HOLY COMMUNION – THE EUCHARIST WITHOUT IT WE HAVE NO LIFE

HOLY COMMUNION – THE EUCHARIST

WITHOUT IT WE HAVE NO LIFE

"Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you . . ." 

     The True Christ and the True Church  always have been and will be in harmonious agreement with each other being inseparable, because Christ remains the Head and the Church remains the Body of Christ. Only in the Orthodox Church is the great mystery of the Living Bread who came down from heaven preserved and made available to the faithful. For Christ took (not unleavened)  ‘leavened’ bread (Greek αρτος) and blessed it, and broke it and gave it to the disciples and said: “Take, eat, this is my body.  And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying: Drink you all of it’ for this is my blood of the New Covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins” Matthew 26:25-28).

     Among the many denominations we find the greatest distortion of Christ’s words in the Holy Bible concerning the subject of Holy Communion.  This distortion shows that it is not possible to interpret the Holy Bible outside the Church which is the source of these Scriptures, for outside the Church there is no interpretive guidance from the Holy Spirit.  So the denominations deny that Christ means what He clearly says, that the bread and wine offered really become the Body and Blood of Christ himself.  1. He does not say that the bread and wine “represent His body and blood.” 2. Nor did He take “azymes” or unleavened bread, but “artos” which is leavened bread.  3. Nor did He eat the Jewish Passover meal, which must be eaten standing and they were all sitting.

     1. The words in English are clear: “this is my body” and the Greek τουτο εστι το σωμα μου.

The Greek word εστι translates as  “is”.

     2.  Christ did not offer unleavened bread but leavened bread. λαβων ο Ιησους τον αρτον, the last word arton, means leavened bread, the world for unleavened bread is azymos.

     3. The Lord did not eat the Jewish Passover as some claim, but is now himself, the lamb of God, and is the New Pascha or Passover, offering , not the blood of  lambs, but himself as the Lamb of God, who will be sacrificed to the Father as He is lifts up (on the Cross)  the sins of the world.   Also in claiming that Jesus was celebrating the Jewish Passover, they show Him to Him who is alone without sin as being a sinner as a violator of the Passover. For Jesus and His disciples  were reclining, and if eating the Jewish Passover, they were breaking the law. Moses commanded that the Jews be standing when eating their Passover, with their boots on ready to “leave Egypt”. The Jewish Passover, would not arrive until sundown of the next day, Friday. For it says in the Bible, that they hurried to take down the body of the Lord “before Passover.”

WE ARE THE CHURCH!

WE ARE THE CHURCH!

      I am going to  Church or I went to Church, referring to the building is an inaccurate statement. We gather as the Church in the temple of God for the Church is not the building where we attend. The building itself is called in Greek: “ the na-os.” Which means “the temple”. The Church, which includes the gathering of the faithful believers is from the Greek “ecclessia”which is the gathering together of the faithful to hear the Gospel, and are of one mind and one heart with Christ and with each other.

      But the Church in which we gather is not just what we see for there is much which remains unseen to physical eyes, but is seen by spiritual eyes. With our spiritual eyes the Church around us comes to life and this includes we who are bearers of Christ, also the angelic powers are  present and Jesus Christ is always present with us. For Christ is present in every member of the Church, and with the celebrating  Priest, who wearing royal robes, beseeches Christ for His grace on all of us. Being active the Church is always exciting and cannot be boring unless we are spiritually benumbed, dying or dead. But even if were in poor spiritual condition, the glorious and divine Church can enlighten and restore us to the vibrant life of the Church.

IDOLATRY IN THE YEAR 2015

     Today are we faithful Orthodox Christians or modern idolaters like much of the world, that is do we offer worship primarily to the Holy Trinity in the Church of Jesus Christ which is Holy Orthodoxy?  Is serving and worshiping the most important thrust of  our lives? Does our faith in Jesus Christ dominate our very being? If other things demand our constant attention then our faith is only an appendage to our life, and we must consider this, for if we are not worshiping God in spirit and truth then we are in need of understanding and reestablishing our priorities. It is blasphemous to make God number two to anyone, for there is one God, who is our Creator and Provider who alone is preeminent. But we need to sincerely assess our lives and determine where we stand before God, who will judge every one of us when we leave this world.

Words of a Saint, about 1900 AD

     “Idolatry in Christianity consists of self-love, ambition, worldly pleasures, gluttony, love of gain and adultery. It is this that has completely turned away our eyes and hearts from God and His heavenly country and has nailed us to the earth, rendering us to be earthly bound instead of heavenly.  It is this (idolatry) that has uprooted brotherly love and has set us against one another. Woe! Woe! unto us!”  (St. John of Kronstadt).

     St. John is talking about the general condition that existed over 100 years ago which has become even worse of late, because more people have forgotten God and man’s royal destination as members of His heavenly Kingdom. “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever unto ages of ages. Amen.”  When we were baptizede we agreed to have Christ as our Savior and King.  For Christ the Truth descended from heaven  to earth and established His Kingdom in the Church which He founded.

     Before Christ’s advent, both the Greeks of the east and the Latins of the west were gripped in the claws of idolatry, not knowing or worshiping the true God.  The powerful preaching of the Gospel of the Apostles eventually caused many of them to abandon themselves of pernicious idolatry and embrace the Gospel. This resulted  in the destruction of idols and the establishment of Christ’s Kingdom by preaching the Gospel which the Apostles vigorously planted everywhere replacing idolatry which had established  prominence in the worldly kingdom of the Devil.

Idolatry is the worship of an image of a person, place or thing as if it were God. If a person consistently venerates something closer to himself than God it then becomes an idol. Idolatry is a great insult and sin against God the Originator and Creator of all things visible and invisible. It is well known that idolatry, and all false religions were also permissive with no restrictions on sin so long as you worshiped the idol. Idolatry can become strongly rooted in the mind and hearts of misled men wherein are also  nestled  “self-love, ambition, worldly pleasures, gluttony, love of gain and adultery all being companions of idolatry.” Wherever unfortunate men prefer things to the true God, the practice of idolatry darkens their minds with ignorance and foolishness, causing them to be caught up with every type of sin and to live an iniquitous life. Idolatry may not be only something that we deliberately worship as God, for if only our ardent desire for material things is stronger than our desire for God, then we become idolaters. 

MARRIAGE:  MAN AND WOMAN

CHRIST AND THE CHURCH

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church and gave himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loves his wife loves himself. For no man has ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord the Church; for we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife and the two shall be one flesh.  This is a great mystery; but I speak concerning Christ and the Church” (Eph. 5:25-32)

From a Saint:

“This is a great mystery; but 

I speak concerning Christ and the Church”

It is a great mystery when a man leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his wife, The Apostle himself who has been raised to the third heaven and beheld many heavenly mysteries, calls the marriage of natural man on earth a great mystery. It is the mystery of love and life, and the only mystery that exceeds it is the mystery of Christ’s link with His Church. Christ calls himself the Bridegroom and the Church His Bride. Christ so loved the Church that He left His heavenly Father for her – though remaining equal with Him in unity of essence and divinity – and came down to earth and cleaved to His Church. He suffered for her sake that He might, by His Blood, cleanse her from sin and from all impurity and make her worthy to be called His Bride.  He warms the Church with His love, feeds her with His Blood, and enlivens, enlightens and adorns her with His Holy Spirit. As a man is to his wife, so Christ is to the Church.  

A woman obeys her husband, and the church obeys Christ. A man loves his wife as his own flesh, and Christ loves the Church as His own flesh. A man loves his wife as he does himself, and a wife is in awe of her husband.  Christ loves the Church as His own self, and the Church is in awe of Christ. As no one hates his own flesh but gives it warmth and food, so also Christ gives warmth and food to the Church as His own flesh. Each individual human soul is the bride of Christ the Husband, and the community of all the faithful is the Bride of Christ the Husband.

 The relationship of any one believer with Christ and that of the whole Church with Christ is essentially the same. Christ is the Head of that great Body that is called the Church, and which is part visible and in part invisible.

O, my brothers, this is a great mystery! It is revealed to us according to the measure of our love for Christ, and of our fear of His judgement.  (Prologue 2 p238)

WHAT A PITIABLE CONDITION!

“When the Son of Man comes will He find any faith on earth?”                                                                               (Luke 18:8)

     Christ our God came upon earth being the Godman, and through His zealous and faithful Apostles, His Church spread His Gospel throughout the world, as men believed and hastened to be baptized. Severe persecution made the Church grow more rapidly and the Jews, and Roman Empire were defeated in their attempts to destroy the Church. Cities and countries in the east and west and the Slavs embraced Orthodoxy and the faith overthrew the ancient world of idolatry. Mankind was gradually brought into the Church and as it increased daily. But almost two-thousand years later we have come to a pitiable condition that cntinues to grow worse. This is expressed as follows:

     “Among Christians both the sciences and literature have now become almost wholly worldly. The Gospel and religion are neglected, the lives of saints are being scoffed at, in general there is a kind of feverish worldly activity, while no one is thinking of pleasing God and the salvation of their souls. What a pitiable condition!”  (St. John of Kronstadt +1908).

     It is 107 years since St. John wrote these things and  conditions have become even worse. We must realize that we are living in this age of idolatry and disinterest in anything beneficial to our souls. We even have many who claim that we have no soul and are just matter.  They are unable to  sing: “Bless the Lord O my soul; ad all that is within me bless His holy name.” The bitter truth is that many of us have become materialists assuming that we and everything else comes from matter and returns back to matter for we are born and die and that’s ends everything.

     However, faith in Jesus Christ did not only begin  yesterday but began 2,000 years ago. Devoted Christians kept this torch of the Orthodox Faith burning brightly by their sacrifices and generous contribution to the Church. Highly intelligent, faithful and well educated Church Fathers have made enormous contributions, and have, over centuries, established without doubt that Jesus Christ is the God man and Head of His Church actively protecting His Body the Church. Fathers of Seven Ecumenical Synods accurately defended and defined the Faith. 

CREATION, LIFE AND GLORY 

     Looking upward toward the heavens on any bright day we see the faithful sun, shining so brightly that we can only look with a quick glance. We may see fluffy white clouds, and observe light or heavy rain, hail, snow, and sometimes we see stars and the moon in daylight. Looking upward at night, we see the brightly shining moon and the sky with many bright stars. The quietness and darkness of night help us to sleep and rest peacefully, and we are content with everything. But what we see has a much greater meaning than appearance.

     Looking back down on the earth, we visualize many green valleys, rolling hills and mountains, rivers streams, lakes and ponds realizing that they provide us with adequate water, irrigation of plants for food, and fruits of the earth and fruit trees, truly we lack nothing that we need. We see flowers of various beautiful colors sending forth many sweet aromas.  Looking further we see countless species of birds and poultry, cattle who  supply milk, cheese and meat products.  Bees are busy collecting nectar for honey and spiders are industrially forming their webs. The list of our many blessings is huge and difficult to comprehend in its entirety. One thing however stands out which mystifies many scientists and wise men. This is the various forms of life  seen every which men cannot duplicate or produce, and they are recipients of their own lives from parents. Life is important and we  desire to stay alive and if it were possible to never die.

     Observing creation reveals to us three kinds of life, plant life which grows from shoots and seeds, lives for a time and eventually dies;  animal life which is a higher form of life, for they are mobile and seek satisfaction for their souls. They not only eat and drink but also mate and reproduce new life like themselves, and eventually they die. 

     The highest form of life beyond any comparison which includes freedom, intellect, feelings and the ability to use other forms of life for sustenance, also they have enjoy many relationships with others who share their form of life.  This is human life!  The souls who enjoys this life,  has the outstanding qualities of free will or freedom, and are able to decide and choose as they wish. This freedom which man enjoys allows him to make his own moral decisions. The intellect given him helps him to distinguish between good and evil and truth and falsehood.

THE POWERS OF HEAVEN

THE POWERS OF HEAVEN

SERAPHIM  CHERUBIM  THRONES

LORDSHIPS  AUTHORITIES  POWERS

ARCHEA  ARCHANGELS  ANGELS

    These are the heavenly powers of the invisible spiritual world, some of whom have contact with us from time to time. Knowledge of these powers will greatly increase the understanding of our Orthodox worship and glorification. The Seraphim are the highest powers, the Angels are among the lower powers.

      The Seraphim understands and continually praises God, saying: “Holy, holy, holy Lord of Sabaoth, heaven and earth are filled with your glory.” The Seraphim have so much hatred against sin and iniquity, as much as they have love toward the holiness of God. That is why they are called Seraphim which is a Hebrew derived word meaning incendiaries which burn sin and are warm lovers of the holiness of God.  The soul which loves the holiness of God and hates sin resembles the Seraphim, and flies about feeling happy and rejoices around the throne of the holy God.  One of the Seraphim took hot coals from the altar of God and burned the sins of Isaias the Prophet, saying: “This has touched your lips and will cleanse you from your sins.”  Prophet Isaias saw the Seraphim as animals with six wings, two of them to shield their faces from the divine brilliance, two to cover their feet and the other two to fly about.                                        

                                                    

     The Cherubim means a multitude of knowledge and outpouring of wisdom. They have an understanding of the essence and nature of God and pour out this knowledge to other angelic powers. That is why God is praised as sitting on the Cherubim, because He is known much more by them. The Cherubim is depicted as a calf with wings, carrying God and announcing His presence. As the Prophet David says that God walks on the wings of the wind, meaning this angelic regiment by whom knowledge of God is transmitted.  They also represent the soul that theologizes and learns the essence and nature of God, Mind, Logos and Spirit.

     The Thrones understand the excellence and the glory of God, exalting and extolling Him. They express the greatness and the glory of God, just as the glory of kings is expressed when they are sitting upon their thrones dressed in royal garments and wearing a royal crown. They represent the soul which realizes and understands the greatness and exaltation of God and His superiority.  To us the people they have revealed the one God in Trinity, through His Only-begotten Son and Logos, our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, whose Mother is the Ever-virgin Theotokos, the most blessed among women, praised as more honorable than the Cherubim, and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim

     The Lordships are not answerable or responsible because they are absolute Lord before God, the Lord of Lords. They understand the absoluteness of God’s Lordship and express it to the angelical world, and for this reason they are called Lordships. None of the other regiments oppose them because of their irresponsibility.

     The Authorities have the right to act freely and unbounded, and no one is able to stop or confine the action of the Authorities. This right to absolute and unconfined and related authority is held only by almighty God, from whom springs every related authority, and no one is able to stop  or confine the actions of Almighty God. The Authorities understands and expresses the authority to all angelic powers, hence their name authorities.

     The Powers work is to fulfill the will of the Will.  All beings have free will, and have some active power in their wills.  The powers of free persons, man and the angels are confined and they cannot do all that they will. But the power of God is infinite and without limit, and He alone has this power.

Everything that the Lord willed, he created, including heaven and earth, the waters and all the abysses, he willed and created all beings. The angelic Powers understand and act exactly according to the will of God. Concerning these Powers no other power can overcome them as they execute and act exactly every will of God.

     The Archea in cities of people, would be  according to the essential meaning those persons on whom the action of the public depends.  The people give them ideas and responsibility for their conduct, according to existing laws. The Archea are like laws by which every leader is ruled and in which is concentrated the jurisdiction of each authority.  God is the first authority and the first ruler because from His will is dependent all the actions of other beings. The will of God is not only master and self dependent according to the meaning of absolute and unrestricted, but leading and royal, because it established the right law and fulfills it in perfection, asking those under the law no more or less than the law established, and according to it are responsible.

     The Archangels are organized by the Archea just as generals and majors are in the army who lead them according to the advice of the highest army authorities. The Archangels lead the angels who are under them according to the advice and orders of the higher Archea (leaders) imitating the princely and infallible will of God. Which safely and unmistakably leads and brings each of the beings and all together to their own end.  The Archangels represent the  soul that leads other souls on the path to God

     The Angels are the third and last regiment of the third hierarchy. They understand and imitate the discipline of the will of God, obeying the law which applies to it and acts accordingly. They rejoice exceedingly before the admirable virtues of God by which it saves the the good law, the order and harmony of ethical and free beings, and for which God is praised as faithful and holy and just.  The soul which obeys the divine law resembles the angels. 

ONE GOD OF ORTHODOXY’S CREED

      Some say: “Well there is one God so they believe in the same God as we do.” Such an idea is erroneously held by some of our  noble bishops, but this idea is far from the truth. For example, we could make a single idol of a single god and say we believe in one God like the Orthodox, but it remains a man made idol. A God that is not definable as the true God cannot be   the true God.   Without defining God as He was revealed we cannot say that we know Him or worship Him. Here is how the true God in whom the Orthodox Christians believe is carefully defined in very  great detail in our Creed:

CREED (partial)

I believe in one God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible. 

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. Begoptten of the Father before the ages. Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten not created, of one essence with the Father through whom all things were made.

Who for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit, and of the Virgin Mary and became man.

     And He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried. And rose on the third day according to the Scripture

And ascended into heaven, and sat at the right hand of the Father.

And He shall come again to judge the living and the dead, whose Kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who together with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified who spoke through the prophets.

     As can be readily seen,  a large portion of our Creed defines who God is, and offers details of the three persons and this demonstrates that there can be no other  God, nor can anyone who rejects the definitions of the true God in our Creed, believe in the same God who is further defined as follows:

CHRIST IS RISEN ! TRULY HE IS RISEN!

CHRIST IS RISEN !

TRULY HE IS RISEN!

     Every Pascha we cry out and hear from others: “Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!” But Pascha is not a one-day celebration and has is not ended, for its celebration continues for forty days,  during which we greet each other with: “Christ is risen!”   “Truly He is risen!”  Pascha is the Feast Day above and beyond all other feast days -- it is the Feast of Feasts.  On Pascha Churches are usually filled with celebrants who join together singing: “Christ is risen!” Red eggs are seen everywhere, and celebrants are holding lighted candles. The day of the Resurrection of Christ has no equal in the enthusiasm of its celebration and the accompanying joy, for the fast is over and Pascha is here!

     The week beginning with Pascha, known as New Week, is an extension of Pascha, the seven days being a continuation of the single day of Pascha. With enthusiasm we sing: “Christ is risen from the dead trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.” In exceeding joy we keep these seven days sending up prayers and glorification to the one who arose from the dead and by His death put death to death.  We continue singing of Pascha for  a full forty days, from Pascha to Ascension, for  we start and finish both private prayers and all services greeting each other and singing: “Christ is risen!

     The joy of this feast is that it directly concerns us by offering us life, greatly affecting our present and endless future, which is everlasting life, and happily death’s empty threats have been annihilated. The Incarnation, Passion, Crucifixion, Death and Resurrection of the Son of God is part of the divine plan of God for the salvation and sanctification of the entire human race. Christ is the Godman who being God also became a man like us and dwelled among us full of grace and truth. He is the example of what the man we must strive to become. God became man to save us and so that man may become a god like God. For this reason the Paschal celebration should inspire us to decide to change our lives. The week after Pascha is called New Week, and concerns the transition from the old to the new, from the old man to the new man Christ, from sin and death, to virtue and Resurrection.  We all need to study, learn and act following Christ’s commandments in order to derive benefit from the Resurrection. Our reformation needs to be sparked by our firm understanding  that following Christ is even more precious than the offering of our praises and glorification on the day of Pascha. In doing this we will remember and celebrate and continually live Pascha each day of our lives, then we will be prepared to enter the never ending paschal domain through the doors of a harmless death. During the thirty-three years before His Passion, Death and Resurrection, Christ was teaching, exhorting and encouraging the propagation of His Gospel, which would be spread over the earth.

SAINTS ARE EVERYWHERE IN ORTHODOXY

SAINTS ARE EVERYWHERE IN ORTHODOXY

     Many speak about Orthodoxy and its numerous saints shown in abundant icons depicting these saints. Within the Church many members also speak of the saints and admire their images painted and hanging prominently in the Church. But there are many more saints that are not spoken of and may not be recognized but are of great importance. These saints and potential saints are all the members of the Orthodox Church and is the reason for the Church’s existence.

     Holy Scripture addresses as saints all members of the Church, and not only church members, but every soul is called by God to become a saint, for He doesn’t  designate a few elect, but desires all men to be sanctified and saved. Christ did not die for a few but for all men, woman and children.  When our Church is properly activated, all over the world it would be attracting all men to enter into salvation and eternal life. Not only Orthodox Christians but all mankind is called to  enter Orthodoxy and become saints, but few are interested due to the attraction of material things and the enjoyment of the pleasures of this world. Christ calls out to all men inviting them into His eternal kingdom. That is why He says to all men in Scripture: “Be holy (saintly) as I am holy; be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

The Holy Bible usually addresses all members of the Church as saints. When St, Paul was still Saul persecuting the Christians, the Apostle Ananias questioned  the Lord: "Lord I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem . . .” (Acts 9:13). He refers to all the Christians as saints.  “And it happened as Peter passed throughout all quarters. He came down also to the saints who dwelled at Lydda” (Acts 9:32).  St. Paul shows that all Christian believers were called to be saints, saying: “to all that dwell in Rome, beloved of God called to become saints; grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:7). Calling the saints to holiness, St Paul says  “But fornication and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be named among you as becomes saints” (Eph. 5:3).

FEAR OF GOD IS THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM

FEAR OF GOD IS THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM

     Why should we fear God?  We should fear God so that we will avoid sins and iniquities and because fear teaches us respect; this will also cause us to  realize that He is very concerned with us and loves us, and realizing His goodness we will return that love to Him. God the Creator made all that exists out of matter which he formed from nothing. Examining the structure and perfection of the created universe is a marvelous wonder, that should fill us with awe. The arrangement and good order of everything that exists, the life sustaining temperatures and ample supplies of food and drink, are beyond our comprehension because everything is provided and perfectly arranged for its particular purpose.

     God has communicated with man from the very beginning, then He established a covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants, which later became the covenant with the nation of Israel, who became the people of God.  God established this covenant with Israel through Moses in 1483 BC. Moses ascended Mt. Sinai and God called him out of the mountain giving him the words and commandments which he would speak to Israel. Moses presented this to the elders of the people, and they all agreed with the terms They said: “All that the Lord has spoken we will obey and do.” The Lord uttered the ten commandments governing His people who feared Him greatly. The ten commandments are always in force over all men

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

First Commandment:

“I am the Lord your God who have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other God except me.

JESUS CHRIST OUR TREASURE BEYOND PRICE

 JESUS CHRIST OUR TREASURE     

BEYOND PRICE

      Most people in the world seek their income and/or savings and treasure in the form of various things that money buys, such as a house, automobile, traveling, vacations.  The necessary money is often earned by work, profession or investment. Because money is the major medium for the exchange of goods, the accumulation of money can easily become a limitless desire and the passion of love of money.  Concerning this, the Lord says in Holy Scripture says: “the love of money is the root of all evil.”  This verse is often misquoted as: “money is the root of all evil”, which is untrue, for money is neutral. Scripture specifically says the “love of money is the root of evil. 

     Considering that the Lord created us, feeds and clothes us and supplies all of our needs of everything, it is proper and right and  that our thanksgiving and love belong to Him. We don’t have to love money to provide for our needs, but we can earn it properly and use it prudently.  Our affection and love ought to be totally directed toward God and not diverted to money and the perishable goods of this world. It is not just money that we are forbidden to love, but the love of anything in this world, for when we direct our love toward anything other than God we do not return God’s love. Also Holy Scripture says that love of the world and its contents places us at enmity with God.

     We know that there is a requirement for money to live during our brief time in this world so we need money.  But we also need to use it prudently to provide for family and necessities as well as helping others where possible. Seeking to accumulate and hoard money is a great evil and there is no debate about this.  Our church needs money to operate and we need to donate our fair share.  

     If we concentrate our love and attention on money, we make “things” more important than Christ who desires that we love Him above and beyond everything else. However, love of money is only one of many evils that affect mankind. Saul who became St. Paul teaches that anything that separates us from Christ is a great loss to the soul.  Paul was financially well off, well educated and held in great respect, being very distinguished among the upper crust Jews, yet he classifies the love of things instead of Christ to be accounted as refuse, and a terrible loss for his soul.

     “However, what things were gain to me, these have I counted as a loss for Christ. Indeed, I count all things to be a loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things. And I do count them but refuse that I may gain Christ. . .” (Phil. 3: 7-8)  

     Christ is the source of our lives, and Provider of the earth we live on, with the  air we breathe and our food and water. He gives all of us what we need to live, so there is no greater treasure we can possess than Christ, who is greatest wealth, most perfect hope, our greater source of mercy, and He is infinitely good and rewards our love by treating as a loving Father does his sons and daughters. We cannot love anything else with a greater love than Christ who loves us and gave himself as a sacrifice for mankind. He who in faith loves Christ lacks nothing and has everything, even if he is living in poverty, for Christ is the only treasure man needs and he who loves Christ is the wealthiest of all men. 

     Saul who later became Paul was a member of the distinguished sect of Pharisees who , out of envy sought to eradicate the memory of Christ forever, by eliminating every trace of His preachers and followers, forbidding the mention of His name. 

TRIUMPHANT SONG OF ALL  ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS

“Christ is risen from the dead trampling down death by death 

and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.”

After the Great 40-Day fast and the emotional readings from Scripture,  and funereal hymns of Holy Week, then on early Sunday morning, Orthodoxy the world over, breaks into triumphant song that can be heard in heaven and on earth in most every country. Churches are filled with people triumphantly celebrating Christ’s victory over death by means of the Cross. The cry is heard everywhere: “Christ is risen!”, which brings the reply: “Truly He is risen!”  Jesus Christ was certainly put to death and did die, and more certainly did He arise on the third day as witnessed not only by many people but by the existence of His holy Orthodox Church which has continuously stood for two-thousand years proclaiming His victory in putting death to death by His life-giving death. “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.”

      We sing forth our paschal song from depths of our hearts which can never be satisfied except with the divine glory, power and richness of God. This paschal song contains these treasures in its holy words. That is why Orthodoxy’s glorious paschal hymn is the central point of our faith and its words are filled with glory, power and the richness of God,  for the Son and Logos of God became incarnate of the Ever-virgin Mary and was crucified of His own will upon the Cross, accused by his enemies as being deserving of an infamous and tortuous death. 

     But His Resurrection on the third day changed everything. The death and resurrection of Christ being life-giving shone more brilliantly than the sun and immeasurably more glorious  than the heavens and it turned the world upside down. The death and resurrection of Christ transformed weakness into almighty power, infamy into heavenly glory and the ugliness of the Cross into an object of adoration and royal beauty. Hence, without restraint Orthodoxy breaks into singing with its triumphant song of Christ’s victory  on the Cross: “Christ is risen from the dead trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.”

HOLY SCRIPTURE AND THE CONSCIENCE GOD’S COMMUNICATION WITH MAN

HOLY SCRIPTURE AND THE CONSCIENCE

GOD’S COMMUNICATION WITH MAN

     It is obvious that there are many obvious things which affect our lives, some for the better and some for the worse. We live each day among the various events which affect us in some way, often not considering them to be important. Some people go through their entire lives under these conditions, not in the least bit concerned with events that are of lesser or greater importance. Such people are living in a dream-like life for life for many is little more than food and drink, clothing, work and play. The life lived by man people is  where nothing is seemed to be vital or necessary.

     Although we utilize our minds, thinking and remembering, and feel with our hearts loving and despising, and form decisions with our wills, yet we t often think nothing of these gifts given us by our Creator, and what His purpose He has in mind for us, many even deny that there is a Creator, although none will deny creation! Although we have written on this subject previously, it is always good to bring it to mind again for we tend to be forgetful of our ultimate destination.

     How important is man and what is his destination? These are questions that all of us should understand with their answers for they concern us.  Certainly, for the Lord to create us in the first place, He had to have a plan and purpose, for He does not create anything haphazardly and without purpose.

     That man’ superiority over all creatures is easily seen by looking at the world and observing its many creatures.  None can be found equal to man in the physical world, where he rules supreme, not due to his physical strength but due to his superior intellectual abilities.  He rules over the animals, beasts, serpents, fish and birds. Although man in many ways resembles other creatures, having similar faculties, he alone has the intellectual ability which empowers him to rule over all creatures and creation.

     Why is man given such ability? Can it be to rule over creation? Not so, for man has yet  another faculty that other creatures lack, which raises him even higher, which is his conscience that establishes communication between him and his Creator. This communication does not suddenly disappear but is always present, approving and disproving our thoughts, ideas and intentions. Every honest human being would testify to the possession of a conscience. 

Scripture testifies to our active conscience:    

“Purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb. 9:14). 

THE FEAST OF FEASTS THE FESTIVAL OF FESTIVALS

THE FEAST OF FEASTS 

THE FESTIVAL OF FESTIVALS

     The extremely glorious Feast of Pascha brilliantly outshines other feasts and celebrations.  It is also known as the Feast of feasts because there is no other feast that can approach its wonder, glory and majesty, and its supremely gracious and unlimited gift to the human race. Pascha was and is the hope of all the nations not a single nation as the  old covenant, for God is the God of all people. Pascha is the longed for awaited living Passover which was typified in Egypt by the angel of death dealing with death of the first born of Egypt and their salvation through the blood of a lamb. It is the answer to all questions; it is the solution to every problem, it leaves nothing unanswered.  The Feast of feasts Pascha is everything! In the Lord’s Pascha is found all that is needed by man.  In Pascha is our resurrection into eternal life. 

PASCHA!  CHRIST IS RISEN!

“Christ is risen from the dead; 

trampling down death by death; 

and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.”

     We are all born as infants who eventually when we  reach adulthood, many of us marry and have babies maintaining a continuous cycle of birth and death. But all of these birth’s into this present life are not perfect births into a final true life but are births into a temporary life, which sooner or later, ends in death. It is not the way things were created as we were created and endowed with life. While death came from an enemy/ The present life is not the true life for being imperfect always ends with death which often seems premature and is usually undesirable. Necessarily there is a life far superior to this life and it is Pascha  or Passover of Christ which is that true and everlasting life, and passes over from this life to that much desired life.

     When the Jews  sought to be free from the yoke of the Egyptians, many unsuccessful attempts to secure their release failed except for one which brought about their release, and that is called Passover or Pascha!  (Note “Pascha” is from the  Hebrew meaning Passover. The Lord instructed Moses what the Jews must do when He sent the angel of death to strike all the firstborn in Egypt, to secure releases of the Jews from slavery. But the angel would not strike those who had the blood of a lamb on their doorposts. When the Jews applied the blood of the lamb, the angel striking the first-born of Egypt would “pass over” the first born in their houses and they were saved from death by the blood of the lamb. 

     After hundreds of years of slavery and captivity, Pharaoh was compelled to  release them, causing great jubilation and happiness among the Jews, for  God procured their release from captivity by means of the blood of the lamb. Jubilantly they sang and danced in the celebration which continued for days, giving thanks to Moses and glorifying God for their deliverance and new found freedom.

Their own parents and grand parents had been slaves but they were now, by divine intervention, and the blood of the lamb a free people, and their joy knew no bounds. But this Passover was not the  greatest Pascha, but was the type of another Passover, which would be the greatest  event that could ever take place, beginning with the advent of Jesus Christ, the lamb of God.

     In the fullness of time, Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God, came into the world and became also the Son of the Virgin Mary.  Born of her after dwelling in her womb for nine months, He was fulfilling the eternal plan to save man who had been estranged from God due to sin. He will wage war against the instigator of sin and enemy of both God and man. He reconciled man with God, by offering himself as the perfect sacrifice s which will bring salvation to the entire human race. God alone could not save us, nor could man, but only the Godman was able to bring salvation to the world.  The Evil one by the authority of sin and the law, wreaked havoc on the human race, inciting men to evil deeds and fomenting fighting and war between them. Though peace and mutual love was desirable with the promise of happiness, it was rarely seen among the sons of men.

The evil one, having deceived the first man and woman, possessed great authority and power by which he inspired evil thoughts and actions among men. He did not realize that his days were numbered from the time of the incarnation of the Logos. Nor did he know of the trap which was prepared to strip him of the tyrannical authority over men. This trap is the  Cross upon which Christ would ascend, sacrificing himself for the salvation of man. The Jewish priests and leaders brought Christ before Pontius Pilate and upon the testimony of false witnesses and false accusations, they demanded the death of Christ. 

LIVES OF THE POPES

Part 4   (The Final Section)

     Pope Clement V (French) did not obtain his elevation to the papacy without first promising important concessions to the King of France. He resided chiefly at Avignon – far from the chair of Peter – his successors followed his example for no less than seventy years – writers call this period the "Babylonish captivity of the Church.”

     Pope Alexander died in the year 1410 from poison. His death in such a sorrowful manner was ascribed to his successor Pope John XXIII, whose election to popedom astonished the world. He was brought before the Council of Constance, charged with the most monstrous crimes, almost any one of which would have brought a common offender to the scaffold. To none of these charges did he offer denial or defense.  During this period there were three popes at once.  The said three popes were, Gregory XII, Benedict XIII and John XXIII. The Council deposed the whole three, and Pope Martin succeeded them. The humble deportment of Pope John saved him from death, and he spent many subsequent years in prison.

     The hands of Pope Nicholas V were stained with the blood of Porcari and nine of his confederates, who were hanged from the battlements of St. Angelo. The crime of Stefano Porcari the noble and honorable Roman was that he urged his countrymen to ask the new pope to give them tuitional liberty.

     Pope Sixtus who succeeded Pope Paul II had several illegitimate sons who, for enriching them, seized on the estate of one of the nobles of Romagna with the intention of conferring them on one of these children, and the story of the trouble fills a volume. The Pope formed a plot for the assassination of Lorengo’s whole family out of revenge against him, because he interfered on behalf of the injured man. For two years this Vicar of Christ filled northern Italy with bloodshed and terror, and if it were not for the conquering Turks entry to Italy and the  taking of Otsanto, God only knows what he would have committed in crimes and iniquities.

LIVES OF THE POPES

Part 3

     Emperor Frederic Barbarosa was compelled to seek reconciliation with Pope Alexander III. An interview took place between the two at Venice in 1177, and it is related that when the Emperor kissed the feet of the Pontiff, he placed his feet on the Emperor’s neck, apostrophizing himself in the language of the Scriptures: “You shall tread on the adder and the lion.” It was this pope who first gratified the pride of the Roman clergy by parading through the streets of Rome, having his horse led by two powerful monarchs, Henry of England and Louis of France, who reverently held the bridle while the pope rode to his habitation.

     When Pope Celestine III was performing the ceremony of coronation for the Emperor Henry VI with all the usual solemnities, on the monarch’s bending his knee before the pope the proud pontiff rudely kicked off the crown which he had just placed on the Emperor’s head, to show that he could with equal ease, confer crowns and take them away, an instance of audacity to which history hardly furnishes a single parallel. To such a perfect contradiction had the popes arrived of the example of Him whom they pretend to represent and who emphatically said: “Learn of me, for I am meek and humble in my heart.”

        Concerning the “Holy Inquisition”, it was established in the thirteenth century by Popes Honorius II, Gregory IX, and Innocent IV, to try people for heresy. We cannot fully describe the terrible prosecution of the Albigensians and the Waldenesians in which no fewer than a million lives were sacrificed, and thousands were forced to flee from homes of their childhood,  and endure the horrors of poverty under new forms of persecution. Pope Innocent said in his bull to the nobles and princes , who would take arms in the cause of destroying the heretics: “We exhort you to destroy the wicked heresy of the Albigenses, and do this with more rigor than you would on the Saracens themselves,” promising the murderers seats of honor in Paradise, and the remission of their sins.

    From the year 1233 onward to 1687, the severity of the inquisition, imprisonment, torture and the stake, continued to be inflected on the Waldenses, supplemented by occasional “crusades.” The most notable of these took place in 1418, under Pope Innocent VIII, when among other barbarities a multitude of fugitives – men, women and children – were mercilessly smoked to death in an alpine cave.

St. Bartholomew Massacre

      This tragic slaughter  took place in France and has no equal in modern times and which is written in dismal characters upon the annals of the French nation and in the history of the church of Rome. Seventy-five thousand unoffending and unresisting victims, who were considered as heretics to Rome. The rivers of France were dyed with the blood of these innocents. Rome received the news of the direful massacre with loud demonstrations of joy, and it was momentarily expected in the “holy city” Cardinal Alessandrian exclaimed joyfully: “The King of France has kept his word,” and Pope Gregory decreed that there should be public rejoicing to celebrate the event. High Mass was performed with every circumstance and pomp and splendor, and before the crying to heaven for vengeance had died away, the solemn strains of the Te Deum arose from the choir of St. Peter’s thanking God for the accomplishment of the most monestrous crime which history records, and worst of all, the pope caused a medal to be struck in memory of the dead, bearing on one side the likeness of his own face, and on the other an effigy of the destroying angel, surmounted by the inscription: “Huguenotorum stryges” – Slaughter of the Hugenots. The Sultan of Egypt was fully justified in his reply to a letter of Pope Innocent Iv: “We have received your epistle and listened to your envoy. He has spoke to us of Jesus Christ, whom we honor more than you honor."

      Pope Boniface VIII removed Pope Celestine V and took his office. He commenced his pontificate by asserting his right to adjudicate in all matters whatsoever in ever part of the world. Albert of Austria had slain his competitors for the imperial crown and therefo9re sent to the pope for the customary confirmation. Pope Boniface replied to the messenger by putting the crown upon his head and exclaiming: “It is I who am Caesar; it is I who am emperor.” And from that time it became usual for the pontiffs to wear a double crown, indicating their temporal as well as spiritual supremacy, until the conceit of a later pope added a third crown to the bauble.

     There seemed literally no limits to the arrogance of Pope Boniface VIII. As if he were more than human, he pretended to give and take away crowns and scepters by the mere expression of his will. Sardinia and Corsica he bestowed upon James of Aragon, Hungary on the grandson of Charles of Anjou The crown of Scotland he asserted to be his. All this show to what a degree this pope was prepared to go to indulge his monstrous appetite for power which is worldly. The death of this pope is something too sorrowful to insert.

From The Old Church in the New World

To be continued.

LIVES OF POPES PART 2

LIVES OF POPES

PART 2

     There exists and always will exist the Church which Jesus Christ founded and there is the papacy and these two are not the same, because Orthodoxy alone is the Church and Body of Christ, which preserves His doctrine. Because the papacy claims that each pope is a successor of Christ through Peter, we are revealing the historical record of their anti-Christian lives. Orthodox leaders should be ashamed to even speak of the idea of unity and certainly not of a second church, which is impossible/

Specimen of the Life of Popes

(continued)

     The character of Pope John XII, as portrayed by Roman Catholics themselves is an amazing testimony. Hear what Dr. Brands, who is a Roman Catholic, says about this pope: “In the person of this grandson of Narozia, the papacy was reduced to its deepest degradation, and Rome to its lowest depth of dishonor and humiliation.”  Finally this pope was deposed by a Council for his licentiousness and other crimes, which would fill a volume, if we were to insert them one by one; and yet the Romish church, unblushingly calls on us to believe that this wretch was legitimate successor, of self-denying Peter and Paul and above all, that he was infallible.

     Pope Otto the Great was succeeded in 973 by two rival heads of the church, namely, Pope Boniface VII and Benedict VII. The opposition between them was absolute.  The pope of one party was the antipope of the other. What one authority decreed the other strictly forbade. Pope Benedict excommunicated Pope Boniface, and the other returned the compliment, yet both of them held the authority of binding and losing, ordained priests and bishops and bestowed blessings as Vicar of Christ, etc. 

LIVES OF POPES 

Part 1

     The majority of Orthodox leaders who in our days, embrace the pope as a brother, but they ignore history which demonstrates that if they are really our brothers, then Orthodoxy is not the one true Church. What really took place is that Rome apostasized from the Church and formed a new organization called the papacy, separated from the Church they descended into immorality.  Orthodox Christians would do well to let their leaders know that union is poisonous.

      The Papacy, which poses as the Catholic Church, boldly proclaim that the Pope and the Papacy are the only true church and without them there is no salvation.  Although in these days of confusion coupled with the poison of ecumenism, the papacy will at times deny their claims for its own purpose, but the fact remains that it is their official and canonical doctrine, that you must honor and obey the pope and the papacy to be saved, because the pope is the successor of Peter The papacy alleges that it is founded upon Peter, and they claim that this succession has lasted almost two thousand years passing from one pope to the next pope in succession which is necessary. But are they really successors of holy and pure Saint Peter? This can be answered by examining their lives.