canard that religion is the opiate of the people. “Hope” should not be based on something that transcends our individual experience, and we should save ourselves and not wait for a savior. All the altruism that religion can inspire is discounted because it is manipulation.

Herbert said that any comparison to Christ and Christian beliefs was out of bounds in “Dune.” Nevertheless, his depictions of Alia, Paul’s weird sister, and of the Bene Gesserit sisters illustrate the cynical use of faith to political ends.

If religion is just about power relationships, however, it is not about redemption. “Dune II” lightly mocks the sensibility of the Fremen warriors, their gullibility, and their straining to believe. Villeneuve has said that he did not think anyone could watch this installment and still have admiration for Paul Atreides or see him as a hero. Perhaps he is contemplating moving on with the story, and has read the ugly transformations ahead for Paul, but he seems to forget that there is really no alternative to Paul’s “Mahdi-fication.” The empire is corrupt, the Harkonnens are barbaric, and the possibility of the Fremen’s “greening” of Arrakis without achieving power is negligible.

In other words, the “Dune” films don’t seem to want to acknowledge the obvious: that in (most likely) naming the titular family after a clan in Greek mythology, Herbert probably conceived of his saga as a tragedy. The House of Atreus was no city on a hill, but rather a family whose members committed fratricide, adultery, and child sacrifice.

Fate is an inexorable nemesis for the Atreides. No Brady Bunch, barrel of laughs kind of story. Perhaps Herbert was signaling that to us with the classical name.