Daduchos - Torch Bearer

BEING CHRISTIAN - BAPTISM - Part 7

2018-06-09T17:13:00.000+05:30

"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy."
(1 Peter 2:9-10)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus

In the series, 'Being Christian' I am trying to share with you the activities that signify a Christian essence in the life of the faithful and what kind of people we might hope to become in a community where these activities are practices. With this hope in mind, we started with the most important sacrament (or a rite) by which an individual is brought to the Christian family - the Baptism.

In the previous blog, we started to try and understand the identity that is bestowed on the baptized by understanding the titles that are mainly used in thinking about the identity of Jesus. We tried to identify with Jesus as a prophet, where the role of a prophet is to challenge the community to be what it is always meant to be. As a prophet we are to be ready to show each other the integrity of Christian life. We also tried to understand that the role of a prophet is not limited in the church but also in the wider societies that we live in. Let us now understand about the priestly role that is bestowed upon us.

Let us again go back to the Bible. In the Old Testament, a priest is someone who interprets God and humanity to each other. A priest is somebody who builds bridges between God and humanity when that relationship has been wrecked; somebody who by offering sacrifice to God re-creates a shattered relationship. Of Jesus' priestly role I need hardly speak in that connection. But we can perhaps see how, as baptized people we are drawn into the priestliness of Jesus, we are called upon to mend shattered relationships between God and the world, through the power of Christ and the Spirit. As baptized people, we are in the business of building bridges. We are in the business of seeing situations where there is a breakage, damage and disorder, and bringing into those situations the power of God in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in order to rebuild something. We may not offer sacrifices in the Old Testament sense, but we offer and bring before God the reality of Jesus which has restored everything. We pray in Jesus that the restoration may be applied in the brokenness. And we offer our own service and devotion as best we can in the bridge-building process.

And how do we relate to Jesus as royal king? In ancient Israel, the king was somebody who spoke for others to God. The king himself had a priestly role. But the king had the freedom to shape the law and the justice of his society, He could keep people close to the demands of God's covenant; he could make justice a reality (or fail terribly in this task). We read in Jeremiah the great definition of what it means to be a king who will 'know God' by favouring the poor, doing justice for the needy (Jeremiah 22:16). And that 'royal' calling is about how we freely engage in shaping our lives and our human environment in the direction of God's justice, showing in our relationships and our engagement with the world something of God's own freedom, God's own liberty to heal and restore.

So the baptized life is a life that gives us the resource and strength to ask awkward but necessary questions of one another and of our world. It is a life that looks towards reconciliation, building bridges, repairing shattered relationships. It is a life that looks towards justice and liberty, the liberty to work together to make human life in society some kind of reflection of the wisdom and order and justice of God.

All these aspects of the baptized life need one another. If we were only called to be prophets, we would be in danger of being constantly shrill nay-sayers to one another and to the world. There is plenty of that in Christian history and plenty of that in the Christian mentality today. And if we were only priestly, there would be a danger of never asking the difficult questions but moving on as rapidly as we could to reconciliation. And if we were only talking about royal freedom and justice we would be in danger of constantly thinking in terms of control and problem-solving. But just as in Jesus these three things are inseparably bound up in His work and His words and His death, as in His life, so for us these are three facets of one life, not three isolated bits of a vocation.

... but still sinners

Throughout Christian history there have been plenty of debates around baptism. In the early Church people debated whether it was possible to sin after baptism. The great temptation was to think that when you had entered the new creation, the old world just stopped existing. St Paul knew that temptation but he also knew very well that the old world is tough, a natural survivor, and that the old humanity - muddled about its destiny and forgetful about its true nature - goes on with remarkable persistence.

So if, as a baptized person, we still sin - let's don't panic! Remember that the depths of God's love still surrounds us. And when we sin as a baptized person we are not, as it were, stepping right outside the depths of God's love (unless, of course, we fully and consciously decide to do so). Rather, it is as though we are deliberately ignoring the depths all around us, and not letting the reality of the world's need and the reality of God's love come through. So, what we need to do is to take the shutters down again, and we will find that every prayer of penitence that we pray is a taking-down of the shutters and letting the baptismal depths well up around and within us again.

And that brings us right back to where we started: the chaos of human sin and disorder and the wind of the Spirit blowing over it, and the embodied love of God going down into the waters and being drawn out again in a blaze of light and a word from heaven, 'This is my Son!' The baptized community lives in that mystery, drawn out of chaos, breathing in the wind of the Spirit and hearing from God the words that He speaks to His only Son: 'You can call me Father.'

In the following blogs, we will try and understand the second essential element of the Christian life - The Bible

The blog is based on the book - "Being Christian" by Rowan Williams

BEING CHRISTIAN - BAPTISM - Part 6

2018-06-05T05:56:00.001+05:30

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus

Dear brethren, as we look back on the last few blogs, let us just quickly recap on what we learnt about baptism. Baptism restores a human identity that has been forgotten or overlaid. Baptism takes us to where Jesus is. It takes us therefore into closer neighborhood with a dark and fallen world, and it takes us into closer neighborhood with others invited there. The baptized life is characterized by solidarity with those in need, and sharing with all others who believe. And it is characterized by prayerfulness that courageously keeps going, even when things are difficult and unpromising and unrewarding simply because we cannot stop the urge to pray. Something just keeps coming alive in us; never mind the results.

Prophets, priests & kings

Let us try to explore a little bit further what this new baptized identity, this new humanity, means by considering three titles that are often used in thinking about the identity of Jesus. For many centuries the Church has thought of Jesus as anointed by God to live out a threefold identity: that of a prophet, priest and king. We as baptized people can identify with Jesus in these three ways of being human which characterize and the define His unique humanity. As we grow into His life and humanity these three ways come to characterize us as well. The life of the baptized is a life pf prophesy and priesthood and royalty. What does this mean to those of us who do not normally think of our roles in quite such dramatic terms?

Thinking about the role of prophets, we quite literally think about what the prophets did in the Old Testament times.The role of the prophets is more than just foretelling the future. Much more importantly, they act and speak to call the people of Israel back to their own essential truth and identity. They act and speak for sake of a community's integrity, its faithfulness to who it is really meant to be. Isaiah and Jeremiah and Amos and Hosea are constantly saying to the people of Israel, 'Don't you remember who you are? Don't you remember what God has called you to be? Here you are, sitting down comfortable with all kinds of inequality, injustice and corruption in your society. Have you completely forgotten what you're here for?'

Therefore, the prophet is somebody whose role is always challenging the community to be what it is always meant to be - to live out the gift that God has given to it. And so the baptized person, reflecting the prophetic role of Jesus Christ, is a person who needs to be critical, who needs to be a questioner. The baptized person looks around at the Church and may quite often be prompted to say, 'Have you forgotten what you're here for?'; 'Have you forgotten the gift God gave you?'

One of the very uncomfortable roles we have to play in the Church is to be prophets to one another - that is, to remind one another what we are here for. By saying this, I don't mean that every Christian needs to go around nagging every other Christian (though it may seem attractive to some people). Rather I mean that we need to be, in a variety of ways, ready to show one another what the integrity of Christian life is all about. It is more of a nudging one another from time to time and saying, 'What do you see?'; 'Whats your vision?'; 'What are you making yourself accountable to?' And to go on gently holding one another accountable before God doesn't mean nagging or censoriousness. It means something much more like a quiet, persistent re-calling of one another to what is most important. We do it silently every time we meet for worship. We do it, ideally, when we meet together privately. We do it in all sorts of ways. The Church needs to always to hear the critical voice saying, 'Back to the beginning, back to where it all comes from. Let's try and listen again to what God said to us'. So, as prophets we lead one another back to the essentials: back to baptism, Bible, Holy Communion and prayer.

But if we as prophets are gifted with this uncomfortable calling to ask questions of one another, what about the wider societies we live in? People speak rather loosely of the Church being 'prophetic' and sometimes people talk as if the prophetic role of the Church is simply a matter of taking loud and very clear stands on all issues of the day. But it is surely much more a matter of the Church expressing and asking important and readily forgotten questions in out society. It is to ask, 'What's that for?' and 'Why do we take that for granted?' and 'Where's that leading us?' We do it for one another in the Church but I think that we also do it for the whole of our human environment, which needs that sort of questioning for its health and survival.

In the following blogs, we will understand the roles of a priest and kings that are bestowed on us with baptism that we share with Christ Jesus. In the meantime, do keep me and my family in your prayers.

The blog is based on the book - "Being Christian" by Rowan Williams

BEING CHRISTIAN - BAPTISM - Part 5

2018-05-05T07:54:00.002+05:30

"In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh has been put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through your faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead."

(Colossians 2:11-12)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus

Dear brethren, let us first recap on the last few blogs on what we covered on baptism and the deep thoughts the church associated with one of the important sacraments by which an individual was brought towards Christ Jesus. We started by understanding that baptism does not confer a special status on the baptized that marks them off from everybody else, but leads in claiming a new level of solidarity with everyone else. Just as Jesus was brought into the middle of human sufferings on a very intimate level, so also are the baptized brought into the midst of human chaos and are also those who go with Jesus into the risk and darkness. The baptized person finds not only in the middle of human suffering and muddle but also in the middle of the love and delight of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We also tried to understand that from this unique relationship, the prayer of the baptized people is a prayer that is always moving in the depths, sometimes invisibly and from places that we can seldom understand. Continuing on, let us try to understand why and how the path of the baptized person though a dangerous path is also called the path of life.

All the changes that we tried to understand in the life of a baptized person are all results from the upsurging life of the Spirit in the center of ones being, coming from the heart of God. The path is both a dangerous and life-giving for me as an individual believer - but not only for me. The other great truth about baptism is that it brings us not only in the proximity with God the Father, not only with the suffering and muddle of the human world, but with all those other people who are invited there as well. Baptism brings us into the neighborhood of other Christians; and there is no way of being a Christian without being in the neighborhood of other Christians. (It might seem like bad news for many, because other Christians can be so very difficult!) But that is what the New Testament tells us very uncompromisingly: to be with Jesus is to be where human suffering and pain are found and it is also to be with other human beings who are invited to be with Jesus. And that, says the New Testament, is a gift as well as sometimes a struggle and even an embarrassment.

It is a gift because in this community of baptized people we receive life from others' prayer and love, and we give the prayer and love that others need. We are caught up in a great economy of giving and exchanging. The solidarity that baptism brings us into, the solidarity with suffering, is a solidarity with one another as well. It is what some Christian writers have called 'co-inherence'. We are 'implicated' in one anther, our lives are interwoven. What affects one Christian affects all, what affects all affects each one. And, whether as individual Christians or as individual Christian groups and denominations, we often find that hard to believe and accept. We find it hard to accept it as a gift - yet a gift is what it is. It means that the darkness that belongs in the baptized life is never one own problem exclusively. It is shared: how it is shared is very mysterious, and yet most of us who are baptized Christians can witness in one way or another to the fact that it works.

So baptism restores a human identity that has been forgotten or overlaid. Baptism takes us to where Jesus is. It takes us therefore into closer neighbourhood with a dark and fallen world, and it takes us closer neighbourhood with others invited there. The baptized life is characterized by solidarity with those in need, and sharing with all others who believe. And it is characterized by prayerful life that courageously keeps going, even when things are difficult and uncompromising and unrewarding, simply because we cannot stop the urge to pray. Something keeps coming alive in you; never mind the results.

Through the following blogs we will try to understand the roles that are bestowed on us with baptism that we share with Christ Jesus. In the meantime, do keep me and my family in your prayers.

The blog is based on the book - "Being Christian" by Rowan Williams

BEING CHRISTIAN - BAPTISM - Part 4

2018-05-01T20:40:00.001+05:30

(Colossians 2:11-12)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus

In the previous blog we tried to understand that just as Jesus was acknowledged in the waters of Jordan as God's son, we too are given an opportunity to be acknowledged as God sons & daughters by becoming recipients of the Holy Spirit. And in so opening ourselves to the Holy Spirit, we also are to open up to the needs and requirements of the people around us. We who are baptized are to be found in the middle of the love that God has for us and in the middle of the human suffering showing to the world Gods love for them as well. The baptized person is not only in the middle of human suffering and muddle but also in the middle of the love and delight of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That surely is one of the most extraordinary mysteries of being Christian.

Growing out of this blessing - to be in the middle of the heart of God and being in the middle of a world of threat, suffering, sin and pain, the prayer of baptized people is going to be a prayer that is always moving in the depths, sometimes invisible - a prayer that comes from places deeper than we can really understand. St. Paul says just this in his letter to the Romans: "The Spirit helps us in our weakness... that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words" (Romans 8:26). The prayer of the baptized people is never just 'rattling off' the words at surface level. The prayer of baptized people comes from a place deeper that we can penetrate with our minds or even our feelings. Prayer in the baptized community surges up from the depths of God's own life. Or, to change the metaphor, we might say that we are carried along on a tide deeper than ourselves, welling from God's depths and the world's.

The prayer of baptized people is always growing and moving into the prayer of Jesus himself and therefore it is a prayer that may often be difficult and mysterious. It will not always be cheerful and clear, and it may not always feel as though it is going to be answered. Christians do not pray expecting to get what they ask for in any simple sense. Rather, Christians pray because they have to, because the Spirit is surging up inside them. Prayer, in other words, is more like sneezing - there comes a point where you cant's not do it. The Holy Spirit wells and surges up towards God the Father. But because of this there will be moments when, precisely because you can't help yourself, it can feel dark and unrewarding, deeply puzzling, hard to speak about.

That might be the reason why so many great Christian writers on the spiritual life have emphasized that prayer is not about feeling good. It is not abut results, or about being pleased with yourself; it is just what God does in you when you are close to Jesus. And that of course means that the path of the baptized person is a dangerous one. To be baptized is not to be in what the world thinks of as a safe place. Jesus' first disciples discovered that in the Gospels and his disciples have gone on discovering ever since.

It is a great privilege to know and learn about people who live in dangerous proximity to Jesus; where their witness means they are a risk in various ways. And when we get to know people in places like Zimbabwe, Sudan, Syria or Pakistan living both in the neighborhood of Jesus and in the neighborhood of great danger, we understand something of what commitment to the Christian life means, the commitment of which baptism is the sign. But we also see this when we look at the lives of the great saints whose path of contemplation has led them to deep inner desolation, loneliness and uncertainty. All this results from the upsurging life of the Spirit in the center of our being, coming from the heart of God. Like the saints before us, we tread a dangerous path - which is also the path to life.

Stay tuned for more on the path of life in the following blog.

In the meantime, do keep me and my family in your prayers.

The blog is based on the book - "Being Christian" by Rowan Williams

BEING CHRISTIAN - BAPTISM - Part 3

2018-04-22T17:55:00.004+05:30

(Colossians 2:11-12)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus

In the previous post we tried to understand that God intended for us to grow in such love for Him and in such confidence in Him that we could rightly be called as God's sons & daughters. And Jesus Christ came down to our level so that we could be restored to the humanity that God intended, by being able to work in places where humanity is most at risk, most disordered, disfigured and needy. Christians who are meant to be in the neighborhood of Jesus, will also be found in the neighborhood of human confusion and suffering, alongside those in need. We ended with learning that baptism means being with Jesus 'in the depths': the depths of human need, including the depths of our own selves in their need - but also in the depths of God's love; in the depths where the Spirit is re-creating and refreshing human life as God meant it to be.

Sharing in the life and death of Jesus

If we believe the previous beliefs as true, baptism does not confer on us a status that marks us off from everybody else. To be able to say, 'I am baptized' is not to claim an extra dignity, let alone a sort of privilege that keeps one separate from and superior to the rest of the human race, but to claim a new level of solidarity with other people, It is to accept that to be a Christian is to be affected - one can also say contaminated - by the mess of humanity.

It is very much a paradox. Baptism is a ceremony in which we are washed, cleansed and re-created. It is also a ceremony in which we are pushed into the middle of a human situation that may hurt us, and that will not leave us untouched or unsullied. And the gathering of the baptized people is therefore not a convocation of those who are privileged, elite and separate, but of those who have accepted what it means to be in the heart of a needy, contaminated and messy world. To put it another way, one does not go down into the waters of the Jordan without stirring up a great deal of mud!

When we are brought to be where Jesus is in baptism, we let our defenses down so as to be where He is, in the depths of human chaos. And that means letting our defenses down before God. Openness to the Spirit comes as we go with Jesus to take this risk of love and solidarity. And that is why, as we come up out of the waters of baptism with Jesus, we hear what He hears: 'This is my son, this is my daughter, this is the one who has the right to call me Father'. The Holy Spirit, says St. Paul, is always giving us the power to call God Father, and to pray Jesus' prayer (Galatians 4:6). And the baptized are those who, going with Jesus into the risk and darkness, open themselves up to receive the Spirit that allows them to call God Father.

What else can we expect to see in the baptized? Along with an openness to human need, we will also see a corresponding openness to the Holy Spirit. In the life of the baptized people, there is a constant rediscovering, re-enacting of the Father's embrace of Jesus in the Holy Spirit. The baptized person is not only in the middle of the human suffering and muddle but also in the middle of the love and delight of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That surely is one of the most extraordinary mysteries of being a Christian. We are in the middle of two things that are very much contradictory to each other: in the middle of the heart of God, the ecstatic joy of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; and in the middle of a world of threat, suffering, sin and pain. And because Jesus has taken his stand right in the middle of those two realities, that is where we take ours as well. As He says, 'Where I am, there will my servant be also' (John 12:26)

To recap, in this blog we tried to understand that just as Jesus was acknowledged in the waters of Jordan as God's son, we too are given an opportunity to be acknowledged as God sons & daughters. And in opening ourselves to the Holy Spirit, we also are to open up to the needs and requirements of the people around us. We who are baptized are to be found in the middle of the love that God has for us and in the middle of the human suffering showing to the world Gods love for them as well. In the next blog we will continue on what else do we expect to see in a baptized person.

In the meantime, do keep me and my family in your prayers.

The blog is based on the book - "Being Christian" by Rowan Williams

BEING CHRISTIAN - BAPTISM - Part 2

2018-04-14T15:25:00.002+05:30

"Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life."

(Romans 6:3-4)

Dear brothers & sisters in Christ Jesus

To recap, in the previous blog we understood that baptism is one of the most essential signs of being a Christian. We also understood that from early Christian years, baptism has been related to the Crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ and also how it was related to the creation history in Genesis. And through it all, we understood that baptism is a means to overcome the chaos of this life, leading to rebirth as a son or daughter of Go, just as Jesus is a son.

We stopped at a point where the ancient Church brought together powerful symbols towards baptism. Where water symbolizes rebirth: rebirth as a son or daughter of God, as Jesus himself is a son. So when the Church reflected on what baptism means, it came to view it as a kind of restoration of what it is truly to be a human. To be baptized is to recover the humanity that God first intended.

WHAT DID GOD INTEND? He intended that human beings should grow into such love for Him and such confidence in Him that they could rightly be called God's sons and daughters. We human beings have let go of that identity, abandoned it, forgotten it and corrupted it and stamped it under our very feet.

But when Jesus arrives on the scene He restores humanity to where it should be. But that in itself means that Jesus, as He restores humanity 'from within', has to come down into the chaos of the human world. Jesus has to come down fully to our level, to where things are shapeless and meaningless, in a state of vulnerability and unprotectedness, if real humanity is to come to birth.

This suggests that the new humanity that is created around Jesus is not a humanity that we are familiar with, that is a humanity that is successful and is in control of things, but a humanity that can reach out its hand from the depths of chaos, to be touched by the hand of God. And that means that if we ask the question 'Where might you expect to find the baptized?' one possible answer is, 'In the neighborhood of chaos'. It means you might expect to find Christian people near to those places where humanity is most at risk, where humanity is most disordered, disfigured and needy. Christians will be found in the neighborhood of Jesus - but Jesus is found in the neighborhood of human confusion and suffering, defenselessly alongside those in need. If baptized is being led to where Jesus is, then being baptized is being led towards the chaos and the neediness of a humanity that has forgotten its own destiny.

We might also add that we may also expect the baptized Christian to be somewhere near, somewhere in touch with, the chaos in his or her own life - because we all of us live not just with a chaos outside ourselves but with a quite a lot of inhumanity and muddle inside us. A baptized Christian ought to be somebody who is not afraid of looking with honesty at that chaos inside, as well as being where humanity is at risk, outside.

So baptism means being with Jesus 'in the depths': the depths of human need, including the depths of our own selves in their need - but also in the depths of God's love; in the depths where the Spirit is re-creating and refreshing human life as God meant it to be.

As we stop here for today, let is reflect in what it means to be a baptized Christian. In the Orthodox tradition, the days before trimphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and Good Friday is marked by events where Jesus heals a lot of people around Him. He is also found at a graveside resurrecting His friend Lazarus. Through my walk in the Great Lent, this is a question that kept me thinking, where am I in this fallen humanity and what is my role. As we look towards the Ascension and the Pentecost, where do we want to be found? To be in the midst of success or in the midst of human chaos?

The blog was written on the basis of the book "Being Christian" written by Rowan Williams.

Do keep me and my family in your prayers.

BEING CHRISTIAN -- BAPTISM - Part 1

2018-04-07T18:15:00.000+05:30

(Romans 6:3-4)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus

Wishing you all a blessed feast of Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ

We have now completed one week after the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and defeating death on the cross (many of my Orthodox brethren around the world are right now preparing for the same), and during this blessed period while I was reminiscing on the reason for baptism and its importance in the Christian life, I was struck by the similarity it bears to the death of Jesus Christ and His resurrection.

Jesus speaks of the suffering and death that lies ahead of him as a 'baptism' he is going to endure (Mark 10:38). That is, He speaks as if His going towards suffering and death were a kind of immersion in something, being drowned or swamped in something. He says that he has an 'immersion' to go through, and until it is completed he will be frustrated and his work will be incomplete (Luke 12:50). So it seems that from the very beginning, baptism as a ritual for joining the Christian community was associated with the idea of going down into the darkness of Jesus' suffering and death, being 'swamped' by the reality of what Jesus endured. St. Paul speaks of being baptized 'into' the death of Christ (Romans 6:3).

We are, so to speak, 'dropped' into that mysterious event which Christians commemorate on Good Friday, and more regularly, in the breaking of bread at every Holy Eucharist.

Out of the depths

As the ancient Church began to reflect more on this in the early Christian centuries, as it began to shape its liturgy and art, another set of association were developed.

In the story of Jesus' baptism, He goes down into the water of the river Jordan, and as He comes up out of the water the Holy Spirit descends upon Him in the form of a dove and a voice speaks from heaven: 'You are my Son' (Luke 3:22). Reflecting on that incident, the early Christians soon began to make connections with another story involving water and the Spirit. In the book of Genesis, at the very beginning of creation, we read that there was a watery chaos. And over that watery chaos there was the Holy Spirit hovering or a great wind blowing.

First there is chaos, then there is the wind of God's Spirit; and out of the watery chaos comes the world. And God says, 'This is good.' The water and the Spirit and the voice: we can see why the early Christian fathers began to associate the event of baptism with exactly that image which St. Paul uses for the Christian life - new creation.

So the beginning of Christian life is a new beginning of God's creative work. And just as Jesus came up out of the water, receiving the Holy Spirit and hearing the voice of the Father, so for the newly baptized Christian the voice of God says, 'You are my son/daughter', as that individual begins his or her new life in association with Jesus.

In the icons reflecting the baptism of Jesus, we can usually see Jesus up to His neck in the water, while below, sitting under the waves, are the river gods of the old world, representing the chaos that is being overcome. So from early on baptism has been bringing powerful symbols around itself. Water and rebirth: rebirth as a son or daughter of God, as Jesus Himself is a son; chaos moving into order as the wind of God blows upon it.

As the Church reflected on what baptism means, it is not surprising when it came to view baptism as a restoration of what it is to be truly human. To be baptized is to recover the humanity that God first intended. What did God intend?

To understand what did God intend from his most prized creation, stay tuned to the blogs.

To do a brief recap, we understand that baptism is one of the most essential signs of being a Christian. We understood that from early Christian years, baptism has been related to the Crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ and also how it was related to the creation history in Genesis. And through it all, we understood that baptism is a means to overcome the chaos of this life, leading to rebirth as a son or daughter of Go, just as Jesus is a son.

The above blog has been taken from the book - "Being Christian" by Rowan Williams

Being Christian - Introduction

2018-04-07T15:45:00.002+05:30

Christ is risen! Indeed, He is risen! (Khristós Anésti! Alithós Anésti!)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus
A very blessed season of Resurrection of our Lord Jesus greetings to one and all.
As I was pondering on the topic that I would like to take up as blog post, I thought it would be best to learn the essential elements of any Christian life. The thoughts that I'll be sharing as blogs will be representations from a recent book that I have been reading - "Being Christian" by Rowan Williams. Hoping that these thoughts will be helpful for you as it has been for me.
What are the essential elements of the Christian life? I'm not thinking of in terms of individuals leading wonderful lives, but just in terms of those simple and recognizable things that make us realize that we are a part of Christian community. The blogs are written to help us think about four of the most obvious of these things: baptism, Bible, Eucharist and prayer.

Christians are received into full membership of the Church by having water poured or sprinkled over them (or, in some traditions, being fully immersed); Christians read the Bible; Christians gather to share bread and wine in memory of the death and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth; and Christians pray. Though there is a huge and bewildering variety in Christian thinking and practice about all kinds of things, these four basic activities have remained constant and indispensable for majority of those who call themselves Christians.
In the following blogs, we shall be looking at what those activities tell us about the essence of Christian life, and what kind of people we might hope to become in a community where these things are done.
Kindly keep me and my family and our ministry in your prayers.

THE PATH OF SALVATION - Introduction

2016-04-22T15:49:00.001+05:30

Christ is risen! Indeed He is risen!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

Wishing one and all a very blessed and happy Easter (Pascha). I have decided to read some writings of our Holy Fathers and coincidentally my hands came upon a book written by a father from the Russian Orthodox Church - St. Theophan the Recluse. This series of my blogs will be from one of his books - The Path of Salvation.

We all understand that our life on earth is a sojourn towards our Heavenly Kingdom and the main task on this way to salvation is to live in the spirit of Christ. But it is very difficult to answer all the questions and so it is very much necessary to explain nearly every step of this way.

Man's final goal is communion with God, and the way to this goal lies through faith in Christ, together with constantly keeping His commandments with the assistance of God's grace.

It is very easy for a person to say that "This is the way! Follow it!" But how is one to follow this path? Mostly because people have no desire to move in this direction. Their souls, pulled by one passion or another, stubbornly refuses every gentle invitation and every call. The soul alerts its gaze from God and does not want to look at Him. The law of Christ does not conform to the soul's liking. The soul does not even have disposition even to hear this law.

Therefore, the questions that will be addressed through these blogs are:

How does one reach the point where the desire in born to move towards God by way of Christ?
What does one do so that the Law imprints itself, not just a ink on paper, but as the Spirit of the Living God imprints itself on the living flesh of the heart?
How can a man act according to this Law willingly and unconstrainedly, not as though like a burden, but proceeding from his deepest nature?

If someone has turned towards God, and has come to love His Law, is this enough to ensure the success of the journey? Will the journey be successful merely because we desire it? No.

In addition to the desire, it is necessary to have the strength and the ability to act, that is active wisdom or the practical knowledge of how to act (praxis). Whoever enters this true way of pleasing God, whoever begins with the help of grace to strive towards God in the way of Christ's Law, will inevitably be threatened by the danger of losing his way at the crossroads, of going astray and perishing while under the illusion that he is working out his salvation. These crossroads are unavoidable because of our sinful inclinations and the disorder of our faculties, even in those who have accepted Christ. These sinful inclinations and disordered faculties are capable of presenting things to a man in a false light, and deceiving and destroying the man.

Moreover, there is flattery from Satan, who is reluctant to leave his victims. Whenever a person goes to the light of Christ, he pursues him and sets every manner of trap in order to catch him again. He prowls like a lion waiting for its prey. Hence, the spiritual traveler who already has the desire to follow the way to the Lord must be informed of all the possible deviations, so that he may be warned beforehand, may see the dangers that are to be encountered, and may learn how to avoid them.

These unavoidable things, which are encountered on the way to salvation and are common for everyone, require special guiding principles that are indispensable for the Christian life. These principles define how to acquire the saving desire for communion with God, the fervent desire to remain in communion with Him, and how to come to God safely through all the crossroads that must be negotiated on the way and at every stage on the way. In other words, how to begin to live the Christian life and how, having begun, to perfect oneself in it.

These guiding principles must take the man who is separated from God, turn him towards God, and then being him into God's Presence. They must show to the man the practical development of the Christian life in all its manifestations and levels, from its very beginning to the end. That is how the Christian life germinates, develops, and becomes mature. In other words, we must give an account of the unfolding of the active life for every Christian, to show how he must act in every possible case so that he may stand firm in his calling.

When comparing the gradual growth of plants to that of a Christian, the growth of the plant is easy and unconstrained, while it is not so with a Christian. He rather has a hard struggle with himself, intense and sorrowful, and he must dispose his faculties towards things which they have no natural inclination. Just like a warrior, he must win every inch of land, even his own, from his enemies by means of warfare. He must use the two-edged sword of self-constraint and self-coercion. And finally, after long hours of hard labor and exertions, Christian principles emerge victorious, reducing without oppression. These principles bestow upon man the bliss of those who are pure in heart, so that the man can see God in himself in the most sincere communion with Him.

Such is the condition in us of the Christian life. It has three stages, which we can describe as follows :

Turning to God, which is conversation
Purification or self-amendment, and
Sanctification.

In the first stage, a man turns from darkness to light, from the reign of Satan to God. In the second, he cleanses the dwelling Chamber of his heart from every impurity, in order to receive Christ, the Lord, who is coming to him. In the third, the Lord comes, makes His home in the heart of a man and sups with him. This is the state of blessed communion with God-the goal of all ascetic labors and endeavors.

To show the way to salvation means that we describe all these things and define the rules which govern this operation. Full guidance in this matter takes a man on the crossroads of sin, leads him through the fiery way of cleansing, and raises him up to the highest pitch of spiritual perfection attainable, to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

In other words, this guidance must show us:

How Christian life begins in us
How it is perfected - that is, how it grows and is strengthened, and
How the Christian life appears in its full perfection.

As we start this journey of writing and reading, I ask you all to keep me and my writing in your prayers. May this series enlighten us and help us to walk on the way to salvation.

Your brother in Christ

Prepare O Bethlehem - King Herod and the Holy Innocents

2016-01-02T12:52:00.000+05:30

Herod was filled with alarm

When he saw the righteous wisemen.

Overcome by fury,

He determined when the child was born

Mothers were robbed of their infants:

Their tender lives were reaped as a bitter harvest.

Milk stopped flowing and breasts dried up

Great was the suffering!

Therefore assemble in holy fear, O faithful,

To worship the birth of Christ!

- Stikhera for Ninth Hour of the Royal Hours of Christmas

(Byzantine Orthodox Church)

Christ is born! Glorify Him!

The story of King Herod and the death of the holy innocents stands out grimly in the birth narratives of Jesus Christ. While Herod is never seen in crèche scenes and he seldom is represented in Parish tableaus, he is mentioned in the birth narrative. While Herod is not formally commemorated on the Church calendar, we do remember the martyrdom of the holy innocents in Bethlehem on the first Sunday after Christmas. I'm 2015, we remembered them on Dec 27. This post and the coming couple of posts are delayed as I was busy with my secular work and did not get time to write on these topics.

King Herod was King Herod the Great, the father of the Herodian dynasty and the father of Herod Antipas, who killed John the Baptist and assisted Pontius Pilate in condemning Jesus to death (Luke 9:7, 23:6-7). The Scriptures offer little information about King Herod except that he was the King of the Jews. The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that Herod was an ambitious politician and a strong leader. He was alive when Julius Caesar was killed, and befriended Mark Anthony. Herod was later summoned to Rome to receive the title "King of the Jews", and he returned to Jerusalem as their King. By the time of the birth of Jesus, the Roman Empire controlled most of the known world around the Mediterranean and was organized into smaller kingdoms. Herod, the King of Judea, was unpopular with many Jews because he was a foreigner and only part Jewish. Although Matthew does not tell us directly, it is likely that any news about a newborn King would not be welcomed by Herod or his followers. The mere mention of a newborn "king" would cause anxiety in most people, and especially to someone as the unpopular Herod.

Herod told the wise men that he too wanted to visit the Christ child (Matthew 2:7-8). Joseph, after being alerted in a dream, took Mary and the infant Jesus and fled to Egypt, where they remained until the angel told them to return to Nazareth.

Herod, in a rage, had all the make children who were two years old or younger killed so that he could kill the baby Jesus.According to Matthew, this fulfills a prophesy in Jeremiah,

"A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were no more. This says the Lord: 'Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded says the Lord, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope for your future, says the Lord, and your children shall come back to their own country'" (Jeremiah 31:15).

Jeremiah speaks of the exile of the northern tribes and uses the example of Rachel weeping for her children who were taken away.

The story of Herod and the Holy innocents is strikingly similar to the beginning of the Exodus story. In Exodus, Pharaoh wanted all the male babies killed because the Israelites were over populating Egypt. Yet, we know that Moses was miraculously saved, ironically, by Pharaoh's daughter (Exodus 2:1-6).

Moses survived this ordeal, and he later became the leader in the house of Pharaoh. He eventually led the people on their exodus journey, and died just before they entered the promised land (Deuteronomy 34).

Herod went after the baby Jesus as soon as he heard from the Magi that they saw a star in the East. The Magi refer to Jesus as a king, a title which is used again and again throughout the New Testament. In the beginning of the Gospel of John, Nathaniel says of Jesus, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" (John 1:49). Later in the same Gospel, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, refers to Jesus as King, although in order to mock Him (John 18:33-38).

Throughout the Scriptures, other people affirm that Jesus is a king, but Jesus never referred to Himself as a king. In His passion narrative, Luke tells us that some from the crowd told Pilate that Jesus called Himself a king and forbade people from paying tribute to Caesar. This would be considered an act of rebellion, because all Roman citizens had to pay their taxes and honor Caesar as the Roman Emperor (Luke 23:1-5). Yet, Jesus never stirred up a rebellion against the Romans nor did He forbid people to pay their taxes. Actually, the opposite is true, on one occasion, He told His disciples to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's (Matthew 22:21).

While Jesus never sought political authority and power, He frequently spoke about His Father's Kingdom. His parables describing the kingdom of God show a different Kingdom from what people assumed. He used everyday images, such as a mustard seeds, yeast and a camel through an eye of a needle, to show that God worked in ways unknown to man. As the prophet Isaiah says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways" (Isaiah 55:8). Jesus taught about the kingdom of heaven throughout most of His ministry. Yet, at the end of His life, it is ironic that this peaceful, loving, Jewish carpenter was sentenced to death for the charges of blasphemy and treason, for supposedly calling Himself a king and rebelling against Rome. All four Gospels mention that there was a sign on the cross which read "Jesus King of the Jews," and the Gospel of John emphasizes that this was written in Greek, Latin and Hebrew (John 19:20).

Herod's attempt to kill Jesus' life in the beginning of the Gospel foreshadowed what is to come, since at nearly every step, there were opponents of Jesus and His ministry. Throughout the Scriptures, the Pharisees, Scribes, and Jewish leaders seek to destroy Jesus and put Him to death (read Matthew 21:45-46). Likewise, even Judas, one of His own disciples, betrays Him, and Peter, His favorite disciple, denies Him three times! So, we should not be surprised that Jesus was in danger even from the very beginning of His life. Yet, Jesus managed to perform meant miracles and proclaim the Kingdom of God to the people, and some did hear and accept the Gospel, the same Gospel that is proclaimed to us. Unfortunately, there are still people who do not want the Gospel to grow and, therefore, they try to prevent it from growing. However, the Gospel is continually preached throughout the world and is under the power of God Himself who gives the growth. Our job is to stay out of His way and allow Him to keep planting those seeds of the Kingdom.

Prepare O Bethlehem - The Inn, The Cave, The Purpose & The Message

2015-12-24T17:21:00.003+05:30

Today heaven and earth are united for Christ is born

Today God has come to earth and man ascends to heaven

Today, God who by nature cannot be seen,

Is seen in the flesh for our sake.

Let us glorify Him, crying:

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace!

Thy coming has brought peace to us:

Glory to Thee, our Savior!

- Stikhera on the Litya Great Compline for Christmas

(Eastern Orthodox Church)

And she gave birth to her first born Son and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn. Luke 2:7

Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ Jesus

As we celebrate the feast of Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, I would love to share some thoughts that have been in my mind. This is my Christmas message to you all for this year. The message might seem quite long, but I assure you that you will surely enjoy the read.

THE INN

In the Nativity story, a woman who was about to give birth to a child, and her betrothed, went from inn to inn, asking for lodging and help. There was no room in any inn. But even more poignant, there was no room in anyone’s heart to extend charity and help to a woman at her moment of delivery. How could a city so filled with people not have had even one room, even one bit of charity for someone in need? Never mind that this woman was not just anyone, but God’s chosen vessel for our salvation.

In the Mexican culture, there is a Christmas-time tradition called Las Posadas. In this tradition, a couple dressed up as Mary and Joseph go from home to home, asking if there is any room at “the inn”. Each home takes on the role of an inn in Bethlehem. They are rebuffed each time until they reach the home that has been designated as “the inn,” at which point they are allowed in and a celebration ensues.

Imagine your heart as an inn—there are lots of rooms in it as there would be at an inn. At many inns, there are economy rooms, rooms with a view, rooms with a balcony, perhaps even a penthouse, or top floor room. Some rooms are more expensive and more lavish, others more simple.

The inn of your heart is similar. There are things in life, like relationships or family, that tug at our heart strings, and they often get the biggest rooms at the inn of our hearts. Careers get large rooms as well. Material possessions occupy space. So do our friends. Hobbies and things that bring us joy have a place, perhaps a smaller room, but there is still a place for them. Friday nights out with friends, Saturdays in front of the TV watching sports, the Sunday afternoon barbecue, they all find accommodations. Hopefully one’s heart is big enough that there is a room for charity. The question for today is which room does the Lord get in your heart? Is it the biggest one? Or the economy room? Is there a room for prayer? Worship? Charity? Are these rooms well-kept or in need of a remodel?

If your heart or your life is like an inn in Bethlehem, is there room in your inn for the Lord, or have all the spaces been filled with other things? In order to have Christ in your life, there needs to be not only room in “your inn,” but the committed Christian offers Christ the best room, the first portion, of your life. The committed Christian has a rooms for charity, for prayer, for scripture reading, for obedience to the commandments. As we journey through Advent and prepare to celebrate the Nativity, it is a good time to clean the rooms of your heart and of your life, to make sure there is room for Christ in them.

Because just as they do at Las Posadas in Mexico, Christ comes to knock on the door of your heart every day. Do we turn Him away, saying there is no room at the inn, that all the rooms have been filled with other “things”? Or do we welcome Him with joy? Do we give Him the economy room? Or do we give Him the biggest and the best? Spend some time today evaluating how you spend your time. And reflect seriously on which rooms Christ occupies in the inn of your heart. Just like they upgrade rooms at hotels for special guests, consider giving an upgrade in your heart to Christ, the most special guest of all.

THE CAVE

In every Nativity story that we have heard or every Icon that we see which shows the scene in Bethlehem, we know that when Mary and Joseph searched for a place to stay and help, they are told that there are no rooms available. They are, however, told that there is a stable out back and are shown to a stable where the animals are kept, where Jesus is born and laid in a manger. Every Nativity scene appearing under every Christmas tree shows a barn with straw roof and wooden walls with Jesus lying in the manger.

Yet, every Orthodox icon shows Jesus Christ incarnate in a cave, in the desert, outside of Bethlehem. Why a cave? Why not the traditionally depicted stable or barn?

We are not told in scripture whether the birth took place in a barn or a cave, only that there was no room in the inn. There are two reasons that a cave is shown in Orthodox icons, rather than a barn. The first is actually historical. At the time of the Nativity, animals were not kept sheltered in wooden barns, but in caves and recesses in the hills. The second is symbolic—the cave that is shown in the icons is traditionally surrounded by sharp and steep rocks, which represent the cruel world into which Jesus was Incarnate. The space inside the cave looks peaceful and welcoming. The cave represents heaven. It is a peaceful respite from the world.

There is an icon that shows the cave, with the manger and the baby Jesus, with just the animals surrounding the manger and the star overhead. The theme of this icon is “Creation worships the Creator.” The significance of the feast of the Nativity is that the Creator came to live with His creation. And not only was there no room in any inn, but there was no room in any place made by human hands to hold the Creator of those hands. So, the Creator came to be part of His creation in a cave He Himself created.

In the last reflection, it was mentioned that in icons, the manger is depicted symbolically as a tomb. Historically, the manger was the wooden trough from where the animals were eating. Most likely it would have been filled with hay, which horses were eating. Again, there was no bed made by human beings that could hold the Creator. So, He was laid on straw, in wood that He created. His birth also reflects the most humble of beginnings. And it begins a ministry where Jesus would tell His followers: “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve.” (Mark 10: 43-45)

The cave reflects peace, surrounded by danger. The manger shows humility. Later on, when we discuss how all of creation worshiped and brought gifts to the Creator in its midst, we will note that the earth itself worshiped the Creator, and for a gift, the earth offered a cave.

For today, examine peace and humility in your life. Does your life favor what is grandiose or simple? Are you more boastful or humble? If the cave reflects peace surrounded by danger, are you able to find inner peace in a life that is continually dangerous? Or have you succumbed to the dangers of the world? Today’s verse is an important reminder of what is truly important—the virtues of peace and humility will go a long way in helping you grow as a Christian this Advent and far beyond it.

THE PURPOSE

If you look closely at many icons of the Nativity, you will notice that the manger is not a straw-filled wooden trough as we see in most Nativity displays around town. Rather, it resembles a casket or tiny tomb. The swaddling bands are not like the large cloth that we swaddle our children with, but rather are the burials band used to bind the bodies of the dead. Why do the icons depict this? It’s to make clear from the beginning the purpose of the Incarnation of Christ. His purpose in coming to be among us was to die for our sins. It all leads to the Cross and the Tomb. This is the reason Christ came to earth. This is the reason God incarnated His Only-Begotten Son.

When you enroll in high school or college, what year do they label your class? It’s the year you are scheduled to graduate. I entered college for my masters in 2010. I went in as the class of 2012, which ended up being the year I finished. And why do schools label classes by the year they finish, rather than the year they start? Because when you go to school, the purpose for your attendance is in order to finish. So, even from the first day of school, the focus is on the last. Sure, the journey is long, and fun, and important, but the focus of the journey is its end, not the journey itself, certainly not the beginning of it. is the reason God incarnated His Only-Begotten Son

Our Christian life is the same. God’s purpose in putting us here is so we can GRADUATE from this life, into eternal life. No one can get to heaven if they haven’t lived on earth. Just like no one can graduate from college if they never spend a day in school. So, every day of our life, there should be a thought given to eternal life. This is why we hear at every Divine Liturgy (and in the daily vespers), a petition that speaks to us of “A Christian end to our lives, peaceful without shame and suffering and a good defense before the awesome judgment seat of Christ,” so that this thought of our destination inspires how we spend our present journey.

So, take some time every day, whether it is Christmas, or Advent, or the middle of summer, to work on your salvation, think about where you are headed for eternal life. So many people plan for retirement, but not for eternity. Spend time each day through prayer, meditation on scripture, obedience to the commandments and charity towards others. Spend a lifetime doing that and you will be in good shape for that accounting at the awesome judgment seat of Christ.

The Resurrection couldn’t happen without the Nativity. However, the Nativity without the Resurrection would make Christ into an incredible teacher and healer, but not our Savior. An incredible life without Christ is just that, an incredible life that will one day come to an end. A life with Christ and a life in Christ is like going to school—you will be there for a while, you will even make good memories and have good times, but one day you will graduate to something bigger and better.

The purpose of Christ’s Incarnation is apparent from the Nativity. God’s purpose for our life is apparent from our birth as well! to the dangers of the world? Today’s verse is an important reminder of what is truly important—the virtues of peace and humility will go a long way in helping you grow as a Christian this Advent and far beyond it.

Before Your birth, O Lord, the hosts of angels already perceived the mystery. They were struck with wonder and trembled, for though You adorn the heavens with stars, You are now well-pleased to be born as a Babe. You hold the ends of the earth in Your hands, but now You are laid in a manger of dumb beasts. Yet all these things fulfilled Your saving plan, by which Your compassion was revealed to us. Christ of great mercy, glory to You!

THE MESSAGE

I’m sure during the period of the census in Bethlehem, there were people from all walks of life, all economic classes. There were well-to-do people who got the most expensive rooms in the most expensive inns, who rode the best donkeys and camels. With so many people descending on Bethlehem for the census, there were undoubtedly parties and family gatherings, reunions of friends, loud music, dancing and good food.

The shepherds were among the poorest of the people. They were not part of the Bethlehem social scene. Their work was done around the clock, in anonymity, with little compensation. I’m sure very few parents of the time dreamed for their children to be shepherds.

Yet, God chose these “poor shepherds” (the First Noel) to hear the good news. He chose to bless the shepherds to hear a multitude of the heavenly angels singing God’s praises. And when the Shepherds told people what they had heard and seen, in a sense, He chose them to become the first “evangelists,” the first to share the good news.

Why these Shepherds? First, the message of Christ is for all people. He didn’t take it to the high and mighty, but to the lowly. Christ’s Nativity inaugurated the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, but He “reigns” with humility. So the message was given first to the most humble of people, simple shepherds. This is good news indeed, because the message of Christ IS for everyone. And that does not include only every socio-economic level. It includes every spiritual level:

If you’ve memorized the Christmas story or can’t remember most of the details, Christ’s message is for you.

If you read the Bible every day, or have never read it before, Christ’s message is for you!

If you pray every day, or if you’ve never said a genuine prayer, Christ’s message is for you!

If Christ is the focus of your life, or if you are just starting your relationship with Him, Christ’s message is for you!

Ok, so what is the message? The answer comes from the shepherds as well. One of the ways Christ reveals Himself is as “the Good Shepherd.” In John 10: 11-15, we read:

Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leave the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father know me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

Jesus uses this image because all Christians are like a flock of sheep. Jesus is our Shepherd. Jesus protects the flock from “wolves” and all harm. When one sheep is lost, like a good shepherd, He goes in search of the lost sheep. Most important, like a good shepherd keeps his flock together until they get safely to their pen at the end of the day, Jesus keeps His flock together and provides for our safety until we reach the permanent safety of heaven at the end of our lives.

I hope that the images sticking in your mind are not the loud and raucous parties of Bethlehem, but the peace of the cave and the safety of the pen. For many people, if you asked them where do you want to end up—a cave, a pen or a party—the answer most certainly would be the party. The message of Christ is that we want to end up in the cave and safely in the pen. It is in humility that we experience Christ. The message is for everyone!

Dear brethren, this Christmas, let us give room for Christ in our inns called life, welcoming Him to dwell in us. Let our hearts be like the cave where peace dwells.Wishing you all a very blessed Christmas.

Prepare O Bethlehem - Magi From the East

2015-12-24T08:48:00.001+05:30

The wise men, kings from Persia

Perceived without any doubt

That Thou was born on earth, O Heavenly King.

Drawn by the light of a star, they hurried to Bethlehem.

They offered Thee acceptable gifts:

Gold, myrrh, and frankincense.

They fell down before Thee and worshipped Thee,

Seeing Thee, the timeless One,

Lying in the cave as an infant.

- An immature translation of Mashiha Jaatham Cheytha and Tharaka Porasile,

two hymns sung during the service of the Nativity of Jesus.

St. Matthew tells us that wise men from the East came beating gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh for the Christ child. In the medieval period, the tradition developed that there were three wise men whose names were Melchior, Casper and Balthasar. They later became subjects for the Christmas song "We Three Kings", which is often sung at Christmas tableaus and plays. Over a period of time, stories developed about the magi and their journeys. Some stories say that originally there were four wise men who came to see Jesus, however, along the way, one got lost. After many years of traveling, searching for the baby Jesus, the wise man found his way to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, he heard about a man who was being crucified that day, it was Jesus.

Matthew does not specify the names of the wise men, nor does he mention that there are three, but only that wise men came from the East (Matthew 2:1-3, 10-12).The only details we have about the wise men are that they came seeking to worship the baby Jesus and that they saw the stat in the East, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy (Matthew 2:10). The fact that they are from the "east" and that they are "wise men" suggests that they are sages or astrologers from a Gentile background. In the ancient world, the sage or wise man, sometimes called a seer, was an adviser to the king or emperor. These people were the educated elite and were familiar with astrology as well as the natural sciences, literature and culture. Wise men or magi were usually connected with the royal palace.

Matthew also tells us that these wise men brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. These items may seem like strange gifts for a newborn child, but they have a specific function within the birth story and the Gospel narrative as a whole. Myrrh is very similar to a heavy perfume and was very expensive, only the wealthy could afford it. Myrrh was frequently used for preparing bodies for burial. We know from the four Gospels that the women came to the tomb in order to anoint Jesus' body (Mark 16:1. See also Luke 24:1 and John 19:39). In the Orthodox tradition these women are known as the myrrh bearing women.

Likewise, both gold and frankincense were also expensive materials and are frequently used in the ancient world. Gold, of course, was used by the wealthy in society, and frankincense is a type of incense which was burned as a fragrant offering as we hear at every Vesper service: "I call upon Thee, O Lord; make haste to me! Give ear to my voice, when I call to Thee! Let my prayer be counted as incense before Thee, and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice!" (Psalm 141:2). The appearance of the magi at the birth story echoes an important passage in Isaiah, where he describes that all nations will come together in order to bow down and pay homage to the Lord Almighty. They will bring gold and incense to the Lord:

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you and His glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and Kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes round about, and see, they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried in the arms. Then you shall see and be radiant, your heart shall thrill and rejoice; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Epaph; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord. Ask the flocks of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they come in my altar, and I will glorify my glorious house. (Isaiah 60:1-7)

The appearance of the wise men remind us that this birth is unlike other births, because the child is going to be the Savior of the World: "He will be great, and He will be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His Kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 1:32-33). Thus, the gift of salvation is announced to both the Jews, who are represented in the birth story by the shepherds in the fields, and to the Gentiles, who are represented by the magi. Both the shepherds and the magi accept the invitation to see the Christ child, and both pay homage to Him. Matthew's birth story reminds us that the good news of salvation is offered to all peoples, or as Isaiah says, all nations. Hopefully, all nations will accept this wonderful invitation and view down to God's beloved Son Jesus.

John Hopkins Jr’s well known carol, “We Three Kings” narrates the giving of the gifts in first person. “Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain, gold I bring to crown him again, King forever, ceasing never, over us all to reign.” “Frankincense to offer have I; incense owns a Deity nigh; prayer and praising, voices raising, worshiping God on high.” “Myrrh is mine; its bitter perfume breathes a life of gathering gloom; sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, sealed in the stone-cold tomb.” The gifts were given precisely to indicate who Jesus Christ, Immanuel—“God With Us”—was and is and shall be.

Gold was given as a regal gift. It is the sign of Jesus’ kingship. Later, we would all come to realize that his Kingdom is not an earthly one, located in a geographical promised land, but that he came to rule over a fallen-but-restored-through-him re-creation, or re-capitulation of the Cosmos.

Frankincense was offered for his divinity. Early Christians often refused to pinch a bit of incense onto the charcoal for the Emperor—thereby rejecting imperial claims to divinity, and were martyred as a result. Incense is only offered to God—the main reason why we still offer it to him in every single church service, following Psalm 140/141: “Let my prayer arise in thy sight as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.”

Myrrh was placed at his feet to foreshadow his death on the Cross for the life of the world. Whereas every single person on the planet earth was created in order to live—the gift of God—only Jesus was born to die. And there is great and providential irony in this: we mortals were born to live and move and have our being without ceasing, but the Pre-eternal, ever-existing Word of God—he who hung the earth upon the waters—was born to hang on the cross!And following his death-by-crucifixion, he was taken down from this Tree of Life, and his body was wrapped in swaddling clothes once again, and anointed for burial with the fragrant myrrh, as was brought to him at his birth. Oh divine redemption!

Royalty, divinity, and death. These were the gifts offered as signs of the essence of Jesus Christ. As we celebrate the feast, adoring him, let us also enflesh the call of this ancient hymn and prayer:

Increase in us the talent of good deeds, that we may offer Thee fitting gifts: instead of gold, myrrh, and frankincense, we offer the service of loving hearts, praising the Giver of all good gifts who has come to be born of the virgin and child of God.

In the Ancient Christian Tradition we greet one another with a call and response:

Christ is Born!

Glorify Him!

Prepare O Bethlehem - Shepherds Keeping Watch

2015-12-22T15:11:00.001+05:30

When the Lord Jesus was born of the holy virgin,

The whole universe was filled with light.

The shepherds watched in the fields.

The wise men worshiped and the angels sang.

But Herod was troubled,

For God appeared in the flesh.

He is the Savior of our souls!

- Stikhera on Lord I Call vesperal, Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great

If we ever go to mountainous regions of North India, we would be blessed to see lush green valleys with lots of sheep grazing around and shepherds keeping watch over their flock. Shepherds have a difficult road. Sheep need constant care and attention, and lots of food and water. They also have to be shorn regularly so that their coats so not get too thick. The shearing process is tedious, taking lot of manual labor and patience. The shorn will then has to be sent to the local miles for processing where it is turned into scarves, hats, sweaters, blankets and other textile products. Shepherding is not a high paying job, many shepherds supplement their jobs with farming or some other line of work.

While we may live in a modern society, the art of shadowing has seldom changed throughout the time. During Jesus' time, shepherding was a job for the poor. It takes vigilance, patience and lots of work. Interestingly, according to Luke, the angels first announce the glad tidings of the birth of the Savior to shepherds keeping watch in the fields. Thus, the Gospel first comes to the poor and lowly shepherds of Israel.

However, shepherds are not always portrayed in the best of light in the Scriptures. The prophet Ezekiel speaks against the shepherds of Israel, who are considered leaders of the people, for not taking care of their flocks:

The word of the Lord came to me, "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, thus says the Lord, 'You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with wool, you slaughter the fatlings, but do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not healed, the crippled you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them'. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beats. My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them." (Ezekiel 34:1-4)

Ezekiel continues as he blames the shepherds for the woes of the poor and the destitute and blames the leaders for neglecting to take care of them. In other words, the shepherds are too busy taking care of themselves rather than taking care of those under their charge.

This theme of shepherding is also developed within the New Testament. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is called the "good Shepherd", the one who leads His flock to pasture and who protects the flock even if it means sacrificing His own life. As a good Shepherd, Jesus cares for His flock as the shepherds in Ezekiel could not: "I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep" (John 10:11-13). While there are many shepherds, there is only one good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. One of the shortest, but also most comforting of the Psalms, is Psalms 23 where God Himself is referred to as a shepherd:

The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want; He makes me lie down on green pastures.

He leads me beneath still waters; He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness For His name's sake

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil;

For Thou are with me;

Thy rod and Thy staff

They comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies

Thou anointest my head with oil.

My cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

This Psalm is comforting to many people who are in distress, especially during times of sorrow and grief. The Psalmist speaks of the shepherd as leading, restoring and comforting, words which bring solace to people who are hurt.

However, the Scripture also speak of the shepherding in terms of judgement. In Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25, the king will separate the sheep from the goats, as a shepherd routinely does in order to keep his flock safe. The reality is that the good Shepherd, the Son of God, will come with ultimate power and authority to execute His divine judgement in the world.

We are not told whether the shepherds in the birth narratives are good or bad, just that they were in their fields keeping watch over their flock. Luke tells us that they are the first ones to hear the good news. This child is the messiah of God who comes to bring peace and justice in the world. He will grow up to be the "good Shepherd" who leads His followers to the Kingdom and who rules with justice and equity, so that the "increase of His government and of Peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over His kingdom to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore" (Isaiah 9:7). The ultimate message is that this Christ child, who is born in Bethlehem, will also bring His peace and justice to the entire world.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Prepare O Bethlehem - We Are Family

2015-12-08T18:17:00.000+05:30

When we are children, we are all interested in knowing our family heritage. Who are we, where are we from, who all are there in our extended family, where did our family come from, and many other questions. These are some basic questions about family origins which have been asked for millennia. People across the globe have looked to their past in order to explain how they arrived in their present situation.

On the Sunday before we commemorate the Nativity of our Lord, we hear a reading from the Gospel of Luke which includes a long list of names in Jesus' family tree, or a "genealogy". The Old Testament contains many genealogies, especially in 1 - 2 Kings and in 1 Chronicles 1 - 9. These lists identify someone within the larger family tree together with extended family and their offspring.

In the New Testament, we have two different genealogies, in Matthew 1:1-17 and the other in Luke 3:23-38. Luke begins with Joseph and traces the lineage of Jesus back to the first man Adam, while Matthew begins with Jesus and traces his family through the lineage of both the great King David and through Abraham, the first patriarch. Luke's genealogy includes only men, while Matthew includes both men and women. Matthew and Luke wrote their genealogies for different purposes, and therefore, we should not be surprised that there are differences between the two genealogies. Jesus did not appear from just anywhere, but was from a specific family and was born in a particular time and place with a particular family. The prophet Isaiah alludes to the root of Jesse in his prophecies to Israel, which are also read aloud during the services of Nativity of the Lord:

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. Thou has multiplied the nation, Thou has increased its joy; they rejoice before Thee as with joy at the harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. From the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, Thou has broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the trampling warriors in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder, and His name will be called "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, hoon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this" (Isaiah 9:2-7).

Isaiah also says that all nations will bow down and worship God, because He is faithful to His word and will not allow Israel's enemies to subdue them (Isaiah 11:15). Isaiah spooks of a messiah who will bring both peace and justice, as the ox and lamb lie together so too well the messiah bring enemies together. Isaiah's prophesy was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus who brings the eternal peace of God to both Jew and Gentile, slave and free, man and woman.

Matthew also mentions King David in the genealogy. King David was also one of the greatest and most beloved kings of the Old Testament. In his youth, David was a shepherd boy and musician who slew the giant Goliath. He was the youngest of Jesse's eight sons and was anointed a king by Prophet Samuel (1 Sam. 16:10-13. See also 2 Sam. 5:1-5).

As King, he led the Israelites in battle and provided justice and equity among the people. The Book of Psalms is attributed to him. In the New Testament, Jesus is often mentioned in connection with King David (Matt. 9:27, Luke 18:38, John 7:42, and 2 Tim. 2:8). However, King David also had a dark side; he fell into sin after he had Uriah sent to his death on the battlefield so that he could also with Uriah's wife Bathsheeba. Yet, even though David did a terrible thing, he repented and was obedient to God.

Matthew also links Jesus with the first patriarch Abraham, who is mentioned three times in the birth narratives (Matt. 1:1, 2, 17). Abraham is an important person in the Old Testament, because the covenant promise was first given to him that he would be the father of all nations (Gen. 12:1-3. See also Isaiah 19:24, Acts 3:25-26, Romans 4:13). Abraham is important, because it is through his offspring that God will provide His blessing. Thus, God fulfills His promise-covenant through Abraham.

While Matthews genealogy clearly connects Jesus with both the kingly Davidic line and with the Abrahamic covenant, Matthew also includes four noteworthy women in Jesus' family: Rahab, Ruth, Tamar and Mary. Rahab was a harlot from Jericho who helped the two spies escape the city of Jericho (Joshua 2:1-24); Ruth was a Moabite who lived among Israelites (Ruth 1:1-5); Tamar was a Canaanite woman who disguised herself as a prostitute in order to seduce Judah (Gen. 38:1ff); and Mary was an unwed bride who bore Jesus. All of these women were strong yet also provided opportunities for God to work His salvation through their actions. These women were also obedient and faithful to the Lord. Ruth remained close to her mother in law Naomi when Naomi's son died; Tamar married Judah who later became one of the great leaders of the southern Kingdom; and Mary accepted the angel's message that she would bear the son of God.

Matthews genealogy shows us that Jesus' family was certainly a very mixed crew. Jesus' family included all types of people: political leaders, kings, queens, gentiles, sinners, not to mention murderers, harlots, liars, and other unsavory types of people. Perhaps, Matthew is trying to tell us that Jesus comes from a very human family, not very different from families like ours. Yet, it is their this human family that God chooses to bring His salvation. The biblical God wants His salvation through the sinners and outsiders on the margins of society, especially the poor, widow, orphan and outsider. Jesus comes to those who are not accepted in society and shows His love in concrete ways. He eats with sinners, speaks with outsiders and is a friend of harlots. Jesus goes out of His way to welcome those in society whom no one else will welcome. He provides us with the best example of how to show hospitality to strangers. One of Jesus' names attributed to Him in the birth narratives is Emmanuel, which means, "God with us". During the Christmas Season, we are reminded that God is truly with us and finds His home in our strange human family.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

(Ref: Icon shows the Root of Jesse bringing forth King David, from whom Solomon comes forth and then Mary, the Theotokos and Jesus from Mary, surrounded by all the prophets)

Prepare O Bethlehem - Joseph, A Dreamer and Just Man

2015-12-04T15:22:00.000+05:30

When in bed Joseph thought painfully how to save the virgin from the danger of scandal. Then from heaven came Gabriel, the God sent angel in a dream. He informed that Mary is conceived by the Holy Ghost and the child is the son of God. Joseph when he rose from his sleep bowed with anxiety before the Virgin and said in a loud voice, I do respect you and your son. The father who sent the son to show the right path to all castes is blessed (Matthew 1:20-25). (Translation of the Catholic Hymn sung on the day commemorating the Annunciation to Joseph).

Dear bothers and sisters in Christ Jesus

As we prepare to welcome the Incarnate God into our lives this Christmas, let us continue on our series by learning about Joseph.

Outside the birth narratives, Joseph is mentioned only a few times, generally in reference to Jesus, Mary and the town of Nazareth. (Read Luke 4:20-22, Mark 6:1-6, John 1:25, 6:42. Please also refer to Matthew 13:53-58, John 19:19, Acts 2:22, 3:6, 4:10, 6:14, 10:38, 22:8, 26:9).

We do not know much about Joseph other than what the Gospels tell us. He was from the line of David, he was a Carpenter, and he lived in Nazareth with Mary. Furthermore, Matthew tells us that an angel announces the good news to Joseph that his wife will bear a son:

"Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." And this took place to fulfill what the Lord has spoken by the prophet, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and His name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called His name Jesus" (Matthew 1:18-25).

We commemorate the Annunciation to Joseph on the second Sunday of December. According to Matthew, Joseph has two more dreams - one where the angel warns Joseph that Herod is seeking to kill the child Jesus, and another where the angel tells Joseph that it is now time to return home (Read Matthew 2:19-20).

Dreams were very common throughout the Old Testament. For example, King Solomon is asked by the Lord in a dream what he wished to have. When Solomon asks for wisdom, the Lord grants him his wish and in addition gives him wealth and power (1 Kings 3:5-15). The text goes on to say that upon rising from sleep, Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings in the temple for all the people. Likewise, Jacob had a dream at Bethel where he saw a ladder that reached far into the heavens and angels ascending and descending on it. Then, the Lord told Jacob in the dream that He would bless Jacob and his descendants and that He would never leave Jacob (Read Genesis 28:10-17).

Not only are visions and dreams abundant in the Old Testament but also dream interpretation. While dreams are considered important, it is even more important to understand the meaning of these dreams. Daniel becomes the interpreter of dreams at the court of Nebuchadnezzar and foretells his demise (Dan. 2:36-45).

Matthews description of Joseph, Mary's betrothed, is highly reminiscent of Joseph in the Old Testament, who was considered the man of dreams. He was the youngest son of Jacob and Rachel (Gen. 30:24, 35:24, and 1 Chronicles 2:2) and was envied and hated by his brothers in part because of his dreams (Read Gen. 37:5-12).

Joseph played an important role in the story as well. He was a rather ordinary man, who had extraordinary faith. In Orthodox Tradition, we hold that Joseph was an elderly man, who had been widowed. He had children from a previous marriage, (they are referred to as Jesus’ brothers and sisters who in reality were half-brothers and half-sisters, see Matthew 13: 55-56). And he worked as a carpenter; a rather ordinary life.

Joseph was a just man, and the Gospel tells us, that he did not want to put Mary to shame, so he resolved to divorce her quietly. Joseph had extraordinary faith. Imagine the conversation when Mary told him that she was pregnant. Here she had been raised in the temple. They were engaged but not married. And now his betrothed was pregnant and the baby was not his. What faith he must have had in Mary, to believe that she was pregnant in a way no human being could become pregnant, by the Holy Spirit. And what faith he must have had in God to assume the role of caretaker for an unmarried woman who risked being scorned by the society of the day. He had the same risk as well. He had a job, he had friends, he had a reputation, and all those things he was willing to put on the line because of his faith.

Joseph's role in the birth of Jesus according to Matthew is prominent. He is a "just man" and obedient to the word of God. Joseph doubts the truthfulness of his wife's pregnancy, just as Moses doubts his role as the law give and as Sarah doubts the conception of Isaac. Yet, Joseph like Moses and Sarah, remains faithful to the Lord, trusts in God's plan, listens to the word of God and follows it by taking his family and raising them in the town of Nazareth.

There are two lessons from the life of Joseph. First, one can be a rather ordinary person and still make an extraordinary spiritual contribution. Joseph was not a priest, was not really learned (he had a trade, not a career), was not a member of the temple elite. He wasn’t looking to play a big role when God tapped him on the shoulder. Yet, he, too, like Mary, embraced his role. You don’t have to have a lot of money, or fame or a great career in order to answer God’s call for your life. And secondly, Joseph was willing to risk his comfort, his job, his friends and so much more in order to care for Mary and her (not his) unborn child. Are we willing to do the same? Joseph’s “Yes” to God was for a different thing than Mary. But it was really no less important. Because the story could not be complete without both of them.

An extraordinary person with little faith is rather ordinary in the eyes of God. An ordinary person with extraordinary faith is extraordinary in the eyes of God. What kind of faith do you have? What kind of faith do you want to have? If you were standing in the presence of God right now, how would HE describe your faith?

I would also like to venture to say that most of us do not have dreams like Joseph. If we did, I'm sure not many of our friends would believe us - they would probably send us to a doctor to get help! Conventional wisdom tells us that otherworldly visions and dreams are "ultra-spiritual" and mysterious and are wonderful ways to experience our faith. Yet, we cannot be certain that our dreams and visions are from God, after all, the Scriptures remind us that even the Devil can come to us as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). Therefore, we should not dwell upon them. Many of our spiritual fathers say that if you have a spiritual vision of dream, do not tell anyone, just say a prayer, and forget about it. In other words, our faith is not in dreams and visions but in Jesus Christ (incarnated, crucified, buried, risen again and ascended into Heaven) who comes to us through His spoken Word in the Scriptures and in the liturgy of the Church.

It is here, in the saving message of the Word of God, where we encounter the everlasting and life-giving good news of the Kingdom of we choose to listen. We must have open hearts so the seed of the Gospel can be planted in it. As Matthew says, the good soil receives the seed, and it takes root. Hopefully, the Word will take root in our hearts and grow abundantly.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Prepare O Bethlehem - Mary

2015-11-25T18:30:00.000+05:30

"Peace to Mary. The Lord is with you. Gabriel said that you are a jewel among the women. In you we can see God. You carried Him in your stomach, who carried the world." (Translation of Hoothomo that is sung at the dismissal after the Holy Qurbana)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

In the Gospel reading we heard on Sunday, we heard the angel Gabriel bringing a very astounding news to Mary. She who is a girl betrothed to be married will bear a son who is to be called Jesus, the Son of the Most High. And this will happen through the Holy Spirit. And Mary submits herself to the plans of the Most High God.

Mary has been a subject for many poets, artists, sculptors, writers and theologians. In our homes, more than anyone else, we find icons of Mary adorning our walls. Songs and hymns have been dedicated in her honor, and churches, seminaries, monasteries and shrines have been erected in her blessed memory. Miracles have been ascribed to her intercessions, and special services and prayers are written for her. She is known as the Queen of Heaven, the Mediatrix and, most importantly, the Theotokos.

Liturgical hymns speak of her as the flower that bore the fruit, the Golden censor, the New Jerusalem, the ewe that bore the lamb, and her womb is said to be more spacious than the heavens. She is said to be more honorable than the Cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim. Her memory is invoked at every liturgical service. Mary is certainly very special to Christians and will always be remembered for being the mother of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. During the Christmas Season, she is officially commemorated on December 26th, which is called Praises (Synaxis) of the Theotokos.

God’s grand plan for our salvation involved incarnating the Word of God into the flesh, for God to become like one of us. And this would happen in a way that was both miraculous and understandable. The understandable part was that He would come into the world as a new-born baby. The miraculous part was that the conception would be by the Holy Spirit, an immaculate conception. And a woman would bear God’s Son in her womb and give birth to Him. So, God would bring His Son into the world through one of us.

The Virgin Mary was the woman that God selected for this task. Tradition says that she was born in a miraculous way to elderly parents named Joachim and Anna. When she was three years old, she was taken to the temple by her parents and given to the service of the Lord. After being raised in the temple for ten years, she found herself living in a small town called Nazareth, where she was betrothed (engaged) to a man named Joseph.

It is however very ironic, that while Mary is very prominent in the birth narratives, she is only mentioned a few times in the entire New Testament. While her name is never specifically mentioned, she intervened at the first miracle that Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee where Jesus changed water into wine (See John 2:3-5). Jesus who was not ready to perform a miracle, performs a miracle out of obedience to His mother. He performs the miracle which is the first of series of miracles in the Gospel of John.

In Luke 8:19-21, she is mentioned together with Jesus' family. She is also mentioned by the evangelist John as one of the persons standing at the foot of the cross together with John the beloved disciple (See John 19:25-27). In the Book of Acts 1:14, Mary is with the other disciples in the upper room after Jesus ascended into heaven. The Apostle Paul in his letter to Galatians refers to her as the mother of Jesus, though does not specifically mention her by name (Gal. 4:4-7).

However, if we read the birth narratives carefully, we understand that she has a role, secondary only to that of Jesus. The Lord used her as His instrument of redemption and salvation. When Mary was called to give birth to the Savior of the World, we do not know if she answered with fear or with confidence. But we do know that she ANSWERED by placing herself as the handmaiden of the Lord.

One of the most beautiful hymns in the Orthodox Church is the Magnifact. The Magnifact is taken directly from the first chapter of Luke's Gospel. When Mary visits Elizabeth, Elizabeth, who is already six months pregnant, realizes that Mary is carrying a very special child. She tells Mary, "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she so believed that there would be fulfillment of what was spoken of her from the Lord."

Mary responded to Elizabeth with the following words:

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold all generations will call me blessed;
For He who is mighty has done great things for me
And Holy is His name
And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation
He has shown strength with His arm
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts
He has put down the mighty from their thrones
And exalted those of low degree
He has filled the hungry with good things
And the rich He has sent away empty
He has helped His servant Israel
In remembrance of His mercy
As He spoke to our fathers
To Abraham and to his posterity forever." (Luke 1:46-55)

These words remind us of God's generous love toward His people. He exalts the humble and the lowly, and He brings down the mighty and the powerful, themes which are woven throughout the Old Testament. The Magnifact also echoes a very important Old Testament text which is found in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Here,the once barren Hannah offers a prayer to God in thanksgiving for bearing a son with her husband Elknah. Her son is not just any child, but Samuel who will grow up to be one of the first prophets of the Old Testament. Samuel also is the one who anointed David to be king.

These are some of the lessons we learn from Mary. God calls everyone to something in his/her life. There is no one who is uncalled. Have you heard God's call in your life? Have you answered the call? How have you answered the call?

Throughout the Scriptures, the biblical God uses the which is broken in the world as a tool for working out His salvation. He uses the barren Sarah in order to produce Isaac; Be uses an orphan Israelite child named Moses to be the giver of the Law; He uses a young virgin girl named Mary to bear the Word of God, and He uses the Pharisee Saul who persecuted Christians who later became the first among the Apostles. With God everything is possible.

We also learn that just as Mary was part of God's plan for our salvation, we, too, are part of God's plan for our salvation God has provided the path to salvation. He has even provided the means to go down the path—the church, the scriptures, the clergy, etc. But we have to walk down the path ourselves. We work in concert with God in order to attain salvation.

Mary is the model of what we are supposed to be, because she said YES to the call of God. May we follow her example! Mary is called Theotokos, meaning, “God-bearer.” We are called to be the same!

"O Mary, Virgin, beautiful and daughter of David, I am unable to describe your history. O Mary, daughter of David, to those who are near and dear to you, bliss to all. O Mary, daughter of David, you are brought up by the priests and in maturity entrusted you to the Just Joseph. O daughter of David, you are a jewel among women. You are worthy of praise, the fruit of your womb is holy. O Mary, daughter of David, in your feast day, heaven and earth together rejoice. Your praise be a refuge to us." (Rough translation of the Catholic Hymn sung on day commemorated as Annunciation to the Mother of God)

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Prepare O Bethlehem - Elizabeth and Zechariah (St. Luke 1:5-38; 57-80)

2015-11-20T14:11:00.002+05:30

"When Zechariah offered incense in the temple of Lord

An angel descended from heaven and conveyed a good news

That his wife will bear you a son and he should call him John.

He will be great among the Isreal.

He will give happiness to the whole world.

Because you did not believe the news, you will be mute till the child is born.

For nine months till the birth of John,

Zechariah was unable to speak."

- Catholic Hymn from the Holy Qurbana of the Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Church, sung when we commemorate the Annunciation to Zechariah

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus

Unlike Matthew, who begins his Gospel with the birth of Jesus, Luke begins with the birth of John the Baptist, the "voice of one crying in the desert" who comes to prepare the way of the Lord. St John is a prominent figure in all the four Gospels. He is described as being a prophet who calls people to repentance. We do not know anything about his childhood or youth, St Luke only tells us that his parents were Elizabeth and Zechariah.

We are told that Zechariah was married to Elizabeth, who was a daughter of Aaron. This small but important piece of information tells us that she was from the lineage of Aaron, who was from the tribe of Levi, one of the twelve sons of Jacob and was known as the leader of the priestly tribe in Israel (see Deut 18:1-5, 21:5, 24:8, 2 Samuel 15:24).

Likewise, both Elizabeth and Zechariah were said to be righteous before God, walking in the commandments, and blameless (Luke 1:6). Furthermore, this birth would be a true miracle, since Elizabeth, like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Hannah, was well beyond her childbearing years.

Just as we see in the story of Abraham and Sarah, where we see an angel foretelling a birth of a son to Sarah, so too an angel came and told Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth would bear him a son. This angel's name is Gabriel, the same Gabriel that comes to Mary later in the same Gospel. However, unlike Mary, who accepts the glad tidings, Zechariah doubts the truthfulness of the message, and as a result he is struck dumb (Luke 1:18). Later, after the birth of his son, Zechariah's mouth was opened, and he gave thanks and offered this prayer to God:

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy Prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us; to perform mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant, the path which He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, when the day shall dawn upon us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of Peace" (Luke 1:68-79).

Zechariah's prayer opens with a traditional Jewish way of prayer by blessing God for everything that He bestowed upon Isreal. Likewise, the reference to the horn is a reference to God's saving power. The horn was an ancient symbol of power and authority, especially during times of war and distress (Jer. 48:25). Zechariah also mentions great leaders in Isreal, such as King David and the first patriarch Abraham together with the prophets of old. God used these people in order to bring His saving leave to His chosen people just as He uses Elizabeth to give birth to John, who will later become the Baptist, and Mary, who have birth to Jesus.

The birth of John was certainly miraculous, something that neither Zechariah or Elizabeth expected. But, as with Abraham and Sarah, God works in miraculous ways, catches people off guard and tests their faith in the process. The Gospels reveal that nothing is beyond God's power. John is the voice crying in the desert preparing the way for the Christ, and it is he who also will "guide our feet into the way of Peace".

The preparation of the birth of Jesus begins with the Annunciation to Zechariah regarding the birth of John, who is truly the forerunner, and who came before Jesus to prepare the way for our salvation.

On a personal note, the Indian Orthodox Church commemorates only the Annunciation to Zechariah in the last Sunday and birth of John the Baptist is commemorated later on the first Sunday of December. But for purposes of addressing and understanding this whole theme, I have taken both of them together.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Prepare O Bethlehem - Introduction

2015-11-18T17:36:00.002+05:30

Dear parents, brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus

As we entered this week, we start celebrating the Christmas season. The Christmas season is a wonderful time of the year. It is a time of gift giving, family gatherings, parties, winter vacations and many more celebrations. Christmas season reminds me of freshly baked cakes, decorations of home and Church.

Yet, while we are generally preoccupied with planning and attending family gatherings, we also know that in the background we patiently awake the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace and the Savior of the World. Sometimes Christmas comes and goes without much thought as we prepare for New Year's parties, and then the thought of returning back from our vacations fills our minds. Unfortunately, the "reason of the season" gets lost in the middle of Christmas shopping and the end of year related business.

The blog posts "Prepare O Bethlehem" is being written so that we can take a few moments out of our busy lives and reflect on the Scripture lessons of the Christmas season in order to make this feast a more meaningful time of the year.

According to the Orthodox Church calendar, the official name for Christmas is: The Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, sometimes simply referred to as the Nativity. In addition to the celebration of Christmas on December 25, the Christmas season also includes the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus on January 1; the Baptism in the Jordan river, called the Epiphany or Theophany, on January 6; and the Entrance of the Lord into the Temple on February 2. These three feasts celebrate the gift of the Word of God who is fully revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ. These feasts also reveal to us God's saving work in the world through His Son.

You might ask why should we take efforts to understand the traditions of the Orthodox Church and you might be tempted to see these feasts as mere historical events in the life of Jesus. However, if we carefully listen to the liturgical hymnography of the Church, we see that the Gospel of salvation is presented to us in another form. While Jesus did die 2000 years ago, He is very much alive in the world through the proclamation of the Gospel. Thus, Jesus is still alive and present for us today.

The hymns remind us that while Jesus Christ has already come in the flesh and was crucified for us and for our salvation, He also comes again as a child in the manger and in the Temple and as an adult in the River Jordan as a reminder of the great gift of our redemption and salvation. Today, we are saved through our faith in Him, and today, we rejoice in His baptism in the River Jordan. We know that even though He already came as an infant, He will also come again as the judge in order to bring God's justice to the world.

However, while we await His coming again, we also need to ponder the great mystery of His birth in the flesh. Jesus' birth is one of the most solemn feasts of the Church but which is also filed with great joy.

As with all liturgical seasons, we go through a time of preparation and anticipation for the feast; Pasha, or Easter is preceded by Great Lent, the Dormition or Falling Asleep of the Theotokos is preceded by the Dormition Fast, and Christmas is preceded by a Lenten period called Advent. In the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the period of Advent begins from December 1st and in the Eastern Orthodox Church it begins on November 15th, and concludes at the Divine Liturgy on the Christmas Day. Advent is derived from the Latin word "advenire", which means to come. During Advent, we prepare for the coming of the Lord.

The fear of Christmas continues for five more days as we remember the most holy Theotokos on December 26, the first martyr Stephen on December 27, and then the Holy innocents killed in Bethlehem on December 29. Then we encounter the feast of the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus on January 1, which then leads us to the Prefeast services of Epiphany, or Theophany. In the feast of Epiphany, we prepare or anticipate the public announcement or manifestation of Jesus to the world. While at Christmas we celebrate the birth of the Messiah, at Epiphany we celebrate the beginning of His proclamation of the Kingdom.

The hymns sung emphasize that while the birth of Jesus is important, His baptism which is the beginning of His public ministry, is even more important. During the feast of Epiphany, the priest blesses water to commemorate the baptism in the Jordan, and to remind us that God continually blesses and sanctifies us through material things such as bread, wine, oil, fruit, flowers and water. We also have home blessings during the Epiphany season.

Finally, the Christmas season culminates with the celebration of the feast of the Entrance of the Lord into the Temple, which is also known as the Meeting of the Lord. This is celebrated on February 2, forty days after Christmas.

Because we are usually so busy and preoccupied with so many things during the holiday season, these feasts sometimes take a backseat to other holiday activities. Sometimes, we have to make difficult choices in life, and very often, Church may not always be high on our list. Hopefully, during this Christmas Season, we shall return to the Scriptures so we can know the truth, which is Christ Himself. The Scriptures are the source for our knowledge of the biblical God, His Son Jesus Christ and the life giving Spirit. In the upcoming blogs, I invite you to return to the Word of God, which leads us to know the Word who became flesh for us and for our salvation.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Reference : Prepare O Bethlehem - William C. Mills

The Jesus Prayer - Act - Out of the Stillness

2015-10-28T08:46:00.001+05:30

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.

Dear all, in the previous session we understood that prayer though secret, can never be solitary. We tried to understand how we can intercede for others by invoking the Holy Name of Jesus. By the grace of God, let us now move forward...
There is a misunderstanding that needs to be dispelled. If we pray alone, with our eyes closed, saying repeatedly "... Have mercy on me", are we not being egotistic and self centered? Are we not evading our social responsibility and turning our back on the suffering of a broken world? Indeed, this is an objection that may be made not only against the Jesus Prayer, but against all forms of contemplative prayer.

An answer may be found in two aphorisms. The first is from St Seraphim of Sarov: " Acquire inner peace, and thousands around you will find salvation." The second is from the one time Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjold, in his spiritual diary 'Markings': "Understand - through the stillness; act - out of the stillness; conquer in the stillness."

"Acquire inner peace": that is exactly the aim of the Jesus Prayer. Yet this is not selfish, for itmakes us an instrument of peace to others. Because we have prayed the Jesus Prayer alone and in secret - it may be for no more than 10-15 minutes every day - then, during all the other mines and hours of the day, we shall be available to others, open to their concerns, loving and Christ-like, in a way that would otherwise be impossible.

Again, it is precisely the purpose of the Jesus Prayer to help us to " understand - through the stillness", so that we can then "act - out of the stillness". If our words and actions do not come out of the stillness of prayer, they turn out to be superficial and impotent. But if they have their source in stones, they can price words and actions of fire and healing. We cannot truly change the world unless we have ourselves been changed by prayer.

The Jesus Prayer is in this way not only a contemplative prayer, but a prayer that combines contemplation and action. It is a prayer that makes our contemplation active, and our action contemplative.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Reference: The Jesus Prayer - Bishop Kallistos Ware

Intercession and the Jesus Prayer

2015-10-21T20:53:00.001+05:30

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Prayer may be secret, but it is never solitary. We cannot truly pray for ourselves unless, at least implicitly, we are also praying for others as well. There is in the strict sense no such thing as 'private' prayer, for we are always praying in and with the community of the total Church - which includes the living faithful and the departed faithful along with the gravely hosts. The Jesus Prayer is thus not only personal but corporate. Even when we are saying to Jesus, "... Have mercy on me", we are tacitly including in our prayer all those on whose behalf Jesus died and rose again. This is made much clearer when we use the form "... Have mercy on us".

Can we, however, use the Jesus prayer in a more direct way as a prayer of intercession, such as "... Have mercy on John ... Have mercy on Mary", mentioning by name those whom we have upon our heart? In and of itself there is nothing wrong about such a practice. But obviously it makes the Jesus Prayer into something different from what writers of old had in view when they spoke of Jesus Prayer as a 'putting away of thoughts', as a way of entry into inner stillness.

Fr Lev Billet, the " Monk of the Eastern Church" practiced the Jesus Prayer as a form of intercession in a particularly striking way. A small, vulnerable figure, poorly dressed, he used to wander through the streets of London during night hours, invoking the name of Jesus upon all those he passed, upon the homeless, the beggars, upon everyone in distress and moral danger. He wrote thus, "The name of Jesus is a concrete and powerful means of transfiguring others into their most profound and divine reality. Let us reach out toward the men and women whom we pass in the street, the factory or the office... If we see Jesus in everyone, if we say 'Jesus' over everyone, we will go through the world with a new vision and a new gift in our own heart."

May the Lord Jesus help us, in His grace, to intercede for others by invoking His name.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Reference: The Jesus Prayer - Bishop Kallistos Ware

The Sacraments and the Jesus Prayer

2015-10-20T19:39:00.001+05:30

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Dear all, in the previous session we understood that the Jesus Prayer is not only Christological but Trinitarian. Let us now delve deeper into understanding the Jesus Prayer.

St Nicholas Cabasilas in the 14th century said thus: "It is the sacraments that constitute our life in Christ." How then does the 'way of the Name' relate to the mysteries of Baptism and the Eucharist?

One of the great teachers described prayer as "Baptism made manifest". Developing the point with reference to the Jesus Prayer, he explained that in Baptism we receive the indwelling presence of Christ and the Holy Spirit. It is not possible to imagine any gift greater than this, nor can anything be added to it. Baptismal grace is complete and perfect. Initially, while receiving Baptism in infancy, we are unconscious of this indwelling presence. The whole purpose of the Christian life is to precisely experience actively this baptismal gift that has already been conferred upon us; to advance from grace that is present within us secretly and unconsciously, to grace at work within us " with full assurance and conscious awareness", as St Gregory put it. In our beginning is our end; we are to become what we are.

There are two chief ways, said St Gregory, in which this can be brought to pass: through "the fulfillment of the commandments", that is, through moral effort; and through " the methodical and unceasing invocation of the Lord Jesus". He added: "The first way is slower and the second shorter." St Gregory should not be interpreted as implying that there are two alternatives, for obviously everyone is required to "fulfill the commandments" and to observe moral rules. Equally, in calling the way of the Jesus Prayer "shorter", he does not mean that it is a soft option; for he has made it abundantly clear that it involves firm commitment and persistence.

His meaning is that outward moral effort, if unaccompanied by inner prayer, turns the Christian life into a heavy burden, into a matter of obligation and duty. Inner prayer 'shortens' the journey in the sense that it gives to our spiritual struggle both depth and meaning, both a sense of direction and a spirit of joy.

The purpose of the Jesus Prayer, is then to help us to discover directly and vividly how, by virtue of Baptism, we are Christ-bearers, sharing in His death and resurrection, and at the same time Spirit-bearers, aflame with the fire of Pentecost.

What St Gregory said about the Jesus Prayer as a revelation of baptismal grave, he applied also to the Eucharist. Through the Jesus Prayer we perform an 'inner liturgy', whereby "we offer up the Lamb of God upon the altar of our soul and partake of Him in communion". The Jesus Prayer 'internalises' the Eucharist. But this 'spiritual communion' cannot exist unless we are also partaking outwardly in the sacrament.

Following the teaching of St Gregory, St Kallistos and St Ignatios Xanthopoulos state that our aim in prayer and ascetic life is to return " to that perfect spiritual recreation and renewal of grace that was given to us freely from on high at the beginning in the sacred baptismal font". They continue on giving detailed instructions about the practice of the Jesus Prayer and they end by discussing the Holy Communion. This, they say, is to be "continual", and if possible daily. To received the sacrament daily is in fact highly unusual in the Orthodox Church. Thus, the Jesus Prayer is 'sandwiched' between the primary Christian mysteries of Baptism and Eucharist.

It is thus evident that the Jesus Prayer enriches the sacramental life but does not replace it. The invocation of the Name exists, not in isolation, but in ecclesial and mysterial context. It presupposes membership of the Church and participation in the Church's sacraments.

But, what are we to say to those 'spiritual seekers' in our day, who practice the Jesus Prayer without belonging to any church community? Perhaps they do not have any definitive faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour. Are we to forbid them to use the Prayer? Surely not; for the Jesus Prayer is not our private possession. But it has to be said that such persons are in an irregular situation. Let us hope that the Jesus Prayer, through the grace present within it, will draw them gradually into active church membership.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Reference: The Jesus Prayer - Bishop Kallistos Ware

The Jesus Prayer - Prayer of the Heart

2015-10-16T09:44:00.001+05:30

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Dear all, in the previous sessions we tried to understand the three things that would aid us in our recitation of the Jesus Prayer. A 'soul friend' to guide us as we climb the mountain of prayer. A 'prayer rope' to keep us away from fidgeting and establish a regular rhythm in our invocation. And lastly 'praying with each breath'. But in the end we learned that it is not advisable to have vain repetitions of the prayer, but it should be recited with faith and love towards Jesus Christ.

Let us now understand the three levels of prayer. It is customary in Orthodoxy to distinguish three levels of any prayer: of the lips, of the mind, and of the heart. This three fold distinction applies in particular to the Jesus Prayer.

1. To begin with, the Jesus Prayer, like any other, is a prayer of the lips, an oral prayer.

2. Prayer said only with the lips is obviously not true prayer. The mind, with it's power of attention needs to be involved also. St John Climacus admonishes us thus: "Contain your mind within the words of prayer." So Jesus Prayer grows gradually more inward. Yet we are not to be quick in giving up the actual recitation of the words, whether spoken aloud or formed silently within us.

3. Finally, by the grace of God, the mind is united with the heart, so that our prayer becomes 'prayer of the heart' or, more exactly, 'prayer of the mind in the heart'.

In this context, by 'heart', Orthodox writers do not mean primarily the emotions and feelings, but the spiritual center of the total human being. The heart, as well as being a physical organ in our chest, represents symbolically the focal point of our person-hood as created beings in the image and likeness of God. The heart is thus the ground of our being, the root and source of our inner truth. It includes the emotions, but more significantly it comprises our will, our reason, and also the higher visionary faculty, whereby we apprehend the glory of God. In the words of St Theophan the Recluse, "The heart is the innermost self, or spirit. Here are located self awareness, the conscience, the idea of God and of one's complete dependence on Him, and all eternal treasures of the spiritual life."

As well as being the center of our created person-hood, the heart is also the point of encounter between each created person and the uncreated God. It is the gateway to self-transcendence, the place of divine dwelling. St Macarius states thus, "... The heart is Christ's palace: there Christ the King comes to take His read, with the angels and the spirits of the saints, and He dwells there, walking within it and placing His Kingdom there."

Therefore, in Orthodox writings, 'prayer of the heart' is prayer of the entire human person, prayer in which body, soul and spirit are all participating. Moreover, since the heart is the meeting place with God, prayer of the heart denotes not simply MY PRAYER but THE PRAYER OF CHRIST IN ME. In St Paul's words, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal 2:20).

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Reference: The Jesus Prayer - Bishop Kallistos Ware

The Jesus Prayer - Three Things to Help us - 2

2015-10-15T12:12:00.001+05:30

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Dear all, in the previous session we covered two of the three things that would help us in the recitation of the Jesus Prayer. By the grace of God, let us now continue onto the last method.

PRAYING WITH EACH BREATH

To reinforce our offering of the Jesus Prayer, we should coordinate the rhythm of the Prayer with the tempo of our breathing. St Gregory of Nazianzus said, "Remember God more often than you breathe". If we synchronise the words of the Prayer with the act of inhalation and exhalation, this will render the invocation more constant and continuous. The simplest way of doing this is to recite the first part of the Prayer, " Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God", as we breathe in, and the second part, "have mercy upon me, a sinner", as we breathe out. At the same time, the speed of our breathing should be slowed down.

The practice of controlling the person's breathing can be found in the Hindu Yoga and among the Sufis of Islam. It has many parallels but we should not overlook the distinctively Christian character of the Jesus Prayer. It is not simply a rhythmic mantra, designed to enhanced concentration, but a personal invocation addressed specifically to the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, that is, to the one who was born in Bethlehem, who died on the cross and rose from the dead, and whose second coming we await. What matters is not just HOW we pray but TO WHOM.

In any case, the breathing technique is no more than external aids, useful to some but in no way obligatory upon all. They do not constitute the essence of the Jesus Prayer. For the true and full practice of the invocation of the Holy Name, no other technique is needed except a living faith in Jesus Christ as Son of God and Saviour, and an active love for his ever-present Person.

These two things, faith and love, are indeed indispensable. There is sacramental grace present in the Holy Name, but the Jesus Prayer is not a magic talisman. "A mere repetition of the words does not signify anything" said St Theophan the Recluse. Jesus warned us against the use of "vain repetitions" in prayer, against the heaping up of empty phrases (Mat. 6:7).

But the Jesus Prayer is not a "vain repetition", if it is recited, as it should be, with fear of God, and with faith and love.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Reference: The Jesus Prayer - Bishop Kallistos Ware

The Jesus Prayer - Three Things to Help us - 1

2015-10-14T07:53:00.001+05:30

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

As we started this journey to understand the Jesus Prayer, by the grace of God, we first completed the four strands of the Jesus Prayer and then followed it with understanding the two ways of praying the Jesus Prayer - the free use and the fixed use. We understood that it is important to persist with a concentrated effort in the actual recitation of the Jesus Prayer.

There are a few things that can assist us in the recitation of the Jesus Prayer. We will be discussing only three of them, of which the first is more personal and the rest are more external.

A 'SOUL' FRIEND

In the first place, it is highly recommended to find a 'soul friend' - a spiritual father or mother, an elder (geronta - in Greek, starts - in Russian), who can advice us in the practice of the Prayer. Such a person need not necessarily be a priest. S/he may also be a lay monk or a nun, or someone in the 'world', man or woman. What is important is that the 'soul friend' should possess personal experience. We can simply take an example of a mountaineer. If a person is climbing a particular mountain for the first time, he would do well if he ascends the mountain with someone who has been up that mountain before and who knows the way. So it is with the ascent of prayer.

What if we cannot find a spiritual guide? Does that mean we should not use the Jesus Prayer? Absolutely not. Even without guidance, there is no danger in adopting the Jesus Prayer, so long as we say it simply, humbly, and for limited periods of time. But it is much better to have a 'soul friend'. If we search, God will give us the support that we need.

THE PRAYER ROPE

On a somewhat different level, we may be assisted in saying the Jesus Prayer by using a prayer rope. This is a circle or chaplet, usually made of wool or twine, with perhaps a hundred knots, but the number may vary. One Jesus Prayer is said at each knot. The prayer rope can be made of leather, or it may consist beads, in which case it might resemble the Catholic Rosary, except that it accompanies the invocation of Jesus, not the Hail Mary.

While the prayer rope can be used to measure the number of times that we say the Jesus Prayer, this is not it's only function. It should be understood that mere quantity is not of primary importance while reciting the Jesus Prayer. In the words of St. Isaac the Syrian, "I do not want to count the milestones, but to enter the bridal chamber." The main purpose of the prayer rope is not to act as a measurement rod, but to assist us to concentrate. It is a fact of experience that if, when praying, we involve the body, giving our hands something to do, this will steady and centre us. The act of passing the knots of the prayer through our fingers will stop us from fidgeting and will establish a regular rhythm in our invocation

To be continued...

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Reference: The Jesus Prayer - Bishop Kallistos Ware

The Jesus Prayer - Create Silence

2015-10-13T18:57:00.001+05:30

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

In the previous session we understood about the 'free use' of the Jesus Prayer, such that the Prayer gradually pervades every part of our daily life, enabling each activity and each personal encounter to be Spirit-filled. So now in the second place, what is the function of the 'fixed' use of the Jesus Prayer?

In today's time, when we are assailed by mobile offices and music in our ears, we might be advised to create silence in our lives. Silence - the universal language, as described by Fr. Lawrence Freeman, is one of the primary sources of our personhood, and without it we are not authentically human. In the words of Friedrich von Hugel, "Man is what he does with his silence."

Yet what do we mean by silence? In it's deep spiritual sense, silence is not negative but positive, not an emptiness or void but a fullness. "Silence is a presence," said Georges Bernanos, "at the heart of it is God." In Psalms, we are told, "Be still and know that I am God" (Ps 45:10). The Psalmist does not merely enjoin us to refrain from speech, but in positive terms urges us to be aware of the Divine: "Know that I am God." Silence in the religious sense signifies God-awareness. What matters in silence is not our external situation but our inner disposition. It is a matter, not of keeping our mouth shut, but of opening our heart to God.

Silence, then, properly understood, implies not isolation but relationship. In the context of worship, it denotes not rejection of the Other but acceptance. It is an attitude of receptivity and, shove all, of listening. Like the child Samuel in the temple, the one who seeks silence is appealing to God: "Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears" (1 Sam 3:9-10). Silence implies 'being with', in an alert manner: a losing and finding of oneself in the Other.

The key to prayer is listening. If we look at the icons written of our Holy Mother Mary, we see the person gazing up to heaven in prayer. The one who is silent - the hesychast (to use the correct Orthodox term) - is on par in excellence with the one who listens, who waits expectantly upon the Spirit.

Yet, when we pray, how can we manage to stop talking and to start listening? This is a crucial difficulty faced by many who seek to acquire inner prayer; and it is here that the Jesus Prayer helps us. Many a times when we try to be still, we are assaulted by a stream of distracting thoughts. The thoughts may not necessarily be impure or evil, but they are aimless and futile, irrelevant to the work of prayer. What are we to do? The solution is to satisfy our every active mind by assigning to it a simple and unifying task - the repeated invocation of the Holy Name of Jesus. St Theophan the Recluse said, "You must bind the mind with one thought, or the thought of the One only."

The Jesus Prayer is a prayer in words, yet it is also a prayer of listening, a contemplative prayer that enables us to wait on the Spirit. When we invoke the Holy Name, our attitude is the same as that of icon drawn of Mother Mary, with her hands raised to heaven. Because the words of the prayer are few and straight forward, and because they are regularly repeated, it is a prayer that leads us through words into silence; or, more exactly, that enables us to discover the silence hidden at the heart of the words.

Sometimes, when saying the Jesus Prayer, we will be moved to stop repeating the words and merely to dwell in God's presence, quiet and recollected. Our best moments of prayer often take that form. On such occasions, let us then suspend the Prayer for a time, until we find that our mind is wandering astray; and then we can once more resume the invocation "Lord Jesus...". However, it is important to persist with a concentrated effort in the actual recitation of the words of the Jesus Prayer. St John Climacus rightly insisted, " Contain your mind within the words of prayer. "

Unless we are great saints, it is but natural to find our ourselves suffering with distracting thoughts. What we have to do, every time our thoughts have wandered, is to being them back to the work of prayer. This we must do again and again, without being discouraged. This is where Jesus Prayer helps us - we have only to take up one more the regular invocation of the Holy Name.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Reference: The Jesus Prayer - Bishop Kallistos Ware