Tag: Christianity

  

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!

Greetings, dear brothers and sisters, on the great feast of the The Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple

“>Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple!

The events of this feast, along with some others concerning the life of the Mother of God, are not described in the canonical Gospels, but the Church knows of the so-called Apocrypha. These are collected stories from the childhood of the Savior, the Mother of God, and partly Christ’s sermons. The Church does not recognize these Apocrypha as part of the Holy Scriptures because they do not always agree with the spirit of the Gospel. In the canonical Gospels we read that Christ healed, raised from the dead, comforted, and even when He was angry in a human way, expelling merchants from the Temple or denouncing the Pharisees, it was not associated with anything destructive. The only thing the Lord allowed Himself was cursing the fig tree, which then withered away. But, as the theologians explain, it was done in order to clearly show man the consequences of his unreasonable acts.

In the Apocrypha, for instance, there is the following story about Christ the Child. As a Boy Christ gets angry for some reason, stamps His foot, and the bird that was the cause of His irritation dies. Beyond all doubt, such a narrative contradicts the Gospel spirit.

But the Apocrypha also contain stories and legends common in the Middle East, passed down by word of mouth and known to many.

    

For example, the Protoevangelium of James acquaints us with the events of today’s feast. The Virgin Mary was miraculously born to elderly parents, and they vowed to dedicate Her to God. It is written in the Apocrypha that parents could already send their child to the Temple usually by the age of two, but St. Anna asked St. Joachim to wait for another year so that the Maiden would not miss Her parents at the Temple. But probably the elderly Anna just wanted to spend one more year with her daughter Mary.

Akathist Hymn to Joachim and Anna, Ancestors of GodIt is fitting for us to pray to them, as we do in the litanies at all our divine services.

“>Joachim and Anna called together their acquaintances, lit candles and solemnly came to the Temple in Jerusalem. This event was quite ordinary—children were often dedicated to God. There were two wings at the Temple: the women’s wing, where girls and very young maidens were brought up, and the men’s wing, where boys dedicated to God were brought up. And little Mary was met there by the high priest: according to tradition, it was St. Zechariah, the father of St. John the Baptist. He took Her up the steps of the Temple. Some of these steps still exist, although the Temple is long gone. These steps are shown to visitors to Jerusalem today.   

Tradition has it that the Maiden ascended these steps quite easily. Although the Protoevangelium of James does not provide any details, we know from other traditions that the high priest, violating norms and laws of the time, took Mary into the Holy of Holies, where he himself could enter only once a year. On that day not even he could go in there, much less let someone else in. This prohibition was very strict and serious. But St. Zechariah took the three-year-old Mary into the Holy of Holies.

Critics of this tradition believe that the high priest took the Maiden into the first, so-called women’s part. But we also know that there is such thing as guidance by the Holy Spirit. Having lived an extremely long life, the holy Elder Simeon the God-Receiver came, guided by the Holy Spirit, on the very day when the Infant Christ was taken into the Temple, and we celebrate the feast of the Meeting of the Lord to commemorate this event. We also know how two boys were once brought to St. Ambrose of Optina, and the elder took a blessing from one of them. With time that boy became a bishop, and this was revealed to St. Ambrose by the Spirit of God. When the future Elder John (Krestiankin) was eight years old, a bishop predicted that he would become a monk (but this would not happen soon) and serve as a priest—and his words came true.

We have the following words in one church hymn: “When God so wills, the laws of nature are overthrown.” That is, even the laws of nature can be violated by the will of God. For example, we know from the Holy Scriptures that the sun stops through the prayers of the righteous. For us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ there is nothing surprising here.

One of the early traditions has preserved information on Mary’s daily routine. Like other maidens who lived at the Temple, She would get up at dawn and pray inside the Temple until the morning sacrifice, which took place around nine in the morning our time. Then She would go to Her room, read the Holy Scriptures and study them. Then, at about twelve in the afternoon, Mary would go, as we would say now, to perform Her obedience—this was embroidery. According to some ancient sources, Mary embroidered both the veil of the Temple and vestments for the priests in the Old Testament Temple. After three in the afternoon Mary would spend time in stillness and silence. According to tradition, at this time the Archangel Gabriel would come to Her and instruct Her. That is why on the day of the Annunciation Mary met the Archangel Gabriel as a good friend and accepted the Glad Tidings from his lips.

What does the feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple mean to us, dear brothers and sisters? Of course, the meaning of this feast is deep and edifying. The Mother of God spent most of her time acquiring Knowledge of God until about the age of twelve. It was prayer, work, and studying the Holy Scriptures. Her life was whole and chaste in every way. As for us, we often have one life in church and another outside church. That is why it is difficult for us to focus on prayer without being distracted by extraneous thoughts, and outside the church walls it is hard for us to refuse to be involved in judging and arguments.

What else can serve as an example for us from the life of the Most Holy Theotokos? Her daily schedule! Nine in the morning is the time when most of us are already awake, even in a big city. Nine in the morning in our time corresponds to the third hour in the Bible. The third hour is the time when the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles. Therefore, let’s make it our habit to say, for instance, “O Heavenly King” every day at nine in the morning in addition to our daily prayers. And not mutter it, as we do, but say it with concentration, seriously, and with a deep entreaty to God to send us the Holy Spirit for this day.

At twelve in the afternoon the Orthodox Church commemorates the events associated with the Crucifixion of the Savior. And we can also read the prayer “Our Father” three times attentively and slowly.

Three in the afternoon in our time is the moment of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. At this time we can read psalm 50 or the prayer “Our Father” three times. The martyred Priest Daniel Sysoev said: “Imagine that at three in the afternoon a big row is brewing at work, and you are about to participate in it. And suddenly you remember that you need to say a prayer. You read the ‘Our Father’, focus on the words, ‘and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.’ All your fire goes out, and you think, ‘Why do we need this argument? Why do we need this discord now?’”

In the evening we can read a prayer from the church services, for example, “O Gentle Light…” This is one of the oldest Christian prayers, a song that appeared at the dawn of Christianity: “O Gentle Light of the holy glory of the immortal, Heavenly, holy, blessed Father, O Jesus Christ!”

We modern Christians know a lot—we have YouTube, social media, many websites where sermons and lectures by famous priests are posted. To some extent, we are even oversaturated with this theological information, but our lives are not getting better, nor are we improving. Such simple moments can do a great deal together with the acquired knowledge that is vital for our spiritual state.

Igumen Pavel (Polukov)     

The Most Holy Theotokos was taken into the Holy of Holies also because the prohibition on entering there was a reminder of the gulf between God and man that appeared after the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. But the Mother of God Who was the Precursor of goodwill, which is mentioned in today’s prayer for the feast, that this gulf will disappear, because Christ will come and take upon Himself the sins of the entire world.

Brothers and sisters, today’s feast is our great hope, and together with the Apostles we can say: “O Most Holy Mother of God, help us!” Amen.

    

From statistical data on people who have reached extreme old age, we learn that there are especially many of them among those living in the high mountains of the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, and other high-elevation regions. Even in our time, there is an extraordinary elder somewhere in Azerbaijan who has reached the age of 150, and centenarians there are quite common.

What explains this remarkable influence of high mountains on human longevity?

Undoubtedly, it is largely due to the fact that mountain dwellers spend their lives breathing the purest air and subsist mainly on dairy products and the meat of healthy sheep.

In contrast, in vast cities with populations reaching millions, people breathe air that is far from healthy, laden with miasma from various infectious diseases. Many also live in apartments and houses contaminated with tuberculosis bacteria, which are extremely difficult to eradicate. Towering multi-story buildings block the life-giving rays of the sun. Moreover, the diet of city dwellers is, of course, much poorer in quality than the food consumed by those living in high mountain regions.

It is therefore entirely understandable that the lifespan of city residents is much shorter than that of mountain people and even of peasants living in healthy and sunlit villages.

But it is not only the life of the body that matters to us; the conditions in which the spiritual life of children, adolescents, and youth develops are of utmost importance. The influence of the social environment in which they grow up is crucial. The spiritual growth of children and young people of both genders sometimes depends entirely on the example set by parents and other close individuals.

Children of drunkards, thieves, and bandits—whose way of life is even more destructive than tuberculosis bacilli or the microbes of any other infectious disease—are often morally and spiritually ruined. Children are deeply impressionable, and everything they see and hear around them leaves a lasting mark on their minds and hearts.

What I have just described was well understood—not in words, but in the purity of their hearts—by the parents of the Most Holy Theotokos, the righteous Joachim and Anna. In their wisdom, they ensured that their little daughter Mary was placed in the most favorable circumstances for her upbringing in holiness, purity, and the fear of God.

Though it must have been incredibly difficult for them to part with the little daughter granted to them by God after decades of childlessness, they brought her to the House of the Lord. There, she was received by the priest Zacharias, the future father of John the Forerunner, who, by divine inspiration, dared to perform an unprecedented act: He brought her not only into the sanctuary of the temple, where only priests entered, but even into its holiest part, separated by a heavy veil and called the Holy of Holies, into which only the high priest could enter once a year, with sacrificial blood at that.

Here once stood the greatest of sacred treasures—the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the tablets given by God on Mount Sinai to the great prophet Moses, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the vessel of manna. Its ultimate fate remains unknown, but most likely, it was lost during the destruction by Nebuchadnezzar of the First Jerusalem Temple.

The young Most Holy Virgin Mary was granted permission by the priest Zacharias to enter the Holy of Holies daily and to pray there in the unseen presence of God’s angels. She lived in one of the small rooms built against the temple’s outer walls. These modest rooms housed those who had dedicated themselves to God, as well as unfortunate and destitute souls who needed care. It was among these needy ones that the Most Holy Theotokos lived, serving them daily with her labor and her love.

For her deeds of mercy, she was always surrounded by the love of those she cared for, and she lived for twelve years in this atmosphere of love. Every day, she prayed at length in the temple, breathing the pleasing fragrance of the prayers of the faithful and the incense rising from the altar.

The holy and pure atmosphere of the temple was as beneficial for her spiritual growth as the pure air of high mountains is for the bodily health and longevity of mountain people. She was surrounded not by people with impure and wicked hearts, but by the good and God-fearing, who formed her blessed community, sanctified by God.

In this environment, the Holy Virgin Mary grew and blossomed, like a resplendent flower exuding a fragrance pleasing to God and mankind. In her, the foundation was laid for her to become, in time, More Honorable than the Cherubim and Beyond Compare More Glorious than the Seraphim.

O you, my beloved Christians, always remember the holy and righteous Joachim and Anna, who so wisely raised their God-given Daughter. Strive to create favorable conditions for your own children to grow in holiness, righteousness, and goodness.

May our Lord Jesus Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, help you in this work pleasing to Him.

Amen.
1958

The saints and popes have long taught us that we cannot truly know and love Jesus unless we know how to meet him in the pages of the sacred Scriptures.

St. Jerome asked this question in the early days of the Church, and it is still crucial: “How could one live without the knowledge of Scripture, by which we come to know Christ himself, who is the life of believers?”

That is why I believe the publication of the new Ignatius Catholic Study Bible is an important moment in the life of the Church.

For almost 25 years, Ignatius Press and the editors, American Scripture scholars Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch, have been working on this project, releasing the individual books as they became ready.

Now completed, this new Bible is quite an achievement: more than 2,300 pages long, with nearly 18,000 footnotes, along with extensive cross-references, word studies, topical essays, maps, and more.

It is the first Catholic Bible to reflect the findings of the best academic research while at the same time providing authentic interpretations and spiritual insights based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Church’s doctrine and liturgy, and the writings of the Church’s saints and doctors.

My hope is that this new Bible will continue the biblical renewal already underway in this country, helping to give strong biblical foundations to the next generation of Catholic preaching and teaching, prayer, and devotion.

These days we are seeing a spiritual hunger and desire for the knowledge that only the Scriptures can offer us.

The Wall Street Journal reported recently that Bible sales in this country are “booming,” having jumped by more than 22% this year. Much of the increased demand is said to be coming from “first-time Bible buyers.”

Just a couple of years ago, Father Mike Schmitz’s “The Bible in a Year” was the best-selling podcast in the country in all categories. Today, it’s still ranked first among all religion and spirituality podcasts and remains high in the charts for all podcasts, with hundreds of millions of downloads.

These trends suggest that in a culture where we are overwhelmed with instant messages and passing images, people are longing for a word that will last, a word that will be life-giving.

Jesus is that Word.

As the Book of Revelation tells us, “the name by which he is called is the Word of God.”

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, because the Father wanted to speak personally to his children, because he wanted to reveal his love to us through his only Son, and to call us to share in his divine life.

Now this Word remains with us in the Bible. St. Thomas Aquinas said that Jesus opens his heart to us in the pages of sacred Scripture.

That is why it is so essential for us to make time to study and pray with the Bible, especially the Gospels.

We don’t study the Bible for information, we study the Bible to meet the divine Person who is the living Word of God.

On the first Easter, when Jesus opened the Scriptures to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, he made their hearts burn within them.

The first believers compared the Word of God to a sharp, two-edged sword capable of cutting through our hearts and souls, capable of opening our whole beings to the love of God.

And we can have that same intimate experience of God’s love. 

When we read the Bible with prayer and faith, the written text becomes a living Word that brings us to a deep and personal encounter with Jesus.

As the Word became flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and as the Word sacramentally becomes flesh in the Eucharist, in the Scriptures Jesus also comes to be with us, to speak to us and to give himself to us.

And like our encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist, our encounter with him in the Scriptures is meant to transform us, forming our characters and shaping our souls in his divine image.

As Scott Hahn writes in the introduction to this new Bible, everything depends on how we approach the Bible. We need to read with reverence and humility, with hearts open to the beautiful mystery of his love for us.

As Hahn writes, “You are approaching the Word of God. But for thousands of years, since before he knit you in your mother’s womb, the Word of God has been approaching you.”

Pray for me and I will pray for you.

And as we continue our Advent journey, let us ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, in whom the Word became flesh, to help us to grow in our love for the Word, and through our study and prayer become more and more like the Word we read.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle said Saint Francis Xavier is “an inspiration and model in being a messenger of the Good News” in a homily on Dec. 3 in India.

He was speaking at the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa in India.

Every decade, the relics of the Jesuit saint are exposed in the Indian state of Goa – this year’s exposition will end on Jan. 5, 2025, and is organized by the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman.

Francis Xavier died in China in 1552, but his body was taken to Goa the next year. The Jesuit saint was the chief missionary of Asia, preaching Christianity in what is now India, and also China and Japan.

His feast day is Dec. 3.

The Philippines-born Tagle is the Pro-Prefect for the Section of Evangelization of Dicastery for Evangelization, and one of several delegates from the Vatican attending the event.

He noted at first, Francis Xavier was skeptical about Ignatius of Loyola and his vision for the Jesuits.

“But after discerning God’s calling for him, he became one of the first companions of Ignatius and co-founders of the Society of Jesus,” the cardinal said.

“He was not the first choice of Ignatius to go to the East Indies. But when the original plan did not materialize, Ignatius reluctantly allowed Francis to take over. God can call second and accidental choices,” he continued.

“Francis was tasked to provide pastoral care mainly to the Portuguese Catholics in Goa, then in Malacca and Maluku island, proclaiming the Gospel with zeal amidst difficulties. But the gospel of Jesus’ love is for all,” Tagle continued.

“So he ventured as a messenger of the Gospel to Japan with the intention of entering China but died on the island of Shangchuan. In all his missionary travels and activities he brought only the essential books for prayer, catechism and the devout life,” the cardinal said.

It was neither ambition nor conquest that gave him energy. It was love for Jesus who had loved him first. Just love, that is all that mattered. The message emboldened the messenger. The messenger embodied the message,” he said.

Around 12,000 people participated in the inauguration of the Exposition and approximately 8 million pilgrims and tourists from around the world will come to Goa are expected to visit the relics during the 45-day period.

Catholic leaders in Central America expressed alarm over the idea of repealing a national prohibition on extractive activities in El Salvador — putting the church in opposition to the country’s popular president.

Archbishop José Luis Escobar Alas of San Salvador told reporters at a Dec. 1 press conference that President Nayib Bukele’s nascent enthusiasm for gold mining would “cause grave, irrevocable damage to people’s lives and health and that doesn’t have a price.”

“They take everything,” the archbishop said of multinational mining companies in the region. “What they have left to these countries is 1 percent of what they declare. How is that possible? It’s plunder.” He continued, “They say today that there is mining that doesn’t harm the environment. It’s a lie. It’s all a lie. All mining damages the environment. All without exception.”

Central American bishops, meanwhile, said in a Nov. 29 statement after its 82nd general assembly held in El Salvador, “We urgently call on governments to adopt responsible and sustainable policies that respect the dignity of peoples and our common home and that do not allow mining exploitation as it is necessary to prioritize human life and the environment over economic interests that perpetuate social and ecological damage.”

The Catholic Church has advocated for environmental issues and water preservation in El Salvador — a small, arid country the size of Massachussettes with a long history of poverty, violence and outward migration. The church joined with nongovernmental groups and civil society to achieve a ban on mining and extractive activities in the country in 2017 as a measure to protect scarce water resources from contamination.

On Nov. 27, Bukele posted a thread on X, outlining El Salvador’s gold mining potential with the headline, “God placed a giant treasure under our feet.”

Bukele claimed the gold reserves in El Salvador were valued at 8,800% of GDP. “Exploiting this wealth could transform El Salvador … And all this with modern and sustainable mining, taking care of our environment.”

He added, “This wealth, given by God, can be harnessed responsibly to bring unprecedented economic and social development to our people.”

Bukele has been popular in El Salvador for a crackdown on criminal gangs — drastically driven down the homicide rate, while swelling the country’s prison population. His party controls congress, making any measure repealing the mining ban likely to be approved.

The Catholic Church in El Salvador has avoided conflicts with Bukele, who responds forcefully against critics.

Archbishop Escobar said in a Dec. 1 statement, issued by the Archdiocese of San Salvador, that El Salvador’s resources had already been overexploited and “could not bear another mining pillage as it would increase deforestation, erosion, the loss of fertile soil and, worst of all, the contamination of air and water.”

The world is in great need of hope, Pope Francis said.

“Day by day, let us fill our lives with the gift of hope that God gives us, and through us, let us allow it to reach everyone who is looking for it,” the pope said in a video explaining the intention he would like Catholics to pray for during the month of December.

The pope’s message encouraging prayers “for pilgrims of hope” was released by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network Dec. 3. The network posts a short video of the pope offering his specific prayer intention each month, and members of the network pray for that intention each day.

In the video, the pope said, “Christian hope is a gift from God that fills our lives with joy. And today, we need it a lot. The world really needs it a lot!”

It is easy to get discouraged when “you don’t know if you’ll be able to feed your children tomorrow or if what you’re studying will allow you to get a good job,” he said.

But “hope never disappoints,” he said.

“Hope is an anchor that you cast over with a rope to be moored on the shore,” the pope said, and people of faith must hold on to that rope tightly.

“Let’s help each other discover this encounter with Christ who gives us life, and let’s set out on a journey as pilgrims of hope to celebrate that life,” he said.

As Catholics prepare for the opening of the Holy Year 2025 on Christmas Eve, he asked them to “pray that this upcoming Jubilee strengthen us in our faith, helping us to recognize the Risen Christ in the midst of our lives, transforming us into pilgrims of Christian hope.”

Photo: wikipedia.org     

Much to my surprise, some time ago the Nicene Creed was trending online among the Southern Baptists, America’s largest Baptist organization. They were, apparently, debating whether or not that Creed should be added to their official statement of faith. This was a bit controversial since the Southern Baptists are well-known for their position that they have “no Creed but the Bible”. Though it is hard for me to work up any enthusiasm or interest in what our Southern Baptist friends do with their official statement of faith, the news does provoke the question, “What’s so important about the Nicene Creed?” Or, in blunter terms, why should anyone today care about what a bunch of guys decided about 1700 years ago? Permit me to attempt an answer.

The Church has always cared a lot about unity—or, in more modern terms, inclusivity. Inclusivity is one of those magic modern words, words with which secular people seek to weave a spell. It is always good to be inclusive, to welcome everyone in, regardless of who they are, what they believe, or how they live. There are limits, of course, to modern secular inclusivity—they don’t welcome absolutely everyone, but secularism is so dominant that secularists can give the erroneous impression of welcoming absolutely everyone. People like White Supremacists are not welcome (to the secularists’ credit), but White Supremacists are sufficiently marginal enough so as to not disturb the impression of total inclusiveness. It is good to be inclusive, and bad not to be inclusive.

To an extent, the Church agrees, and therefore values its unity. That is why the Church speaks of “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church”—there are not two or more churches, but only one. There is not a church for Jews and another church for Gentiles. There is not (or should not) be a church for Greeks and another church for Russians. There is not a church for white people and another church for blacks. Nope; there is one single church, arranged on a territorial basis, and including within it Jews, Gentiles, Greeks, Russians, whites, and blacks.   The Church is one and inclusive.

But although the Church values unity, it values truth even more. That is because the Lord did not inform us that inclusivity would set us free, but that the truth would set us free (John 8:32). Truth is therefore more important than unity. Or, put better, our unity is based upon our common acceptance of the truth.

Considerations of truth and error matter supremely to the Church because the Church is not just a collection of people (like the electorate, that long-suffering group). The Church is a body. That is, it is a group of people animated by the same spirit and having a life of its own. And bodies are, by definition, subject to disease, decay, and death. Human bodies can be killed by diseases, such as cancer. The Body of Christ can be killed by error, even as it is kept alive and free by truth. In other words, what cancer is to the human body, fundamental error is to the Church. Heresy and error are not simply wrong opinions; they are lethal disease. If not checked, healed, or excised, they will kill spiritual life.

That is why the Church became so excited when the heretical opinions of The Arian Heresy: How It Arose, and Who Then Used It For Political PurposesSince the time of the First Ecumenical Council, the Church has been struggling with this disease, but it keeps coming up again and again.

“>Arius spread like wildfire in the fourth century. Arius’ error was not minor and trivial (like guessing incorrectly who wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews). It concerned something absolutely fundamental—viz. the question, “Who was Jesus?” Was Jesus divine, or not? Arius, a presbyter in Alexandria, answered, “No, not divine.”

Admittedly the question was complicated. The Church had always taught that God was one—i.e. it had always confessed monotheism, a belief that there was only one God. And it also always taught that Jesus was the Son of God. Indeed, as far back as Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer the Bishop of AntiochTradition suggests that when St Ignatius was a little boy, the Savior hugged him and said: “Unless you turn and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven”. The saint was called “God-Bearer” (Theophoros), because he bore God in his heart and prayed unceasingly to Him.

“>St. Ignatius of Antioch (d. ca. 107 A.D.) the phrase “Jesus Christ our God” had been used. The puzzle was how to combine these two beliefs, how to confess the full divinity of Jesus without compromising monotheism.

Arius’ solution was to cut the knot and declare that Jesus was not fully God. He identified “begetting” with “creating” (the Greek words admittedly did look very similar) and so concluded that by describing Jesus as “the only-begotten Son” it also meant “the created Son”. For Arius, God the Father alone was truly God, and before He begot a Son (splitting like an amoeba?) God was not a father. There was a time, therefore, before the Son existed. God the Father alone was God, and the Son was the first-created being, and not truly God.

This teaching, starting from Arius’ Alexandria, quickly created a firestorm, and divided the Church. To preserve the Church’s unity, the newly-friendly Emperor Constantine the Great (306–337). The Importance of His Faith in the History of the ChurchSt. Constantine the Great, Equal to the Apostles, First Christian Emperor of Rome, builder of Constantinople and founder the Byzantine Empire. He is a military victor, effective ruler and glorified saint. There is no doubt that his contribution to world history and that of the Orthodox Church is indeed spectacular.

“>Constantine called a number of bishops to debate the question in Nicea in 325. A clear majority of them (the vote was something like 318 to 2) declared Arius to be a heretic and drafted a statement to that effect. If one wanted to continue to be a bishop, one would have to sign on to that statement.

The statement was a tweaked baptismal creed, the confession to which a convert had to assent before being baptized. Into that creed, certain additions were inserted. In the bit which spoke of Jesus, it added the words “light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one essence (Greek homoousios) with the Father, through whom [i.e. through Jesus] all things were made”. This constituted a clear confession of Jesus’ full divinity—a confession so clear and unambiguous that even a snake like Arius and his gang couldn’t wriggle out of it.

Of course, this didn’t settle it, and it took another generation of empire-wide debate for the Church at large to realize that the only real options on the table were Nicea or Arius. Other proffered options like “homoiousios”—of like essence—made no sense. Jesus was “like” God?  Sort of God? God-ish? To a clear-thinking person, one is either fully God or is a part of His creation; there can be no such thing as a partially-divine demi-god. Eventually everyone in the Church realized this and sided either with Nicea (the majority of the Church) or with Arius. For the former, the Nicene Creed was the standard to which they flocked, the flag which they saluted.

The question today is: why does all this matter now? Or, come to that, why did it matter back then? The answer: because salvation depends upon worshipping Jesus and giving oneself to Him, body and soul. It depends upon giving to Jesus of Nazareth the same complete worship and allegiance that one gives to God Himself.

Obviously, one should not do this unless Jesus is fully divine. If Arius was right (along with his contemporary descendants) then Jesus is not God but is at best a kind of spiritual celebrity. Celebrities are wonderful, but one should not give to them the full and complete allegiance of heart and life. One can, I suppose, get their autograph, tell them of one’s admiration (“I’m your biggest fan!”), and put their poster on the wall. But giving one’s soul to them and living solely for them is not on. The official name for such lethal stupidity is “idolatry”.

Take, for example, a modern celebrity—someone like Taylor Swift (someone whose songs I have never listened to, but whose face I have to look at in countless magazines every time I go to the store to buy milk). A Taylor Swift fan might admire her talent and delight in her concerts, but no one but a lunatic would say, “For me to live is Taylor Swift”. But that is exactly what a Christian says about Jesus, beginning with St. Paul: “For me to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21).

That is, a Christian is someone who has given his or her body and soul so completely to Jesus that life has no meaning apart from Him. This loyalty and allegiance cannot be legitimately given to anyone but God Himself, for God has long since told us that we must have no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3). Celebrity alone doesn’t cut it; to give one’s soul to a celebrity is idolatry which damns the soul. But Jesus of Nazareth is God incarnate, light from light, true God from true God, begotten but not made, homoousios with the Father. It is through Him that all things were made—including us. We can and must give ourselves totally to Him if we would be saved.

That is why the Nicene Creed is so important—it enshrines for all time the reason why we should give our souls to another human being, the Man Christ Jesus. For this Man is also almighty God in the flesh, the Word of the eternal Father come down to dwell among us and save us. It does not really matter whether or not our Southern Baptist friends have this truth in their statement of faith. What matters is whether or not each of us has it in our heart.

Photo: romfea.gr     

Supporters of the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” have been violently seizing Orthodox churches ever since that structure’s creation in 2018.

Violent seizure of Orthodox cathedral in Cherkasy leaves dozens injured (+VIDEO)The anti-Orthodox schismatics and nationalists of the “Orthodox Church in Ukraine” (OCU), founded by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, finally managed to violently seize the Archangel Michael Cathedral in Cherkasy after several attempts.

“>On October 17, one of the bloodiest takeovers took place in Cherkasy, when the schismatics seized the Archangel Michael Cathedral and violently attacked His Eminence Metropolitan Theodosy, as well as Orthodox clergy and parishioners. The sad incident has also become one of the most publicized. The hierarch had to be Metropolitan Theodosy diagnosed with burns and concussion after violent seizure of Cherkasy cathedral (+VIDEO)Metropolitan Theodosy of Cherkasy and Kanev was severely injured. During the attack, he was beaten, his klobuk was torn off, and his bishop’s staff was snatched away and used to strike believers.”>treated in the hospital after the attack.

Met. Theodosy is also a personal target of the state’s persecution campaign against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. There are multiple charges against him, all stemming from his statements in defense of canonical Orthodoxy, and he has been held under some form of detention or house arrest for two years now.

Yesterday, the popular Greek Orthodox outlet Romfea published an interview with the Metropolitan, in which he speaks about the bloody seizure and makes an appeal to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and all Orthodox hierarchs.

Asked about his health after the seizure of the cathedral, Met. Theodosy notes that he suffered a concussion and eye and skin burns, but is now feeling better.

He adds: “According to criminologists who analyzed the attack footage, when the supporter of the OCU struck me on the head with a baseball bat, it was a clear attempt at premeditated murder.”

Fortunately, his klobuk softened the blow enough that he only suffered a concussion, he says, giving thanks to God.

***

Speaking more about the attack, His Eminence noted that the OCU supporters attacked not only him, but also priests, monastics, and laymen.

The attackers, full of “malice and hatred,” broke the arms, legs, and ribs of faithful church members, knocked out priests’ teeth, and shot at people with air guns inside the church while deploying tear gas. The entire assault was captured on security cameras.

Following the seizure, the schismatic “bishop” in Cherkasy, Ivan Yaremenko, took possession of the cathedral and the Metropolitan’’ personal items, even posting videos of himself in the Metropolitan’s office while ransacking his library. The attack shocked not only local residents but people throughout Ukraine and worldwide.

Meanwhile, the canonical Cherkasy Diocese still holds all the legal paperwork proving that it is the legal owner of the land on which the cathedral sits.

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Asked about the ecclesiastical situation in Ukraine in general, Met. Theodosy emphasizes that the situation is dire, with state authorities using their security services and the OCU to conduct widespread persecutions against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The OCU is “a faithful servant of the current Authorities and the beneficiary of the persecutions against our Church,” the faithful hierarch notes.

Clergy are being beaten and arrested, while churches are being confiscated throughout the country. The faithful face persecution at work, and their children face humiliation at school. Sacred churches are being demolished in Kiev and Lvov, with others under threat.

The Metropolitan compares this to the persecutions during the Soviet era, when the “Living Church” helped the Bolsheviks undermine the Orthodox Church. While the severity varies by region, these conditions persist throughout Ukraine today.

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Asked about the consequences of the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s granting of “autocephaly” to the so-called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” His Eminence notes that there were no benefits, only devastating damage.

The 2019 tomos has brought nothing but suffering to Ukraine’s faithful. It has allowed “a real monster to enter” Orthodox Christianity—an entity that, while wearing ecclesiastical garments, has little in common with Christianity beyond its external appearance, the Cherkasy hierarch explains.

This organization, the OCU, now works to exterminate the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, he continues, using every tool of state power without hesitation. Most alarming is that this spiritual infection, cloaked in the legitimacy of the 2019 tomos, threatens not just Ukraine’s Orthodox Church but risks corrupting Universal Orthodoxy as a whole, Met. Theodosy believes.

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Asked what message he would send to the primates and hierarchs of the Local Orthodox Churches, Met. Theodosy first addresses Pat. Bartholomew of Constantinople, saying, “I would like to ask him to receive my words without bitterness and distress.”

While respecting his position, Met. Theodosy affirms that the Patriarch has made a grave error in Ukraine. This error now affects not just Ukraine but risks creating “a schism similar to that of 1054.”

The central issue is that Ukrainian schismatics should not have been accepted into the Orthodox Church “without repentance and without valid ordinations.” Many Orthodox hierarchs will never accept these individuals or their successors as legitimate bishops. Additionally, attempting to separate the Orthodox Church of Rus’ by invalidating a centuries-old document was misguided [referring to Constantinople’s Confirmed: Ecumenical Patriarchate removes anathemas, enters into communion with schismatics (+VIDEO)The Ecumenical Patriarchate has entered into communion with schismatics and revoked the historical transfer of the Kiev Metropolia to the Moscow Patriarchate.

“>arbitrary cancelation of a 1686 decree transferring the Kiev Metropolis to the Patriarcahte of Moscow—Ed.], as “paper is dead, soulless, while the body of the Church is alive and bleeds when people try to tear it apart.”

The situation in Ukraine has become dire, the Metropolitan emphasizes. “Today, hostilities are taking place here, and bloody persecutions against the Church have been unleashed.” Under current conditions, people risk losing “not only church property but also freedom, health, and sometimes life itself” merely for acknowledging spiritual ties to the Russian Orthodox Church.

A resolution to this crisis cannot be found until the war ends and the Church is freed from state repression. Any attempt to resolve it now would be “equivalent to plundering during wartime.”

His Eminence proposes that the most viable solution would be for Pat. Bartholomew to temporarily suspend the tomos issued to the OCU and implement “a universal moratorium regarding concelebration and common communion of the Orthodox pious clergy with this religious structure.” This would help reduce tensions between Local Churches and restore Eucharistic communion, Met. Theodosy states.

The ultimate resolution of the OCU issue should wait until after the war ends, when it can be addressed properly through either “a Synaxis of all commonly recognized Local Orthodox Churches, or even a Pan-Orthodox Council.” Any such gathering must follow Orthodox canonical tradition and exclude groups whose Apostolic Succession remains unrecognized, His Eminence states.

“This action is within your authority and could help prevent further division while reducing the persecution of Christians in Ukraine,” the Ukrainian hierarch tells the Patriarch of Constantinople.

Met. Theodosy also expresses gratitude to Orthodox hierarchs worldwide for their prayers and support following the October 17 events in Cherkasy. He notes that their messages of comfort, whether public or private, were deeply meaningful. Through their support, he says, “the Lord allowed me to tangibly feel the synodality and catholicity of our Holy Orthodox Church throughout the world!” On behalf of Ukraine’s Orthodox faithful, he requests continued prayers, affirming that they maintain hope that through the intercessions of the Theotokos, they will persevere through these trials.

***

Finally, asked about the criminal prosecutions against him, Met. Theodosy reports facing five criminal prosecutions and four ongoing trials in Cherkasy and Kiev courts, stemming from his public defense of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

According to him, clergy of the OCU file complaints with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and subsequently take possession of seized churches in his diocese.

Under house arrest for two years—now only during nighttime hours—he notes the SBU has tried three times to place him in pre-trial detention. Despite ongoing investigations, the Metropolitan maintains his spiritual perspective, stating: “Glory to God for all things!”

When the Called to Renew campaign was first launched in 2018, many took it simply as a way to raise funds for capital projects across the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. 

Six years later, several such projects have come to completion: new wheelchair ramps at St. Thomas More Church in Alhambra, a modern PA system at St. Anastasia Church in Westchester, waterproofing against flooding at Holy Angels Church in Arcadia — among others.

Lesser known, however, is the other side of the capital campaign: grants meant to directly help ministries reach hearts and souls inside — and outside — those buildings. 

“We didn’t want it just to be about the buildings, because we are Church,” said Sister M. Anncarla Costello, SND, the archdiocese’s chancellor who has spearheaded project funding for Called to Renew. “The Church is not buildings. Churches are the people. And so that’s why we needed to have that ministry aspect, serving others in whatever capacity it can be done.”

As 2024 winds to a close, several parishes across the archdiocese are seeing the impact of the Called to Renew campaign, first launched with a goal to raise $500 million as a response to long overdue infrastructure needs and the need to create or bolster programs designed to serve needy populations.

The donated money is earmarked for several “pillars” that archdiocesan leaders decided needed funding: “Strengthening Our Parish,” “Serving the Vulnerable,” “Supporting Priestly Vocations,” and “Investing in the Faith of Future Generations.”

Since many parishes are more than 60 years old, the bulk of the funding would go to restoring these “spiritual homes.” The list of needs was long with undertakings that could not simply be paid for from the Sunday collection.

Roof repairs. No functioning air conditioning or heating; earthquake retrofitting.

“You had a lot of parishes that did not have any renovation done, any updating done, and they just sort of motored through life,” said Judy Brooks, executive director of the Called to Renew campaign and the Archbishop’s Office of Special Services.

Now, thanks to Brooks, for the development and construction departments, and many others, more than 100 projects have been completed, with more on the way.

“I am so absolutely awestruck by the work that so many did to bring this to this happy conclusion,” Brooks said. 

Lesser known but just as highly regarded are the projects that aren’t infrastructure-related, but are geared toward serving those in need: youth ministry, vocations, the homeless, the hungry, those in prison.

In the funding requests that began to arrive, reaching young people was a high priority for many parishes — “the young people we have lost these past years from the Church,” Costello said. Some projects were simple in their requests: Bible study materials, retreats, scholarships to send young people to the National Catholic Youth Conference.

Other parishes got creative in recognizing and responding to particular needs.

St. Mary Magdalen Church in Mid-City LA proposed installing a hearing loop at its parish that would help those with hearing aids connect directly into the sound system, making speech and music clearer.

St. Matthew Korean Catholic Center in Tujunga saw a need to help couples receive faith formation, and proposed building a new playground for their young children to play in during those formation sessions.

More than 20 parishes got together for the “Anointed for Mission” program in applying for funding used to arrange a three-year confirmation program focused not just on the youth being confirmed, but also their families.

Feeding the hungry has gotten a boost with both Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills’ Feed My Poor nonprofit, and St. John of God Church in Norwalk seeking funds to use food trucks to deliver meals.

Although the campaign is done seeking donations, funding pledges will continue to roll in for the next few years, Brooks said.

In the meantime, everyone involved in the campaign continues to look forward to the amazing ways in which God has provided.

“The money is going way beyond just the present,” Costello said. “It’s really all for the future generations.”