Selections from Seminary

Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. Christ is showing us the way of a Christian. It is helpful to back up a few verses from today's passage to realize the context in which Christ said these words. He had just given the first indications of how he would die: that he would suffer, be rejected by his own people, and killed. Hearing these words, St. Peter rebuked him, privately. Then Christ, turning and seeing the other disciples, openly rebuked these statements from Peter. And it's not because Peter spoke against him, but because Peter was speaking against this core understanding of what it is to live the Christian life. Christ had to suffer. And if we will follow him, we, too, will suffer. The apostles, not long after his death, quite literally followed after him, being beaten, just like him: and it says they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name . In our current situation, this is quite unlikely for m...

  In the gospel passage today, on the Sunday of the Last Judgment, our Lord relates what the Last Judgment will be like: as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats . Clearly, the Church prescribes this focus on the Last Judgment right before Lent to help aid us on the path toward repentance. But when we think of repentance, we often think of a list of “don’ts”. That is, we have done some of the don’ts , and need to repent . In my training as a teacher, it was highly suggested that I not have a sign of class rules full of don’ts: No talking. No eating. I nstead of telling the students what not to do, I was encouraged to tell them what behavior was expected: Please be respectful when others are talking. Water is allowed in the classroom, but eating needs to be in the cafeteria only. As a result, student behavior was less rebellious and more cooperative. In the same way, instead of thinking of a list of don’ts for the Christian life, w hat would be our list of dos ? In fact,...

In one of St. John Chrysostom’s homilies, speaking of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus in the third chapter of John’s gospel, he made a connection I had never thought of. He notices a mention of two great “benefactions” in this passage, Baptism and the Cross, and he understands their mention so close together to be significant. There is a clear reference to Baptism when Christ says to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” And then, the Cross is very intentionally referenced just a few verses later when he says, “just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, thus it is necessary that the Son of Man be lifted up.” In his homily, Chrysostom mentions where Paul also sets these two together when writing to the Corinthians: “Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” Of course, just mentioning these two together, in and of itself, is not terribly significant, but ...

“Hypocrite”, Jesus says. That’s a hard word. It is so easy, when reading the gospels, to see that hard word spoken to others, and so hard to hear it as a word to us. We, too, are hypocrites. The hypocrites in this lesson (Luke 13:10-17) followed all the rules, but missed spirit of the Law. We, in the midst of the fast, focus on the fasting rules. Maybe we follow them and maybe we don’t, but, still, our focus during the fast is on the rules. So easily, we lose sight of why we are fasting. Fasting is exercise. Like the athlete who disciplines himself, who diligently shows up everyday, who pushes himself: in the same way, we show up. We exercise. And better than that, these are more than random rules the Church has passed down to us; this training regimen is time-tested and proven. Do this...and you will find eternal life. Fasting is exercise. Fasting also... acquires the Holy Spirit . St. Seraphim of Sarov explains this when he says, "Prayer, fasting, vigil, and all other Christian ...

St. Jacob of Alaska was also an astute observer of the native people: their habits, their customs, and sometimes even their disposition towards the gospel. Every once in a while, his journals have an aside to explain points of interest—the dangers of navigation and shipping in Alaskan waters, the entryway of native houses in different regions, and such—in some of which, he speaks about the people’s receptivity to the gospel: “In matters of religion, I found the Kuriles to be devout or, as one may say, ready to be devout. However, presumably because of very rare approaches to them on behalf of the Christian Religion, they have no proper understanding either of the Christian faith or of their obligations as Christians.” In another of these asides, St. Jacob offers an almost humorous comment on the Tlingit people as he dwells on the prospects of a Protestant missionary who has come to convert them: "February 28: (1829) A second three masted American vessel [the barque Volunteer, Capt...

What is abundantly obvious is that life in Alaska in the early and mid-1800s was full of trials. Having only married his wife, Anna, in 1826, she fell grievously ill with cancer in 1835, and was sent far down the Alaskan coast to Sitka for medical treatment, before falling asleep in the Lord the next year. "This same day, May 29th (1836), I received the news of the death of my wife on March 19 of this year in Sitkha. She did not obtain the restoration of her bodily health, but she was cured spiritually, and, by the Will of God, entered eternity. On this occasion, to give me solace, my two brothers Osip and Anton, came here aboard the above mentioned transport vessel. Osip had leave to visit his kin. Anton had the opportunity to do so as he was aboard in the line of duty, serving as First Office on the brig. ... This day, then for me, was marked by various events [in my life] which were met unexpectedly." And barely one month later : "On the night of July 7th the will of...

St. Jacob followed in the footsteps of many who came before him, not only the big names like St. Herman, St. Juvenaly, and St. Innocent, but more than that, the faithful, everyday folks who worked for the Russian-American Company and lived a faithful witness among the Alaskan peoples. What we find all over St. Jacob’s journals is mentions of locals who had been baptized by laymen and just did not have access to a priest. “It remained for me only to establish them in the faith and chrismate them." "I began baptizing 72 women in the morning. In the afternoon I baptized 54 older children of the parents who had been recently converted. The rite was finished by evening, a total of 126 persons, 33 boys, 93 women and girls. From this activity I became dreadfully tired and felt pain from standing so long... However, the spiritual joy at the sight of so many souls joined to the flock of the Christian Church compensated for everything, and the bodily weaknesses disappeared. That night ...

For those of us coming from a Protestant background, especially from the "Evangelical" realm, we might be tempted to think of "saved" as 'made it into heaven', and thus accidentally read into St. Seraphim's saying a meaning something to the effect of, '...and thousands of people around you will accept Christ and become Christians as a result'. Though that meaning might be included in what St. Seraphim meant, it certainly is not the primary meaning, because that is not a traditionally Christian understanding of the word "saved". Without delving into the deep end of trying to fully understand "saved" in a more Orthodox manner, I will try to hone in on the one important aspect I see at work, to help us understand this quote. Think of the many places in the New Testament which speak of those "being saved"...well, that is not totally fair, because our translations do not always make that so clear in English. Search aroun...

I recently stumbled on these words from St. Gregory the Theologian, bishop of Nazianzus in the 4th century. This comes from a homily on the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 19. "Their laws are unequal and irregular. Why did they restrain the woman but indulge the man? A woman who practices evil against her husband's bed is guilty of adultery, and for this the penalties of the law are very severe; but a husband committing fornication against his wife, has he no account to give? I do not accept this legislation nor do I approve this custom. They who made the law were men, and their legislation is hard on women. This is not how God acts. He says, "Honor thy father and thy mother," the first time there is a commandment to which a promise is joined: "that it may be well with thee". See the equality of the legislation. There is one Maker of man and woman; one and the same debt is owed by children to both their parents." (Jurgens translation)

Secured away, beyond all danger of community, Ostracized, a cast off, broken piece of pottery. Loneliness is just a word but does not start to reach Into this suffocation and defilement of the soul. Take life away, and answer that I merely should impeach All memory of normalcy; the person masked, my toll, Requried to sign this contract with our friends and family. Ye weak and weary, fear not, just trade health for life, and see.

  God has graciously allowed these events for our benefit. That is, he has allowed, somewhat outside of the natural order of things, for a few individuals to come back from a temporary death, like Lazarus did, or in some other way to help relate to us who are still among the living, what awaits us when we die. Some were “sent back”; some spoke of what they saw as they were dying; and in one account—the most helpful—we have a much more complete account, continuing far beyond the few hours after death. That being said, it is hard to even know what to call these experiences. Near-death experiences? “Near death” does not seem to fit so well, when some of these experiences not only neared death, but passed well beyond it. And I also will try to avoid the word “story”, since that might give it the feel of something fictional, something told around a campfire with a flashlight pointed up at my face. And indeed, many will be tempted to discount these stories, especially for the ways in whi...

How often are we looking for a good book to help explain a particular topic? It is often the case that new books—we could roughly define that as written in the past decade—are the easiest to find, quite likely will be easy to read, and more or less cover the topic needed, but are somehow lacking in depth. Most new books look more like paperback versions of a collection of blog posts than a “real” book. If, on the other hand, the priest looks to the Church Fathers, the texts are often archaic and tedious, which might simply be a result of the style of translation employed. And even if the text is not actually difficult to read, the impression can still remain that any book with a saint as an author will be too hard to understand. Neither of the books I intend to cover in this book review, of sorts, fit neatly into either of these categories. Both cover the meaning of the Mystery of Baptism and extend their discussion into Chrismation and the Eucharist, both are a wealth of informati...

The truth of the matter is that many Orthodox converts (from Protestantism) are often just as reactionary against sounding Protestant as the Protestants are against their perception of Orthodoxy. I am exposing some of my Baptist roots here. I know I cannot refer to Protestants as one unilateral block of people, but I also do not want to be so specific as to just say Baptists. So, I will refine my statement: for the purposes of this topic and the quote I am about to share, I particularly have in mind the Protestants who place the utmost, if not sole, emphasis upon the cross in working our salvation...or rather, I have in mind the Orthodox converts that seem to subconsciously avoid such language as sounding too Protestant. Hymns like "Jesus Paid It All", "At the Cross", "Nothing but the Blood"; comments of "Ask Jesus into your heart" or "Are you saved?"; all such terminology is strictly avoided. It is much more Orthodox-convert-fadish...

I stumbled across a beautiful quote that really struck me in these days of being deprived of the Holy Eucharist. "How can one be capable of enjoying and finding delight in the presence of things for which one had not longing when they were absent?" These are the words of St. Nicholas Cabasilas in The Life in Christ , and he is primarily speaking of our salvation and of life eternal, and I am taking it somewhat out of context...but not totally. Our life in Christ, our union with him, is the beginning of eternal life. We commune with him here and now, that is, we are daily coming into union with him, through our efforts and through his grace. With that in mind, here is a little more context to St. Nicholas's quote: "The kingdom and vision of God and union with Christ are privileges which depend on willingness . They are thus possible only for those who have been willing to receive them and have loved them and longed for them. … How can one be capable of enjoying an...

I made the following comment on the passage in 1 Chronicles 21:6: But he did not count Levi and Benjamin among them, for the king's word was painful to Joab. Joab was obedient to David's command to take a census of the people, but knew this was a bad idea. Similarly, we are to live in obedience, unless asked to do something against the Gospel commands. What are the Gospel commands: love the Lord your God with all your soul and all your mind and all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself. Obedience, unless that obedience is not in love. Obedience is difficult, especially for us independent Americans. I often think of a particular passage in St. Silouan's biography (paraphrased)... There are two ways to find God's will. Simply obeying our spiritual father is simple and foolproof (because if it is wrong, the responsibility is on the spiritual father). The other way, to seek God in prayer and discern for ourselves, is perfectly acceptable, but much mor...

They shall be scattered to search for food, if they are not satisfied they grumble. But I will sing of thy power, proclaiming thy mercy each morning, for thou hast become my helper, my refuge in the day of my affliction.  Ps 58(59) Pascha has passed over us. What now? When we had barely learned how to live quarantined away from church, we were faced with missing the most memorable services of the Church year: Holy Week and Pascha. Our desire to turn on a live-streamed service under those circumstances is understandable. Now it is time to throw off everything that hinders and to fulfill the call of the quarantine. This current situation has called to question how we see church. It has challenged our personal spirituality. It has exposed an unhealthy dependence we have had on our churches. In the words of the psalmist above, are we scattered away from our churches, left to fend for our daily bread in whatever way we can find it, grumbling that the church doors are closed? Or, ...

Bishop Alexis can feel the pain in our hearts. How are we to go through Holy Week without going to church? It is unimaginable for most of us...but there are some holy examples that may help calm our fears and even give us hope for a once in a lifetime opportunity to commune with our God like never before. Following Live-Streaming and Finding the Steams of Living Water Thirty years ago when I was a young novice at Saint Tikhon’s Monastery, I recall being moved while reading an account of the Athonite Elder Callinicus the Hesychast (1853–1930) who went to the austere community of Father Daniel, a community in the Athonite desert always lacking milk, cheese, and eggs. Father Daniel explained to the young Callinicus , “ At Pascha, we have no red eggs to eat . One that is preserved from year to year is brought out that we may see it and remember the Feast.” (Archimandrite Cherubim, Contemporary Ascetics of Mount Athos , 180). This same Elder Callinicus later chose to lock himself up i...

As we were ending class today with Archbishop Michael, he obviously had Holy Week on his mind and this scattered flock of seminarians arranged in a grid on his computer screen, and like a good shepherd, he could not help but share a word of love and encouragement as we prepare to pass into the most important week of the year and attempt to celebrate all in our own little isolated homes. "No one saw the resurrection of the Lord. It was in the tomb...Look at the apostles who were not there: one denied Christ, one ran away, one doubted... Without all the aids of the Church. It's hard. I suffer with you. For 47 years, I have never missed any of these services. It is just not the same. "But soul work is hard work. Christ did the hardest of that work for us. Unite yourself with him, in spite of the obstacles, see yourself in the persecution of the Church, and rise above it. Love, know, and serve as best you can, that Lord. May he bless you and your family, this Pascha, and ...

In the Preface to the Orthodox Christian Prayers prayer book, there is a wonderful little paragraph that echoes many of the responses I have heard to our COVID-19 quarantine. I have noticed that many responses, from Met. Tikhon to Bishop Alexis , from Abbot Sergius to Archimandrite Zacharias , have emphasized that this quarantine is a time to turn to God in prayer. I would warn against counting out their opinion because they are monastics and unlike us in the world, but the common monastic response is no accident: these are men whose spiritual life is not dependent on going to church services, but rather on the foundation of prayer and communion with Christ in the "secrecy of their room". The prayer book has this encouraging word for us: "As disciples of Christ and his imitators, Orthodox Christians pray together at church, offering the services of Vespers, Matins, the Hours, and above all the Divine Liturgy. We may also pray in small groups outside of church, with...

I have a bit of a hidden jewel to share. Right at the very beginning of widespread quarantining, Metropolitan Tikhon of the OCA shared a comforting word about the difficulty of being separated from church . I remember this particular statement, but when I tried to share it with someone, it took me a while to find it, because it was buried in a document that necessarily had to carry quite a lot of other text pertaining to the practical details of the OCA's response to the CoronaVirus. So, because it is such a good word, and because it is now completely buried in the millions of words written about the CoronaVirus, I would like to share it again: "My beloved children in the Lord, none of the measures adopted by any part of the Church should cause scandal or anxiety. They should also not be used as the subject for mockery, vile jokes, sarcasm, or—God forbid! —division or disunity. They have been taken as our Christian response to protect our brothers and sisters. Our Lord tells ...